Memac Ogilvy Public Relations – one of the region's leading communications agencies - held its first annual Middle East and North Africa conference in Cairo. The conference brought together PR professionals of various stripes from around the Middle East and North Africa who spent two full days in workshops and seminars conducted by the Ogilvy network's best and brightest.
The conference's primary aim was to further strengthen ties within the regional network while providing global context and plan the implementation of a five-year plan to raise the bar on public relations practice in the Middle East. Participants relished the opportunity to truly engage with professionals outside of their home markets and share best practice.
Additionally, a large part of the agenda was dedicated to learning and discussing new market trends and innovative communications services that each participant will take back to his/her home market to implement. A prestigious line-up of Ogilvy PR Worldwide executives attended and led these trainings.
Saada Hammad, Memac Ogilvy PR Middle East and North Africa director, said: "It is quite a privilege to be part of such a successful global network and we are lucky to be able to learn from the best in the industry. It is essential that we help our people sharpen their skills to deliver the most effective and creative PR solutions to our clients and add value to their businesses. With our continued growth and expansion in the region, we want to ensure that our staff are fully prepared to deal with all communications challenges."
Chris Graves, Global CEO of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, attended the conference and gave his trademark story telling workshop as well as a session on crisis management. It was Mr. Graves' first meeting with the Memac Ogilvy team.
Workshops were also hosted by Jamie Moeller, Managing Director of the Global Public Affairs practice at Ogilvy PR; Luca Penati, Managing Director of the Global Technology practice; Bryan Callahan, Vice President of the Global Social Marketing practice and John Studdert, Managing Director of Ogilvy PR Worldwide in Australia.
Ghassan Maraqa, Chief Financial Officer, and Leyla Chammas, Group HR manager of Memac Ogilvy also addressed the conference.
