Strategic Communications Conference
INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS • PUBLIC RELATIONS • SOCIAL MEDIA
Microsoft Headquarters, Redmond, WA
New methods to transition from tactician to strategist
Interactive: AMA panels • Experiential learning • Live networking
Instruction: Skill sessions • Strategic lessons • Tactical guides
Inspiration: Success stories • In the Spotlight talks • Speed dating sessions
Reunite with your peers and join Ragan for an exclusive, interactive experience held at the Microsoft Learning Center on the tech giant’s HQ campus — where you’ll enjoy inspirational keynotes, info-packed skill sessions and dynamic demos across two tracks designed to meet your needs, whether you’re in internal or executive comms PR, social media or marketing.
In the wake of unprecedented upheaval, today’s leaders are looking for partners who are strategic advisors — not order takers. This event is a golden opportunity for communicators to step off the tactical hamster wheel — and step up into the corner suite by providing transformative strategies that help guide organizations forward with confidence and clarity.
Leave the days of uncertainty and checking boxes behind — and enjoy a refreshing opportunity to share ideas with your peers and unlock greater results, recognition and ROI for your efforts.
YOU’LL ALSO RECEIVE THESE EXCLUSIVE BONUS MATERIALS:
- The Clear and Concise Writing Guide
- Tip Sheet for Manager Communications
- LinkedIn Executive Thought Leadership Guide
- Best Practices for Inclusive Social Media
- ESG Comms: Evolve from Financial Reporting to ESG Storytelling
- Media Placement Secrets: How to Craft a Winning Pitch
- Ragan’s Crisis Communications Tips for Internal Communicators
- Ragan’s DEI Communications Plan Worksheet
SPOTLIGHT SESSIONS
Corporate Vice President, Talent, Learning & Insights
Microsoft
Director of Digital Communications
Lockheed Martin
Senior Vice President and Chief Design Officer
PepsiCo
General Manager of Employee, Social and Reputations Communications
Microsoft
AGENDA
Join for an inspiring, instructive in-person conference that will give you the latest skills and insights you need to step up and stay on top of your game.
Organizations with engaged employees significantly outperform those without. Communicators are critical to driving engagement and email is still a powerful tool in their toolbelts. In this talk, you will learn:
- Email best practices based on the analysis of billions of emails
- Visual Storytelling lessons you can apply to your campaigns
- How one company leveraged internal email metrics for better engagement
The world has changed and with it, so has communications. Out of necessity, we’ve become more adaptable, empathetic and crisis ready. Join to hear an amazing, firsthand story that will inspire you to transform this survival instinct into strategy by creating and communicating a nimble organizational culture that doesn’t just survive challenges — but thrives in change. You’ll hear:
- Firm foundations: Boosting change engagement by tying to organizational purpose
- How to assess and activate your best partners — including employees — to help
support change - How to identity the best digital channels and influencers for your message, including
smart ways to communicate organizational change with the press and public - Ideas for measuring your change communications successes
Clear, consistent and purpose-driven communications helped ground our workforce and calm our publics over the past few years. Ragan’s most recent “Communications Benchmark Report” and HarrisX/Ragan CEO-Communicators Competencies Survey” both show we’ve built stronger relationships with HR and allied departments through it all, while also forging greater access to the C-suite — but there’s still work to be done. This recap will break it all down using a SWOT analysis, created at Stanford to help execs evaluate and improve their organizations:
- Strengths: Where the sector is strong, strategic and trusted among execs
- Weakness: Areas for improvement, including hybrid workplace technology
- Opportunity: Possibilities for greater impact, including ESG, DEI and digital
- Threats: Emerging challenges, including AI worries and handling misinformation
Learn how to handle a hot topic facing communicators today! Many internal comms leaders are hired at a time when a company is facing major change and/or recognizes the need for a dedicated resource for communicating with employees. These professionals are often “coming in hot” to their new roles, and they are looking for ways to gain early traction while building they build the right long-term, strategic plan. In this session, you’ll learn:
- Processes to help you streamline approach to working with others, especially if you are part of a one-person or small team.
- Tools that let you work smarter and allow you to create a feedback loop
- How to identify the champions for your work
Yesterday’s tools can’t keep pace with today’s remote, dispersed and deskless workforce. Join this session to re-evaluate the tech you’re using to ensure your communications are seen, heard and acted upon — no matter where or how your employees prefer to be communicated with. You’ll discover the best new channels to add to your mix — and which you should move on from in the year ahead. You’ll learn:
- Considerations to future-proof your internal comms for a more effective workplace
- How to audit and tailor your tech stack so it’s the best fit for your hybrid employees
- Plug-ins and apps to help elevate everything from townhalls to team meetings
- How to minimize digital disruption (and costs) when implementing new technologies
- What's new and next for Microsoft 365, Microsoft Viva, Yammer and more . . .
A recent Axios study shows that 74 percent of us think our internal communications are clear and effective — yet only 40 percent of employees agree. Managers can help you bridge the gap, as they’ve become an increasingly influential channel in today’s hybrid workplace. Here’s how to sharpen your manager comms strategy so you deliver consistent and aligned information that cascades through the organization in a clear, effective way. You’ll learn:
- Audience first: How to craft key messages that matter to employees and that connect them to the organization’s mission and strategy
- Cadence and care: How to deliver the right message, the right way at the right time without burning out managers or employees
- Resource kits to help managers “cascade” messaging in their own voices for greater engagement and buy-in
- Bonus AMA: Ask anything you need to know about avoiding chaotic manager communications — even Alisha's hardest-won lessons
From automating mundane tasks to scanning resumes for recruiters, AI is now embedded within the digital workplace. Modern intranet software is no different, and some internal communicators are already reaping the rewards of AI-assisted technologies. Radical new tools have made life easier for comms professionals by providing intelligent suggestions and using data to help deliver timely, relevant, and inclusive comms to all employees. Watch this 10-minute lightning talk with Anthony Ascanio, VP Strategic Accounts, and Justin Harak, Enterprise Account Director at Interact, for an entertaining insight into advancements within modern intranets. Join them to discover how AI makes it possible to:
- Support authors to use positive and inclusive language
- Deliver comms along the channels employees prefer
- Suggest content that is relevant for your readers
Communicators don’t have to craft, share and live your brand story alone — not anymore. Your organization is already teeming with internal influencers who are passionate about their work and who they work for. Your task is finding them, recognizing them and empowering them to become cheerleaders for your brand(s) — both in person and online. Join this session to learn:
- Strategies to encourage your employees to advocate for your organization,
boosting wider engagement, morale and retention - The best channels for employees to share their stories — internally and externally
- Smart ways to tie your influencer program to your business and culture goals
- Social media rules: Guidelines for employees speaking out on social media
A dispersed workforce doesn’t have to be a disconnected workforce. By elevating DEI beyond performative measures, you can empower employees to feel supported, connected and seen. Join to see what’s working now to foster a deeper sense of belonging and greater employee engagement with DEI strategies that go beyond checking the box. You’ll learn:
- How to empower employee resource groups (ERGs) to boost awareness and allyship
- How to help employees break out of their remote silos, and own their role in DEI by embracing their power, cultural humility and voice
- How to measure DEI progress at your organization — and present it to the C-suite
- Storytelling strategies for communicating DEI progress toward goals
Organizations know it’s vital to build customer loyalty and brand awareness, but how do they build this loyalty and awareness internally? Employees can and will identify with your brand and it’s important we invest in them every step of the way. Key to success: Reach your employees where they are. Join Jeremy Finn, Large Enterprise Account Executive at Staffbase, for a 10-minute Lightning Talk and learn how to:
- Identify what you want internal brand advocacy to look and feel like
- Determine the barriers that exist for each employee
- Measure your results and adjust accordingly (and celebrate!)
Internal communications wrapped in a purpose-driven framework will substantially impact employee productivity, motivation and engagement. This refreshing session marries emotional intelligence (EQ) and communication types to ensure you connect with employees every time — and what engagement metrics to assess success. In this session, you'll learn:
- What to weave into purpose-driven communications to move the needle
- How to incorporate, leverage, and measure EQ in every communication
- What KPIs measure employee engagement and how to utilize those insights
- How to leverage what you learn to make every communication more meaningful
Today’s digital workspace can be overwhelming for employees juggling an influx of emails, intranet updates and messaging service notifications. Developing a user-first approach for engagement can beat employee click fatigue, all while populating your traditional channels with punchy, tailored and must-read content. In this session, you’ll learn:
- Best practices for user friendly and accessible content
- Writing tips to craft more engaging messages — plus a variety of more engaging ways to distribute your content
- How to remodel your intranet into a hub employees love — and return to again and again without push notifications
- Quick tips for integrating shorter, fun and more mobile-responsive communications that provide rich experiences for dispersed workforces
As if you don’t have enough on your plate, today’s internal communicators must also double as crisis managers amid relentless disruptions, restructurings, security alerts and more. The good news is you don't have to go it alone. In this session, we’ll hear from a comms leader who successfully bridges internal and external comms to quickly deliver consistent, clear and confident messaging in times of crisis . We’ll discuss:
- Rapid response principles in the age of social impact and cultural issues: How—and when—to react in support of issues like BLM, the Roe v. Wade ruling and coming electoral divisiveness
- What a flexible communications crisis plan looks like in today's always-evolving hybrid workplace
- Best tools and tactics to communicate tough, sensitive updates to a hybrid workforce—including townhalls, Slack, intranets and more
- How to translate internal comms messaging around issues or crises into talent recruitment and retention opportunities
- How to apply crisis lessons to your long-term communications strategy
Four facilitators from our speaker roster will sit at four respective tables organized by the topics below. After introductions, each will share their best practices on the topic and then open the table to attendees sharing their own advice and experiences on the topic for 10 minutes before attendees switch to the next table. Come ready with questions and your own challenges on:
- “How I Did It” —advice on climbing the internal comms ladder
- Townhalls, talks and speeches — what we’re doing to inspire teams
- Return to Office strategies — what’s working for us, and challenges we’re facing now
- Engagement parties — Workplace activities that boost employee morale and retention
Competition for attention is at an all-time high. If you want to create scroll-stopping content that gets read across all user journeys — then you need a content plan that ties internal and external comms together. Here’s how one major brand re-envisioned and unified its content using the PESO framework — which integrates paid, earned, shared and owned media. Join us for inspiring real-world examples of content, messages and channels that helped drive organizational objectives. You’ll discover:
- New content consumption trends driving changes in PESO
- Case study: A real-world snapshot of the PESO framework at work, including:
- Paid: Generating demand with paid amplification, sponsorship and advertising
- Earned: Pitching and placing media for credibility and links back to your site
- Shared: Engaging audiences and building communities on top of social media
- Owned: Creating videos and posts that boost awareness, loyalty and conversions
- How to create a plan, calendar, messages and assignments feed the content beast
- Essential KPIs to track and report across the entire PESO model
Wrap up your first day of inspiration and ideas by attending this relaxing reception. You’ll mingle with your peers and mangé at a delightful location right on the exquisite Microsoft campus.
Instructure, a leading SaaS company in the education sector, needed to personalize their employee experience. Their teams, spread across multiple continents, needed a streamlined way of finding relevant information for their country or region. They also needed a modern intranet solution to facilitate engagement and allow teams to collaborate, share ideas and document strategies for selling Instructure solutions. Learn why in April 2022, Instructure tapped LumApps to reinvigorate their employee experience with two solutions within one platform — a company-wide intranet, PandaNet 2.0, and a one-stop-shop revenue enablement center, Instructure 360.
In his forthcoming book "The Human Side of Innovation: The Power of People in Love with People," PepsiCo’s first ever Chief Design Officer Mauro Porcini argues that strategic kindness, optimism and curiosity are what’s needed most in today’s global, hyper-connected and hyper accelerated world. Not only do these traits drive quality and productivity for your communications teams — but also a better working environment and society for all. Many companies, and many leaders, haven’t realized this yet. The ones that have are strategically hiring for and developing these traits in their people – and that’s why they have a competitive edge. The inspiring ideas you’ll hear in this motivating keynote include:
- Why strategic kindness, optimism and curiosity start with communicators like you
- Why the “power of people in love with people” matters in the age of purpose—and how to take the lead at your organization
- How to hire, grow and retain exceptional employees by identifying their “superpowers”
- The different entrepreneurial, social and enabling gifts to look for in prospective hires
- How mentors play a significant role in the development of extraordinary employees
If your internal, external and executive comms teams don't collaborate and lear from each other, you run the risk of fostering confusion and disengagement — especially during times that require bold, decisive action. Join to hear how Walgreens adapted to adversity while facing its biggest historical challenge — and successfully embraced a fleeting opportunity to reposition the brand for the future. You'll learn:
- The pandemic paradox: How Walgreen’s culture is changing for the better during the pandemic — transforming the organization into a “real healthcare company”
- What Walgreen’s communications team would do differently in the future — including hard-won lessons for ensuring your #1 asset (your employees) are taken care of despite pandemic burnout
- How to align internal, external and executive comms messaging when working with employees, local/state/federal government and a media corps desperate for updates
- The John Legend Effect: How Walgreens harnessed earned media, influencer marketing, partnerships and social media to address issues like vaccine equity and disinformation
- Bold vs reckless? Lessons to help communicators overcome the bias against risk
Talk about disruption! The last few years changed the very nature of work and automation promises to change it even more in the years ahead. But one thing remains constant: A great customer experience begins with a great employee experience. To ensure your organization is enjoying the cost-saving and competitive benefits of a positive employee experience, you must first provide your workforce with the tools and support it needs to innovate, collaborate and enhance productivity in today’s hybrid workplace. Join this session with one of the nation’s leading enterprise collaboration experts to hear:
- What the research says about the future of work (hint: it’s hybrid)
- The types of tools teams need to boost collaboration and productivity
- Ways communicators can get IT, HR and employees on the same hybrid page
- What’s next for the ecology of work and Gen Z workstyles
- Top 5 trends to watch in the future of work (from data-driven accountability to dynamic connectivity and beyond)
What if we told you that one DEI focused talent program can reshape organizational culture and change how you think about the employee experience? Well, it's possible! This talk will focus on Audible’s Next Chapter Returnship Program, a program rooted in DE&I that changed not just the hiring culture of an organization, but set a new standard for the industry at large. The program has helped communities in need, created new pathways for employee engagement at work, and took workplace wellness to a whole new level. You'll hear:
- Lessons from HR on how to get buy-in for a unique program from diverse stakeholders and leadership
- How to structure a program in a manner that influences organizational change and enables multiple stakeholders to grow, develop, engage and feel empowered
- Techniques to influence organizational policies and practices through measuring change and building concrete success metrics
- How to impact external communities through organizational work
- How to build a long term sustainable programmatic approach continue the legacy beyond a one-off initiative to introducing other parallel programs rooted in DEI and workplace wellness
The workplace experience should feel consistent whether someone is working in the office, at home, a mix of both, or on the front line. Communicators need the power to ‘be everywhere,’ with the ability to create their message once and publish it to your intranet, enterprise messaging apps, in-office signage, and more – to make key messages unforgettable. We'll discuss:
- The latest workplace trends and insights and what they mean for employee comms
- Why workplace experience is the future of employee engagement – and why comms are key
- How to keep everyone on the same page, using the devices and tools we already know and love
Internal and external comms have traditionally been separate disciplines, with their own sets of strategies, audiences and channels. And the lines between HR and communications have been notoriously hard to blur. Learn from a finalist for the 2022 Ragan's Platinum HR Awards and others how they're breaking down silos and optimizing workflows with a “mixternal mindset” and cross-departmental tools today’s hybrid workplace. You'll hear:
- The power of joining forces: Firsthand lessons from a PR former PR director turned internal comms strategist
- New strategies for breaking down working silos between HR, PR, internal and executive communications to ensure consistent messaging, deeper buy-in and greater efficiencies (hint: it starts with goal setting and metrics)
- Deep dive into how others are transforming and integrating their intranets, employee forums, broadcasts and messaging to connect employees—and departments
- Ideas for partnering with non-comms departments like marketing, sales, finance and IT
- Bonus AMA: Ask anything you need to know about “mixternal comms” — and whether it’s realistic or just wishful thinking
If content is king, consistency and frequency are keys to the kingdom. Yet many internal comms teams struggle to create content at the scale of their external counterparts — and others struggle to improve content performance. The solution can be as simple as creating a strategic content calendar that has visibility across departments. In this inspiring case study, you’ll hear:
- Finding focus: How to re-evaluate what content is and isn’t working for you
- Planning ahead: Ideas for designing and maintaining a shared content calendar
- Staying on schedule: How to emphasize collaboration and build in accountability
to transform teams into expert content creators - Tracking engagement: How to track your content’s success and make immediate adjustments
- Listening and engaging: Listening to trending conversations and perspectives — and how to use those insights to create shareable content that shows other voices are heard
No organization wants to deal with a crisis, but the reality is they are unavoidable — so how can communicators step into the breach and help reduce the risks? The answer: Provide a well-crafted crisis plan that calls out everyone’s role during the crisis and accounts for different scenarios. This interactive session will uncover:
- Key elements of a comprehensive crisis communications playbook
- How to set up table-top crisis drills to train your team to respond to today’s threats
- Messaging guidelines to keep front-liners, execs and SMEs focused
- BONUS: An interactive scenario planning exercise you can take back to your team
Environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) isn’t just a buzz phrase anymore. It plays an increasingly important role in organizational reputation, valuation and success. And with the SEC’s proposed changes on reporting climate-related risks and greenhouse gas emissions, you can’t just rely on legal counsel anymore — comms needs to step up as a strategic partner to help eliminate empty ESG gestures and ignite action. Here's what you’ll learn in this session:
- Our moment of reckoning: Your role in supporting positive corporate change, communicating progressive governance and fostering conversation
- How to help craft and share your ESG story to employees, customers and the media
- Ideas to turn employees and subject matter experts into ESG ambassadors — and ideas to transform your owned channels like websites and social media into ESG hubs
- How to work more closely with IR and other department to address the proposed SEC disclosures for investors
Let’s have some fun with a little quiz! Who said the following? “First rule of leadership: everything is your fault.” “Why join the navy when you can be a pirate?” “I’m a leader not a follower. Unless it’s a dark place, then you’re going first.” Find out at this refreshing closing talk, where we’ll also explore traits communicators can hone to become more valued strategic partners to the C-suite. Together we’ll hear:
- Your top leadership quotes: Come ready to share your faves and why you love them
- Listening: Why communications is a two-way street that starts with asking the right questions and listening with an open mind
- Empathy: How to better understand employee struggles and act on what you learn
- Composure: How to keep calm during crises — steps to assess before you stress
- Laughter: How to hone your sense of humor to humanize, disarm and inspire
Organizations with engaged employees significantly outperform those without. Communicators are critical to driving engagement and email is still a powerful tool in their toolbelts. In this talk, you will learn:
- Email best practices based on the analysis of billions of emails
- Visual Storytelling lessons you can apply to your campaigns
- How one company leveraged internal email metrics for better engagement
The world has changed and with it, so has communications. Out of necessity, we’ve become more adaptable, empathetic and crisis ready. Join to hear an amazing, firsthand story that will inspire you to transform this survival instinct into strategy by creating and communicating a nimble organizational culture that doesn’t just survive challenges — but thrives in change. You’ll hear:
- Firm foundations: Boosting change engagement by tying to organizational purpose
- How to assess and activate your best partners — including employees — to help
support change - How to identity the best digital channels and influencers for your message, including
smart ways to communicate organizational change with the press and public - Ideas for measuring your change communications successes
Clear, consistent and purpose-driven communications helped ground our workforce and calm our publics over the past few years. Ragan’s most recent “Communications Benchmark Report” and HarrisX/Ragan CEO-Communicators Competencies Survey” both show we’ve built stronger relationships with HR and allied departments through it all, while also forging greater access to the C-suite — but there’s still work to be done. This recap will break it all down using a SWOT analysis, created at Stanford to help execs evaluate and improve their organizations:
- Strengths: Where the sector is strong, strategic and trusted among execs
- Weakness: Areas for improvement, including hybrid workplace technology
- Opportunity: Possibilities for greater impact, including ESG, DEI and digital
- Threats: Emerging challenges, including AI worries and handling misinformation
A cold weather front, public health misinformation, and “Tiger King” could not be more different types of emergencies and cultural phenomenons, but these fast-changing events demonstrate how brand campaigns evaluated through real-time media monitoring produce a wealth of measurable data that can change outcomes even within the course of a single day. NewsWhip’s President Brett Lofgren will describe three case studies on the advantages of using real-time media monitoring. We’ll demonstrate how to:
- Quickly perceive situations that threaten company reputation
- Use real-time data to understand critical moments, in context of all the news
- Compare similar incidents to establish benchmarks of public vs. media interest
- Predict the impact of an event while it’s unfolding
- Persuade stakeholders to take action when it’s warranted
Mainstream media is more fractured than ever, but remains a critical component of any PESO communications program. After all, established publishers have built-in reach, influence and engaged audiences that your own content can’t compete with on the same scale. That's why it makes sense to integrate your mainstream media and social media efforts in a more holistic, channel-agnostic approach. Hear how this veteran communicator has done precisely that with her team, resulting in breakthrough creativity and results. You'll hear:
- How to rethink structure, responsibilities and collaboration across PR and social media teams
- How seeding positive stories in social media can carve out space in a news hole dominated by bad news
- How to tap social media to friend, follow and pitch hard-to-reach A-list editors and reporters
- How to amplify mainstream coverage across your top social media platforms
- How to transform your online newsroom into a media hub that feeds your "Big 5" social channels (and vice-versa)
- Proof of concept: Killer KPIs, inspiring examples and lesson-implicit case studies
Execs are demanding greater accountability from communications — and expect to see clear, compelling metrics that showcase improving results, reputation and ROI for your efforts. The pressure is real — but the good news is you’re not alone. Join this panel for a breakdown of the top measurement challenges facing your peers and how they’re solving for them. You’ll learn:
- How to use the Barcelona Principles 3.0 to guide your measurement
- How to give execs what they want: Realistic reputation, trust and ROI metrics
- Digging into the data: How to extract actionable insights from the KPIs you pull
- Tech must-haves: What others are using to set goals, track results and gather their data, including AMEC’s online Integrated Evaluation Framework
Inclusive social media content doesn’t just provide an outlet to share your DEI work, it also reminds followers, the public and the press what your company believes and how it’s living more inclusive values. In this session, Ragan and PR Daily's "2022 DE&I Professional of the Year" will share how he and his team has organization has planned, produced and posted social media stories that illuminated its commitment to belonging. You’ll learn:
- Leading by example: Inspiring examples of DE&I at work—and how to emulate them
- Prioritizing representation: Choosing your images with greater intention and
crediting BIPOC and other marginalized content creators for their work - Non-performative scheduling: Sharing inclusive posts, videos and stories beyond
Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Pride Month and more - Practicing allyship: How to be there for those in your social media community
looking for support from the organization — including ways to ensure accessibility - Bonus AMA lightning round: Ask our expert anything you need to know about improving your DEI efforts so they’re not performative
A big agency spend isn’t what creates a recognizable, beloved brand — not anymore. Instead, crafting, cultivating and communicating a brand’s authentic purpose is what connects with audiences today. After all, the public and the press expect more from organizations now. Join to hear how to improve brand reputation and build trust with purpose-driven PR. You’ll learn:
- How to help identify your organization’s purpose, mission and values
- Proof of purpose: Storytelling strategies and examples that bring purpose to life
- Working with the press: Stories, angles, data, trends and media hooks that will help position your purpose driven programs to receptive outlets on the beat
- Measuring purpose: How to track and report corporate reputation to your execs
Organizations know it’s vital to build customer loyalty and brand awareness, but how do they build this loyalty and awareness internally? Employees can and will identify with your brand and it’s important we invest in them every step of the way. Key to success: Reach your employees where they are. Join Jeremy Finn, Large Enterprise Account Executive at Staffbase, for a 10-minute Lightning Talk and learn how to:
- Identify what you want internal brand advocacy to look and feel like
- Determine the barriers that exist for each employee
- Measure your results and adjust accordingly (and celebrate!)
Content teams need a plan and a place to showcase the stories they produce — and that’s where a brand newsroom platform presence comes in. In this session, we’ll break down a practical process for launching a brand newsroom from scratch — or transforming the one you already have into an easily searchable hub for the brand stories, press announcements and media coverage you’re most proud of. You’ll learn:
- How to start small with consistent content output and build toward a newsroom
- Strategies for reimagining your communications department as a news team
- Tips for designing and maintaining a practical editorial calendar
- PR strategies for turning your brand newsroom into a media magnet
Next to friends and family, our coworkers are our most trusted sources of recommendation (source: Kantar). That’s great news for communicators tasked with building trust and culture. Sit in on this session to discover how to revamp your social/creative strategy to be people-first by focusing on the role of colleagues and key stakeholders as ambassadors helping to tell your story both internally and externally. You'll discover how you, too, can humanize your brand, get creative and boost culture, DEI, employee ambassadorship and social media engagement. Join to hear:
- How to codify, communicate and live a more shareable brand culture
- Anatomy of a successful people-first social media storytelling program
- Storytelling examples that capture and convey culture on top social media
- How to activate internal and external ambassadors around social media campaigns—including using dedicated hashtags, repurposed content and more
- Success metrics: Ideas for tracking culture, DEI, social media engagement and more
The past few years have been disruptive. Return-to-work plans were thrown into chaos and more employees left for opportunities more aligned with their values, sense of purpose—and pursuit of belonging. With the relationship between prospects and employers changed, now’s the perfect time for external comms to step in with new digital strategies to help their organizations find and hire the best and brightest. In this interactive panel, you’ll see what others are doing to right the ship. You’ll learn:
- Looking ahead: Anatomy of strong digital employer branding programs that embrace diversity, belonging and purpose
- Storytelling as a superpower: How others are working closely with HR, recruiting and marketing to share people-first employer brand stories
- Examples of how others are driving activation of Employee Value Propositions across geographies and channels
- Social media focus: Examples of successful employer branding content to post Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and beyond
- Bonus AMA lightning round: Ask our panelists anything you need to know about becoming a better place to work — including how they’re measuring success
Four facilitators from our speaker roster will sit at four respective tables organized by the topics below. After introductions, each will share their best practices on the topic and then open the table to attendees sharing their own advice and experiences on the topic for 10 minutes before attendees switch to the next table. Come ready with questions and your own challenges on:
- “How I Did It” — advice on climbing the comms career ladder
- Townhalls, talks and speeches — what we’re doing to inspire teams and the public
- Return to Office strategies — what’s working for us, and challenges we’re facing now
- Influencer exchange – how others are finding, paying and partnering with influencers
Competition for attention is at an all-time high! If you want to create scroll-stopping content that gets read across all user journeys — then you need a content plan that ties internal and external comms together. Here’s how one major brand re-envisioned and unified its content using the PESO framework — which integrates paid, earned, shared and owned media. Join us for inspiring real-world examples of content, messages and channels that helped drive organizational objectives. You’ll discover:
- New content consumption trends driving changes in PESO
- Case study: A real-world snapshot of the PESO framework at work, including:
- Paid: Generating demand with paid amplification, sponsorship and advertising
- Earned: Pitching and placing media for credibility and links back to your site
- Shared: Engaging audiences and building communities on top of social media
- Owned: Creating videos and posts that boost awareness, loyalty and conversions
- How to create a plan, calendar, messages and assignments feed the content beast
- Essential KPIs to track and report across the entire PESO model
Wrap up your first day of inspiration and ideas by attending this relaxing reception. You’ll mingle with your peers and mangé at a delightful location right on the exquisite Microsoft campus.
Instructure, a leading SaaS company in the education sector, needed to personalize their employee experience. Their teams, spread across multiple continents, needed a streamlined way of finding relevant information for their country or region. They also needed a modern intranet solution to facilitate engagement and allow teams to collaborate, share ideas and document strategies for selling Instructure solutions. Learn why in April 2022, Instructure tapped LumApps to reinvigorate their employee experience with two solutions within one platform — a company-wide intranet, PandaNet 2.0, and a one-stop-shop revenue enablement center, Instructure 360.
In his forthcoming book "The Human Side of Innovation: The Power of People in Love with People," PepsiCo’s first ever Chief Design Officer Mauro Porcini argues that strategic kindness, optimism and curiosity are what’s needed most in today’s global, hyper-connected and hyper accelerated world. Not only do these traits drive quality and productivity for your communications teams—but also a better working environment and society for all. Many companies, and many leaders, haven’t realized this yet. The ones that have are strategically hiring for and developing these traits in their people – and that’s why they have a competitive edge. The inspiring ideas you’ll hear in this motivating keynote include:
- Why strategic kindness, optimism and curiosity start with communicators like you
- Why the “power of people in love with people” matters in the age of purpose—and how to take the lead at your organization
- How to hire, grow and retain exceptional employees by identifying their “superpowers”
- The different entrepreneurial, social and enabling gifts to look for in prospective hires
- How mentors play a significant role in the development of extraordinary employees
If your internal, external and executive comms teams don't collaborate and lear from each other, you run the risk of fostering confusion and disengagement — especially during times that require bold, decisive action. Join to hear how Walgreens adapted to adversity while facing its biggest historical challenge — and successfully embraced a fleeting opportunity to reposition the brand for the future. You'll learn:
- The pandemic paradox: How Walgreen’s culture changed for the better during the pandemic — transforming the organization into a “real healthcare company”
- What Walgreen’s would do differently in the future — including hard-won lessons for ensuring your #1 asset (your employees) are taken care of despite pandemic burnout
- How to align internal, external and executive comms messaging when working with employees, local/state/federal government and a media corps desperate for updates
- The John Legend Effect: How Walgreens harnessed earned media, influencer marketing, partnerships and social media to address issues like vaccine equity and disinformation
- Bold vs reckless? Lessons to help communicators overcome the bias against risk
Winning thought leadership starts with setting your execs and SMEs up for success by discovering their strengths—and their stories. When done right, it builds trust and loyalty — because it comes from a place of purpose and passion instead of promotion. Learn how one global organization turns its thought leadership program into storytelling machine using timeless principles and the latest platforms. You’ll learn:
- The 3 T’s of thought leadership: How truth-telling, transparency and testing can help guide your efforts
- Strategies to ID the best execs, managers and SMEs as thought leaders
- Managing exec’s expectations based on their personalities and passions
- Audience-centric strategies: How to produce helpful, hot button thought leadership content and stories audiences will love
- Choosing channels: Tips to publish your content on the right formats and topics on:
- LinkedIn — because that’s where the recruits are
- Twitter — because that’s where the press is
- Podcasts — because that’s where authority meets the audio boom (tips for producing your own podcasts—and for handling podcast queries for your execs)
Organic reach on social has diminished drastically. But influencer partnerships can more than make up lost ground — and dramatically boost reach and results for your brand messages. Here’s how to supercharge your influencer marketing efforts in your overall Paid/Earned/Shared/Owned (PESO) communications mix — without breaking the bank. You’ll hear:
- Partnering: How to identity and work with the right influencers to create a mutually beneficial partnership that spreads your message on social media
- Budgeting: A breakdown of what influencer campaigns cost and resources to set a baseline
- Process: How to improve the information flow to help scale your influencer program
- What's next: Exciting new ways creators are working with brands beyond sponsored content or affiliate programs—as consultants, in-house and UGC creators for hire—and what it means for your organization
We'll be conducting a raffle for 50 attendees to win a copy of "The Human Side of Innovation: The Power of People in Love with People," by PepsiCo’s first ever Chief Design Officer Mauro Porcini. Join us during the networking break to have your copy signed by Mauro. You'll also have the opportunity to purchase a copy onsite, thanks to local bookstore Brick and Mortar and the author's publisher making early copies available.
Consumers love the way a great story makes them feel, and today's technology enables storytellers to build lasting relationships across different mediums. Join this session to discover how to effectively craft content to create "magical moments" with consumers. You'll hear how to create brilliant creative and content strategies, and gain a deeper understanding of your user/buyer's journeys resulting in amazing experiences that seamlessly integrate real-world and social media activations. You'll also enjoy clips from work with clients like Cruella, Murder on the Orient Express, Minute to Fix It and more. You'll learn:
- The creative process: Tips for brainstorming big, brilliant ideas
- Customer's journey deep dive: What communicators often overlook, from click paths to compelling content that hits hot buttons every step of the way
- Ways to take unexpected social media approaches—from paid to organic content—to garner attention from core and new audiences alike
- How to create memorable connections through storytelling—from content, to delivery, to engagement—that increase your target audience impact
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How to evolve your brand voice to better engage with your audience and drive conversions, loyalty and ROI
If you’re not using listening tools to monitor your brand on social media, you won’t hear that next crisis coming. That’s as professionally risky as sticking your head in the sand in the middle of an emergency. What’s more, social listening helps you track what competitors are doing, react quickly when posts backfire, and pinpoint ways to boost, improve or save social media campaigns that are on the ropes. Sit in on this session to hear:
- Advice for designing and deploying a social listening crisis monitoring strategy on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and beyond
- Best ways to populate your social media channels with time-sensitive messages around cyberattacks, C-suite misdeeds and other potential crises
- Tactics for integrating social monitoring efforts into a larger crisis plan
- Horror stories: The do’s and don’ts on social media when a crisis hits
Copy-and-paste is anathema to great social media posts — and content marketing in general. Yet many companies still repurpose, recycle or repost the same copy across their social media feeds — a sure recipe for diminished returns. Join this session to reassess and revamp the way you plan, pen and post your social media. You’ll learn:
- The “3 Ts" of Timeliness, Transparency, and being True to self in executive messaging and presentation
- The role high-vis leaders play in overall social strategy and the value they bring to the social landscape
- How to support leaders getting started or be more active on social media
- Writing nuts-and-bolts: How to attract eyeballs, engage followers and drive clicks
- How to apply these lessons and writing insight to all your communications
Environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) isn’t just a buzz phrase anymore. It plays an increasingly important role in organizational reputation, valuation and success. And with the SEC’s proposed changes on reporting climate-related risks and greenhouse gas emissions, you can’t just rely on legal counsel anymore — comms needs to step up as a strategic partner to help eliminate empty ESG gestures and ignite action. Here's what you’ll learn in this session:
- Our moment of reckoning: Your role in supporting positive corporate change, communicating progressive governance and fostering conversation
- How to help craft and share your ESG story to employees, customers and the media
- Ideas to turn employees and subject matter experts into ESG ambassadors — and ideas to transform your owned channels like websites and social media into ESG hubs
- How to work more closely with IR and other department to address the proposed SEC disclosures for investors
Let’s have some fun with a little quiz! Who said the following? “First rule of leadership: everything is your fault.” “Why join the navy when you can be a pirate?” “I’m a leader not a follower. Unless it’s a dark place, then you’re going first.” Find out at this refreshing closing talk, where we’ll also explore traits communicators can hone to become more valued strategic partners to the C-suite. Together we’ll hear:
- Your top leadership quotes: Come ready to share your faves and why you love them
- Listening: Why communications is a two-way street that starts with asking the right questions and listening with an open mind
- Empathy: How to better understand employee struggles and act on what you learn
- Composure: How to keep calm during crises — steps to assess before you stress
- Laughter: How to hone your sense of humor to humanize, disarm and inspire
SPEAKERS
Interested in becoming a 2022 speaker at this event?
Please reach out to Event Producer Brian Pittman
GET RECOGNIZED!
Each registration comes with a personalized Strategic Communications Conference Certificate of Completion for attending.
Plus, all attendees receive:
All slides and presentations from speakers and connection to our esteemed speakers.
SPONSORS AND PARTNERS:
SPONSORS
If you are interested in sponsoring this industry event and discussing the numerous
opportunities available to showcase your organization and product contact us at
sponsorship@ragan.com or 312-960-4628.
Top 10 things you’ll learn how to do at this conference
- Develop a strategic communication plan to optimize your entire Paid/Earned/Shared/Owned (PESO) channel mix
- Create an employee culture that thrives in change
- Determine when and how to take a stand on hot-button public issues
- Energize executive comms with dynamic brand storytelling, townhalls and speeches
- Improve manager and crisis comms efforts so information cascades at critical times
- Create a brand newsroom that drives “storytelling at scale” and stronger content
- Engage paid influencers and employee rising stars to share your story
- Digitize DEI in a way that makes your social media more inclusive
- Supercharge your social media channels — and test new Web3 and NFT strategies
- Demonstrate the impact of your work to senior leaders through smart metrics
- BONUS: Supercharge your teams and results with exclusive insights from Microsoft speakers — showcasing their best practices and AR, AI, LinkedIn and new 365 tools
BACK LIVE AND BETTER THAN EVER!
Beyond the conference, enjoy exciting networking events and experiences around the city.
TOP THINGS TO DO IN SEATTLE
Take some time to enjoy Seattle while you are in town! Here are our top things to do:
- Space Needle Visit the observation level on the 605-foot-tall Space Needle and see views to Elliott Bay, the Cascade Mountains, and Mount Rainier.
- Pike Place Market From the iconic market sign to the gum wall, the original Starbucks cafe, over 225 local artisans, the famous fish-tossing tradition, and street performers, there is plenty to enjoy at Pike Place Market.
- Washington State Ferries A ride across Puget Sound a quintessential Pacific Northwest experience. Enjoy the breathtaking views from the bow of the boat as you cruise to the nearby communities of Bainbridge Island or Bremerton.
- Seattle Great Wheel The Seattle Great Wheel is a fixture of the city’s skyline with an entirely new sightseeing perspective, thanks to its location perched on the end of Pier 57.
- The Future of Flight Aviation Center & Boeing Tour This bucket list–worthy experience in nearby Mukilteo lets you tour a working Boeing factory, the world’s largest building by volume, to see 747s, 777s, and Dreamliners in the making.
- Woodinville Wine Country A charming town just 30 minutes from downtown Seattle, includes more than 100 wineries and tasting rooms, ensuring something for every palate.
- T-Mobile Park and Lumen Field Proud home of the Seattle Mariners and Seattle Seahawks, both stadiums offer behind-the-scenes tours during the offseason.
- Starbucks Reserve Roastery & Tasting Room The Starbucks Reserve Roastery & Tasting Room is a Willy Wonka–esque coffee wonderland, where you’ll find exclusive beverages, various brewing methods, a coffee library, and more.
| Full Rate | |
|---|---|
| Standard Registration | $1699 |
| Ragan Insider Registration | $1449 |
| Nonprofit/Gov/Edu Registration | $1499 |
| Conference Recording | $1399 |
| Full Rate | |
|---|---|
| Standard Registration | $1699 |
| Ragan Insider Registration | $1449 |
| Nonprofit/Gov/Edu Registration | $1499 |
| Conference Recording | $1399 |
Get your tickets early and save. Discounts are also available for the following:
Nonprofit/Gov/Edu Discounts
Save an additional $200 off current rates.
Group Discounts
Would you and your team like to attend? Group pricing is available when registering!
RAGAN COUNCIL MEMBER DISCOUNTS
Membership includes free registration passes. Contact Shallon Blackburn for more information on becoming a member.
RAGAN INSIDER DISCOUNTS
Insiders receive $250 off current rates. Not a Ragan Insider? You can become one during registration for this event!
For those who can’t attend the conference live, an on-demand option is available during the registration process
You should attend if you spend at least a quarter of your time in any of these areas:
Corporate Communication • Employee Communications • Executive Communications • Public Relations • Brand Journalism • Social Media • Storytelling • Writing and Editing
The Microsoft corporate campus in Redmond, Washington, is more like a park than a corporate headquarters. It's surrounded by trees, has its own lake and offers an abundance of recreational activities. About 41,500 employees work on the campus. Our event will be held at Microsoft's state-of-the-art conference center.
In the evenings you can head into Seattle, just 13 miles away, to visit Pike Place Market and see the famous fish throwers, take an elevator ride to the 520-foot high observation deck in the Space Needle or grab a coffee at the original Starbucks, opened in 1971.
HOTELS
Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Seattle Bellevue/Redmond
Residence Inn by Marriott Seattle Bellevue
Please note that this hotel is a long-term stay hotel and might not be suitable for your needs for this conference.
The dress code is business casual.
#RaganMSFT
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
If you are interested in sponsoring this industry event and discussing the numerous opportunities available to showcase your organization and product in front of hundreds of corporate wellness, HR and communications professionals contact Hannah Lavelle at Sponsorship@ragan.com or 312‑960‑4628.
PRESENTED BY
REGISTRATION
SPONSORSHIP
312-960-4628
PROGRAM
