High Stakes Messaging
Finding Common Ground
with Legal, HR and Government Relations Advisors

Tuesday, December 12, 2017
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Please join the WNG Communications Roundtable when we convene a panel of veteran communicators to discuss how communications executives can enhance their reputation by fostering better working relationships with other departments. Our formal program is preceded and followed by time for networking.

Our Panelists:

Ed Barks - Barks Communications, President @EdBarks
Jennifer R. Farmer - PICO National Network, Communications Director @Farmer8J
Meghan Dotter - Portico PR, Principal @MeghanDotter @PorticoPR (moderator)
David Henderson - Journalist & Communications Strategist @DavidHenderson
Brian Wommack - Cameron LLP, Partner @BWommack

How much risk is your organization willing to undertake? Your communications strategy and your message must be unassailable when your spokespeople attempt to carry forth that message to reporters, audiences, and policy makers. Your reputation and organizational goals, and perhaps your career, depend upon it. Join the conversation with our expert panelists as they examine:

• Methods for getting your communications, government relations, legal, and finance teams to play nice together;
• Ideas for getting your various staff functions to deliver a consistent message;
• Thoughts on establishing an organized onboarding effort for your communications staffers that can aid you in this endeavor;
• Concepts to help your communications leadership win a seat at the executive table.

This panel discussion is designed for senior communications, government relations, finance, and legal executives who have direct responsibility for counseling their C-suite leaders. Our panelists will discuss why your long-range business goals depend on a strong, strategic communications effort and a magnetic message; who in your organization stands to benefit from a more disciplined approach, and why; how to craft an approach that meets your specific needs; and ideas for raising your profile as a communicator within your company. We will also leave plenty of time for your questions to help ensure we cover the issues of greatest concern to you.

Our Panelists:

Ed Barks

Ed Barks works with communications and government relations executives who counsel their C-suite leaders, and with businesses and associations that need to develop and deliver magnetic messages. Ed is the author of The Truth About Public Speaking: The Three Keys to Great Presentations, and wrote the training guide Face the Press with Confidence: The Media Interview Companion. He has served as President of Barks Communications since its inception in 1997, and has guided more than 5000 business leaders, association executives, public relations staff, and other professionals toward a sharper message and enhanced communications skills. He currently serves on the National Press Club's Board of Governors and the faculty of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organization Management. Ed brings another critical perspective to his clients' communications needs thanks to more than 10 years of experience in radio broadcasting. He knows firsthand the tricks and techniques of the reporting trade.

Meghan Dotter

Meghan Dotter opened Portico PR to help companies improve presentations, meetings and the behaviors around them. Portico PR offers on-site workshops to help organizations develop better presentations in less time, focusing on content, design and delivery. Meghan has built her career around helping people simplify and convey their messages. Her experience includes both Public Relations agency (New York and Washington, D.C.), and in-house roles, leading external communications for a global Fortune 200 power company. Indeed, she was nicknamed the "engineer whisperer" for helping the super-smart convey their ideas in a way that the rest of us can understand. Learn more at: www.PorticoPR.us @PorticoPR @MeghanDotter.

Jennifer R. Farmer

Jennifer R. Farmer is an author and leading professional in communications strategy. She has made her mark in social justice movements for close to 15 years having held a number of senior leadership positions with PICO National Network, Advancement Project, the Service Employees International Union, SEIU District 1199 (WKO) and in the administration of former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland. She is the founder of Spotlight PR, whose mission is to develop and distribute high-impact communications workshops and training. Additionally, Jennifer serves on the advisory board for the National Center for State Courts' Community Engagement in the Courts initiative and is a member of the University of Rochester Diversity Advisory Council. You can find Jennifer on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @Farmer8J.

David Henderson

David Henderson has rare and substantive credentials - Emmy Award winning former CBS Network News correspondent, bureau chief in Asia, and investigative reporter; expert global consultant on achieving authentic reputation differentiation; veteran in the use of online technology for influential strategic communications; published author and lecturer. He headed the reputation management practice at Edelman Worldwide and is the author of three books on media relations in the digital era. David is a seasoned advisor to CEOs and senior executives on enhancing the value of organizational reputation enhancement and executive leadership in today's fiercely competitive digital world. He works with C-Suite leaders on influential dynamics of communications - what's effective, what's not - from the perspective of a professional journalist and communications strategist.

Brian Wommack

Brian Wommack has devoted his career to helping clients see around corners and solve problems -- or seize opportunities -- at the intersection of communications, public policy and law. Providing services as a lawyer, lobbyist or communications strategist -- and in hybrid roles drawing from each of these disciplines -- Brian is a versatile and full-service counselor. He advises clients responding to investigations, whether conducted by congressional committees, federal agencies, foreign governments, boards of directors, grand juries or crusading investigative journalists -- often helping to manage responses to parallel proceedings. He has helped clients across a variety of industries weather the dot-com collapse, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Enron meltdown, the great recession and numerous corporate, governmental and political scandals. He has also coached clients to position themselves more effectively, communicate more clearly and find and activate like-minded allies to support shared goals. Brian has clerked for a federal court judge, worked for leaders in both chambers of the U.S. Congress, and practiced at two prominent international law firms, a nationally recognized lobbying group and one of the world's leading global communications consultancies. He presently leads the strategic communications practice of integrated law firm Cameron LLP.


WNG Communications Roundtable:

This event is convened by our WNG Communications Roundtable, which supports professionals faced with challenges in communications, public relations, marketing, investor relations and public affairs.

Event Registration:

Walk-in are not permitted. You must be registered in advance for this event.

Registration closes COB on Monday, December 11.

$20: WNG Members
$30: Non-Members

Join & Go (non-member option):

$90: Become a new/first-time WNG Member ($90 annual dues) and attend this particular event at no extra cost: Apply Online. Note: This option is not available for WNG Members whose memberships have expired.

Expired Membership? Please pay your dues/renew online before registering here as a WNG Member. To renew: Pay Dues Online.

WNG 48-Hour Cancellation Policy applies to this event.