About this Forum

2020 was the year of change.  From the global COVID-19 pandemic to increased racial tension in America to a volatile November U.S. Presidential election, change has never been more of a constant in our world and in business.  We’ve learned that major change can come out of left field and must be managed immediately, effectively, and thoroughly. 

Fully 70 percent of change initiatives in business fail.  As a professional communicator, you play a critical role in helping to ensure your organization bucks this trend and succeeds.  By understanding how to be proactive and prepared, to being armed with proven solutions that work, you can successfully manage change and make change stick.  As we learned in 2020, you must be prepared for anything.  Are you ready?

This event will take place over the course of two days.

On Day One, we will have a seminar focusing on "First Mindsets. Then Messages." The leaders of organizational change, Root Inc. will share a unique approach that gets your people to pick up what you’re putting down by building the right mindset first. Join your peers for a virtual workshop that also showcases unique, visual methods and creates interactivity and dialogue for a fun and engaging experience that will change how your organizational communication strategy.

Day Two will be comprised of a series of short virtual conversations and keynotes with companies including: HP, PayPal, G6 Hospitality, Google and more.

Who Should Attend

• Change Communications Professionals
• Corporate Communications Professionals
• Internal Communications Professionals
• Marketing and Brand Professionals
• Managers and Change Project Leaders
• Change Agents and HR
• Social Media Professionals

Get Involved

For marketing partnerships: melissa.mianulli@conferenceboard.org
For sponsorship oppportunities: michael.felden@conferenceboard.org
For group registrations: ulei.kou@conferenceboard.org 

Day One - March 15, 2021 - "First Mindsets, Then Messages" Workshop

12:00 - 12:15pm

Opening Remarks

Gary Magenta, Chief Change Architect, Root Inc.

12:15 - 1:15pm 

Challenges Facing Communications and Change Leaders Today

1:15 - 1:45pm

Case Study - Overcoming Barriers

Dawn Ray, SVP of Corporate Communications, Focus Brands

1:45 - 2:00pm

Break

2:00 - 2:15pm

Shifting the Mindsets of Your People to Get Better Results

2:15 - 3:00pm

From --> To Shifts

3:00 - 3:20pm

Managers Leading and Sustaining Change Efforts

3:20 - 3:40pm

Creating Your New Strategy

3:40 - 3:55pm

Audience Q&A

3:55 - 4:00pm

Key Takeaways and Closing Remarks

Gary Magenta, Chief Change Architect, Root Inc.

Day Two - March 16, 2021 - Forum

11:00-11:05 am

Welcome

Jill Christensen, Program Director, The Conference Board

11:05-11:35 am

Change Communications that Get Results

Creating the strategy or initiative is almost the easiest part. The hard part happens when the change needs to be cascaded to the business. It’s become even more difficult with your people navigating a myriad of distractions and working situations. The good news? There are tried and true methods that can be applied in any working environment that:

• Help leaders get clear and aligned on the change messages to the organization.
• Builds understanding of why we’re changing, what is changing and how individuals need to change.
• Keeps your people engaged while sustaining the change over time.

Join Gary Magenta, Chief Change Architect at Root Inc., the leader in organizational change for an engaging, fun and insightful experience. He’ll give you insights into where the gaps in your organization are that can prevent successful change communication and provide a process you can leverage to make sure change messaging inspires action and stick with your people so change becomes a reality.

Gary Magenta, Chief Change Architect, Root Inc.

PLANNING IS EVERYTHING

11:35 am-12:00 pm

The X Factor

HP - Forbes’ No. 31 in the World’s Most Valuable Brands category - manages all change initiatives using a tried-and-tested formula focused on the employee experience. Join HP, as they share best practices in designing experience-centric change strategies, along with some of the change efforts they’ve used for HP’s Separation, the acquisition of Samsung Printing, and their transformation journey.

Amanda (Mandie) Hume, Head of HP Change Experience, HP

12:00-12:25 pm

How to Communicate Big IT Changes Effectively

Technology is at the core of a productive workplace. When there’s a change in platform or policy, employees can become fearful and lose trust in their IT org. To help lead people forward, it’s crucial to engage leadership, align your story to company values and goals, target your audience, and rethink training. Learn how to make enterprise-wide changes feel seamless.

Jason Hays, Senior Manager of IT Communications, PayPal

12:25-12:40 pm

Break

12:40-12:45 pm

CliffsNotes and Interactive Polling

Jill Christensen, Program Director, The Conference Board

FLAWLESS EXECUTION

12:45-1:15 pm

Change Strategies to Deliver Employee Recognition ROI

Hear how Gables Residential leveraged tried-and-true change management strategies to implement a recognition program to increase employee engagement and productivity. Their journey has delivered a positive ROI for three consecutive years and the benefits continue, as the program has become even more impactful in the age of COVID, connecting distanced employees.

Philip Altschuler, Sr. VP of Human Resources, Gables

1:15-1:45 pm

Communicating Effectively to Ensure Organizational Resilience During Hospitality’s Toughest Year

Although change was rampant in many industries in 2020, one of the hardest hit was Hospitality, which faced historic hardship.  In this session, you’ll hear how G6 worked tirelessly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to communicate the changing travel regulations, health, and safety protocols to all stakeholder groups. 

Sherry Vidal-Brown, Chief HR and Communications Officer, G6 Hospitality

1:45-2:15 pm

Panel Discussion: Ask the Experts

Panelists:

Philip Altschuler, Sr. VP of Human Resources, Gables

Sherry Vidal-Brown, Chief HR and Communications Officer, G6 Hospitality

Moderator:

Jill Christensen, Program Director, The Conference Board

2:15-2:30 pm

Break

2:30-2:35 pm

CliffsNotes and Interactive Polling

Jill Christensen, Program Director, The Conference Board

KEEPING THE DREAM ALIVE

2:35-3:05 pm

Unleashing the Power of Change Agents

Most Change Management efforts are directed at the top. While this is a great start, there is a missing component if you want to elevate the change. In this session, we’ll discuss the game-changing practice of working with Change Agent Teams at all levels and how this often overlooked approach can yield powerful results.

Cara (Heiber) Sroka, HR Integration Change Manager, International Flavors & Fragrances

3:05-3:35 pm

How Google Cloud is Transforming Its Business & Culture

Google is renowned for its employee-centric engineering culture and has a rich history of creating innovative products and services.  Google Cloud is expanding Google’s services beyond consumers to enterprise businesses.  A key part of Google Cloud’s growth strategy includes evolving the culture to attract new customers, distinguish itself from the competition, and be known as a great place to work.  In this session, you’ll hear how its changing to achieve these outcomes.

Stuart Kaplan, Culture Transformation Officer, Google Cloud at Google

3:35-3:55 pm

Fireside Chat: Keeping the Dream Alive

Panelists:

Amanda (Mandie) Hume, Head of HP Change Experience, HP

Stuart Kaplan, Culture Transformation Officer, Google Cloud at Google

3:55-4:00 pm

CliffsNotes, Interactive Polling, Closing Remarks

Jill Christensen, Program Director, The Conference Board