Every employee has the potential to be a great employee. One of the acute challenges an organization faces is how to build and sustain employee morale and unleash the full employee potential. During this keynote session, Bob Nelson will provide insight, practical ideas and suggestions for building a workforce of engaged and energized employees. He is considered a leading authority on energizing, motivating and inspiring employees to new peaks of performance. Discover what is motivating your employees - and learn how to inspire and equip your front-line managers to be an integral part of the engagement process.

Dr. Bob Nelson President, Nelson Motivation, Inc.
Best-selling author of "1001 Ways to Reward Employees", "1001 Ways to Energize Employees", and "The 1001 Rewards and Recognition Fieldbook"

Sponsored by:

Welcome Reception

Following the opening session, all Summit delegates are welcome to attend a reception from 6:30pm to 8pm.

For the leaders of most organizations, there is a mystery about the newest members of their workforce, often called Gen Y or Millenials. Their values, work ethic, and certainly the way they communicate, seems foreign to those from previous generations. Consider this keynote presentation a blueprint to understanding the mindset of this new generation.

Jason Ryan Dorsey is a nationally-renown expert on Gen Y - how they think, make decisions and create priorities. Jason knows Gen Y's mindset because he's a member of Gen Y and in the last ten years he's helped 300,000 of his peers prepare for and enter the workforce. Now he teaches employers how to keep them. This unique vantage point is why major media outlets including 60 Minutes, 20/20, NBC's Today Show, ABC's The View, Fortune Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, NPR's On Point, and USA TODAY have relied on Jason to reveal Gen Y's attitude, beliefs and expectations.

Jason's keynote session will provide: an insightful look at Gen Y, specific strategies for communicating with Gen Y, and immediately actionable ideas you can take back to your office to increase the loyalty, creativity and performance of your Gen Y employees.

Jason Ryan Dorsey The Gen Y Guy™
Author, "My Reality Check Bounced!" and "Graduate to Your Perfect Job"

Research shows that the most trusted source of information your clients and communities receive about your company is their interaction with your employees. And as participatory media - sometimes called web 2.0, the social web or user-generated content - ascends in prominence, it's increasingly likely that your people are taking the podium. IBM takes the implications of this trend very seriously. The global IT leader has adopted a number of programs guided by a newly articulated internal communications strategy to make this sea of change in communications most beneficial to its employees, shareholders and clients.

This insightful session will explore IBM's progressive strategy for internal communications, the use of social media as an enabling technology, and the cultural shift required to view communication in this manner.

Jana Weatherbee Vice President, Internal Communications, IBM

The complexity involved with communicating with a global network of employees goes well beyond the language and time zone differences. The subtle differences in a nation's culture, style, and perspective, can directly impact how effectively your communication plans are received.

During this session, Ira Gottlieb will candidly share his experiences communicating with Tyco Safety Products' employees across 25 countries. Learn how to deliver consistent global messages that are locally relevant, utilize your senior leadership on a global basis, effectively project manage your own global communication team, and avoid communications that are too US-centric.

Ira Gottlieb Senior Director, Communications, Tyco Safety Products

The latest developments in intranet portal technology are creating exciting new opportunities for corporate communication, collaboration and innovation. They are also improving efficiency by eliminating redundant human workflow. But the initial process can be daunting without proper research, metrics, and a solid project plan. This session will examine the key steps to setting up your intranet redesign for success, including how to conduct "peering" sessions with end users to collect meaningful feedback, building a compelling business case, justifying the ROI, securing an executive sponsor, and evaluating the various intranet portal technologies. Also, learn how to build a successful alliance with your IT department for outstanding results.

Tracie Gildehaus Director of Portal and Business Applications, Corporate Communication,
Scottrade, Inc.

Breaking down the communication barriers between lines of business, each with their own strong brand, is a complex challenge. Employees naturally feel a strong affiliation with their day-to-day work. But an increased understanding of the bigger picture can increase alignment, engagement and loyalty. The Walt Disney Studios includes different lines of business, for example, Feature Animation, the Music Group and Home Entertainment. In the highly competitive entertainment industry, it is important that employees make the connection to The Walt Disney Studios and The Walt Disney Company. This presentation will examine how to build a stronger internal brand by enhancing partnerships with Human Resources, Marketing and business units, and providing increased interaction with senior leadership.

Kelley Haggert Director, Internal Communications, The Walt Disney Studios

The senior leaders at MeadWestvaco (MWV), a global leader in packaging solutions with over 30,000 international employees, recognized that in order to achieve their demanding business objectives it would require employee innovation and engagement like never before. This session will explore MWV's approach to transforming employee communications from a one-way, top-down monologue to a two-way, shared conversation, using online interactive tools and community building solutions. Learn how MWV increased active participation, interactive learning, and community building across all business units and international borders. Special focus will be placed on real-world tactical executions with measurable results.

David Wright Director of Employee Communications, MeadWestvaco

Steven Green President, Pollstream, Inc.

Why stop with simply informing employees when you can move them toward understanding and acceptance? Storytelling is back in vogue as a strategic communication tool that can help you do just that. Storytelling can paint a picture that can be challenging to achieve with more traditional communication. When Michelin North America needed to share examples of teams and projects that exemplified the spirit of cooperation, focus and alignment, they used a storytelling approach - with remarkable results. Learn how to capture your audience's attention and influence employees' perspective by sharing powerful, visual, and occasionally humorous stories that feature the humanity of your organization.

Jennifer Graf Smith Change Management/Communication Manager, Michelin Americas Small Tires, Michelin North America, Inc

When Eli Lilly and Company embarked on a new vision for their organization, they recognized the need to engage employees in an important dialogue about the future of the company and to ensure they understood their individual role in reaching the vision. The innovative strategy was to utilize IBM's "jam session" technology - a 76-hour online communication forum that provided the company with an unprecedented way to surface, cultivate, and discuss new ideas, to collaborate on developing these ideas, and to drive new kinds of business innovation. This groundbreaking event at Lilly involved educating all 42,000 employees across the globe about the event, including those that don't use computers and speak a variety of languages.

This session will explore the communications challenges, planning and staggering results of Lilly's experiment with this social media.

Kerri Randel Lewis Director, Internal Communication, Eli Lilly and Company

Chair Summary

Networking reception immediately following