What You Need To Know About The 2018 Talent Brand Summit

Jan 25

Did you miss the Talent Brand Summit Q&A Facebook Live session with our Talent Brand Alliance co-founders Bryan Chaney and Will Staney last week? Don’t worry! If you couldn’t join us, here’s a quick recap of our chat and everything you need to know about the Talent Brand Summit. Registration is now open and you can request a ticket here:

Request Ticket

FAQs

What's the Talent Brand Summit?
What inspired you to organize this event?
What makes Talent Brand Summit different from other HR conferences out there?
Who can attend this event?
Can I bring others to the event?
What's the cost to attend Talent Brand Summit?
When should I register for the event?
What does the event agenda look like?
How are the roundtable discussions organized?
How should I dress for the event?

Check out a quick video recap of our Q&A session below.

Q. What’s the Talent Brand Summit?

The Talent Brand Summit is an intimate, immersive two-day event where we bring together talent leaders and practitioners who are passionate about employer branding, collaborative learning, and sharing.

Employer branding is an emerging field, and there aren’t that many playbooks out there that will give you all the resources and tools you need to build a successful talent brand program. And so we see an amazing opportunity and immense value in bringing people together through Talent Brand Summit, to build this tribe of talent brand professionals where we can leverage each other’s knowledge and experiences, help one another thrive, and move this field forward together.

The event will take place on June 13-14, 2018, at the beautiful Lost Pines Resort in Austin, Texas.

Q. What inspired you to organize this event?

We wanted to put together something that specifically focuses on talent branding, employer branding, and recruitment marketing. Having gone to many conferences in the past, we also knew that we wanted this event to be more interactive, where attendees can actually engage in meaningful conversations with one another and make connections that will last well beyond the event.

You’ll see from our agenda that the event won’t be like any other HR conferences you’ve experienced before. Have you ever gone to a conference where you’ll be learning hatchet throwing and archery, or gathering around for fireside chats? We wouldn’t think so. And that’s what makes the Talent Brand Summit such a unique learning and networking experience. Not only will you leave the summit with tangible, actionable learnings you can apply to your work right away, but you’ll also walk away with experiences, memories, and friendships that will last a lifetime.

Q. What makes Talent Brand Summit different from other HR conferences out there?

You won’t find any speakers at this event. No presentations. No preaching. No single person trying to drive the whole conversation themselves. What we have are facilitators, who are all pioneers and trailblazers in the talent brand space, and they will help guide group conversations on a given topic. Unlike a typical speaker session at a traditional conference, all attendees will help shape the conversation and share their experiences, best practices, and lessons learned. We want people to learn from each other, share their unique challenges, and inspire creative solutions through each other’s knowledge and ideas.

We’ll have record keepers with each group to help capture all the insights and discussions taken place, and we'll make those notes accessible to all attendees so that you can go back to them after the summit to continue those conversations and knowledge sharing with your peers. You’ll also leave the event with all the materials you need to build and execute your talent brand strategy, from persona development to content strategy, channel strategy, a framework to measure your efforts, and more.

Q. Who can attend Talent Brand Summit?

Because this is a practitioner-focused event, all attendees have to either own the employer brand program in a corporate or consulting/agency environment driving the program for a client. There will be no vendor booths or salespeople at the summit. This event is solely for talent brand practitioners who want to grow, collaborate, share success stories and failures, and learn together.

Q. Can I bring my manager and my team to the summit?

Absolutely. In fact, we’re doing a BYOB (Bring Your Own Boss) promotion. You’ll get 25% off the general admission if you bring your boss to the event. This actually works out to be cheaper than the early bird admission.

We want you to be able to share your work and learnings with your boss. Whether that’s the Head of Talent, Director of TA, or Head of HR, we know it’s important to have them be a part of the journey with you. And we want to incentivize you to bring your boss if they want to learn more about the goals and deliverables you’ll be held accountable for, and learn and build the strategy with you at this event.

We also encourage you to bring the people who will help you succeed in your role. You and your team can all work together, learn together, and have fun together. With the group activities built into the conference, Talent Brand Summit isn’t just work but also a team building event that helps you foster connections and build trust with your team, and beyond.

Q. What’s the cost to attend the event?

What you’ll need to cover is the cost of registration, flight, and hotel. Everything else you do at the venue will be covered, including all your meals, beverages, and the group activities.

The early bird ticket is USD $1,299. This discount ends on March 1st, so you still have plenty of time to plan for the event with your manager and team. Once early bird pricing ends, the general admission is USD $1,599.

To book your stay at Lost Pines Resort, make a reservation using this unique booking link to get special rates offered exclusively to Talent Brand Summit attendees.

Q. When should I register for the summit?

We recommend you register as soon as you have approval from your manager. This is a limited event and registration is capped at 75 attendees, which includes event staff and facilitators. Request tickets for you and your team here.

Q. What does the agenda look like?

You can view the full agenda here, but here’s a quick rundown on the roundtable discussions and activities you’ll participate at Talent Brand Summit.

We recommend everyone to arrive on June 12, so you can get settled and join our networking reception in the evening. This is a great opportunity for you to connect with your fellow attendees before the event starts the next day.

Day 1
We kick off with breakfast, quick welcome from Will and Bryan, and a speed networking activity to help you learn more about your peers. Then, we’ll go right into our roundtable discussion sessions.

Jennifer Newbill, Employment Brand Director at Dell, will facilitate a session on how to build a successful employee advocacy program to engage employees to tell your employer brand story and achieve your goals.

James Marable, Employer Brand Manager at Macy's, will facilitate the second roundtable of the day around the topic of building an employer brand team, including the skills to look for, locations of your hires, and how to grow them.

Audra Knight, Recruitment Operations Manager at Tenable, will facilitate the last roundtable of the day around the topic of personal growth. We’ll talk about how we can develop ourselves within this niche profession, everything from how to seek out a mentor to support your personal growth to the skills we should/want to learn to add value to our work.

Day 2
We start off the day with breakfast, and a quick checkpoint on Day 1 learnings and our goals for Day 2, then we’ll launch right into our roundtable discussion sessions.

Charlotte Marshall, Vice President of Digital/Social Media & Employer Brand at Magellan Health, will facilitate our first session of the day on how to build an effective content strategy. We’ll be looking at examples for content to create and curate, as well as creative ideas that will help you push boundaries and take your employer brand content to the next level.

Tiffany Lee, Talent Brand Manager of HomeAway, will be facilitating a roundtable discussion on how to measure employer brand ROI. You’ll learn about how your peers are measuring their efforts, including the key recruitment marketing metrics and more non-traditional measurement that matters to tracking and measuring your success.

Our next roundtable will be facilitated by Dina Medeiros, Global Talent Attraction & Employer Brand Director at Blizzard Entertainment. You’ll learn how to build and improve your employer brand channel strategy. We’ll talk about how to grow your employer brand channels from the ground up, identify who your target audience is, and work with your stakeholders, as well as the hurdles you and your peers may face when launching new channels and how to overcome them.

Our final roundtable will bring all facilitators and attendees together to talk about how to build and finalize your talent brand strategy. You’ll walk away with a holistic approach and framework to build a successful strategy to sell to your internal audience to get the funding, buy in, and support your need for employer brand efforts.

There are coffee and lunch breaks on both days designed to help you connect with the talent brand leaders and practitioners you want to meet. There are also fun group activities, including hatchet throwing, archery, BBQ dinner, and fireside chats with s’more roasting, to help you build bonds with your fellow attendees and make connections that will last a lifetime.

Q. How are attendees placed into the roundtable discussion groups?

In the registration process, we’ll ask you some info upfront. We want to know who you want to meet and things you want to learn more about, so we can then look for people that match your goals. We’ll facilitate those connections to make sure you’re meeting the right people, whether that’s a peer in a similar role, a mentor, or another practitioner in your industry.

We know that each talent leader and practitioner’s opportunities and challenges can be different based on where they are with their employer brand journey. Whether you’re just starting out or have already developed your talent brand strategy and are looking to take it to the next level, you'll be joining a group of fellow practitioners who are at similar stages as your company.

Q. How should I dress for the event?

Bring casual, comfortable clothes that you can wear all day. Remember, we have outdoor group activities, so you likely won’t be very comfortable in your business attire. Also, it’s June in Austin, so we’d recommend t-shirt and jeans (and maybe flip flops!).

Q. I have more questions about the summit. Who can I can contact?

Ready to pack your bags and join the gathering?