8:30 - 9:00 a.m.

Opening Keynote

David Armano EVP, Global Innovation & Integration Edelman

10:15 – 11:00 a.m.

Quick Studies: Three Ways to Make Your Brand a Must-Follow on Twitter

The launch of Twitter brand pages has given PR professionals a new opportunity to attract followers with fresh content, engage fans with promoted tweets and expand your brand presence. In addition, nearly 70% of media professionals use Twitter as a reporting/sourcing tool, making Twitter one of the best free media relations tools in existence. And when it comes to crisis communications, Twitter is often the first channel used by customers and brands. This session provides in-depth, tactics-packed case studies that showcase Twitter’s capacity for brand engagement, media relations and crisis communications. Learn from our panel of top tweeters how to create a comprehensive Twitter strategy from finding and following qualified users, to posting useful content that raise your brand profile.

You’ll learn how to:

• Develop a winning content strategy to engage your followers
• Separate the key voices that matter from the digital noise across Twitter and other social networks
• Determine which influencers have topical relevance for your market
• Craft tweets that will be retweeted and shared
• Host Twitter chats to gain followers
• Forge new relationships with the media on Twitter and strengthen your existing ones
• Monitor conversations for potential crises or customer-service issues
• Use Twitter to communicate key messages during a crisis
• Measure your Twitter activity and drive bottom-line results

	Laura Chin Social Media Manager Etsy @lorwich
	John Pepper CEO Boloco @bolocoCEO
	Tammy Tibbetts Founder and President She’s the First @tammytibbetts

11:00 – 11:30 a.m.

What You Need to Know Now About Pinterest

Pinterest is the hottest social media platform right now, driving more referral traffic on the Web than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn combined. With 10 million active monthly users on Pinterest, brands have an opportunity to engage their target audience through this visual platform. In this session, early adopters share their insight into how to use the platform to "pin" content on your own boards, build and engage a following and drive traffic back to your Web sites. You'll walk away with the know-how to integrate this platform into your digital repertoire and stay one step ahead of the competition.

In this session, you’ll learn:

• What opportunities exist for both large and small brands
• How to set up a Pinterest account and create boards
• How to identify and engage influencers on Pinterest
• How to determine the optimal content strategy and frequency of posts
• How to leverage your existing social platforms to build followers on Pinterest
• How to create contests to engage followers
• How to produce stories using Pinterest board layouts
• How much staff and resources need to be dedicated to Pinterest
• The legalities of using the platform for giveaways and sweepstakes

Michael Bepko Global Online Community Manager Whole Foods Market

11:30 – 12:15 p.m.

How to Measure Your Social Media Activity and Communicate Your PR Successes

With more time, staff and resources being spent on social media, to justify the use of these resources you need to prove their role in contributing to the bottom line and business outcomes. This session will show you how to define digital and social outcomes, apply Web and search analytics, analyze conversations and communities and shift your focus to audience engagement and actions. As existing platforms develop and new ones launch, the metrics you need to prove the value of your communications efforts evolve as well. And the ability to identify the key influencers—including clients, customers and the media—and how to measure their impact on your brand becomes more vital as the gauge of social media success moves away from the number of “likes” and followers and toward engagement. This how-to on social media measurement will enable you to back up your social media successes with the relevant metrics your senior management expects.
 
You'll learn how to:

• Establish benchmarks for social media measurement
• Analyze the content of online messages
• Measure the influence of Facebook engagement, retweets and +1 shares on your brand
• Use Web and search analytics to measure relevance and engagement
• Conduct analyses of online messages, conversations and communities
• Link media coverage to business objectives
• Use Facebook Insights, Google Analytics and other free tools to measure your social media activity
• Use tools to find, measure, score and map influencers
• Drive online traffic, links and revenue

	Johna Burke Senior Vice President BurrellesLuce @gojohnab
	Allyson Hugley EVP, Measurement, Analytics and Insights Weber Shandwick @ACME711
	Paull Young Director of Digital Engagement Charity Water @paullyoung

 1:30 – 2:15 p.m. Interactive Crisis Clinic: Proven Digital Tactics to Deploy During a Crisis

Online conversations about your brand never cease. As a seasoned PR pro, you know a crisis can strike at any time and spread virally, causing untold damage to your organization's reputation and putting its very survival at risk. In this interactive session, attendees will work in teams to develop a digital response to a mock crisis. You'll work together to develop core messages, engage the media and leverage social media, blogs and other online platforms to communicate with key stakeholders during and after a crisis. At the end of the session, group leaders will share best practices, enabling you to walk away with the tools you need to lead your team in a crisis.

In this session, you'll learn how to:

• Craft core messages to post on Twitter, Facebook and your Web site
• Know when to respond and when to back off when a crisis hits
• Determine how to respond to negative publicity online
• Leverage social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and blogs to manage —and save—your organization's reputation
• Determine which media and key influencers to reach out to during a crisis
• Respond quickly and transparently to internal and external stakeholders
• Monitor social media channels for viral messages that may harm your organization's reputation, and respond accordingly
• Reestablish your organization's reputation after a crisis

Dallas Lawrence Chief Global Digital Strategist Burson-Martsteller @dallaslawrence

2:15 – 2:45 p.m.

Keynote Panel: The Next Wave in Digital Tactics and Tools for Your PR Arsenal

In this panel discussion, digital PR experts will scout the horizon and give you the lowdown on what will be the next hot platforms and strategies in digital communications. This forward looking session will help you face the challenge of the ways in which your target audience will communicate with each other in coming years. You'll learn how to integrate new platforms like Pinterest and Tumblr into your PR arsenal and learn how voice-enabled smartphones, cloud computing, infographics creation and the next round of features from the leading social media networks will ensure you are ahead of the digital curve.

Paula Berg Digital Media Leader Linhart PR

3:00 – 3:30 p.m.

Leverage LinkedIn – Or Get Left Behind

LinkedIn provides a valuable—yet often untapped—resource for communicators to establish thought leadership, connect with journalists or recruit new talent. In this interactive session, you'll get a behind-the-scenes tour of the platform, its features and powerful benefits from a communicator’s perspective. Learn how to research and connect with journalists, build a powerful brand page, find new sales leads and more.
 
You’ll learn how to:

• Build a powerful company profile for your brand.
• Integrate Twitter, blogs and other content to drive traffic to your Web site
• Identify and connect with key stakeholders including customers, volunteers, clients and journalists
• Develop relationships with the media and pitch story ideas
• Create a LinkedIn Group to connect with and engage key stakeholders
• Use LinkedIn “Answers” to establish thought leadership
• Research and connect with journalists
• Post job openings and recruit new talent

	Lori Russo Managing Director Stanton Communications @lorirusso
	Krista Canfield Senior Manager, Corporate Communications LinkedIn

3:30 – 4:15 p.m.

Demystifying SEO: Optimize Your Messaging for Higher Returns

If there's one unifying thread of digital communications, it's search. Understanding search trends that impact SEO—and Google’s changing algorithm—will help you become a master at optimizing your content. Knowing how to use keywords in press releases, optimize videos and create shareable content is an essential tactic to getting your messages heard by your target audience. In this session, you’ll learn strategies for selecting the best keywords for press releases; how to optimize video, photos, images and social media content for search; tactics to manage brand reputation by moving negative coverage further down search results; and how to measure the results of your efforts to take back to senior management.
 
In this session, you’ll learn how to:

• Understand which PR tactics affect SEO performance
• Optimize your press releases and online media centers for social media and search
• Optimize your video and images for search
• Use linking techniques to boost traffic and visibility on search engines
• Leverage social media participation for added search engine visibility
• Track optimization's effects and measure success

Plus, you’ll receive a step-by-step template for writing a social media news release and a glossary of SEO terms!

	Laura Kempke Senior Vice President Schwartz MSL Boston @laurakempke
	Sally Falkow Social Media Strategist Meritus Media

4:15 – 4:45 p.m.

Baker’s Dozen of Takeaways: 13 Smart Digital Tactics in 30 Minutes

We’ll close out the day a rapid-fire succession of over a dozen new, unique tactics that you can begin implementing immediately upon your return to the office. We’ve assembled a panel of experts to deliver exceptional ideas across the spectrum of digital platforms that are guaranteed to inspire your own brainstorms.

Jonathan Kopp Global Director Ketchum Digital

4:45 - 5:15 p.m.

Networking Reception

Join us for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres to cap off a great day of learning and networking. Pick up your certificate, exchange the last round of business cards and mark your day at The Sentry as a digital PR leader!