While most of you are in the throes of summer, the IHAF team is in the throes of planning our biggest event of the year—the IHAF Conference & Awards. This year’s conference is about future proofing your in-house agency, with a national panel of speakers delivering a mix of keynotes and how-to sessions to help your team to be ready and resilient in the future.

The first conference keynote we’re announcing is Collin Whitehead, who leads Brand Studio and UX Writing at Dropbox. In a session entitled Designing Time Travel, Collin will talk about the importance of creative teams thinking ahead—including making time and creating space for new ideas to flourish while building a sustainable model that delivers high-impact work. Future proofing the in-house agency at Dropbox starts with living in the future. Collin will show us how.

In addition to the quality keynotes conference goers have come to expect from IHAF year after year, we’re introducing something new for 2019—a series of training sessions called Skills Labs that span assorted competencies that those working in house need to adopt and become adept at to be ready for what’s next. Here’s a look at a few of the Skills Labs we’re offering this year:

Building the Future of In-House Agency Management. If you want to learn how to empower your employees to reach their greatest potential, this is the session for you. Cecilia Gorman, Founder of Creative + Talent + Partners will walk us through four must-have skills for preparing the next generation of in-house agency leaders to step into bigger roles and impact the talent on their teams.

EBC & The Mysterious Case of the Iridescent Birds. This colorful training features Grant Gudgel, VP and Head of Teads Studio at Teads.tv. Grant will teach us about the inspired world of evidence-based creative (EBC), where savvy brands meld human insight with automation to create real-time feedback loops between media and creative. EBC can help us understand how to better connect with audiences to enhance results.

The Last Hurdle: How to Sell What You Create. Also, joining us this year is Creative Director and Presentation Skills Coach, Kerry Feuerman of Last Hurdle. Kerry will teach us how to win over an audience quickly by focusing our presentations on what really matters, eliminating objections before they happen, and communicating our ideas clearly, concisely and convincingly. (Who doesn’t need to learn how to do this better?)

Ideas Are Currency: Ask Better Questions, Get Richer Answers. In this lab, Sarah Robertson, Managing Partner and Creative Coach at Before & After, will school us on the benefits of exploring hundreds of ideas when trying to solve a problem or conceive a new campaign. “Ideas are currency,” says Sarah. “The more you have, the richer you are and the more successful you’ll be.” It’s brainstorming on steroids!

As we inch toward the event in November, we’ll continue populating our agenda with sessions and speakers, so be sure to touch back to our conference site often. And remember, IHAF members who register before August 1 will enjoy early-bird savings on your tickets.

Of course, if you are not yet a member of IHAF, this is a great time to join us. In the meantime, mark your calendar for Future Proof—the 2019 IHAF Conference & Awards on November 13-14 at the Revere Hotel Boston Common in historic Boston, MA. Register today!