Sean Greenwood, Head of PR, Ben & Jerry's 

Come hear Sean's interactive session on using Ben & Jerry’s as a case study sharing examples from every area of the company from internal communications, to public relations campaigns including work on equity and equality to social media and other consumer interaction. 

This session will also include a shout out to technology used in the public relations effort. The presentation looks at Ben & Jerry’s balanced commitment to a three-part Mission Statement including Product, Quality and Social components.  Company history and activation that underscore the principles that “Business has a responsibility to give back to the community,” and “If it’s not fun, why do it?” are used to illustrate how Ben & Jerry’s conducts itself with humor, values and a deeper calling than simply making a profit.

Keith Trivitt, VP, Head of Business Unit Communications, AXIS Capital (moderator)

Ethan McCarty, CEO, Integral Communications

Estee Goldschmidt, CEO & Cofounder, ShopDrop; Venture Ops Manager, Spotlyte 

Once upon a time, PR and communications was a field for those who excelled in the creative, “soft” skills - or, in other words, people who “didn’t like math.” Today, for better or worse, this reasoning is unacceptable. Data and analytics rule, even when our weapons of choice are words and imagery, and storytelling is our main method of conveying emotion and prompting action. In this session, Estee Goldschmidt (ShopDrop) and Ethan McCarty (Integral Communications Group) will be joined by Keith Trivitt (AXIS Capital) to discuss the future of communications with respect to advanced technology.

When social media came to be, PR pros took advantage of the emerging opportunities. If we're smart, we will do the same with emerging technologies like AI and advanced data analytics, when our marketing counterparts are far outpacing us in this area. In this panel discussion, Estee and Ethan will share their "secrets" for working with data and provide practical and realistic tips to begin working WITH these technologies, rather than letting them beat us at our own game.

Rob Longert, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Day One Agency (Moderator)

Chad Parizman, Head of Social Media and Digital Communications, Pfizer

Todd Ringler, US Managing Director of Media, Edelman  

Emily McDonough, Communications Director, VaynerMedia

We’re witnessing the evolution of a news cycle that moves at lightning speed, and with that, PR pros must find ways to both give longevity to and hyper target the stories they are telling on behalf of their clients. For example, the team at Day One Agency believes that happens by combining staff training, assembling a diverse team with complementary skill sets and understanding the role of technology and importance of multimedia content to tell great stories. In this session, our panelists will share their experiences and approaches to the always-on news cycle and how to build and develop a team with a mission of stopping consumers in their scroll with stories that connect.

Tiffany Guarnaccia, CEO and Founder of Kite Hill PR and Founder of Communications Week

Lisa Moehlenkamp, Chief Talent Officer, FleishmanHillard

Tiffany Guarnaccia, CEO and founder of Kite Hill PR and founder of Communications Week, will sit down with Lisa Moehlenkamp, Chief Talent Officer at FleishmanHillard to discuss how today's agencies are creating a better employee experience for agency teams today and in the future. This fireside chat will cover the specific ways employers can work to connect with and empower their workforce. As technology advancements continue to impact how we work, they are also rapidly changing how employers connect with their teams. Despite the size of the company or team, companies can follow similar strategies to help employees recognize their strengths and improve their skill sets while supporting the organization's business goals overall.

Greg Galant, CEO and co-founder, Muck Rack & the Shorty Awards (moderator)

Andrew Williams, Managing Director of Corporate Communications, Goldman Sachs 

Becky Auslander, Head of Consumer Communications, Etsy

Katie Coleman, PR Consultant

Publicists will do ANYTHING to place a story in a top outlet--including things like spending thousands of dollars on a wire release. Our panelists will discuss what IS working: things like well-crafted, targeted pitches and good old fashioned relationship building. They’ll also look at the do’s and don’ts of social media in the outreach mix. With changing business models and endless mergers and layoffs, it’s getting harder and harder to find the right person to pitch, much less land your story. This panel will show you how to stop doing what doesn’t work and start doing what does.

Richard Huff, Executive Director of Communications, CBS News (moderator) 

Cessie Cerrato, Senior Director, Public Relations, Palace Resorts 

John Shea, Director of Internal Communications, Amtrak

Peter Land, Partner, Finsbury

Once upon a time, comms teams had physical playbooks on how to respond to crisis communications - binders filled with hypothetical, unlikely but still possible situations and a play-by-play on how to respond. But is it time to throw out the playbook? In a time when crowd reactions happen instantly and quite publicly, brands must adapt their response as well. For brands like Amtrak and Palace Resorts, the struggle is real. Some crises are simply out of their control, but that doesn’t stop people from placing the blame on said companies. On this panel of industry experts, veteran reporter turned PR executive Richard Huff (CBS News) will ask comms directors Cessie Cerrato (Palace Resorts), John Shea (Amtrak) and Peter Land (Finsbury) how they balance the need for getting their respective brand’s and clients’ message out, while also maintaining credibility with cold hard facts.

Buck Wolf,  Executive Editor, HuffPost Trends (moderator) 

Fay Sliger, Senior Director of Communications, Vox Media 

Chantal Follins, Content Lead, BuzzFeed 

Jocelyn Florence, Director, Quartz Creative

They’ve produced seismic shifts in content creation and audience engagement: BuzzFeed, Vox Media, Quartz, HuffPost. Supporting them are behemoth tech giants: Google, Facebook, Apple, Verizon, and Twitter. This panel takes a loving look at the convergence of tech, hip hop and celebrity culture, and the addictively trendy content that lies at the bleeding edge of today’s media scene. Our panelists break down what makes their content so sticky, examine the meteoric rise of podcasting, and turn their crystal ball on what’s coming down the pike. 

Join us for happy hour and networking at Sweetwater Social (643 Broadway, at Bleecker, just a quick walk from NYU). One drink free for first 40 conference attendees.