Influencial women such as HRH Princess Lulwa Al Faisal, Jane Scott Paul, Chief Executive of the Association of Accounting Technicians and Lena Ekeland, Technical Manager of Volvo Cars are some of the notable names at the 2005 Women in Business conference demonstrating the crucial role women are now playing in the business world.
This pioneering conference, a joint initiative with UK Trade and Investment, now in its ninth year, was the first ever Women in Business conference that encouraged the promotion of women in the Middle East on an international platform. The first year created a unique platform for business women from the Middle East to network with UK business community. This year’s conference confirms its acclaimed position as a Forum about women in high powered positions doing real business.
Ahmed Suleiman MBE, founder of the conference, said: “This conference has evolved over time and this year’s participants clearly demonstrates that women are taking their place as part of the global business elite. However, there is still much further to go and so it is important to continue to develop the talent of women all around the world. The conference particularly positively encourages the sharing of knowledge and skills which is the key to maximising business relationships.
“This conference has always had particular significance for Middle Eastern Women. It has created a greater recognition of the role Middle Eastern Women play as mainstream participants in the economies and social fabric of society. I am delighted that role models such as Dr Massouma Al Mubarak, Kuwait’s first women cabinet Minister and Dr Jowam Masum, Deputy Minister of Communications in Iraq are attending.
“Following on from the high level Iraqi delegation we had at last year’s Forum, We are delighted that for the first time we have an Iraqi Minister speaking at this event. The Minister will outline how the Iraqi Government will promote the valuable role women can play in helping the reconstruction of the economy and social fabric of Iraq.”
Some of the sessions and speakers at this year’s conference include:
The Role of Education in the development and Empowerment of Women. Speakers include Ann Cotton - Executive Director of CAMFED
Challenges facing the oil industry. Speakers include Hiba A. Dialdine of Saudi Aramco and Lena Ekelund of Volvo cars
Promoting Women in the Economy. Speakers include Carlos De Silva, Director of operations, Central, Eastern Europe and Africa, IBM.
The Creative Industries. Speakers include Siddiqa Juma, Executive Producer of Aladdin Media.
The conference will also be attended by the UK Women Mean Business Award winner, Liz Jackson. The year Liz started her business, she lost her sight completely as a result of the eye disorder Retinitis Pigmentosa. Totally blind she is only 31 years old.
With no advanced educational background, she launched her telemarketing company over six years ago with the help of The Prince’s Trust, where she received £1000 grant and a loan of £4,000. Today, Great Guns Marketing is turning over nearly £2 million, growing at a rate of over 40% per annum and has 8 regional branches across UK and Ireland.
The Forum will be held from 6 – 7 December, at the Department of Trade & Industry Conference Centre, 1 Victoria Street, London. During the event, the Women in Business award 20005 will be given out. The award, which is now running in its 9th year is a joint initiative between UK Trade & Investment, Women in Business International and the British exporters Association. It particularly focuses on achievement in international markets as well as an ongoing commitment to international trade relations.
Caninet Minister Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in the UK, said: “The Government has put in place a clear strategy to encourage diversity at the top of the UK workplace and though the signs are encouraging there is still progress to be made. We must all continue to strive to ensure that talent from all backgrounds is properly recognised. An award like this will help raise the profile of the important contribution women are making in UK industry and hopefully inspire a new generation of young women entering the workplace to go to the very top. I encourage all business women acheivers to put their name forward as they can be important role models.”
Previous winners include: Dawn Gibbins MBE, Chairman of Flowcrete (industrial floorings); Elisabeth Boultbee, Manager at Great Ormond Street Hospital; Jan Ward, Managing Director of Corotherm Industries (oil pipelines); and last year’s winner Mechelle Weinberg, Director of Alperton Limited (export trading house).
Last year’s winners were Weis Sunn, responsible for groundbreaking international sales in satelite technology and Pat Young, who is heavily involved in the international health care sector.
Top International Training Experts to Transfer Critical Skills to Practitioners at PR Congress in Dubai December 10 & 13
Expert broadcast journalists Fiona Ross and Alison Bell, Metrica media analyst Richard Bagnall and media training specialist Chris Kinsville-Heyne will conduct intensive workshops on facing the camera, press-release writing, PR measurement and crisis management.
Internationally recognised training experts in four key disciplines critical to the public relations industry will be conducting intensive training courses on the first and last days of the Public Relations Congress organised by IIR, to be held at the JW Marriott Hotel in Dubai 10-13 December. The courses will cover disciplines critical to the development of the industry, including writing, evaluation, crisis management, and broadcast television presentation skills, led by four leading experts: international news presenter and journalist Alison Bell, top media analyst Richard Bagnall, crisis management expert, Chris Kinsville-Heyne and Scottish broadcast journalist Fiona Ross.
“These workshops are the very heart and soul of the Public Relations Congress,” said Jennie Bishop, IIR’s Conference Director for the Public Relations Congress. “Our overriding aim for this event is to raise the standards of the local public relations profession in the Middle East and provide practitioners with the practical training that makes this possible. The workshops have been designed to expose practitioners working in the region with world-class training.”
Professional broadcast journalist and presenter Alison Bell will lead Workshop A, “Writing Skills Masterclass – Making Your News Releases Work for You” on the Saturday morning, 10 December. The interactive session provides a professional foundation for news release writing, covering why a news release is necessary, how to angle a story, what to include and what not to include, who to send it to, when to send it, how to capture a journalist’s interest and an examination of structure, layout and content.
Alison Bell brings over 20 years experience in broadcasting journalism, having anchored many high-profile programmes, including the Sky News breakfast programme Sunrise among many other television projects. She has also is a regular host on several radio stations and has presented LBC’s breakfast and drivetime shows as well as BBC Radio Five Live’s Up All Night.
Metrica Managing Director Richard Bagnall leads an afternoon workshop on Saturday, the 10th covering one of the most important emerging disciplines in the public relations industry, “Effective Measurement, Evaluation and Analysis of PR Performance.” Bagnall will explain why measurement and evaluation is important for PR, what the PR industry can learn from competing marketing disciplines, different approaches to measure PR, how to measure a PR campaign and moving from measuring output to outcomes.
As Managing Director of Metrica, one of the world’s leading media analysis and PR planning agencies, Richard worked previously for 16 years in the public relations arena. Over the last decade he has built Metrica into a formidable institution consistently recognised for its excellent results.
Chris Kinsville-Heyne will lead an intensive workshop on “Effective Crisis Management Techniques: Perceptions are Crucial” in the morning of Tuesday 13 December, the final day of the PR Congress. His session will cover how to define a crisis, characteristics of a crisis, priorities, distribution of responsibilities, building a crisis management team and post-crisis actions, among other subjects.
Dubai-based Chris Kinsville-Heyne has worked for over 15 years a media trainer and over 20 years as a public relations professional, having worked for a wide-range of blue chip clients, including Nokia, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Cisco Systems, and Saudi and Qatar Telecoms. He has trained Ayad Allawi, the Prime Minister of Iraq as well as many CEOs, GMs, Presidents and management teams from global companies throughout the Middle East region.
The PR Congress will culminate on the afternoon of 13 December with a session led by popular broadcast journalist and trainer Fiona Ross, who will give delegates the lowdown on “Facing the Camera: First Impressions Always Count”. Ross will advise participants how to develop their TV presentation skills and confidence, how to control their body language, overcome nerves, put across messages, construct a sound bite, deal with various interview forms and cope with difficult questions.
Fiona Ross is a broadcast journalist with over 30 year’s experience of radio and television in the UK. For 20 years, until 2001, she served as Political Editor of Scottish Television, Scotland’s largest independent television station. In that time she was involved in reporting on a number of major disasters and political events and has interviewed senior UK politicians including Margaret Thatcher and the current Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Currently she works as a freelance broadcaster making television and radio documentaries for BBC and commercial channels. She also presents TV and radio programmes and works as a media skills trainer and consultant to business clients in the UK and the Middle East. During her distinguished broadcasting career she won several awards and in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in June 2005, Fiona was awarded the OBE for services to journalism.
The Public Relations Congress is sponsored by Etisalat, who has been the telecommunications service provider in the United Arab Emirates since 1976, ASDA’A Public Relations, one of the Middle East’s leading PR practices and LG Electronics. Trans-Arabian Creative Communications Services (TRACCS), one of the fastest growing and widest reaching practices in the Middle East, is the official public relations partner with Arab Ad, Campaign Middle East and Communicate as official media partners. The Public Relations Congress is being organised in association with MEPRA (Middle East Public Relations Association).
