Leading communications in a time of flux is the theme of the Public Relations Institute of Ireland’s annual conference taking place next Wednesday and Thursday. The online event will have speakers from Ireland and overseas. A seven-hour programme across the two days features 18 speakers, six subject areas, three case studies and two-panel discussions.
The agenda will focus on issues which will influence the objectives, strategies and tactics of communications advisors working in-house or in agency, in a time of economic, social, political and environmental upheaval. During what some people refer to as a ‘polycrisis’, the aim is to bring delegates up to speed for the uncertain year ahead through expert debate.
Dr Anne Gregory, professor emeritus of corporate communication at the University of Huddersfield, will kick-start proceedings with a presentation on aligning PR and c-suite objectives. Ella Minty will speak on the need for trust in crisis communications. Three case studies will follow, starting with ‘Call Russia’: The Red Flag response to the attack on Ukraine.
Planning
It will be followed by ‘Flying in the Face of a Crisis’ by the Dublin Airport Authority and a paper on cyber attack from the Health Service Executive (HSE). The final session on day one will be about the value that online planning tools can bring to devising strategic PR programmes, presented by Sarah Wait, director of global forward planning services at Onclusive.
Day two will see a panel discussion about industrial relations communications with Martin Wall, The Irish Times, Niall Shanahan, Forsa trade union communications officer and David Geary, vice-president, PRII, assistant general secretary and director of communications with the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO).
A session on sustainability will be opened by Solitaire Townsend, chief solutionist and co-founder at Futerra, who will be in conversation with PRII president Padraig McKeon. It will be followed by a panel discussion on sustainability projects in Ireland with representatives of AIB, Musgrave and Heineken.
The conference closes with a presentation by Jana Brockhaus, Department of Strategic Communication at the Leipzig University in Germany, on how to manage digitalisation processes and build digital infrastructure.
Further details of the programme are available on www.prii.ie
