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

Choose ALL FOUR Workshops for Maximum Value and Learning

Strategic Internal Communications That Deliver Measurable Results: Using Language To Dramatically Improve Your Organization's Effectiveness

Language - we use it everyday. Most of the time, we just open our mouths and words come out. Many of us approach language like we approach breathing -- we don't even think about it we just do it. While breath gives us life, the words that come out of our mouths create the life we live, the organizations we lead and work in, and as a result, profoundly impact their effectiveness and quality. If we want to improve our organizations and the way we communicate within them, we must change the language we use.

• To use language effectively to communicate a vision and strategic priorities
• What you say means more than any strategic plan or document
• Language and communications can reenergize and enliven organizations or send them spiraling into defeatism and negativity

• How to analyze various communication styles
• Understanding that how people within your organization communicate impacts the organizations overall effectiveness
• Learning simple steps to transform the way you and your organizations communicates
• An understanding of techniques for connecting people to what really matters in terms of communication

WORKSHOP LEADERS: Alan Pentz is the Co-Founder of Corner Alliance, Inc. with extensive experience in public policy and public safety issues. He has overseen engagement with a variety of federal agencies, state and local government clients, and commercial sector clients, specializing in strategy development implementation and outreach and communications.

Sarah Agan is the Director of Organizational Development at Corner Alliance, Inc. She is passionate, opinionated and brings a wide range of experience to back it up. From Web 2.0 technology expertise to a deep understanding of the public safety space.

Testimonials From Past Corner Alliance, Inc. Sessions:

"Great job by Alan and Sarah."

"Group discussion was very valuable."

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

12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
PRE-TRAINING AFTERNOON WORKSHOP B

I've Chosen My Communication Tools, Now What? How To Develop And Implement Compelling Content For Your Social Media Communications Strategy That Will Engage Your Audiences

You’ve narrowed down the tools you want to use for your social media communications plan – that’s a great first step. Now, how do you go about creating content to utilize those tools effectively?

In this highly-rated workshop, you will be guided to greater understand the ins and outs of creating compelling content for use in your social media communications. You’ll learn practical approaches and tips to developing content that grabs the attention of your audience, allowing you to not only share your message, but more importantly, to create a personal connection that opens the door to further communication. Case studies will be presented to illustrate how video content was created and implemented for communications purposes, and demonstrate how in some cases, this content can serve double-duty as both an outward-facing and internal communications strategy.

In this compelling, hands-on workshop, you will leave with strategies and tools to help you:

• Understand key items and utilize best practices when creating a content strategy
• Develop compelling content that will engage your audience
• Create content that utilizes popular social media tools including Facebook, Twitter and You Tube to communicate with your audience where they’re spending their time
• Develop cost effective video content for multiple distribution channels
• Discover how best to deal with the challenges and benefits presented by inward vs. outward facing distribution
• Create a phased strategy for developing content and measuring success
• 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. She's a top-rated workshop leader and her session is guaranteed to help you with your own social media initiatives.

Creating An Action Plan To Reinvent The Role Of Internal Communications In Your Government Organization: What To Do When You Get Back To The Office

Too often, people attend conferences all “jazzed up” and don’t follow through to implement concepts or ideas gained during the sessions and/or garner support to effectively implement the concepts in a way that makes a difference. It’s not that you don’t want to; it’s more of not knowing where to start. We will discuss how government agencies have refined their strategic internal communications to assist in implementing major change initiatives and discuss what has worked and hasn’t in implementing these efforts.

• Review best practices within small groups
• Brainstorm practical and tactical solutions to help deal with challenges of implementing specific communication strategies
• Discuss specific techniques to incorporate these communication strategies into daily work
• Have an opportunity to ask questions specific to your organizational issues

• eNewsletters/Promotional Packages
• Strategic visual maps of strategy
• Online portals
• Social media tools

• An action plan for prioritizing ideas and concepts learned during the conference
• A specific structure for ensuring personal accountability for implementing specific communication strategies as a follow-up to the conference
• Three great questions to ask to check on your progress
• Five ideas to help you measure the impact of specific communication strategies

WORKSHOP LEADER: Ken Boxer is the Founder and President of Strategic Partners, Inc. (SPI), a coaching, consulting, and training firm. Ken is well known throughout the consulting industry as a forward thinker and a leader in providing integrated solutions to address clients coaching, consulting and training needs. As a published expert, Ken regularly consults with senior managers on the implementation of business plans and major change initiatives. Ken has worked with over 50 Federal Agencies.

Testimonials From Past Strategic Partners, Inc. Sessions:

"Really appreciate the engagement & willingness of the leader to
adapt the presentation & answer specific questions."

"This session answered the questions I had on how to move forward."

"Exactly what I needed from this conference."

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

Building The Business Case For Your Communications Programs: How To Harness Your Value Proposition And Back It Up With Measurable Results

It’s budget time. And the question on everyone’s mind is how can I prepare and present information about the impact and value my program/department delivers? To do this you must learn how to harness your value proposition, back it with measurable results and communicate it in a convincing way.

This workshop will help you identify the keys to preparing and presenting a compelling business case for key leadership funding and support. You’ll learn how to isolate the value proposition of your program/department, gain an understanding of what to track, and establish a system that delivers the intelligence you need to leverage your position/program in an influential way, and prove the return on investment delivered through your program/department, including how to:

• Plan an effective funding communication strategy
• Establish measurable indicators of success
• Develop strategic tracking of performance indicators
• Create a compelling case for support
• Understand the keys to effectively communicating value
• Define the return on investment
• Leverage communications

WORKSHOP LEADER: Lilly Coniglio is Managing Partner of The Strategic Organization LLC. She has over 30 years experience working with government agencies, nonprofit organizations, NGO's, Foundations, educational systems, management support organizations and corporate funders. Lilly is a frequent presenter at association, nonprofit and government conferences where she shares her expertise in capacity building, developing effective strategy, community engagement, measuring the mission and effective tactics for funding.