Start your day with a delicious continental breakfast, while mingling with fellow attendees and picking up your event materials. Don't forget to stop by and visit our sponsors for valuable resources and information. Enjoy complimentary coffee, tea, and breakfast items as you get energized and prepared for the day ahead.

Welcome to ALI’s 2nd Annual Employee Engagement & Internal Communication Strategies For Frontline, Deskless & Offline Employees Conference.

In this fast-paced one-track conference, you'll get to know your fellow peers, their biggest communication challenges, and a few innovative tips!

Join Robin McCasland, SCMP, IABC Fellow, and Senior Director of Corporate Communications

at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma & Texas, as she shares the importance of storytelling in employee engagement and communication.

In this session, you will learn

• How to use genuine storytelling to reinforce organizational priorities;
• Which channels work best with different audiences/personas; and
• When it makes sense to go old-school (even in the digital age).

Additionally, you'll discover how the power of storytelling can be leveraged to effectively connect with deskless workers and bring their experiences to life."

First impressions are powerful currency, especially for leaders joining organizations that have well-established internal cultures. Learn to help new leaders connect with their organization and convey their purpose through consultative visibility plans that promote listening and learning tours, quick wins to demonstrate commitment and preparation for positive change.

During this session, you’ll hear how to connect your leaders to your frontline employees by:

• Starting with listening and learning (Listening tours)
• Quick wins
• Fitting in (resisting the urge to create dedicated new communications channels)
• Preparing for changes (from a new leader)
• Celebrating milestones

You’ll learn how a solid strategy, storytelling and focused attention via technology can be the secret weapon to create better communication among all workers, including those on the frontline and on deskless teams.

You’ll discover how to:

• Drive communications for frontline, in-office and remote employees
• Identify gaps in the employee experience and learn improvement tips
• Understand your organization’s current state of communications and how to improve based on the assessment
• Empower leaders to make an employee’s job less tedious, more efficient, and simpler

Take a break and network with your peers over complimentary coffee, tea, and refreshments.

Make sure to visit our sponsors to explore the latest tools and innovations that can assist in internal communications.

As a corporate communicator, your role is to have employees read the messages you send, a task harder than ever in the modern hybrid workplace. To achieve this, you need to use the most effective communication strategies that identify weak areas and suggest areas of improvement. Fortunately, benchmarking can help you identify those. Accurately sourced benchmarks ground all aspects of communication, including creation, delivery, and outcomes. But how do you identify which key areas to measure? What kind of benchmarks should you set and how will you monitor progress. In this session, we discuss how you can improve your communication using data. Learn how to use the ADDIE model to improve your metrics and come up with a plan to improve your communications no matter where your employees are reading them.

• What are considered “good” internal communication metrics
• How to identify and measure your organization’s unique KPIs
• How to improve metrics using the ADDIE model
• What a revised communication might look like (case study example)
• How to implement and evaluate the data you collect

When employees feel connected and engaged, they are more likely to take ownership of their tasks, demonstrate initiative, and contribute innovative ideas. Remote and deskless workers who are engaged are also more likely to stay with the organization for the long term, reducing turnover and the associated costs of recruiting and training new employees. 

We all agree that building positive employee engagement is essential for any company’s culture. But how do you find success when your employees are remote, deskless or frontline workers and you have a small team, little support, and no budget? 

Attendees will learn: 

• Brandi Chionsini's employee engagement journey
• Tips to start taking small steps to improve your employee engagement, building something from what feels like nothing.

In today's remote and hybrid work environment, many organizations are struggling to maintain a sense of trust and shared fate among their teams. In this session, Brittney Hall, Operations Manager for Talent Strategies and Internal People Movement at Cisco, will explore the power of interpersonal communication and human connection in rebuilding trust and team engagement within large organizations. She will discuss the concept of "propinquity" and how it was a critical component of collaboration in the pre-WFH era, and share strategies for recreating moments of propinquity in virtual environments. Participants will learn how to leverage the power of human interaction and communication to foster trust, build stronger relationships, and drive better outcomes for their teams and organizations. By the end of this session, attendees will have practical tools and techniques for creating a more collaborative, connected, and engaged remote and hybrid workforce.

Reservations have been made at a number of local restaurants. Don't miss this opportunity to have lunch with your peers at a local Austin hot spot!

**Everyone is financially responsible for their own lunch.

Join a conference breakout session on employee engagement and internal communications for frontline and deskless teams, where you'll have the opportunity to collaborate and share insights with peers. Through small group discussions focused on trending topics of interest, you'll gain fresh perspectives, uncover innovative solutions, and leave with a wealth of practical ideas to enhance engagement and communication within your unique workforce.

As former Head of Social Media at Alcon, Cody Loveland understands the importance of connecting with people on a human level. In this workshop, he will share insights and strategies for elevating your communications by creating "people-centered" content that engages, inspires, and connects with your employees and customers.

The pandemic and social issues have forced companies to re-evaluate their approach to communication and messaging. Employees want to feel heard, valued, and inspired in their work. This workshop will provide actionable steps for transforming your communication strategy and creating a more inclusive culture that engages associates across a range of working environments.

Join Cody as he showcases examples of how to create "people-centered" content for both internal and external communications. You'll learn how to shift your mindset from owning a channel and content to becoming a channel that shares meaningful stories. By elevating diverse voices, you can create more inclusive cultures and engaged associates.

Case studies will include examples from LinkedIn, Yammer, video, and corporate websites. Whether you're in a digital community or face-to-face environment, this workshop will provide practical insights and actionable takeaways for re-engaging your workforce and creating human stories that connect with your audience.

Join us for a fast-paced session where you can see demonstrations of the top digital workplace and communication tools available in the market today. With so many options to choose from, it can be challenging to decide which tool is the best fit for your organization. Take advantage of this opportunity to explore and compare the tools that interest you the most. We'll also provide sweet treats to enjoy as you move between demonstrations.

As an organization, how do you onboard and engage with a new office employee? Is that different than how you onboard an engage with a deskless employee? If those two experiences are different, you’re not alone, and the reason is likely due to a technical gap between job types.

When that gap drives a divide in your workforce, creating an unintended hierarchy or silo that’s nonconductive to a productive team – it’s time for a new approach.

In this session, hear from the largest manufacturer of products used in stores and warehouses around the world – Lozier Corporation’s Hannah Bolte -  about how a mobile-first communications strategy fosters an inclusive employee experience, connecting its more than 2,000 manufacturing and office employees across five states; and gain valuable insight into how to apply similar strategies to your deskless workforce.

In this "no-pressure" setting, you'll be able to ask your most pressing questions and receive honest feedback from your peers.

As remote work and distributed teams become more prevalent, connecting employees across locations and time zones is increasingly important. In this panel discussion, experts will share strategies for fostering a sense of community and collaboration among geographically dispersed employees. From leveraging technology to creating inclusive communication channels, attendees will learn practical tips for overcoming the challenges of distance and building a strong organizational culture. Panelists will draw from their own experiences and case studies to provide actionable insights for attendees to implement in their own organizations. Whether you're managing a hybrid team or fully remote workforce, this panel will provide valuable insights for creating a cohesive and engaged team despite physical distance.

Join us for an evening of continued networking and conversation at the lobby bar for the #ALIcomms reception. Mingle with your peers and sponsors while enjoying drinks, and participate in raffles for a chance to win exciting prizes. Plus, sign up for a group dinner to continue building relationships with your colleagues. Don't miss out on this opportunity to connect and unwind after a successful day of learning and collaboration..

Keep the conversations and networking alive! Join a group of attendees for dinner at a popular Austin restaurant. Reservations have been made, so sign up with an ALI team member to secure your spot for tonight's dine-around. Please note that everyone is responsible for their own expenses