PR summit gets under way today in Dubai

Public relations companies in the country will face a litmus test today with the start of PR Measurement Summit in Dubai. The summit focuses on "Measuring PR for Government and Public Affairs".

The summit, which has given a special focus to government public relations in this year's edition, will discuss various topics related to the measurement and evaluation of this practice in sectors such as health and education and platforms such as social networking, in addition to issues of crisis management.

The first day of the summit will host Sandra Macleod, Group CEO at Echo Research, as keynote speaker. Rebecca Hill, Executive Director of Middle East Public relations Association (Mepra) and Mazen Nahawi, President of News Group International, will be among the speakers at the summit.

The Mepra Awards 2009 will be held on the second day of the summit announcing winners in 10 best practices award categories, including multi-disciplinary communications including new media, CSR and community affairs, research-led communications, government communications, employee engagement, corporate image/reputation, consumer relations, financial and investor relations, B2B and regional campaigns.

The awards ceremony is the first of its kind for the PR industry. The judges panel is chaired by Tim Harrison, Head of HSBC's Corporate Communications and Marketing, Global Banking and Markets Middle East and HSBC Amanah.

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