Registration and Morning Coffee

Opening Keynote TBC

The World Is Changing: How Corporate Affairs Leaders Navigate the Known and the Unknown
In an era of rapid change, constant scrutiny, and deep polarization, this session explores how corporate affairs leaders communicate with clarity and intent. It focuses on navigating divided environments, rebuilding trust under scrutiny, and developing a deeper understanding of reputation. The session will also look at how to identify weak spots early and build a reputation strategy that prepares organizations for both known risks and unknown challenges ahead.
Nicole McKechnie, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, EnergyAustralia

Crisis Readiness and Real-Time Response: What to Do When It Matters Most
When a crisis breaks, the first 30 minutes often determine the outcome. This session focuses on what communicators and leaders must do immediately when pressure is highest and information is incomplete. It explores how to balance speed with accuracy, make confident decisions in real time, and avoid missteps that escalate risk. Through practical examples, the session examines how crisis playbooks, simulations, and preparedness frameworks translate into action when theory meets reality. It also addresses leadership visibility and spokesperson strategy, clarifying who should speak, when, and how to project credibility, control, and empathy in fast-moving situations.
Desiree Schmicker, Head of External Communication and Social Media, Dubai Airports

Lunch for Speakers and Delegates

Inside the Crisis: How Internal Communications Held the Line on January 6, 2021
On January 6, 2021, as the U.S. Capitol was breached and the situation escalated by the minute, the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia was operating under unprecedented pressure. From this front line perspective, this session examines how internal communications became a critical operational tool rather than a support function. Drawing on real time experience from inside the Metropolitan Police Department response, the session explores how clear, disciplined, and trusted internal messaging helped officers and leadership navigate uncertainty, fatigue, and rapidly changing conditions. You will gain insight into how internal communications supported coordination, decision making, and morale when information was incomplete and consequences were immediate. Moving beyond theory, this session shows how internal communications can hold organizations together when events unfold faster than any crisis plan can anticipate.
Dustin Sternbeck, Former Director of Communications, Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia & Director, Communications, City of Denton

Panel Discussion: Top Skills for Crisis Communicators in an Age of Polarisation and Uncertainty
Polarisation, misinformation, and constant scrutiny have fundamentally changed what it takes to manage a crisis. In this panel discussion, senior communications leaders will explore the skills crisis communicators must master to remain credible, decisive, and trusted in an environment defined by uncertainty and competing narratives. The conversation will focus on strategic judgment under pressure, stakeholder empathy without compromise, leadership advisory skills, and the ability to navigate social, political, and cultural fault lines in real time. Drawing on real-world crises, panellists will share how they balance speed and accuracy, advise executives through ambiguity, and protect reputation when there are no clear right answers.
Moderated by: Barbara Pesel, Managing Director, Pesel & Carr and Chair, IABC Asia Pacific

Deepfakes and Disinformation: Navigating the New Frontlines of Crisis Response
False narratives now spread faster than facts, and AI-generated deepfakes can destabilize trust and damage reputations in minutes. In this session, you’ll step inside the mechanics of modern disinformation and understand how AI-fueled campaigns are built, amplified, and weaponized against organizations and leaders. You’ll learn where your biggest vulnerabilities lie, how to spot early warning signals before a false narrative takes hold, and what effective response looks like when speed and credibility are everything. The session will equip you with practical strategies for detection, escalation, and mitigation, from advanced monitoring and verification techniques to rapid-response protocols that help you contain impact and protect trust. You’ll leave better prepared to defend credibility and make confident decisions in a crisis environment where seeing is no longer believing.
 Dave Fleet, Managing Director, Global Head of Digital Crisis, Edelman

Networking and Refreshment Break

Proving Impact Under Pressure: How to Measure What Matters in a Crisis
When a crisis hits, you are expected to move fast, protect trust, and advise leadership with confidence, but once the pressure eases, one question always remains: did it actually work? In this session, you will learn how to measure crisis communications in a way that goes beyond activity and vanity metrics and focuses on real impact. You will discover how to define success before a crisis unfolds, what to measure while events are still evolving, and how to assess outcomes when scrutiny is at its highest. The session will guide you through a practical, decision-driven framework to help you identify the KPIs that truly signal trust, risk reduction, and recovery, use real-time data to adjust your response while a crisis is live, and translate measurement into insights senior leaders actually care about. This session is designed to help you prove value under pressure, strengthen future preparedness, and approach your next crisis with clarity, credibility, and control.
 Nicole Moreo, Director, Marketing Science & Technology, North America, LinkedIn

Fireside Chat: Behind Palace Doors: Managing Reputation at the Highest Level
What does it really take to protect trust, credibility, and continuity when the entire world is watching your every move? In this opening fireside chat, you’ll go behind the scenes of one of the most scrutinized institutions on the planet and gain rare insight into reputation management at the very highest level. Drawing on first-hand experience from inside the British Royal Household, this session explores how reputations are shaped, protected, and evolved under constant global pressure, intense media scrutiny, and moments of deep public tension. You’ll gain practical lessons on managing long-term reputation rather than short-term headlines, anchoring a global brand in values and consistency during turbulence, and making disciplined communication choices when every word carries weight. This marks a rare opportunity to hear these insights in person, as Colleen is speaking in Australia for the first time ever.
Colleen Harris, Former Press Secretary to HRH The Prince of Wales (now King Charles III)

End of Day One