MAIN CONFERENCE

Thursday, April 19

9–9:50 a.m.

Scalable Visual Storytelling: Breaking down barriers to develop and share compelling visual stories within budget

Kent Hollenbeck, executive vice president for corporate reputation at Edelman Pacific Northwest, will discuss how to become an effective visual storyteller across a range of budgets. It’s one thing to produce an amazing visual asset, but then there’s the distribution aspect. How do you make sure that it not only is seen, but also earns attention with the right audience at the right time?

Attendees will learn how to:

  • Produce best-in-class visual stories
  • Distribute visual assets effectively while exceeding expectations
  • Scale a project up or down based on need
  • Grab the attention of the right audience at the right time
Deputy General Manager + Executive Vice President, Corporate & Public Affairs
Edelman
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10–10:50 a.m.

Going for visual gold and masterful storytelling by leveraging smart phones and partnerships

We all know a great story when we see it. Why, then, are great visual stories so hard to craft? With limited budgets and expertise, corporate communicators have to rely on their storytelling mastery to engage and inspire. In this session, Chad Carter demonstrates how Special Olympics Oregon used limited resources to create and edit incredible video stories that moved stakeholders to action.

Attendees will learn:

  • How to shoot quality videos using just a smartphone
  • Ways to capture your organization’s mission and vision in a compelling visual narrative
  • How to identify and promote the emotional core of your story
  • Storytelling best practices that inspire audiences to take action
Senior director of marketing and communications
Special Olympics Oregon
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11–11:50 a.m.

Turning stats into stories: Effective data visualization for all audiences and communicators

Great communicators are adept at crafting stories from raw information. As business analytics become more sophisticated, those crude facts increasingly take the form of metrics, spreadsheets and digits. How does a communicator translate a spreadsheet into a visually pleasing story? In this session, novice and veteran communicators will learn the art of data visualization and how to create magic out of spreadsheet madness.

You’ll learn how to:

  • Cultivate stories from numbers and present them to any audience
  • Identify the most important information in a data set
  • Choose visual formats that best suit your story
  • Design poignant graphics from rows of data
Data visualization engineer
Condé Nast
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11:50 a.m.–12:50 p.m.

Networking lunch

(provided on site)

1–1:50 p.m.

Effective video storytelling without the bells and whistles

Creating visually appealing graphics is difficult. A health care organization like Legacy Health has additional challenges: limited budgets, a heavily regulated industry and a closet-sized space in which to pull it all off. In this session, you’ll learn how Legacy Health reaches its audience with visuals despite limited resources.

Attendees will learn how to:

  • Create powerful visuals using only a smartphone
  • Find types of stories that work on any budget
  • Successfully collaborate with partners on creative work
  • Build an in-house video studio with limited resources
PR and community relations consultant
Legacy Health
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2–2:50 p.m.

Visual journalism: Simple tricks for telling human stories in visually appealing ways

Every corporate communicator must tap into his or her inner journalist from time to time. The best know how to find stories that matter in even mundane topics and bring them to life for audiences. In this session, Teresa Mahoney shares creative methods for finding, shooting and editing visual stories that audiences will love.

Attendees will learn:

  • Methods for finding human interest stories in humdrum topics
  • Ways to find and frame stories that matter to your audience
  • Creative tricks for making visually stunning videos
  • How to create video series that audiences will look forward to
  • Simple editing tips for creating professional-looking videos

 

Video Journalist
The Oregonian
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3–3:50 p.m.

Low-budget tricks for reaching all audiences with stunning visuals and video

Making engaging video doesn’t have to be a budget-busting endeavor. The best communicators know how to offer quick, shareable hits of the most crucial information for any audience, even those on the go. In this presentation, Ashley Miller shares how her team at Lehigh Valley Health Network creates videos and visuals for an audience of busy, on-the-go individuals.

You’ll learn how to:

  • Create must-know video communications for employees in a hurry
  • Use creative social media tactics to bypass algorithm blockades
  • Capture attention with easily consumed short-form video stories
  • Make the most of native Facebook tools to design stunning visuals
  • Reach physicians and other nondesk employees with crucial messages
Digital engagement supervisor
Lehigh Valley Health Network
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3:50–4:10 p.m.

Networking Break

4:10–5 p.m.

Cracking the code for visual social media engagement

If you make an amazing video and no one sees it, is it really amazing? Don Bourassa, founder of the social media department at Yelp, has addressed questions surrounding engagement, social media algorithms and video storytelling in his role at the groundbreaking tech organization. This session merges best practices in social media and video with challenges in social media content creation.

You’ll learn how to:

  • Grab your audience’s attention in the first three seconds and hold onto it
  • Respect the details that make the difference in video production for social media
  • Incorporate explicit calls to action into your promotion
  • Make the most of a small budget for paid social media
  • Measure the results of your effort by targeting the KPIs that count
Social media manager
Yelp
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Friday, April 20

9–9:50 a.m.

Practical tools to reward your audience with visual excellence

There are so many incredible resources for creating visuals and video on the cheap. Where does a communicator start? In this session, Ralph Brekan brings over 20 years of art, design and video experience to the table to teach communications professionals proven methods for getting ahead—even with limited resources.

You’ll learn how to:

  • Come in under budget and surpass expectations on visual communications
  • Use grassroots tactics for creating high-quality internal videos
  • Master visual communications technology without fear or specialized training
  • Use free and low-cost tools to create on-brand content
Multimedia Producer & Designer
FLS International
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10–10:50 a.m.

Finding what matters: Capturing corporate stories that move audiences to action

Everyone has a story. Few have the skills to tell it in a way that seizes an audience’s attention and doesn’t let go. The communicator’s challenge is to not only uncover stories that matter, but weave them in a way that inspires and ultimately achieves business goals. In this session, Kim Clark puts her documentary filmmaking background and communications expertise on display and reveals practical video storytelling and executive communications takeaways.

You’ll learn:

  • How to coax compelling stories from employees and executives alike
  • How to build trust among leaders for on-camera interviews
  • When to use video and when not to
  • How to choose a distribution channel that best meets your business objectives
  • Ways to plan and shoot a video to make it more dynamic
Director of internal communications
GoDaddy
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11 a.m.–Noon

Communicating purpose through corporate video

Videos need not be flashy to tell a powerful story. Many of the best are rooted in timeless narratives that have been reinvented thousands of times. In this session, YouTube veteran Zynara Ng shares how she creates incredible videos that offer up a higher purpose through emotional storytelling—and how you can do the same.

You’ll learn:

  • Why pre-production is the most important part of the video process
  • How to ask the right questions to find stories that stick
  • How to communicate a meaningful message to your audience
  • Post-production tips for finishing your video story with vigor
Video producer
Google
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For event information, contact Customer Service 800.878.5331, or cservice@ragan.com