Registration and Morning Coffee
A Guide to Building Trust in an Increasingly Polarized World
Building trust with your consumers is of paramount importance in today's polarized world. With trust comes loyalty and this is especially true in an increasingly noisy market. Consumers want to trust the brands they buy from, so it is essential that you take the time to build relationships and foster trust with your customers. During this session, Bjorn will discuss how to engage with your stakeholders by listening to their needs and concerns and responding to them in an authentic manner. Additionally, he will discuss the importance of transparency, accountability, and collaboration in the building of meaningful relationships.
Bjorn Trowery, Head of Consumer Communications, Yelp (ex Meta, Heineken)
Reputation Management From the Inside Out - A Look at Investment in People and Purpose with IKEA Canada
Reputation and risk management is an always-on commitment as we build trust with stakeholders inside and outside the organization. Organizations are operating in one of the most complex environments today, as trust in institutions remains low, economic confidence wanes and post-pandemic disruptions from cancel culture to supply chain continue. How do you revitalize your decades-long history as a strength to navigate persistent threats to your business? As one of the world's beloved brands, IKEA understands the importance of dialing into your values to protect a better future.
Join Tanya Bevington, Head of Communications at IKEA Canada to learn about how she invests in trust to build lifelong relationships with co-workers and customers, helping to manage risk and brand reputation from the inside out.omers, helping to manage risk and brand reputation from the inside out.
Tanya Bevington, Head of Communications, IKEA Canada
Become a Skilled Crisis Communicator in a Post-pandemic World
A poorly managed issue or incident can quickly and thoroughly harm an organization's reputation. Yet, many organizations do not devote the necessary resources and time to preparing for existential crises and other emergencies, hoping instead that they will be lucky enough to avoid them. Fortunately, any organization can take steps to become better prepared. In Greg's presentation, he will outline six practical rules that can be used by communicators to anticipate, manage and respond to crises.
Greg Trevor, Associate Vice President for Marketing & Communications, University of Georgia
Lunch for Speakers and Delegates
How a Lack of Diversity Can Fuel a Reputational Crisis
Diversity and inclusion for many organizations has been seen as a nice to have, but in today's new world, it is actually a must have. In this session Renee will focus on the role of diversity, equity and inclusion in times of crisis, the risks from lack of diversity and inclusion in your organization, how to create an inclusive crisis plan and protect your reputation in a world where organizations are expected to align with the social and political values of their consumers.
Renee Weekes Duncan, Senior Vice President, Golin Canada & Co-Founder & Board Director, Code Black Communicator Network
Update Your Crisis Plan for the Cancel Culture Era
Companies should be prepared for any situation that might lead to cancel culture. You should be proactive in monitoring online conversations, reviewing your policies, and engaging with stakeholders. In addition, you should have a plan of action in place in the event of a crisis. As part of this opening keynote, Kut will assist you in rewriting your crisis plan and safeguarding your reputation in the age of cancel culture.
Kurt Heinrich, Senior Director, Media Relations, University of British Columbia
Crisis Communications Planning for a Data Breach
As The Economist points out, if oil was the prize resource of the 20th century, data is the prize resource of the 21st century.
In today's world order, information is the currency. In order to protect their businesses from cybersecurity risks, boards of directors and business leaders have had to learn how to adapt.
During this presentation, Greg will provide an overview of the current cyber security landscape, enabling you to understand how threats are evolving and how to adapt your organization's response to increasingly sophisticated and media-savvy hackers.
Greg Vanier, Head of Crisis & Reputation Risk, Edelman Canada
Networking and Refreshment Break
A Guide to Preparing Your Leaders for High-stakes Interviews During Times of Crisis
When a crisis occurs, your organization's leaders need to take the lead in crisis communications. Aside from a timely response and transparent communication, giving insightful and empathic media interviews is fundamental to protecting your organization's reputation. In this session, Marina will explain how to prepare your leaders for crisis interviews with a particular focus on:
- How to assess your key objectives and messages
- Identifying the pitfalls for your leader
- Setting your leader up for success
- Preparing Leaders for TV versus print
Marina Jimenez, Director, Communications, Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, UHN
Why Internal Communications are Key During a Crisis
Having a solid internal communications strategy is essential for success, especially during times of constant crises. If we've learned anything as PR professionals in the past three years it's that effective internal communications doesn’t just empower employees to accomplish outstanding results but more importantly, it ensures that your organization can withstand change and unexpected crisis. In this session Gunjan will share with you how to successfully manage internal comms to prepare your teams for major crisis and how to keep your team productive during a crisis.
Gunjan (Chaurasia) Kafil, Head of Communications - Data & Analytics Design, SAP
End of Day One
A Full Day Interactive Workshop with Irene Payne: Test and Update Your Crisis Plan for a Polarized World
Whether it is a worldwide pandemic as COVID-19, a disaster, a shooting, or an event as small as a contaminated product on the shelf, crises pose a great risk to your organization's reputation. These events often unfold at great speed, forcing public relations and communications professionals to act rapidly to prevent reputational damage from occurring. In order to respond effectively to a crisis, it is essential to consider the most important factors: the severity of the situation, its impact on the business' commercial, financial, and reputational interests, and how it must be managed strategically.
Presented by Irene Payne, a renowned international crisis communications expert, this one-day interactive workshop, will prepare you with a comprehensive understanding of strategic crisis management and communication protocols as well as how to establish effective media relations.
As part of this highly interactive workshop, you will have the opportunity to work with your fellow delegates through a challenging but engaging crisis scenario, leveraging social media, media interviews and a sensitive press conference.
You will also learn effective strategies for managing reputational crises and establishing crisis leadership in order to protect brand trust. Upon completing this workshop, you will be armed with the skills necessary to protect your organization against reputational shocks and damages, and you will emerge from any crisis with a more positive image.
Benefits of attending:
- Minimize the damage caused by a crisis by detecting early warning signs
- Develop a crisis management and communication plan that is robust and effective
- Communicate effectively during times of complex crisis with diverse stakeholders
- Select the appropriate communication channel
- Communicate when information is scarce
- Manage aggressive media interviews more effectively
- Take full control of media exposure by crafting powerful key messages
- Manage crises effectively using social media
About Your Workshop Leader:
Irene Payne is the Associate Director of Crisis Communications at Kenyon International Emergency Services. Originally from the United Kingdom, Irene Payne is now based in Nevada, USA. She has extensive communication experience in crisis management, particularly firearms incidents in educational settings. In 2012, she was presented with the 'Leadership Through Communication' award from the American Association of School Administrators and the National School Public Relations Professionals Association. Additionally, Irene has worked in India, Pakistan, and Europe. She holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing Communications from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, United Kingdom.
