Take internal branding from complexity to clarity through these interactive workshops guaranteed to jumpstart your conference experience. These workshops are a great opportunity to advance your learning and network with fellow attendees while taking a hands-on, common sense approach to mastering internal branding that will enhance your understanding of the informative case study presentations throughout the entire conference.

9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
MORNING PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP A
Registration and continental breakfast will begin at 8:30 a.m. for the morning workshop attendees.

Internal Branding 101: How To Define And Deliver An Internal Brand, That Delivers On Your Marketplace Promise

Internal branding is about making sure that an organization defines and delivers an employee experience that aligns with your external brand, so that each day employees are engaged in living and delivering on the promise you make to the marketplace.

• Define your internal brand in a way that engages people at all levels, so they become an integral part of your business strategy
• Enlist your organization’s leaders in articulating the brand and fulfilling their role in modeling and communicating
• Creatively build excitement and high levels of engagement with employees
• Align internal processes, such as recruiting, onboarding and recognition programs, to support and reinforce the internal brand
• Measure the business impact of the internal brand

These objectives will be met through interactive discussions that include best practices and experiences of organizations who have successfully executed internal brands that drive their business strategies through highly engaged employees.

WORKSHOP LEADERS: Michelle Mahony, a Principal at Bridge Consulting, has focused on facilitating connections with her clients to create highly engaged workforces committed to business success for over 14 years. Whether it's connecting people to a business or change strategy, leaders to employees, people to technology, or generations with each other, Michelle focuses on engagement, communication and change management strategies to help organizations across industries achieve their objectives. Michelle also served on the faculty in the Education Department at Whitman College, where she taught students effective pedagogical and communication methods, as well as Developmental Psychology.

Chris Gay, a Principal at Bridge Consulting, partners with companies to connect people and strategy through employee engagement, communication, and change management strategies that truly have an impact on business results. Chris has earned international and national awards for her communication and engagement work, including three IABC Gold Quills, a PRSA Silver Anvil, and recognition as one of the top 20 Human Resources case studies in the world according to the International Benchmarking Association.

Chris has worked in corporate America for 25 years in the retail, manufacturing, and financial services sectors. Her extensive experience spans both Human Resources and Communication, and her corporate experience has allowed her to develop strong skills in both strategy development and execution.

Testimonials From Past Michelle Mahony Sessions:

"Thoroughly enjoyed!"

"Appreciated the practical tips, examples, and stories to apply to my own organization."

"One of the best speakers; great tools that can be easily applied."

12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Afternoon Break / Lunch On Your Own

1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
AFTERNOON PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP B

How To Leverage Social Media Tools To Engage Your Employees And Create Effective Brand Champions

Social media tools have added more visibility to your brand, providing a channel for anyone's opinions and experiences to be distributed to the world almost instantaneously. If this isn't enough to make you a little nervous, what about the fact that conversations in social media aren’t limited just to your customers? Your employees are online sharing their opinions about you, too. Your employees' lives and jobs intersect online where the lines between public and private are blurred at best.

Don't be deterred by this reality! Your employees, if given the right incentives and tools, can become the biggest champions of your brand. They are the most important audience in any brand effort because they both deliver the brand experience and influence public opinion. If you re-examine your internal social media policy through this lens, your employees look less like a ticking time-bomb and more like message mercenaries.

In this approach, we find a more authentic way to communicate with all audiences, an opportunity to personalize your brand and connect on a deeper level—a level synonymous with trust, honesty and transparency. And that's what builds a brand. You must be deliberate, strategic and careful in this effort, however, to improve the likelihood that your employees' powers are being used for good and not for evil.

• Examples of how social media has enhanced and destroyed brand value
• How social media can be used to drive deeper engagement
• Ways to overcome hurdles to implementation and gain organizational buy-in
• How guidelines can ensure that social media touch points stay true to your brand
• Tactics and strategies to successfully leverage and measure social media effectiveness

WORKSHOP LEADERS: Briana Marrah, Principal at brand strategy firm Parker LePla, provides organizations with the tools they need to make shifts in their business strategies, people and communication so they can live up to what they promise. In addition to her consulting work, Briana started an online community to keep brand managers involved in ongoing theory and practice – IntegratedBrand.com. Briana's clients have included Microsoft, Group Health Cooperative, GE Medical, Mayo Clinic, Bowker and ProQuest.

Joe LePla, Principal and Founder of Parker LePla since 1994, has over 30 years experience in integrated branding and marketing. He is currently co-authoring his third book which will be a CEOs guide to internal branding. At Parker LePla, Joe develops new ways to help organizations live their brands and is currently working with senior leaders to help them understand how to embrace social media as a strategic branding tool. His clients have included Philips Healthcare, Microsoft, the Beryl Companies and the University of Washington, Foster School of Business.

Testimonials From Past Parker LePla Sessions:

"This was a home run and what this conference is all about.
Top quality—helpful info! Bravo!"

"Really great stuff—relevant to our topic and useful things that
we can take back and implement."

"Excellent—lots of good information. Very good case study given in practical terms."