Business Communicators Summit 2026

8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Registration, Breakfast

9:00 AM - 9:15 AM
Opening Remarks

9:15 AM - 10:15 AM
Morning Keynote, Kim Rozdeba, Presented by Bark Productions

10:15 AM - 10:30 AM
Break & Networking

10:30 AM - 11:15 AM
Morning Breakout Sessions

11:15 AM - 11:45 AM
Lunch

11:45 AM - 12:45 PM
Lunch Session, Justin Ricklefs

12:45 PM - 1:00 PM
Break & Networking

1:00 PM - 1:45 PM
Mid-Day Breakout Sessions

1:45 PM
Break & Networking

2:00 PM - 2:45 PM
Afternoon Breakout Sessions

2:45 PM - 3:00 PM
Break & Networking

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
BCS 101: An Interactive Team Activity

4:00 PM - 4:10 PM
Closing Remarks

4:10 PM - 5:30 PM
Cocktail Reception, Presented by KU's DIMC

This presentation focuses on cutting through the noisy, ever-changing, tech-driven world by returning to the fundamentals of branding. By understanding consumer motivations and thought processes, you can master branding strategies that resonate. Think less about chasing the “next big thing” and more about investing in what we know: Human Truths.

About the Speaker

Kim Derrick Rozdeba is a seasoned branding expert with over three decades of experience transforming Fortune 500 companies. As the author of Branding Queens and LOYALNOMICS™, he has guided some of the world's most iconic brands, including Shell, Bayer, Toyota, and major Canadian corporations. His expertise spans numerous disciplines, including advertising, marketing, PR, social media, digital, and corporate communications, across multiple industries. A sought after speaker, Kim has appeared on over 30 podcasts worldwide and at numerous events, sharing his branding insights. Based in Calgary, Canada, Kim combines his roles as author, mentor, and adventurer to deliver actionable branding insights that inspire and empower audiences who want to build a brand.

Helping communication, marketing, and PR professionals understand tools like Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Google Search Console, and Looker Studio -- their purpose, use, and how to work with an analytics professional (or learn the basic skills themselves) to get better data on the information they're producing.

About the Speaker
Alicia Dewey is a content strategist and user experience (UX) writer with more than 20 years of experience helping organizations understand users, define messaging, and measure results. As Content Strategy Director at Level Five Solutions, she helps marketing and communications clients balance the human side of messaging with the technology and tools needed to reach audiences and measure impact.

How do you mobilize an entire organization to take action? In this results-driven session, the marketing team behind the VFW Day of Service will share a behind-the-scenes look at the communications program that inspired more than 2,600 community service events worldwide in just four years.

The session will explore the strategy and tactics used to gain organizational buy-in, empower advocates and unite communities through service. You’ll walk away with replicable ideas you can apply to your own campaigns to ignite action.

About the Speaker
Meggan is Vice President of Marketing/Development at M&C, which she joined  in 2018. She leads the company’s marketing efforts and also works with a variety of client accounts, including Veterans of Foreign Wars and Harvesters Community Food Network. She holds dual bachelor’s degrees in Communications and Political Science and a master’s degree in Public Affairs from the University of Missouri.

Crisis communication advice usually boils down to "be transparent and authentic," which is spectacularly unhelpful when everything's on fire. This session reveals how to maintain genuine brand personality during trend-jumping disasters, PR chaos, and organizational meltdowns without sounding tone-deaf or corporate-robotic. Learn the discipline of communicating with humanity when stakes are high and every word gets screenshot. Stop making perfect sense under pressure and start making people feel like humans are actually running the show.

About the Speaker
Mary-Catherine (M-C) Reinert, a firecracker brand strategist who unleashes brands. From her roots as a corrugated packaging designer to a luxury bespoke wedding and event designer, M-C has evolved into a powerhouse brand strategist and the driving force behind Fortissima, a strategic branding firm specializing in elevating boutique hospitality and lifestyle brands through multi sensorial marketing experiences and fraction CMO services.

The Give a Damn Mindset is for leaders who want to grow in their curiosity, compassion, clarity, and consistency. A story-based, high-energy, interactive session rooted in real life professional situations.

About the Speaker

Justin Ricklefs is a native Kansas Citian and a proud husband and father of five. He is the founder and CEO of Guild Collective, a human-first brand consultancy that helps businesses grow what matters most. Justin worked in the front office of the Kansas City Chiefs for eight years, helping to grow relationships and revenue as the Director of Partnership Development. An entrepreneur with a love for Kansas City and a vision for what marketing could be when it comes from the heart, Justin left the corporate world in 2017 to create Guild Collective. From the early days of being a one-man agency, Justin has grown Guild Collective’s reputation and revenue, redefining the status-quo for marketing and growing into a strategic, storytelling agency. His upcoming book, “Give a Damn,” is a collection of stories showing how modern leadership is at its best when curiosity, compassion, clarity, and consistency compound in a virtuous cycle.

AI isn’t just changing how we write—it’s transforming how we communicate. From research and ideation to content creation, design, and delivery, the smartest communicators are learning to integrate AI across the entire workflow—without losing their human touch.

In this dynamic, behind-the-scenes panel, three Kansas City-based experts break down what AI really looks like in action.

Whether you’re curious, cautious, or already experimenting with AI, you’ll walk away with practical ways to use it more strategically—from your first prompt to your final production.

About the Speakers

Maliha Khan - From big-picture strategy to pixel-perfect design, Maliha Khan’s journey in marketing reads like a masterclass in following your creative compass. What began as a career in design has evolved into a calling: helping brands bridge the messy middle between strategy and execution.

Maliha is the Founder and CEO of Khanect the Dots (KTD), a strategy-first consultancy, and the creative force behind Khancepts Studio, its design arm. Through both, she equips organizations to move from clarity to action with a unique blend of strategic insight and creative vision. Her award-winning work and national speaking engagements — from Content Marketing World to MAICON — highlight her passion for making marketing both practical and inspiring.

She’s especially passionate about the intersection of AI and marketing, and is known for sharing approachable, forward-thinking insights that help leaders design smarter, work faster, and stay authentic in the age of AI.

Angie Pederson - Fueled by two decades in digital content, Angie Pedersen is the Founder and Chief Strategist at The Action Plan consultancy. She partners with organizations to align content with business goals and integrate AI into their workflows in practical, sustainable ways. A word nerd with the heart of an educator, Angie brings strategic clarity and a collaborative approach that helps teams build content systems designed to think ahead.

Alex Colley - Alex Colley is the Co-Founder of dameSpeak, a digital marketing agency that leverages AI to deliver measurable results. With decades in marketing and creative services, she's passionate about integrating artificial intelligence into custom strategies that drive growth, boost efficiency, and deliver ROI.

CHA unpacks how they fused powerful advocacy with its pediatric-specific data and education product offerings to create a brand that truly connects. You’ll see how CHA brought its mission to life by aligning with the needs of core stakeholders—members, policymakers, parents, and child health advocates—crafting a holistic story that amplifies impact and resonates across audiences.

About the Speakers

Chelsea Adams is the communications director for the Children’s Hospital Association. With 25 years of experience across the health care ecosystem, she helps translate complex topics into accessible narratives. Building on this foundation, Chelsea’s team amplifies CHA’s brand voice and elevates stories that champion the essential role of the nation’s children’s hospitals.

Lauren Chipman - With over 14 years of digital expertise, Lauren Chipman specializes in the strategic intersection of CRM, retention marketing, and cross-channel operations. As the director of digital for the Children’s Hospital Association, she led the digital architecture for the organization’s recent rebrand. Her career includes driving digital growth and customer loyalty for major national brands including Hertz and Boost Mobile.

Lisa Ruisch is a growth-focused marketing executive with expertise in integrated content strategy, digital marketing, and data‑driven campaign leadership. She has a demonstrated record of elevating brand visibility, strengthening customer engagement, and generating meaningful organizational growth across complex product portfolios. As director of marketing at the Children’s Hospital Association, she leads enterprise marketing strategy for a national network of more than 200 member hospitals, guiding high‑performing teams to advance organizational objectives and the mission of children’s hospitals.

Disrupting the status quo and forging new ways to collaborate with technical teams is essential to positioning your organization as thought leaders. Are we truly aware of the challenges our technical teams face that lead to breakdowns in creative momentum? We must modify our processes, build relationships, and identify barriers—whether it's AI, overloaded schedules, or misunderstood expectations. This presentation will discuss common challenges faced when collaborating with technical counterparts, along with a framework to overcome them. Through collaborative content creation, communication professionals can leverage the technical expertise of their colleagues to develop accurate and relevant thought leadership content.

About the Speaker: 

Emily Izard is a Content Coordinator at Bartlett & West, where she collaborates with technical teams across multiple sectors to strategize and develop thought leadership materials, webinars and presentations, social media, and proposal content. With over eight years of experience in communication and marketing, including several years working in the museum field and for a government agency before transitioning over to the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry, she brings a unique perspective when collaborating with technical teams. Emily holds a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies from Thomas Edison State University, in Trenton, New Jersey.​​

With traditional marketing and communications roles increasingly at risk from technology and other factors, Julie Bartels Smith, Megan Neher and Byron Ginsburg can share how they have transitioned and adapted to prior similar threats and events.

They have found success and fulfillment by moving in different directions within and outside of the industry, and aim to create awareness of three income types they have individually achieved. They're not advocating job quitting, only that attendees at least consider other-income opportunities as they navigate their home responsibilities and careers at any age or stage.

About the Speakers:

Byron Ginsburg is a 15-year, self-employed writer whose clients have included Creative Planning, BOK Financial, C2FO, Embolden and Health Partnership Clinic. He also manages residences for Kansas City homeowners who travel extensively. He earlier enjoyed marketing and finance roles in the telecom, promotional apparel and commercial furniture sectors. 

Byron earned a BS degree in journalism from the University of Kansas and an MBA from Avila University. 

Formerly a board member at The Freelance Exchange of Kansas City, he mentors aspiring entrepreneurs at UMKC’s Regnier Institute and business founders at the Enterprise Center of Johnson County’s Growth Mentoring Service. For many years, he helped plan KC SuperStar, a Top-10 local fundraising event benefiting the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City. 

Megan Neher
With over 30 years in PR and marketing, Megan’s experience spans various industries, from global corporations to small businesses. For 20 years, she led her own firm, Megan Neher Public Relations, specializing in creative, tailored PR and digital marketing campaigns. She has also directed marketing for an international humanitarian nonprofit, managed corporate communications for a public company, worked as an editor and journalist, and served as a PR supervisor at a major ad agency. Since August 2024, she has been a full-time assistant professor at Johnson County Community College, teaching social media, advertising, and digital marketing.

Julie Bartels Smith, ABC, has worked in corporate communications for 40+ years. She has led communications for two local health systems, American Century Investments and JPMorgan. For the last 17 years, she’s owned JBSmith Communications, Inc., where she consults and writes in the fields of health care, engineering, financial services, HR and insurance. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia and has received numerous local and national awards. She volunteers regularly for KC/IABC and other professional and civic organizations. Julie also loves reading, cooking, walking, traveling with her husband and her gal-pals, and spending one-on-one time with her five grandkids.

Three years ago, employee communications at the AAFP consisted of a part‑time role focused mainly on HR programs and operational calls to action. Today, they have a three‑person team driving alignment with the company’s strategic plan and revenue priorities, as well foundational HR and IT programs. In this session, the Director of Employee and Leadership Communications and Senior Communications Strategist will share how they built a more strategic employee communications function, secured leadership buy‑in and transformed internal channels—including the intranet, weekly email, quarterly Team Huddles, weekly CEO blog and Viva Engage communities—into trusted platforms with 90%+ engagement. Attendees will gain both strategic insights and practical channel management tips to elevate communications, strengthen culture, increase alignment and knowledge, and prove impact through measurable results.

About the Speakers

Julie DeVoe
A former journalist and lifelong student of people, Julie DeVoe has more than 30 years of experience leading employee and executive communications and helping organizations connect their people, purpose and performance. Known for building connections-focused and high impact employee and executive communications programs, Julie specializes in aligning messaging with business priorities to drive clarity, engagement and measurable results. Julie has led communications strategy across global teams, guided executives through major transformations and developed frameworks that elevate internal storytelling into a strategic business lever. A frequent advisor to senior leaders, Julie is passionate about creating communication systems that empower employees, strengthen culture and accelerate organizational outcomes.

Jules Stutterheim brings more than 20 years of experience crafting award-winning, impactful content across ecommerce, non-profit, healthcare and higher education sectors for internal and external audiences. She has guided teams and projects of all shapes and sizes—leading successful launches of websites, intranets, systems and workflows. During the last few years, Jules has shifted primarily to employee communications where she focuses on what she loves best: building partnerships, improving connections to organizational mission and purpose, and helping employees feel empowered, informed and valued.

Struggle to come up with what to post next? You’re not alone. In this session, you’ll learn how to turn one simple idea into 100 pieces of content you can use on any platform. You’ll walk through the ten content focuses, ten content formats, and content multipliers to never run out of ideas again. Plan with ease—so content creation feels lighter, faster, and actually fun again.

About the Speaker

Torey Berndt is the Owner of toreystories, where she helps you do you better through a mix of systems, strategy, and self-care. She helps people get their time back, build their business, tell their story, and take care of themselves—with ease and intention. Her work reminds others that structure isn’t restriction, it’s support. A mental health advocate and self-care enthusiast, Torey believes organization and compassion can coexist beautifully. When she’s not helping others find their rhythm, she’s probably talking about Trello, listening to Taylor Swift, or drinking coffee at a campground with her forever partner, Derek.

Join fellow attendees for BCS 101, the first-of-its-kind team activity that tests your knowledge from the sessions you’ve attended, and provides some insights into the things you might have missed.