Schedule of Events

In today's uncertain and competitive work environment, organisations need communication leaders with a firm grip on all areas of business to drive strategic alignment. As a contemporary communication leader, you must equip yourself with the mindset, skills, and practical strategies to influence at the executive level, communicate with impact, and activate a thriving culture. This workshop focuses on the core communication leadership skills you need to succeed as a communication leader and deliver real value to your organisation. You will emerge prepared to think and lead strategically, generate innovative ideas, build trust, and contribute to your organisation on a strategic and senior level. Draw on the latest thinking, practical models, tools, and strategies to elevate your communication leadership presence and ignite your career. 

• Influence up and across senior teams with impact
• Build relationships of trust based on empathy and common goals
• Expand their emotional intelligence and identify opportunities for growth

The GCCC will be offering the Communication Management Professional (CMP) and Strategic Communication Management Processional (SCMP) exams for candidates interested in earning their certification. Candidates are required to show they meet the eligibility requirements prior to acceptance.

Once your application has been verified and accepted by the GCCC, you will be notified within 30 days whether you are approved to sit for the exam. On-site registrations will not be accepted.

Link to Registration: https://gcccouncil.org/Get-Certified-Now

Six ways to sharpen your digital acumen with leading digital marketing executive and data scientist

This masterclass is an opportunity to gain access to the critical skills needed to expand your current approach to social media, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and visualization, all the while investigating how these constantly-evolving technologies can disrupt various industries. Through a scenario-based interactive format, you will learn about how best to harness the potential of current and emerging communication technologies to advance your organization’s communication strategy and create a bespoke consumer targeting approach.

Current and future communication professionals must be savvy digital communicators, digital strategists, and results orientated – for they are often responsible for content strategy, designing brand assets, developing the brand message, and ensuring high engagement amongst their social media channels. Consumers expect bespoke digital campaign strategies to sustain their loyalty because of the multiple technological advancements and the competitive landscape. Today, many organizations utilize an omnichannel approach to connect with their current and prospective customers actively, engage their employees as brand advocates, and deepen their stakeholders’ outreach – irrespective of where they are in the customer lifecycle. The channels and options for messaging are much broader and more instantaneous than ever before. There is a need for communication professionals to have a keen understanding of how to leverage this convergence of technology and brand messaging to boost audience engagement and drive profits. 

• Learn the new trends in digital communication strategy, digital landscape, and digital audiences.
• Identify new digital tactics to launch and manage your digital communication initiative.
• Analyze and discern the unique attributes, features, and benefits of digital media platforms.

The GCCC will be offering the Communication Management Professional (CMP) and Strategic Communication Management Processional (SCMP) exams for candidates interested in earning their certification. Candidates are required to show they meet the eligibility requirements prior to acceptance. 
 
Once your application has been verified and accepted by the GCCC, you will be notified within 30 days whether you are approved to sit for the exam. On-site registrations will not be accepted. 
 
Link to Registration: https://gcccouncil.org/Get-Certified-Now 

IABC's Annual General Meeting - more information to come. 

Kick off the 2022 World Conference at the Welcome Reception! Reconnect with peers, industry partners, friends and colleagues you have not seen in person in three years! This is the perfect way to begin your World Conference experience in NYC!

Sponsored by Staffbase

Join the IABC NY Chapter for a run or walk around Times Square to get energized for the first full day of World Conference!

It’s always been a challenge to grab – and keep – the attention of busy employees. But now, it’s almost impossible. The influx of new apps, communication channels, and workstream collaboration platforms released during the pandemic have commandeered every sliver of attention employees have. And as digital noise increases, it’s only going to get worse. 

That doesn’t mean that communicators have to take a back seat. There is a way to improve how you distribute your messages so that employees stay engaged and come back for more. 

You know what you want to say. This session discusses the secrets to communication success in today’s attention economy, including guidance on how to amplify the intranet. Dramatically improve the reach and impact of messages by making the intranet more effective and giving employees a reason to make it part of their day.

Workgrid Solution Provider Session

With every passing day the digital world grows more saturated. Individuals and brands churn out content, both paid and earned, in hopes of staying relevant and leading the conversation in their niche. How do you make sure that your message doesn’t get lost among the millions of others? How can you secure brand leadership in the most turbulent digital environment yet? What is the recipe for consistent PR success vs. consistently hoping for the best? 

For this session, Propel VP of Marketing Aaron Friedman will discuss:

• Journalist Engagement in 2022
• Newsjacking: Do’s and Don’ts
• How to time your outreach to get the best response rate

Propel PRM Solution Provider Session

Find Your Voice! Diplomacy, Influence, and the Evolution of Communications

When stakes are high, communicators can be central figures in influencing for impact. But it’s those small, quiet moments of influence that matter just as much, if not more. Frank X. Shaw, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President of Communications, will share an insider’s perspective on the critical role communicators play at Microsoft, and how he and his team build influence internally and externally to find and focus the voice of the company through all the noise. 
As the Communications discipline evolves at lightning speed, Frank will reflect on how diplomacy has never mattered more – and how communicators can best rise to the challenge to succeed today and into the future.
 

Frank X. Shaw, Corporate Vice President of Communications, Microsoft

In his current role as CVP of Communications at Microsoft, Frank leads the team that defines and manages Microsoft's communications strategies worldwide. His charter includes establishing the vision and implementation of best practices for company-wide storytelling, product PR, media and analyst relations, executive communications, employee communications, global agency management, and military affairs.

As an avid technologist with more than 20 years of experience in communications, Frank has led diverse teams representing government, entertainment, food, and retail. Prior to joining Microsoft in 2009, he was the president of the Microsoft account worldwide at Waggener Edstrom Worldwide where he held key responsibilities for all global PR, communications and influence efforts.

Before the technology chapter of his career, Frank proudly served in the US Marine Corps and is a graduate of the Department of Defense Information School, also holding a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism from the University of Oregon.

This session is sponsored by Simpplr.

Change initiatives have always been challenging, requiring high degrees of alignment, buy-in, and execution excellence to succeed. Even in the pre-Covid world, most transformations failed. Now, the difficulty has only compounded, as many companies try to shift their weight in a new strategic environment while their workforces have gone from in-person to remote or hybrid. In this session, Simpplr Sr. Director of Product Marketing Matt Aaronson will demonstrate how some novel approaches and exciting new technologies can help organizations connect with their employees, measure attitudes and alignment in the moment, and adapt with greater agility than ever. 

Simpplr Solution Provider Session

At the speed of the Star Trek Enterprise, technology is speeding ahead with augmented and immersive technologies. We have shown how virtual spaces can be used to inspire and engage employees but what is next? This session will give you a glimpse into the future of what is possible and then STOP. Freeze time. Go back to the basics and look at the what we as communicators need to focus on for success in all digital projects. That blend of creative with strategy, where technology is merely the enabler. In this session Monique and Andreas will cover: - The latest and greatest in virtual and augmented reality with a view to employee communication - How to set your boundaries to work creatively within - Tips and inspiration from these new environments to apply to your everyday creativity and innovation

• Get a glimpse into the future for communicating within organisations. This includes the latest and greatest in immersive technologies.
• Build an understanding of where your organisation is for digital maturity and concrete next steps for progression
• Gain tips and tricks for sparking your strategic creativity. These will include learnings from immersive communication that you can bring back to your everyday communications.

What’s chaos? Chaos is confusion. Communication can combat confusion. Communication is the fundamental component, the golden thread, that runs through everything. It’s representative of culture, it’s the articulation of the strategy and it’s what we need to function as a group or community. So yes, communication can cover it all. Jenni will explore what chaos looks like inside organizations. She will share her model, The Field Model, that has been used by organizations to go from chaos to calm. There will be case studies to show you how you can apply The Field Model to your chaos, and you’ll leave with practical steps to take that will help you. Jenni will work with you in the room to allow you get to the root cause of your chaos so you can fix things for the long term. Communication CAN calm chaos, because communication is the way to combat confusion.

• Communication isn’t linear. Neither is chaos. They are cyclical, which means that how you identify and rectify issues inside organizations must be too. Focusing on communication and relationships can transform your organization, function, or team to move from chaos to calm.Upon completion, participants will be able to realize the true value of ‘understand, diagnose and fix’: the powerful, easy-to-follow approach to chaos – however it manifests itself.
• Understand the symptoms in your organization and what they mean for the culture. How to diagnose the root cause of the symptoms – when to apply different techniques and why.
• What the main fixes are for organizations and what might be the fix for them to think about.

Step 1 of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is awareness. Step 2 is communication. It is not enough to hold a one-time awareness session. Individuals from diverse backgrounds must learn to communicate with each other in meaningful ways. Only then does true progress occur. This session will help to break down the barriers to effective communication. We focus on three parts: analyzing ourselves, analyzing "the other," and then developing the mindset of a nimble, flexible communicator who builds bridges. In doing so, we consider how an each individual's knowledge, skill, and motivation contributes to or detracts from a wholly inclusive organizational culture. Inclusion requires empathy. And empathy comes from education—from learning from each other. What can serve as the key to unlock success? Communication Can.

• Understand and define environmental and cultural forces that influence communication styles.
• Develop skills to become a more nimble communicator.

The increasingly toxic drug supply, combined with the harms of historical and present-day colonialism, have led to First Nations people in BC dying from toxic drugs at 5.4 times the rate of the mainstream population. Under these circumstances, how do we communicate critical health messaging to prevent overdose and support people who use substances on their healing journeys? We start by listening to them. 
In this session, you’ll hear how the First Nations Health Authority created a safe and empowering space for Indigenous people who use substances to share their personal stories and inform public health messaging about harm reduction, resulting in an award-winning public education campaign to “Increase the support – Reduce the harm.”

• Understand Indigenous audiences and the historical and social context for substance use.
• Learn how to build connection with Indigenous people who use substances and develop messaging that will resonate
• Develop a strategic and strengths-based approach to communicating about the toxic drug crisis.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has experienced phenomenal growth over the last five years, with a 39% increase in their cloud computing revenue just in the third quarter of 2021. Being Customer Obsessed, our sales teams need to spend a majority of their time with our customers, not reading emails. So how do you communicate a significant migration to a brand-new user interface on our core CRM platform, like Salesforce, to 35,000 field employees while delivering on critical business outcomes without any disruption? You build trust, listen closely, and create a plan. In this session, you'll hear how a small team navigated skeptical stakeholders, key messaging, Slack bots, sneak peek videos, and multiple global audiences to create a dynamic and agile communication plan that captured lightning in a bottle.

• Determine the right success metrics for your project
• Use technology amplify listening channels.
• Bring the unexpected and fun into your project as a critical differentiator.

What, exactly, is the metaverse? Is there just one or are there multiple metaverses? Who owns it (or them)? And most importantly, how will businesses take advantage of the opportunities and fend off the threats the metaverse presents? For more than 25 years at IABC World Conferences, Shel Holtz, ABC, SCMP, IABC Fellow, has introduced communicators to dozens of emerging technologies that will affect their work. In his presentation on the metaverse, Shel will explain the underlying technologies (including blockchain, NFTs, and Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) and how communicators will use them. You will learn… • How businesses will present themselves in the metaverse as a part of the virtual and real worlds • What communication is likely to look like in the metaverse • How the structure of organizations may change in the real world as a result of metaverse principles • How companies are using the metaverse today

• Participants will leave the session conversant in the metaverse and its core underlying technologies, as well as the reasons they should stay current on metaverse developments and add it to the communication toolkit.
• Upon completion, participants will be able to work with leadership and IT to develop a successful metaverse presence (or even an entire metaverse) and communicate about it and on its behalf effectively both in-world and through traditional communication c
• After attending this session, participants will be prepared to try their hands at a metaverse presence (including selecting a metaverse with which to experiment and develop an avatar).

There is tremendous value in a business leader who can communicate effectively ... and tremendous risk in an executive who can't. Yet today’s CEOs are in a bind. No one in business school really prepared them for the demanding communication role that they’re expected to play on a daily basis: facing journalists, customers, employees, government officials, sales partners, and even protesters. Social media has turned a bright spotlight on the gap between CEOs’ communications skills and the information needs of their stakeholders. Communicators can help close that gap. Drawing upon the communication lessons from the world's top CEOs, you'll learn the secrets that are just as true today as they were decades ago. And you'll discover in this interactive session how to counsel, convince and cajole your executives to follow the advice of senior leaders who've "been-there, done-that" so that they can achieve communication (and business) success.

• Implement an executive communications program that focuses on the top secrets of some of the world's most effective CEOs.
• Participants will be able to coach their organization's senior leaders on how to move their executive communication skills from good to great.
• Participants will be able to measure the improvements in their leaders' communication skills and tie the progress to the organizations key performance indicators.

Podcasting is all the rage, and we'll demonstrate how Communication Can produce a show that’s right for your brand and business objectives? The world knows a good (and not so good) interview podcast. But what other podcast structures exist? And why would anyone create them? In this session we will review different podcast structures from daily solo shows to full production audio dramas and discuss the pros and cons of each format. Additionally, the session will explore several case studies on both well-known and little-known shows and deconstruct 1.) what they’re intended to accomplish and 2.) why they work. Finally, we’ll consider how to think about your own show — whether creating new or refining.

• Understand the different types of show formats and associated pros and cons
• Know why it's important to align the show to strategy, business objectives and audience
• Learn tips on how to emulate structure from show-construction exercises and take away a process to create their own show

Social media has created conditions for the ‘spinification’ of everything, and much of the public debate we see today resembles little more than an exchange of competing monologues designed to reinforce tribal norms – rather than debate or response to alternate points of view. It’s hard to recall the last time a public figure lay down their arms and admitted their opponent had persuaded them. But communications can shift this dynamic, away from fearful, shallow ‘chatter’ towards a more nuanced exchange of ideas and creation of wisdom. It starts at home and in the workplace – the domain of many difficult conversations.

• Apply communciations, behavioural and philosophical theories to real-world situations faced by professional communicators, including leading teams and providing strategic counsel to senior executives.
• Confidently demonstrate an ability to approach and conduct difficult conversations and engage in nuanced debate in order to uphold the IABC's Code of Ethics.
• Define the appropriate method and approach for an effective conversation based on the context and desired outcome.

Effective communications can bring clarity, purpose, and even comfort to audiences in times of unimaginable confusion, anxiety, and doubt. Through the lens of the pandemic and hard-earned lessons one hospital executive discusses how communications has been the key enabler to move people from fiction to truth, and from fear to fact. Through these lessons, participants are challenged to identify and work through their own areas of ambiguity in their workplaces, and develop action-items and ready-to-use tools for immediate use post-conference. Through group work, the  session will explore:: when to buck the trend and go it alone; how to look for strategic allies; leadership examples to increase employee engagement; and communications best practices that drive effective brand results in times of uncertainty.

• Upon completion, participants will be able to action 1-4 ideas immediately post-pandemic
• Upon completion, participants will be able to define the value they bring to their organization
• Upon completion, participants will be able to identify where ambiguity lies within their organization/its context and what to do about it

The world has been filled with uncertainty, unpredictability and instability for the past 2 years. As a result, many people have experienced anxiety, panic and fear, wondering what the future holds. It’s at this uncertain time that Communication from a true leader's voice Can bring a sense of certainty and hope to them. Your voice has never been as important as of now. How you speak and come across has become vital. It's not only what you say, but how you say it. Your voice can either connect with your audience, calm them down and inspire them, or bring them down, create more panic and demoralize them. In this interactive, practical and fun session, you’ll master the tools and techniques to speak with a powerful voice that engages your audience, builds trust and influences people into change in the time of uncertainty.

• Master the voice to engage and connect with the audience
• Project a powerful voice to build credibility and trust
• Speak with passion and conviction to inspire and influence the audience

How prominent are workforce wellbeing challenges in the workforce, and how can organizations resolve them? We share real-world examples from some of the top organizations in the world, including ADM, Raising Cane’s, Nebraska Medicine, Big Lots, Tech Data, Hawaii Pacific Health, Wawa and DOW about how they are addressing these challenges and solving for the road ahead.

FirstUp Solution Provider Session

Remote work is not a new concept, but post-pandemic, many companies and organizations are making it a permanent aspect of their workplaces. While this is a welcomed shift for people accustomed to virtual interactions and engagement, it can be challenging for communicators who bear a significant responsibility on shaping culture, especially when a significant portion of the workforce is place-based. Leslie's presentation will focus on how to change and influence culture as organizations build increasingly higher levels of remote work into their workplaces.

Sponsored by Haiilo.

• Upon completion, participants will:• Understand how the comms function can influence and change culture in a remote environment. From core values to internal communications infrastructure, communications is in the driver's seat, and culture building provides a real opportunity to elevate the function with leadership and stakeholders.
• Upon completion, participants will:• Learn how a national laboratory changed its culture during unprecedented times as the world dealt with a pandemic, social unrest throughout our country, and the many first-time changes in procedures, operations, resea
• Upon completion, participants will:• Be able to implement some of the best practices at their own organizations, from the strategic to the tactical.

Story-telling and story-finding are two different things. In this session, you will learn how to find stories that position subject-matter experts (SMEs) in your organization as the go-to experts in their niche.
Author Rhea Wessel will introduce you to The Story-Framing System she created and perform a live story-finding demonstration with a member of the audience. In the demonstration, the group will generate a list of quality story ideas on the spot. 

• Learn the 3 steps to thought-leadership writing and the ingredients of a good piece of writing in the thought-leadership style
• Create a list of story ideas born of your thought-leadership niche that you can begin writing immediately and/or create a list of story ideas for SMEs or members of your C-Suite
• Find out how to operationalize the creation of your thought-leadership materials in cooperation with your SMEs

Communication and engagement is critical to the success of any type of organisational change, yet statistics still tell us that 70% of change programmes fail. Now more than ever in our VUCA world, strategic communication is needed to pave the way for leaders and organisations to effectively manage change. It's an exciting time for us to explore change communications, as not only will we see continued and increased levels of change, but as professionals, we have a real opportunity to make a difference. This session will cover change management, its practice, priorities and the challenges faced. We will talk about strategic communications and the role and place of the practitioner, this will be followed by featured success stories and examples of the impact good communications practice can have on change: - An introduction to transformational change practice - Strategic communications practitioners lead the way - Communications working for great change

• Develop communications professionals to be more strategic and astute, by demonstrating an understanding of business change processes and how to create a strategy that supports at every stage while ensuring alignment to the organisation’s culture and business priorities.
• Build trusted advisors who are confident, agile and assertive with our advice, born out of our experience and skills to engage and challenge leadership with a view to develop trust.
• Become enablers who lead and deliver communication that is effective and impactful, enabling leaders to communicate openly and honestly, comfortable to allow two-way communication with those affected by the change, to guarantee engagement.

Have you ever wondered how you perform on stage? Whether you realize it or not, you are on stage every minute of every day in the workplace. The spotlight is on, and your co-worker fans are either raving or disengaging, and you may not know it! Communication CAN inspire your team to be more inclusive and impactful. This session is geared for those who are interested in exploring what might be getting in the way of their effectiveness. Nanci Appleman-Vassil has extensive experience in partnering with leaders to come up with tailored approaches to improve their influence in the workplace. Come learn about a variety of tools, tips, and techniques to enhance your effectiveness within your organization. You will identify how you are currently performing for your colleagues and leave with a choreographed song and dance routine (action plan) to implement and achieve immediate results upon returning to your workplace.

• Upon completion, participants will be able to describe what they are currently doing that is helping or hindering their success.
• Upon completion, participants will be able to demonstrate new ways that they can show up as a stronger leader for their organization.
• Upon completion, participants will be able to apply inspiring leadership techniques in their workplace.

The question “between robots and big data, what’s left for humans?” is the new concern in all industries. Corporations nowadays operate in a high-speed environment where the rapid spread of information, rumors, and fake news on social media increases the risk of major organizational crises. To face this new reality, managers must adopt new crisis management tactics, new tech tools, and adapt very quickly to any eventuality to protect the reputation of their organization. Big data and AI have turned out to be valuable allies. Robots might soon be able to manage corporate crises thanks to metadata, and tech improvements. But the fundamental question remains: What will be left for humans in crisis management when robots take over? This workshop is an opportunity to understand the implications of high-tech improvements in PR. This model demonstrates that communication can evolve, engage stakeholders, and contribute to businesses' success.

• Upon completion, participants will be able to apply new practical concepts and strategic models into their professional life.
• Upon completion, participants will be able to bridge business values and ethics to the stakeholders' values as well as their personal values in a crisis management context.
• Upon completion, participants will be able to answer some fundamental questions, such as:• What are the trends and the new tools for managing corporate crises?• How is the Crisis Management 4.0 model different from what we already know about managing a

Would you like to kickstart your ability to tell great stories? Would you like to know the shortcuts to turbocharge the way you communicate visually, and problem solve with ease? We have been telling visual stories since the beginning of time. Visual storytelling can make us feel, connect and understand in ways that words by themselves may not be able to do With just a few simple tips, we can reimagine how we tell stories by developing the skill and confidence to draw out a few simple ideas. Visual communication can cut through the mass marketing noise and enable us to rediscover our most human elements of curiosity, creativity and imagination – which are essential for thriving in the modern age we are in. Most importantly, anyone can learn this, it’s fun and science tells us your brain (and your audiences) will love you for it. Let's reimagine what possible.

• Upon completion, participants will be able to use visual communication as part of their storytelling toolkit for communication and client engagement
• Upon completion, participants will be able to create empathy and human connection in their visual communication by being able to draw people (that look like people - goodbye stick figure!)
• Upon completion, participants will be able to have the confidence and skill to be able to say, "let's draw that out so I can explore this idea and check your understanding"

A great brand is the lovechild of design and dialogue. A carefully crafted cocktail of creativity, compelling communication and a clever channel strategy. For a brand to withstand the test of time, we need to continually embrace the elegance in simplicity and relevance in authenticity. Great brands are manifested in the people we work with, and for, we must take a holistic approach to creating a shared value-led ethos for employees and clients alike to bring the brand to life. In 2020, Aurecon was named Australasia’s Most Innovative Company, Most Innovative Professional Services Company and Best Social Impact Innovation. Winning this coveted trifecta was the culmination of a 5-year transformation journey to reimagine the role of communication in delivering on the brand promise. This interactive workshop will challenge you to look at your organisation as an object of design. To unlock creativity. To unleash an enterprising spirit within the enterprise.

• Upon completion, participants will be able to think about communication strategy through the lens of a design thinker.
• Upon completion, participants will be able to experience the diagramming technique as a way to facilitate and co-create shared objectives with an audience.

What's the difference between a good story and a great one? Sometimes it's the little things — a tug at the heart, a small but consequential detail, or a beginning that lures them in. In this engaging, interactive session, you'll learn some of the advanced techniques that will help your stories resonate and stick. Among the lessons: three critical elements that add up to a compelling, one-of-a-kind experience for your audience; the important details that put the audience inside the story; and a three-step process that grabs attention from the start and takes the audience on a satisfying journey. In the true storytelling spirit of "show, don't tell," we'll illustrate these concepts with great stories and storytellers that will bring the lessons to life. You'll come away with an understanding of how communication can, through the power of storytelling, make an indelible impact on your audiences and strengthen your programming.

• Participants will be able to strengthen their stories for maximum impact on their customers, clients, members, colleagues and the public.
• Participants will be better able to recognize points in their stories that could use more clarity and emphasis and to make subtle but important shifts that will transform good stories into great ones — stories that pack more power, resonate better and persuade more effectively.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are complex issues. What if we could easily include others without spending time and money on elaborate programs? We can. The solution is raising awareness about our unconscious language code. Communication seems simple. A sender codes the message. The receiver decodes the message. What if the receiver doesn’t know the code? If people don’t understand, they’re excluded from the message. They either need a translator, they misunderstand, or they stop communicating. Confusion erodes trust. Everyone adopts verbal and non-verbal habits from the environment. When the environment is not diverse, or we have been there a long time, we develop subconscious language patterns. When newcomers enter the group, they are also new to the code. This session raises awareness about unproductive language habits and provides practical alternatives to improve communication and promote inclusive environments. Inclusive communication can enhance engagement, increase equity and improve a sense of belonging.

• Participants will be able to use their own writing to identify communication habits.
• Participants will be able to use their own stories and examples to explore inclusive communication.
• Participants will be able to replace exclusive language with inclusive language.

Communication isn't key, comprehension is. But how do you communicate to create understanding? How do you reach audiences so deeply you lead them to change? As a society we are in a collective state of communication overload, and our minds are developing powerful coping mechanisms to manage the noise. That’s bad news for traditional communication that research is proving doesn't just confuse people but triggers full-blown message rejection. While the noise in our world is rising to unmanageable levels, behavior and neuroscience researchers are diving into the depths of our minds and returning with insights that rewire how we understand what happens in the communication process. In "Communication Is The Change", Elizabeth Edwards will simplify the fascinating moment in history we are now experiencing; where the sciences and professional engagement have reached a new blueprint for communicating to create understanding, change minds, and make sense in an age of noise.

• How to engage the portion of your audience's mind managing 95% of decision-making (and that traditional communication methods ignore).
• How to create ethical communication strategies, campaigns, and content with a heightened awareness and sensitivity toward its psychological, behavioral, and motivational influence.
• How to communicate around and with the cognitive biases that are often the real culprit for communication interference, limit, and misunderstanding

For communication to work, you need data. You need real people with real stories. And you need writing that unites the two. In this 3-way panel discussion by expert strategic communication professional Mari Lee, ABC, SCMP; renowned journalist, trainer and author Janine Lazarus; and award-winning international writer Tiffany Markman, you’ll find out how CommunicationCan bring numbers and results to life. But only when two further skills are leveraged: interview skills and writing skills. This dynamic trio from Africa believes that interviewing unearths the rich storylines that inform the data and that vivid, powerful writing is needed to properly package a narrative. This is how you ensure the audience is heard, the message is clear, and leaders can act. This panel is notable for its individual and collective success stories, for its different but complementary skillsets, and for the quick wit and quirky humour of its experts.

• Understand key lessons from qualitative and quantitative communication research from more than 170 research studies, and learn how to identify the key story lines from the data
• Understand how to use interviewing to gather qualitative data, but more than that, connect real stories to give data a human face.
• Understand how to use high quality writing, with very practical tips, and present data and real stories to ensure the audience can act.

We are where we are...no amount of marketing or communications that do not resonate with the stakeholders is bound to be successful. My research area of experience looks at how to understand the lived experiences of shifting place identities. Effective communications can break barriers, increase diversity and create inclusion amongst the various stakeholders of a place. Place here can be anything from a town, city or country, or an organisation. I hope to construct a session that 1) explains my research 2) methodology used to draw out the local lived experiences 3) how this understanding can help marketers and communicators to create efficient marketing comms strategies 4) deep mapping exercise on self identity and place identity

• Upon completion, participants will be able to have a better understanding of how to explore the lived experiences of stakeholders prior to coming up with marketing strategies.
• Upon completion, participants will be able to define what place identity means to them and their stakeholders
• Participants will be able to reimagine the role of place in the construction of self-identity

At a time when so many employees are feeling stretched, disconnected and overwhelmed by the challenges of our new working reality – and businesses wrestle with significant change and cost pressures – communication leaders are looked to for answers.
This session is about you, the communications professional, to help you lead even more effectively; first, for yourself, and second, as you counsel the leaders you support.
You’ll get a lightning fast look at Heart First Leadership, which is about championing empathy, humanity and authenticity to build stronger, trusting relationships, which improve engagement, retention, and business results. 

• Understand the 7 attributes of Heart First leaders
• Discover 1-2 ways to lead even better with empathy, humanity and authenticity, and equip others to do the same, as a foundation for motivating and engaging employees
• Learn a proven 5-step method (and get a free tool) to effectively communicate what’s most important, and ultimately drive action

How can communication deliver value? In a more complex, complicated, interwoven world with a multitude of stakeholders, strategic communication is a core driver of value for any organisation. André will unpack how communicators use their skills to work in obvious and less obvious ways to enable collaboration, build connections and create enabling environments which deliver value.

• Map the context within which their organisation operates including how to use issue identification, external resources and internal information
• Understand the role of strategic communication to enable management and functional units as they engage with stakeholders
• Explore what "freedom to roam" means for them

Words are powerful. They can heal, build us up, destroy or separate us. More importantly, they have the power to build bridges to our connectedness. This highly interactive and inspiring session engages participants on the power of words and how to unleash them to be more effective communicators, build stronger relationships and transform lives.

• Participants will gain a better understanding of the power of words as effective communicators.
• Participants will develop effective ways to promote open communication and team engagement.
• Participants will learn how to activate the power of words in order to build bridges to connectedness in their communities.

Communication can play a pivotal role in fostering effective collaboration within global teams and help improve performance, enhance employee morale, and increase profits. Since all international business activity involves communication, it is important for global business communicators to be not only culturally aware but also develop cultural competence. Our digitally enabled and always-connected work environment is making it easier than ever for managers to work with teams across the globe, especially in the post pandemic world where more and more interactions are being conducted virtually. However, indifference towards intercultural communication and lack of understanding of culture differences can spell disaster for international businesses. In this interactive breakout session, business communicators will have the opportunity to discover, learn, and discuss the various facets of intercultural communication that can help prevent communication breakdowns and guide business leaders develop adequate cultural intelligence that is vital for the long term success of an organization.

• Upon completion, participants will be able to attain a deeper understanding of the complex subject of intercultural communication and the pivotal role of culture in the workplace which is essential in fostering effective collaboration within global teams and in guiding business leaders against cultural pitfalls that may hurt profit, performance, and employee morale.
• Participants will be able to communicate more confidently with people with different cultural orientations, develop a higher degree of cultural intelligence and competence or CQ, which is defined as the “capability to function effectively across national,
• They will also be able to gain invaluable insights from the experiences and examples shared by various communication leaders from across the globe, take away best practices, draw their own inference and apply the learning in their own work life. In this b

This session will show key effective communication with current examples/vignettes. We will also discuss the benefits of using EI in your leadership approach and offer a plan and the flexibility of creating relationships with Leader-Member Exchange Theory. Together we will learn how to apply Communication Accommodation Theory to your personal situation. 
Using a survey that was conducted in 2012, we’ll demonstrate communication disconnects related to telework and show how people are working through them in the COVID era. These and other methods can be used to create relationships and achieve flexibility and cohesion in the workplace. 
Finally, we will take these approached to demonstrate how each of these approaches are crucial to creating shared understanding and feedback to achieve a robust communication environment.
This session will show key effective communication with current examples/vignettes. We will also discuss the benefits of using EI in your leadership approach and offer a plan and the flexibility of creating relationships with Leader-Member Exchange Theory. Together we will learn how to apply Communication Accommodation Theory to your personal situation. 
Using a survey that was conducted in 2012, we’ll demonstrate communication disconnects related to telework and show how people are working through them in the COVID era. These and other methods can be used to create relationships and achieve flexibility and cohesion in the workplace. 
Finally, we will take these approached to demonstrate how each of these approaches are crucial to creating shared understanding and feedback to achieve a robust communication environment.

• Upon completion, participants will be able to understand Emotional Intelligence and how to apply it for themselves and their team.
• Upon completion, participants will be able to leverage the skills and abilities of various workers to achieve effective work relationships where everyone contributes to the organizational goal.
• Upon completion, participants will be able to use Communication Accommodation Theory to improve the ability to connect with people of various backgrounds and interests.

Communication can create powerful boards leading powerful nonprofits - attracting new donors, new partners, and new opportunities that can make our communities, and our world, work better for all. You may not know this yet, but what your local nonprofit board needs is YOU. You - professional communicators - understand how to define an audience, motivate action, and measure the results that make a difference. In 2021, 3 out of 4 nonprofit CEOs say they do not have the right people on the board for success in fundraising and advocacy. This session will answer your questions about serving on a nonprofit board; how to research and match to the right nonprofit for your interests and professional ambitions; how to pitch yourself as a resource and agent of change; how to leverage soft power in flat organizations; and how to connect with board presidents and CEOs as a strategic communications advisor.

• Describe the roles and responsibilities of nonprofit boards, as well as the key challenges facing nonprofit boards in 2021 and how those challenges present tremendous opportunities for communicators looking to gain strategic advising experience.
• conduct research and evaluate nonprofit organizations that are of interest to them as potential board members.
• implement practical strategies to leverage soft power in flat organizations while earning the trust of fellow board members and nonprofit executive leaders.

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated more than ever, communication professionals around the world are recognized for their strategic value when the going gets tough. But it’s important that our value is recognized constantly. The global communication landscape is dynamic, with needs, skillsets and expectations changing rapidly, particularly as we move into a post pandemic world. This means communication professionals must continue to sharpen and develop their practice to stay relevant. There are positive steps you can take to secure the future of your own career and join a global network of trusted, credible, and business-leading communication professionals. In this session hear from Sia Papageorgiou FRSA, SCMP (chair) of the Global Communication Certification Council (GCCC), about how you can become a communication professional with global relevance through the only communication certification program in the world that meets ISO standards.
Invest in your future success because what you do matters. 

 
There are positive steps you can take to secure the future of your own career and join a global network of trusted, credible, and business-leading communication professionals. 
 
In this session hear from Sia Papageorgiou FRSA, SCMP (chair) of the Global Communication Certification Council (GCCC), about how you can become a communication professional with global relevance through the only communication certification program in the world that meets ISO standards.
 
Invest in your future success because what you do matters. 
 

• A new global ERA for communication professionals
• The two levels of certification offered through the GCCC and how you can sit the exam in the comfort of your own home
• How the GCCC is supporting more equitable access to certification

You've got a lot of communication data. How do you extract what’s most relevant for senior leaders? Give leaders useful business insight by providing the most relevant communication measurement concisely, consistently, in a way that demonstrates communication’s value to the bottom line.

• Upon session completion, participants will better understand how to analyze communication data from a leader's perspective vs. their own (there is a difference).
• Know how to create an appealing employee listening dashboard
• Tie communication measurement to key business objectives; andrRecognize what leaders need to see in the data, not just what they want to see.

What does the future hold for the profession? What new technologies are emerging today that communication professionals will need to be fluent in? How might the evolution of industries and business models impact the profession? How do business communicators play a role in shaping the future? This panel, consisting of leaders with diverse backgrounds and perspectives, will provide their envisioned future for the practice of communications, new trends in technology, and the skills needed to be successful.

The IABC New York Tri-State Chapter has reserved tables for 10 at 18 different restaurants in New York City. Conference attendees can register for any of the restaurants through the IABC World Conference mobile app. Be sure to register as soon as possible in order to secure a spot at the restaurant you are most interested in! Reservations will be accepted until 3 p.m. on 27 June.

Note: All attendees are responsible for paying for their own meal.

All parties will have a host that will help guide their group to their restaurant. Some restaurants are within walking distance and others may require a taxi or ride share. Groups will meet in the lobby of the New York Marriott Marquis between 7:00-7:10 p.m. on 27 June for the 7:30 dinner reservation. Groups will leave promptly by 7:10 p.m.

Uncertainty defines today’s workplace—it started with a pandemic that no one was ready for, but has continued to define the continuingly evolving world. Whether it's an unprecedented war, a global recession, climate crises, or ever-changing working environments internal communicators need to be prepared for the unexpected. Join ContactMonkey in conversation with internal communicators, Kelly Connor and Julie Dorsey of CanadaLife as they share how they used data to build a personalized, highly effective communications strategy to engage over 11,000 employees during COVID-19. 

In this session, you’ll discover:

• How to use data to shape your internal communication strategy
• How to use email to deliver timely, personalized, and segmented communication
• How to maintain a strong, consistent communication strategy across geographies and teams
• How to enable leadership communication in a virtual workplace 
• Crisis communications tips and best practices

ContactMonkey Solution Provider Session

Staff want more than just to be informed – they want to be inspired. They want to do great work that truly matters. And when everyone’s inspired, the results can be amazing.
Communications have kept workplaces informed throughout the changes of the last few years. Now it’s time to flip the negative. It’s time to inspire success.
In this uplifting session, we’ll share the secrets to an inspirational workplace that fosters imagination and innovation. We’ll present a fresh approach to communications that you can use today. And we’ll show you examples of how to bring this to life.
Join us to improve your communications strategy in 2022 and beyond. Inspiration guaranteed!

Snapcomms Solution Provider Session

If the past few years of pandemic misinformation, fake news, conspiracy theories, corporate corruption, political polarisation and institutional abuse by those we were supposed to be able to trust has taught us anything, it’s that facts alone are impotent and that influence is where the game is won. If you can lead the conversation, you can lead people. Communication is indeed King. We know this to be true intuitively. Though we never quite say it out loud, we know deep down that the best product doesn’t win in the marketplace, the best candidate doesn’t win the prize role or the election nor do the most expert win the hearts and minds of their communities. Rather, it is the one who creates the greatest engagement that wins. This means, it’s not enough to be technically smart or professionally competent, we must be people smart also! In this provocative and inspiring presentation, Dan Gregory & Kieran Flanagan will explain: 

• Why we need to elevate the role of communications from crisis management to leadership 
• Why we need smart people to learn how to amplify their influence and impact (and their incomes as a result) 
• How to increase your influence - and in doing so, your impact and your income!

• Why we need to elevate the role of communications from crisis management to leadership
• Why we need smart people to learn how to amplify their influence and impact (and their incomes as a result)
• How to increase your influence - and in doing so, your impact and your income!

The nascent metaverse - the next evolution of the internet - is offering virtual worlds and new social spaces where anything is possible. Just as the birth of social media saw the role of the communicator shift, so too will the metaverse. What do we have to look forward to? How can we prepare ourselves? Do we all need to start wearing VR headsets all day?! This talk takes a whistle-stop tour of the metaverse as it stands today and will ask the audience to start looking at their own metaverse communications plans. It will examine how the metaverse can reignite workplace creativity and how communication can drive innovation through positive, collaborative and creative virtual spaces.

• Upon completion, participants will be able to... describe what the metaverse is and why it is so important.
• Upon completion, participants will be able to... identify what elements of the metaverse are most relevant for them and their businesses.
• Upon completion, participants will be able to… conduct a basic metaverse audit for their organisation, providing the basis for a metaverse communications plan.

Magnets attract. Matches ignite. Sellotape sticks (but not too hard)! With employee and customer engagement at an all time low, and given the isolation, loneliness and spikes in mental health issues arising in the wake of the pandemic, creating a sense of belonging has become a burning platform but also a competitive edge for those leaders, organizations and brands that lean in to foster Belongingness. In this keynote, Abam unveils her Belonging Quotient framework to teach, empower and ignite organizations, brands and leaders to increase their BQ so they can attract like Magnets, ignite like Matches and retain like Sellotape.

• Learn what Belongingness is and why it matters on teams, in workplaces and for brands;
• Understand the impact of belongingness on employee/ customer engagement and business performance
• Learn about the Belonging Quotient framework and apply elements of the BQ framework to become a high belonging or MMS employer, brand or leader.

One of the long-term casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic was organizational trust. Trust in government, corporations, leaders and brands ebbed and flowed in 2020 and 2021. But mostly it ebbed. Yet through all the the uncertainty, some brands saw significant increases in trust. Our research looked at five Canadian brands that were able to actually increase consumer trust and three that, well, didn't do so well. We discovered that the highly trusted brands had a few things in common, including immediate, authentic, engaging communication. This session examines the tools and strategies used by Lego, Astro Yogurt, Interac, Quaker Oats and President's Choice to connect with consumers and others during the frightening early days of the pandemic. We will explore the lessons learned and how communicators can apply them in the future, proving that Communications Can build trust.

• Connect authentic communication to measurable increases in trust
• Apply lessons from trusted brands to their internal and external communications strategies
• Define the trust-building characteristics of specific communications approaches

The NBA’s mission is to Inspire and connect people everywhere through the power of basketball. In turn, our internal communications strive to inspire and connect our people and create a culture that makes them ultimate fans of their workplace.

NBA employees create unforgettable experiences for basketball fans, which requires a fast, reliable and intuitive platform to share information and essential resources, manage their careers, and maximize the benefits and programs available to them to support their wellbeing and perform their best.

They will also cover how the NBA utilizes Interact to:

• Ensure content is up to date and relevant
• Create events and classes that anyone can quickly sign up for
• Highlight key return-to-office protocols and processes
• Build a compelling, unifying home page
• Empower employees to own their content
• Represent employees across 15 markets and five leagues
• Leverage data to drive decision-making

Interact Solution Provider Session

Inclusion is claimed to be a top priority for organizations of all sizes the world over, but the resistance to changing the status quo is holding organizations back from doing the right thing. True inclusion should be operationalized, informing how people are hired, how products are built and marketed, how corporate donations are distributed and how opportunities are opened up to underrepresented groups at every level of an organization. Communication can - and should - underscore all these efforts, bringing everyone along on the journey to inclusion. 

As communicators, we put words in the mouths of leaders, of brands and of public sector entities. We need to make sure we're using the right words that don't alienate or exclude some of the very people we are trying to impact.
 
In this session, I will use real-life examples and analogies to illustrate the power of the words we use to build trust and maintain reputation. You will learn how to be an ally, how to acknowledge and use your privilege for good and how to unlearn bias out loud.

• Identify the risks of sticking to status quo when it comes to processes and "the way things are." Understand the role that a bystander can play in creating change.
• Understand the role of communicators in creating change by the power of the words we use. Be intentional with how you communicate in the workplace.
• Learn how to use your privilege to champion your team, advocate for their needs, open doors and provide meaningful feedback in a way that recognizes individuality.

Culture is the unseen advantage in your team. It's the intangible quality that sets winning teams apart. But what role do people leaders on the front line play in building it and shaping it? And how much does communication influence the outcome? Backed by new research exploring the role of people leaders in building and shaping culture through the lens of communication this keynote will reinforce the essential role communication leaders play in shaping a team culture by design and the five practical conversations they can have to execute it.

• Understand the three big culture dilemmas and how to overcome them.
• Describe the top five culture killers and culture builders and the valuable role of communication.
• Leave with five practical conversations you can have to create a world class team culture by design.

How humour can be a very effective tool to connect and communicate? Do you want a critical competitive advantage? Knowing how to use humour is an incredible skill that every professional should include in his toolkit. During this session, we'll explore how humour can be a very effective icebreaker and allow you to strategically approach, enhance and conclude your business conversations.

• Upon completion, participants will be able to demonstrate more confidence in using humour in their communication

Global industrial technology company, Vontier, had just spun off from its parent company in 2020 when Sabrina Kropp joined as the VP of Communications & Brand. With Blue Beyond’s help — and despite a global pandemic, market headwinds and societal unrest — Kropp set to work developing and operationalizing a purpose- and values-driven culture, prioritizing inclusion, diversity & equity (ID&E), and championing the company’s leadership behaviors. 
 
From aligning key stakeholders, launching a culture ambassadors program and fierce adherence to the aphorism that “perfect is the enemy of good,” Kropp and Blue Beyond demonstrate how communication can inspire an agile and inclusive culture, and deliver value as a business function in its own right. As they seek to connect their purpose, values and ID&E vision to business strategy, the company’s new messaging is clear: “I belong here” signals employees’ shared journey to realize an even bolder promise for the future.

• List the key factors that are essential to building an effective company culture, and the importance of communication as one of those key factors.
• Describe at least 3 communication best practices to inform a successful culture launch and activation.
• Demonstrate understanding of how to build a successful corporate communications program that connects culture and people to business strategy.

The global economy is now focused on creating a sustainable future of responsibility encapsulated in the acronym ESG [Environment, Social and Governance]. Companies are committing to ESG norms as they embrace its value in attracting investors and employees to their business. Business leaders will need to build trust with all stakeholders, and not just shareholders, with purpose at its core in order to ensure business survival and growth. Businesses are also being called upon to respond to the converging imperatives of climate change and social justice to help shape a better post-pandemic world. How Communication can support the new business focus on ESG is the theme of my talk based upon my deeply researched co-authored book on ESG- “Outlast – How ESG can benefit your Business”. My talk will offer insights into the ESG domain, supported by global case studies to uncover the challenges of communication around nuances of ESG and delineate communication strategies.

• Understand the complexities of the ESG domain and the business imperatives that will guide corporate strategy in the future.
• Learn how to steer through the challenges of ESG communication and enable their organizations to stay in tune with stakeholder expectations and to respond ethically, responsibly, and sensitively to these expectations to manage existing or potential risks
• Learn about the varying ESG communication strategies that are used in different social, political, economic and cultural contexts.

As a woman business owner and an employee communications and engagement expert, I am a lifelong advocate of diverse and inclusive workplace cultures. And, as a white woman with two adult daughters, the elder married to a Latino man and the younger married to a Black man, I considered myself fairly “woke.” What I didn’t realize is that my unconscious bias prevented me from being the most effective CEO and business communicator I could be. When “head” knowledge changed to “heart” knowledge I started on a journey that taught me how to be an ally. And that transformation inspired my team and invigorated our mission. This session combines storytelling with data gathered from our global, online focus group on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. I’ll share the four imperatives our data revealed and participants will co-create a plan for bringing these best practices to life in their own organizations.

• Upon completion, participants will be able to tell their own authentic stories of the impact of diversity, equity and inclusion on their own lives and in the organizations for which they work.
• Upon completion, participants will be able to connect with a community of like-minded business communicators who are passionate about making diversity, equity and inclusion an impactful reality in their organizations.
• Upon completion, participants will be able to use data, statistics and best practices to build a business case for diversity, equity and inclusion in their own workplaces.

Just when we begin to feel we have mastered the skills to effectively communicate, the world changes what it needs and what difference we can make. In a world of many-to-many communications, we are less often asked to be the voice of the organization. Instead, we enable, enhance and energize the authentic voices of others: leaders, managers, and front-line workers. Rather than only create communications, we facilitate platforms to elevate others as effective communicators. We can do this, but it requires new skills to: • Listen with authenticity across organizations • Create and deliver storytelling to give truth a voice • Coach leaders to discover and deliver their authentic voices In this experiential learning session - filled with examples, exercises and dialogue - participants will discover how we can drive this change, confront its risks and opportunities, and curate the platforms to amplify authentic voices.

• Through dialogue, understand the importance of listening; through examples, identify tools to apply for listening to internal and external audiences
• Through interactive discussion and exercises, discover ways to find and elevate authentic stories within their organizations
• Through examples and discussion, learn approaches for coaching leaders to become more authentic curators and communicators of organizational truth.

We have seen that men may feel anxious to participate in conversations around gender equity. Although many men are supportive of gender diversity programs, they feel unsure what role they can play, and often avoid engagement for fear of saying something wrong. During this session, we will discuss our efforts to engage men in gender diversity initiatives. We will cover how communications can address resistance, inspire participation, and enable change. Through our initiatives, we communicated to create community and overcome various challenges to drive transformational change. We identified common themes we’ve heard from non-traditional stakeholders, and created avenues for participants to express their fears, connect with others with similar concerns, and ultimately leverage their experiences to become effective advocates. Attendees will participate using polls and by reviewing a Readiness Assessment Checklist to analyze where their organization lives in the maturity continuum with respect to engaging men in gender equity initiatives.

• To identify considerations for conference participants to assess their organization’s current state in engaging men in gender equity initiatives
• To discuss communications campaigns that have helped to build communities of non-traditional stakeholders to address resistance and drive transformational change
• To provide tools and techniques to implement leading and proven practices in engaging audiences that may be resistant or passive participants

When the pandemic broke out, no one could foresee the global impact it had. The world seemed to stop, offices emptied. Communication was an essential element that allowed us to emerge afloat. Uruguay is one of the smallest countries in Latin America, and in this context it demonstrated a great capacity for resilience and adaptation to the crisis at all levels, government and companies. Becoming an example of pandemic management, with one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. The secret of success: Communication, based on empathy and freedom. The purpose of this session will be to analyze a real case of how this country impacts local organizations, promoting and inspiring them to overcome the crisis through honest and accessible communication. Also discuss how different organizations capitalized the crisis internalizing values ​​in their organizational culture that today allow them to communicate more effectively with their audiences.

• Upon completion, participants will be able to recognize the importance of professional and conscientious communication management in a crisis context.
• Also understand that the culture that a country projects through its communication affects its community and the organizations that comprise it.
• Understand what are the new codes and dominant values ​​in this new cycle that is opening and the preponderant role of communication for their internalization.

Analytics and engagement are core principles of the Business Leader and Strategic Advisor role. Listening to stakeholders on all levels of the organisation and position the information as a tool to influence business decisions, takes some doing. This session will unpack how to put an organizational listening system in place, how to use the data gathered from this system, and how to turn this data into communication strategies that delivers business results. After completing more than 170 communication research studies, Mari will share the lessons learned about using the data to influence business results. Mari Lee, ABC, SCMP will share: 1) A framework and the steps for organisational listening 2) Tips to implement it in your organisation 3) Practical Quill Award winning case studies showing how it is done in practice 4) Busting myths on leadership and budget access 5) How to avoid traps and pitfalls in the process.

• Gain understanding on how to implement an organisational listening model in mutliple locations, with multiple stakeholders, through multiple layers in the organisation.
• Understand how to solicit valuable data in the organisation, how to built stories and narrative with qualitative data and connect existing quantitative data to these stories.
• Learn how to influence decisions, how to unlock the budget, and how to show-case results.

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing the world today. Impacting prosperity, planet, people and profit, our changing climate makes for a complex, converging and complicated ecosystem.

As brands, communities, and countries grapple with the multiplicity of risks that is climate change – the urgency and scale of change required, presents a once in a lifetime opportunity. One in which communication professionals and communications have a right and role to play.

This workshop brings together the worlds of strategy design, design thinking and strategic conversations to explore climate change and the power of communication to deepen understanding, inspire action and as a result transform our world. 
 This fast-paced and hands-on session will be guided by your facilitator Suneiah Cullen.  In teams, you will work together to co-discover and co-design what’s possible – specifically: how might communication professionals catalyze climate change from within? 

You will walk away inspired and with concepts and conversations to test and apply in your communication practice. 

Join co-hosts Mike Klein and Danielle Bond!

Are you great at communicating successfully? Hint: It’s easier than you think! No matter what trips you up when you’re leading a meeting or giving an important presentation, this interactive session will help leaders at all levels who want to boost and maximize their presentation and communication skills. We connect and inspire our colleagues, clients and customers every day and the way we communicate can help us build successful relationships and even rebuild our corporate culture. You’ll practice and take away actionable techniques and skills to help you convey your message effectively, get organized and calm those jitters. Experienced leaders will discover new strategies and takeaways to refine their presentation skills and delivery. Mid-level leaders will learn techniques and tools to help them be more confident and comfortable. Every leader will take away a clear plan in place for their own successful presentations.

• Upon completion, participants will be able to understand how to convey their message clearly and concisely.
• Upon completion, participants will discover how to organize and edit their own communication or presentation so that it is clear, flows well and effective.
• Upon completion, participants will be able to conduct their own pre-communication routine designed to help them calm nervousness and deliver a smooth conversation/presentation.

Life during and after the COVID 19 pandemic: complicated, frustrating, and very polarized. Most of us have had or will have to return to a "new normal", including working in hybrid teams (hybrid now being defined in new terms). Whether your company is employing a hybrid or flexible remote work strategy, you need to understand the requirements and adjust your practices to be effective. In order to create, maintain, and retain productive hybrid teams, as leaders and team members, you need concrete skills and techniques to support the adoption of standards of practice and maintain successful and sustainable hybrid teams. This session will focus on the dynamics of hybrid teams, the importance of effective leadership, and the critical elements of synchronous and asynchronous communication practices that make hybrid work successful.

Sponsored by Haiilo.

• Understand the dynamics and challenges of hybrid teams
• Explore strategies of inclusion for hybrid team members
• Learn when to use synchronous VS asynchronous communication with hybrid teams

Your brand is the stories people share about you when you’re not in the room, and it’s these brand stories that determine if people buy from you, employ you, promote you, work for you, recommend you or invest in you. When the stakes are that high, wouldn’t you want to take control of it? This highly practical session is perfect for individuals who are serious about taking control of their own brand. During the session, they will undertake a process to help them determine their brand. We will also cover how and when you can share stories to amply your authentic brand, as well as what you can do to generate stories. Because we all have a brand, and it is evolving either strategically or organically, the sooner you take control of it, the better. Every participant will also receive a copy of my Your Stories Your Brand journal.

• Start to build a list of potential stories you could use to help you amplify your brand
• Gain clarity on what you want your future desired brand to be.
• The 5 top tips for sharing stories more effectively in a professional environment.

With numerous communication channels and countless ways to share information, it's easy to overwhelm employees with messages that are indiscernible from noise. At the same time, internal communicators face a barrage of communication requests from business partners and leaders every day. With everything IC folks juggle on a given day, developing a custom communication game plan for each request is daunting. In this engaging conference workshop, attendees will learn a strategy that involves taking the concept of restaurant combo meals to empower business partners and leaders to choose from “pre-packaged” communication plans that match their needs. Think of it as a “Communications Combo Menu,” a tool that helps internal communication teams and their business partners conveniently and quickly define a communications plan based on the messaging, urgency, and channels at their disposal. This framework can speed up processes, manage workloads more effectively, and start with a foundation of best practices. 

• Understand the value gained from packaging their communication solutions.
• Learn how to identify and create pre-packaged communication plans specific to their organization.
• Get ideas for evolving and integrating communication plans into their process and make the most of them.

Join us to hear how communication can: - Cross borders to involve everyone - regardless of role, location, language or access to technology - Connect people to each other and the business to support and spark change, and - Inspire action helping to shape the business from the inside out In this high energy interactive session you'll get chance to understand how global business Johnson Matthey delivered an award winning conversation programme that has helped deliver their strategy and shape their culture (even through a pandemic). Get our top tips, conversation formula and be ready to share best practice knowledge with your peers in the room so you can use two way communication to shape your culture. This useful and practical session will spark ideas and actions you can take away to use in your own business!

• Know: Understand the impact two-way communication can have on people and organisation
• Feel: inspired by the positive impacts two-way communication can have - for people and organisation
• Do: Identify practical ways two-way communication can benefit their business

When difficult things happen in our fast-moving communication careers, too many of us think we either have to find a new job (exhausting), sacrifice personal time to get work done (painful), or just suck it up and deal (a path to burnout, fast). But there's an alternative for today's smart communication professional: learning how to take back control and become the hero of your own life at work. In this high-energy, interactive conversation, Coach Darcy Eikenberg teaches simple, practical ways we can reset how we think, revise what we say, and rescue our careers—and our profession—without waiting for our companies or our world to change. Communication can only make an impact when the professionals in it can manage their careers and lives in healthy, fresh ways, and in this session, you'll walk away with strategies you can use immediately and have the chance to learn from others around you, too.

• Why it’s more important than ever to review and rethink what you need in your career —and your life;
• Simple ways to revise what you say when you're talking about your work, your successes, and your failures;
• How to use everyday situations to make changes in your life at work that succeed right where you are, just as you are.

Effective communication programs can more closely connect employees with your organization and instill a greater sense of purpose, while also reminding employees their work matters. A solid internal corporate communications program fosters a more informed and engaged employee base that’s more likely to feel valued and motivated and remain committed to the company. But what about the benefits of measuring those communications? Here are just a few:

• Highlights what’s working (and what isn’t)
• Shows where your time would be better spent
• Allows you to assess the success of your campaigns
• Helps you compare your results to others in your industry

Measurement is important, especially in today’s hybrid workforce. That’s more than clear. But how do you know if you have the right data to move your organization forward? It’s more than just open and click rates.
It’s about outcomes, not just numbers.

PoliteMail Solution Provider Session

Too often, Communications is the "sending-things-out department" - not experts who can build their greatest asset - reputation. How good are we, really, at persuading leaders of the value communications can bring? How well do we build and manage our reputations inside our organization - both as a function and as individual practitioners? It's not enough any more just to do a good job at writing, planning, and measuring. We need to consciously and strategically work on increasing our INFLUENCE and IMPACT with senior leaders. This session will help you to do that by helping you to identifying what's stopping you from stepping up; and sharing proven strategies for navigating politics, building a strong network, advocating for yourself and securing the resources you need so that communications can take its rightful place as a trusted and strategic partner to the C-Suite.

• Upon completion, participants will be able to... identify the conscious and unconscious beliefs that hold them back from stepping up to influence stakeholders at the most senior levels of their organization.
• Upon completion, participants will be able to... create a stakeholder map that identifies the key people they need to build influence with.
• Upon completion, participants will be able to... write a personal plan of action to take forward.

Too often communicators feel they've been spending their time on assignments requested by executives that are either of low strategic value or that could be more effective if the communicator's advice was taken more seriously. This session proposes a quantitative tool that can be used to avoid taking on low-value projects; once the outline is presented, participants will brainstorm ways it can be tailored to their own situations. The second part of the session shows examples of best-practice survey questions that other communicators have used to back up their recommendations to leadership with irrefutable data. During the Q&A for this session, participants can get help in identifying the right audience questions to ask to support their own recommendations. Communication research can make the difference between putting in a lot of time for little results, or making that time count in creating impact.

• Create a project intake form that will help to either reject low-value work or help the requesting executive understand what would be needed for the project to qualify for the communicator's support.
• Craft highly-focused research questions that will provide supporting documentation for recommendations made to leaders about communication strategy.
• Talk with executive leadership in a more business-like way that leads to more approvals of recommendations.

Join us for Ignite, fast-paced, short sessions intended to spur conversation and creativity!

Social Media and Wellbeing: Are your social media posts actually making your clients depressed?

Speakers:      Katrina German, Ethical Digital
Global Standard Focus: Ethics
Keywords: Corporate Communication, DE&I, ESG
Communication can impact people every day, in positive ways. We just need to be aware of our effects as content creators. After gathering extensive academic research of the effects of social media on well-being, the team at EthicalDigital.ca has created a dynamic presentation that details how social media is affecting our day-to-day emotions - and what we can do to make sure that your online customers (and potential customers) feel supported by your brand. In this intensive presentation, you'll learn the most interesting facts about the effects of social media on well-being, including sleep, depression, anxiety and overall self-esteem - and what we can do to connect with our audiences in genuinely meaningful ways.

Learning Objectives:

• List many of the effects of social media on well-being
• Examine recommendations for creating content that helps our audiences instead of harming them
• Conduct an analysis of current social media processes and content from your organization and make tangible, immediate changes

Of Trust, Hope and Parity: How Communication Can Rebuild All This And More

Speakers:      Dr. Vishnupriya Sengupta, PwC India
Global Standard Focus: Engagement
Keywords: Corporate Communication, People and Culture, Stakeholder Engagement
Communication can rebuild trust - much in deficit in today's world. On the flip side, it could also provide an illusion of rebuilding trust. To achieve the former, communication needs to factor in Precision, Simplicity and Spontaneity, Pregnant pauses, Breadcrumbing, Non-hierarchy and Action-speak. By way of authentic examples I would like to show how communication can rebuild trust by creating an ambience of transparency. Up your game of communication by availing of these best practices that may be applied to any situation or context to convince the target audience that the walk is the talk.

Learning Objectives:

• Upon completion, participants will be able to understand why it is important to balance speech and silence as one communicates and create an ambience where all can speak freely to rebuild trust
• Upon completion, participants will be able to understand why communication is as much about body language as verbal language and how active listening can help rebuild trust
• Upon completion, participants will be able to understand why communication can be transformational, can rebuild trust, re-instill hope and equity.

Want 16 content ideas in 60 minutes? Of course you do. But sometimes communicators feel like we’ve already thought of everything. Like there’s nothing new under the sun. Like our ideas bank has been plundered and there’s only dustballs and pencil shavings remaining. If one of our career purposes is to communicate with a variety of audiences in a range of styles, we must create content that feels fresh and new... and that can be relied on, consistently, for clarity and effect. Using her MICRO-TARGETING METHODOLOGY, Tiffany Markman comes up with clever content ideas, angles and hooks that never seem to run dry. Or at least, that haven’t slowed much in 16 years. Now you can too! In this relentlessly practical session, copywriter and speaker Tiffany will teach her never-before-shared ideation technique – and you could walk away with 16 clever, inspiring ideas to use immediately.

Sponsored by Haiilo.

• On completion, participants will have up to 16 fresh, new ideas for their own content development.
• On completion, participants will know the MICRO-TARGETING METHODOLOGY for content ideation.
• On completion, participants will be empowered to generate their own great ideas "back at the office".

The world of work is changing. Since the global pandemic, the priorities of many have shifted. No longer are people prepared to sacrifice their personal time for work, nor are they prepared to travel hours to sit in an office all week without any flexibility. Organisations are battling with retaining and attracting talent because people have more options than they’ve had before. For the first time, we’re now seeing a workforce with four generations and with hierarchies being destroyed and more autonomy being offered through Hybrid working, communicators have a big challenge on their hands. In this interactive and practical session, you’ll learn the five steps on how communication can help connect colleagues and cultivate a culture of belonging, so people continue to thrive in their work. You’ll leave the session feeling confident, empowered and motivated to demonstrate how communication can have the power to influence change in your organisation.

• Implement an action plan which will help deliver initiatives that will improve key targets in their organisation within 12 months.
• Define the five key steps on how to build an inclusive culture using robust communication techniques and feel confident in their deliverables within six months.
• Describe what an inclusive culture means to their organisation and create a meaningful comms strategy that’ll help cultivate a culture of belonging over the next 2-3 years.

After eighteen months in a global pandemic, disconnection and isolation have grown, while opportunities to build authentic, trusting relationships have stagnated. CHATTS is a narrative framework designed to address these critical workplace challenges by bringing people together to share stories that matter. In this dynamic workshop, we will engage in a hands-on experience of CHATTS. We will explore storytelling as a vehicle for openness, authenticity and vulnerability, which are key components of a mentally healthy, engaged and productive workplace. We will reflect on past challenges and share stories of failure and resilience, universal experiences which are essential building blocks for success. Research shows that sharing our story promotes empathy, compassion, and human connection, while decreasing stress and isolation. On this basis, CHATTS seeks to improve morale, reduce burnout, and improve teamwork and communication among participants. Participants will learn to use the CHATTS framework in their organizations to cultivate authentic connection.

• Develop your interpersonal communication style as you craft and share your personal story about failure and resilience.
• Learn practical strategies to promote empathy, compassion and human connection, improve morale, reduce burnout, and improve teamwork at your organization.
• Understand how to access support for implementing CHATTS in your organization.

The climate emergency is a global threat requiring innovation from everyone committed to change. Much of this relies on governments and businesses committing and acting to achieve net-zero targets. This will not only impact our environment but also the way we live, work, and interact. Great communicators know that this needs productive conversations, which include both talking and active listening.

To be most effective at translating technical scientific concepts into accessible language that connects with a variety of audiences, leaders and professional communicators may have to listen more and then make the case for addressing the very real threats to everyday life with targeted messages. How might an active listening approach augment communication and change efforts to ensure that messaging from climate change organizations is resonating and properly targeting the right audiences? This panel comprised of climate change communicators will discuss the evolving approach to change the conversation.

Join us to celebrate all the accomplishments of IABC and your peers from the last year (or three years since we've last been together)! We will toast each other and recognize our Gold Quill Award Recipients with a short program sponsored by Play Play. The evening is your chance to mingle with fellow attendees, learn about the great achievements of the Gold Quill Award recipients, and unwind over hors d'oeuvres and beverages!  

Attire is smart casual, leave your ballgowns & tuxedos at home this year! 

Sponsored by PlayPlay.

Benefitting the Media Development Foundation in Ukraine as we stand globally united against disinformation

As the world continues to evolve, so has the IABC Foundation’s Gift of Communication program for 2022 at the #IABC22 World Conference in New York City.  

After more than two years, we bring you together in person… for Stronger Together: A Gift of Communication Idea Exchange for the benefit of peace in Ukraine.

Ukraine continues to face an unprecedented, full-scale war. Media across the country are operating under the most challenging circumstances, and our colleagues need our help.

They have shown extraordinary courage, but the reality on the ground is that most operations cannot continue from Ukraine alone.

Join us for this event, because we know that together we are stronger.

Click here to register and learn more!

Have you ever felt lonely? Like no one could relate to you? Like your days were starting to blend together? Communication can help you feel like you belong, it can increase your sense of perspective and it can open the doors to opportunities you never could've imagined! In this session, you'll learn from Rob Lawless, a man on a mission to spend 1 hour, 1:1, with 10,000 different people. You'll hear how he's run into his new friends in places far away from where he's met them, what he's learned from meeting the victim of a mass shooting and how he ended up lobster diving with internet personality, Zach King. Furthermore, you'll practice connecting with each other using the FORD framework (family, occupation, recreation, dreams) in 1:1 breakouts! You'll learn the importance of goal setting in intentional connection, and afterwards will feel confident in unlocking the true potential of communication!

• Identify the 3 levels of value of human connection (sense of belonging, perspective, future opportunities)
• Utilize the FORD framework in getting to know new people
• Incorporate goal setting to achieve intentional human connection

The pandemic has forced us apart at a time when we need to work more closely together to address the pressing challenges we face.

This panel offers lessons from the indigenous peoples of New Zealand and the Pacific, who used communication strategies based on ancient wisdom to turn distance into intimacy, and stimulate deep personal connections using impersonal technology.
 
Hear from our panel of experts about how technology, including holograms, enabled broadcasters from 13 Pacific countries and territories to collaborate and strengthen media capability, as well as support cultural empowerment, public health efforts and democracy. 

Learn how traditional high-touch face-to-face engagement was digitized to connect communities, most impacted by the pandemic, to training and jobs. 

Ask our experts, and their holograms, how they created purposeful and inclusive engagement to deliver impactful economic, social, cultural and political outcomes. 

Discover how communications can energize and empower diverse and disadvantaged communities to thrive.

• Upon completion participants will be able to demonstrate how to incorporate technology into their communication strategy to build deeper and more meaningful connections.
• Upon completion participants will be able to incorporate indigenous wisdom on engagement into their communication strategies for diverse communities.
• Upon completion participants will be able to demonstrate how communication can impact economic, social, cultural and political outcomes.

The purpose of corporate communication is to serve an organisation's strategic goals. However, global research including 4,483 communication professionals from 82 countries conducted by the University of Zurich in 2016 indicated that communication professionals still struggle with three issues directly related to this purpose, i.e., linking communication to business strategy, improving the measurement of communication effectiveness to prove value and explaining communication value to business leaders. Zerfass and Viertmann used this research to develop the Communication Value Circle. Instead of arguing from the perspective of the corporate communication function, they started from the pillars of the corporate strategy, i.e., the organisation’s social license to operate, its leadership and tangible and intangible assets. In my session, delegates will learn how to apply the Communication Value Circle as the blueprint for developing their functional strategy and measuring and reporting their impact on the business strategy. Templates will be provided.

• Use the Communication Value Circle to explain the strategic value of communication to business leaders.
• Apply the Communication Value Circle to develop a communication strategy, ensuring that you measure the impact of the Communication Function in addressing the 12 touchpoints.
• Report to the leadership on the impact of communication on the business strategy based on the 12 communication touchpoints.

What if...YOU could shift the world? What if... sharing what you know was THE catalyst for change? What if… you could make your impact as a Thought Leader? Now is your time to shine. Once ‘Thought Leader’ conjured up the untouchables - Elon Musk, Brené Brown, Simon Sinek... Now with over a million people claiming “thought leader” in LinkedIn profiles, the tide has turned. In 2022 with the Great Resignation and The Great Realignment YOU get to redefine your Thought Leader influence, activate it, elevate it, communicate it and do it yourself! Communication can be your catalyst for change - in your life, your profession, your business, the community or our society. Activate your Thought Leadership in this energetic, interactive and life-changing Keynote Masterclass. It’s perfect for ‘Invisible Experts looking for more’ to transform into Visible Experts, Valuable Executives and Visionary Entrepreneurs. Together we ‘connect your dots’ of your career to unlock your STAR (skills, talents, attributes and reputation) infused with your P&P (passions and purpose) to activate your Thought Leadership and create your impact and legacy in the world...for good. Are you IN?

• Experience the powerful mindset shift from Professional Expert to Activated Thought Leader in your field of expertise.
• Leverage a simple framework to articulate your skills, talents and mastery with confidence, consistency and cut-through.
• Clarify what you Activate and Elevate in your work and life.

In today's fiercely competitive business climate, how well you deliver a presentation can make the difference between you closing a deal or getting the door closed on you. Whether you are aiming to acquire a new client, speak in front of executives, or working to close a deal, your success will lie in your ability to deliver a stunning presentation. In this high-energy session, you will get the secrets to making standout, stellar presentations and the formula to get your audiences to instantly and consistently lean in and listen. You will know how to deliver a presentation that's all sizzle and absolutely no fizzle.

• Explore what they must do to get busy adults to listen to them throughout a presentation.
• Discover how to powerfully establish their credibility regardless of how much expertise they have.
• Explore how to meaningfully engage audience members, maximize learning, and improve their overall effectiveness as presenter or trainers.

We are convinced that the only way cultural transformation can be effective is if it occurs at two levels: visible and invisible. The visible part is what we can see, read, hear, and touch and the invisible part is what we feel and the “energy” of who we are. We had the pleasure of accompanying a global energy company on a leadership journey encompassing these two levels and this is the story of the transformation that occurred. During this interactive session, you will learn how bringing self-awareness and authenticity to an organization, makes the company a respectful and efficient place. Leaders develop invisible virtues that result in visible changes at the organizational level. These virtues allow the leaders to brave the unknown with confidence and the organization is one where there is a sense of belonging and incredible level of trust.

• There is incredible value in self-discovery and deep sharing to create trust in relationships.
• Organizations that communicate with authenticity have trust as a key competency. This creates a learning organization with a growth mindset.
• Trust and a sense of belonging in an organization can occur when leaders learn to act and communicate in a manner consistent with their core values and live some key virtues critical to creating this environment.

There is a tremendous pressure on organizations and leaders to build inclusive dialogues across the board. While DEI strategies work at the top, the ones executing the strategy at the ground have a little knowledge about how to initiate, engage and sustain inclusive communication across a diverse population. Communication Can truly make or break an organization's DE&I strategy. Unless front-line managers and leaders are not equipped with the skills needed to facilitate meaningful conversations, DE&I strategy can never hardly make an impact. In this session, audience will wear two hats: 1.Participants in a facilitated session 2. Adult learners learning facilitation through interaction Through this session, participants will take away crucial tools that will enable them to: 1. Ask creative questions to generate insights 2. Use empathy to listen for verbal and visual engagement 3. Overcome group resistance while directing a conversation 4. Manage individual and group behaviors in critical interventions

• Initiate and sustain powerful conversations with their stakeholders
• Build inclusive dialogues with diverse audiences
• Overcome resistance when they conduct crucial conversations.

In this session, you'll find an honest and candid look through the lens of the movie Mean Girls at how to deal with your own "burn book" situations that arise in the business world. You'll learn how Burns & McDonnell was able to better connect with one of its subsidiaries in the midst of a leadership and culture change. "Stop trying to make fetch happen" and join Katie Gillespie, Internal Communications Manager at Burns & McDonnell, for this "grool" presentation. Pink attire is not required for attendance unless it's Wednesday.

• Upon completion, participants will be able to develop a change plan.
• Upon completion, participants will be able to recognize tactics to gather information on the current state of communications.
• Upon completion, participants will be able to recognize the power that relationships play in communications and culture.

Over the last decade, the Communications function has been contended with an increasing need to prove its value so to keep its seat at the executive table. And then, COVID hit the world, destroying what we held for true, our ways of measuring performance, success and failure and even called into question the definition of a standard. Metrics we hold dear are putting us in a quagmire. Sentiment: In this emotionally-charged public sphere, what does a positive sentiment translates into anymore? Visibility: Is consuming large amounts of online material a guarantee of engagement in an information-overloaded world? Engagement: With a wide-spread shortage of resources, how meaningful is employee engagement nowadays? Are these benchmarks socially relevant? Inclusive? Fair? Ethical? Imagine creating metrics that take into account diversity, inclusion and ethics to replace those that dehumanize relationships and tone down our vision to fit it in boxes, for accountability purpose. Communications Can.

• Review and challenge Communications metrics we measure ourselves against and consider their relevance in today's world.
• Develop new metrics that allow Communications to measure how their performance drives business while being relevant and representative of the breath of our work.
• Align these new metrics with socially responsible, diverse, inclusive and ethical practices while taking into account the need to apply consistency and context across the board.

We’ve been hearing a lot about the importance of inclusion, diversity, and equity in communications, but the concept of accessible communications still seems to be an afterthought. The global disability population, which the United Nations has described as the world’s largest minority, makes up 15% of the population. Within that, over 10% have identified as having some form of a print disability. So we as communicators must ensure we’re incorporating accessibility in every facet of what we do. In this session, participants will learn easy ways to incorporate accessibility in their communications tactics, from alternative text to creating accessible documents and plain language to fully inclusive videos. Accessible communication can open doors and expand your brand’s reach to a frequently forgotten demographic.

• Upon completion, participants will be able to describe what accessible content is.
• Upon completion, participants will be able to create basic accessible content.
• Upon completion, participants will be able to describe what the difference between inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility, as well as how they work together to make a genuinely cohesive and inclusive communications strategy.

*The Superpowers of communication professionals * What are your superhero powers? Join us for an engaging panel discussion on the superpowers of the communication professional. We’ll delve into the issues facing our professional world that demand action and the superhero bravery needed to get results. We know we have the power to clarify, amplify, simplify, connect AND mobilise. With our ear to the ground and our secret power to listen at scale, surely we must be invincible? But what blocks us? What cries of help should we first listen to? Communication CAN - and the communication superpowers are some of the top reasons why it can!

• Participants leave the session aware of what the superpowers of the communication professional are
• Participants take full ownership of their own communication superpowers and are prepared to consciously use them
• Participants see how communication superpowers can be used to address professional and societal challenges.

On a whim, our chief ethics officer began posting daily thoughts on Yammer at the very beginning of the pandemic. It was unassuming and unscripted, and employees loved it. We used Microsoft tools to invite other employee communities into the conversation, ranging from leadership lessons to family pets' antics, and gave our ethics program a new voice in the process. With so many remote workers, we've reimagined videos that look and feel like the way many of us communicate, and we’ll share how inclusion is playing an increasingly prominent role in how we communicate.

• Understand how to use simple tools to engage employees effectively
• Build an online community with authenticity and sincerity
• Generate ideas for diversifying their communications to bring more employees into the fold

As Edelman’s U.S. Chief Executive Officer, Lisa Osborne Ross is at the center of critical issues facing some of the world’s most innovative brands. Among her many responsibilities, Ms. Ross helps clients – and Edelman itself –tackle challenges associated with the future of work, stakeholder engagement, DEI, and corporate purpose. She understands the growing responsibilities and expectations facing communicators as they play even more vital, value-creating roles within their organization.  
 
Her session – “Communicating with Belief-Driven Employees & Consumers in 2022” – will touch on many of these topics. Following the fireside chat between IEB Chair Danielle Bond and Ms. Ross, they will engage in question-and-answer session with attendees. 

Lisa Osborne Ross is a public relations industry veteran with over 30 years of experience as an in-demand communications, public affairs, and crisis management counselor to senior executives at Fortune 500, higher education, and government institutions. Lisa serves as the Chief Executive Officer for Edelman U.S., the world’s leading PR firm. In addition to her role overseeing Edelman’s largest global division, she is senior client counselor, specializing in social purpose, corporate and public affairs, and DE&I initiatives. Over the past few years, she has been instrumental in creating Edelman’s Covid-19 and Racial Justice Task Forces and helping businesses respond to the evolving social issues landscape. 
 
Prior to Edelman, Lisa held executive positions at APCO Worldwide, Ogilvy Public Relations, and FleishmanHillard. Lisa also served in the Clinton Administration as Communications Director for the Department of Labor, Deputy Director of the bipartisan Federal Glass Ceiling Commission, and was a member of the White House Office of Women’s Initiatives and Outreach.
 
Lisa devotes considerable amounts of time to her philanthropic endeavors, particularly her efforts to build a better Washington and empower the next generation of leaders. Lisa Osborne Ross is a public relations industry veteran with over 30 years of experience as an in-demand communications, public affairs, and crisis management counselor to senior executives at Fortune 500, higher education, and government institutions. Lisa serves as the Chief Executive Officer for Edelman U.S., the world’s leading PR firm. In addition to her role overseeing Edelman’s largest global division, she is senior client counselor, specializing in social purpose, corporate and public affairs, and DE&I initiatives. Over the past few years, she has been instrumental in creating Edelman’s Covid-19 and Racial Justice Task Forces and helping businesses respond to the evolving social issues landscape. 
 
Prior to Edelman, Lisa held executive positions at APCO Worldwide, Ogilvy Public Relations, and FleishmanHillard. Lisa also served in the Clinton Administration as Communications Director for the Department of Labor, Deputy Director of the bipartisan Federal Glass Ceiling Commission, and was a member of the White House Office of Women’s Initiatives and Outreach.
 
Lisa devotes considerable amounts of time to her philanthropic endeavors, particularly her efforts to build a better Washington and empower the next generation of leaders.