Princess Rym Ali of Jordan to open WAN-IFRA Middle East Conference

Princess Rym, whose journalism career included stints at CNN, BBC, UPITN, Bloomberg and Radio Monte Carlo, is the founder of the Jordan Media Institute, which is affiliated with the University of Jordan and offers a Masters Degree programme in Journalism and New Media.

She joins regional and international media experts at the annual WAN-IFRA event, which presents best case studies and examines successful strategies for media companies. Full details can be found here.

The two-day conference is built around five big themes that are essential for media companies in the modern age: social media; leadership and human resource management; innovations in newsrooms; advertising revenue generation; and the power of print.

Speakers include:

• Major Steadman, digital director for Saatchi & Saatchi in Dubai, who will examine how social media can be used as marketing and advertising platforms.
  
• Maha Abouelenein, Google's head of communications for the Middle East and North Africa, who will address, "Social media - the silver bullet in media?"
  
• Pascal Zemp, project leader for Business Development Technology at Swiss-based Ringier, who will present "future-proof workflows in the editorial department."
  
• Chew Kai Kim, vice president for materials, quality control/process at Singapore Press Holdings, who will show how publishers can generate new revenue from their printing plants.
  
• Anders Berglund, sales director at Aftonbladet Hierta in Sweden, who will examine some creative advertising solutions in print and digital.
  
• Larry Kilman, deputy CEO & executive director of communications and public affairs of WAN-IFRA, who will present an overview of changing Middle East media after revolutions and reforms and what the future may hold.
  
• Thomas Jacob, deputy CEO of WAN-IFRA and managing director of its Singapore-based Asian subsidiary, who will present a strategic approach for traditional media companies to leverage digital media.
  
• David Butter, the CEO and founder of David Butter Consulting in the United Kingdom, who will address the "next generational leadership" factors necessary for multimedia companies.
  
• Ulrik Haagerup, executive director for News at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, who will share his views on developing news organisation personnel to meet today's challenges.
  
• Abdul Aziz Bin Mulhem, assistant deputy minister in the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Culture and Information, Khaled Soliman, group CEO of Galadari Brothers Co. LLC in Dubai, and other speakers to be announced, in a panel discussion on "Investment in Human Capital."
  
• Aralynn McMane, executive director for young readership development at WAN-IFRA, who will present an overview of how newspaper companies are reaching younger readers through social media.
  
• Randy Covington, director of the WAN-IFRA Newsplex at the University of South Carolina, who will address the question, "what will the newsroom of the future be like?"
  
• Lara Ayoub, portal manager at United Jordan Press, Saeed Alghamdi, assistant managing director at the Alyaum Media House in Saudi Arabia, and other speakers to be announced, in a panel discussion on "The Marriage of Print and Digital."
  
• Amandeep Singh Khurana, chief operating officer of Madison Media Plus in India, who will present case studies of extraordinary print advertising campaigns in India.
  
• Manfred Janssens, production manager of Pergroup's printing facility in Lokeren, Belgium, on why waterless printing makes an important difference.
  
• Manfred Werfel, deputy CEO & executive director of Newspaper Production for WAN-IFRA, who will unveil "secrets of printing - the quality factor."

Full details can be found here.