Are external stakeholder demands affecting the way your firm communicates its environmental and social accomplishments?

Identifying and Understanding Your Organization's Key Stakeholders

Developing Customized Strategies for Dealing with Different Stakeholder Audiences --Employees, Customers, the Social Investment and NGO community and Local Communities

Trends and Best Practices in EHS and Sustainability Reporting

Greenwashing: The Dos and Don’ts of Asserting Environmental Claims both for Products and Business Practices

Strategies for Managing Stakeholder Inquiries and Information Requests

Best Practices for Communicating EHS Values Internally

Agenda - Download PDF

7:30 - 8:30 a.m.

Registration and Breakfast

8:30 - 8:45 a.m.

Welcome and Introductions

• Carol Singer Neuvelt, Executive Director, NAEM
• Virginia Hoekenga, Deputy Director, NAEM

8:45 - 10:00 a.m.

Opening Keynote - Emerging Issues and Trends in Stakeholder Engagement and Sustainability

This session will explore the mindset and scope of issues that a company must embrace as they make stakeholder engagement a strategic part of their business. It will address key question including: What does it mean to make sustainability and CSR a business strategy? What are the emerging trends and issues around stakeholder engagement and sustainability and how will these trends impact global business? Finally, it will explore the ways companies are beginning to use emerging communications channels and social media, known collectively as Web 2.0, to engage and interact with their stakeholders?

Operationalizing Business Sustainability

The second part of the session will focus on how an organization puts sustainability into practice and showcases their environmental accomplishments through innovative communication that creates a competitive advantage for their firm. It will delve into the opportunities for the EHS function to be a driver in this process and highlight best practices for effectively communicating environmental and sustainability accomplishments.

• Gary Niekerk, CSR Operations Manager, Intel Corporation
• Ted Grozier, Associate, Green Order

10:00 - 10:45 a.m.

Environmental Marketing: Dos and Don'ts

With the recent media buzz around corporate “green washing” and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)’s January workshop on the credibility of claims related to carbon offsets and renewable energy credits, this session will provide practical “do and don’t” guidance and examine specific language, approaches and communication channels companies can and should use when asserting their environmental and social accomplishments to the public and consumers, as well as pitfalls to avoid when making marketing claims.

• Jacquelyn Ottman, Founder, J. Ottman Consulting

10:45 - 11:00 a.m.

Break

11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Leveraging EHS & Sustainability Reports to Build Positive Stakeholder Relations

An increasing number of leading companies are voluntarily reporting on their environmental, social and sustainability management efforts. This session will provide practical tips for creating an effective annual EHS or Sustainability report that will meet the needs and interests of a variety of stakeholders including customers, investors, activists and the general public. Emphasis will be placed on approaches for incorporating feedback from stakeholders into the report and criteria for determining elements, messages and metrics that should be included.

• Sandy Nessing, Dir. Environmental and Safety Strategy & Design, American Electric Power
• Bob Draeger, Dir. EHS Strategies and Outreach, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company

12:30 - 1:30 p.m.

Lunch

1:30 - 2:45 p.m.

Surviving the Flood: Strategies for Managing Stakeholder and Investor Inquires

Companies today are faced with a barrage of stakeholder surveys and inquiries, many from investors concerned about a company’s social and environmental practices. This session will provide an update on the social investment movement and explore the impact of increased corporate scrutiny on environmental and social reporting. It will also give attendees guidance on how to manage and prioritize stakeholder information requests and provide tips for partnering with the necessary business functions to ensure accurate information is provided.

• Janis Warren, Dir. of Market Research, The One-Report
• Jill Davidson, Mgr., Env/U.S., Archer Daniels Midland Company

2:45 - 3:15p.m.

Break

3:15 - 4:30 p.m.

Protecting Your License to Operate: Strategies and Tips for Building Strong Community Relations

This session will examine the business case for strong community relations and look at best practices in community relations management from a top corporate community relations specialist. Following this presentation there will be a case study examining how a leading energy services company has effectively engaged with the local communities in which they operate. Specific attention will be given to how the Public and Community Relations function have successfully partnered with EHS to build positive community relations and minimize the risk of unanticipated negative public attention.

• Ron Brown, Faculty Member, Boston University Center for Corporate Citizenship
• Dan McCarthy, General Mgr. Corporate Communications, PPL Services

4:30 - 4:45 p.m.

Closing Remarks & Adjournment

5:30 - 6:30 p.m.

Networking Reception