Patrick Jephson

Former Chief Of Staff To Princess Diana

International Reputation Expert, New York Times Bestselling Author & Consultant, Netflix's "The Crown"

Patrick is a consultant, journalist, broadcaster and New York Times and London Sunday Times bestselling author, based in Washington DC.  His byline has appeared in every major UK newspaper and international titles as varied as TIME magazine, People, The Spectator, Paris Match, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the National Catholic Reporter.  He is a published authority on corporate and personal branding, addressing conferences worldwide as well as events at the US State Department, the American University and the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. 

He also writes, presents and advises on factual and drama programs, appearing on every major US network as well as British and international platforms.  His two decades of news and current affairs assignments have included on-screen conversations with figures such as David Frost, David Dimbleby, Barbara Walters and Larry King. 

He is founding partner in JephsonBeaman, a boutique communications consultancy specializing in international high-profile, sensitive and UHNW services.  With more than twenty-five years’ experience in the government, luxury and family office sectors, Patrick’s portfolio has included Ferrari, Harrods, Beretta and Hawker Beechcraft as well as national agencies and NGOs.  He has also worked on reputation and legacy briefs with European, Middle Eastern and Asian families, including royalty. 

Patrick owes much of his practical communications experience to Princess Diana, who chose him to be her equerry and only private secretary/chief of staff.  He served the Princess for eight years (1988-96), responsible for every aspect of her public life, worldwide humanitarian initiatives, and private organization.  Under relentless media scrutiny, his tenure covered the period of Princess Diana’s greatest popularity as well as the constitutional controversy of her separation from Prince Charles.  In recognition of his service, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II appointed him a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order.

Patrick was born and raised in Ireland and holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Cambridge University.  As an officer in the British Royal Navy he served all over the world before being selected for royal duty.  In March 2015 he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

Mary Jo Jacobi

Former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, Former Assistant US Commerce Secretary for President George H.W. Bush, British Civil Service Commissioner

Former Senior Executive, HSBC, Lehman Brothers, Royal Dutch Shell And BP America

Mary Jo Jacobi Jephson is a renowned expert in reputation, brand and crisis management drawn from her extensive experience at senior levels of the corporate, public and voluntary sectors on both sides of the Atlantic. Most recently, Mary Jo was Executive Vice President of BP America during its response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Previously she led reputation management for Royal Dutch Shell, Lehman Brothers, HSBC Holdings and Drexel Burnham Lambert. She also devised and executed the award-winning global brand strategies for Lehman and HSBC, including the first-ever use of airport jetties for brand projection and thought leadership. She is a non-executive director of the Weir Group PLC, Mulvaney Capital Management and Panafsat and a member of the advisory board of Fink Africa. She is also a Visiting Fellow of Oxford University'ss Centre for Corporate Reputation. Mary Jo was the first woman to chair the board of the Ladies Professional Golf Association and subsequently served on the board of the Ladies European (Golf) Tour. She is a frequent broadcast commentator, lecturer and public speaker around the world.

Donald Steel

Former Chief Communications Advisor, BBC

Vice President, Crisis Communications, Kenyon International Emergency Services

Donald Steel has built a global reputation as a crisis communicator.  For more than 25 years he has given strategic counsel to organisations and high profile individuals in a range of serious situations, including aircraft incidents, terrorism, kidnapping, serious accidents, executive and personal misconduct, fraud, litigation and inquests and serious regulatory and diplomatic issues.

He was for 11 years, the chief media spokesman of the BBC.

In his own practice, based in London, he worlds with a range of corporate, government, NGO and individual clients across the UK, Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East, North America and Asia Pacific and Australasia.   His clients includes airlines, hospitals, universities, hotel groups, UN agencies, orchestras, the Eurovision Song Contest, arts venues and high profile artistes.

He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations in London and of the Royal Society of Arts.  He is a regular guest lecturer at the London School of Economics and the China Media Centre of the University of Westminster.

Alongside his own practice, last year he was appointed Vice President, Crisis Communications at Kenyon International Emergency Services, the worlds longest serving and most admired responder to incidents involving fatality and injury.  Based in Houston, Berkshire (UK), Beirut and Santo Domingo, Kenyon’s clients range from leading airlines, cruise companies, hotel groups, governments, police forces, local authorise and companies across the world who work in high risk situations.  In this role, Donald leads a team of senior crisis communicators based around the world, ready to respond to clients.

He was a member of Aviation Futures, a recent think tank of the UK Civil Aviation Authority supporting the CAA on planning the regulation of future developments in aviation.

Piers Rosenfeld-Schreiber

BT

Corporate Affairs Director, Business

Piers is an international expert in reputation management. He currently leads corporate affairs team for Business at BT, with operations in over 70 countries. Previously he headed corporate communications for Jumeirah, the luxury hotel group, headquartered in the UAE. As an advisor on corporate affairs and crisis communications he has undertaken international assignments for many public and private sector organisations. His earlier career included leadership positions in a listed Dutch telecoms company, Ogilvy PR, The Rowland Company (Saatchi & Saatchi) across central and eastern Europe and as PR Officer for the European Commission in Prague. A Cambridge graduate, with an MBA from Strathclyde, he started his career as a university lecturer in France and the Czech Republic.

Sietse Bakker

Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Executive Producer

Bart De Vries

IPRA- International PR Association

President

Bart de Vries is the 2016 President of IPRA and general manager of PR/PA agency HvdM in the Netherlands. He is experienced in and advises clients on corporate reputation, government and labor relations and issues and influencer campaigns. Bart has also created Corporate Social Responsibility programs. He runs workshops and training sessions in communication management, crisis preparedness and crisis communications. In one-on-one sessions, Bart works with seasoned communication consultants to enhance their personal and professional insights and skills. Bart has been Board Member of IPRA since 2009 and is a member of the European Association of Communication Directors. In 2004, he was the co-editor of a widely used handbook on public relations in the Netherlands.

Danny Whatmough

Weber Shandwick

Head Of Digital

Danny is a senior PR and marketing professional specialising in PR and digital/social media. He is currently head of digital across Weber Shandwicks European consumer practice. Previous to this he headed up social and digital work for Proctor & Gamble at Ketchum. He is also Chair of the PRCAs Digital Group, a member of the PRCA Council and sit on the AMEC social media measurement committee. He plays an active role in the wider PR industry and is a regular speaker, commentator and blogger on digital PR and the future of the industry.

John Neilson

Lockheed Martin

Director, Corporate Communications

Andrew Widger

Pfizer

Senior Director, Global Media Relations

Andy is a Senior Director at Pfizer Inc, leading the strategy and execution of corporate Media Relations across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Andy has led communications for over 25 years, across differing sectors and geographies, working with executives and their leadership teams around the world to manage business and share price sensitive announcements and issues.

In his current role as Pfizer’s lead spokesperson in the region, Andy has managed proactive and reactive communications for a company with a “headline profile” throughout the pandemic, covering ground-breaking scientific and commercial developments, as well as matters of significant public health importance in a highly complex and regulated industry sector.

Prior to Pfizer, Andy headed up communications within media businesses – for the BBC’s commercial arm and the UK’s news agency the Press Association – supporting these businesses’ commercial and corporate objectives with multi-channel engagement programmes tailored to different audiences around the world.

Richard Stephenson

Civil Aviation Authority

Communications Director

Richard Stephenson joined the CAA in January 2015 as Communications Director. Prior to joining the CAA, Richard held senior communications roles in high profile and leading FTSE businesses, including as Group Strategic Communications Adviser at Centrica plc, Corporate Affairs Director at AXA and Director of Public Relations at Royal Mail Group. A postgraduate of Cardiff Journalism School, Richard is non-executive chairman of a fledgling public relations agency, non-executive director of Coventry University London Campus and a Director of County Hall Management Company Ltd. He has been a prolific charity fundraiser, climbing Kilimanjaro and traversing New Zealand and the Arctic for good causes, is currently chairman of a youth charity and has undertaken political work, in four continents, for over 20 years.

Noha Bashir

Facebook

EMEA Team Lead, Blueprint Training

Noha currently leads the Blueprint Training team at Facebook in Dubai. Previously, she was Director of Digital and Social Marketing for CEMEA (Central Europe, Russia, and Middle East & Africa) at Visa. Prior to joining Visa, Noha worked at Proximity/BBDO based in Dubai, where she led the Social Media Department and managed clients such as Visa, Dubai Tourism Authority, #MyDubai Initiative, Axiom Telecom accounts, among others. Before relocating to Dubai In 2011, Noha worked at BBDO Egypt as Public Relations and Public Speaking specialist for 3 years. Noha was also a television presenter at Egypts Channel 1, broadcasting worldwide. Noha has extensive knowledge in digital first strategies, online Influencer engagement and content creation & ignition.