Agenda

Kick off the 2nd annual Recovery.com Marketing Summit and get to know your fellow attendees.

Join our expert panel for a focused discussion on the key industry trends shaping the behavioral health landscape. This session will address the profound impacts of technological advancements, economic shifts, and social changes on marketing and business development strategies.

We will explore how these macro trends are redefining the patient journey, influencing consumer behavior, and challenging traditional business models. The panel will offer insights on adapting to these changes, emphasizing the importance of data-driven decisions and integrated strategies to ensure long-term success in a rapidly evolving industry.

Join Gregg Champion, Co-Founder and Program Director of START UP RECOVERY & WELLNESS, for an inspiring address on resilience in the face of adversity. Gregg will share his deeply personal journey following the devastating January 7th fires in Pacific Palisades, where he lost his home, nearly 70% of his business, and his community.

He'll candidly discuss the profound impact on his mental health, the irreplaceable losses, and the new strengths and insights that have emerged. Discover how these events have reshaped START UP RECOVERY's brand, vision, and mission, fueling a renewed commitment to advancing behavioral health and the Los Angeles recovery community.

This talk offers a powerful testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the ongoing journey of recovery, hope, and renewal.

You’ll walk away learning:

• How to lead with integrity, discover what truly matters, and find genuine solutions when facing unexpected personal and professional devastation.
• How crisis can ignite team unity, accelerate growth, redefine purpose, and deepen commitment for any mission-driven business.
• Why emotional strength, mental well-being, and new connections are critically important when facing profound challenges. 

Kick off the first evening of the Recovery.com Marketing Summit on the rooftop of Monona Terrace! You'll enjoy beautiful sunset views over Lake Monona, just a 10-minute walk from The Concourse. Mingle with peers while enjoying a variety of dinner stations and refreshing non-alcoholic drinks. It's the perfect way to connect, unwind, and prepare for an exciting conference ahead!

Join us for a supportive and confidential 12-step meeting, offering a space for shared experience, strength, and hope on the journey of recovery. All are welcome.

Join us for a quick morning welcome to recap key takeaways from Day 1 and preview the exciting sessions ahead.

What makes someone choose you in a moment of crisis or care-seeking?

This keynote reframes brand not as a logo or marketing tool, but as the most powerful bridge between someone’s need for help and their decision to reach out. Drawing on marketing science, including Byron Sharp’s work on mental and physical availability, Emma Stapleton shows how a brand can become a real driver of growth, trust, and better outcomes in recovery services.

With sector relevance and practical insight, this session reveals how a strong brand helps people remember, trust, and choose your service when it matters most. It also highlights the vital role Recovery.com plays in enabling physical availability, helping providers become more accessible, findable, and referable at scale. This isn’t a branding pep talk. It’s a call to action for leaders ready to stand out in a competitive, increasingly professionalized market.

Learning objectives:

• Reframe brand as a strategic and service-critical asset, not just a marketing layer.
• Understand how to apply the concept of mental and physical availability (from Byron Sharp’s research) to recovery services, and use it to build trust, relevance, and reach.
• Identify practical brand-building actions that increase distinctiveness, improve referrals, and support sustainable growth.

Join our expert panel for a discussion on the essential role of human connection and vulnerability in marketing within the behavioral health sector. This session will explore how sharing authentic personal stories and experiences can build trust, break down barriers, and effectively drive admissions.

Panelists will discuss how leveraging genuine connection—rather than relying on stock images or conventional marketing tactics—can help organizations stand out and demonstrate the true value of their services. Learn how to tie personal experiences back to marketing strategies to enhance engagement and foster a deeper connection with clients and professional users.

Join our expert panel for a comprehensive discussion on the evolving role of Artificial Intelligence in behavioral healthcare. This session will bridge the gap between abstract AI concepts and their practical, real-world applications, exploring how AI is reshaping the patient journey from initial contact to long-term recovery.

Panelists will delve into how AI is being used today to streamline operations, enhance patient interactions through AI agents that foster greater comfort and honesty, and redefine the future of search in behavioral health. Discover how organizations can leverage AI to augment human capabilities, manage information effectively, and provide more compassionate and efficient care. The discussion will also cover the critical balance between technological advancement and maintaining the essential human connection in care delivery.

Join our expert panel for a discussion on the critical role of branding in the behavioral health sector. Despite being the single most overlooked opportunity in the industry, effective branding is essential for setting yourself apart in a competitive landscape.

This session will seek to define the fuzzy concept of "brand," discuss how it functions as a compounding asset that builds equity value over time, and how to evolve your brand as you grow. We will explore actionable strategies for building and evolving a strong brand, including smart investments in content marketing and leveraging employee testimonials for recruitment and brand building. Learn why investing in your brand is vital for long-term success.

• A checklist of what makes a location page more effective
• How to present what sets your center apart—without sounding like everyone else
• A follow-up plan to optimize both your website and your Recovery.com profile

Join Jen Carvalho, CEO at The Haven at College, for a critical discussion on the intrinsic value of staff engagement in the behavioral health industry. This session will tackle the escalating costs of training and high staff turnover, defining how professional development directly boosts employee satisfaction and career advancement.

We'll explore actionable strategies to refine your talent management approaches, focusing on investing in staff throughout their entire employment lifecycle—from strategic recruitment to ongoing professional growth opportunities that foster skill development and advancement. Discover how prioritizing employee well-being and development creates a supportive environment that reduces turnover, enhances quality of care, and fosters a culture of loyalty and excellence.

You’ll walk away learning:

• What attracts top talent to a treatment provider
• The value of mentorship in today’s workforce
• The fundamental role of culture in retention and cost-saving efforts

Recovery.com centers every product decision on the patient. We constantly ask ourselves, "How can we best connect patients with the right providers?", knowing this tremendously impacts their recovery. In this session, you'll hear directly from Recovery.com’s Chief Product Officer, Senior Product Manager, and VP of Research about our latest product updates and get a chance to provide your input on how we can make better matches in the future.

Join our expert panel for a comprehensive exploration of leveraging technology to drive growth and efficiency in behavioral health. This session will guide you through building a robust tech stack, from foundational systems to advanced AI applications. We'll discuss how the right technology can streamline operations, enhance patient journeys, and empower your team to achieve more.

Unlock the secrets to patient conversion with insights from Jeremiah Calvino as he distills crucial user research findings into actionable strategies. This session will watch real people using (or not!) treatment providers’ websites. Learn how to transform your website's effectiveness by better understanding the patient journey.

You can tell someone about the value of treatment and the fact that recovery is possible.

Or you can share an intimate, first-person story of lived experience and feel that message.

The impact is different.

Join our expert panel for a dynamic discussion on the constructive use of storytelling in mental health and substance use disorders. This session will explore how authentic narratives can effectively break down stigma, facilitate peer recovery, and enhance organizational reputation and stakeholder relationships. 

After sessions wrap up, stop by the Recovery.com office! Just a two-minute walk from the Madison Concourse, it's a great chance to meet more of the team and explore our space. You'll also have the opportunity to go off-site and get an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of our podcast studio. 

Join us as we close out the Summit with dinner on the rooftop of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA). Just a four-minute walk from The Concourse, you'll enjoy stunning views of the Capitol building and bustling State Street as we celebrate a successful Summit and look forward to future connections. It's the perfect setting to reflect on insights gained and say farewell to new friends.

Appetizers and non-alcoholic drinks will be available starting at 6:00 p.m. and dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m.