MAIN CONFERENCE
Friday, Sept. 14
Engage through mobile and beyond: Trends that are shaping the modern workforce
Emails, newsletters and intranet portals can miss the mark with employees of the modern digital workforce. To increase engagement and communicate effectively with today’s employees, corporate communicators must embrace the top trends and tactics that can cut through the noise of the increasingly chaotic online media landscape and deliver messages that resonate. Join Bob Michelson, president and chief executive of RMG Networks, to get an exclusive first look at a Ragan and RMG survey that reveals feedback from hundreds of internal communications executives worldwide. You’ll learn what tactics these executives are using to address their organizations’ most pressing issues, along with how you can prioritize them to improve employee communications engagement and adoption.
You’ll learn:
- The five most significant internal communication obstacles reported—along with tactics to overcome them
- How you can make your primary internal communications channel mobile—and why you should
- Secrets for powering employee adoption to your mobile-focused communications Why personalized and targeted content is more effective to reach your communication goals
- How to clinch executive approval and justify your department’s efforts
Space is limited, so reserve your spot in our pre-event survey (coming in August).
Opening remarks
The battle for truth: Earning trust in the era of fake news
Today’s volatile information landscape is a headline of its own, raising challenging questions for business and society as a whole. In a time of shifting public expectations, building trust is the No. 1 priority for leaders. Through the lens of the 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer findings, Ben Boyd will explore these issues and provide a road map to navigate a world of distrust.
You’ll get answers to these questions:
- Why must leadership go beyond the business?
- When should businesses speak up on key issues?
- What steps must business leaders take to build trust?
- How can businesses maximize voices across the organization?
- What role do businesses play in informing the public?
Selling the value of PR to your executive team
Increasingly, PR pros are under pressure to justify the unique value of their work.
Conveying that value is not as simple as throwing some earned media metrics together and touting bottom-line impact, ad comps, etc.
In this session, the co-founder and CEO of Muck Rack and The Shorty Awards, Greg Galant, will discuss how selling the value of PR and measuring success are separate things (contrary to common belief in the industry). He’ll also explain components of PR efficiency and how they can save your business money.
You’ll learn:
- How PR can show its value beyond the incessantly discussed topic of earned media measurement
- Why marketing can’t replace PR as a business function
- How to justify a bigger PR budget
- How PR workflow software like Muck Rack can help save you money, and how to show those savings to senior leaders
Behind every great executive brand … is a great communications person
When it comes to executives, no two are exactly alike—and no two communicate in the same way. Therein lies the art of executive communications. Discover how to shape an executive brand that remains authentic to who your leaders are while accomplishing business goals.
Join this session and learn how to:
- Define your executive’s brand personality and platform
- Shape and shepherd the brand—both in person and online
- Ensure a consistent voice across social media platforms
- Evaluate what media and outlets work for your organization
- Measure success, optimize for what works, and evolve your approach
Retrofit your executive communications strategy for the digital world
Executives at the American Dental Association deliver more than 200 speeches each year. To ensure that the impact of those speeches reaches beyond the back of the room, speechwriter Jerry Wohletz uses a variety of digital strategies to amplify leaders’ key messages. Discover how to reach a wider, multigenerational audience by bringing your communications to the platforms they visit every day.
You’ll learn how to:
- Help leaders develop an authentic voice on social media
- Use video, blogs and email to reach new audiences with your speeches
- Turn your leadership team into online ambassadors for your organization
- Use LinkedIn to establish executives as thought leaders in your industry
How execs can empower employees to become enthusiastic brand ambassadors
Every organization wants highly engaged employees who feel valued, connected, informed, and empowered to tell their company’s story.
Too often, though, internal communicators and employee advocacy teams fail to build the aligned and energized workforce they need because they’re stuck in their respective silos- and often on separate teams.
Join Dynamic Signal’s Robyn Hannah for a timely conversation about how employee advocacy teams and internal communicators can work together to achieve their goals and find new levels of success. Using today’s technology, employees can get the content they need to be productive and be influential brand representatives.
You’ll learn:
• How to enable communication that results in greater trust and more informed employees
• What motivates employees to become informed, powerful advocates for the organization
• How organizations can navigate changes in social media sharing and boost advocacy through better internal and executive communication
Making the headlines: How to gain coverage and manage reputation in a heated media landscape
“There’s no such thing as bad publicity” is as untrue as it gets for today’s organizations. Communicators must gain coverage that establishes executives as trusted industry leaders, be prepared to respond to breaking news and crises and ensure that their organization’s reputation isn’t tarnished. During this panel, you’ll learn the story angles today’s reporters are looking for and what they expect from executive communicators. You’ll also hear the successful media relations tactics used by experts at top organizations.
Using technology as an accelerator to drive stronger leadership connections
Microsoft 365 empowers all kinds of leaders to communicate consistently about their organizations’ mission, values and strategic initiatives. Whether you want to spark moments of high engagement or create a forum for ongoing dialogue, technology can help you achieve cultural transformation. Naomi Moneypenny, senior product manager at Microsoft, will show you how new technology can help you foster a sense of community, model desired behaviors and create a new culture of work. With best practices drawn from her own experience at Microsoft and other customers, Moneypenny offers practical advice on how to build an ongoing, two-way connection with employees.
You’ll learn:
• How leaders from top organizations around the world are using technology to better connect with employees
• How to build a thriving community (and culture) using enterprise social media, video and intranets
• Tips for helping your leaders empower employee voices to be heard across your organization
• How to encourage transparency and break silos to better connect leaders and employees
Networking break
The importance of authenticity in executive communications
Among the most common characteristics of organizations recognized and awarded as “Most Admired” or “Great Places to Work” are those which maintain a culture of high trust. High-trust cultures are typically driven by executive leadership that’s seen by employees as not just transparent, but truly authentic. Authenticity is a major contributor to gaining and maintaining employee trust, commitment and overall job satisfaction.
In this session, you will learn how to:
- Develop an authenticity strategy that shapes how you develop and share messages across all mediums
- Produce content for corporate leaders that captures the hearts of your employees while driving your business strategy
- Match the right communications medium with the right message
- Harness the value of storytelling to drive authenticity
- Make authenticity a two-way street
