Maintaining Credibility When the Headline is You

Jeff Ansell
Principal & Author
Jeff Ansell & Associates

Historically, media trainers have told clients to ignore problematic questions and instead "stay on message." In this session, award-winning journalist and crisis communications expert Jeff Ansell provides an effective alternative to this broken media training model by offering a framework for addressing problematic issues in a responsive, forthright manner. Each time a non-responsive message is repeated, a layer of credibility is stripped away from the speaker. Drawing on his experience as a journalist, Jeff offers a peek behind the media curtain and reveals the tips and tricks necessary to successfully communicate with reporters.

Corporate Karma:
How Business can Move Forward by Giving Back

Peggie Pelosi
Founder and CEO
Orenda Connections

“When companies support the right causes in the right ways, both the companies and the causes they support reap important benefits. Most companies feel compelled to give to charity...few have figured out how to do it well.” Michael Porter, Harvard Business Review

Long before Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability were part of the day-to-day business vernacular, charitable giving was a line item on most corporate income statements. Often referred to as corporate philanthropy, it was perceived as a ”nice-to-do”, and was not the result of much, if any strategic thinking. CEOs would often give to their charity of choice, presenting a large cheque at a corporate event, able to pat themselves on the back as a good corporate citizen.

More recently however, as corporate governance has gone under a microscope in the wake of some financial and environmental “unnatural” disasters, corporate philanthropy has evolved into more strategic community investment. While many consumer brands scramble to outshine each other, attract customers and build brand equity through their “charitable” cause marketing campaigns, thoughtful business leaders are looking at opportunities to leverage their core competencies and resources to authentically improve the quality of the life in their own communities and throughout the developing world. This is leading to a redefinition of corporate /community investment.

Through strategic community investment, business has an opportunity to not only make a measurable and meaningful social impact... it now has an opportunity to directly impact business.

In this session, Peggie Pelosi, Corporate Social Responsibility strategist, speaker, author and founder of ORENDA (www.orendaconnections.com) will share the lessons learned over years of helping businesses identify their social purpose and develop meaningful community investment programs that drive inspiring results through stakeholder engagement.