European Communication Summit 2020

Prof. Dr Ana Adi is professor for Public Relations and Corporate Communications at Quadriga University of Applied Sciences Berlin.

Being a true cosmopolitan, Prof. Adi is looking back on a broad portfolio of experience at an international level. Amongst other things, she has lived, worked and taught in the USA, Great Britain, Belgium, Bahrain, Thailand and Romania. In the course of her academic career, Prof. Dr Adi received a B.A. Hons in Communication & Public Relations from the SNSPA in Romania plus two master’s degrees, one of them as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Missouri. She received her doctor’s degree in the field of Communication & Media Studies on the grounds of her research on the Olympic Games’ coverage and presentation in the media.

Prof. Dr Adi is a firm advocatress of internationalising the field of education and – as a member of the Social Media Global Education Connection Project – actively campaigns for a competent utilisation of social media in research and teaching.

The first recruitment professional ever-listed in PRWeek’s global ‘Power Book 500’, Katrina is the founder of Andrews Partnership, Asia’s leading corporate affairs, communications and investor relations specialist executive search firm. Based in Hong Kong, Katrina previously led the Asia-Pacific operations of a boutique communications recruitment firm as well as for Melcrum, a global specialist in internal communications research.

Edna Ayme-Yahil is Head of Marketing and Communications at Panalpina, a Swiss-based provider of forwarding and logistics services, specialising in intercontinental air and ocean freight and associated supply chain management. She is also Founder and Principal of DigiComms, a communications consultancy that works with corporate and public sector clients throughout Europe

Edna has over 15 years experience in multinationals (Philip Morris International, STMicroelectronics), international organisations (UNESCO/OECD) and academia, covering a full range of disciplines, from internal communications to external relations to online communications.

She is also Managing Vice President of the European Association of Communications Professionals (EACD).

John Bache laid the foundation of his career in New Zealand, where throughout the 1990s he was responsible for the full spectrum of brand activities and agency relationships for several national and multi-national organisations.

After moving to his adopted home Germany in 2002, John has spent the majority of the last 16 years running branding projects for his clients at leading global digital agencies Razorfish and AKQA, the pan-European broadcaster Eurosport, and Germany’s largest TV and digital media production house Plazamedia.

Now specialised in helping German organisations with budgeting, planning and executing brand change, he is also the voice behind the German-language brand podcast SiebenMeilenMarken (www.siebenmeilenmarken.de), and over the course of his career has worked together with some of the world's most brand-savvy companies such as adidas, ASICS, Audi, BMW, Deutsche Telekom, DHL, Intel, Mack Trucks, Merck, MINI, Motorola, Porsche, Red Bull, Sony, Swarovski, Toyota, UBS & Volkswagen.

John is a member of the European Association of Communication Directors (EACD).

Since end of 2015 Martin Bachler heads the Projects and Strategic Communication Planning department at OSRAM Licht AG.
Previously, as Director Governmental Affairs, he represented OSRAM's interests within several associations and the European Commission. At the same time, he also represented OSRAM in the United Nations Environment Program Initiative "United for Efficiency". Bachler, who studied European Business Studies in Regensburg and La Rochelle, has been working at OSRAM since 2004. Until 2013 he was responsible for various lamp and light technologies at several stations as Product Marketing Manager and Portfolio Manager.

Dr. Lukasz M. Bochenek is Managing Director, International Strategy and Client Service at Leidar. Based in the Geneva HQ, he leads an international team across Geneva, Brussels and London. He supports international companies, organizations and NGOs across sectors to develop effective engagement strategies, processes and measurement frameworks.

As one of the three founders and CEOs of the German digital business agency Torben, Lucie und die gelbe Gefahr, Christoph counsels international companies and brands in the strategic use of digital technologies. Even public authorities and NGOs seek the expertise of Bornschein and his team in dealing with the digital change. He has authored numerous essays and articles on digital change and social media, and he’s a popular speaker at conferences and board meetings. Furthermore Christoph accompanies international startups as a mentor and investor. Since December 2018 he has also been a member of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bank and advises on digital topics and issues.

Nanne Bos leads the Global Brand Management team at ING Group in Amsterdam. In that position, he is responsible for defining and executing the global branding strategy and the growth of the ING brand which stretches across 40 countries.

Prior to his current role at ING, Nanne was a member of the board of ING Insurance Benelux with responsibility for the brand and the reputation of the insurance activities in the Benelux. He has over 15 years of experience in media and technology with various companies including positions with Siemens, CMG and Atos Worldline.

Nanne holds an executive master degree of change management from INSEAD, Corporate Communications from the University of Exeter and a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Nanne is a member of the Supervisory Board of the International Brand and Reputation Community, INBREC and Dutch Regional Coordinator of the European Association of Communication Directors.

Alessandro Bracco is currently heading the Group Marketing and Branding function in the ROCKWOOL Group with the goal of driving its transition to a purpose-driven, fully digitilised organization. Alessandro and his team are helping the ROCKWOOL Group to continuously strengthen its brand portfolio through customer intimacy and a business-to-human communication approach. After spending nearly a decade working globally in business development and marketing for the leading player in wind energy, Alessandro knows what truly drives lead generation and conversion. It’s the how well you connect with the heart-beating people you’re trying to help and how you can communicate your unique support back to them.
Alessandro holds a BA in economics from Bocconi University and a MSC in International Management and Finance from Bocconi University and Stockholm School of Economics.

Victoria is Managing Director of Grayling Brussels’ Public Affairs & International Communications Department, where she leads pan-European and global campaigns. She works with a range of clients including multi-nationals and industry coalitions to develop communications and lobbying strategies in the areas of food, new technologies, and healthcare.

Barney has been working in communications and web development teams for over 20 years, spanning the two fields and in many ways acting as an interpreter between them. His work at the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and Forestry Commission England included designing intranets, running web workshops and developing digital strategies. Since 2008 Barney has been working for the University of Cambridge where he set up an award-winning Digital Communications Team.

Fergus has spent 15 years working in communications and marketing roles for a variety of brands and businesses in the UK and abroad, both in PR agencies (Blue Rubicon and Golin) and now in house at Gumtree – part of the eBay Classifieds Group. In his role at Gumtree he is focused on building the profile and reputation of the business within the UK, and rebutting misperceptions of the brand, by building proactive consumer and corporate campaigns.

While these activities are broad in nature – ranging from creating physical activities which bring the sharing economy to life, or showing tech-savvy audiences how a mature trading platform like Gumtree can help you get a job, declutter your home, or find a new flatmate – consistent to all is a fundamental belief that Gumtree is in the business of helping people. Fergus also sits on a number of industry groups and associations.

Oliver oversees all communications campaigns at the World Economic Forum. With a portfolio covering economics, climate change, the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and dozens of other institutional priorities in between, his recent work has generated huge worldwide media attention around critical global challenges such as ocean plastic, the future of work and the global gender gap. As a member of the Forum’s Executive Committee, Oliver is also responsible for the Forum’s brand identity and the publication of over 100 individual insight reports and white papers each year. Before joining the Forum in 2012, Oliver worked in the private sector, first as a partner in a London-based financial publishing business and then, following a successful sale in 2007, as an international media consultant.

Jon is CEO of Quiller. His vast experience integrating reputation into business strategy, building powerful campaigns and coaching leadership teams includes leading the Communications and Public Affairs teams in Europe, Eurasia and the Middle East at the Coca-Cola Company and Eastman Kodak. He is a Chair of the PRCA Council.

Jean-Paul Chapon is head of the Digital Communications and E-Reputation department at Société Générale, in charge of the e-Reputation strategy, the Group’s presence on social media and internal deployment of social platforms.

Previously he worked in the telecommunications sector, where he was responsible for the reorganisation of internal online tools, designed to take advantage of all Web 2.0 resources at Alcatel-Lucent and SFR. Jean-Paul Chapon is also the author of 'Paris est sa Banlieue', a popular blog on the difficult relationship between the city and its suburbs.

Jean-Paul is a member of the European Association of Communication Directors (EACD).

Sue is currently non-executive director on the boards of AkzoNobel, Imperial Brands, Britvic and Bakkavor and was formerly managing director of SABMiller Europe prior to its merger with Anheuser-Busch InBev in 2016. She joined SABMiller in 2003 as corporate affairs director and was a member of the executive team that built the business into a top five FTSE company. Previously, Sue held director of corporate affairs roles at Railtrack Group and Scottish Power demonstrating that broader business leadership roles can be realised through a career in communications.

Alexander Dick is a seasoned digital practitioner bridging business and product. He has a strong drive towards creating business value while building great user experiences and innovative products. He is transforming his experience from the corporate world (Microsoft) and the startup mentality (Vivino) into a lean melting pod at Velux as a Digital Business Development Manager.

Giulia joined Ferrero in April 2018 to lead the global corporate communications function as well as the sustainability department of the Ferrero Group. Her international career includes more than a decade with Unilever at its headquarters, as well as in Brussels and Africa. She has been senior advisor to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on private sector partnership engagement, and led negotiations culminating in the international agreement on climate change, food loss and waste and smallholders farmers between Unilever and FAO. She is a qualified attorney at law and before joining Unilever, Giulia led the Brussels-based EU office of Italian law firm Chiomenti Studio Legale and worked at both the European Commission and the European Parliament. She has a master's in European law and is a fellow of the Salzburg Global Seminar, as well as an alumna of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, UK. Giulia chairs the business and human rights programme at the European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC) in Venice.

Gosia is an experienced communication professional in both internal and external communications. After some years as an TV journalist she switched to public relations and communication. The last 13 years she has been contributing to Skanska – leader on the Polish construction-development market, a vital part of one of the biggest construction companies worldwide, listed on Stockholm SX.
Gosia has worked for all Skanska business units in Poland, including construction, commercial development and residential, managing communication and marketing. Now she serves as head of communications for the construction unit alone.
She is fascinated by other cultures and wildlife. Loves to travel. She combines two of her passions of travelling and communication by writing a travel blog [it is rather niche and unfortunately only in Polish] 😉
Gosia graduated from Warsaw University and Warsaw School of Economics.

Alexander joined Deutsche Telekom in 2012, where, since beginning of 2017, he is leading the Brand Management team. In that position, he is responsible for the global definition and execution of all brand strategy, design and implementation of the “T” brand.
Previously, as Director Corporate Brand Management, he was in charge for the global brand strategy and brand communications at B. Braun AG, one of the world’s leading healthcare providers (2006-2011).
Alexander started his carrier in 1999 as Marketing Manager at the Logistics division of Deutsche Bahn AG, after he studied business administration at the Universities of Mainz (Germany) and Dijon (France).

Nollaig Forrest is Vice President Corporate Communications at Firmenich, in charge of the Group’s global brand and reputation building; employee engagement and issues and crisis communications. Prior to Firmenich, Nollaig held leading communication roles at Dow, DuPont and the World Economic Forum with a focus on championing the leading role of science and business to enhance wellbeing. An active advocate for Responsible Business, Nollaig is a board member of the United Nations Global Compact Network Switzerland.

Nollaig holds a Masters Degree in International Relations from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva. She also pursued executive development programs in Leadership and International Marketing at INSEAD and IESE. Nollaig is both a Swiss and an Irish national and lives in Geneva with her husband and two daughters.

Michael has 20 years of experience in Corporate Responsibility (CR), social business & innovation and integrity & compliance management, in business and academia.
He is currently the Head of Social Innovation & Strategy at Novartis. His accountabilities reach from the implementation of the Novartis CR and access to medicines strategy, inclusive business model innovation, innovative finance, ESG Investor Relations, measurement & evaluation, materiality analysis, stakeholder engagement, policy etc. Since more than 10 years, Michael is a key partner for the business to develop and run social business models such as Novartis Access, Novartis Healthy Families that is now operating in a number of low income countries and has broken even after 30 months.
Previously, Michael had responsibilities for the development of the CR and access to medicines strategy of Novartis. He conducted the first materiality analysis of Novartis in 2006 that became an established management instrument in the company. He developed a new policy architecture for Novartis and the Integrity & Compliance program of Novartis, wrote an updated Human Rights Guideline, developed a framework to respond to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and is now being involved in conducting Human Rights Impact Assessments in a number of countries.
Michael was the Secretary of the CR Board of Novartis and is an author and editor of articles and books in the areas of CR, social entrepreneurship, integrity management, risk and good governance. Michael has a PhD with honors (summa cum laude) and was awarded for his academic work (PhD thesis) with the German Max Weber-Price for Business Ethics (2006).

Johanna Gebert, Strategic Communication Manager at OSRAM Licht AG, is an experienced communications professional. With her academic background in both Economics and Communications and experience from various positions in Investor Relations, Business Unit Strategy, and Political Communications in and outside of the company, she combines hands-on communications expertise with a strong strategic orientation and intrinsic drive to transform.

Claire Georges is a press officer at Europol – the EU Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, helping achieve a safer Europe through cross-channels communication campaigns on a budget. She was awarded the 2018 ‘Young Communicator of the Year’ distinction for Europol’s innovative EU Most Wanted postcard campaign which leveraged the power of crowdsourcing to catch Europe’s most dangerous criminals.

Prior to that, she spearheaded communication at the French Embassy in Ukraine during the Maidan Revolution and subsequent war in the Donbass. She holds a postgraduate degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Franco worked in the last 7 years as Communication Director of an international scientific institute in the agrifood sector. In the past he was Head of Digital in a top 10 ranked Italian Communication Marketing & PR agency. He has worked on several digital projects in many different market sectors. He is founder of Blockchaineeze.io, a new kind of Blockchain related PR Agency and at the same time a Knowledge Dissemination Hub In Blockchain & Digital Communication, with whom he deals with the collection and dissemination of knowledge on Blockchain issues applied to Marketing and Communication. He’s Member of the European Association of Communication Directors, writes in international magazines and regularly speaks at events in Italy and abroad.

Hanne has vast experience working to bridge the gap between the business and the digital product. She has great passion for exploring new digital opportunities to benefit the sales and marketing business and has high focus on the good user experience and successful stakeholder management. Her experience has been garnered from larger global companies such as Novozymes, MAN Energy Solutions, GN – and now VELUX where she supports growth through involvement in new innovative products and strategic initiatives in her role as Digital Business Development Manager.

Pierre Goad is Chief Communications Officer and Group Managing Director at HSBC Holdings plc. He has extensive international experience and was previously Global Head of Corporate Communications at Zurich Insurance Group in Switzerland, and before that held a series of strategy and communications roles at HSBC in Hong Kong and London. He was also a correspondent and editor at the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., The Wall Street Journal and Asian Wall Street Journal.

Pierre is also vice President of the European Association of Communication Directors (EACD

Anthony Gooch joined the OECD in 2008. He is responsible for developing and implementing the Organisation's public affairs, communications and publishing strategies engaging globally with the breadth non-governmental stakeholders on all areas of public policy.

During his time at the OECD, he co-ordinated the Organisation’s 50th Anniversary and its rejuvenated mission to deliver “Better Policies for Better Lives” by conceiving groundbreaking initiatives such as the Better Life Index (www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org). Through the ongoing Crisis he has worked to enhance the OECD's relevance in a changing world by combining its reputation for rigour and expertise with the latest communications and technological developments.

From 2006 to 2008, he headed the European Commission’s Media and Public Diplomacy operations in the United Kingdom. Between 2003 to 2006, he was based in Washington DC, heading the Commission's Media and Public Diplomacy operations in the United States, focusing on EU-US trade relations, competition cases such as Microsoft, EU global environmental and energy initiatives, bilateral negotiations on Open Skies and homeland security issues.

From 2002 to 2003, he was the EU’s Visiting Fellow to the University of Southern California Los Angeles Annenberg School, and became a Fellow of the USC Center for Public Diplomacy in 2005.

Between 1999 and 2002, he acted as the EU’s Trade Spokesman and special adviser to the EU’s then chief trade negotiator Commissioner Pascal Lamy, participating in WTO Ministerial Meetings in Seattle and launching the Doha Round, negotiating China's WTO entry, Free Trade Agreements with Latin American and African countries, launching the Everything but Arms Initiative and work to improve access to lifesaving medicines for the world’s poorest countries.

Anthony is also a member of the European Association of Communication Directors (EACD).

As Global Communications Solutions Lead, Abby Guthkelch is the Comms industry expert for the Workplace by Facebook team globally. Her focus is on advising our customers on Comms best practice, trends and thought leadership, as well as working closely with our engineering and product management teams specifically with our Comms customers in mind.

Prior to Workplace by Facebook, Abby has held a number of senior level Comms & Marketing roles both in-house and agency side - most recently as the Global Head of Social Media Engagement at HSBC, and Ketchum's UK Head of Digital. Abby has over 15 years' experience as a multi-industry, multi-channel content strategist and was ranked amongst the Top 25 marketing innovators in EMEA in 2017.

Cristina Hanganu is currently Director of Communication & CSR for Lidl Romania and leads the company's activities with regards to corporate communication, PR, internal communication, Social Media and CSR. She began her career more than 20 years ago and has broad experience across all areas of the industry: overall strategy, media relations, internal communications, CSR, BTL etc. as well as union relations in the business sector.

Kia Haring is leading Tieto’s global communication and sustainability team to drive positioning, reputation and development of the corporate culture. Kia has 20 years of experience in international marketing and communications and is passionate about the digital transformation and what new technologies can bring to these functions – as well as to the society as whole. Kia is actively discussing these topics on social media.

Ingo is a seasoned practitioner with close to 20 years of history in journalism and PR. Although he has seen many sides of the business, he has specialised in corporate reputation management, issues management and mergers & acquisitions.

Before his role as co-lead of Continental Europe at Hill+Knowlton Strategies and Chairman of H+K Netherlands, Ingo was CEO of H+K Netherlands. Before that he was a member of the Board of the Dutch operation, after having acted as the Group Manager for the Healthcare practice. This followed his position as senior consultant in the Corporate Communications practice.

Karin Helmstaedt is a Canadian-born journalist, moderator, and TV host based in Berlin. She studied in Toronto, Montreal and Paris, and had her first career as a member of Canada’s National Swim Team, participating in World Championships, Commonwealth and Pan American Games. It was from the international sporting arena that she embarked on her journalistic career, covering major sporting events, reporting extensively on doping, and eventually moving into broadcasting. Since 1999 she’s been one of the most constant faces on Germany’s global TV broadcaster Deutsche Welle, hosting news and cultural magazines as well as special events. Fluent in English, French and German, Karin is also a sought-after moderator and facilitator for conferences and events around Europe, with experience in a broad range of sectors including communications, food and agriculture, and rail transport.

Paul has 25 years’ experience in communications measurement. He has had a number of key industry roles at some of the world’s best-known media intelligence businesses, including co-owner and director of Metrica, Head of Analysis Operations at Gorkana, Head of Insight for Cision EMIA and most recently Chief Operations Officer for CARMA Europe and North America. Paul is an active member of AMEC and has played a leading role in industry initiatives such as the AMEC Integrated Evaluation Framework and Measurement Maturity Mapper (M3). He advises on measurement best practice, via webinars, guest lectures at universities and industry events. Paul has provided expert consultancy to some of the world’s largest and most recognised brands and has helped his clients to win more than 30 industry awards.

Enno Hennrichs is the head of the FleishmanHillard Technology, Manufacturing & Industrials Practice in Germany. Together with his teams in Munich, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt he is responsible for a host of tech clients covering everything from smaller SMEs up to global cooperations. He has profound experience in the field of strategic B2B communication, Corporate Comms and integrated campaigns. Additionally, he has headed global communication campaigns for some of the biggest tech firms in the world. Before joining FleishmanHillard in 2015, Enno worked as a senior account manager at Wächter & Wächter PR in Munich and was responsible for clients in the automotive, energy and special vehicles industry. During previous occupations in Heidelberg he has worked mainly in PR for consumer electronics and gaming clients.

Craig is a digital leader and self-professed tech geek with nearly 20 years’ experience of bringing together business and technical to deliver brilliant user experiences. He leads a team of digital specialists at UK banking group RBS who are focused on transforming the employee communications experience for 70,000 colleagues. While he’s responsible for the more run of the mill digital channels including intranet, video platforms and digital signage, he’s also responsible for Workplace by Facebook. RBS was one of the first organisations to pilot Workplace and it has grown to become one of the banks key communications channels and a driver of cultural change. Craig has even scooped a few awards along the way for his work on Workplace including ‘Most Impressive Business Results using Workplace’ in 2017, ‘Exemplary Chief Workplace Officer’ in 2018 at Facebook’s Transform conferences, as well as ‘Best Use of Interactive Media’ at the Institute of Internal Communications 2018 Awards.

Lasse Hoegfeldt is Head of Communications and Social Media at Jyske Bank and Editor-in-chief of Jyske Bank TV. He has been at the forefront of Content Marketing and Corporate Journalism since the beginning of the century. In 2008, he was the architect behind the award-winning tv-station, Jyske Bank TV – one of the world’s most ambitious corporate tv-stations. In the same period, he transformed the communication department into a Brand Newsroom with editorial workflows and an editorial staff. Lasse is also a popular keynote speaker in Denmark and abroad.

From March 2012, Angela Howarth has been Climate-KIC’s Head of Communications. She is responsible for leading corporate communications for this European initiative on climate change.

Angela has and continues to develop and build brand reputation for Climate-KIC. She has created a corporate brand strategy and partner brand strategy that has been implemented across Climate-KIC’s 13 European hubs. In this role she is also responsible for the Climate-KIC communications strategy, media relations, managing creative suppliers and leads the corporate communications team from across Europe.

Angela has a wide range of past experience working with organisations such as the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Greater London Authority, London Remade and London Borough of Lambeth. Angela’s campaigns have received numerous awards, namely the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Know Before You Go Champions League PR Campaign which won the Government Agencies and Parties category at the European Excellence Awards 2009 and the Travel marketing award runner up in the innovative marketing category 2011 for Tales of the unexpected bookmarks distributed in high street bookshops.

Angela is also a Member of the Board of the European association of Communication Directors (EACD).

Dorian has a background of 15 years working in communication & PR. His expertise is centered around campaign/project management, strategy and brand communication. In recent years together with the team at Rogalski Damaschin Public Relations he was awarded multiple times at international festivals - Cannes Lions (Gold Lion in 2016 for Salveaza Ciocarlia and Silver Lion in 2018 for MagicHome), SABRE, Digital Communication Award, but also at local festivals such as Effie (Grand Effie in 2018 for MagicHome) and Romanian PR Award, where he fulfilled the role of a juror twice. In 2018 Rogalski Damaschin PR was awarded PR Agency of the Year by the local industry, the highest distinction for an agency.

Lina Jakucioniene has been the Head of Corporate Communication at ERGO Insurance Group in the Baltic States since 2009.

Previous to this, she worked as Head of Public Institution “European Innovation Projects” and Head of the PR company “EIP Communication”, as well as her earlier work, from 2000-2007 as Head of Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Lithuania.

Lina Jakucioniene has been the Head of Corporate Communication at ERGO Insurance Group in the Baltic States since 2009.

Previous to this, she worked as Head of Public Institution “European Innovation Projects” and Head of the PR company “EIP Communication”, as well as her earlier work, from 2000-2007 as Head of Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Lithuania.

Christoph Kamps is a Berlin-based entrepreneur in media and content marketing. In 1994 he founded his first company – an East German TV channel. Since then he was driven by innovating brand communications. As founder of the KMB Creative Network, he creates brand images for international brands such as Vans, Hugo Boss, Amazon, Mercedes-Benz, Samsung or Jack Daniels. In 2016 he co-founded Le Buzz – the first influencer marketing magazine and relations software. His most recent project is the “No Commercials Studio” – a network of the world’s finest social media creators.

Eckhard Klockhaus, founder, managing director and supervisory board, has been involved in the digitization of companies and work processes for more than 20 years. As a keynote speaker and blogger on the topics of the digital future, agile processes and corporate communications, he combines visionary approaches with pragmatic recommendations. Eckhard has worked on projects for numerous broadcasters, media companies and publishers before he dedicated himself to the topic of editorial processes for corporate communicators. He describes himself as a nerd with management experience. In his lectures he combines humor, down-to-earthness and specialist knowledge and motivates the participants to break new ground.

In her position as Head of Locations Communication Tire Division at Continental, Ms. Kovacs is responsible for managing globally the communication for the 22 tire plants of the corporation. In her current position since 2011, Ms. Kovacs has built up a team of around 30 international professionals and implemented new structures, processes and tools for successful location communication. Continuous learning and the development of the global team are a high priority as well as a core element for ensuring the quality of the communications and ultimately the team’s success. Ms. Kovacs is an alumnus of the Quadriga University in Berlin, where she graduated in 2015 as MBA Communication and Leadership.

Mounira is the Founder and CEO of Connected Business a company that brings compassion and mindfulness into work life. She thrives by empowering people to find their authentic way.

Mounira brings 15+ years of leadership experience at international brands like Google, Red Bull and BMW. Next to heading PR for YouTube DACH and later heading the YouTube Space she was one of the pioneers of the mindfulness community at Google; it’s success gave her the opportunity to give mindfulness trainings as her 20% project to offices, teams and leaders around the globe.

She was one of the initial founders of the mindfulness conference MIND and is a member of the Mindful Leadership Institute.

Mounira is also an international certified Search Inside Yourself trainer, trains teachers and gives mindfulness & compassion keynotes and trainings to business people and companies all over the world. Mindfulness practice guided her personal empowerment and taught her strategies to become a better leader, learn skills to work in the digital time and shape a new culture - sharing this experience lies at the heart of her work.

Dirk Lenaerts is Joint Managing Director of CS&A. Dirk works with clients internationally to assess risk, evaluate their crisis management capabilities and designs response structures and processes specifically suited to their organization, environment, culture, and the risks and issues they face.

Dirk Lenaerts is particularly involved in the development of products and tools, such as Crisiscom© and the FAtool©, that help clients enhance their risk and crisis management capability. He leads the research and planning of risk and crisis scenarios as well as the organization, management and debrief of crisis simulation exercises.

Cristian Lupşa is the founder and editor of DoR (Decât o Revistă), a quarterly magazine devoted to narrative journalism and telling the stories of modern day Romania. He also writes, lectures, and trains people on the transformational impact true stories can have on a culture still seeking its identity. Cristian graduated from the University of Bucharest in 2003, and then, in 2005, earned an MA in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia, the world’s oldest journalism school. He returned to Romania in 2007, and joined Esquire Romania as a senior editor. In 2009, Cristian and a group of rebellious journalists started DoR, a magazine – though some would call it a movement – predicated on the idea that good nonfiction storytelling can change people and communities. In 2011, continuing the mission of DoR, they started The Power of Storytelling, an international storytelling conference which has grown to be the largest in the region. Cristian is also an alumni of Aspen Institute Romania’s Young Leaders program. He spent the 2013-2014 academic year as a fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.

Sean MacNiven is the global head of search and community within SAP’s product support organisation. Prior to this role, he led the public relations social media team, and the implementation and development of most of SAP’s key internal and external online news platforms. He is also an active researcher around communications, reputation and change management.

Duccio Manetti studied Philosophy of Language and Philosophy of Science at the University of Florence in Italy. Following his first degree, he earned a second degree in Science of Communication and a PhD in Cognitive Sciences.

After his studies he was appointed Junior Professor and Researcher at the University of Florence and collaborated with local institutions and government for scientific divulgation and communication projects, both online and through local events. Duccio Manetti is the Editorial Manager and founder of the international scientific journal Humana.Mente (www.humanamente.eu).

In 2011 he joined General Electric’s Digital Internal Communications Dept. and he then held the position of Global Digital Strategist for the Oil & Gas business and various global marketing communication roles for GE Oil & Gas headquarters. Today he is Demand Generation & Commercialization Manager for BHGE, managing commercialization and marketing of main product lines.

Rui Martins is Director of Corporate Communication and Public Affairs at Dianova Portugal. He is Regional Coordinator for Portugal at EACD since 2008 and Member of the Jury of ECA Awards since 2016. He is the Campaigns National Coordinator for Portugal at the European Commission and European Parliament since 2009. Prior, has been Member of Advisory at IntellCorp, member of the International Committee at World Communication Forum Davos and Kuala Lumpur, Executive Director at Tinkle Lisboa PR Firm, Associate Director at Hill & Knowlton Strategies Portugal and Senior Associate at Burson-Marsteller Lisbon as Corporate Technology Practice Leader.

With more than 21 years of experience and significant responsibilities in the areas of Reputation & Change Management, Public Affairs, Digital Communications & Social Media, he has the ability to meet expected goals and overachieve desired goals, strong communication skills, strategic development, leadership and team engagement, persuasion and influence, networking and entrepreneurial thinking, in the private & public sectors, both in worldwide consultancy and in house, at European and International levels.

Anisa has over nine years experience working in Communications and leads the UK corporate, brand and trade communication strategy for pladis UK&I and in 2017 year was awarded European Young Communicator 2017 at the European Association of Communications Directors in Brussels. Prior to joining pladis (previously known as United Biscuits), Anisa led Digital at the FTSE international infrastructure Group, Balfour Beatty. Previous to that, Anisa spent her early career in the transport and logistics industry with CEVA Logistics international in Amsterdam where she had a global remit across internal and external communications. She is the co-founder of 'unplugged' an initiative created to inspire and empower individuals to focus on their personal brand and harness the sharing of personal insight, values and culture in the workplace.

Anna is a commercial business leader with more than 20 years’ international experience. Having previously led global communications at law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and then Coats Group plc, in 2015, Anna successfully moved from corporate affairs to operational and P&L roles as managing director of Coats Crafts UK. In late 2016 she was asked to set up a new global business unit to service Coats’ smaller manufacturing customers through a purely online business model. Anna now consults to listed and privately held companies in manufacturing, fintech and professional services.
Anna has established and led global diversity and inclusion programmes focused on moving more women into senior management roles and has board experience as a trustee director on a listed company pension plan.

Emma Monks is VP of Crisis Intelligence for Crisp. She is a specialist in the detection of brand risks found online and on social media. She has over 20 years' experience in the industry, protecting global brands from a wide range of risks, including ensuring regulatory compliance on social media, reporting adverse events, identifying emerging PR issues and detecting security threats online.

Serial Entrepreneur in XR, KI and Mobile: currently CEO of ZREALITY, Founding Partner of DDG – Digital Devotion Group, Founder and formerly CEO of Netbiscuits GmbH – The Worlds’s Leading Mobile Application Platform.

Stefan Nerpin is Senior Vice President of Marketing, Communications & Public Affairs at Volvo Bus Corporation, a world leading manufacturer of buses and coaches, operating with 8,000 people in +140 countries and with revenues of EUR 2,5 billion. In previous roles as CCO/CMO for DNV GL Group, Vattenfall Group, SEB Group, and at TNT Global Express, Stefan together with his teams developed global brands and advanced profitable business growth in highly competitive markets. He has managed mergers and acquisitions with re-branding, business re-modeling and digital transformation, customer development, company/CEO positioning and organizational change. A common ambition has been to engage customers and key stakeholders in pioneering industry transformation, technology innovation, and safe and sustainable enterprise. Stefan holds a degree in Business and Economics (Civilekonom) from the University of Lund, Sweden.

With more than 20 years of experience in the global media industry, François previously led international senior roles at AFP news wire and media giant RTL Group. Now CMO at Kantar Media, he oversees the strategic positioning, communications and go-to-market plans for the EMEA region. He is in charge of deploying the renewed Kantar Media offer in the different markets, integrating online and offline media data, analysis and insights, for media reputation management, audience segmentations, advertising monitoring and all-device media measurement.

Matt has spent 15 years advising senior communicators from some of the world’s most respected brands on how to measure and manage their corporate reputations, and engage more effectively with the people who matter most to their businesses. He is a member of Ipsos’ Public Affairs Management Board.

As CEO of SingularityU Denmark, Laila heads up the campus in Copenhagen
Science City that off ers a variety of education programs, accelerators, makerspace as well as a co-working space for both startups and corporates leveraging exponential technologies to scale positive impact. Among others she has launched the highly successful accelerator thinkubator; a corporate, crowdfunded
accelerator program that helps corporates work with entrepreneurs and establish their own incubator to kick-start innovation and leverage tech nology. Similarly, she co-founded the award-winning innovation hub DARE2mansion, a professional playground which serves as an incubator, coworking and event space. Laila is also an active angel investor, board member and advisor to politicians and organizations through numerous appointed positions and has won several awards.

Koen Peeters is a Senior Consultant with CS&A International based in Belgium working with clients internationally. Koen joined CS&A in 2010, and has been working with clients to develop and implement risk management systems, develop crisis processes, establish stakeholder mapping and scenario planning capabilities, as well as overall business continuity and contingency planning. He is particularly involved in all crisis exercises including designing scenarios and developing and controlling simulation drills. He helps design and deliver CS&A’s risk, crisis and business continuity training programmes, conducts audits in risk and crisis management and implements CS&A’s own crisis readiness diagnostic CrisisScan© for a wide range of clients across industry sectors.

Prior to joining CS&A, Koen had wide-ranging experience in the distribution sector, assessing risks and optimising the supply chain and had an extensive traineeship at Atlas Copco in Shanghai.

Sean is a well-known speaker, best-selling author and insight/innovation/strategy expert, who has consulted for some of the world’s biggest brands. Sean’s book “The Post-Truth Business” was published in 2018 and went to No1 in the ‘Business Bestseller’ charts. (In speeches referencing his book, he takes a provocative and inspiring look at how to rebuild brand authenticity in a business climate where trust, privacy, transparency and empathy are key issues.) His next book “Influencers & Revolutionaries” focuses on best-practice and leading-edge innovation; and looks into the transformation of concept creation, product development, service offerings, brand marketing and company management. He’s conducted ethnographic interviews and trend research across Europe, Asia, Russia, North Africa, America and the Middle East for over twenty years; and therefore has first-hand experience of the way contemporary trends impact consumers and brands.

Rosa Riera serves as VP, Employer Branding and Social Innovation, at Siemens AG. She is currently overseeing the transformation of the Siemens employer brand. She is passionate about innovative solutions for collaboration in the workplace. Rosa believes that creating the right conditions for talent to thrive will become an ever more pressing concern for ambitious businesses. She sees herself as an HR immigrant, having started her career in communications and marketing and moving into the HR field only a few years ago. Rosa has worked in Siemens’ industry and healthcare segments at various locations in Germany and the United States.

Rachel Royall is Communication Director, UK Healthcare and Life Sciences at IBM. Before she was Director of Communications at NHS Digital in the UK and the leader of their Women’s Network. She has led Board level communications for complex organisations including the NHS, HM Revenue and Customs, Cabinet Office, Department of Health and Social Care and local government. Rachel is named as one of the top ten Director of Communications in the public sector in the PRWeek 2018 Power Book. She Chairs the UK Health Communication Board and is a member of the Government Communication Service Professional Steering Group and the lead for diversity across the communication profession in the NHS.

Caroline Sapriel is the founder and Managing Director of CS&A a specialist risk and crisis and business continuity management consulting firm with offices in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Italy, The Netherlands, Singapore, and the United States. Ms Sapriel has over 20 years’ experience in risk and crisis management, corporate and public affairs. She is regularly invited to speak at international conferences and seminars on risk and crisis management. She is a guest lecturer at the graduate school of public administration of Leiden University. She has been a member of IABC since 1987, and is a faculty member of the Management Center Europe in Brussels. Prior to establishing her own consulting firm, Ms Sapriel held various senior management
positions with international PR firms including the Rowland Company and Hill & Knowlton. She has also worked for the Press Office of the Government of Israel.

Frederik Schröder is the Managing Director of knowhere - a chatbot solution provider based in Hamburg that automates customer communication through chat. He is an expert for chatbots and artificial intelligence as his company manages more than 100 self learning chatbots of customers like Dräger, Greenpeace, Geberit and Ritter Sport. His vision: Transform the potential of artificial intelligence into an enhanced customer experience.

Holger Schubert is head of brand management at Airbus. With a background in design and identity business, Holger has worked in aerospace for the last 17 years, with leading brand communications and advertising roles.

Aaron serves as Vice-President for Global Communications Transformation at Philip Morris International. Aaron oversees a team of communicators focused on ways to build capabilities within the company for future-facing communications, constructive engagement with civil society and build communications alliances for global social good. Before joining PMI, Aaron served as Global Communications Director for the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) from 2017-2018, overseeing communications during the Diamond Jubilee of His Highness the Aga Khan. Aaron served as Chief Communications and Marketing Officer for the United Nations Foundation through a period of intense global challenge and change. During Aaron’s tenure at the Foundation (2009-2017), the communications team won multiple awards including being named “PR Team of the Year” by PR News. Aaron was name by PR Week magazine as “Global Communicator of the Year” in 2015. Before 2009, Aaron served as Managing Director of Public Affairs for the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a U.S. Government development assistance agency administering $7 billion in poverty reduction grants in 40 partner countries. His professional background includes a decade of service as a Foreign Service Officer for the U.S. Department of State. He also worked at the Washington International Trade Association (WITA) and held positions as a marketing consultant for the Italian distributors for Apple Computer and as a freelance interpreter and writer in Italy. Aaron holds degrees from the Johns Hopkins University (School of Advanced International Studies – SAIS) and Brigham Young University, speaks Italian, Spanish, Armenian, and French. He served as a volunteer missionary for the LDS (Mormon) Church and is active in his local faith community. He and his wife Emily have 4 children and currently reside in Paris, France.

Dirk joined Microsoft in February 2017 to manage the new Microsoft Mixed Reality Studio in Berlin with the focus to help create world-class Mixed Reality experiences together with clients and partners. Previously, he worked at Razorfish as Head of Technology, leading a team of dedicated architects, developers as well as the Emerging Experiences teams for clients like Audi, DHL, Tourism New Zealand and Dubai Tourism. He is curious about technology in general and the way it impacts our society and environments.

Pia Stoklund is the Chief Communications Officer at Nets Group, a leading player within the payments industry in Europe. She has extensive corporate communications experience from her roles as CCO at TDC Group and Nordea in Denmark and from her position as Chief Operating Officer in one of the leading PR agencies in Denmark. Pia started her career as a change management consultant at Accenture.

Almut Stollberg’s current task is the build-up of the new BMW Group Newsroom. Before her engagement with this high-level change project, she ran the communications department of the new BMW plant in Mexico, developing and implementing the communications structure at the San Luis Potosi office, where she lived and worked for two years. Prior to that, the passionate communicator was working as a Spokesperson for Board Members and Business and Finance topics at BMW Group, EnBW, and other companies. Almut is convinced that “newsroom driven and cross media storytelling is the basis for a successful contemporary communication department”.

Prof. Dr. Christopher Storck is professor of strategy and communication management at Quadriga University Berlin. Parallel to that he is a Partner at Hering Schuppener advising corporate clients in finding, formulating and communicating strategies, purpose-driven leadership, building and protecting corporate reputation, managing and shaping communication departments. He is also a steering committee member at the Communication Controlling task force of the International Controller Association (ICV) and serves as a scientific advisor to the German federal association of press officers (BdP). Christopher is a certified business coach of the EBS University for Business and Law in Wiesbaden. Prior to joining Hering Schuppener, he was assistant professor and editor in chief of a scientific journal on international and ethnic conflict management.

Andrew Tarvin is the world’s first Humor Engineer teaching people how to get better results while having more fun. He has worked with 35,000+ people at 250+ organizations, including P&G, Microsoft, and the FBI. He is a best-selling author, has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and FastCompany, and his TEDx talk has been viewed over 3 million times.

Aurelie Valtat is the Head of Digital and Internal Communications at the European Commission’s department in charge of development and international cooperation. Prior to that she held various communication positions at the Council of the EU, EUROCONTROL and UNESCO.

She is a frequent speaker on all things digital as well as innovation in the public sector.

Boris is CEO and co-founder of TNW – a global digital brand that inspires, informs, and connects people who love tech, through media, events, and services. TNW Conference was launched in 2006 to promote a small startup, but was so successful that the founders decided to organize it annually. Now it has more than 20,000 attendees every year and is one of the largest tech conferences in Europe. Boris has founded several companies, but aside from being a successful serial entrepreneur, he is also an artist and professional juggler, which results in an interesting combination of technology know-how and creativity. Drawing from his experience as an entrepreneur and internet enthusiast in general, Boris offers a lively and unique perspective on starting up companies, fostering innovation and current technology trends.

Dr. Dejan Verčič is Professor and Head of Department of Communication at the University of Ljubljana, and Partner and Knowledge Director in the strategic communication consultancy Stratkom d.o.o., Slovenia. He holds a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and was a Fulbright scholar at San Diego State University, USA. He was awarded inter alia the Pathfinder Award by the Institute for Public Relations (IPR) in New York. He is a member of the ECM research team, and since 1994 he organizes the BledCom research symposium.

Bodo v. Braunmühl is spearheading the communications department at Delivery Hero since 2013. He comes from a journalistic background and has worked in different areas of the communications industry such as film, marketing and PR.

Dr. Waltzman has 35 years of experience performing and managing research in Artificial Intelligence applied to domains including social media and cognitive security in the information environment. He is currently Deputy Chief Technology Officer and a Senior Information Scientist at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, CA. Prior to joining RAND, he was the acting Chief Technology Officer of the Software Engineering Institute (Washington, DC) of Carnegie Mellon University. Before that he did a five-year tour as a Program Manager in the Information Innovation Office of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) where he created and managed the Social Media in Strategic Communications (SMISC) program and the Anomaly Detection at Multiple Scales (ADAMS) insider threat detection program. Dr. Waltzman joined DARPA from Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Laboratories (LM-ATL), where he served as Chief Scientist for the Applied Sciences Laboratory that specializes in advanced software techniques and the computational physics of materials. Prior to LM-ATL he was an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, where he taught and performed research in applications of Artificial Intelligence technology to a variety of problem areas including digital entertainment, automated reasoning and decision support and cyber threat detection. Before his professorship he served as a DARPA Program Manager focusing on Artificial Intelligence and Image Understanding. Dr. Waltzman has also held research positions at the University of Maryland, Teknowledge Corporation (the first commercial Artificial Intelligence company in the world where he started in 1983), and the Applied Physics Laboratory of the University of Washington.

Carsten Wegmann is a Director with Reputation Institute. He leads the firm’s international business strategy, market communications, and client relationships in the EMEA region.

His professional experience spans more than 25 years of strategic advisory and leadership positions worldwide. Carsten’s previous stations include Taylor Rafferty and Gartner, advising clients such as British Airways, Barclays, BP, HSBC, ING, SEB, Shell and Tesco.

Angela Wiesenmüller is Marketing Director EMEA at Meltwater, a global leader for media intelligence solutions. 30,000 customers stay on top of billions of online conversations and extract relevant insights to strategically manage their brands with the help of Meltwater's solutions. Angela Wiesenmüller has more than 12 years experience in the SaaS industry, working in different sales and marketing leadership roles and frequently runs workshops and webinars on the topics of the B2B customer journey and content marketing.

Oskar is a global leader in corporate affairs and investor relations executive search. He established the Partnership in 2013 after nine years as board director for a specialist communications recruitment firm. Oskar is a former senior consultant at Citigate Dewe Rogerson where he advised on transactions and IPOs including the £9bn pan-European IPO of Orange and E.ON’s acquisition of Powergen.

Dr. Ansgar Zerfass is Professor and Chair of Strategic Communication at the University of Leipzig, Germany, and Professor in Communication and Leadership at BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo, Norway. He was awarded with the renowned Jackson Jackson Wagner Award by the Public Relations Society of America, and is lead researcher for the European Communication Monitor (ECM), the largest annual study in strategic communication worldwide, now in its 13th year, a joint project by EUPRERA, the European Public Relations Education and Research Association, and EACD.