OPENING KEYNOTE SESSION: Stop Telling, Start Involving Employees in Your Brand

The need to actively involve your employees in your brand has never been more important than it is in today's business environment. Mergers, acquisitions, restructuring and other major changes can undermine corporate cultures and cloud or negate even well-established brand strategies. When your employees are truly connected to your brand, the difference is evident-and measurable-on a daily basis.

Find out how when Tim McCleary takes the stage. His keynote session will have you on your feet and thinking about internal branding in a whole new way. Prior to establishing his firm, Tim was the Global Director of Brand and Design for GE, where he launched a new brand architecture, expression and strategy for the company's 311,000 employees, based in over 100 countries and 100 diverse businesses.

This interactive session shows how to:

• Involve your employees and re-ignite them in this economic downturn
• Increase the ROI of the brand strategy by helping employees live the external plan
• Practice three internal techniques that you can use to boost your brand and internal communications tomorrow

Tim McCleary,
Principal,
The Involvement Practice

Welcome Reception

Following the opening session, all Summit attendees are welcome to attend a reception from 18.30 to 20.00.

Continental Breakfast and Melcrum Remarks

Welcome from the Chair

Chris Gay,
Co-Founder
Bridge Consulting

KEYNOTE SESSION: "The Sustainable Organization" - The 13 Workforce Trends Today's Leaders Must Prepare For

So many organizations are immobilized by the current economic climate that it's difficult to consider the day when business does improve. Is your organization positioning itself for the future? Have you shut down your engagement efforts or abandoned the war for talent?

This multi-media and high-energy presentation highlights the key trends that have to be addressed today to ensure businesses are sustainable for tomorrow. It's a must-see for any Communicator working closely with business leaders.

Bob Kelleher, a seasoned practitioner and employee engagement thought leader, uncovers how to lead your organization in the right direction by considering the demographic, diversity and work ethic issues that are directly impacting your company's future.

Bonus: Bob reveals the competencies for your future employees and the hidden stakeholders who can help you.

Bob Kelleher,
Founder and CEO of Employee Engagment.com,
Former Chief Human Capital Officer for AECOM,
Melcrum All-star Speaker

Maintaining Respect and Trust During A Downsizing

If there is a possibility that staff reductions might be in your organization's future, you'll want to hear about the creative and comprehensive downsizing communication program put into action by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), recognized by IABC with a 2009 Gold Quill. For many of the IMF's employees from over 100 countries, volunteering to take a severance package meant not only a change in employment, but also an unexpected international relocation for family members as well as complex visa, benefits and tax issues. Learn how the Fund's "Exploring Your Options" multi-faceted communication program (based on a website constructed in Microsoft SharePoint in only 3 weeks) provided employees with the information and support they needed in a difficult decision-making process. The program not only delivered the required number of volunteers, but was also highly regarded by employees and considered to be a best practice model for other institutions.

Peggy Schoen,
HR Communications Officer,
International Monetary Fund

Using the New Dynamics to Communicate Change

The traditional dynamics of communication are shifting to include community contribution as well as the more traditional "pushes" and "pulls." The metrics of success are shifting, as well, to embrace the impact of buzz. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the dynamics of communicating change. Kraft Foods is in the process of engendering a new way to work throughout the organization - more integrated and supportive of inter-dependencies. This session will share the communication models and strategies underlying this multi-year change effort.

Jan Mear,
Director of Organization Change Management, Catalyst Program,
Kraft Foods

Jan Burnham,
Co-founder
ROC Group

Roundtable discussions

Melcrum conferences attract such high-caliber attendees, that our participants always want more time to discuss ideas with each other. Here's your chance! Meet with conference participants who face similar communication challenges to benchmark ideas. We will track the subjects that are creating the most interest and provide opportunities for meaningful discussions.

Choose Session A or B

The Upside of the Downturn: Engaging Employees to Make a Difference

Employees at Devon Canada Corporation are like employees everywhere: concerned about the economy. As a result of media coverage, public perception and an ever-changing political environment, they are also faced with tough questions about the industry they work in. The communications team at Devon Canada is taking advantage of the current business climate to create credible ambassadors and inspire action, by asking employees to "Make a Difference." Walk away from this session with solid strategic and tactical examples that work.

Devon Canada is the Canadian operating division of Oklahoma-based Devon Energy, a leading independent oil and gas exploration and production company. The company has approximately1,500 employees throughout Western Canada and 5,000 employees worldwide.

Nadine Pettman, ABC,
Supervisor, Corporate Communications
Devon Canada Corporation
#20 in 2009 Best Workplaces in Canada List
#13 on 2009 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For List

Build Compelling Video into your Corporate Communication Strategy... on a Budget

Video can be one of the best ways of connecting employees with business strategy, senior leaders and each other. Even firms with ageold cultures are discovering powerful ways to incorporate cutting-edge, YouTube-style video in their corporate communications. This session will explore the nuts and bolts of creating corporate videos with compelling content that meets employees' expectations for authenticity and the organization's expectations for ROI. (Deloitte's global communication team has a 300 percent ROI on videos.) If you're not using video on your intranet, internet or on sites like YouTube, you're missing opportunities to make valuable connections with people -- potential recruits and employees around the globe.

Karen Frankola,
Director, Internal Communications and Creative Studio
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
2009 10 Best Intranets, Neilsen Norman Group

Applying the Six Secrets of Effective Communication

Top-performing companies understand that employee communications can make a difference to their bottom line Over the past six years, Watson Wyatt's communication return on investment (ROI) study has become an industry standard for understanding effective communication practices and correlating them to financial performance. During this session, learn about six secrets of effective communication gleaned from the study's participants (over 750 companies representing 12 million employees worldwide) and ways to improve your own communication program through a self-evaluation exercise. Discover how IBM's internal communicators use the research to challenge themselves and engage in meaningful, global conversations.

Will Runyon,
Director, Workforce Enablement – Sales Incentives,
IBM

Kathryn Yates,
Global Practice Director, Communication,
Watson Wyatt Worldwide

Chair Summary

Networking reception immediately following

Dine Around in Chicago

Melcrum will arrange for dinner reservations at a variety
of restaurants in Chicago. Participants can elect to sign up
for one of the dinners and meet other participants in an
informal setting.

Breakfast and Welcome Remarks from the Chair

Linda Dulye,
Founder and President,
Dulye & Co.

How Leaders can Sustain Employee Engagement during Difficult Times

Now is the time for leaders to step up, acknowledge the changes taking place in the organization, and focus employees on the issues that will improve business performance. This session explores a proven and practical approach designed to take leaders through a realistic change process and provide specific actions they can take immediately to sustain engagement levels during this challenging business climate.  Discover how to align leaders with consistent change strategies, help leaders adopt engagement best practices, and move leaders out of the safety of change theory and into action.

Chris Thornton,
Senior Manager, OIM Communications
Deloitte

Communication Takes Charge of Change

Private-equity backed Ovation Pharmaceuticals knew the time would come for a change in ownership; private equity firms typically have a set time horizon for their investments. With the inevitability of an ownership change, the company knew it would be looking for a buyer - the right buyer - that would continue to grow the business and provide a thriving environment for employees. How it operated and positioned its business would be key to a successful ownership transition. This session will explore how the Communications function helped successfully position the company for a change in control, and effectively manage its acquisition by Lundbeck to secure the ongoing commitment of employees. Uncover the true influence that Communication can have on your organization's future, and as well as new ways to approach communication challenges when you're required to do more with less.

Sally Benjamin Young,
Vice President, Communications
Lundbeck Inc. (formerly Ovation Pharmaceuticals)

Choose Session A or B

Building Trust and Credibility One Conversation at a Time

Front-line managers’ role in engagement is amplified during this current business environment. Many companies are familiar with the impact of the current economy on employees and, particularly, their desire for credible and trustworthy leaders. During her career, Jodi Hutchison has helped organizations respond with robust manager communication programs to ensure that frequent dialog is taking place with employees across the organization – even when answers are unknown. This session will outline the approach to setting the communication strategy, deeply rooted in measurement, to engaging employees in an organization’s mission by educating and leveraging a network of willing managers.

Jodi Hutchison,
Communications Consultant & Advisor

Strong Alliances Drive a Successful Web Strategy

Creating a Web strategy with a goal of connecting the employees of the world’s largest retailer to the company and each other is a massive undertaking and can put strategic planning to the test. Learn how Corporate Communication led the way for this project, by establishing common goals with other functions, including the Legal, Ethics, Privacy, Marketing and Associate Communications departments.

Suraya Bliss,
Senior Director, Communication,
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

PANEL DISCUSSION: Internal Communications Working Smarter
in the Current Business Climate

Panelists:

Susan Dorflinger,
Vice President, Worldwide Employee Communication,
GE Real Estate

Beth Miller,
Communications Manager,
Unilever Foodsolutions

Lisa Hartenberger,
Director, Communications,
Navistar Engine Group

Frontline Facts: What IC teams are doing today to be stronger tomorrow

Get the facts about how internal communication functions are weathering the storm - and coming out stronger. Claire Leheny, Melcrum's North American Director, reveals where companies are trimming and what they're doing to restructure for the eventual market upturn. Drawing upon data from a global survey that garnered more than 2,000 responses, Claire outlines what's really going on inside organizations and how you can prepare for the months ahead. Take home valuable data you can use to demonstrate the importance and impact of internal communications on business results.

Claire Leheny,
Director, North America,
Melcrum

Internal Communication Paving the Way for Successful Change

Has change become "business as usual" in your organization? Today's communicator is increasingly focused on moving their organizations through change more quickly and effectively. Dean Foods Company has made 40 acquisitions in the past 10 years - they understand what change is all about. Now, as the company transforms into an operating company and ties together these distinct companies into a unified organization, the company is learning how to work together as One Dean Team, guiding the company's leaders and employees through a successful transition. Learn how to prepare your organization for change, fail your way to success and be a key facilitator in the process for more favorable results.

Marguerite Copel,
Vice President, Corporate Communication,
Dean Foods Company