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Love it or loathe it, the World Economic Forum has become a key fixture on the communications calendar, with senior agency and in-house executives again flocking to this year's event.
Much of their activity is focused on supporting the various business leaders in attendance, but the Davos agenda — always rich with discussions about the purpose of business — can offer considerable insight into the bigger public relations issues that are likely to dominate the corporate agenda in 2016.
The importance of trust, the requirement for authenticity, the need to marry profit and purpose — these are all issues that effectively form core elements of the Davos agenda. Indeed, Davos clearly shows us how the language of public relations has penetrated the boardroom. Whether all of the conversations amount to genuine change is another question altogether.
This year's agenda will again see the global elite attempt to put the world to rights. There is a particular focus on disruptive technology, appropriately enough for an event that was described as a tech conference in 2015 itself. Yet any discussion of robot-powered innovation is likely to be tempered by the profound volatility and inequality that forms the backdrop to the 2016 World Economic Forum.
Accordingly, it is no surprise that communications and corporate affairs directors are out in force at the summit, joined by numerous heads of public relations firms big and small.
Thanks, once again, to some excellent work from David Yanofsky at Quartz, I've researched exactly who is on the official attendee list. The results, in no particular order, are below, and demonstrate the event's geographic diversity and its ability to attract senior figures from the corporate and agency worlds, spanning public affairs, corporate communications, marketing and CSR. Note that many of our Influence 100 list are present, for example.
Bear in mind that these are only official Summit attendees, there will be many more industry names taking part as 'unofficial' delegates. Here is my working list, please do let me know if I've left you off, and follow along with all of our Davos coverage here.
In-house
Kate James
Chief Corporate Affairs Officer
Pearson Plc
Yutaka Shimazaki
Corporate Officer; General Manager, Executive Secretariat, Corporate Communications
Marubeni Corporation
Leslie McGibbon
Corporate Director, Global Communications
AkzoNobel NV
Rozzyn Boy
Chief Communications and Brand Officer
VimpelCom Ltd
Mansur Ahmed
Director, Stakeholder Relations and Corporate Communications
Dangote Industries Limited
Håkon Mageli
Group Director, Corporate Communications and Corporate Affairs
Orkla ASA
Jonathan Oliver
Group Communications Director
Prudential Plc
Jennifer Scardino
Global Head, International Communications
Santander
Jonathan Seabrook
Global Head of Corporate Affairs
Syngenta International AG
Shonali Sabnis
Vice-President, Media and Executive Communications
Alcoa Inc.
USA
Jane Bomba
Senior Vice-President and Chief Sustainability, Investor Relations and Corporate Communication Officer
IHS
William Sheedy Global Executive, Corporate Strategy, M&A, Government Relations
Visa Inc.
Mette Fossum Beyer
Chief Communications Officer
REMA 1000
Andrey Shtorkh
Member of the Executive Board; Director, Strategic Communications
Renova Group
Helena Norrman
Chief Marketing and Communications Officer
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
Matt Davis
Corporate Vice-President, Public Affairs and Government Affairs
The Dow Chemical Company
Keith Weed
Chief Marketing Communications Officer
Unilever
Stephen Green
Vice-President, Policy, Government and Public Affairs
Chevron Corporation
USA
Tony Cervone
Senior Vice-President, Global Communications
General Motors Company
Rachel Whetstone
Senior Vice-President, Communications and Public Policy
Google Inc.
Stephanie Linnartz
Global Executive Vice-President, Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer
Marriott International Inc.
Marcela Williams
Senior Vice-President and Chief Communications Officer
Centene Corporation
Michael Mendenhall
Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Communications Officer
Flex
Tony Cervone
Senior Vice-President, Global Communications
General Motors Company
Julie Louise Gerberding
Vice-President, Strategic Communications, Global Public Policy and Population Health, MSD
Clyde C. Tuggle
Senior Vice-President, Chief Public Affairs and Communications Officer
The Coca-Cola Company
Neill Coleman
Vice-President, Global Communications
The Rockefeller Foundation
Christina Hamilton
Chief of Staff, Office of the Chief Executive Officer and Acting Chief Communications Officer
The Western Union Company
Elinor Steele
Vice-President, Global Communications and Women's Initiatives
Tupperware Brands Corporation
Rachel Whetstone
Senior Vice-President, Policy and Communications
Uber
Rosalind L. Hudnell
President, Intel Foundation; Vice-President, Corporate Affairs Group
Intel Corporation
Brent Bergeron
Executive Vice-President, Corporate Affairs and Sustainability
Goldcorp Inc.
Courtney Geduldig
Executive Vice-President, Public Affairs
McGraw Hill Financial
Alexis Brouhns
Senior Executive Vice-President; Head, Corporate Government, Public Affairs and Europe
Solvay SA
Penelope Naas
Senior Vice-President, International Public Affairs and Sustainability
UPS Europe
Madhu Kannan
Group Head, Business Development and Public Affairs; Member, Group Executive Council
Tata Sons Ltd
Rosemary O'Brien
Vice-President, Public Affairs
CF Industries Holdings Inc.
Kim Metcalf-Kupres
Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer
Johnson Controls Inc.
David Roman
Senior Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer
Lenovo
Lynn Vojvodich
Chief Marketing Officer
Salesforce
Regine Sixt
Senior Executive Vice-President, International Marketing
Sixt SE
Miki Tsusaka
Senior Partner, Managing Director and Global Marketing Leader
The Boston Consulting Group
Fahd Hamidaddin
Chief Marketing Officer
King Abdullah Economic City
Lauren Flaherty
Executive Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer
CA Technologies
Elaine J. Dorward-King
Executive Vice-President, Sustainability and External Relations
Newmont Mining Corporation
Karen Kornbluh
Executive Vice-President, External Affairs
Nielsen
Karim A. Lesina
Vice-President, International External Affairs, EU, Caribbean, Central and Latin America, Trans-Atlantic Relations
AT&T
Anders Bering
Vice-President, External Affairs
Carlsberg A/S
Suresh Kumar
Executive Vice-President, External Affairs
Sanofi
Yoshitake Yamaguchi
General Manager, Government and External Relations Office
Toshiba Corporation
Courtney O'Donnell
Global Head, External Affairs
Airbnb Inc.
Beatriz Perez
Chief Sustainability Officer
The Coca-Cola Company
Anisa Kamadoli Costa
Chief Sustainability Officer
Tiffany & Co.
Nelson Salgado
Vice-President, Institutional Relations and Sustainability
EMBRAER SA
Jeremy Goon
Chief Sustainability Officer
Wilmar International Limited
Niklas Gustafsson
Chief Sustainability Officer
AB Volvo
Elaine Weidman Grunewald
Vice-President, Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
Niall Dunne
Chief Sustainability Officer
BT Group Plc
Jeff Seabright
Chief Sustainability Officer
Unilever
Michelle O'Neill
Vice-President, Government Affairs and Sustainability
Alcoa Inc.
Mike Barry
Director, Sustainable Business
Marks & Spencer Plc
Consultancy
Steven H. Gunby
President and Chief Executive Officer
FTI Consulting Inc.
Chris Osborne
Co-Chairman, Europe, Middle East and Africa
FTI Consulting
United Kingdom
Almira Zejnilagic
Managing Director
FTI Consulting
Matthew J. Harrington
Global Chief Operating Officer
Edelman
Richard W. Edelman
President and Chief Executive Officer
Edelman
Michael Stewart
President and Chief Executive Officer, Europe and CIS
Edelman
Barri Rafferty
Senior Partner; Chief Executive Officer, North America
Ketchum Inc.
Kathy Bloomgarden
Chief Executive Officer
Ruder Finn Inc.
Margery Kraus
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
APCO Worldwide Inc.
Roland Rudd
Chairman
Finsbury
Sir Martin Sorrell
Chief Executive Officer
WPP Plc
Tamara Ingram
Chief Client Team Officer
WPP Plc
Michael I. Roth
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Interpublic Group
John Wren
President and Chief Executive Officer
Omnicom Group Inc.
Serge Dumont
Chairman, Asia-Pacific; Vice-Chairman
Omnicom Group Inc.
Rishad Tobaccowala
Chief Strategist
Publicis Groupe
Maurice Lévy
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Publicis Groupe SA
Arthur Sadoun
Chief Executive Officer, Publicis Worldwide
Publicis Groupe SA
Kunihiro Matsushima
Senior Vice-President and Director
Dentsu Inc.
Nigel Morris
Chief Executive Officer,
Dentsu Aegis Network Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa
Jerry Buhlmann
Chief Executive Officer
Dentsu Aegis Network Ltd United Kingdom
Valerie Scoular
Group Human Resources Director Dentsu
Aegis Network Ltd
Gustavo Martinez
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
J. Walter Thompson Company
