PR Congress kicks off

It will bring together some of the brightest minds in PR from around the world to discuss what works and what doesn't work; the changing face of media in the Middle East, new media vs. traditional PR, measuring the effect of PR and how to familiarise oneself with the full range of new media.

The PR Congress represents a great opportunity for PR professionals to hear more than 20 internationally renowned speakers including Larry Weber who is founder of Weber Shandwick and Lord Bell, former press advisor to Margaret Thatcher.

Key presentations will also be delivered by Delia Cohen, former special assistant to President Clinton and Donald Steel, Head of Press and Chief Media Spokesman for the BBC.

"This year we are holding the event in a time of change. Many of us are facing the challenges of cost cutting and working with undersized PR budgets. In these difficult times it is the role of PR that needs to project the organization's positivity and transparency and I truly hope that our event will help PR professionals achieve that"

said Kosta Petrov, Senior Conference Manager for PR CONGRESS 08.

The congress will include lectures, presentations and several workshops per day.

Discussions will include; essential and updated standards for measuring PR, the essential tools for the data-driven communications professional and what to do with data when you have it The international speakers will focus on several big topics in PR and will discuss current issues like; is traditional PR dead, new media vs. traditional media, measuring the effects of our PR, making your media event a must, can crisis be turned into opportunity for good PR, the changing face of media in the Middle East and the power of blogs in your PR campaign.

As the Middle East continues to experience rapid growth, this congress will provide businesses with the opportunity to hear from some of the top communication specialists.

By raising interesting yet thought provoking questions and providing the latest and most up-to-date answers, it will help companies define PR and how they can best use PR in a highly competitive market.