- Elevate your storytelling
- Lead a culture of transformation
- Become a trusted counselor to executives
- Leverage the latest commstech
- Make it measurable and memorable
- Defuse and prepare for crises
- Build a better employee culture
Join us Nov. 13-15 at Ragan's Future of Communications Conference in Austin, Tex. Hundreds of comms leaders and professionals will assemble to learn, connect, innovate and strategize as we chart the future of the communications discipline. The most innovative minds spanning industries including healthcare, technology, manufacturing, retail and financial services will dive deep into urgent challenges, emerging opportunities and rising trends that will pave the road ahead.
This event, which will be held during the 10th annual Communications Week, is where groundbreaking ideas are put to the test, strategic insights are exchanged and lifelong connections are formed. Tailored for internal communicators, PR professionals and marketing experts, the Future of Communications Conference stands out as a must-attend industry gathering.
Engage with captivating speakers representing leading brands and organizations as they explore topics such as storytelling, manager comms, employer branding, social media marketing, media relations and the complexities of AI, ESG and DE&I. Be prepared for inspiring narratives, in-depth case studies, lively debates, engaging panel discussions and opportunities to share knowledge with peers.
Register today to Secure your Spot! Don’t miss this opportunity to:
- Connect with your peers.
- Access exclusive content and resources.
- Get the ideas & tools to stay ahead in today’s rapidly changing world.
Ragan’s Communications Week celebrates and accelerates the role of the communicator in organizations through educational, networking and inspirational events.
AGENDA
Pre-Conference Workshop check-in begins at 11:30 a.m. Stop by to grab your badge and materials!
You’ve heard plenty about generative AI and may even have experimented with it — now it’s time to delve deeper and get practical with the latest AI techniques to dramatically improve your comms copy, content and capacity. This workshop will teach you how to apply strategic prompts to generate powerful prose and pixel-worthy images that make your job easier while engaging your workforce with persuasive content. You’ll discover:
- Understanding Three Types of AI: Learn about narrow AI, general artificial intelligence and superintelligence, and what each are able to deliver for communicators.
- The AI toolbox: How to use gen AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity.ai, Dall-E and others for text, image and video storytelling—plus techniques for crafting writing prompts to jumpstart your creativity and narratives.
- Scaling Workflow and Production: How to use Gen AI to reduce the time and effort required to craft compelling internal comms content – plus, real-world AI use cases and examples of AI applications for internal comms content.
- Optimizing for Engagement: How to leverage AI insights to create persona-based stories that resonate with your target audiences—driving increased engagement and loyalty.
- Real-world AI Use Cases: Examples of AI applications for comms content — including how to devise a data-driven content strategy by analyzing datasets to identity patterns so you can tailor content to employee segments.
- Compelling Visuals: Simple ways to create compelling custom imagery, layouts and design elements that will reinforce your message — come ready to dig into Dall•E and Midjourney.
- Measurement and Feedback: How to use AI tools to measure, refine and enhance your content so it improves employee engagement, satisfaction and productivity — plus how AI can process and analyze feedback forms and surveys to improve your content.
- Buy-in to Level Up: How to encourage leadership in your organization to embrace a hands-on, test-and-learn mentality that helps them understand its capabilities and how it factors into success.
With over 3.2 billion images, 7 million blog posts and 720,000 hours of video uploaded daily, staying ahead of the latest content trends and tools is crucial to cut through the clutter. Join RCG co-founder Jim Ylisela and Laura Miller, managing editor of MSU Denver’s RED news platform, as they lay out a practical plan for standing out in our content-saturated world, with short-form video, engaging social posts and compelling stories for your online web platform. You’ll learn how to:
- Upgrade Your Content Strategy to Meet Your Future Audience: How to future-proof your content strategy—with lessons from MSU Denver's RED launch to showcase stories about the school and life at an urban university.
- Put Social in the Middle of Your Editorial Strategy: Smarter ways to use social channels and content to engage followers—a look at what's working now (and what's not).
- Connect with Influencers: How to work with influencers, both traditional and new, to enhance engagement across your digital channels—without overloading your team.
- Use Data to Optimize Your Content: The best tools and KPIs for measuring content performance—plus how to use data to refine and improve your reach and results.
- Bonus: Timeless Writing fundamentals: How persuasive storytelling techniques can complement your evolving digital skills, so you stand out—no matter what’s next.
Elevate your internal comms strategy to a whole new level with a robust, data-centric approach. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to “measure the immeasurable” like culture with tailored benchmarks aligned with the bottom-line impacts that your execs value most. You’ll discover new ways to prove your return on engagement (ROE) by showcasing how your initiatives reduce turnover, training and even reputational costs. Together we’ll cover:
- What the C-Suite Expects: What execs want from communicators, including the outcomes they value most.
- Smarter Measurement Strategies: How to use quantitative and qualitative data to link internal comms programs and campaigns directly to business goals.
- Tracking KPIs: Tools and techniques to monitor KPIs and correlate them with engagement, retention, satisfaction, productivity and even culture. We’ll cover page visits, email/CT rates and even intranet read receipts.
- Customized KPI Scorecards: How to create a KPI index tailored to your org’s sector, mission and business goals.
- Sample Dashboards: Case studies in what’s working and what’s not to present your results to teams and execs alike — including examples of successful measurement dashboards.
- A Winning Story: Best practices for presenting your results to teams and execs—including how to extract actionable insights and frame your successes in a compelling narrative.
- Bonus/Future Trends: How to expand your toolbox for gathering internal comms data—including how to leverage AI to quickly analyze and act on top findings.
Join us at the Marker 10 bar in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency as we get to know each other at this casual cash bar meet-up and kick off the conference in style!
Kickstart your day and join us for an energizing Earlybird Coffee Meetup! Before the conference sessions begin, grab a cup of freshly brewed coffee and connect with fellow attendees. Can’t wait to see you there!
The solution to email overload is email intelligence, and PoliteMail has developed best practices based on over 4 billion internal emails sent to nearly 15 million employees. Join Paul Stewart and Steve Gregoire as they cover key findings of the Politemail benchmark report and present data-backed best practices for email. 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 the best practices for email sending based on PoliteMail’s 2024 Internal Email Communications Benchmark Report.
- Learn what the top-rated communicators are doing differently and how you can apply their strategies to your communications plans.
- Gain insights to improve messaging decisions and timing.
- Learn how to get employees to click your links and take action.
- Have an opportunity to ask your most pressing internal communications questions.
Ragan and HarrisX unveil findings from an annual survey on “perceptions” of the role CEOs and CCOs play on a multitude of hot-button topics, including how AI and election issues fall under a larger umbrella of corporate risk, among others.
Join us for a dynamic roundtable of all-star business leaders gathered from across the c-suite to discuss where we’re going, in the wake of a pivotal election, and why it’s more important than ever to be in lockstep together. Panelists will discuss strategies for bridging divides, whether across the aisle or departments, how they are working together to shape culture and messaging, and practical examples of forward-thinking tactics to drive enterprises towards unified business objectives.
In today's rapidly evolving world, macro-forces such as technological innovation and shifting consumer expectations are dramatically transforming how we live, socialize, care for ourselves and others, and work. These changes are creating a multi-speed world, where populations experience these impacts at different rates and in diverse ways, leading to a heterogeneity of human experience. Our increasingly fragmented and uniquely personal experiences present both challenges and opportunities in both how and what we communicate. Leah Johns, the founder and leader of Bain’s Global Consumer Lab, Bain's centre of consumer insight and foresight, will delve into how these societal shifts profoundly affect communicators and their role in serving the needs of employees, customers, and the public, drawing on cutting-edge research from the lab, and will provide a data-driven vision of the future.
Communications teams are shrinking, even as the demand for growth persists, and leaders must find new ways to stretch their resources. With 66% of communications teams reported flat or reduced budgets, the challenge is clear. Whether you’re kickstarting a startup or steering a large enterprise, success hinges on the ability to maximize efficiency and lead teams through change with clarity and transparency. This session will explore practical strategies and tools to help you optimize workflows, have productive tough conversations, and foster a culture of innovation without compromising quality or employee satisfaction. Learn about:
- Lean, Mean, Efficiency Machine: Tips for fostering an organizational culture that embraces efficiency and continuous improvement, including how to set clear KPIs and develop Agile methodologies.
- Maxing Out What You’ve Got: Maximize your existing assets and human capital to achieve better outcomes with fewer inputs, from shared media libraries to the development of a robust recycling purpose for content across multiple platforms and formats to maximize ROI on content investment.
- Convincing the Chiefs: Effectively advocate for your team, knowing when to push back when leadership makes decisions that could negatively impact long-term success, drawing on your ability to communicate clearly and influence change at the executive level.
Did you know that 95% of a message is retained when told with video, compared to 10% for text? For internal and external communicators alike, it’s time to double down on video to elevate and scale your corporate comms strategy.
In this engaging fireside chat with Steve Jamieson from Novo Nordisk and Clement Desmouceaux from PlayPlay, discover the transformative power of video in corporate communications and learn how his team enhances engagement, trust and credibility while reducing production costs and time. We’ll showcase innovative video examples that illustrate effective strategies in action.
- Learn how video retention vastly outperforms text for effective communication strategies.
- Discover innovative ways to boost engagement and trust through compelling video content.
- Explore practical tips for lowering production costs while maximizing video impact.
- See real-world examples of successful video strategies from Novo Nordisk’s communications team.
It’s a scenario that keeps communicators and PR pros up at night: The internet has gotten ahold of a statement or a news release, and it has spiraled into a social media maelstrom. This challenge is especially common for communicators where one wrong word can send the socialverse, rumor mills and conspiracy circles spiraling. In this session, spokespeople from brands and elected officials will explain how they maintain consistent communications processes as they work to weather the tumult of public opinion.
- Prep for the Unexpected: Which frameworks, toolkits and templates can be developed before a misinformation or disinformation crisis arises.
- Triage Tips: How to evaluate the urgency of the situation when social media chatter around your organization starts to pick up.
- Case Studies: Real world examples selected from 2024 events and campaigns, and the lessons learned from each.
- Finding the Words: What to say, when to say it and who needs to be at the mic to protect reputation and credibility when public opinion turns against you.
- When the Dust Settles: How to draw lessons from difficult times and use them to build a more resilient comms department.
Join us for a fireside chat with Dan Thomas, CCO of the United Nations Global Compact, as he shares insights he explores the role of communicators in a rapidly changing world. Sharing stories from his firsthand experience at leading communications for the UN General Assembly as well as shaping strategy for the UN Global Compact, Thomas will discuss the importance of innovation in communications and how organizations can engage with the global community. Attendees will gain insights into the intersection of communication, innovation, and global policy, learning how to bring together diverse voices towards a common goal.
Sit back and enjoy a dynamic discussion between rising stars in the communications world as they share their unique perspectives on key trends such as the rise of social media platforms, the media they consume, the impact of activism might have on company culture, and the increasing demand for authenticity and transparency in communications.
The days of brands piling onto memes and trends — and mostly just interacting with one another — has come to an end. Managing a social media community today means tapping into its ideals and passions and delivering smart, rich content with personalized value and heart. It might sound tough, but with a little creativity, resourcefulness and curiosity, even a social team of one can unlock high-performance social content for organizations in any sector. You’ll learn:
- Drill Down: Get to know who your community is at its heart, and hyperfocus your social content on what matters most to them while delivering on business outcomes.
- Build Relationships: The factors and actions that take a follower from a passive observer to a participant and lifelong fan, and how to start conversations and trends around those passion points.
- Know the Numbers: It’s not just impressions and likes anymore. Which metrics tell you the most about who your most engaged fans are and what they want?
- Get Scrappy: Even if you’re a team of one or work for a less glamorous organization, you have an arsenal of fan-building content just waiting to light up your social spaces.
- What’s Next: Learn how to be not just a trendspotter, but a trendsetter, by getting ahead of the conversation and anticipating what your audience wants.
As tech continues to evolve at warp speed, the ability to leverage tech to create content better, faster and further has moved from wishful thinking to daily reality. In this panel discussion, we’ll discuss the latest AI breakthroughs, what that means for increasingly smaller comms departments, how each company has integrated new technologies into their workflows, ethical implications, and the essential role of C-suite buy-in. Learn about:
- Maximizing Efficiency with AI: How AI can streamline your team to do more with less by automating routine tasks and optimizing strategic thinking time.
- AI-Driven Storytelling: Exploring the latest AI tools and their updates, from gen AI like ChatGPT 4.5 Turbo and Jasper, to video like Lumen5 for crafting compelling narratives.
- Keeping it Legal with Policy Frameworks: How to establish effective AI policies and guidelines within your organization to navigate legal and security challenges.
- Winning Over the Boss: Techniques for securing executive support and funding for AI initiatives through demonstrable pilot projects and clear metrics.
- What’s Next: Potential threats on the horizon with the use of AI, including bias and copyright issues, deep fakes, and the integration of AI with diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
Join us to explore how PR professionals can responsibly integrate AI into their workflows while minimizing risks and maximizing results. We will cover ethical considerations that all PR pros should know to help you establish trust as an AI-savvy PR partner. Additionally, you’ll walk away with important AI resources specifically for PR, including industry experts and upcoming trends to pay attention to and guidelines for using AI responsibly. This session will cover:
- Responsible AI use: Ethical guidelines and risk management strategies.
- Future trends: Key AI innovators, thought leaders and trends to follow.
- Building trust: Tips for talking to your clients about AI at your firm.
- Strategic insights: Best practices for navigating the evolving AI landscape as a PR pro.
In today’s digital whirlwind, where a tweet can tank stocks or boost brand love, understanding the invisible part of your media footprint is as crucial as the headlines you make. We’ll explore the new tools and techniques available for today’s media relations pros, with an emphasis on proactive reputation management. Learn effective techniques for tracking and measuring media mentions, maintaining control over your organization's public image, and sharing wins to C-suite. Learn about:
- Smart Metrics That Matter: Ditch the surface-level stats and vanity metrics — implement a measurement system that provides real insights into reputation and trust, and demonstrates solid ROI to your c-suite with insights they can’t ignore.
- Crisis Meets Collaboration: How to integrate legal insights and PR tactics to manage and frame responses effectively, especially when handling high-stakes media situations involving rogue executives or problematic partnerships.
- AI to the Rescue: Explore cutting-edge AI apps that monitor everything from the dark web buzz to the next viral storm brewing on social media.
- Pen Like a Pro: The strategic frameworks you need to develop in advance to anticipate future coverage and maintain narrative control.
Join us at the Mark 10 bar in the hotel lobby to share what you learned with new friends and enjoy an open bar and light appetizers!
Kickstart your day and join us for an energizing Earlybird Coffee Meetup! Before the conference sessions begin, grab a cup of freshly brewed coffee and connect with fellow attendees. Can’t wait to see you there!
In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, traditional communication methods can hinder productivity, collaboration and employee engagement. This session delves into the transition from static systems to dynamic intranet solutions and interactive tools that enhance engagement and provide employees with self-service capabilities. We will:
- Discuss the significance of visual design in fostering interaction and presenting effective adoption strategies for successful implementation.
- Highlight a real-world case study showcasing how a modern intranet has transformed a company’s culture, illustrating its positive effects on leadership communication, knowledge sharing and overall productivity.
Join us for a morning review of the biggest comms and marketing wins (and losses) of the year, featuring takeaways you can incorporate into your own strategies in 2025.
With the creator economy expanding, the definition of influencers is evolving to include everything from college athletes under NIL policies to virtual influencers powered by AI. Join us for a fireside chat with Nicole Dye-Anderson, Senior Vice President and Head of Media Relations, Experiential and Influencer Strategy at Wells Fargo, as she shares insights on how to leverage a diverse array of influencers, from celebrities to media personalities, to enhance your communication strategies. Dye-Anderson will discuss the importance of authenticity, the changing role of media influencers, and how traditional KPIs are being redefined to measure success in today's digital landscape. You’ll learn best practices related to mitigating influencer backlash, the strategic conversations held at the outset of partnerships, and how aligning goals and objectives early can mitigate potential issues, both internally and externally.
Newsrooms are dwindling, reporters are overwhelmed and consumers are inundated with more information than ever. For comms and PR pros, that means not just adapting to the existing media world, but finding — and building — new channels to share important updates, earn attention and build engaged audiences. Whether you’re pitching stories to existing outlets or building up your own brand newsroom, this panel will translate lessons learned from both traditional and new media to your storytelling strategy.
- Learning to Earn It: What exactly does “earned media” mean when news outlets are in constant flux, and where should your organization show up if you want to stand out?
- Diversify to Thrive: Find out what mix of channels and outlets are best for your organization, and how much time you should be spending on each one.
- Be Your Own Ace Reporter: How to build a brand newsroom and unlock powerful brand storytelling through both traditional and new journalism strategies
- Lean and Local: What reporters in leaner newsrooms need, and how local and regional outlets can be a communicator’s best friend.
- What’s Next: Learn how your organization can strike the right tone, make the right news and stay there through its proudest and most pivotal moments.
Join Jason Brandt, CMO of PRophet, as he focuses on the critical questions agencies and brands should ask their martech providers as we approach 2025. This session will explore how to plan for a sustainable year ahead, addressing key topics such as safety, security, efficacy, bias and accessibility. Brandt will provide best practices for training and upskilling staff to ensure your team is equipped for the future, including:
- Asking the right questions: Understand the essential inquiries to make when evaluating technology providers to help with streamlining everyday tasks.
- Planning for sustainability: Learn how to strategize for a sustainable and effective year in 2025.
- Efficacy and bias: Explore how to assess the effectiveness of AI tools while addressing potential biases.
- Training and upskilling: Discover the do’s and don’ts of preparing your team for a tech-driven future.
- Interactive Q&A: Participate in an “Ask Me Anything” segment to address your specific concerns and insights.
Transform the way you handle crises. In this session, you’ll learn how to adapt the FEMA Framework for crisis into your own communications plans, focusing on principles, roles, and strategic alignment. Learn to prepare and protect your organization from what’s coming in 2025, and ensure you’re not just reacting to crises but are fully equipped to prevent them.
- Crisis Frameworks that Fireproof, not Firefight: Implement decision trees and "if this, then that" pivot tables tailored to your organization for a clear, actionable crisis roadmap.
- Repairing Reputation: The critical steps to take when your brand is already in the hotseat, including advanced online reputation strategies.
- Effective Messaging: Learn to craft compelling hold statements, message maps, and style directives to maintain consistency and control over communications during a crisis.
- Crisis Team Activation: Guidelines on structuring and mobilizing your crisis response team based on proven successes and failures from past incidents.
- Global Crisis Management: Strategies for handling international incidents and maintaining public trust through effective media relations and stakeholder engagement.
- Employee Engagement: Techniques for sustaining employee morale and stakeholder relations, ensuring your organization remains unified and resilient in the face of adversity.
- Proving Value: How to measure the impact of storytelling efforts and communications — and demonstrate that value to leadership.
We have new tools and measurement protocols, and audiences are consuming information in new ways — but communicators too often fall back on tactics that have been around for a decade or more. We break down the essential elements of a modern comms strategy (and why), as well as identify tactics whose time is past.
- Build Your New Marketing Playbook: Evaluate your current strategies, and find out what to scrap, augment and add to unlock the most powerful moves in the biz.
- Small But Mighty: How comms and marketing teams across industries and nonprofit sectors can do more and cover a larger geographic area with less.
- The Power of the Employer Brand: Why not all messages are equal, and how, when, and where to tap specific subject matter experts.
- Keep it Flexible: A clear but dynamic approach will help you prepare for all opportunities and eventualities.
- What’s Next: Put it all together, and return to your workplace with a refreshed comms and marketing playbook.
Get practical, powerful advice on how to use AI to dramatically improve your comms copy, content and capacity. We’ll review how to apply strategic prompts to generate powerful prose, and then break into workshop groups to practice those skills in real time, based on a series of challenges spanning internal and external company goals. We’ll cover:
- The AI Toolbox: How to get the most out of ChatGPT — plus, what makes 4.5 Turbo worth the upgrade.
- Writing and Prompt Engineering: How AI can help edit and improve your writing, plus how to select and fine-tune prompts that elevate your prose — without sacrificing creativity and voice.
- Scaling Workflow and Production: How to use Gen AI to reduce the time and effort required to craft compelling comms content.
- Case Studies: Real-world AI use cases and examples of AI applications for internal and external comms content.
From college protests to union strikes: we are in an era marked by significant social and political shifts. Engaging with employees thoughtfully and effectively requires careful strategies for addressing turbulent internal communications influenced by external pressures. Learn how to foster inclusivity and solidarity, support employee voices, and manage potentially divisive topics with empathy and strategic alignment.
- Inclusive Messaging Frameworks: Strategies for creating communications that respect diverse perspectives while aligning with organizational values during times of social and labor unrest.
- Union Strategies: Best practices for responses to unionization efforts, including when to connect with HR, legal and leadership.
- Opportunities for Solidarity: Exploring how controversies can strengthen internal communications, fostering unity and enhancing employee engagement.
- Empowering ERGs: How to leverage Employee Resource Groups to address concerns, disseminate accurate information, and maintain a supportive environment.
- Flexible Communication Strategies: Developing adaptable internal communication plans that can respond to the evolving landscape of labor and social issues without sacrificing authenticity.
Let's face it: communication can make or break your business. You know those all-staff messages could be sharper, but you've got a few execs following old playbooks, who won't budge from their ways. That's where data comes in.
Over a decade, we’ve collected millions of data points that track what makes an all-hands update even more effective. No opinion. No spin. Just science. Axios HQ’s Head of Content and Communication Strategy, Emily Inverso, will walk you through it — and how to use it. You’ll learn to maximize engagement through:
- What to send: 100s of high-performing orgs show us what topics they tend to cover.
- When to send: 8.7M email deliveries tell us the best days and best time to hit send.
- Subject line structure: 70K emails define the makeup of the perfect subject line.
- Smart Brevity style: Millions of updates created the “art of smart” communication.
As we dive headfirst into a future shaped by AI breakthroughs and seismic cultural shifts, it’s time to rethink the roles and skills your team will need to stay ahead of the curve. Join this panel of c-suite and decision-making leaders as they unpack the essential makeup of a future-proof communications squad. Learn about:
- Tech Titans: The AI revolution won’t stop with content creation: why it’s critical to add data analysts and AI scientists to your teams.
- Culture Crafting: With the digital world spinning faster, we’ll explore why agility and transparency aren’t just nice-to-haves but are the lifeline of your future comms strategy.
- Part-Time Pioneers: Fractional leadership is on the rise. Learn why snagging part-time execs may be the smartest move for flexibility and cutting-edge expertise without the hefty price tag.
- Unconventional Recruits: We’ll talk about the game-changing impact of drawing talent from non-traditional fields such as behavioral science and digital media to foster innovative thinking.
Storytelling from the top can transform a company, deepening trust with employees, and forge stronger connections with stakeholders. It often falls to the communicator to teach or tease out those authentic stories from the C-suite. Learn how you can guide executives to create personalized narratives that resonate with the company’s values and strategy – and move beyond mere mission statements. Explore:
- Writing the Love Letter from the Top: Techniques to teach and personalize executive’s stories so they connect with their stakeholders, internally and externally — and reflect and corporate values.
- Building Bridges, Not Just Brands: Strategies for collaborating with leadership on copy, find passion points, and build trust by building stories and talking points around them – plus, how to craft and deliver a good anecdote.
- Cut the Spin: How to help an exec define their voice with authenticity and without jargon or hype – including ways to lean on numbers, stories, or other elements.
- From LinkedIn to the Limelight: Real-world case studies of leaders who have effectively used platforms like LinkedIn to take public stands on critical issues such as social justice movements, environmental issues, and corporate ethics.
- Media Training 201: What you need to know to prepare spokespersons for various types of events, from internal events, broadcast, and print interviews.
- Laddering Back to Values: How to ground every speech, post, or email around the values and purpose, including crucial steps to create a cadence of communications.
Only 10% of people managers are naturals in the role, but managerial skills can be taught: with proper coaching and developmental plans, they can become your company’s greatest asset, helping to retain top performers, increase productivity, and sustain a culture of respect. Our experts will explore how to equip managers to become unifiers and culture ambassadors, as well as effectively align team dynamics with corporate goals, driving organizational performance and enhancing employee satisfaction.
- Managerial Autonomy: Strategies for granting managers the freedom to engage their teams, recognize individual contributions, and gather essential feedback to share with stakeholders, enhancing two-way communication.
- Resource Empowerment: How to build a comprehensive toolkit to equip managers to communicate with authority while navigating internal messaging challenges.
- Communication Upskilling: Psychological best practices for effective communication and conflict resolution that managers can apply.
- Inclusivity, Wellness, and Beyond: How managers can actively support employee wellness, work with ERGs to create safe spaces, and build a culture of productivity, creativity and inclusivity.
Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Valaris provides offshore oil and gas drilling services across all water depths with unmatched scale, geographic presence and customer relationships. With more than 80% of its employees working on remote offshore drilling rigs worldwide, Valaris faces a unique set of circumstances, yet it manages to keep its team connected, informed and engaged, and it has best-in-class metrics to prove it.
Join us for an insightful conversation as we delve into how Valaris revolutionized its employee experience and internal communications with high-impact video storytelling. In this session we’ll cover:
- By the numbers: Compelling stats on why your internal comms strategy has to include video to keep employees connected, informed and engaged.
- Show them, don’t tell them: How Valaris transformed visual storytelling with the help of Workvivo, a modern employee experience platform.
- From the rig floor to the C-suite: Successful video campaigns with employees and leaders at its core that genuinely engage employees and deeply connect them to the Valaris values.
- Extraordinary employee moments in the everyday: How to engage a majority frontline workforce while navigating the risks and hazards of a uniquely demanding industry. Creative ways Valaris has captured the awe of their remote rig backdrops in their internal comms.
- Tapping your internal influencers: Top tips from a seasoned visual storyteller on how you can create compelling content that resonates with your employees and puts them front and center.
In the wake of political pushbacks, Supreme Court decisions and an evolution of the field, many major companies are rebranding and repositioning DE&I. But what does that actually mean for inclusivity efforts? There’s a business case to be made: companies with the highest employment diversity are 39% more likely to overperform than more homogenous organizations. Here’s what you need to know heading into 2025:
- Legal Labyrinth: An examination of the implications of the Supreme Court case that ended affirmative action at universities and its ripple effect in the workplace.
- Modeling from the Top: How leadership can set the tone for the organization’s culture and competitive edge, demonstrate genuine commitment, and enhance the company’s reputation both internally and externally.
- Actionable Allyship: How to foster a culture that normalizes inclusive practices, provides mentorship programs, and ensures benefits through visible and meaningful initiatives.
- ROI of DEI: Whether it’s called JEDI, IED or inclusivity, here’s how to make the business case for DE&I efforts to C-suite and key stakeholders.
- Case Studies: An overview of the business landscape, looking at how some companies have removed references to DE&I from their annual reports (Kohls, Salesforce), citing DE&I as a risk factor (Duolingo, JetBlue), and untying bonuses from hitting diversity goals (Starbucks).
Staying ahead of the curve means being informed of new technologies, apps and tools that pave the way for today’s remote, dispersed and deskless workforce. This isn’t about just keeping up, it’s about leading the way. Learn how to leverage emerging technologies to enhance your employee’s work-lives, streamline operations and develop effective comms strategies. We’ll share insights into how new tools and data-driven approaches can enhance trust, engagement, and overall business success.
- Defining New KPIs: Unpacking a glossary of essential metrics that bridge communications with business success, from trust to social responsibility.
- Bespoke Metrics: Strategies for customizing metrics to meet specific team needs, enhancing the personalization and effectiveness of communications.
- AI, Analytics, and Tech Toolkit Expansion: Discovering the latest AI apps, productivity tools, and analytics dashboards that streamline workflows and maximize message impact.
- Practical Tech Applications: Exploring use cases for popular platforms like Microsoft Office, Meta’s Workplace, and Google Workspace in communications.
- Optimizing Data Use: Techniques for organizing, filtering, and validating data to deliver clear, actionable insights to stakeholders.
Learn how to create a thriving Viva Engage network. This session will take a deep dive into the secrets of creating a successful Viva Engage network by sharing insights from SWOOP’s 10th annual Viva Engage benchmarking report. Learn how to understand your audience, write for impact and engagement, where you should be posting and the trends we saw this year in the benchmarking report. Key takeaways from this session include:
- Insights into writing for impact on Viva Engage.
- Where to post for high levels of engagement.
- Understanding what resonates on Viva Engage.
- Actionable tips for creating successful communities.
Engaging a deskless or remote workforce requires innovative communication strategies that intersect with both employee needs and business objectives. Traditional emails won’t cut it. Learn about new strategies that fuse old-school methods with digital dazzle and will keep everyone in the loop, including how one company implemented an Agile, opt-in employee notification system. Learn about:
- Breaking Connectivity Barriers: Practical steps to audit, assess, and act on challenges in reaching employees with limited internet access or restricted mobile connectivity.
- Mix & Match Magic: Techniques for combining traditional communication tools like flyers and bulletin boards with digital methods such as mobile apps and intranets to close communication gaps.
- Consistent Check-Ins: Establishing consistent touchpoints through town halls, weekly meetings, and regular check-ins to ensure all employees receive important updates.
- Leadership Bootcamp: How to provide managers and site leads with the tools and skills necessary to identify and engage employees who feel culturally disconnected or technologically unplugged.
- Mission Messaging: Strategies to effectively communicate the organization's commitments to DE&I and sustainability to a dispersed workforce.
Cultivating a culture of collaboration and real-time communication requires understanding where the needs of employees and the business intersect — easier said than done when attempting to engage deskless, remote and global workers. Whether they’re down the hall or across the globe, ensure every voice is heard and valued.
- Town Hall Transformations: How to avoid digital blinders, reinvigorate your employees, and include interactive elements to foster interaction and inclusivity.
- Culture Without Borders: Proven strategies to embrace and integrate the microcultures in your team, Learn how to acknowledge and integrating diverse cultural nuances across geographical and cultural landscapes, turning them into your team’s greatest strength.
- Socially Savvy Workspaces: How to tap into culture on social media channels like Slack and Microsoft Teams as tools for internal communication and as windows into external perceptions of your organization.
- Content That Connects: Whether it’s newsletters or the intranet, here’s use cases from communicators who built platforms to share critical updates and pet photos alike.
- Plus: The New Tech Stack: How to get the most out of your existing commtech, including tips for Teams, Slack, and beyond.
SPEAKERS
INTERESTED IN SPEAKING?
Please reach out to Director of Event Programming
Alyssa Smith.
WHAT YOU'll LEARN
- The Comms Team of the Future: How to build a comms function that supports a fast growing business—and the new talent, roles, skills, and titles that may be needed.
- AI Tools, Techniques and Practical Strategies: How you can build a better content strategy with AI as your assistant — plus actionable tactics for safe integration into sensitive workflows
- Managing Employees in Crisis: Frameworks on when, where and how to speak up when grappling with employee activism, dissent and labor actions — all without stripping your comms of authenticity and empathy.
- Fresh Insights on the Communicator’s Role: You’ll be among the first to hear the findings from the Ragan/HarrisX CEO/CCO Perception Survey and other data dives to position you for success.
- Executive Storytelling Strategies: Learn how to build relationships, create trust, and develop personalized stories that meet the moment with clear, consistent and inclusive messaging.
- Tracking, Managing and Measuring Reputation: How to master the art of creating a communications measurement and evaluation strategy — including the headlines you’re not in.
- The Shifting Socialverse: A deep dive into the upsets at Twitter/X, Instagram and TikTok — plus, the new features and changes that may reshape their future.
- Conquer Issue Fatigue: Craft comms that connect with internal and external audiences and deliver on your organization’s goals and mission.
PRICING
Join us for the Future of Communications Conference:
| ADVANCED | EARLY BIRD | VIP | REGULAR RATE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conference All-Access Passincludes the Pre-Conference Workshops | ||||
| Standard | $2,899 | $2,999 | $3,099 | $3,199 |
| Nonprofit/Gov | $2,799 | $2,899 | $2,999 | $3,099 |
| Ragan Insider | $2,749 | $2,849 | $2,949 | $3,049 |
| Conference Registration - Individual | ||||
| Standard | $2,499 | $2,599 | $2,699 | $2,799 |
| Nonprofit/Gov/Edu | $2,399 | $2,499 | $2,599 | $2,699 |
| Ragan Insider | $2,349 | $2,449 | $2,549 | $2,649 |
| Conference Recording On Demand | ||||
| Includes pre-conference workshops and conference sessions | $1499 | $1499 | $1499 | $1499 |
For those who can’t attend the conference live, an on-demand option is available during the registration process.
Download this letter to convince your boss you should attend the Future of Communications Conference.
Group Discounts
Would you and your team like to attend? Group pricing for 3 or more is available when going through the registration process!
RAGAN COUNCIL MEMBER DISCOUNTS
Membership includes free registration passes. Contact Shallon Blackburn for more information on becoming a member.
RAGAN INSIDER DISCOUNTS
Insiders save on all Ragan events. Not a Ragan Insider? You can become one during registration for this event!
Hyatt Regency Austin
208 Barton Springs,
Austin, Texas, 78704
(512) 477-1234
Visitor Info
Extend your stay in the Live Music Capital of the World®! Austin offers urban hiking trails, legendary barbecue and farm-to-table cuisine. The city has more than 250 live music venues where on any given night the sounds of rock, country, indie and Tejano music echo throughout the streets.
TOP 8 THINGS TO DO IN AUSTIN:
- Listen to Live Music.
- Eat Barbecue and Tex-Mex.
- Enjoy A Cocktail with Local Spirits, Hill Country Wine Or Craft Beer.
- Get Outdoors.
- Experience the Famous Bat Bridge.
- Visit A Film Location.
- Explore Texas History.
- Take A City Tour.
SPONSORS & PARTNERS
Titanium
Platinum
Want to become a sponsor? Get in touch with our team to discuss sponsorship opportunities.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
You should attend if you spend at least a quarter of your time in any of these areas:
- Public Relations
- Brand Management
- Internal Communications
- Public Affairs
- Executive Communications
- Reputation Management
- Crisis Communications
- Issues Management
- Social Media
- Storytelling
- Media Relations
GET RECOGNIZED!
Each registration comes with a personalized "Future of Communications Conference" Certificate of Completion for attending.
Lawrence Ragan Communications, Inc is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification activities.
This program is valid for 4 PDCs.
WONDERING IF YOU SHOULD ATTEND?
Here’s what past attendees are saying about Ragan and PR Daily Events!
It was helpful to hear from top industry leaders that the trending comms and marketing strategies and tactics I've read about online are actually being practiced and proving to be successful. I feel more confident and energized by what I learned, and I'm excited to return to my organization with fresh ideas.
I couldn't recommend this conference more to any communicator responsible for reputation management, building trust and engagement or understanding the challenges that lie over the horizon and the best practices with which to turn them into successful opportunities for your company.
The Future of Communications Conference should come with a warning label! It eliminated my fears about incorporating AI into our marketing and communications strategies and left me more excited about the future than when I arrived. And it inspired me to download a bunch of new AI apps.
What a special space Ragan has created for communications leaders! It is so gratifying to hear from fellow colleagues in the industry and know that we are all facing the same challenges and triumphs. Great conference and look forward to attending again!
The Future of Communications Conference is an energizing event filled with ideas and networking opportunities to support communicators in moving boldly into the future!
KEEP UP WITH THE LATEST!
The conference fun doesn’t start and stop at the event! Follow us on socials and sign-up for update emails.
Contact us for group rates and share with friends!
