Workshop Agenda

2 – 6 p.m.

Registration

6:30 p.m.

Optional Group Dinner at Second Home
Extraordinary cuisine and impeccable service come together to make Second Home Kitchen and Bar among the finest experiences in the city. Cozy yet spacious, casual yet refined – Second Home Kitchen and Bar features modern American home cooking with spins on timeless classics. The decor and ambiance is reminiscent of a “second home” in the beautiful Rocky Mountains. Watch as their culinary artisans expertly prepare your meals in their exhibition-style kitchen.

7:30 – 9 a.m.

Registration
Bagels, Fruit, & Coffee

9 - 9:15 a.m.

Welcome & Introductions

Kristen Sizelove
Vice President—Member Development
NAMIC
Indianapolis, Ind.

Carol Springer, chairman, workshop planning committee
Director, External Relations
State Farm
Bloomington, Ill.

9:15 – 10:45 a.m.

Promoting Virtues of Doing Business with Mutuals
All companies have a story to tell – what’s your company’s story? Join Jim Kennedy, president & CEO, Ohio Mutual Insurance Company, to learn how you can find your company’s story and what you should be sharing with the public and your policyholders. How many times has a financial statement crossed your desk? Guess what – you can tell a lot from your company’s financial statement. Jim will provide an example from his company of information that can be utilized to promote your organization and what the numbers can tell you from a public relations and media stand point you should be watching out for. He will also provide tips and tools for educating the public on the claims process and how quality of contact can drastically affect the image of your organization. And lastly, Jim will discuss how to utilize the longevity of the mutual insurance industry to your advantage.

Jim Kennedy, CPCU, LUTCF
President & CEO
Ohio Mutual Insurance Company
Bucyrus, Ohio

10:45 – 11 a.m.

Break

11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Tracking Your Advertising Return
While it’s very clear that the world of marketing is going digital and experiential, it won’t happen overnight and most forecasts are for television to be the overwhelmingly dominant media both in terms of consumers’ time and advertisers’ budgets for at least the next five years. Further, another key trend is increasing interactions between new and old media, where TV and other traditional media drives search, site visits, and other new media metrics. Many marketers today still don’t have reliable assessments of traditional media and as a result many are unsure of how to build budgets for both driven by intelligence rather than feel. Chris von der Linden, SVP, business development, Marketing Analytics, will recommend a very specific process for evaluating traditional effectiveness that is rooted in data, analysis and insight.

Chris von der Linden
Senior Vice President, Business Development
Marketing Analytics, Inc.
Evanston, Ill.

12:15 – 1:15 p.m.

Lunch

1:15 - 2:15 p.m.

Social Media: Navigating the New Marketing Landscape
Marketing has changed. Successful brands today must be transparent, authentic, engaging, responsive, and collaborative. Successful brands must also embrace the empowered consumer or risk losing sales and salience. Join John Moore, marketing strategist, Brand Autopsy Marketing Practice, to learn how social media helps small companies look bigger, to use the Internet as an extension of your company’s marketing department, and how to measure the success of virtual marketing plans.

John Moore
Marketing Strategist
WOMMA
Chicago, Ill.

2:15 - 2:30 p.m.

Break

2:30 - 3:30 p.m.

Social Media (continued)

3:30 - 3:45 p.m.

Break

3:45 - 5:15 p.m.

Roundtable Discussions
Join other public relations, communications, and marketing professionals in roundtable discussions focused on industry changes and emerging issues. These interactive groups will allow you to discuss topics that you may be facing every day with peers. E-mail discussion topic ideas to Lauren Spencer at lspencer@namic.org.

6:30 p.m.

Optional Networking Dinner at Earl's (meet in lobby)

Earls Cherry Creek brings a big spark of West Coast styled welcome to one of Denver's hippest shopping destinations. From the warm embrace of the greeting area to the natural energy of the bar, to the inspired confines of the dining area, you'll feed off the vibe as much as the menu.

8 – 8:30 a.m.

Bagels, Fruit & Coffee

8:30 – 9:45 a.m.

Branding Your Company vs. Branding Your Agents: Leveraging the Power of Co-branding
Whether selling through captive or independent agents, you face the complex challenge of protecting and leveraging your company brand in the hearts and minds of your agency partners and your target market. You concurrently play an important role in guiding and supporting your agents in development of their own personal brands – to expand and localize shared market reach, penetration and brand loyalty. This session explores contemporary co-branding strategies, related market research and practical implications for managing highly personal brand relationships involving company, agent and consumer. Come prepared to interact, share examples and formulate a least one new approach to address your challenge of the day.

Kent Jackson, PhD, CPCU
Consultant
Jackson Research-Strategy-Solution LLC
Denver, Colo.

9:45 - 10 a.m.

Break

10 a.m. – 12 p.m.

The Art and Science of Successful Messaging
So much time, cost and effort goes into how to communicate your message, it often seems as if what that message should be is nearly overlooked. But like a foundation holds up a house, no communications campaign can succeed without a strong, well-thought out message to support it. Join Chris Knopf, chairman and executive creative director, Mintz & Hoke Communications Group as he walks you through the step-by step process and shares a few examples of how clear, compelling and results-generating messages were wrung from mountains of data, competing internal constituencies and the minds of contrary target audiences.

Chris Knopf
Chairman & Executive Creative Director
Mintz & Hoke Communications Group
Avon, Conn.

12 – 1 p.m.

Lunch

1 – 3:00 p.m.

Concurrent Sessions

1. Concurrent Session: Lights, Camera, Action! Interviewing Effectively to Tell Your Story
   Whether your role is in communications, media relations, advocacy or public policy, this session will give you the tools and skills you need to interview effectively to tell your story to the media. Led by Allison Dean Love, external relations consultant, IBHS, who has served in a variety of media relations roles in the insurance industry, she will enable you to prepare for a variety of interviews and learn the value of building relationships with the media. You will gain effective strategies for handling difficult questions through bridging techniques. From non-verbal communication to crafting perfect sound bites, getting in your message points and avoiding “tech talk,” Ms. Love’s coaching will help you look and sound like a pro. One-on-one TV practice interviews will be conducted for participants, followed by critiques and coaching.
   
   Allison Dean Love
   External Relations Consultant
   Institute for Business & Home Safety
   Columbia, S.C.
2. Concurrent Session: Dynamic Public Speaking: Tools and Strategies to Engage Your Audience and Ease Your Nerves
   You’ve just been asked to speak on behalf of your organization. You know you can do it, but your mind is racing… “How can I pull my thoughts together so my speech hits the target? How can I create a presentation that flows, is memorable, and influences my audience?” In this interactive session, Kathleen Randall, CEO, Randall Resources, will teach you how to capture your audience’s attention and keep them engaged… all while keeping your nerves under control. She will provide you with tools to get your thoughts flowing and information organized strategies to calm your nerves and deal with audience interruptions, and skills to deliver your information with influence, credibility, and power.
   
   Kathleen Randall
   Founder & CEO
   Randall Resources
   Cameron, Miss.

3 p.m.

Workshop Concludes