TRACK 2: Social Media Strategies for Internal Communications
Tuesday, Oct. 24
The state of trust: Influence and storytelling in the age of skepticism
Learn how to promote and protect your brand, reputation and business in an era of continual digital disruption and declining trust. You’ll leave with lessons from the most visible communications and marketing agendas of the last 18 months. You’ll discover how analytics, audience engagement and new expectations affect areas such as media relations, content development and social media customer service. What will you do the next time you face a high-stakes reputational risk quandary? The answers start here.
During this keynote, you’ll learn:
- Lessons from Disney’s being named the “most authentic brad” (Cohn & Wolfe)
- Inversions in trust and influence and the systems through which they travel
- How online issues spark brushfires that can escalate to raging wildfires
- The evolving interrelation between news and social media reporting, be it fake or real
- How to know who your true audience is—and what it needs from you in today’s polarized environment
- How to use social media channels to engender understanding—and even trust—in the face of skepticism
Build a workplace social squad: Transform staff into social ambassadors
Do you want to convince employees that social participation in the workplace is valuable? Do you also have to convince leadership that it’s a wise investment? That’s no small task. Letting employees freely participate online terrifies many leaders—and employees are often reluctant to jump in. This session will walk you through all the considerations when you take your organization online, including the risks that many overlook. The solid ideas you hear will help you move employees and decision makers beyond the hand-wringing stage to become vital online ambassadors.
You’ll learn:
- Why an all-staff social media strategy makes sense
- How to ensure that corporate culture matches company values—inside and outside the organization
- How to manage executive concerns about enterprise social media
- How to engage and train staff in social media
- The value of a digital “hub”—how to help employees working remotely, globally or in HQ to feel connected at work
Unlock your intranet: Stamping out silos with social media on your side
Almost every organization has silos that segregate information and shut down employee engagement—especially among millennials. These barriers to collaboration grow within companies and thwart success, but you can pulverize those silo walls with a social hub, creating cultural change geared toward true collaboration. Whether you’re starting from scratch or going from good to great, this session will show you how to transform your company’s intranet into a social-media-powered super hub to collaborate, communicate and connect with the employees across your organization in innovative ways.
You’ll learn:
- The new normal for millennials: What they expect from internal communications—and how deliver it
- How to connect employees across departments with social media tools
- How to move work out of Outlook and Office to encourage ongoing collaboration
- How to encourage leaders to contribute to a culture of transparency
- How to manage the transition from old-school intranet to social hub
Lunch break
(Provided on site)
Build a more powerful social media strategy—using FUN!
Are your online posts failing to garner engagement? Would you like to build a fan base that wants to interact with you and your content? More brand managers should embrace a sense of play when it comes to online storytelling. Consider this your creative adrenaline shot. You’ll hear how to reignite excitement and social media results from Snapchat’s first superstar—the artist, online personality and self-dubbed “professional fun lover” known as Shonduras. He teaches reps for the world’s biggest brands to live at the intersection of fun content and social media—and he’ll inspire you to do the same.
During this keynote, you’ll learn:
- What brands get wrong about storytelling and influencer marketing
- How to improve your engagement and strategy on social media
- Finding the fun with video: How to shoot and share more authentic content that grows your following on Facebook, Snapchat and YouTube
- The power of “play”—what brands can learn from e-gaming
- The most effective ways to reach millennials and Gen Z
Sponsored by: 
Sponsor break
No more bad images. Train staff to become smartphone videographers
Everybody’s doing it—but few are doing it well. The result? Intranets, editorial channels and corporate forums flooded with bland product shots, embarrassing headshots and boring event videos. This session changes all that. You’ll learn a methodology and takeaways that anyone at your organization can use to shoot stellar, shareable videos and photos with their smartphones. You’ll also walk away with checklists to help ensure production polish and high quality for every image your team snaps.
You’ll learn:
- Easy steps to train staff about shooting with smartphones
- The truth about essential equipment—and why audio matters
- Shooting pitfalls to avoid and tricks that will make you a hero
- How to become a visual content provider for external teams
- Cool apps that you can’t live without
The ultimate storyteller: Engaged employees
Today’s employees are on mobile and social media, and they’re telling your story. It’s the engaged employee who tells it the right way, though. In a reality where everyone with a Twitter account is a spokesperson, social media success starts with authentic internal communications. This session will share insights on how to build a foundation of trust and alignment, and empower employees with a framework to become creative, confident and powerful storytellers for your brand.
You’ll learn:
- Why an authentic employee voice matters more than ever to your organization, customers and industry
- How relinquishing control will create champions and breed creativity
- How to create a framework that empowers employees to become informed advocates and compelling storytellers
- How to align your workforce with your organization’s goals and brand values while providing the right training for social media success
- How internal and external communication teams can work together to build trust and drive results
Explore new worlds! NASA soars with VR, video and experiential PR
SPWant to innovate in social media without minutiae holding you back? Join to hear how to explore the brave new worlds of virtual reality, augmented reality and experiential PR with passion and higher purpose. You’ll learn how it’s done at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and you’ll discover how celebrating your inner nerd can propel your program in exciting new directions. You’ll hear inspiring case studies—including fresh social media lessons from the Cassini spacecraft’s dramatic “Grand Finale” at Saturn—and leave with new ideas to help you ignite results on Facebook Live, Instagram, Reddit and even Giphy.
You’ll learn:
- The power of curiosity and wonder in social media storytelling
- How to juggle multiple social media accounts, while still engaging in authentic, exciting conversations with fans
- How virtual experiences engage followers emotionally
- How in-person events energize online audiences
- Examples and lessons for breaking into 360 video, AR and VR
Wednesday, Oct. 25
What’s next for social media: How to tell your brand story in the age of chatbots
Walt Disney created a new way to tell stories and bring them to life. Hear why storytelling today is more crucial than ever, especially as AI, voice recognition and chatbots redefine how we engage audiences. You’ll learn how to apply Disney’s lessons and new digital breakthroughs to breathe life into your own brand engagement, storytelling and social media efforts. You’ll leave inspired to break new ground on any platform without relying on social media “gurus.”
During this keynote you’ll learn:
- The storyteller’s guidebook: Crucial differences between Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat as storytelling platforms
- How to determine which platform is best for your business
- Why short-form video is the preferred content for today’s online consumer
- Tips and strategies for creating content that converts
- How to engage and work with influential thinkers
- Growth strategies for your story—with measurable ROI
- What’s next: Chatbots and AI versus social storytelling
Employee engagement 2.0: Inspire staff with kazoos, kudos and apps
Trust and transparency are at the very bedrock of internal communications and company culture. Learn how to build transparency, inspire trust and engage your greatest assets (employees) via traditional and new digital forums alike. You’ll hear how Jack in the Box aligns and inspires employees with interactive internal meetings—and a new recognition program dubbed Rave. Don’t miss this if you want to create an open environment that fosters fun, drives dialogue, boosts morale, encourages collaboration and more.
You’ll learn:
- Fun, cost-effective ideas for interactive, meaningful meetings
- How these meetings can build trust and transparency
- How to connect senior executives with employees—digitally and in person
- Surprising ways to reinforce company values and culture
- How to boost employee engagement with a mobile app that celebrates work accomplishments, awards points and includes internal social media posts
Are you a talent warrior? Ignite employer branding with Instagram
Did you know that engaging your employees externally on social media can reinforce your company culture internally? Social media doesn’t exist in a silo—and neither do your employees. Chrissy Thornhill, social media and content strategist at Salesforce, will reveal how the company successfully used Instagram to bring its longstanding Hawaiian culture to life, and the unexpected benefit was more engaged employees around the globe.
You’ll learn:
- Why Instagram is the best place to start—and why HR will love it
- How to build a content strategy that reflects your culture
- How to engage employees on Instagram
- Tricks and tips to recruit talent through the platform
- How to gain the right followers, not just any follower
Let’s put people first. Stop chasing channels, and start telling stories
The news cycle has sped up, and fake news has put on jet packs. Add to that the relentless emergence of new social media sites and widgets—and it’s no wonder you’re looking for a constant to guide your content and career. That true north is people and powerful storytelling, but we’ve lost sight of it amid continual change and an obsessive quest for the next shiny object. This inspiring keynote based on the change management lessons of Dell’s recent blog and platform migrations will arm you with the tools and conviction you need to bring storytelling back to the people—and not with a focus solely on channels.
During this keynote, you’ll learn:
- The future of content strategy beyond brand journalism
- Change management guidelines for content creators
- The “Storyteller’s Manifesto”—timeless principles to help you create compelling content based on your readers and not your org chart
- CMS insight: What Dell uses and how to choose the best fit
- Social media cross-pollination and blogs—tips for greater reach, readership and results
