PRESENTED IN COLLABORATION WITH MICROSOFT

2024 Viva Engage Festival

The Viva Engage Festival is on Wednesday, November 12, 2024
all around the world.

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2024 Guest Speakers include:

 
 

What is the Viva Engage Festival?

Learn from Viva Engage experts and practitioners and build human connections across the world.

This global event covers the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific for 3 x half-day virtual sessions to showcase organisations that transform employee engagement with Viva Engage.

Mature Viva Engage networks:
Connect with other mature organisations, and take Viva Engage to the next level

Getting started with Viva Engage:
Learn from experienced practitioners and experts to increase speed and avoid bumps

Thinking about launching Viva Engage:
Learn about the ROI and the value proposition of Viva Engage

 

2024 Viva Engage Festival Agenda

Americas

December 4
9am-12.30pm PST /
12-3.30pm ET /
11am-2.30pm CT
Register

Timings below are in PST

  • Introductions by your host Gemma Saint (Director, North America) and Cai Kjaer (CEO), SWOOP Analytics

  • When people think about enterprise social, they usually think about building community, creating connections, and sharing news. But social networks can also be used to host enablement programs in ways that grow adoption of new tools and ways and working. At Visa, the Enterprise Transformation Office uses Viva Engage as one of the primary channels for driving the company-wide adoption of GenAI tools. In this session, two members of the team will share how Viva Engage fits into the broader digital workplace, how they grew the Gen AI community on Viva Engage, what content delivers the most impact to both engage and educate, and how change champion networks can support growth on Viva Engage.

    Presenters: Ian Ragsdale and Stephanie Griffiths

  • The emergence of generative AI is revolutionising work around the world, and no industry is left untouched. Analytics is one of those areas that have a tremendous about of opportunity to deliver even more actionable insights to a far greater amount of people than previously possible.

    In this session Cai Kjaer, CEO of SWOOP Analytics, will paint a picture of where analytics in the field of digital workplace and employee engagement is heading and show you SWOOP’s current explorations in this area.

    Presenter: Cai Kjaer, CEO, SWOOP Analytics

  • In this dynamic presentation, learn about Cox Communications' transformative journey of turning a dormant Viva Engage community into a top-performing communications channel. Discover how they secured leadership support, rebranded their platform, and implemented a robust strategy and communications plan that revitalized employee engagement and sense of community. Plus, learn how they utilize metrics to drive their direction and measure their impact, ensuring their efforts align with company priorities.

    Presenter: Devon Chestnut, Manager, Corporate Communications

  • This year’s Viva Engage Benchmarking Report is loaded with evidence-based metrics that helps you with just about all aspects of Viva Engage and is coupled with insights from previous years’ benchmarking award recipients.

    Presenters: Dr Laurence Lock Lee (Chief Scientist at SWOOP Analytics) and Gemma Saint (Director, North America, SWOOP Analytics

  • Robin will share her organization’s recent Viva Engage journey, and how her department is now taking a more focused approach to the application. You’ll learn about their plans to “re-introduce” Viva Engage with a new community aligned with business priorities. It’s designed to help employees gain plain-language insights from people who are integral to bringing key business initiatives to fruition.

    Presenter: Robin McCasland, Senior Director Corporate Communications

  • In this session we have leaders from Microsoft’s Viva Engage product teams joining for you to ask anything you like. Ask Microsoft about roadmap, features, adoption or just anything on your mind.

    Presenters: Steve Nguyen, Allison Michels, Venkat Ayyadevara, Paul Barr, Adam Barzel, Erin Rosenthal, Lauren Edelmeier, and Sandra Martinez Vargas

Europe

December 4
9am-12.30pm UK /
10am-1.30pm CET
Register


Timings below are in CET

  • Introductions by your host Pete Johns (Director, UK and Ireland, and Cai Kjaer (CEO), SWOOP Analytics.

  • In this talk, Andy Pamphilon will share the story of how they created the right conditions for Viva Engage success at London Stock Exchange Group. He’ll share some fantastic advice plus an impressive framework for rolling out Viva Engage and establishing it as a key channel within the Group, creating and maintaining enthusiasm and understanding every step of the way.

    Presenter: Andy Pamphilon, Senior Manager, Internal Communications

  • The emergence of generative AI is revolutionising work around the world, and no industry is left untouched. Analytics is one of those areas that have a tremendous about of opportunity to deliver even more actionable insights to a far greater amount of people than previously possible.

    In this session Cai Kjaer, CEO of SWOOP Analytics, will paint a picture of where analytics in the field of digital workplace and employee engagement is heading and show you SWOOP’s current explorations in this area.

    Presenter: Cai Kjaer, CEO, SWOOP Analytics

  • Hear how the Places for People team has created a thriving Viva Engage network that sits at the very core of their internal communications efforts. They’ll share how they’ve nurtured a communication culture that’s built around community, where leaders are present and engaged, everyone has a voice and internal comms is about the conversation rather than the message.

    Presenter: Paul Hickson, Group Head of Internal Communication & Steven Murgatroyd, Senior Internal Communications Manager

  • This year’s Viva Engage Benchmarking Report is loaded with evidence-based metrics that helps you with just about all aspects of Viva Engage and is coupled with insights from previous years’ benchmarking award recipients.

    Presenters: Dr Laurence Lock Lee (Chief Scientist at SWOOP Analytics) and Pete Johns (Director, UK and Ireland, SWOOP Analytics

  • During the COVID pandemic, Arqiva made Yammer (now Viva Engage) available to their people. It helped employees stay connected during those tough times. However, as the 'new normal' became plain old 'normal', activity dropped off. New employees didn't even know it existed and the network lacked any sort of purpose.
    Helen Nias will share the story of how Arqiva relaunched Viva Engage with a renewed purpose, a new position in the internal channels landscape, and a greater focus on unlocking business value. Hear how they reinvigorated their network to such an extent that Arqiva can now celebrate being crowned a SWOOP Analytics Collaboration Champion – there’ll definitely be some top tips in this talk!

    Presenter: Helen Nias, Digital Communications & Channels Manager

  • The Internal Comms team at Vodafone have a clear vision of delivering a consistent omni-channel communication experience for their 100k + colleagues. When they moved from Workplace from Meta to Microsoft Viva Engage in May 2024, they took a big step forward in bringing that vision to life. Ed Nunn will share the story of their move to Viva Engage, give insight into the choices and tactics that have helped them unlock real value from Viva Engage, and share how Viva Engage is supporting the realisation of their vision for communications.

    Presenter: Ed Nunn, Global Internal Communications Manager - Channels

  • In this session we have experts from Microsoft joining for you to ask anything you like. Ask Microsoft about roadmap, features, adoption or just anything on your mind.

    Presenters: Nick Ledger, Employee Experience Senior Specialist and Global Black Belt

APAC

December 4
9am-12.30pm SGT /
12pm-3.30pm AEDT /
1pm-4.30pm NZDT
Register

Timings below are in AEDT

  • Introductions by your host Emily O’Brien (Director, North America) and Cai Kjaer (CEO), SWOOP Analytics

  • Australia Post is using Viva Engage communities to connect with their large and diverse frontline team to ensure they’re receiving key updates and information from the business. Colum and Ashleigh will talk about their Viva Engage journey and using communities as a focal point for communications.

    Presenter: Colum Coomey, Senior Communications Manager and Ashleigh Brock, Communications Manager, Australia Post.

  • The emergence of generative AI is revolutionising work around the world, and no industry is left untouched. Analytics is one of those areas that have a tremendous about of opportunity to deliver even more actionable insights to a far greater amount of people than previously possible.

    In this session Cai Kjaer, CEO of SWOOP Analytics, will paint a picture of where analytics in the field of digital workplace and employee engagement is heading and show you SWOOP’s current explorations in this area.

    Presenter: Cai Kjaer, CEO, SWOOP Analytics

  • Join Leonie Thirkell from Ventia as she shares her top tips and tricks for leveraging Viva Engage to foster connection during times of organisational change. This session will provide practical advice on best practices for community admins, using dashboards to streamline digital workspaces, automations, and creating an effective channel mix for frontline workers.

    Presenter: Leonie Thirkell, Manager - Brand & Marketing

  • This year’s Viva Engage Benchmarking Report is loaded with evidence-based metrics that helps you with just about all aspects of Viva Engage and is coupled with insights from previous years’ benchmarking award recipients.

    Presenters: Dr Laurence Lock Lee (Chief Scientist at SWOOP Analytics) and Sharon Dawson (Director, SWOOP Analytics

  • Empowering employees to move from volunteering conversations to actionable participation using Viva Engage, witnessed a shared association of moral identity. Volunteering has been part of the Tata Steel organisational DNA for over a century. Sneha will share how Viva Engage led to the strengthening of the Tata Steel volunteering identity. This conversation-led transformation connected the workforce with a common sentiment that positioned the organisation strongly in the community-centric narrative.

    Presenter: Sneha Biswas, Senior Manager, Corporate Communications

  • In this session we have leaders from Microsoft’s Viva Engage product teams joining for you to ask anything you like. Ask Microsoft about roadmap, features, adoption or just anything on your mind.

    Presenters: Steve Nguyen, Allison Michels, Venkat Ayyadevara, Paul Barr, Adam Barzel, Erin Rosenthal, Lauren Edelmeier, and Sandra Martinez Vargas

Agenda and key themes

The Viva Engage Festival will spark new ideas, and you will learn about a wide variety of topics including:

  • Viva Engage as an element in your Employee Engagement strategy

  • Engaging senior leaders

  • Measuring success

Engage and connect with top Viva Engage networks from around the world who will share their learnings and participate in free-flowing discussions. 

Supported by Microsoft and organised by SWOOP Analytics this event will showcase the world’s best Viva Engage networks and awards will be presented to top performing organisations and communities.

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Prepare for high intensity interaction

The Viva Engage Festival complements the lively discussions in the Viva Engage Customer Community. This is your opportunity to strengthen those relationships and build new ones.

We’re running the event as a Microsoft Teams meeting to allow people from different organisations to participate. We aim to make the chat component super active, so many voices can be heard. Speakers are there to prompt conversation in chat. Video on. Chat on. Be prepared to unmute.

All sessions are recorded.

 We’ve heard from customers like you, that you want to connect and learn from the Viva Engage community of customers that exist across the globe. This is a great opportunity to showcase your success and learn from others in the community. We look forward to seeing you all at the festival!

Picture of Murali Sitaram from Microsoft

MURALI SITARAM
CVP, Viva Engage - Microsoft

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Re-live previous Viva Engage Festivals

Want to re-live the experience, or missed the event?
Explore content previous festivals:

 

2023 Viva Engage Festival Recordings

  • Transport for NSW

    Hey Neighbour! How Transport’s Neurodiverse Neighbourhood enables an inclusive culture

  • Panel Discussion: Medibank & NZ Post

    The role of Viva Engage as a part of a multi-channel communication strategy

  • SWOOP Analytics

    2023/24 Viva Engage Benchmarking Report Key Findings

  • SWOOP Analytics

    10 Community Manager tasks to do in SWOOP in 10 minutes (APAC)

  • ANZ

    Making the most of Live Events in Viva Engage

  • IAG

    How to take your Viva Engage channel from good to great. I’ll show you how!

  • Microsoft

    Microsoft’s own use of Viva Engage

  • Comcast

    Using Viva Engage to educate, excite and engage nearly 100,000 employees by investing in a culture of employee ambassadorship

  • Panel Discussion: Johnson Controls & BCBS NC

    Giving employees a voice with Viva Engage

  • SWOOP Analytics

    10 Community Manager tasks to do in SWOOP in 10 minutes (AMER)

  • Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)

    The launch of Viva Engage and the importance of getting leaders onboard

  • Johnson & Johnson

    Use internal social influencers at work and measure engagement on Viva Engage

  • Microsoft

    Microsoft Communities

  • Vestas

    Creating the safe space for conversation to flourish

  • Manchester Airports Group

    Connecting our people through community

  • SWOOP Analytics

    10 Community Manager tasks to do in SWOOP in 10 minutes (EMEA)

  • UNHCR

    How Viva Engage helps enable learning at UNHCR

  • Christian Aid

    Governance as your Viva Engage superpower

  • Microsoft

    How experimentation and consistency moved our leaders from absent to visible