The Communications Network Annual Conference is open to nonmember nonprofits and foundations. I have been involved with Communications Network for several years and have long been impressed with its programming. And of course, Communications Network was a crucial founding partner in the development of Public Policy Communicators NYC. While the conference tends to attract a majority of attendees who work for and with foundations, ComNet events are also open to others, such as nonprofits organizations that are involved in public interest communications.
Communications Network Conference
Sept. 29-Oct. 1, Los Angeles
Sign Up Before It Sells Out (Again!)
You can start registering today for the Fall 2010 Conference. But don’t wait. Last year we sold out in just three weeks, and already 150 of our 300 spaces are reserved.
Here are the facts:
This year’s event takes place September 29-October 1 at the JW Marriott Hotel in Los Angeles, and is being held in partnership with our community foundation colleagues who are members of CommA.
The conference is being held in an exciting part of the city known as L.A. Live, the destination place for entertainment, dining and sports. The hotel is new — it only opened in February.
The most important reason to be with us this year in LA is that, in response to terrific comments we received about our past conferences and suggestions to make future ones even better, we’ve put together what we think is a great program and, in keeping with tradition, are doing things a little differently this year. We’ve dispensed with panel presentations (with one or two exceptions). In their place, we’ve recruited a stellar lineup of speakers. And not just one or two, like in past years. So far, we have five high-profile speakers, and may have more by September. They are James Surowiecki, Steve Lopez, Tracy Gary, Neal Baer, and Sendhil Mullainathan. If some names aren’t familiar to you, after you read about them below, you’ll certainly want to hear them. And you’ll be glad you did.
We didn’t invite these people just to talk to you. We invited them to interact with you and to get you thinking about what they have to say. Then you’ll have the opportunity to take those thoughts with you into smaller groups where you can kick them around, challenge and question each other, and also reach some consensus about how to apply the concepts and practices, and some new thoughts that might occur, when you return home.
As always, we’ve built in plenty of time for networking, so you can catch up with old friends, meet new ones, and have time to have some fun.
We’re still tinkering with the program and agenda, but here’s what we have planned so far:
Wednesday, Sept. 29
We’re kicking off this year’s conference in grand style. Our traditional opening reception (no speakers this year, just fun) will be held on the Target Terrace, located above the GRAMMY Museum, a short walk from the conference hotel. Working closely with the GRAMMY Foundation, we’re very close to announcing a terrific musical group to perform that evening. More to come about that soon.
Thursday, Sept. 30
When the conference starts up again on Thursday morning, James Surowiecki, financial columnist for The New Yorker, and author of the book, “The Wisdom of Crowds,” will get us all thinking about how to tap into the collective brainpower that exists in online and offline communities and how to put that knowledge to work for our foundations.
Surowiecki will be followed by Los Angeles Times columnist, Steve Lopez, author of “The Soloist,” which was made into the movie by the same name starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. Lopez will give us a glimpse of the world he sees — and the people in it we need to be thinking about as communicators — from his front-row seat as a columnist who chronicles everything from what life is like on the streets for the homeless to people making a difference in the world today.
Following these two presentations, we’ll divide into smaller groups. With help from a facilitator or discussion leader, we’ll have the chance to kick around what we heard and what it all means. We’ll explore what we can do with the ideas, concepts, and insights presented and any other thoughts the speakers left us pondering.
After breaking for lunch, we’ll hear from “Inspired Philanthropy” author Tracy Gary, someone who has worked for years to help others experience the joy of giving charitable dollars to causes they care about. She’ll help us think about what we can do to engage more people in philanthropy. As with the earlier presentations, hers will be followed by small group discussions.
For Thursday’s final act, Neal Baer, executive producer of NBC’s “Law and Order Special Victim’s Unit” and former executive producer of “E.R.,” will talk about how foundations can work with the entertainment industry to get out messages about the issues and causes they support, and will set us up for another round of small group discussion.
To put a nice cap on the day’s events, we’ll meet again in the early evening for another networking reception. Details to come.
Friday, Oct. 1
On Friday morning, Sendhil Mullainathan, a Harvard economist (and TED speaker), will share his research, which we’ll get a chance to discuss afterward, on how understanding human behavior can lead to more effective social change communications.
We’re still working on the format and one more session for that morning. Before we end for the day, as is our tradition, we’ll convene again briefly to summarize the conference and to hear an announcement about the dates and location of our 2011 event.
That’s it for now.
To register and ensure yourself a spot before the conference sells out (like it did very quickly last year) click here.
If you have questions, email brucet@comnetwork.org.
About Michael Hamill Remaley
Michael Hamill Remaley is the President of Hamill Remaley Communications. Previously, he was Director of Communications at the Russell Sage Foundation and Prior to that was Vice President and Director of Communications at Public Agenda. He has held a variety of positions at organizations such as The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, TCC Group and the Center for Social Policy and Community Development.