Industry Leaders to Address ‘Image-Building Conference’

MANAMA, 18 March 2007 — The International Public Relations Association - Gulf Chapter (IPRA-GC) has announced the names of speakers and panelists for the “Changing Communications, Communicating Change: PR & Image-Building Conference and Exhibition” being held here from March 20-22, with the support of Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa ibn Salman Al-Khalifa.

Communicators and experts will tackle key issues related to international and PR. They include Prince Turki Al-Faisal, chairman of the board of King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, Dr. James Zogby, founder and president of Arab American Institute, Dr. Mohammad Abdul Ghaffar, minister of information of Bahrain, Ambassador Theodore Kattouf, president and CEO of AMIDEAST, Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed, general manager of Al-Arabiya, Dr. Majeed Al-Alawi, minister of labor of Bahrain, Mustafa Jalali, vice president of Saudi Aramco affairs, Dr. Mohammed Barkindo, acting for the OPEC secretary general and OPEC secretariat, Red Cavaney, president and CEO of American Petroleum Institute, Dr. Majid Al-Moneef, Saudi Arabia’s governor to OPEC, Mona Al-Marri, chairperson of Dubai Press Club, Mohamed Al-Ayed, president and CEO of Trans-Arabian Creative Communications (TRACCS), Khaled Almaeena, editor in chief of Arab News, Dr. Masoud Al-Kandari, assistant professor of mass communication, Gulf University for Science and Technology, professor Ali Shwail Al-Qarni, president, Saudi Association for Media & Communication and associate professor of Journalism and International Communication at King Saud University, Sultan Al-Bazie, co-founder and CEO of Attariq Communications.

Hasan Al-Hasan, president of IPRA-GC, said: “Our speakers are highly influential figures in the public and international relations industry and they help to shape communication and its various disciplines.”

The conference will address the changes in communications media with the advent of continuously evolving new technologies and channels from one-to-many and passive communication to one-to-one and interactive communication thereby redefining the role and scope of PR.

Topics include image of the petroleum industry in the world, image of the Gulf region in the international media, developing national capabilities/indigenous human resources in PR, crisis communication, corporate social responsibility, election campaigns, challenges for women in the PR industry, and other PR and media related issues.

Delegates can register via the IPRA-GC website: www.ipra-gc.com/conference/index.html and follow the easy steps indicated.

The conference is sponsored by Saudi Aramco, Ministry of Information of Bahrain; Tariq Al-Qahtani & Bros Co. as diamond sponsor; Al-Yaum newspaper, Al-Ayam newspaper and Al-Arabiya as media sponsors; Attariq Communication, the National Commercial Bank, Gift Mart International and Trans-Arabian Creative Communications Services as platinum sponsors; and Petro Rabigh, Al-Falak, Techint, Al-Zamel Company and the Committee for International Trade (CIT) as gold Sponsors.