PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Global reputation strategist Leslie Gaines Ross and Standard Chartered Bank's global corporate affairs chief Mark Devadason are to lead a high profile group of speakers at the 2011 PublicAffairsAsia Corporate Affairs Forum.
The theme of the interactive full-day forum is "The Reputation Agenda: Building - Safeguarding - Defending". The timely event, which is designed for senior corporate communications, public affairs and government relations practitioners, will examine how to develop and implement effective corporate reputation strategies in Asia Pacific.
The forum comes as multinational corporations, governments, SOEs and NGOs come under intense scrutiny as they seek to develop, and maintain, their wider license to operate among regulators, the media, employees, governments and the public at large.
Commenting on the 2011 Forum, PublicAffairsAsia's vice president Mark O'Brien said: "Corporate reputation is vital to the development of multinational corporations in the rapidly developing markets of Asia Pacific. But in an age of social media, diffuse stakeholder relationships and complex governmental and regulatory systems, building and defending reputation requires top-level engagement and significant corporate resources. This forum will equip managers with the insight and case studies to set about this task."
The high-level conference -- which is limited to just 85 participants to ensure seniority and interactivity -- takes place on October 6, 2011 at The Marina Mandarin Hotel in Singapore and is supported by lead sponsor Weber Shandwick and lead partner AmCham Singapore.
Gaines Ross, the Chief Global Reputation Strategist at Weber Shandwick, will open the forum by examining the key drivers and threats to corporate reputation: setting out how multinationals can build, maintain and defend their all-important reputation in Asia Pacific's diverse markets.
Devadason, the Group Head of Regions Corporate Affairs at Standard Chartered Bank, leads the company's worldwide public and corporate affairs and was formerly CEO for the bank in both Japan and Thailand. He will examine how as reputational ambassadors, CEOs can utilise corporate affairs strategies to enhance their firm's reputation among influential stakeholder groups.
Issues to be addressed at the 2011 Corporate Affairs Forum include building and defending corporate reputation among key influencers, internal stakeholder relations, the impact of social media, CSR, crisis communications, reputation and the law. Case studies will be presented by executives from multinationals including The Ford Motor Company and BASF.
Speakers, panelists and moderators include Stephen Crisp, Global Head of Public Affairs and Public Policy, Nokia Siemens Networks, Dr Mark Michelson, Chairman, the IMA Group Hong Kong, Counsellor APCO Worldwide and Joe Welch, Senior Vice President, Government Relations, News Corporation.
Other speakers include Peter Witton, Habitat for Humanity's Director of Communications in the Asia-Pacific region, Christian Schubert, Vice President of Corporate Communications at BASF, Whitney Foard Small, Regional Director for Communications in Asia, the Pacific and Africa, The Ford Motor Company, Steven R. Okun, Director of Asia Pacific Public Affairs, KKR, Craig Hoy, Executive Director, PublicAffairsAsia, Evan Lewis, Vice President of Communications, Accor and Junie Del Mundo, CEO of EON, The Stakeholder Relations Firm.
Plus participants will also hear from Rachel Catanach, Vice President and General Manager, Fleishman-Hillard, Hong Kong, Bev Postma, Executive Director of Food Industry Asia, Steven Liew, Senior Director of Government Relations & Legal Counsel - Asia Pacific, eBay Inc, Mark Chong, Associate Professor of Corporate Communications, Singapore Management University and Andy Woolnough, Vice President of Corporate Communications, Weber Shandwick.
Top-tier speakers also include Janice Armstrong, Regional Director, Government and Public Affairs, Asia Pacific, at GlaxoSmithKline, Neena Moorjani, Director, Media & Public Relations, Asia, Pfizer and Stephen Lock, regional PA lead, Edelman South East Asia.
Delegate places for the 2011 Forum are currently available at the partner rate of US$1,200 and the full rate of US$1,600 and can be booked by emailing [email protected]( mailto:[email protected] ). Full details on the 2011 programme, speakers and themes can be found at www.corporateaffairsforum.com
About PublicAffairsAsia:
PublicAffairsAsia is the network for senior government relations, public affairs and corporate communications professionals operating across the Asia Pacific region. It offers news, features, analysis and intelligence on practice and policy through PublicAffairsAsia magazine, online channels, intelligence and events. For more information, to REGISTER, or SUBSCRIBE: visit www.publicaffairsasia.com. PublicAffairsAsia also operates the flagship Gold Standard Awards for public policy and communications: more at www.publicaffairsasia.com/goldstandard
About Weber Shandwick -- lead sponsor:
Weber Shandwick is a leading global public relations agency with offices in 74 countries around the world. The firm's success is built on its deep commitment to client service, our people, creativity, collaboration and harnessing the power of Advocates - engaging stakeholders in new and creative ways to build brands and reputation. Weber Shandwick provides strategy and execution across practices such as consumer marketing, healthcare, technology, public affairs, financial services, corporate and crisis management. Its specialized services include digital/social media, advocacy advertising, market research, and corporate responsibility. In 2010, Weber Shandwick was named Global Agency of the Year by The Holmes Report for the second year in a row; an 'Agency of the Decade' by Advertising Age, Large PR Agency of the Year by Bulldog Reporter, a Digital Firm of the Year by PR News, and Top Corporate Responsibility Advisory Firm by CR Magazine. The firm has also won numerous 'best place to work' awards around the world. Weber Shandwick is part of the Interpublic Group( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpublic_Group_of_Companies ) (NYSE: IPG). For more information, visit http://www.webershandwick.com or http://www.webershandwick.asia.
About AmCham Singapore -- lead partner:
AmCham Singapore is one of the largest American chambers outside the U.S., one of the largest American chambers in ASEAN and the largest foreign business chamber in Singapore. We are also one of the most influential chambers and represent an estimated US$25 billion of investments in Singapore and the region. Our 4,000 members represent more than 650 companies. With more than 250 business events per year, and 13 industry-focused committees, AmCham will help you gain invaluable insights into doing business in Asia.
Media Contact:
Mark O'Brien
PublicAffairsAsia
+852-2251-1511 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +852-2251-1511