IPRA holds the 2006 international conference in Egypt under the theme of 'Reputation Management in a Changing World'

This conference provided excellent opportunities for PR practitioners to network and share experiences with colleagues, around the most relevant topics and challenges facing the PR industry in this global environment.

Prominent high caliber speakers and panelists addressed the conference. The keynote addresses on the first and second day of the conference were Mr. Sean M. Cleary, Managing Director, Strategic Concepts, and Mr. Andrew Pharoah, Head of Hill & Knowlton Corporate Practice in EMEA. Other leading speakers in this high caliber conference included Mr. Mike Love, Senior Director of Communications at Microsoft EMEA and Mr. Jonathan E. Batty, Communications Manager at IBM, as well as Mr. John Saunders, Regional Director, Fleishman-Hillard, Continental Europe, Middle East, Africa, Canada, and Central Europe.

On the agenda for this year's conference were a number of important topics, considered extremely pertinent for public relations professionals today. The highly interactive topics were presented and discussed for the two day duration of the conference through a number of panels and workshops. These topics included "Crucial Insights for Reputation Management", "Reputation Management In Action", "Truth in PR in Building Reputation: Where Do We Draw the Line?", "Corporate Social Responsibility In Building Reputation", "Crises Management In Maintaining Reputation", "Branding Egypt - The Challenge: Old and New", "Meeting Today's Changing Challenges in Reputation Management", "Reputation Management In ICT" and "Can Corporate Reputation be Measured?".

The conference coincided with the appointment of Ms Loula Zaklama, President and Managing Director of RadaResearch & Public Relations, as the first Egyptian President to head the International Public Relations Association for the year 2006.

"This conference represents the most important annual event for public relations professionals," commented Ms. Loula Zaklama, World President, IPRA 2006. "In addition to the fact that the topics discussed are of great concern to public relations executives, the format of the conference ensured that maximum interaction and networking takes place among the participants," she also added.

The main Sponsors of the IPRA conference are Orascom Telecom, BG Egypt, Al Ahram Publications. Other sponsors are Pepsi-Cola Egypt, DaimlerChrysler Egypt, Barclays Bank, and the Egyptian Tourist Authority.

Ahmed bin Ali, Manager Corporate Communications, represented Emirates Telecommunications Corporation - Etisalat - at this high profile event. He gave a presentation of Corporate Social Responsibility, highlighting Etisalat's many initiatives and activities in this respect.

Etisalat is one of the most active corporations in the UAE regarding CSR initiatives. The Corporation has initiated and supported many activities and last year sponsored more that 35 various events in cultural, sport, education, social, and other areas.