- Program and Topics -

World Congress Preliminary Program and Topics

Asia Rising

Economists predict that developing Asian economies will register solid economic growth in 2007, driven by the People's Republic of China and India, which together account for 55.3 percent of the total gross domestic product in Asia, according to the Asian Development Bank. Economic growth in Asia is now more broad-based as regions like South Asia and Central Asia continue to grow and the economies of Indonesia and the Philippines accelerate. Meanwhile, Japan continues to have impact far beyond its borders as it positions itself as a global and regional leader in areas outside the economic sphere.

China, in particular, continues to be a key driver of growth in Asia. Thought leaders in China say the key to global integration is the world's willingness to give China credit for the country's unique set of customs, culture, values and skills. Others suggest that the development of commercially viable products and services behind better known Chinese brands would be a major accelerant of global integration.

This section of the World Congress program will explore how the public relations profession is helping companies and organizations in China and the rest of Asia overcome barriers and fully integrate into the global economy.

1. Keynote Speech: Brand China -- A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

Chinese leadership from the 2008 Olympic Games will report how the Olympics, and specifically public relations and communications initiatives for the games, enabled China to brand itself and communicate more widely about the country, culture, people and economic growth.

2. Public Relations Forum: PR Trends in Asia

Agency and corporate PR professionals from China and other Asian countries will identify emerging trends in public relations in that region -- with a special emphasis on how the practice differs in Asia as compared to other regions of the world, such as North America and Europe.

3. Public Relations Forum: Corporate Social Responsibility in Asia & in Emerging Markets

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is generally accepted as a concept whereby organizations consider the interests of society by taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on customers, employees, shareholders, communities and the environment in all aspects of their operations. This panel will explore how public relations programs in China and other countries -- especially in emerging markets -- are helping to advance Corporate Social Responsibility. Corporations and organizations -- from Asia and other regions -- will describe the challenges and success of launching and sustaining CSR programs.

4. Public Relations Forum: Product Public Relations in Diverse Markets

Russia, India, and China, as well as countries in Latin America, have large and extremely diverse consumer markets. This Forum and Panel Discussion will explore strategies used to segment, understand and communicate with diverse audiences.

New Solutions & Trends in International PR -- Emerging Markets
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5. Multinational public relations agency and corporate leaders speak on the role and value of public relations in business strategy in emerging markets

The era of companies from emerging markets making low-cost, low-tech products is rapidly coming to a close. In the decades just ahead, some economists predict a major shift in the center of gravity of the global economy -- away from the developed to emerging economies. Many of the world-class firms of the future will come from the "new economies." Already today, nearly one in ten of Fortune magazine's top 500 global corporations come from emerging markets. Also, companies in emerging markets increasingly will serve dual roles of competitor and business partner with established multinationals from so-called industrialized nations. What can public relations professionals learn from these innovative emerging market companies? What roles do we play in guiding these organizations to prominence and success in diverse global markets? For what types of jobs should we be training public relations people in these emerging, world-class multinationals? This session will answer these questions.

6. Public Relations Forum: Public Relations Case Studies from Emerging Markets

Public relations leaders from multinational corporations in both emerging and developed markets present communications and PR case studies about challenges involved in communicating in emerging markets.

7. Public Relations Forum: Youth and Global Brands -- Communicating with the next generation; moving from brand status symbols to brand apathy

Surveys suggest that nearly two-thirds of global teenagers are apathetic about brands. Only about 12 percent of teens are interested in wearing brand logos, more than half are skeptical about the accuracy of the marketing and advertising to which they are exposed, and nearly 70 percent feel that there is too much marketing and advertising in the world. The implication is that companies need communicate youth something youth care about -- a cause, a mission, a purpose in the world. In this new generation, hype causes apathy, but meaning energizes. This section of the program will explore how public relations professionals are working to leverage the full power of the emerging global teen and youth culture.

Engaging New Media & Preparing for Web 3.0
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Today, public relations strategies aimed at creating and sustaining relationships with consumers, constituents, members, voters, or investors, depend on media and technologies to which our audiences are accustomed. There are more than 200 million computers in use worldwide, and that number is growing at a rate of 20 percent per year. Of the world's 6.5 billion people, it is estimated that more than 1 billion access the Internet. Estimates also suggest that there are 1 billion cell phones in existence.

And just when many public relations professionals are getting comfortable with the opportunities created by Web 2.0 -- including user-generated content, citizen journalism and social networking -- online communications is evolving rapidly to the next generation World Wide Web. Communications within Web 3.0 still is difficult to define (which makes the possibilities so exciting), but includes many interesting concepts:

A borderless web -- The ability to access and browse the web from just about anywhere using many devices.

A single identity web -- A decentralized identity system on the Internet, which eliminates the need of multiple user accounts and can be used for any website.

A super-fast web -- Web 1.0 was dial-up, 50K average bandwidth; Web 2.0 is an average 1 megabit of bandwidth, and Web 3.0 will be 10 megabits of bandwidth all the time. It will be very fast!

An intelligent web -- Web 3.0 is an intelligent web that will attempt to predict what end-users are trying to achieve, and provide recommendations based on the predictions. Or better, it will try to decipher natural language.

8. Keynote Speaker: Engaging New Media and Preparing for Web 3.0.

Increasingly in public relations, the professionals driving use of these technologies are young "digital natives." Technology and new media have brought revolutionary change to our communications strategies and tactics and carry enormous implications for public relations. This section of the program will explore why communications technologies demand greater speed and intensity from us all.

9. Public Relations Forum: Participating in and Succeeding with Social Media

Explore how the emergence of social media is transforming the manner in which public relations professionals communicate and influence audiences. YouTube, Flickr, MySpace, Facebook, and Chinese and Asian equivalents of these social media, such as www.hi5.com.

10. Public Relations Forum: Effective Use of Technology in Remote and Emerging Markets

Explore the increase in information that flows in and between geographically remote locations. Hear discussions about how the advance of technology and global cultures are influencing change in countries where a large percentage of the population is young.

Public Relations Education -- Leadership in the Next Generation
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Leading academics admit that there is a crisis brewing in public relations education today, and finding solutions will require leadership from within the profession. Research shows that graduates of public relations degree programs in countries where the profession is established account for only 10 to 15 percent of the recent hires within major, multinational public relations firms.

Increasingly, agencies as well as major corporations favor graduates of liberal arts, business and other academic disciplines instead of graduates of public relations degree programs. The problem is even more pronounced in fast-growing Asian markets like China and India, where the number of students graduating from universities with recognized and accredited public relations programs is insufficient to meet surging demand for trained public relations professionals.

This section of the program will explore the issues facing public relations education today, and the solutions necessary to significantly increase the number of competent professionals entering our field in both established and emerging markets.

11. Leadership among the Next Generation in Public Relations

If public relations curriculums contained up-to-date, cutting-edge, state-of-the-art knowledge found in disciplines such as accounting, engineering, law, and medicine, employers would compete over public relations graduates in a manner similar to the competition for graduates in other occupations. This section of the program will explore the issues facing PR education and the prerequisites for change.

12. Public Relations Forum: Closing the Generational Divide

Academics and speakers from the private sector will discuss research into the changing makeup of the workforce and the strategies and practices being used to close the gaps in expectations that exist between younger and older workers and supervisors in various cultures.

13. Public Relations Forum: Entrepreneurs, Public Relations & Creativity

Creative, young Chinese entrepreneurs and professionals will speak and illustrate how creativity in business is flourishing in China. Professionals under 40 years old will describe the roles that communications and public relations people play in these start-up companies, and expectations for the future will be identified.

14. Public Relations Forum: Proving the Value of Public Relations

More than ever, we in public relations are challenged to think and position measurement as an integral component of strategic public relations practice. Management of an organization's overall communications activities with its target audiences is difficult unless the individual elements or components of the program are clearly defined and results can be demonstrated, measured and communicated. Practitioners worldwide are challenged to enhance accountability and prove the value of what we do in public relations. This section of the program will focus on best practices in measurement and valid assessments of public relations output. How can we demonstrate return on investment in public relations? What are the views, tools, techniques and resources to help public relations measure up?