Join your peers for a kickoff celebration April 26th and then on April 27th hear from industry leaders (and some special guests!) as they share insights around important topics including organizational resilience, demystifying ROI in internal comms, and crafting an impactful corporate narrative.
Check back for more updates!
April 26th: 6:00 – 9:00 pm
Welcome Party
April 27th: 8:00 am
Registration and Breakfast
April 27th: 9:00 am
Welcome address
April 27th: 9:10 am
Own Your Narrative - From the Inside Out!
Business disruption, ongoing crisis, and a highly complex issues landscape are the rhythms of 2023 for communicators. The story is often being written for companies before they can write it themselves. At the same time, a highly internalized and compelling narrative of the future has become a competitive business advantage. In this keynote we unpack this year’s top challenges for employee communications, and share how Staffbase is shaping the future to help companies own their narrative from the inside out.
Martin Böhringer – CEO at Staffbase
Lara Dobson – Global Director, Market Strategy at Staffbase
April 27th: 9:40 am
Stay tuned, exciting information coming soon!
April 27th: 10:10 am
Coffee and Networking Break
April 27th: 10:40 am
It Can Do What?! Debunking AI and ChatGPT for Employee Communications
2022 brought the advent of ChatGPT along the backdrop of AI and machine learning disrupting business processes and society at large. With words like “automation” and “intelligence” on the rise, many are wondering whether this is the end of authentic storytelling, or a new dawn for communications? In this session we take a hard look at what these technologies mean for communications and sort out the hype from real innovation.
Frank Wolf – Chief Strategy Officer at Staffbase
April 27th: 11:30 am
Your Comms Strategy: 5 Signs It Might Fail and How to Ensure Success
In 2023, refreshing strategy belongs to the top 3 priorities of most communicators. But what’s in a strategy and how can you ensure yours works? During this workshop, presented by Staffbase Campus, our experts will discuss the top 5 fallacies of communications strategies and give you several tangible ideas to make sure you don’t fall victim. You’ll also have the opportunity to take an assessment onsite and receive a custom strategy certification designed for VOICES attendees.
Tara Jaf – Director, Customer Success Online Education at Staffbase
April 27th: 11:30 am
More Than Shaking Hands & Kissing Babies: Connecting Leaders to Employees
Internal communications has quickly become the main pipeline to reach all employees, and more than ever, organizations need to build brand loyalty and awareness internally. Employees can and will identify with your brand and it’s important we invest in them every step of the way. The question is, “how?” In this session, our panel of experts will discuss the barriers that exist for reaching employees, how to overcome them and what it looks like when employees are empowered by their leaders.
Aj (Anthony) Vaughan – Founder at the E1B2 Collective
Lizzie Gohier – Manager, Employee Experience Communications at Lightspeed
April 27th: 12:00 pm
Lunch
April 27th: 1:00 pm
The Art & Science of Great Leadership Communication
For better or for worse, senior leaders today are also chief communicators. Often serving as the face of the company internally, they shape values, provide orientation, and ultimately can make or break the success of your message internally. But not every leader is born an effective communicator, and in today’s unforgiving environment trial and error is not an option. How can you understand, empower, and position your senior leadership for communications success? In this session you’ll learn how to enable and empower your SLT for communications success.
Amy Cuddy – Social Psychologist, NYT Bestselling Author, and Award-Winning Harvard Lecturer
April 27th: 1:55 pm
The First 24: Starting the Conversation During a Crisis
It's no secret that 2022 presented many unique challenges for communicators. Walking into the new year it can sometimes feel like there’s a new crisis every week. What are some of the issues we can get ahead of? How do you have these difficult conversations within your organization? Who even owns these conversations? Our panel of internal communications leaders discusses how they tackled key challenges of the past several months.
Samantha Hillstrom – Senior Director, Internal Communications and Employee Engagement at Blue Apron
Alison Gillis, MPH – Senior Internal Communications Specialist at South Shore Health
Susan Griffin – Director, Public Relations & Communications at South Shore Health
April 27th: 1:55 pm
Demystifying ROI in Internal Comms
How many times have you been asked for stats to support your organization’s internal communications efforts? Plenty, right? Let’s dig deep into what's actually important to measure and will help you secure more resources. You’ll be able to take this information back to your organization and justify the tools you need for successful employee engagement. And in turn demonstrate YOUR impact as an internal communicator.
April 27th: 2:50 pm
Innovations Powering the New School of Employee Comms
The age of wrestling with communications channels is over. Today, communications tech is about helping comms professionals take control of their story, keep employees tuned in, and become more data-driven to create a real impact. Staffbase is on the forefront of developing technology to evolve communications craft, and in this session we unveil what’s on the horizon for tech innovation in the industry.
Patrick Rudolph – CPO at Staffbase
April 27th: 3:20 pm
Coffee and Networking Break
April 27th: 3:50 pm
“Value-washing” & Your Company’s Authentic Story
Your core values are the bedrock of your company and what many passionate employees attach to as they choose to pour their time and energy into making the company successful. Yet most companies struggle to articulate core values in a way that is meaningful and authentic. In this discussion, internal communications expert and CEO of Brilliant Ink, Ann Melinger, will explore why values matter more than ever, and highlight the most common mistakes companies make when crafting and communicating them.
Ann Melinger – CEO at Brilliant Ink
April 27th: 3:50 pm
Get Your Org On Board (and Grow Your Career...)
As internal communications continue to evolve, your role continues to grow, and your expertise is needed now more than ever. But how do you create that buy-in internally from your organization? Our panel of internal communications experts share their journeys on the road to securing investments in internal communications, and ultimately evolving their careers while doing so.
Diana Kowalsky – Sr. Director & Head of Internal Communications at Petco
April 27th: 4:45 pm
The Secret Power of Listening: Confronting Tough Issues in Turbulent Times
Award-winning journalist, documentarian, anchor and producer of the weekly political program Matter of Fact, and founder and CEO of Soledad O’Brien Productions, Soledad has reported from the scene of many historic and challenging events over the course of her storied career, from the earthquake in Haiti, to the mass shooting at Virginia Tech. In this session she discusses the power of listening to and surfacing the perspectives of those affected by the issues, and teaches us how to avoid common communication pitfalls by confronting difficult issues head on.
Soledad O’Brien – Award-Winning Journalist, Entrepreneur and Host of the Weekly Syndicated Political Show Matter of Fact
April 27th: 5:30 – 6:30 pm