Heather has over 20 years of experience driving strategic communications at Silicon Valley hi-tech companies (Cisco, NetApp, Informatica) and Fortune 100 clients of award-winning PR agency Weber Shandwick. Her expertise includes employee engagement; internal, executive, and digital communications; change management; and business operations to help organizations grow, transform, and innovate.

She is passionate about technology and education and has volunteered with WOMEN Unlimited, Inc., San Jose Unified School District, and is on the board of the Silicon Valley chapter of IABC. A San Francisco Bay Area native and mom of three daughters, she holds a B.S. in Business Management from California State University at Fresno and an M.B.A. from Santa Clara University. In 2018, she earned Strategic Communications Management Professional (SCMP) certification.

Greg Cannan is the Divisional Information Officer (DIO), Corporate Services within the Information Systems Department of Toyota North America responsible for the maintenance and development of applications within Toyota. Greg’s responsibilities cover Corporate Service Systems like Human Resources, Learning Management, Legal, Corporate Communications, Corporate Giving and Compliance.

Greg joined Toyota in 1988 as a project lead for the development of the new Lexus Dealer Allocation System and, as such, has been with Toyota since the birth of Lexus! Greg has led a number of major projects at TMS including the implementation of PeopleSoft, i2 Demand Management for Service Parts, the Toyota Vehicle Ordering Management System and Telematics. More recently Greg and his team are exploring leading edge technologies such as BlockChain, VR/AR and artificial intelligence for utilization within Toyota North America.

Michael Brito is a digital strategist, author, TEDx speaker, adjunct professor with close to 20 years of hands-on experience helping organizations solve marketing challenges. In all of his experience working, teaching and writing about digital marketing, content and social business, he's learned that consumers are real people with real passions, not just target markets or page views. In order to turn followers into friends and fans into “raving” advocates, he believes that brands need to listen more than they talk and social media provides a powerful way to connect with them, personally.

Michael also has experience helping deploy social business tools like Sprinklr & Spredfast; and employee communication platforms like Dynamic Signal across large, very complex organizations. Previously, he was the Head of Social Marketing at W2O Group, and Senior Vice President of Social Strategy at Edelman Digital where he launched programs and campaigns for Fortune 500 companies implementing integrated content and digital marketing programs, globally.

He’s been building online communities before social media was even a thing. He also served 8 years in the US Marine Corps.

Kirsten Hamstra is global social media manager for SAS, a leader in business analytics software. She championed the creation of the SAS corporate social media team and leads a team of five to raise social media’s profile, engage SAS customers, build brand awareness and influence the organization’s bottom line. Before SAS, Hamstra was on the digital and corporate reputation management teams at Edelman Public Relations in Chicago. Hamstra has a bachelor’s degree in English from Emory University and an M.A.M.C. in public relations from the University of Florida. She has worked for CNN, Atlanta Magazine, Atlanta Press Club and John Wiley & Sons Publishing.

Ethan McCarty is a nationally recognized leader in employee engagement and current lecturer at Columbia University where he teaches digital media and analytics in their Strategic Communications Master’s program. Ethan is known for his work building strategies that bridge the gap between employee experience and company aspirations, business strategy, and values. Ethan has seen success in his approaches both at IBM and Bloomberg, where he served for more than 20 years in a variety of executive roles related to employee communications, social media, and digital communications. He is the CEO of Integral Communications Group, a consulting firm that enables organizations to engage, align, inspire and activate employees on behalf of their employers.

Carey Peterson is the internal communications director for Sutter Health, one of the nation’s leading not-for-profit networks of hospitals, physician organizations and other health care service providers.

Ms. Peterson began her career at Sutter Health in 2000, as a writer/editor. As director, she now develops and leads strategic communications plans and employee engagement strategies to effectively influence, inform and inspire internal audiences across the Sutter Health network.

Ms. Peterson’s professional career outside of the health care industry includes reporting for The Sacramento Bee, Neighbors section; co-hosting a radio talk show, AM 950 KAHI, and freelance writing.

Her educational background includes a master's degree in multimedia communications from the Academy of Art University and a bachelor's degree in communications from California State University, Sacramento. Ms. Peterson lives in Sacramento.

With over 20 years of executive level business development, strategy, marketing, product management, sales and communications experience, Joelle has led teams in media, enterprise technology, and consumer internet companies.

Throughout her career, she has built strong, self-directed teams and leveraged extensive analytics to ensure that marketing and partnerships are delivering clear value to the company. Her teams get stuff done and have a lot of fun doing it.

Prior to joining Dynamic Signal, Kaufman served as the EVP of Strategy and Business Development for Westfield. Before that, she was the first CMO of both BloomReach and Adify, and held various leadership positions at Firefly Network, NetDynamics, BigStep, RSA Security, Reactivity, and Engage.com.

Kaufman earned her MBA from Harvard Business School and her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan, where she was the first student to graduate with high honors for a BA in Organizational Studies.

Russ is Co-Founder and CEO of Dynamic Signal, a Silicon Valley software company and the leading employee communications platform. A digital media industry veteran, Russ has more than 15 years' experience in the online marketing world. He co-founded and was CEO of Adify (acquired by Cox for $300M in May 2008) and co-founded SocialShield. He was also SVP of BD at Wine.com, EVP of Corporate Development at comScore (NASDAQ:SCOR) and was among the first employees at Flycast (acquired by CMGi for $2.3B in January 2000). Russ is also an active angel investor in the digital world and is on a number of boards. Russ holds a BS in Economics from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

With more than 20 years of professional experience, Jason is an executive communication strategist with expertise in media relations, internal communication, issues management, public policy, government relations, public engagement and crisis communication in both the public and private sectors. Jason started his professional career as a newspaper journalist prior to joining the city of Fort Worth, Texas in 2000. At the city, Jason served in various leadership roles, including lead spokesperson for the city and the Mayor’s Chief of Staff. Jason joined BNSF Railway in 2015 as the director of Internal Communication. In this role, Jason works to leverage communication strategies and channels to help company leaders strengthen connections with their diverse work teams across the country. When not at work, Jason enjoys old cars, cycling, painting, playing guitar and piano and hanging out with his three girls—his wife Kelli, his daughter Chloe and his cat Satsuki.

Gary Grates leads Corporate and Strategy practices as he is informed by over 25 years of corporate, marketing/brand, labor, and strategic communications experience. He is considered a thought leader in organizational change, and management/employee internal communications, frequently holding lectures that coincide with more than 200 of his published articles and white papers on these topics.

Grates has counseled more than 100 organizations and CEOs, including PepsiCo, Caterpillar, Shell, Kraft, Nissan, GE, Carrier/United Technologies, Novartis, Mellon Bank, Exxon/Mobil, Shell, Global Foundries, AMD, Visa, Yum! Brands, eBay, Wyeth, British Airways, United Airlines, BASF, Pfizer, Coca-Cola, Denny’s/TW Services, ABInBev, Kimberly Clark, The McGraw-Hill Companies, ITT, Vale, and Dell.

From 2006 to 2011, Grates established the Global Change and Employee Engagement Practice at Edelman, the world’s largest public relations firm, which involved creating a network of specialists and developing a distinct portfolio around change management, internal communications, social media, and employee engagement for organizations around the world.

Prior to Edelman, he served as Vice President-Corporate Communications of North America at General Motors Corporation, where he was responsible for brand, product, media, internal, financial, and public policy communications for the company’s largest region of operations.

He is an Adjunct Professor at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications; a Teaching Professor at ABERJE, the Brazilian Public Relations Association; and a Trustee of Utica College of Syracuse University. Grates is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society, PRSA, IABC, National Corporate Directors Association (NACD), and the Institute for PR Research (IPR). He was named one of Newhouse School’s “Top 40” graduates.

Gary and his wife Laurene reside in Carmel, New York. The couple has three children.

There is a trust issue in business. Organizations today are struggling with earning and keeping the trust of their constituencies, and for a variety of reasons. There is an urgent and very large opportunity for brands–large and small–to unleash their employees into the marketplace and facilitate a value exchange between all of their stakeholders. But it needs to be done in a smart and strategic way.

Michael Brito, Executive Vice President at Zeno Group will discuss importance of employees participating in industry conversations in order to surround sound the market with trustworthy content. He will also give actionable steps on how to build an employee program from the ground up and include:

- Identifying the right employees to participate
- Training employees to participate in the way they feel most comfortable
- Aligning an employee-driven content strategy with the brand narrative
- Distributing employee content into the marketplace alongside branded       campaigns

How many employees read the latest newsletter article? Did you generate awareness about open enrollment? Has the CEO’s strategy video gone viral on your intranet yet?

Wait. Who cares?! In an age of diminished institutional credibility, all organizations have a powerful, often-overlooked asset to directly influence customers, industries, and communities: their employees.

And while most companies say employees are their most valued asset, many communications programs, resources, technologies and tactics labor under a legacy priority of containing employee voices, mitigating the risk of unwanted disclosure and avoiding inconsistent messages. While that containment is at times laudable, we all know that authenticity is the coin of the realm and employee voices have been ascendant for years in terms of trust, reach and the quality of the content they produce independently.

Activating employees on behalf of employers will either be the next killer app for professional communicators, or we’ll see it done haphazardly and ad hoc. Effectively activating employees can lead more directly and observably to bottom-line business outcomes like increased sales, enhanced recruitment, better security and improvements to firm reputation than just about any Communications approach.

In this session, we’ll cover:

- Why the term “internal communications” is long overdue for retirement       and what to do about it.

- How digital drivers challenge the asymmetries of power between                employers and employees—and why professional communicators must      change their tune.

- Strategic planning and agile work methods—why they’re essential to          meaningful employee activation.

As communication leaders, we know we have to constantly listen, evaluate, and innovate. But when it comes to rolling out new technology and ways of reaching and engaging employees that we’ve never tried before- that can be a daunting task. Step one is deciding you’re going to meet evolving employee expectations with modernized, streamlined, and measurable communication. And then there’s the actual process of rolling out a new ECE program and driving sustainable adoption.

From getting leadership buy-in leadership to leveraging gamification strategies, starting small and growing fast, to truly empowering employees. Our experts will walk you through best practices in how to rollout an ECE program and keep the excitement and engagement alive.

Employees are on social, and they’re telling your story. But engaged employees tell their stories the right way. When everyone with a Twitter account is a spokesperson, storytelling success starts with internal communication. Build a foundation of trust and alignment and empower employees with a framework for becoming powerful brand ambassadors.

Dynamic Signal’s Senior Director of Communication, Robyn Hannah will be joined by SAS’s Senior Global Social Media Manager, Kirsten Hamstra, in a candid fireside chat where you’ll learn more about how relinquishing control will create champions and breed creativity, the power of aligning employees while providing the right training for social media success, and how internal and external communication teams can work together to build trust and drive business results through informed and empowered employee storytellers.

After a day of inspiring sessions, it's time to put the ideas to work in this 45 minute Interactive Workshop! Attendees will be led in a variety of discussions and working round tables on topics relevant to the modern communicator and marketer.

You'll leave with quick wins that you can implement immediately and tactical tips, tricks, and best practices that will help shape your employee communication and engagement strategy over the long run. 

Session topics include: 

Are you content with your content strategy? Best practices and tips on effective content, tracking performance, and more for Program Managers and day-to-day owners of your ECE platform.

Game on, gamification! Best practices, tips, and tactical advice on gamification, holding contests, and more for Program Managers and day-to-day owners of your ECE platform.

Turning executives into ambassadors - best practices and tactical advice on leveraging executives and internal communication initiatives for Program Managers and day-to-day owners of your ECE platform.

Driving partnership and buy-in as a senior leader - an executive-focused workshop and strategic discussion for senior leaders who are sponsoring an ECE program.

Empowering teams and business units to help scale your program - best practices, tips, and tactical advice for Program Managers and day-to-day owners of your ECE platform.

You've launched your platform, now what? Best practices how to market internally, measure along the way, and other tactical advice for Program Managers and day-to-day owners of your ECE platform to help sustain program success.

Keeping the momentum going as an executive sponsor - discuss how best to set strategic goals, partner with other business units, and check in at key milestones for success.

 Your brand lives and dies by your employees. So, when Booz Allen set out to refresh a 100+ year old brand, that’s exactly where they started. They focused on their shared values, their purpose, and the stories that shaped not only where they had been, but where they are going, and how they are going to empower people to change the world.

Grant will discuss how Booz Allen developed a comprehensive approach-- as a part of an overall employee engagement strategy-- to engage employees with that shared purpose and values and share the collective Booz Allen story online. They’ll walk you through Booz Allen’s journey of connecting a dispersed and risk averse employee-base, and how they are driving employee communication, education, and empowerment.

In this session you will learn:

- How to understand your employees where they are by starting with          formative research to understand employee needs and build a program that meets those needs

- How to build the right mix of tools, training, governance and content to drive program success through alignment with company culture 

- How to connect your employee engagement program with your company’s brand to be a driver of business goals

It’s astounding how much time and money we spend to help ourselves be better partners in personal relationships, be a better parent or friend and be happier in our lives. Since we spend more time at work than with our own friends and family in any given week, we’ll look at how we can use communications to translate personal growth best practices to co-create a resilient culture built on trust, inclusion and inspiration, especially through change.

We live in an era of inherent distrust. That has a profound impact not only on how people feel about institutions like government and the media, but also corporate brands. Trish Wexler, Chief Communications Officer at JPMorgan Chase, explores the critical need for organizations today to focus on building trust with customers and their most important asset – employees

We live in an era of inherent distrust. That has a profound impact not only on how people feel about institutions like government and the media, but also corporate brands. Trish Wexler, Chief Communications Officer at JPMorgan Chase, explores the critical need for organizations today to focus on building trust with customers and their most important asset – employees

Sonia lives to make things happen online – a digital native! With nearly 10 years of hands-on social media experience under her belt, Sonia has been responsible for developing and launching innovative projects like Hotels.com’s #Unrooming and #WeWhoTravel, working with UGC, EGC and macro-influencers to deliver unique, personable content. She has also built Real-Time Marketing, Crisis Management and Customer Service strategies that changed the way Social Media was regarded within the business. Sonia is now part of the Global Social Media team at Sage where she has managed Social Selling, Advocacy and Influencers. She built and rolled out Sage Voices, an extremely successful employee advocacy programme in 24 countries, racking up millions of valuable, peer-to-peer organic impressions and referrals via 13,000 employees worldwide.

Rhoda is a Labor Communications Manager for UPS. She has been the main contact for all things UPS Go for almost a year now. She has brought over 14 years of UPS experience to the table to execute on a successful rollout and adoption strategy, and execute a great communication strategy. Most recently, she used UPS go to share important company news with the employees. The important piece of news generated nearly 600 comments and nearly 30,000 views.