Jump-start your conference experience by attending these interactive and practical workshops. These information-packed sessions are a great opportunity to network with fellow attendees while taking a hands-on, common-sense approach to mastering employee & brand engagement that will enhance your understanding of the informative, case study presentations throughout the entire conference.

*** Choose ALL FOUR for Maximum Value and Learning ***

Give Value Or Give Notice: Creating The Value-Added Communication Function

“Being able to go to your CEO and say ‘our communication improved revenues by 23 percent or we saved $1 million and I can prove it’ buys you a lot because you’re adding.”
--Terry Simpson, Director of Internal Communication, FedEx Express

Every communication function -- every department and function in the modern organization -- is searching for ways to add more value.  To many it’s a matter of survival.

In this lively and interactive workshop, you will learn what top communication pros are doing to shift their communication departments away from traditional cost centers to performance-driving value centers that create big-time improvements in quality, service, costs, speed, safety and more. All with big returns!

Specifically, you will learn about:

• The new mindset and approach that’s required to move from a cost center to a value creator
• A step-by-step process to safely transform your function to one that’s highly-valued for its quantifiable contributions to the organization
• How to measure your current ROI and identify ways you can at least triple it
• Ways to conduct a comprehensive, business-focused assessment of your communication function and processes throughout your organization
• How to get low value work off your plate and more high value work onto your plate
• A proven process for enlisting your leadership team’s support for this new business-like approach to managing communication—starting with your CEO
• Ways to tighten your working relationship with other staff functions like HR and Finance
• How to create demand from line management because you’re putting money in their pockets
• Ten specific steps you can take to start the reinvention today
• How others have used the above tools to dramatically advance their careers and enlarge their paychecks

WORKSHOP LEADER: Jim leads the Jim Shaffer Group, a team of seasoned advisors to leaders of organizations who want to improve performance through better strategy execution. Jim is an internationally recognized consultant, speaker and author on improving business performance, including helping guide lean six sigma transformations. His book, The Leadership Solution (McGraw-Hill), immediately became a classic treatise on leadership, change management and creating high performance organizations. Jim received the International Association of Business Communicators’ prestigious Fellow award, the highest honor IABC bestows on an individual and acknowledges outstanding leadership and professional accomplishment.

Testimonials From Past Jim Shaffer Sessions:

"Succinct. Great to hear a presentation that was so tied to bottom line."

"Whether communicators know it or not, our profession is in the middle of a significant transformation. This approach has provided a clear path to how I can help the company deliver sustainable, measurable financial results – and change what leaders expect from a communication organization. To call this work game-changing for me personally and professionally would be an understatement."

"Good content. Proven results. Helpful ideas. Great examples!"

11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Afternoon break/lunch on your own

A Step-By-Step Framework For Implementing New Internal Branding Processes

This hands-on workshop will teach you how your organization can take advantage of new ideas in internal branding planning that yield stronger employee engagement and commitment that ultimately saves time, money and effectiveness. The benefits of using these new approaches are: more enthusiastic employees, greater understanding of the company's vision, improved commitment and new employee behavior that supports the company's goals.

Specifically, this workshop will show you:

• An effective step-by-step framework for effective internal branding that covers the theory, messaging, tactical planning, program management and measurement processes to track results and impact
• The process of creating a message architecture and experiential tactical plan—message architecture is the process of building a comprehensive internal message that is clear and understood, relevant and personal, and suggests the right behavior one should adopt
• How to make internal branding effective to your audience in a meaningful way by understanding the importance of tactical resonance and message relevance
• How to create a message matrix--understanding the value of communicating the right message, to the right audience, at the right time
• Methods for tactical planning and group brainstorming that yield greater employee participation and internal buy-in that are fun and engaging

WORKSHOP LEADER:  Allan Steinmetz is the Founder & CEO of Inward Strategic Consulting. Allan has over 30 years experience in strategy, marketing management, advertising and communications, having worked for some of the world's most respected advertising and management consulting firms. Prior to establishing Inward Strategic Consulting, he was a Senior Vice President and Corporate Director of Marketing for Arthur D. Little one of the world's leading management and technology consulting firms, where he was responsible for the firm's brand identity and positioning, business development, strategic awareness, lead generation, advertising, and communications. Allan was the Worldwide Director of Marketing and Communications for Andersen Consulting, now Accenture.

2:45 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP C
Refreshments will be provided during this session.

Engaging Employees In Your Brand Strategy For Performance-Driven Results
In these turbulent times, it is more critical than ever to ensure that employees clearly understand the brand and the associated business strategy, how it relates to the larger marketplace and what they can do to help achieve results.

To ensure that everyone is aligned with your brand priorities, communication needs to be focused and reinforced, leaders and managers should be aligned and engaged in communicating about the strategy, desired behaviors must be clearly defined and reinforced, and communication methods must “break through the clutter” to gain employee mindshare.

Through discussion of best practices and case studies, you will learn ways to engage employees to deliver on the brand strategy by:

• Ensuring that employees understand the marketplace context for the brand and business strategy
• Using unique methods to develop clear and concise messages that resonate with employees
• Clearly articulating and reinforcing the desired culture and  the associated behaviors
• Defining and supporting the leaders’ role in engaging employees in the brand
• Identifying and meeting the unique needs of various employee groups
• Using creative ways to energize employees and truly engage them in the strategy

WORKSHOP LEADER: Chris Gay, ABC, is Co-Founder & Principal of Bridge Consulting, a network of engagement and communication professionals who provide full-service solutions to organizations of all sizes, industries and geographic locations. She and her organization partner with companies to connect people and strategy through employee engagement, communication, and change management strategies that truly have an impact on business results.

Testimonials From Past Chris Gay Sessions:

"One of the best sessions of the conference."

"Useful information with tactical strategies to use!"

"I liked the case study and breakout elements."

"So many questions stirred up. Great paradigm!"

How To Build A Compelling Internal Branding Strategy, Develop More Effective Messaging And Motivate Your People To Deliver On Your Organization’s Brand Promise

"What makes this organization tick?" Few questions are more important to answer when it comes to engaging employees in brand promise delivery--or in developing internal communications and messaging that works to motivate people most effectively.

That question, and many more, will be explored throughout this interactive workshop, which will introduce you to the most effective building blocks of any internal branding or communications program—an understanding of organizational culture and how it can be used to shape truly powerful employee engagement initiatives and messaging to support them.

During this session, you’ll learn new techniques and participate in applied exercises to help you assess any organizational culture and determine what really matters most when it comes to engaging people in any group. You’ll find out how to develop and customize effective messages that work inside your own unique organization; and, you’ll learn the best ways to build employee allegiance and buy-in as you develop a communications strategy.

Ultimately, this comprehensive workshop will help you:

1. Quickly define your own organization’s internal communications style and the best ways to get attention within it
2. Align your internal branding and communications programs with key employee motivators
3. Define the group strengths and values that are most critical to brand promise delivery
4. Discover the most important “secret” to internal branding and messaging success

WORKSHOP LEADER: Cindy Atlee is a Partner at The Storybranding Group, where she helps clients develop authentic brands and communications strategies that align internal stakeholders meaning with external target audience motivation. She is a branding strategist and messaging specialist who believes every organization and individual has a powerful story to tell. She combines her 20+ years in communications, marketing and strategic planning with innovative training in organizational culture and identity, personal branding and leadership communications, and story-based brand development.

Testimonials From Past Cindy Atlee Sessions:

“Excellent presenter!”

“Good & relatable take-aways.”

“Relevant & interesting.”