Monday, July 29

5:30–7:30 p.m.
Networking

Pre-conference networking social

Join us at Hotel Nia for a pre-conference social and jump into networking with fellow internal and employee communicators before the conference begins! Enjoy delicious light bites and sip drinks at Menlo Park’s premium luxury hotel while you discuss your ideas, successes and challenges with conference peers.

Tuesday, July 30

9–10 a.m.  
Opening keynote

As internal communications gets its due, are you on board for what’s next?

For years, internal communicators have groused about their place in communications landscape, for good reason: no seat at the table, order taking instead of strategic thinking, horrible newsletters, “grip-and-grin” photos and incredibly boring content. No longer. After years of playing second fiddle (or third) to PR and marketing, organizations are finally discovering why employee communications matters.

Internal communications and employee engagement can reveal how to recruit talented people—and keep them.  a culture where employees feel they belong, embrace the mission, relish their part in it and participate in the “how” of the business, not just the “what.” In this opening keynote, Jim Ylisela and Mark Raganwill kick the conference off with a reminder of where we’ve been, how far we’ve come and where we are surely going.

Jim Ylisela
Co-Founder and Senior Partner
RCG
Read bio
Mark Ragan
Mark Ragan
Owner
Ragan Communications
Read bio
10:10–11 a.m.

Raise employee engagement and your organization’s profile through storytelling

Increasing readership and interaction with internal stakeholders can seem like an uphill battle, especially when employees’ attention pulled in many directions. For internal content that captures attention and inspires action, adopt a newsroom approach. Leanora Minai, editor and executive director of communications for the Office of Communication Services at Duke University, and her team approach employee communications like journalists, offering “news you can use” to more than 38,000 employees across the “Working@Duke” print and digital platforms. In return, storytelling helps boost retention and job satisfaction. Take a page from the Duke team’s playbook on how to successfully tell stories and frame narratives in a way that ultimately underscores your organization’s best attributes and opportunities.

You’ll learn:

  • How to build a successful storytelling structure, grounded in data
  • How to frame stories to convey your organization’s priorities
  • Tips for tailoring and sharing content across platforms, including social media
  • Secrets for interviews that provide captivating details for both long- and short-form stories
  • Why it’s important to survey employees about your internal communications
Leanora Minai
Leanora Minai
Executive director, communications
Duke University
Read bio
11:10 a.m.–noon

Communicating in times of change: Effectively gather and implement employee feedback

It can be hard to communicate internally while organizational structures shift and leadership changes abound, but if you wait to measure employee sentiment only during times of stability and high morale, you can miss out on great insights which lead to even greater action and communications. Jessica Kimball, head of employee engagement, diversity and inclusion for Mattel, has helped employees through a time of transformation—four CEOs in four years—while also better connecting Mattel’s workforce to the brand’s vision and mission. She’ll share how Mattel has overhauled its survey strategy to become more agile in gathering employee feedback, along with how you can follow suit to better empower your leaders to take responsibility and lead the charge in making widespread, positive change within your workforce.

You’ll learn:

  • The business case for being agile with employee engagement and sentiment
  • How surveys can better help you connect your workforce to your organization’s purpose and brand
  • Strategies to measure engagement across the employee lifecycle
  • How to increase accountability and empower your organization’s leaders to take action
  • Ways to empower employees to get involved and own their engagement
Jessica Kimball
Head of employee engagement, diversity and inclusion
Mattel
Read bio
Noon–1:10 p.m.

Networking lunch

(provided onsite)

12:30-1 p.m.

Q&A with Brynn Harrington, director of People Growth Programs at Facebook

Engage in dialogue with Harrington and learn about how Facebook defines, reinforces and scales its culture as it’s in a rapid growth phase.

Brynn Harrington
Director, people growth
Facebook
Read bio
1:10–2 p.m.

Strengthen your company's diversity and inclusion efforts with intentional internal communications

A diverse workforce, an inclusive organizational culture and a companywide sense of belonging are company imperatives now and in the future. Internal and employee communications pros must make integrating diversity, inclusion and belonging into their communication strategies a top business priority. Not only is it the right thing to do in general, doing so can boost employee productivity, inspire innovation, attract outstanding talent and increase both employee retention and your organization’s bottom line. However, the right person must lead the charge—and that’s you. In this interactive session, Kim Clark, affiliate consultant for Ragan Consulting Group, will show you how to build an inclusive culture that welcomes and builds communities of employees from all backgrounds.

You’ll learn:

  • The high-impact role of internal communicators in building a sense of belonging across the company
  • Ways to work with HR on effective diversity and inclusion strategies that challenge assumptions and overcomes stumbling blocks
  • Tips for using peer-to-peer discussions to develop plans that get executives on board with your diversity and inclusion efforts—and ways to be accountable for your goals
  • Innovative ideas for crafting a welcoming work culture
Kim Clark
Kim Clark
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Communications Consultant
Ragan Consulting Group
Read bio
2:10-3 p.m.

Connect and inspire a dispersed workforce through an integrated communications strategy

There are thousands of tools designed to help you engage with employees and build collaborative internal communities. You probably know most of them, including e-mail, virtual meetings, intranet, videos, town halls, social media and text. Yet, how do you choose the right ones—or do you use them all? The answer requires customizing communications to your specific internal audiences and equipping employees with the tools and knowledge necessary to deliver their best work. Christine Kitson, manager of internal communications at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, will share tactics, case studies and insights which demonstrate how an integrated communications strategy can elevate staff engagement and empower even the most dispersed workforce to become enthusiastic brand ambassadors who collaborate more effectively across departments, locations, and project-specific groups.

You'll learn:

  • How to identify the best communications channels for specific audiences in your workforce
  • Ways to empower employees to become brand ambassadors and leverage social media champions across your organization, boosting engagement and driving your mission
  • The secrets that motivate employees to share and engage with organizational content
  • Steps for building a culture of trust and transparency using bottom-up communications, recognition and encouragement
  • How to secure buy-in by demonstrating ROI to executive stakeholders
Christine Kitson
Manager of internal communications
ASPCA
Read bio
3–3:30 p.m.

Networking break

3:30-4:20 p.m.

Does your organization’s culture help or hinder your ability to creatively engage employees and customers?

With 66% of the US workforce disengaged, organizations must connect with their employees and customers in new and meaningful ways. Cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset that’s committed to experimentation as well as your organizational culture and values are essential to unlocking the creative genius of your employees and customers. Darrin Caldwell, marketing and communications creative manager at Zappos, will reveal how the company’s unique culture and commitment to self-organization helped to create an internal full-service communications, marketing and design agency, along with takeaways for harnessing the power of collaboration and the entrepreneurial spirit.

You’ll learn:

  • How to leverage self-organization and self-management to sense and respond to new opportunities and current challenges within your organization and industry
  • Ways that your company culture can help protect new ideas and foster the growth of experimental teams or initiatives
  • The types of organizational culture and structure that was crucial to Zappos using the power of “intrapreneurs” within the company
  • How Zappos’ unique culture helps to continually “WOW” and engage employees and customers
Darrin Caldwell
Marketing and communications creative manager
Zappos
Read bio
4:30–5:30 p.m.
Special keynote

How employee communications powers innovation at Facebook

It’s no secret that Facebook employees bring bold, fearless creativity to work each day. However, you might be surprised to discover the driving force behind workforce innovation: a communication approach that’s just as audacious and creative as Facebook’s employees.

In this special keynote presentation, you’ll see firsthand how internal communications constantly connects employees to senior leaders’ vision for the future of the company. You’ll also learn how internal communications can provoke bold curiosity among employees and encourage them to shape the future quicker than they thought they ever could.

Jonny Oser
Director, Internal Communications
Facebook
Read bio
5:30–7:30 p.m.

Networking cocktail party

Hosted by:

Image result for workplace by facebook

Join us for a cocktail party filled with networking and fun. As you talk with industry peers, share your conference thoughts on Facebook’s whiteboard and take photographs with emoji paddles for your social media profiles. You can also explore interactive walls, where you can learn how many Facebook users are currently online anywhere in the world and receive suggestions for who to follow on Instagram, depending on your interests. Don’t forget to share your adventures with our event hashtag, #RaganFacebook.

Wednesday, July 31

8:45–9:45 a.m.
Opening keynote

The business case for a thriving workplace: How to use culture to boost your bottom line

Internal communications pros know that culture is crucial to successful employee engagement, executive communications and other internal information sharing  efforts. Why is this piece of the puzzle so important, though—and does it really impact ROI in ways you can share up to your executives?

An organization’s corporate values and company culture can impact the bottom line. A thriving and transparent workplace can help you find more top-tier talent and boost retention. It can also boost both your organization’s brand image and financial performance—what every chief executive wants. Scott Dobroski, senior director of corporate communications for Glassdoor, will share how communications plays an all-important role in building and maintaining an outstanding company culture. He’ll also share insights and data from Glassdoor’s culture and employee satisfaction research across hundreds of thousands of organizations, giving you takeaways so you can play a pivotal role today to fuel business success for tomorrow.

Scott Dobroski
Senior director of corporate communications
Glassdoor
Read bio
9:55-10:45 a.m.

Support your organization’s transformation through a thriving workplace culture

Preparing and positioning an organization and its brand for the future starts from the inside. Organizations around the world are looking for ways to attract new and different customers, shift their business models and attract and retain the best talent. When Weight Watchers began its journey to expand beyond being the world's leading weight management program to become WW, the world's partner in wellness, the company started on the inside, galvanizing its team around the larger vision. Leah Truitt, senior manager of internal communications for WW, will share the company’s story and lessons learned along its path to grow.

You’ll learn: 

  • How to create an internal culture that accelerates and embraces transformation
  • Ways to give all employees a voice
  • Takeaways for communicating your business strategy to employees, along with their roles for carrying it out
  • How to foster an inspiring community where employees feel they are part of something much larger
Leah Truitt
Client Success Manager
Workplace from Facebook
Read bio
10:55–11:45 a.m.
Panel

Working across departments for employee engagement

Effective employee engagement and internal communications strategies require both the feedback and assistance of stakeholders throughout your organization, but all too often these individuals are siloed and prevented from combining their efforts to reach maximum efficiency and solve systemic challenges. In this interactive panel, you’ll get a chance to ask questions and glean insights as internal and employee communications experts from PVH, Kroger, Mattel, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and BLR discuss how to bridge the gap between departments and get everyone on board with your next campaign or project.

You’ll learn:

  • Why you must work together with leaders from different departments to accomplish your goals
  • How to measure success and encourage accountability  with leadership and beyond
  • Ways to cut through politics and silos to work together and slash redundancy
  • Secrets for finding solutions for common pain points, whether you’re in HR, employee engagement, executive communications or something else
Christopher Westcott
Christopher Westcott
Vice president of culture and employee experience
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
Read bio
Kim St. Lawrence
Kim St. Lawrence
Marketing director of professional development
BLR
Read bio
Tiffin Jernstedt
Senior vice president of communications
PVH (over Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein)
Read bio
Erin Lickliter
Head of associate communications and engagement
Kroger
Read bio
Jessica Kimball
Head of employee engagement, diversity and inclusion
Mattel
Read bio
11:45 a.m.–12:45 p.m.

Networking lunch

(provided on-site)

12:15-12:45 p.m.

Q&A with Scott Dobroski, senior director of corporate communications, and Amelia Green-Vamos, manager of corporate and employer communications, Glassdoor

Your organization’s culture, inner workings and what really goes on inside closed doors are increasingly showing up online as more and more employees share reviews and experiences for the world to see. These insights and opinions can not only affect your organization’s talent recruitment efforts, they can also impact your reputation. How should you approach insider looks at your organization, both positive and negative? How can you boost you employer brand and bolster your reputation in today's hyper-transparent age? In this Q&A session where nothing is off the table, learn the do's and don'ts around responding to employee feedback in a public forum and how you can leverage both rave reviews and criticism about your company as you seek to strengthen its brand and image.

Amelia Green-Vamos
Manager of corporate and employer communications
Glassdoor
Read bio
Scott Dobroski
Senior director of corporate communications
Glassdoor
Read bio
12:45–1:35 p.m.

Power employee engagement through honing leadership communications

Reaching employees and connecting them to your organization’s brand, goals and mission is crucial to fostering an outstanding workforce with engaged employees and brand advocates. Doing so requires your executives and leadership take an active role in nurturing a culture of employee engagement, which starts with them being connected and accessible. Joan Irons Cronin, vice president of the strategic communications team at Citizens Bank, will show you takeaways from crafting effective executive communications strategies that amplify your internal messages and efforts, both for short-term projects and long-term success.

You’ll learn:

  • How to marry executives’ needs and styles with internal communications goals
  • Steps for building an efficient and effective executive communications and engagement strategy
  • Utilizing tools and technology to engage ALL employees in the conversation with leaders
  • Takeaways for showing leaders results—and encouraging them to be active communicators for the long haul
Joan Irons Cronin
Joan Irons Cronin
Strategic communications director
Citizens Bank
Read bio
1:45–2:35 p.m.

Drive engagement with an intranet that puts your employees front and center

For far too many internal communicators, the “intranet” is another channel vying for employees’ attention and competing in a digital workspace crowded with organizational messages and goals. However, when created with your end users in mind, an intranet can bridge multiple departments and objectives, effectively provide crucial information that helps employees better deliver on results, greatly increase internal interaction and collect data that can transform your employee communications. Erin Lickliter, head of associate communications and engagement at Kroger, will share the value an intranet can bring, along with takeaways and lessons learned from an intranet with a new employee brand at its center, which has grown to more than 3 million monthly users and grabbing over 9 million page views.

You’ll learn:

  • Why having an intranet can be a valuable channel for internal communications and ways an employee-centric intranet backed by culture can connect your workforce
  • Why measurement should be at the forefront of your intranet and employee communications efforts—and how to use data to your advantage
  • How to merge sites and efforts across your organization, making a central and mobile-accessible site to reach employees in ways that work for them
  • Secrets of effective internal content and messages which employees want to read and act upon
  • How to transform your internal strategies from reactive messages to proactive employee communications
Erin Lickliter
Head of associate communications and engagement
Kroger
Read bio
2:35–3 p.m.

Networking break

3-3:50 p.m.

Encourage employee engagement by connecting them to the ‘why’

Relaying your organization’s mission and values to your employees is only the first step towards persuading them to be engaged and active. To truly excite your front-facing employees, you must connect them to the “why” of your organization and make what they do each day more than just a job. This is no small feat, especially if your employees make up a dispersed workforce. Stacie Barrett, director of internal communications for Domino’s Pizza, will share through examples and case studies how you can connect your employees and to your purpose through the power of storytelling—along with ways you can apply these principles to your corporate workers, too.

You’ll learn:

  • How to tap into your brand purpose and mission by constantly asking “Why?”
  • Ways you can use storytelling to reach and excite employees, no matter their location or title
  • Tools and resources you can use to push engagement
  • Tips for arming your frontline employees with current news and announcements
4-5 p.m.
Closing Keynote

Get to the heart of employee engagement by channeling the power of data

The secret of stellar employee engagement is creating content that drives them to click and read, along with opportunities that spark participation. That means getting inside of your employees’ brains—without the power of telepathy. Don’t fear: By using the power of information psychology, brain science and technology trends, you can influence internal communication efforts across your intranet, employee emails, executive announcements and other platforms and efforts. platforms, both internally and externally, that work best for today’s quickly moving digital environment.

Kristin Graham, head of employee communications at Amazon Web Services, will share insights about our ever-changing employees, including how to anticipate their needs and respond with messages and content that work best for today’s quickly moving digital workplace. Through a collection of “nerd stats,” you’ll learn how to truly grab your employees’ attention and increase engagement across your campaigns.

Kristin Graham
Founder and Chief Word Nerd
Unlock the Brain
Read bio

Turn your conference learnings and insights into action with this in-depth, hands-on workshop. (Extra fee to attend)

This post-conference workshop will take place at:

Hotel Nia
200 Independence Drive
Menlo Park, CA 94025

Aug. 1, 2019

9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.

Deadline: Internal Communications
Produce great content and images in less than a day

PR and marketing shouldn’t have all the fun. Some of the best stories are internal, and as an employee communicator, it’s your job to find them, tell them and publish them for multiple audiences. How do you deliver the best content, in multiple formats, to your employee audience? Learn how to do it in real time at this fast-paced, hands-on workshop that combines reporting, writing, photography and publishing on a dedicated platform for sharing content.

Come prepared to plan, write, snap, edit and post, all between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Jim Ylisela, veteran journalist and communications consultant, will put you through your paces, joined by longtime Chicago photographer Eileen Ryan.

In the boot camp, we’ll treat the conference you just attended as our own internal comms event.

Working in teams, you will:

  • Run your news desk to plan and coordinate your coverage
  • Assign stories and photos for posting to a publishing platform
  • Work with the boot camp instructors to review and fine-tune your work
  • Write compelling headlines, teasers and captions for your stories
  • Publish content on our dedicated platform

Required technology: Participants should bring smartphones with the ability to take photos and video recordings.

Workshop agenda

9–9:30 a.m.
Let’s get organized
Do you have days where you feel like you’re behind before you even begin? That may be the prevailing view as we attempt to produce stories and images about the conference.  In our opening session, Jim Ylisela will give you a quick overview of the day and hand out team assignments.

9:30-10:30 a.m.
Photo mini-workshop
We all can take photos with our phones, right? That doesn’t mean they’re any good. In this mini-workshop, Eileen Ryan will give you some practical tips to improve your smartphone photos. She’ll talk about framing, lighting and how to match the photo to the story you want to tell. She’ll also remind you of all those bells and whistles that come with your phone. Have an actual camera? Bring it.

10:45–11:30 a.m.
News desk
Gather with your team and get ready to head out on assignment. The news desk, with one of your own as managing editor, will coordinate the day’s reporting, writing and photography.

11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Words and pictures
Location, location, location. Move out—throughout the hotel, outside or any other place that suits you—to interview each other and take some good photos.

12:30–1:30 p.m.
Lunch and time to crank
Come back to our newsroom, grab a sandwich and start writing copy and downloading photos for your story packages. Don’t forget about those headlines and captions. Jim and Eileen will be ready to review, edit and, perhaps, ask you to revise before we publish.

1:30–2:15 p.m.
Copy due
Your deadline looms. By now you will have reviewed your copy with Jim and selected your photos with help from Eileen. Time to upload your packages to your publishing platform.

2:15-3:00 p.m.
The great reveal
Grab a snack and a cold drink and gather in the newsroom for our review of your story packages and official awards ceremony. (Where would internal communications be without an awards ceremony?)

3 p.m.
Your shift is over.

 

Eileen Ryan
Affiliate consultant
Ragan Consulting Group
Read bio
Jim Ylisela
Co-Founder and Senior Partner
RCG
Read bio

Tuesday, July 30

9–10 a.m.   Pacific time
Opening keynote

As internal communications gets its due, are you on board for what’s next?

For years, internal communicators have groused about their place in communications landscape, for good reason: no seat at the table, order taking instead of strategic thinking, horrible newsletters, “grip-and-grin” photos and incredibly boring content. No longer. After years of playing second fiddle (or third) to PR and marketing, organizations are finally discovering why employee communications matters.

Internal communications and employee engagement can reveal how to recruit talented people—and keep them.  a culture where employees feel they belong, embrace the mission, relish their part in it and participate in the “how” of the business, not just the “what.” In this opening keynote, Jim Ylisela and Mark Raganwill kick the conference off with a reminder of where we’ve been, how far we’ve come and where we are surely going.

Jim Ylisela
Co-Founder and Senior Partner
RCG
Read bio
Mark Ragan
Mark Ragan
Owner
Ragan Communications
Read bio
10:10–11 a.m. Pacific time

Raise employee engagement and your organization’s profile through storytelling

Increasing readership and interaction with internal stakeholders can seem like an uphill battle, especially when employees’ attention pulled in many directions. For internal content that captures attention and inspires action, adopt a newsroom approach. Leanora Minai, editor and executive director of communications for the Office of Communication Services at Duke University, and her team approach employee communications like journalists, offering “news you can use” to more than 38,000 employees across the “Working@Duke” print and digital platforms. In return, storytelling helps boost retention and job satisfaction. Take a page from the Duke team’s playbook on how to successfully tell stories and frame narratives in a way that ultimately underscores your organization’s best attributes and opportunities.

You’ll learn:

  • How to build a successful storytelling structure, grounded in data
  • How to frame stories to convey your organization’s priorities
  • Tips for tailoring and sharing content across platforms, including social media
  • Secrets for interviews that provide captivating details for both long- and short-form stories
  • Why it’s important to survey employees about your internal communications
Leanora Minai
Leanora Minai
Executive director, communications
Duke University
Read bio
11:10 a.m.–noon Pacific time

Communicating in times of change: Effectively gather and implement employee feedback

It can be hard to communicate internally while organizational structures shift and leadership changes abound, but if you wait to measure employee sentiment only during times of stability and high morale, you can miss out on great insights which lead to even greater action and communications. Jessica Kimball, head of employee engagement, diversity and inclusion for Mattel, has helped employees through a time of transformation—four CEOs in four years—while also better connecting Mattel’s workforce to the brand’s vision and mission. She’ll share how Mattel has overhauled its survey strategy to become more agile in gathering employee feedback, along with how you can follow suit to better empower your leaders to take responsibility and lead the charge in making widespread, positive change within your workforce.

You’ll learn:

  • The business case for being agile with employee engagement and sentiment
  • How surveys can better help you connect your workforce to your organization’s purpose and brand
  • Strategies to measure engagement across the employee lifecycle
  • How to increase accountability and empower your organization’s leaders to take action
  • Ways to empower employees to get involved and own their engagement
Jessica Kimball
Head of employee engagement, diversity and inclusion
Mattel
Read bio
12:30-1 p.m. Pacific time

Q&A with Brynn Harrington, director of People Growth Programs at Facebook

Engage in dialogue with Harrington and learn about how Facebook defines, reinforces and scales its culture as it’s in a rapid growth phase.

Brynn Harrington
Director, people growth
Facebook
Read bio
1:10–2 p.m. Pacific time

Strengthen your company's diversity and inclusion efforts with intentional internal communications

A diverse workforce, an inclusive organizational culture and a companywide sense of belonging are company imperatives now and in the future. Internal and employee communications pros must make integrating diversity, inclusion and belonging into their communication strategies a top business priority. Not only is it the right thing to do in general, doing so can boost employee productivity, inspire innovation, attract outstanding talent and increase both employee retention and your organization’s bottom line. However, the right person must lead the charge—and that’s you. In this interactive session, Kim Clark, affiliate consultant for Ragan Consulting Group, will show you how to build an inclusive culture that welcomes and builds communities of employees from all backgrounds.

You’ll learn:

  • The high-impact role of internal communicators in building a sense of belonging across the company
  • Ways to work with HR on effective diversity and inclusion strategies that challenge assumptions and overcomes stumbling blocks
  • Tips for using peer-to-peer discussions to develop plans that get executives on board with your diversity and inclusion efforts—and ways to be accountable for your goals
  • Innovative ideas for crafting a welcoming work culture
Kim Clark
Kim Clark
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Communications Consultant
Ragan Consulting Group
Read bio
2:10-3 p.m. Pacific time

Connect and inspire a dispersed workforce through an integrated communications strategy

There are thousands of tools designed to help you engage with employees and build collaborative internal communities. You probably know most of them, including e-mail, virtual meetings, intranet, videos, town halls, social media and text. Yet, how do you choose the right ones—or do you use them all? The answer requires customizing communications to your specific internal audiences and equipping employees with the tools and knowledge necessary to deliver their best work. Christine Kitson, manager of internal communications at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, will share tactics, case studies and insights which demonstrate how an integrated communications strategy can elevate staff engagement and empower even the most dispersed workforce to become enthusiastic brand ambassadors who collaborate more effectively across departments, locations, and project-specific groups.

You'll learn:

  • How to identify the best communications channels for specific audiences in your workforce
  • Ways to empower employees to become brand ambassadors and leverage social media champions across your organization, boosting engagement and driving your mission
  • The secrets that motivate employees to share and engage with organizational content
  • Steps for building a culture of trust and transparency using bottom-up communications, recognition and encouragement
  • How to secure buy-in by demonstrating ROI to executive stakeholders
Christine Kitson
Manager of internal communications
ASPCA
Read bio
4:30–5:30 p.m. Pacific time
Special keynote

How employee communications powers innovation at Facebook

It’s no secret that Facebook employees bring bold, fearless creativity to work each day. However, you might be surprised to discover the driving force behind workforce innovation: a communication approach that’s just as audacious and creative as Facebook’s employees.

In this special keynote presentation, you’ll see firsthand how internal communications constantly connects employees to senior leaders’ vision for the future of the company. You’ll also learn how internal communications can provoke bold curiosity among employees and encourage them to shape the future quicker than they thought they ever could.

Jonny Oser
Director, Internal Communications
Facebook
Read bio

Wednesday, July 31

8:45–9:45 a.m. Pacific time
Opening keynote

The business case for a thriving workplace: How to use culture to boost your bottom line

Internal communications pros know that culture is crucial to successful employee engagement, executive communications and other internal information sharing  efforts. Why is this piece of the puzzle so important, though—and does it really impact ROI in ways you can share up to your executives?

An organization’s corporate values and company culture can impact the bottom line. A thriving and transparent workplace can help you find more top-tier talent and boost retention. It can also boost both your organization’s brand image and financial performance—what every chief executive wants. Scott Dobroski, senior director of corporate communications for Glassdoor, will share how communications plays an all-important role in building and maintaining an outstanding company culture. He’ll also share insights and data from Glassdoor’s culture and employee satisfaction research across hundreds of thousands of organizations, giving you takeaways so you can play a pivotal role today to fuel business success for tomorrow.

Scott Dobroski
Senior director of corporate communications
Glassdoor
Read bio
9:55-10:45 a.m. Pacific time

Support your organization’s transformation through a thriving workplace culture

Preparing and positioning an organization and its brand for the future starts from the inside. Organizations around the world are looking for ways to attract new and different customers, shift their business models and attract and retain the best talent. When Weight Watchers began its journey to expand beyond being the world's leading weight management program to become WW, the world's partner in wellness, the company started on the inside, galvanizing its team around the larger vision. Leah Truitt, senior manager of internal communications for WW, will share the company’s story and lessons learned along its path to grow.

You’ll learn: 

  • How to create an internal culture that accelerates and embraces transformation
  • Ways to give all employees a voice
  • Takeaways for communicating your business strategy to employees, along with their roles for carrying it out
  • How to foster an inspiring community where employees feel they are part of something much larger
Leah Truitt
Client Success Manager
Workplace from Facebook
Read bio
10:55–11:45 a.m. Pacific time
Panel

Working across departments for employee engagement

Effective employee engagement and internal communications strategies require both the feedback and assistance of stakeholders throughout your organization, but all too often these individuals are siloed and prevented from combining their efforts to reach maximum efficiency and solve systemic challenges. In this interactive panel, you’ll get a chance to ask questions and glean insights as internal and employee communications experts from PVH, Kroger, Mattel, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and BLR discuss how to bridge the gap between departments and get everyone on board with your next campaign or project.

You’ll learn:

  • Why you must work together with leaders from different departments to accomplish your goals
  • How to measure success and encourage accountability  with leadership and beyond
  • Ways to cut through politics and silos to work together and slash redundancy
  • Secrets for finding solutions for common pain points, whether you’re in HR, employee engagement, executive communications or something else
Christopher Westcott
Christopher Westcott
Vice president of culture and employee experience
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
Read bio
Kim St. Lawrence
Kim St. Lawrence
Marketing director of professional development
BLR
Read bio
Tiffin Jernstedt
Senior vice president of communications
PVH (over Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein)
Read bio
Erin Lickliter
Head of associate communications and engagement
Kroger
Read bio
Jessica Kimball
Head of employee engagement, diversity and inclusion
Mattel
Read bio
12:15-12:45 p.m. Pacific time

Q&A with Scott Dobroski, senior director of corporate communications, and Amelia Green-Vamos, manager of corporate and employer communications, Glassdoor

Your organization’s culture, inner workings and what really goes on inside closed doors are increasingly showing up online as more and more employees share reviews and experiences for the world to see. These insights and opinions can not only affect your organization’s talent recruitment efforts, they can also impact your reputation. How should you approach insider looks at your organization, both positive and negative? How can you boost you employer brand and bolster your reputation in today's hyper-transparent age? In this Q&A session where nothing is off the table, learn the do's and don'ts around responding to employee feedback in a public forum and how you can leverage both rave reviews and criticism about your company as you seek to strengthen its brand and image.

Amelia Green-Vamos
Manager of corporate and employer communications
Glassdoor
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Scott Dobroski
Senior director of corporate communications
Glassdoor
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12:45–1:35 p.m. Pacific time

Power employee engagement through honing leadership communications

Reaching employees and connecting them to your organization’s brand, goals and mission is crucial to fostering an outstanding workforce with engaged employees and brand advocates. Doing so requires your executives and leadership take an active role in nurturing a culture of employee engagement, which starts with them being connected and accessible. Joan Irons Cronin, vice president of the strategic communications team at Citizens Bank, will show you takeaways from crafting effective executive communications strategies that amplify your internal messages and efforts, both for short-term projects and long-term success.

You’ll learn:

  • How to marry executives’ needs and styles with internal communications goals
  • Steps for building an efficient and effective executive communications and engagement strategy
  • Utilizing tools and technology to engage ALL employees in the conversation with leaders
  • Takeaways for showing leaders results—and encouraging them to be active communicators for the long haul
Joan Irons Cronin
Joan Irons Cronin
Strategic communications director
Citizens Bank
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1:45–2:35 p.m. Pacific time

Drive engagement with an intranet that puts your employees front and center

For far too many internal communicators, the “intranet” is another channel vying for employees’ attention and competing in a digital workspace crowded with organizational messages and goals. However, when created with your end users in mind, an intranet can bridge multiple departments and objectives, effectively provide crucial information that helps employees better deliver on results, greatly increase internal interaction and collect data that can transform your employee communications. Erin Lickliter, head of associate communications and engagement at Kroger, will share the value an intranet can bring, along with takeaways and lessons learned from an intranet with a new employee brand at its center, which has grown to more than 3 million monthly users and grabbing over 9 million page views.

You’ll learn:

  • Why having an intranet can be a valuable channel for internal communications and ways an employee-centric intranet backed by culture can connect your workforce
  • Why measurement should be at the forefront of your intranet and employee communications efforts—and how to use data to your advantage
  • How to merge sites and efforts across your organization, making a central and mobile-accessible site to reach employees in ways that work for them
  • Secrets of effective internal content and messages which employees want to read and act upon
  • How to transform your internal strategies from reactive messages to proactive employee communications
Erin Lickliter
Head of associate communications and engagement
Kroger
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3-3:50 p.m. Pacific time

Encourage employee engagement by connecting them to the ‘why’

Relaying your organization’s mission and values to your employees is only the first step towards persuading them to be engaged and active. To truly excite your front-facing employees, you must connect them to the “why” of your organization and make what they do each day more than just a job. This is no small feat, especially if your employees make up a dispersed workforce. Stacie Barrett, director of internal communications for Domino’s Pizza, will share through examples and case studies how you can connect your employees and to your purpose through the power of storytelling—along with ways you can apply these principles to your corporate workers, too.

You’ll learn:

  • How to tap into your brand purpose and mission by constantly asking “Why?”
  • Ways you can use storytelling to reach and excite employees, no matter their location or title
  • Tools and resources you can use to push engagement
  • Tips for arming your frontline employees with current news and announcements
4-5 p.m. Pacific time
Closing Keynote

Get to the heart of employee engagement by channeling the power of data

The secret of stellar employee engagement is creating content that drives them to click and read, along with opportunities that spark participation. That means getting inside of your employees’ brains—without the power of telepathy. Don’t fear: By using the power of information psychology, brain science and technology trends, you can influence internal communication efforts across your intranet, employee emails, executive announcements and other platforms and efforts. platforms, both internally and externally, that work best for today’s quickly moving digital environment.

Kristin Graham, head of employee communications at Amazon Web Services, will share insights about our ever-changing employees, including how to anticipate their needs and respond with messages and content that work best for today’s quickly moving digital workplace. Through a collection of “nerd stats,” you’ll learn how to truly grab your employees’ attention and increase engagement across your campaigns.

Kristin Graham
Founder and Chief Word Nerd
Unlock the Brain
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