Media Relations & Measurement Conference

The future of the media and media relations is here--and so is our first in-person event of 2022. We'll kick off with the latest insights and data on what's changing in PR and share a rousing call to action for all communicators.

The media has been disrupted and galvanized during the pandemic—from a renewed sense of mission and inclusion to consolidation and emerging new platforms and media players. Join for a deep dive into these changes—and how communicators must rethink the way they work with new content creators and traditional media in the age of disruption. You’ll hear:

• A new sense of mission: The state of journalism today and trends PR should be aware of (from hyperlocalism and greater inclusivity to more upbeat coverage)
• How newsrooms are working toward more equitable practices with staff, partners, audiences and other stakeholders—and what it means to the stories you pitch
• Digital disruption: New tools, platforms and innovations outlets are embracing—and how to incorporate them in your outreach and your own brand journalism efforts
• Relationship-building practices to help you pitch today’s more inclusive newsrooms
• Creative ways to influence, engage and build connections with the press and public across emerging platforms

The public and the press expect more from brands and organizations now. Join for steps you can take to improve your brand reputation and rebuild trust with purpose-driven PR. You’ll leave with a playbook to help transform your corporate citizenship and positive news into coverage that enhances and protects your brand reputation. Join to learn:

• How to use PR to build a successful corporate reputation program
• Finding, defining and expressing purpose through strategy, in a way that resonates
• Leveraging employees in leadership roles to amplify brand purpose, corporate citizenship and company culture
• How to quantify corporate reputation successes

Join for the top measurement challenges facing media relations today and how to resolve them. What you won’t see are flashy KPIs that don’t optimize your work. You’ll discover:

• A simple matrix to help you track and report your media relations placement
• Thinking beyond the “silver bullet mindset”: How to break up with “vanity metrics” and instead build a truly effective measurement program
• Sample dashboards your team can emulate to convince and compel leadership
• How to give execs what they want: Realistic reputation, trust and ROI metrics
• Bonus: The latest Barcelona Principle 3.0 updates and what they do (or don’t)
  mean to working communicators and PR pros (you’ll be surprised)

A cold weather front, public health misinformation, and a coup d'état could not be more different types of emergencies, but these sensitive events demonstrate how communications outputs and out-takes evaluated through real-time media monitoring produce a wealth of measurable data that can change outcomes even within the course of a single day. NewsWhip's President Brett Lofgren will describe three case studies that demonstrate the advantages of using real-time media monitoring for high-impact outcomes. We’ll learn how to:

• Quickly perceive situations that threaten company reputation
• Use real-time data to understand critical moments, in context of all the news
• Compare similar incidents to establish benchmarks of public vs. media interest
• Predict the impact of a crisis while it's unfolding
• Persuade stakeholders to take action when it’s warranted

During this fireside chat with Ragan CEO Diane Schwartz, John Avlon will discuss the ever-changing nature of media and the relationship between government, press and other stakeholders. He will also share insights on leadership and crisis management from his most recent book, Lincoln and the Fight for Peace.

Whether you call it corporate content, company storytelling or brand journalism—it’s your key to engaging busy reporters, especially if it’s anchored by subject matter expertise.  But today, a strong thought leadership program alone isn't enough to connect your story to media and other influencers. You need to be your own publisher, news producer and studio.  Join to learn:

• How to plan, create and share content that appeals to today’s reporters (and your many audiences)
• Smarter ways to organize your comms strategy around a media newsroom model
• How to create a publishing platform to support video storytelling that will be used—and shared—by media outlets and social media influencers.
• How to extend your reach through satellite media tours (SMTs) and a thought leadership video series to gain greater reach, mindshare and brand power for your thought leadership

It’s one thing to have a measurement matrix in place and powerful monitoring resources to pull essential KPIs. But that doesn’t mean you can make sense of all the data in your dashboard—or that you're pulling the right metrics with the right tools. Join this session to learn how to better extract truly actionable insights like a true data scientist—so you can translate hard numbers into easy recommendations your execs will love. You’ll learn:

• Unleashing your inner data scientist: How communications professionals can better apply data and analytics to their work
• Using the AMEC Planning Tool to answer essential questions that will help you avoid “shiny object syndrome” and determine the right tech for your needs
• Storytelling with data: Tips to analyze data and extract insights that tell a clear story about your results
• Four key considerations to help take your communications technology (CommsTech) to the next level
• Dashboard examples: Apps, interfaces and charts others are using in their measurement toolboxes

Every organization or public figure with a reputation or brand worth protecting needs to be ready for when their moment in the crisis spotlight occurs. This quick role playing session will arm you with core crisis principles before thrusting you and your fellow attendees into a simulated crisis-of-the-week ripped from the headlines. You'll leave with a quick experience of what it is like to be in the crisis war room with a top, global, crisis communications expert. Come prepared to put your skills to the test! You’ll learn:

• How to quickly analyze a top crisis ripped from the headlines
• Role-play strategies under strict time constraints and how to best counsel in a crisis
• Several ways to immediately show your value to your client
• Tips for more effective crisis simulations and teamwork and ways to rebuild trust
• Mistakes companies, public figures and brands make when bad news strikes—and how to avoid them

We’ll share the top tactics and strategies from the conference as you prepare to implement these ideas for your organization.

Looking to connect with colleagues on issues of shared interest? Or just get to know your colleagues over a great meal? Sign up to participate in a Dutch Dine Around on May 11, 2022, leaving Yale Club at 6pm following the Network Cocktail Party. We will assign each attendee to a restaurant and email you reservation information before the start of the conference. This is a “Dutch” event and not included in the conference fee. Each participant will pay for their dinner.