Pre-Conference Workshops

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Workshop A: Skaha Room

Cultural Competency Training (LS, CS, R, E)

Jefferson Darrell, Founder & CEO, Breakfast Culture Inc.

Globalization and immigration bring renewed meaning to the phrase global village. In many urban centres it is possible to travel the world just by visiting different local neighbourhoods. Are you comfortable with different cultures, philosophies, thinking, and attitudes? In this session, you will learn about the Cultural Competence Continuum, what each level means, and how it manifests in the workplace. You will learn where you reside on the continuum and navigate the steps to your target learning objective through group training and/or individual coaching sessions.

Workshop B: Kootenay Room

Crafting Crispy Goals and Objectives that Bring Real Results (CS)

Julia Harvie-Shemko, Founder and CEO, Red Thread Connections

Developing “crispy” or strong goals and objectives ensures you are delivering a communications strategy that helps the organization or project manager meet their objectives. It helps focus your work, ensures that your energy during implementation is directed to the right tactics and allows you the flexibility to shift as needed. It’s the connections that make a strong communications plan.

In this workshop, you will develop goals and objectives for real life communications projects and issues, so come prepared with your own communications issue/opportunity. At the end of this workshop, you will confidently develop goals and objectives, the toughest part of a communications plan for many.

Workshop C: Vaseaux Room

How to Keep Your Communications Planning Relevant – Masterclass (LS)

Caroline Kealey, Principal & Founder, Results Map

There is a growing sense in the communications industry that strategic communications planning is so… 2019. After all, hasn’t the disruption of COVID made the idea of communications planning irrelevant? Well, maybe. On the other hand, is it responsible for communication teams to spend their time and limited resources in tactics and campaigns without any sense of what they’re for, or how to know if they’ve had the desired impact?That tension between traditional forms of planning and the turbulence of our current time is the focus of this thought-provoking session. We will explore refreshingly pragmatic and current approaches to lightweight planning adapted to the emergent nature of the challenges facing communicators today.

The session will include:

• A one page strategic communications plan template
• A framework for developing a strategy that “walks on two feet” – one deliberate and one emergent
• Strategies for replacing noise with evidence in communications planning.

1:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Workshop D: Skaha Room

How to Write a Crisis Communications Plan (CS, LS, E)

Cynthia Lockrey, Change Maker + Communications Expert, Lockrey Communications

COVID has changed how we communicate and has given many of us more experience in crisis communications. All organizations should have an up-to-date crisis communications plan that reflects lessons learned from COVID. In this workshop, participants will learn how to gather input prior to developing the plan, see key elements to include in the plan, and learn how to make the plan a reality. Cynthia will use real life examples of how a plan helped an organization respond quickly in a crisis, and how the lack of a plan resulted in missteps.

Workshop E: Kootenay Room

Building a Culture of Inclusivity (LS, R, E)

Priya Bates, ABC, MC, SCMP, IABC Fellow, President, Inner Strength Communication Inc.

Communication professionals are navigating their role in DEI carefully, sometimes afraid to make the wrong moves. This session offers a safe space to ask questions and an introduction to models that demonstrate how to foster a workplace where employees can belong, leaders can lead, and organizations can benefit. All attendees will receive a handbook for self reflection. They will identify where they are personally in the DEI-Evolution – Exist-Enter-Educate-Embrace-Engage-Embed, they will look at their own reactions and fears of working in DEI, and they will articulate the DEI-Why for their own organization – recruitment, retention, reputation, recognition, and results.

Workshop F: Vaseaux Room

Learning a New Language of Leadership (LS)

Colin Macrae, Founder of Fluency Leadership

The past three years, as devastating as it’s been, have been a time of growth for communicators. It has escalated our role and our contribution right on stage under the brightest of lights. Now we need to maximize the opportunity as valued contributors and trusted advisors. How are we preparing ourselves and our organizations to lead and thrive in these uncertain, changing, and complex times?

Today’s work world demands new skills and new ways of leading and thinking. Being a better communicator isn’t going to build our impact or influence, but being a better business leader with communications expertise will. While the craft of communications is important, being a future-ready leader who embraces the new language of leadership is the opportunity for communicators to increase their impact.

By the end of this workshop learners will be able to:

• Understand how the Coaching Mindset unlocks learning, capacity, and resilience.
• Ask powerful questions that invite dialogue and real solutions.
• Apply strategies and tools to gain clarity in uncertainty.
• Develop skills and knowledge to effectively communicate with presence, while being present.
• Identify ways to build adaptability muscles to respond to ever-changing conditions.
• Understand how empathy, compassion, and trust building skills help teams and people thrive.
• Chart a path towards becoming a fully-expressed and influential leader.