Tenth IAA World Education Conference received successfully at AUD

The one-day conference, that discussed issues relating to advancing marketing communications education worldwide , received overwhelming attendance from the marketing & advertising industries of the region.

The conference included speakers from many countries around the world, such as the USA, the UAE, Australia, Egypt, Indonesia, Holland, Austria, Taiwan, Russia, Malaysia, Lebanon, Switzerland, and Italy, offering a global perspective to the conference attendees while addressing advertising and communications issues in a robust academic environment.

As educators, the attendees of this conference had the dual role of knowledge producers and knowledge providers.

Educators lead change through innovative conceptualization, and their knowledge production is there for practitioners to apply; practitioners being primarily the fresh university graduates, experienced professionals & other interested parties.

Commenting on the significance of the conference, Dr. Lance De Masi, President of AUD, who was also a speaker at the conference, said: "The backdrop against which we are meeting is the environment of cataclysmic change characterizing the field of marketing & communications. For the last 15 years or so, clients, advertising agencies and other types of marketing service companies, the media and educators have struggled to cope with change. And so we are meeting at a time when all communications participants are looking for answers."

During each session, a panel of speakers discussed different topics addressing issues such as "Marketing Communication Pedagogy in a Digital Age", "IAA Educational Program - Recognitions & Initiatives" and "Professional in Advertising: an Academic Apprenticeship".

The conference also discussed challenges faced by advertisers and marketers, trends and best practices discussing the past, present and future of the industry.

Papers were also presented about "Teaching Perspectives, Distance Education and University Home Pages" , "Strategies for Teaching & Learning Marketing Communications in the Digital Age", "Discussions and Trends in Distance Education" and "University Brand Identity: comparing Arab country & US higher education website pages".

Other papers presented discussed various topics such as "Message Delivery & Media: Selection Considerations & Usage" , "Effects of Historical & Personal Nostalgic Appeals in Broadcast Ads", "Perceptions of the Boundary between Editorial and Advertising Among Agencies, Advertisers and Consumers" and "Cross Cultural Media Usage in the UAE".

Finally, the conference culminated into an open discussion and recommendations from John Holmes, IAA Educational Programs and Alliances Director and Dr. De Masi.

"Everyone is looking to hire someone who speaks as well as Bill Clinton, writes as well as Bob Woodward, has the computer skills of Bill Gates and the ambition & human touch of Oprah Winfrey; you realize the weight of the burden we face on a daily basis. I hope that by the end of this conference we are all at least somewhat better equipped to meet this educational challenge,"

concluded Dr. De Masi.