Monday October 13th

8:00 am - 9:15 am – General Session
Communicating During Turbulent Times
Robert L. Dilenschneider, Chairman & Founder, The Dilenschneider Group
Author of Power and Influence: The rules have changed
81% of the American public believes the country is on the wrong course. John Reed and Sandy Weill admitted Citi was a “mistake.” Bear Stearns, once priced at $40 a share, was sold at $10 a share. Employees no longer enjoy a contract and covenant with management. Could things be more turbulent? During this keynote address communication guru and best-selling author Robert L. Dilenscheider reveals how you can:    

• Achieve communication success in the era of massive global change
• Shape your communication strategy around the new realities
• Influence your stakeholders with important communication strategies

9:30 am - 10:45 am – Breakout Sessions
M1. Engaging Employees Despite the Obstacles
Alison Davis, CEO, Davis & Company
Author, Your Attention Please: How to Appeal to Today’s Distracted Audiences    
It’s getting more and more challenging to simply get employees’ attention, much less communicate so that employees are informed, involved and motivated. Yet, despite the obstacles – lack of time, information overload, skepticism – you can communicate in a way that engages employees. During this interactive session, participants will learn how they can:

• Understand employees’ needs and preferences
• Use this knowledge to design communication that cuts through the clutter
• Make small changes that have a big impact on engagement
• Take communication to the next level

M2. The Tool That Changes Everything: Video
Ed Bikales, Founder and CEO, and Rick Longenecker, CAO, Snippies
Business communicators are saying far more and reaching a new generation of staff and clients. In this session, the speakers will discuss, and present samples, of some of the best business communications on video. Participants will learn how companies can create internal television news networks, move training programs to online with video, and speed the cycle of customer research, manager communication and executive messaging, all through video. The focus will be on

• Best practices for creating corporate communications on video
• What you’ll need to get started
• What communications are best on video, and which are best in traditional text
• How to sell the concept of video communications internally when entrenched forces resist

M3. Media Relations: The Fallacy of Staying on Message
Eric Bergman, ABC, APR, MC, Senior Consultant, Bergman and Associates
In an era that demands greater accountability and transparency from corporations, government organizations and not-for-profit organizations, this session makes the case that the simplistic concept of staying on message is an outdated paradigm in an information-driven world. This session examines how PR practitioners can adopt a new paradigm that enhances transparency, supports ethics, and treats publics and stakeholders with the respect they deserve. Operating on the premise that "staying on message" is stuck in the past, the session examines how answering questions effectively is a forward thinking concept that supports ethics, helps organizations communicate, and bridges the gap between truth and transparency.

M4. The Impact of Organizational Change on Communicators
Julie Freeman, President, International Association of Business Communicators
We live and work in a time when it seems like the only thing we can count on is change. Some of the skills that we have developed and ways of doing our job no longer seem to work very well any more. The only way that we can continue to add value to our organizations is by staying on top of current trends, understanding their impact on our companies and our roles, and learning how we need to adapt. This session will address major trends affecting businesses, the challenges they create for communicators, and the strategies communicators must adopt in order to advance their careers and contribute to their organizations.

9:30 am - 12:15 pm – In-depth Session  
M5. Business Writing: Raise the Bar and Help Your Company Succeed
Natalie Canavor & Claire Meirowitz, Co-owners, C&M Business Writing Services
All business communication rests on writing skills, yet many organizations produce poorly written materials, sacrificing competitive edge and efficiency. Communicators may need to polish their own skills for print and digital media, through the how-to-write demonstration; train new staff, and/or find ways to improve the writing skills of key employees responsible for writing reports, proposals, Web site content, newsletters and more. The session will equip participants to improve their own work and writing quality throughout the organization. Group activities in editing, rewriting and solving common writing problems make this a highly interactive and engaging workshop.

11:00 am - 12:15 pm – Breakout Sessions
M6. The Difference Makers: Winning Communication Traits of High Performing Organizations
Ron Hess, President, Motiv8 Communications
As organizations focus more on improving operational efficiency, they expect employee communication to contribute in valuable ways to bottom-line results. This presentation examines 10 employee communication traits that separate high performing organizations from mediocre ones, accompanied by meaningful tips and eye-opening stories and real examples of how communicators can get in the game and accelerate winning through effective, focused organizational communications. Employee communicators will learn how to re-evaluate how they apply their time and effort for greatest organizational impact, encouraging them to implement a well balanced communication that extends beyond the publication and Intranet role and puts strong emphasis on other high impact areas of communications.

M7. Building Brands and Managing Reputations via Social Media
Kent Lewis, President, Anvil Media, Inc.
Do you Twitter? Have you updated your LinkedIn or Facebook profile? If not, you should, as your constituents are highly engaged in the Web 2.0 world via social media Web sites. Today’s consumers rely on social media networks to find and develop a sense of identity, as well as research and validate the reputation of other individuals and businesses. This presentation will outline the why and how of developing a social media marketing strategy for your organization, including critical success factors, seven steps to get started, and how to measure effectiveness.

M8. The Care and Feeding of a CEO
D. Mark Schumann, ABC, Managing Principal, Towers Perrin
As communicators, we know the importance of the senior leadership of any organization to "live" the values, deliver the message, and "walk the talk". We often craft the words our leaders speak and find ourselves doing more than simply developing the message. We may discover that, to create the experience we want for employees, we have a bit of "care and feeding" that we need to do. This session will focus on the many dimensions of how communicators support senior leaders, in front of and behind the scenes, and how we can help senior leaders adjust to (and consider how to use) social media as we learn to embrace change.

M9.  The Impact of New Media in the War for Talent:  How new forms of communications are changing job searches and career management
Ted Chaloner, Chaloner and Associates
Remember when, back in the day, job search meant looking on Monster and e-mailing your resume with a cover note and a good subject line? Managing your career is now much more complex. LinkedIn, Plaxo, and FaceBook are popular now, but what's next?  Learn how social media can, and should, be part of your job search and ongoing career management.

12:30 pm - 1:45 pm – General Session (lunch included)
Greens Gone Wild: Saving Your Reputation From Misguided Environmentalism
Matthew Broder, Vice President, External Communications, Pitney Bowes Inc.
Consumers say they want to “go green,” but how do you do promote your company’s interests when environmental groups are spreading misinformation about your industry? Go inside the “Do Not Mail” controversy with Pitney Bowes, which is working hard to enhance the reputation of the mailstream in the face of a widespread public concerns about the environment.  Attendees will learn:

• How to build a environmental communications strategy
• How to partner creatively to enhance your reputation
• How to use research to strengthen your position

2:00 pm - 3:15 pm – Breakout Sessions
M10. Communicating Confidence in an Era of Low Trust
Angelique L. Rewers, ABC, President and Owner and Toni Cascio, Ph.D., Vice President, Bon Mot
The purpose of communicating with employees is to share information to influence behavior, drive engagement and achieve business goals. But what if employees distrust the source of that information­or the information itself?  Unfortunately, that’s exactly what’s happening in today’s business world. This dynamic and interactive session will identify the link between low trust, employee engagement and financial performance, then focus on how to master fundamental communication skills that build trust and facilitate win-win situations.

M11. Mobile Web: How the Impact of iPhone Will Change Business Communications
Ed Schipul, President and CEO, Schipul – The Web Marketing Company
The iPhone is the first wireless device that advances the Web browsing experience. With the iPhone comes the likelihood that other devices will free Web browsers to surf from anywhere, anytime they need information. The age of Mobile Web presents challenges and opportunities for business communicators as they strive to understand new ways in which people surf the Web, get information and communicate. During the presentation, participants will learn ways to capitalize on the new world of Mobile Web and steps to effectively communicate with mobile users. Knowing what Mobile Web is, how it works, and who is using it can help attendees tailor a communication program that ultimately helps meet business objectives.

M12. Making the Most of Communication Measurement
Robert J. Holland, ABC, Owner, Holland Communication Solutions LLC
Communicators face increasing pressure to measure the impact of our work. How do you know if you’re measuring the right things – and what do you do with the data once you’ve collected it? This session will show you how to get the most out of your communication measurement activities by:

• Identifying the most important communication elements to measure
• Asking the right questions in the right way
• Knowing what the measurement data are telling you – and what they’re not
• Honing in on the most important themes and data points from your research
• Developing a plan around the most relevant measurement data

M13. Irresistible: How to Get People to Love your Products, Services and Ideas
Dan Droz, CEO, Droz and Associates
There’s good reason why ipods, minis and Ebay are so irresistible. Actually there are seven reasons. This interactive and entertaining presentation explains the basic underlying principles of the “I Want It” drive that induces buying, buzz and business success. And, clear direction for what you can do to give your products and business irresistibility. Based on both research and experience, the concept of “framing” and how it applies to marketing strategy and tactics will prepare participants to make everything they do . . . Irresistible!

2:00 pm - 5:00 pm – In-depth Session
M14. Recipe for Success . . . Ingredients for Successful Leadership
Cornelia Hostetler, Administrative Staff, Honda of America Mfg., Inc.
This highly interactive session will encourage communicators to be the best leader they can be as they learn to lead by example. The focus will be on leadership best practices and sharing tips with one another with lots of room for discussion and participation. Participants will do a SWOT analysis on leadership and share results. Handouts on leadership tips will also be available.

3:30 pm - 4:45 pm – Breakout Sessions
M15. Employee Communications During a merger: Lessons Learned
Paul Lief Rosengren, Director, PSEG Communications, PSEG (Diversified Energy Company)
This presentation presents 10 (plus one bonus) lessons learned from a Gold Quill award winning internal communications program during the failed PSEG-Exelon merger. The session provides valuable insight to anyone who is going through a merger – or might in the future. In addition, it is designed to stimulate participants to think about their current communications program – whether faced with a merger or not.

M16. Marketing in a World Where Messages Don’t Matter
Paul Gillin, Principal, Paul Gillin Communications
Markets are being reshaped forever as millions of people go online to publish their observations, insights and opinions. Today, a single person with a blog or podcast can amass an audience of hundreds of thousands readers. In many narrow markets, the importance of these new influencers already exceeds that of established mainstream media. In the coming years, institutions and markets will be forever changed by social media. Markets will be driven by conversations rather than messages. Marketers will need to identify, engage with and influence these new opinion leaders. Companies and institutions that successfully complete the shift to conversation marketing will lower their costs, improve customer engagement, and raise barriers to entry. Those that don’t change will be marginalized by audiences that simply tune them out. This presentation offers provocative and sometimes hilarious examples of businesses that have been swamped by social media, as well those that have learned to listen to and respond effectively to the new voices influencing their markets.

M17. Create the Reputation You Want: 10 Powerful Writing & Speaking Tips
Leila Zogby, President, Business Writer, Inc. and Ginny Pulos, President, Ginny Pulos Communications, Inc.
Establishing your credibility as a leader isn’t about the title you hold, your degree or expertise. It’s about what you say and how you say it. In this interactive session, mid- and senior-level participants will receive practical advice that includes how to ask questions that reveal expectations so you can exceed them; how to build your message around what motivates your audience; how to read and use non-verbal behavior; and how to communicate so that people want to follow you, even if they disagree with you.

M18. Green Communications: Innovative Approaches for Enabling Sustainability Initiatives
Cydney Roach, Senior Manager, and Marcus Catsouphes, Consultant, Deloitte Consulting
Based upon the principles that the medium IS the message and that you can’t convince people to do new things by speaking to them in old ways, this session discusses innovative communication approaches for tapping into organizations’ social networks (pathways of information, both formal and informal) to enable effective execution of organizational sustainability initiatives. The presentation focuses on how innovative approaches, such as social media tools, guerilla marketing, peer-to-peer networks, can be used as part of a holistic, green communications program. Ultimately, the presentation examines how to leverage stakeholders’ passion and commitment to fulfill an organization’s vision of sustainability and improve organizational brand.

5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Speed Networking – Joint Session with Students/Professionals

6:30 pm - Dine-Around