The only way to solve email overload is with email intelligence – and PoliteMail has developed best practices based on over 3 billion internal emails sent to nearly 14 million employees globally.  Join Paul Stewart and Steve Gregoire as they cover key findings of the benchmark report, data-backed best practices for email, and insights to improve messaging decisions. This session aims to equip communicators with practical skills and actionable strategies that can be applied to your messaging plans.

During this session you will:

• Discover best practices for email sending based on the 20223 Internal Communications Benchmark Report.
• Learn what the top-rated communicators are doing and how you can apply their strategies to your own communication plan.
• Get insights to improve messaging decisions and timing.
• Have an opportunity to ask our experts your most pressing internal communications questions.

The editorial teams of PR Daily and Ragan.com discuss their coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

It all starts with one alert. In 178 characters or less, The Weather Channel informs consumers that their lives are about to change: “Active Threat: Take Cover Now. Tornado visually observed. Flying debris could be dangerous. Move to the interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building.” In the moments that matter most, clear and effective communication is more than just critical—it’s life or death. As the CMO of The Weather Company, Randi Stipes knows this better than most. Whether you’re saving lives or providing audiences with useful information to make everyday decisions, the role of the communications leader in today’s ultra-connected world is more important than ever. In this session, she’ll share:

• Insights into how communicators can lead the way through communicating with empathy and urgency
• Principles driving The Weather Channel’s work keeping consumers safe and informed during severe weather events
• Best practices for building ongoing, trusted connections with audiences
• A look at the ever-evolving role that advanced technology—including AI—can play in helping communicators make an impact and save lives

Network with peers and meet with our tech partners in the exhibit hall.

No one social media site reigns supreme in this new world where organic reach has diminished and there’s a generational divide across platforms. Smaller networks like Twitch and Discord provide forums for specific, community-driven conversations and there’s the rise of micro-platforms like Nostr, Mastodon and Bluesky Social — plus the continued impact of Twitter and Meta as these macro platforms focus on hyper-targeting It’s all about finding your niche. In this session, we’ll uncover:

• Your dual social media strategy: How to “go macro” with strategies for LinkedIn, TikTok, Facebook – and adapt those strategies for micro audiences.
• Exponential earned media: How hyper-targeted, bite-sized pitches coupled with an authentic social media voice can secure – and then amplify – mainstream coverage.
• What’s working and what’s not in influencer marketing: How to identify and partner with micro-influencers to spread your message far and wide
• The huge power of micro-video: How super-shorts (<30 seconds) can stop the scroll, explain UI elements in-app or entertain — plus tools like Biteable and Animoto for creating them.
• What’s next: How to experiment with micro-platforms like Nostr, Mastodon and Bluesky Social.

Did you know that corporate videos can increase message retention by 90% compared to 10% from text? That’s why it's time to double-down on videos to scale your external and internal corporate communications strategy! Join our expert-led fireside chat where Glassdoor’s and PlayPlay’s communications, marketing and video content experts will showcase the impact of video in corporate communications and provide you with practical insights to succeed.

Our event will cover:

• Why video is essential for modern corporate communications.
• Inspire you with real-world examples of corporate videos to achieve best results.
• Proven techniques to create engaging videos that resonate with your stakeholders.
• Strategies for seamless video distribution across various channels for maximum impact.

Reputation management in today’s 24/7 media landscape can be a complex game of whack-a-mole with comms pros expected to stay one step ahead of an ever-growing list of potential crises. We gathered experts on data, social media and corporate reputation to share their predictions about what’s to come in the first election year post-pandemic and in the throes of an AI resurgence. You’ll hear strategies for protecting your brand for what’s to come, including:

• How to prepare for the AI threat: Audio and visual deepfakes, fake accounts artificially inflating popularity, biased AI algorithms creating a social media echo chamber and more.
• Generational demands: Why and how speaking directly to a social-media savvy Gen Z is a critical key to protecting your corporate reputation.
• Geopolitical risks: What to consider when operating internationally, from the continued global conflict in Ukraine to the many challenges of operating in China.
• What’s next: The steps you can take now to mitigate mis/disinformation on social media including reputation-damaging deepfakes and defending against online mobs.

Spotify is uniquely positioned to both create culture and influence the future of music, art and thought leadership. This role spans its relationship with music artists, the entertainment industry and the legislators who govern their future; the podcast ecosystem through which entertainers, educators, pundits and beyond express information and opinion to the public; and consumers’ expression of self and identity through the music and content they listen to on Spotify. In this fireside chat, Dustee Jenkins, Public Affairs Officer at Spotify, will explore:

• The role brands and communicators play in shaping the future of industries — and influencing policy.
• The state of the artist and podcaster as a communicator and the dynamic shifts they face with consumers in light of the rise of AI.
• How communicators and marketers can reach both consumers and internal audiences authentically, and express transparency in aligning company values with external brand expression.
• How data as identity takes shape through the popularity of services such as Spotify Wrapped and other trends embraced as expressions of self by listeners.

With wars raging on the global stage, economic uncertainty and an increasingly fraught political landscape, many communicators are up against challenges they have never faced before. In this panel, members of Ragan’s 2023 class of Game Changers — award-winning communications leaders hailing from diverse industries — will share invaluable insights and strategies on how to navigate communications challenges during crises, that directly impact an organization's internal and external stakeholders.

• Global crisis management: Discover strategies for responding to international incidents, handling media scrutiny and maintaining public trust during challenging times.
• Employee and stakeholder engagement: Uncover techniques to maintain internal morale and external relationships, even in the face of adversity.
• Channels, tools and tactics: Find out where and how audiences expect to hear from organizations during times of upheaval.
• Lessons from the field: Learn how to adapt crisis communication strategies that support employees, guide executives through harrowing events and protect your organization's image.

Cultivating, crafting and carefully communicating a purpose can result in extraordinary results for organizations of all sizes and sectors. In this session, we’ll explore core insights to organizational and brand purpose creation, activation and measurement strategies to prove and improve the value of your purpose-driven programming and communications. Specifically, we'll explore:

• Developing an authentic organization/brand purpose: How to create an ethical, genuine purpose, then build a communications strategy for telling your purpose story.
• Connecting employees – your growth engine - to purpose: Best practices to ensure employees are connected to your purpose, mission, vision, and values.
• Purpose = ROI: Examples of how an organization/brand’s purpose can positively impact the bottom line, and why it's critical to develop success metrics early in the purpose development journey.
• Clarity of messaging: Avoid greenwashing, utilizing fact based and compelling human stories, and employee networks for effective communications.
• What’s next: How communicators can help meet Gen Z expectations around aligning with organizations whose values mirror their own.

To create compelling stories that resonate across various media platforms, it’s critical that your brand’s narrative is authentic, engaging and memorable. This interactive session will provide the opportunity to participate in hands-on exercises and collaborate with your fellow attendees — so you leave with inspiring ways to improve and innovate your content mix. You’ll learn:

• How to create compelling and shareable content: Strategies for developing a consistent brand voice, crafting captivating headlines and optimizing across social media.
• The art of creating engaging written content: How to write persuasive copy and incorporate storytelling, whether it's for a blog, thought leadership post or social media updates.
• Visual storytelling: Techniques to create visually stunning, attention-grabbing images, videos and graphics.
• IGC strategies: How to target partners who can create influencer-generated content at little- to no-cost for your brand.
• What’s next: AI-empowered tools that will save you time, including social media monitoring tools like Sysomos, SproutSocial and Sprinklr, management dashboards like Sprout Social and influencer trackers like AspireIQ.

When you treat your content leads as strategists instead of tacticians, all of your posts, channels and messages are more likely to outperform expectations. In this session, we’ll hear how a retailer bridged internal and external goals by highlighting the home repair and renovation chain’s history of disaster relief response through employee advocacy and community rebuilding efforts. We’ll explore how one well-realized, purposeful piece of hero content can become a powerful employer branding tool that engages multiple stops along the employee experience journey. You’ll learn:

• The integrated comms program: Creative considerations for thinking about storytelling across different pillars of the PESO model.
• Right time, right audience: How to consider the long lead of your content lifecycle and deploy the right pieces for the right audiences at the right time.
• Finding champions: Tips for sourcing employee advocates and influencers in a style authentic and holistic to your message.
• How to get it done: Strategies for starting internally with this project to earn buy-in before socializing externally.