Monday, November 19, 2018

8:00 – 8:30 a.m.
REGISTRATION AND CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

8:30 – 8:45 a.m.
WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS FROM THE CHAIR
Doug Lacombe, President
Communicatto Inc.

8:45 – 9:45 a.m.
Digital Marketing Legal Issues For Associations
Steve Szentesi Toronto-based competition and advertising lawyer & Richard Elliott Toronto-based competition and regulatory lawyer

Digital Marketing: Legal Issues & Best Practices

In this session we will discuss key digital marketing legal trends and issues that associations and their members should be aware of and best practices for compliance.

We’ll include key current digital marketing law issues, enforcement priorities of Canadian enforcement bodies and tips to minimize legal risks.

More specific topics will include general misleading advertising, price claims, online disclaimers, endorsements/testimonials and online and social media contests. We’ll also include essential CASL (Canadian anti-spam law) tips for common types of digital marketing campaigns.

This session will be practical and interactive and focused on current digital marketing legal trends relating to mobile, Internet and social media marketing.

9:45 – 10:00 a.m.
NETWORKING REFRESHMENT BREAK

10:00 – 11:00 a.m.
The impact of measurement on reputation and engagement
Deb Tomlinson
Association of Alberta Sexual Assault Services (AASAS)
Joni Avram
Cause & Effect Marketing

Since 2015, AASAS has led the #IBelieveYou campaign, a campaign to help the public understand how to respond to someone who has been sexually assaulted.  Using measurement to establish a baseline and track our progress helped to drive the success of the campaign, allowed AASAS to amplify their campaign budget by engaging media partners, and helped them attract significant new funding from the provincial government in 2018.

In this session participants will learn how to use measurement tools and data to help understand audiences and build credibility with stakeholders. An overview of qualitative and quantitative research methods will help plan more effective strategies that are embraced and championed by internal and external audience.  Hear a case study of Alberta’s #IBelieveYou campaign to showcase how research can inform a strategy, build credibility with internal and external audiences, and lead to exponential growth of an association.

11:00a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Adventures in Podcasting
Michael Grant & Cathy Bouwers
Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science

Are you looking to enhance engagement and build a greater sense of community? If so, you might consider adding podcasting to your member engagement toolbox. Learn from one association’s adventure into the world of podcasting. This presentation will give you a frank and honest look at what it took to bring a podcast series to life, the unexpected challenges encountered, and lessons learned along the way. Podcasting might be the secret to a more personal and intimate relationship with your members, or a giant sucking hole of time and energy that will make your communications team stress-eat far too much cake. Come find out which one.

12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
NETWORKING LUNCHEON

1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Listening Leads to Stronger Communications that Build Better Relationships
Kyla Best, Account Director, Consumer Practice
Ashley O’Connor, Director, Digital Communications
Argyle Public Relationships

Learn how ongoing listening to Ontario’s pet owners informed the evolution of the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association’s (OVMA) communication strategy. Over the course of three years, earned and social media efforts improved not only relationship between the association and its pet owner audience, but also strengthened the relationships between pet and owner.

2:00 – 2:15 p.m.
REFRESHMENT BREAK

2:15 – 4:15 p.m.

Using Story to Share Your Purpose
Michelle Gurney, ABC, BPA
Principal of Shift Consulting Inc.

There is no greater communication method than storytelling. In this session, Michelle will share traditional and current frameworks for organizational storytelling. Most importantly, she will pose questions that help you see your organization’s key audiences in a whole new way. In this hands-on and interactive session, you’ll practice new storytelling techniques and learn how to transform your own powerful story in a way that intrigues even the most unique audiences.

There are three real learning objectives for the session:

• Recognize the power of story
• Understand frameworks for stories
• Transforming stories for unique audiences

4:15 pm          CONFERENCE CONCLUDES FOR THE DAY

Click here to Register Now

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

8:00 – 8:50 a.m.
REGISTRATION AND CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

8:50 – 9:00 a.m.
OPENING REMARKS FROM CHAIR
Brian Lambie, Redbrick Communications &
Media Contact, Associations of Municipalities of Ontario

9:00 – 10:00 a.m.
Convincing with Content – Winning Hearts and Minds by Publishing with Purpose
Doug Lacombe, President
Communicatto Inc.

Associations sell ideas, not products – the idea is to persuade not drive to purchase. Which makes standing out from all the online noise all the more difficult. The key is to publish with a purpose. Creating content that wins hearts and minds is a discipline that can be learned, but it requires distribution, tracking, and scientific experimentation. Learn the tools and techniques of successful content marketing from Doug Lacombe, principal of Communicatto, the agency for associations. Lacombe will blend art and science, theory and case studies to make the point that good content doesn’t just happen. And without a thorough distribution strategy, that content will never reach its intended audience.

10:00 – 10:15 a.m.

NETWORKING REFRESHMENT BREAK

10:15 – 11:15 a.m.

Winning Year-End Fundraising Through Digital Transformation & Integration
Ryan Baillargeon, CEO, Grassriots
Jennifer Nebesky, CMO, Cystic Fibrosis Canada

Facing a changing donor landscape, CF Canada needed to seriously address its revenue challenges in 2017. Previously relying on silo’d traditional marketing methods such as telemarketing, direct mail and peer-to-peer events for the bulk of their revenue, they came to Grassriots with a need to create new revenue streams and improve existing one. The solution was to implement CF Canada’s first-ever multi-channel, fully-integrated campaign featuring real families affected by CF during the peak giving season of the year: Giving Tuesday to December 31st. The results broke organizational records for CF Canada, who continue to reap the rewards well into 2018.

Join Ryan and Jennifer as they share their hugely successful fundraising campaign, 31 Reasons to Give. The session will cover:

• How Grassriots found the answers to CF Canada’s revenue and donor engagement challenges
• Why a fully-integrated approach made sense, and what it looked like
• How the campaign was executed with an extended funnel and optimized in real-time
• The ways CF Canada is building on its success to improve year-round giving and engagement

11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Why Media Monitoring Matters
Cam Steed, CEO & Founder, Smashed Abacus

When it comes to media monitoring, “Success” is a somewhat ambiguous concept. In a similar way that there’s no standard definition for what constitutes a successful career, the lack of industry standardization makes assessing success within earned media mentions is entirely dependent on your own strategic objectives and measurement techniques.

In this session, we’ll explore media monitoring best practices and the (not so well known) brands that have championed them. We’ll also explore how earned media can be effectively measured and some of the most popular KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that should be tracked by practically every business.

This session will help you understand:

1)     How to identify and determine specific media monitoring objectives that are right for your business

2)     How those objectives influence what you measure

3)     What are the monitoring “KPIs” that most brands should be aware

12:15 – 1:15 p.m.
NETWORKING LUNCHEON

1:15 – 2:15 p.m.
Branding from the Inside Out
Priya Bates, ABC, MC, CMP, IABC Fellow, Inner Strength Communication

In an environment with increasing competition and decreasing in memberships, many associations are rebranding in an effort to both retain and recruit members.

Priya Bates recently led the rebranding of the International Association of Business Communicators with tremendous success.  In this session, she’ll share her methodology to branding done right. You will learn:

• To brand or not to brand – Is rebranding necessary for your association?
• The methodology used to create a brand that sticks
• How stakeholder engagement and change readiness gained buy-in from nay-sayers and inspired brand users

The benefit of thinking beyond the logo, and develop a brand that represents who you are and how you deliver.

 2:15 – 3:15 p.m.
INTERACTIVE DISCUSSION GROUPS
delegates will break into small groups and share their own experiences in what works and what doesn’t work in communications. Delegates will walk away with numerous case studies and a best practice list.                                  

3:15 – 3:30 p.m.
NETWORKING REFRESHMENT BREAK

3:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Digital Advocacy – The New Lobbying
Richard Clark, Digital Director,
Hope Strategies 

Advocacy is changing. The era of lobbyists influencing government in smoke-filled backrooms is over. To have influence today, you must build a community you can mobilize in support of your advocacy agenda. This session will teach participants how to transition from old fashioned lobbying to digital advocacy.

4:30 p.m.
CHAIR’S CLOSING REMARKS AND CONFERENCE CONCLUDES

Click here to Register Now

Wednesday, November 21, 2018

OPTIONAL POST-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS:

8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Workshop A: Demystifying Digital – build your own strategy with the five Ss

Every digital marketing strategy aims to do one of five things:

1. Sell
2. Speak
3. Serve
4. Save
5. Sizzle

The key is knowing how to blend these objectives and aim them precisely at hyper-targeted audiences. In this step-by-step workshop Doug Lacombe, founder of Communicatto (a digital agency for associations) will walk you through the building blocks of an online marketing plan, addressing the unique challenges of association communicators.

Hands-on exercises will cover audience targeting and persona building, media mix and tactics such as content marketing, SEO and digital advertising. You’ll leave this session with a concrete plan to transform your digital ideas into action as soon as you’re back at your desk.

​Sell your boss on your digital plan by adopting the very latest best practices in online communications. Speak your piece online and serve your audience by adding valuable information and insights. Save yourself from exhausting and ineffective “spray and pray” publishing techniques. Finally, add a little sizzle to your online communications and reap the brand-boosting benefits that follow.

Doug Lacombe, President & Founder, Communicatto Inc.

Drawing on over 27 years of experience in media, web publishing and technology; Doug and his team work with businesses and associations to integrate traditional and digital communications, with a focus on content marketing and social media.

12:30 – 4:00 p.m.

WORKSHOP B:  Measuring media relations efforts

From executing to reporting on media relations efforts. Media Rating Points (MRP), the Standard in Earned Media analysis in Canada. Created by the Canadian Public Relations Society and managed by Fifth Story. In this session you will learn about content analysis and how to measure the out comes of a campaign, or ongoing media relations efforts. You will learn the standards in earned media measurement, best practices and how to benchmark against them.

Jennifer (Jenny) Cruxton, Fifth Story

Jenny joined Fifth Story, in 2010, She has over 20 years experience in the media analysis, social and monitoring spaces. Jenny is a graduate of Durham College, Journalism; F.I.S University of Toronto, Information Professional as an Educator; and earned a certificate in Competitive Intelligence, Market Analysis & Benchmarking, Schulich School of Business.

Click here to Register Now

Registration Type	Early Bird Rate	Regular Rate>
BEST VALUE! Conference + Two Workshops (Nov. 19, 20 & 21, 2018)	$1,399.00	$1,649.00
Conference + 1 Workshop (Nov. 19, 20 & half day on the 21, 2018)	$1,299.00	$1,399.00
Conference – One Day Only (Monday or Tuesday) + 2 Workshops (Nov.21)	$1,197.00	$1,397.00
Conference – One Day Only (Monday or Tuesday) + 1 Workshop (Nov. 21)	$848.00	$998.00
Conference – Both Days (Nov. 19 & 20)	$999.00	$1,099.00
Conference – One Day Only (Monday or Tuesday)	$499.00	$599.00
One Workshop only (Nov. 21, 2018)	$349.00	$399.00

REGISTER NOW