The city of Bengaluru plays host to the third annual global meet organized by Public Relations Council of India (PRCI). The event commenced on the 3rd of April 2009 at the Lalit Ashok. The global meet titled ‘Proactive’ was focused on the role of PR and corporate communications with special focus on social issues.
The meet was inaugurated with a key note delivered by noted columnist, Indian Press, Mr. Gerson Da Cunha followed by a special session on ‘Spirituality and Ethics in Corporate Governance’ by Ms. Rajayogini BK Lakshmi Behen, Brahmakumaris.
The session was followed by talks by some of the leading names from the corporate sector on “Corporate Social Responsibility-Is it really a social concern or another brand building exercise?” Names like Mr. Harish Bijoor, CEO, Bijoor Consults Inc. spoke on what works in the social domain today. Mr. Swadeep Srivastav CEO Via Media Limited shared his views on the emerging field of Healthcare PR.
City Connect was the next topic for discussion with Mr. Ravichandra V, Chairman & MD Feedback Consulting.
An elaborate lunch was followed by another interesting topical discussion ‘Social PR works- A myth or reality?’ Allen Mendonca, Director, Raintree Consulting made interesting comment where he called the “American Society the biggest philanthropist society in the world- they are fair.” Next up was Mr. Murlidhar Koteshwar, Art of Living, who proved to be quite the storyteller and spoke about bringing down stress levels. Dr. Navneeth Anand, Executive Director Via Media and Communication elaborated on the complexities of PR and the social connect. The moderator for the session Mr. Bish Mukherjee, President, Misha Networks PR made interesting observations about the representations of the social issues on the idiot box and the power of media.
Next up on the agenda was the topical session of ‘Corporate Communication role in Social Change’ Matthew Hibberd, Director- Communications, University of Sterling discussed the challenge of developing effective corporate communication and the way charity donations hit by recession. This was followed by a talk on the role of communication in changing perception of a country. Ms. Jessie Paul, chief marketing officer, Wipro Technologies, pointed out how the image of India has changed from that of a poor country to an educated intelligent country. The focus changed to a government perspective with a talk by Mr. Uday Sahay, IPS, Director, Information & Publicity, National Capital Territory, Government of Delhi. The session was concluded by Mr. B.N Kumar, CEO, Concept PR.
The day was brought to a close by the announcement it’s Third Annual National Awards for achievers- “Chanakya Awards- 2009” & Hall of Fame in PR who have outstanding contribution for the cause of Public Relations.
Smt. Parvathamma Rajkumar Film Producer, Shri Vaughn Richtor, CEO & MD, ING Vysya Bank, Mr. Ad de Visscher, Head, Shell technology India, Dr. Mahesh Joshi, Senior Director, Doordarshan Kendra, Bangalore were the Guest of Honour.
Among the 11 inducted in the Hall of Fame were Shri Ashok Kumar, Shri Charanjith Singh and the first woman in it, Smt. Geetha Shankar.
This year 18 Chanakya Awards were awarded, a few noted ones are the Communicator of the Year given to Shri H. S Balram, Editor, The Times of India, Young Visionary, Mr. Ashwin Mahesh, Organisation of the Year (PR Excellence), Bangalore Telecom District and the Leader in PR and Communication (Education) was awarded to Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication.