Session Details

Thursday, September 25

  Opening Keynote   

Recruitment, Retention and the Language of Love in Healthcare
Dan Dunlop, MA, Principal & Owner, Jennings Healthcare Marketing

One of the greatest challenges facing healthcare organizations today is our employment crisis. In this presentation, Dan makes the case for healthcare leaders and organizations using the language of kindness, nurturing, love, and compassion as they work to build a culture that is more attractive to current and potential employees. American marketing and business-speak are grounded in the language of warfare. Our organizations "launch" campaigns; we “target” audiences; we "engage" audiences; and we "outflank" the competition; we also use "guerrilla marketing" strategies and tactics - all part of the language of war. This language impacts and shapes our organizational culture. What would healthcare be like if we approached our work from a loving, compassionate, and inclusive perspective? What if our leaders spoke using the language of love and healing? In healthcare, we should embrace community-building and kindness rather than conquest and competition. If our organizations use nurturing language that is relatable to employees and patients, we will be in a much better position to take on the employment crisis and transform our organizations to reflect the values shared by our employees and future employees.

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  Breakout 1.1  

Social is Not a Dumping Ground: What to Post Organically and When to Amplify
Laura Simson, Advertising and Brand Manager, Children’s Wisconsin

Claire Winegar, Content Director, Unlock Health

Explore taking a strategic approach to organic social media by aligning core priorities with relevant, timely topics. Consider how each post should be crafted to deliver impactful messaging that resonates with diverse audiences tailored to individual brand needs. In this session, you will learn the importance of knowing when to share content organically and how to strategically identify which posts are worthy of boosting to reach broader audiences. Through data and analytics, we will help you identify key amplification opportunities to help content reach beyond everyday followers and drive greater engagement across your digital network.

Learning Objectives:

1. Explore Social Strategy Alignment

2. Know Who to Reach, and Where

3. Identify Boosting Opportunities

4. Humanize Medical Resources

  Breakout 1.2  

Trust, Authority, and Tears: a sure fire way to set yourself apart from other "experts."
Tony Gnau, Founder & Chief Storytelling Officer, T60 Health

You're searching for the secret sauce. We all are. Whether it's videos, blog posts, podcasts, newsletters, even a one-to-one email with someone, we all want to produce content that will move people to action. So what do we do? We churn out stuff demonstrating our knowledge, our capabilities. We are the experts! Great. But there's something missing that can give you more authority and help you stand out from the crowd. You need to be vulnerable. Vulnerability isn't a weakness to be hidden away, it's an asset that can help you build trust with your audience. It's time to be vulnerable.

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  Breakout 2.1  

The Visual Shift in Healthcare Marketing: Video Edition 
Cherie Morgan, Marketing Director, Tamarack Health

Joe Gunderson, Chief Creative Officer, Hailey Sault

In a rapidly evolving healthcare marketing environment, one thing is clear: Video isn’t just part of the conversation—it is the conversation. It’s redefining how we connect, educate, and inspire. Whether it’s simplifying complex health information, aligning internal teams, or building trust with communities, video has become the most powerful—and personal—tool in a healthcare marketer’s toolkit. Join us for an eye-opening session that kicks off with the latest data showing how video is outperforming traditional content at every patient touchpoint. We’ll show you how healthcare organizations of varying size—whether large systems or independent rural hospitals/clinics—can embed video into their communication strategies with clarity and purpose. No matter your resources or team size, you’ll walk away with practical, scalable strategies to create video that informs, engages, and drives action—so you can stay ahead of the curve and truly make an impact.

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  Breakout 2.2  

Brand + Performance Marketing: A Smarter Strategy for Healthcare Growth
Janee Wolf, Associate Director of Strategy, Core Creative

Mickey Wildt, Associate Director, Client Engagement, Core Creative

In today’s complex healthcare environment, marketers are under pressure to deliver immediate results while also building long-term brand value. These goals often compete with each other, but they shouldn’t. This session explores how brand-building and performance marketing can and should work together to drive both short-term impact and long-term growth. We will demonstrate how emotional messaging, mental availability and brand trust influence healthcare decision-making.

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  Breakout 3.1  

Marketing with Intent: Aligning Strategy and Storytelling to Organizational Goals
Emily Hartzog, President, Chartwell Agency

In today’s competitive healthcare landscape, marketers are being called to do more than create campaigns—they’re being asked to contribute meaningfully to their organization’s strategic direction. Whether you’re leading a marketing department or building your career, developing a strategic mindset is essential. This session will explore how marketing professionals at all levels can better align their work with their organization’s strategic plan, ensuring that every tactic has purpose and impact. Attendees will learn what makes a strong strategic plan, how to identify key priorities within it, and how to translate those priorities into compelling, measurable marketing initiatives. We’ll also examine how a strong marketing plan supports system-wide goals and builds internal trust. They’ll walk away with practical tips to elevate their role, strengthen their team’s value, and contribute more effectively during planning sessions, brainstorms, and executive discussions.

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  Breakout 3.2  

Hashtag to Health Check
Ebony Ssali, Marketing Manager, Outreach Community Health Centers

Health care social media strategies to increase awareness and appointments.

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  General Session  

How Plain Language Builds Trust, Drives Action, and Strengthens Your Hospital Brand

Lacey Reichwald, Director of Marketing, Aha Media Group

Plain language is more than a style choice — it’s a strategic advantage for hospital marketers. When your content is easy to read and actionable, it helps patients take the next step in their care journey and strengthens your brand’s credibility. This session explores the fundamentals of writing in plain language for healthcare audiences, and how to get internal stakeholders on board. You’ll learn how to adapt your writing for clarity without losing authority, reframe “dumbing it down” myths, and create content that’s empathetic and effective. We’ll also touch on how clear writing supports findability, including semantic keywords and conversational phrasing that help humans and algorithms find and understand your content.

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  Special Event  

Dinner & Awards Ceremony

After a delicious dinner, we will recognize all members who have earned Prestige Awards and WHPRMS Leadership Recognition, and name this year’s recipient of our Professional Excellence Award.

Friday, September 26

  General Session  

Shaping the Narrative: WHA’s Messaging Strategies to Support Wisconsin Hospitals

Kari Hofer, Vice President, External Affairs, Wisconsin Hospital Association

Hospitals are facing growing public scrutiny and policy threats—often fueled by powerful, well-funded interests. In this session, WHA’s Kari Hofer will provide a behind-the-scenes look at its strategic messaging campaigns designed to defend and promote hospitals across the state. Learn how WHA is tackling complex issues through targeted advocacy, unified messaging, and proactive media strategies—and how hospital communicators can align their local efforts to strengthen the collective voice of Wisconsin’s hospital community.

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  Breakout 4.1  

HIPAA-Compliant Website Tracking
Rod Holmes, Managing Partner, Pilot Digital Marketing

In the evolving digital landscape, healthcare organizations face a dual challenge: gaining actionable insights from website user behavior while safeguarding patient privacy in compliance with HIPAA regulations. This session will detail how healthcare websites often unknowingly violate HIPAA, Pilot Digital's approach to HIPAA-compliant website tracking by using either cookieless analytics solutions or their "analytics data scrubbing” system. Attendees will learn how we help healthcare clients maintain regulatory compliance while still measuring meaningful website performance metrics—without relying on tools that collect personally identifiable information or share data with third parties. The presentation will also highlight key tools, implementation tactics, and common pitfalls to avoid when navigating compliance in digital analytics.

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  Breakout 4.2  

Sponsorships and Healthcare: How to engage internal teams and bring strategy into community activations
Kate Kishline, Senior Advertising and Brand Specialist, Children’s Wisconsin

Let's face it - healthcare sponsorships are tricky. You need to balance community goodwill with real marketing objectives, all while navigating the unique challenges of healthcare. At Children's Wisconsin, we struggled with this balance until we developed an approach that transformed our community presence. I'll share our journey of creating a sponsorship strategy that actually works, including:

• How we decide which events truly matter (and which ones to skip)
• Creative ways we've designed materials that people actually keep
• How we've gotten busy clinicians excited to volunteer at events
• How we measure these activations and success

This isn't theoretical - I'll walk through real examples from our pediatric healthcare system where these approaches made measurable differences. You'll leave with practical ideas. Join me to see how we turned "just another fair" into strategic opportunities that advance both our brand and our mission.

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  Closing Keynote  

Level Up Your Life: Conquering the Work-Life Balance Battle

Cindy Rowe, Founder/CEO, Cindy Rowe, LLC

Are you a professional juggling multiple projects, deadlines, and client demands as well as a personal life? If so, this session is for you! Join us as we explore the challenges of workaholism and the importance of finding harmony between your professional and personal life. Discover how to set boundaries, manage your time effectively, prioritize tasks, and practice self-kindness to achieve a fulfilling and sustainable career.

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