8:00 a.m.
Continental Breakfast & Networking

8:30 a.m.
Chairperson's Opening Of Day Two

How To Keep An Overseas Audience Connected To Internal Information

The American Forces Network (AFN) mission is to inform and entertain the soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and their families, stationed outside the United States in 177 countries. Since their audience ranges from those who are directly involved in combat, to those who support military operations, to family stationed with them overseas, AFN has to target their broad demographic with a wide range of internal information and news updates, provided by the Department of Defense and the military commands. In this dynamic presentation, you will learn how AFN is able to reach a local, regional and global audience with a wide variety of crucial internal information messages targeted for specific demographics in multiple time zones.

Through the production of on-air promos, the scheduling of worldwide spot announcements and news programs, the operation of an automated cue-insertion system, the management of regional AFN TV and radio channels/services, and the creation of innovative websites, AFN serves the information needs of a local, regional and global overseas audience.

Among the challenges that are faced include:

• Serving large and diverse military communities across the globe including; Iraq, Afghanistan, Central Europe, the Japan/Korea region, and aboard Naval ships at sea
• Communicating specific messages to worldwide viewers
• Working with the individual military media centers, each of which has unique missions
• Using technology to augment a shrinking budget and workforce

In this can’t-miss presentation, you will learn how to communicate across your own organization’s challenges, whether your agency has a local or global presence. 

Lawrence A. Sichter, Chief of Affiliate Relations, Public Affairs Officer, American Forces Network
DEFENSE MEDIA CENTER,
U.S. Department of Defense

Jeffrey W. White, Executive Director
DEFENSE MEDIA CENTER,
U.S. Department of Defense

9:40 a.m.
Morning Refreshment & Networking Break

10:10 a.m.
Case Study

Don’t Be Afraid Of Employee Bloggers: How To Guide The Power Of
Employee Blogging To Engage Employees And Enhance Transparency -- On A Shoestring Budget

The Goodwill Ambassablog is a unique approach to employee blogging at the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, the public agency that operates San Diego International Airport. As a regional government agency, the Airport Authority was uncertain how, if at all, to enter the blogosphere; so it launched an employee blog with a twist – one that not only engages employees and offers them a creative outlet for educational expression, but also communicates positive messages about the Airport Authority and enhances its transparency to external audiences.

The Goodwill Ambassablog is proving to be a stellar, ultra-low-cost, “new media” supporter of the Airport Authority’s Goodwill Ambassador Program, which recruits agency employees to serve as ‘goodwill ambassadors’ about the Airport Authority to their friends, family members and community contacts. Its blog features ongoing employee-written posts & comments, video & music clips, photos, quizzes, polls, convenient forwarding features and more.

In this session, you will gain insight on how to:

• Create a similar blog as the Goodwill Ambassablog and get it operating successfully on a shoestring budget
• Effectively implement and monitor a dual-purpose (internal/external) blog for public entities
• Overcome technical challenges
• Gain upper management understanding and support
  This is a can’t-miss session to learn how to get your blog launch up and off the ground quickly with a limited budget.

This is a can’t-miss session to learn how to get your blog launch up and off the ground quickly with a limited budget.

Steve Shultz, Deputy Director, Public & Community Relations
SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, REGIONAL AIRPORT AUTHORITY
SAN DIEGO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Engaging Employees To Drive Change And Results In A Large Organization Through The Use Of Strategic Executive, Team & Organizational Communications

Over the past five years, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has experienced dramatic improvements in customer service and operational efficiency through the use of employee teams to generate breakthrough improvement initiatives. Though different in scope and scale, the initiatives all contain the following success factors:

• Using customer opinion surveys to identify top priority improvement areas
• Executive involvement in chartering the improvement project, supporting the improvement teams and championing dissemination of lessons learned throughout the organization
• Stakeholder involvement to generate ideas and remove obstacles to implementation
• Focusing on action and short timeframes in addressing problems
• Engaging of cross-functional employee teams in assessing the opportunities, developing potential solutions, selecting the most promising alternatives and developing the pilot projects
• Using pilots and rigorous measurement to test the ideas and subsequently to communicate
  the results across the organization
• Using information technology to facilitate communication among team members (who are frequently geographically dispersed)

The IRS has found that this “learning by doing” approach has delivered both customer and business results while improving the employee experience.

This session will examine the operational and communications components of two specific improvement initiatives. You will gain insight into how to structure and implement improvement initiatives, with a special emphasis on the role that executive, team and organizational communications plays in engaging employees to bring about customer-driven change in a large organization.

Dorian Shawcross, Senior Policy Analyst
INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE

Tom Cooper, President
PACIFIC CONSULTING GROUP

12:10 p.m.
Lunch On Your Own -- But Not Alone!
Join a group of your colleagues for lunch with an informal discussion facilitated by one of our expert speakers. Take this opportunity to join others in a small, interactive group setting to network and brainstorm solutions to your most pressing internal communications concerns.


1:40 p.m.
Interactive Session

Group Exercise: Brainstorm Solutions And New Ideas You Can Use

You asked for it, you got it! Interact and discuss solutions to your internal communication challenges with your fellow attendees and our experienced speakers. You will leave with new tools and hands-on experience and ideas for more successfully applying best practices to your own internal
communication initiatives.

2:15 p.m.
Case Study

How To Plan, Execute And Communicate The Importance Of Crisis Communication Within Your Own Organization Before Disaster Strikes

In 2007, over 150 Public Information Officers (PIOs) from State, Local, and Federal agencies and the private sector pooled together resources and expertise to form 15 joint information centers in an 11 state area. The team planned and executed how PIO’s would respond to an earthquake that affected the environment and human health. That was just part of the Spill of National Significance exercises, and it’s your job to communicate the information to the public with one voice in 11 states.

While most people know that safety measures are most important, agencies need to be prepared internally before communicating any information to the public. In this session, you will not only gain understanding of how to communicate a disaster to the public, but how to communicate internally in preparation of crisis management, such as:

• Learning to partner with other agencies to communicate a consistent message to the public
• Preparing and practicing before a crisis
• Executing a crisis communications plan in your organization

• Becoming one of the exercises and planning directors
• Stressing the importance of public information and getting your message out early
• Building partnerships, creating trust, and serving the public well

The Spill of National Significance exercise, also called SONS 07, had over 5,000 responders participate in the exercise. PIO’s played a huge part of the overall planning, design, play, media and final good news stories.

Ginny Narsete, Public Information Officer
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Linda Casey, Senior Communications Manager
MARATHON OIL

Afternoon Refreshment & Networking Break

3:30 p.m.
Case Study

How To Leverage Your Organization’s Internal Website To Inform, Align And Engage Your Employees

With an organization of nearly 3,000 employees, the internal communications strategies at the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) are key to assuring that employees are well-informed and connected. Through a comprehensive redesign of their internal website, the BPA has excelled at bringing employees the information they need right to their desktop.

Prior to the redesign of the internal website, information was difficult to find and was spread throughout multiple organization websites. By improving electronic communications, the BPA has advanced employee access to information on major agency initiatives, projects and employee services.

In this session, you will learn the importance of:

• Implementing a strategic internal website presence and its benefits for your organization
• Aligning business partners on the advantages of a consolidated website
• Engaging employees in the design process and increasing buy-in and acceptance
• Developing a centrally-managed and governed website that still maintains organizational ownership

Ryan Zimmerman, Public Affairs Specialist
BONNEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATION,
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

4:30 p.m.
Chairperson's Recap

Key Takeaways And What To Do When You Get Back To The Office

We’ll recap the highlights of the past two days and ask you to share key insights and next steps with the group.

4:45 p.m.
Close Of General Sessions