MIAMI—Speakers and panelists from the US, the UK, continental Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and from giant corporations including Procter & Gamble, IBM, Diageo, Ford, General Electric, General Motors, Google, Lenovo, Microsoft, and Nissan will all feature at the first Global Public Relations Summit, which will take place at the St Regis Bal Harbour in Miami from October 29-31.

They will be joined by representatives from 30 of the world’s leading public relations agencies—25 of whom are sponsors of the event—and leading PR and communications associations including the Arthur W Page Society, the International Communications Consultancies Organization, and the Global Alliance for Public Relations & Communications Management.

Several details of the agenda for the Summit were announced today, with more details to follow over the next week.

On the afternoon of Monday October 29, a pre-Summit event, the Independent PR Firms’ Forum, designed especially for public relations agency principals will focus on critical management topics, including attracting and retaining top talent (a session led by Paul Holmes and featuring leaders from some of The Holmes Report’s Best Agencies to Work For); new business development (led by Julian Boulding of thenetworkone); and the new competitive environment (led by Tom Beckman of leading Swedish public relations agency Prime PR).

The evening of the 29th will feature a cocktail reception for early registrants at the St Regis.

The first day of the Global Public Relations Summit, on Tuesday October 30, will kick off with a keynote presentation by Marc Pritchard, chief marketing officer of Procter & Gamble, followed by sessions dealing with:

• Brand and Reputation: From Attraction to Connection Led by Dave Senay, global chief executive of Fleishman-Hillard, and featuring General Motors communications chief Selim Bingol and other senior corporate communications professionals.
• It’s Not a Campaign, It’s a Conversation: What Marketing Can Learn From Public Relations Led by executives from Makovsky + Company and featuring Christa Carone of Xerox and other senior corporate communicators.
• From the Ballot to the Boardroom Lessons for marketing and communications professionals from the political realm, led by Burson-Marsteller chief executive (and former White House staffer Donald Baer).
• Communicating at the Speed of Risk A look at the changing rules of crisis communication, led by Matthew Harrington, global chief operating officer at Edelman, and featuring GE’s Gary Sheffer and other industry experts.
• Big Media and PR: Can We Successfully Align our Transformations? A look at changes in the media realm, from Forbes’ open publishing model, to The Huffington Post's content super-store, to Flipboard’s personalized newsstand—and at the evolving role of public relations firms as content creators.
• A variety of breakout sessions covering marketing, public relations and public affairs topics.

The first day will culminate with the first annual Global SABRE Awards dinner, which will honor approximately 40 of the best public relations campaigns of last year, winners of our awards competitions in North America, EMEA and the Asia-Pacific region, as well as winners of our Global Agencies of the Year awards.

The second day of the Summit, October 31, will feature an equally compelling range of discussions, including:

• Empathy: The Growing Importance of Personal Connections in an Increasingly Impersonal World Led by Hill+Knowlton Strategies chief executive Jack Martin, this panel examines the ever-increasing and immediate need for empathy in the midst of a changing and evolving communications landscape.
• Persuasion, Empathy, and Neural Coupling: Where PR Meets Mr. Spock Led by Ogilvy PR chief executive Chris Graves, three top scientists reveal their explorations into changing minds and crafting stories that trigger empathy at the neuron level of the brain.
• Are You PurPle? A look at how companies are combining a focus on “purpose” and “people” to create a new model for corporate citizenship, led by executives from MSLGroup.
• A variety of breakout sessions covering marketing, public relations and public affairs topics.

In addition, the two days will feature breakout panels including:
• Marketing as a Spectator Sport Led by Jim Joseph of Cohn & Wolfe
• Defying Gravity; How Great Leaders Shift Organizations by Shifting Attention A conversation with Holger Rathgeber, author of Our Iceberg Is Melting.
• Communications in Latin America: Is Language the New Frontier? Led by leading Spanish PR consultancy Inforpress and featuring speakers from Spain, Portugal, Brazil and Colombia
• Are PR People Ready to Become Brand Journalists Led by Morgan McLintick of LewisPR and featuring panelists from Cisco, Eloqua and more.
• How Compelling Culture Can Drive Business Change Led by Mitchell Communications Group and featuring speakers from Walmart, Wrigley and others, this panel focuses on building a global culture that embodies the face and feeling of a brand, while embracing the local flavors that establish relevance.
• Is PR Ready to Lead the Social Media Conversation? Led by MWW Group
• Break Out Brands: An Evolutionary Approach to Creating Customer Passion Led by rbb Public Relations and featuring speakers from Bacardi, Better Place and Duncan Hines.
• The Emergence of Social Commerce Led by W2O Group and featuring speakers from Intel, Hershey, and Orange.

There will also be optional breakfast roundtables on each day.

According to Summit chair Paul Holmes: “What we are looking to achieve over two-and-a-half days is a lively, interactive discussion of the most critical issues and opportunities facing the public relations industry at a time of unprecedented change. We are bringing together leaders from agencies and trade associations, from corporations and from academia, and from every continent and region to deliver compelling, provocative content that sets the agenda for our profession.”

Registration for the first Global Public Relations Summit is now open for all at our dedicated microsite.