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 strategies that will enhance your understanding of the informative, case study presentations throughout the entire conference.

Choose A or B or BOTH Workshops for Maximum Value and Learning

A Step-By-Step Framework For Implementing New Internal Branding Processes For Improved Employee Engagement

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
• Criteria and methods for measuring results

WORKSHOP LEADER: Allan Steinmetz is the Founder & CEO of Inward Strategic Consulting. Allan has over 30 years experience in strategy, marketing management, and 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.

Testimonials From Past Allan Steinmetz Sessions:

"This workshop helped me see the light at the end of a (very dark) tunnel"

"Comprehensive, but great!"

"Very practical and useful!"

"This was an outstanding workshop – totally worth participating in this!"

11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Afternoon break/lunch on your own

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 session 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.

INTERACTIVE WORKSHOPS
These workshops are designed to take your conference experience to the next level. Post-conference workshops allow you to take the information you gained from the general sessions, and identify and focus on your individual needs and applications. Make the most out of this conference by attending these highly interactive, hands-on sessions. Space is limited to ensure interactivity!

Choose C or D or BOTH Workshops for Maximum Value and Learning

Developing Engaging Content For Your Employees: How To Overcome Common Obstacles, Learn Practical Solutions, And Build Better Brand Ambassadors

The best brand ambassadors can and should be your employees.  How do you go about creating compelling content that engages them; giving them the knowledge and desire to represent your organization in a positive light, both internally and externally?

In this highly-rated workshop, you will be guided through critical concepts that serve as the foundation for developing a content strategy. You’ll learn practical approaches and tips to creating content that engages with your employees, allowing you to not only share your message, but more importantly, to create a personal connection that opens the door to ongoing interaction.

Through case study examples, you’ll experience common obstacles faced when developing video content with an internal focus, and learn first-hand how these obstacles can not only be overcome, but in some cases, recast as opportunities.

In this compelling, hands-on workshop, you will be shown how to:

• Understand key items and utilize best practices when creating a content strategy
• Develop compelling content that will engage your employees
• Deal with the challenges and benefits presented by inward vs. outward facing distribution
• Address expectations regarding engaging with and sharing video content and “viral views”
• Develop cost effective video content for multiple distribution channels
• Create a phased strategy for developing content, measuring success and achieving acceptance
• Apply these approaches to your specific content needs

WORKSHOP LEADER: Denise McKee is COO at AboutFace Media Inc. AboutFace creates short-form, story-driven documentaries for online and social media marketing projects. Their directors are award-winning independent filmmakers whose work has been screened at Sundance, South by Southwest and the Tribeca Film Festival among others. Clients include Sears, Kmart, Wilson, CNH, 3M, Trek, Staples, Florida Tourism, Robert W. Baird, Quad Graphics and Can-Am.

11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Afternoon break/lunch on your own

Enterprise 2.0: Integrating The Latest Social Media Tools And Technologies Into Your Internal Communications To Foster Better Employee Collaboration And Brand Engagement

Social media has received a significant amount of support over the last few years and as a result, almost every organization wants to rollout out social media accounts. Few organizations, however, understand how to do so to significantly enhance the internal communications within their organization.

Using best practices as a benchmark for your own future efforts, you will learn how leading organizations are moving forward today with enterprise-wide collaboration and how you can implement their solutions in a fun and thought-provoking way.

You will learn what you can do to turn your organization into a social one using collaboration. You will leave with real take-aways that can implement within at your own organization. Specifically, you will leave this high-energy workshop with answers to the following key questions:

• What are the common goals, approaches, and tools when rolling out an enterprise-wide communications effort?
• Why is now the time to move your organization forward with Enterprise 2.0?
• How can you get started?
• How to overcome the most common reasons given to delay efforts
• How to drive a successful collaboration and measure its value

WORKSHOP LEADER: Jeff Willinger is the Director of Collaboration, Social Computing and Intranets at Righpoint; as well as the President of the Chicago Chapter of the Social Media Club. Jeff advises his clients on the social aspects of web solutions. This includes social computing strategies, social intranets and portals, and increasing employee engagement. Jeff's 20+ years of experience include social computing work within organizations as well as social media expertise as an outside consultant. With his intimate understanding of social media, Jeff helps turn IT solutions into transformative opportunities for our clients.