08.30 Registration and breakfast

09.30 Introduction and welcome, Dan Drury

10.00 Keynote, Julius van der Laar

Successful political campaigns have mastered the tactics and strategies used to present an argument effectively, manage and respond with authority during crisis, influence the debate and shape public perception. Four years ago Barack Obama set a new standard for campaigning by changing the way new media was used, and our keynote speaker is one of the people who helped him. As well as working for Obama in 2008, Julius van de Laar has been a strategist for political parties and NGOs in Europe, and is a high profile television and radio pundit. 

He will talk not only about the challenges for these groups but also for private organisations attempting to create a narrative and frame the public debate.  How can they deliver tailored messages to target their audiences,  whether they are customers, investors, media, potential employees or the general public; and what will the next practice in digital communications look like?

11.00 Break for refreshments & networking

11.30  Discoveries from the FT Index: Over-stretched resources and the cracking of governance

David Bowen describes a worrying phenomenon revealed by the 2012 FT Bowen Craggs Index: Web estates going out of control and a proliferation of poorly coordinated social media channels. Online resources are being overstretched, and governance is not strong enough to contain the problem. 

The following two sessions tell how two companies have got to grips with these big issues.

11.45 Florian Hiessl, Head of online, Siemens

Siemens, so often an innovator in online communications, has been tackling a perennial governance issues: how to stop barriers building up between departments. It has brought 60 communicators into one room, with a giant digital billboard, and grouped them by topic not by department. Florian Hiessl, head of online for the group, will tell us how the silos have come tumbling down.  

12.30 Smith & Nephew, Director of digital communications, Bryan Smith

The UK medical devices company has a large web estate which has proved challenging to control. Bryan Smith, formerly in charge of the highly regarded Rio Tinto site, will tell the story of how he is creating a governance structure, and the challenges and successes in implementing it.

13.15   Lunch

14.30 Patrick Schmidt-Kühnle, Manager corporate social media, BASF

15.15  Discoveries from the FT Index: Mobile sites and corporate apps

Handling small screens and tablets is one of the big challenges Bowen Craggs has analysed their use among large corporates for the FT Index. David Bowen presents its findings. 

15.45 Break for refreshments & networking

16.15 Panel – Corporate web 2020

Some of the most experienced corporate communications professionals will be on stage to discuss the future of digital channels. Some question we will tackle:

- What will be the shape of online corp comms in 2020?

- Will the corporate website still exist?

- Will apps take over?

- What lessons can commerce learn from politics?

- Will silos disappear, or be reinforced?

- Will marketing and communications merge?

With:

Kirsty Chisholm, Head of digital communications, BP

Stephanie Chalmers, Head of online communications, EADS

Florian Hiessl, Head of online, Siemens

Julius van der Laar

Chaired by Scott Payton, Bowen Craggs

17.45 End of day one

18.00 Drinks reception at hotel

19.00 Dinner

08.30 Breakfast networking

09.15 Owen Pringle, Director digital communications, Amnesty International

Amnesty is not only using social media for traditional communications, it is gathering intelligence from the global human rights community to develop and roll out technologies that could effect real-time social change. Our 'product development' strategy, Owen Pringle says, is being shaped by those we are 'selling' to. 

10.00 Neil Atkinson, Head of global communication channels, Unilever

Unilever has a sophisticated and highly coordinated web estate with 68 corporate sites around the world. Increasing pressures of costs means it has had to find new ways of managing the estate while maintaining standards. Neil Atkinson will explain how the group has gone about it.

10.45  Break for refreshments & networking

11.15 Simon Quayle, Director digital communications, GSK

After six years of managing a 2,000 page corporate website with Dreamweaver, GlaxoSmithKline’s’s web team finally got the go ahead in 2011 to redesign the website and move it to a CMS. Simon Quayle explains the redesign journey that the team started in early 2011 that will culminate with the website’s re-launch in June 2012.

12.00  Discoveries from the FT Index: Social media

Bowen Craggs has looked carefully at how social media has been evolving as part of the FT Index. Scott Payton will discuss the cracks it has found, as well as the many examples of good and intriguing practice.

13.00 Lunch

14.30 Putting theory into practice

What practical steps should web teams take to respond to the key issues that have emerged over the conference?

With:

Owen Pringle, Director digital comms, Amnesty International

Neil Atkinson, Head of global comms channels, Unilever

Simon Quayle, Director digital comms, GlaxoSmithKline

Peter Warne, Head of Nestlé IR communications. 

Chaired by Scott Payton, Bowen Craggs

15.30 Dan Drury, Bowen Craggs

16.00 End of conference