Thierry Nicolet

Schneider Electric

Senior VP Global Press Relations

Thierry Nicolet has been leading the Business Press Relations activities of Schneider Electric since 2008, covering 50 countries. He interfaces with a network of local Marketing Communications Managers, PR Managers and over 40 PR Agencies, and made the company's world wide impressions triple in the past 4 years. Prior to his current position, Mr. Nicolet lead the Press Relations expansion world wide for more than 5 years at APC (until its acquisition by Schneider Electric) by setting up and analysing key performance indicators, engineering robust global processes and by providing guidelines, assistance and coaching to Marketing managers and their selected PR Agencies. Mr. Nicolet has over 23 years of Marketing Communications experience after graduating in Business Administration and International Trade from European Business School Paris. Fluent in French and English and conversational in German, he entered APC as an Sales Engineer and rapidly expressed an interest for Marketing Communication to become Marcom Manager for France, UK, The Nordics, Middle East and Africa. He then got involved with product marketing after which he also headed the Direct Marketing, Email Marketing and Customer Retention activity for the whole region to finally take the role of PR Director for EMEA. This wide scope of responsibilities has given him an extensive proficiency in Marcom demand drivers which he now uses to support Schneider Electric’s strategies, messages and solutions introductions.

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.

Richard Harless

Shazam Entertainment

Country Manager, Germany

Richard Harless is the Country Manager, Germany of Shazam Entertainment, Ltd. In his current role, Mr. Harless is responsible for all of Shazam’s commercial activities in the German market. Prior to Shazam, he served as EU Director for mobile advertising network Airpush launching their European based operations. Previously he worked in the US as Strategy Director for mobile advertising startup Mobile Posse and at AOL where managed the XM Radio implementation with AOL Radio. Mr. Harless holds a Bachelor of Arts from West Virginia University and Master of Business Administration and Master of International Management degrees from the University of Maryland.

Philip Dewhurst

Gazprom Marketing

Former Group PR Director

Wendy Gold

GE Power Conversion

Head Corporate Communications

John Neilson

Lockheed Martin

Director Corporate Communications

Prof. Jonathan A.J. Wilson

4xLinkedIn TopVoices Winner, Branding Professor & Speaker

Prof. Jonathan A.J. Wilson is an award-winning practitioner and academic with two doctorates – specialising in what he calls the ABCDs of business and culture: Advertising, Branding, Communication, and Digital. After receiving an MBA and a Chemistry degree in the ‘90s he began his career in advertising, before later deciding to experiment with the idea of being a brain for hire.

Prof Wilson has over 200 pieces of published work, given over 100 conference talks, travelled to 40 countries, and worked on branding everything - from countries to people.

He received a Top Voices award from LinkedIn for 4 consecutive years, recently appeared in their US primetime television advertisements, and is a LinkedIn Learning Instructor with a trending course on ‘Unlocking Authentic Communication in a Culturally-Diverse Workplace’ attracting 10k learners in its first month. FutureLearn also hosts his Expert Track online course on ‘Personal Branding: How to Brand Yourself Professionally, Authentically, and with Passion’.

Prof’s music and voice feature on the early Grand Theft Auto video games, he’s performed internationally on television and stages like Glastonbury music festival, and he holds a bunch of Dan grades in Japanese martial arts – so expect some kick ass edutainment.

​​Website: http://drjonwilson.com/ 

Twitter/Instagram: @drjonwilson

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjonwilson/

Milorad Ajder

Ipsos Corporate Reputation

Global Service Line Leader

Colleen Harris

Former Press Secretary To Princes Charles, William And Harry

Former Adviser, World Health Organization, Elton John Aids Foundation

With more than 25 years’ experience ranging from the British Royal Household, via Downing Street, to international NGOs, Colleen Harris has a strong track record of working in high-profile media and communications roles. This professional experience is complemented by a broad portfolio of trusteeships and non-executive director roles in the arts, education and health. Colleen held a senior communications position in the Prime Minister’s Office before being appointed Press Secretary to HRH the Prince of Wales, and was the first Black member of the Royal Household. She handled the media for The Prince of Wales during some of the most turbulent years, and also media-managed the emergence of Princes William and Harry into the public eye. Her career has included senior posts in the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, and the Cabinet Office as well as in non-departmental Public Bodies. She has worked in Britain and abroad as a consultant with private companies, non-profit organisations and UN agencies, including the World Health Organisation. Colleen’s work in a wide variety of contexts has taught her about managing individual reputations, as well as how to use brand-development techniques to help clients identify and take full advantage of their strengths and skills – equipping them to define their own public profiles, and achieve personal and business success. Colleen’s board-level and executive experience has given her a good appreciation of how to inspire and lead teams, as well as insight into the qualities that CEOs and boards look for in high-level executives.