The Art of Storytelling with Justin Sikora
Thursday December 8, 2022
Darden’s Restaurant Support Center
1000 Darden Center Dr.
Orlando, FL 32837
Registration and Networking 11:30 a.m.
Program: 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Host: Jose Luis Dieppa
Sponsor: Darden Restaurants
About the Speaker
What makes a memorable story? How can a great story be told with clarity to various audiences? What level of creativity helps or hinders an important message? PR professionals tell stories every day, but these questions are often considered when crafting them. Join FPRA Orlando for a lunch & learn on The Art of Storytelling featuring Darden Restaurants’ Senior Vice President of Communications Justin Sikora. Attendees will learn new methods on how to create and tell stories effectively to both internal and external audiences along with key learnings from Justin’s tenured career telling stories for various brands, including Darden, Time Warner (DC Entertainment) and Unilever’s AXE and Dove brands.
Parking Instructions (not included in event ticket price): Attendees can park at the parking lot outside the Darden building.
About the Speaker:
Justin Sikora, Senior Vice President, Communications
Justin Sikora was named Senior Vice President, Communications for Darden Restaurants in June 2019. Justin oversees all corporate and brand communications — including public relations, internal communications, social media, and digital marketing, which includes CRM, search, email marketing and digital properties.
The Communications team’s reputation-building and marketing public relations strategy is focused on media relations, third-party relationship development, and the strategic positioning of Darden executives and internal subject matter experts. In addition, the team is responsible for issues management and crisis communications for Darden and its restaurant brands.
Darden owns and operates more than 1,700 Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, and Eddie V’s restaurants in North America, employing 185,000 people and serving nearly 400 million guests annually.
Justin joined Darden in 2011 as Director, Marketing Public Relations where he was responsible for developing and executing strategic public relations plans to build awareness and help drive increased sales and traffic across all Darden restaurant brands. He was also responsible for social media at Olive Garden, leading a cross-functional team comprised of guest relations, brand marketing and public relations professionals. Justin was promoted to Senior Director in February 2015 and Vice President in August 2015.
Prior to joining Darden, Justin served as Vice President at Edelman Worldwide, the world’s largest independent public relations firm. While there, he was responsible for overseeing the planning and execution of numerous national traditional, digital, and social media campaigns for clients such as Time Warner (DC Entertainment) and Unilever’s AXE and Dove brands.
Justin earned a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations and Communications from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis.