Rakhee Lalvani is the Vice President of Public Relations and Corporate Communications of Indian Hotel Company (IHCL) and a founding member of GWPR India. She will be giving some important insights on how the hospitality industry and its communications teams are dealing with the impact of Covid-19. Rakhee is an industry veteran and there are probably only a handful of people who have her experience in managing crisis situations within this sector.

Giulia Prati, Vice-President, New York and Robyn McKane, Senior Research Executive, London, Opinium will present the data and findings from their current brand communications research. The research examines what kind of communication the public want from brands during the Coronavirus crisis and will be particularly useful for agencies advising clients on the the types of message they should be using and how these will be received.

Cristina Hanganu, Director of Communication & CSR for Lidl Romania and Vice President of GWPR Romania. Cristina will be talking about the Importance of Internal Communications giving us a valuable insight into keeping a large workforce motivated during Covid-19 - most of whom were previously not working remotely - and how the new communications framework her team created has led to a positive outcome with important lessons for the future. Cristina is an excellent communicator with a strong belief in building sustainable businesses. Her portfolio includes Director of Corporate Communication at CONNEX, Director of Communication for Michelin Romania & Balkans, Head of Communication for Intact Media Group and Media Pro Group, as well as extensive agency experience. Her motto in business and life: Make your own mistakes, but don't make them twice. https://www.linkedin.com/in/cristinahanganu

Managing a Virtual Agency during Covid-19 We are delighted to welcome as our speaker Georgette Pascale, Founder & CEO of Pascale Communications, an award-winning virtual agency specialising in healthcare communications. Georgette is a highly motivated entrepreneur and philanthropist, based in Connecticut, USA. Date: Thursday May 7th from 3-4pm (London time). Please note this is an hour later than our usual drop-in session timing During the event Georgette will share with us her tips on how to effectively connect with colleagues and clients in a virtual environment and explain why we need to continue to deliver what we always have during COVID-19. We will also discuss what have we learnt from remote working and how we can best use this knowledge as we come out of the COVID-19 crisis. Beyond the tips for how to #WFH Georgette will give us her views on What Next!

We are delighted to welcome Richard Houghton, The Agency Doctor, as our guest moderator.  The discussion will include: - Keeping the boat afloat - have you done everything you need in the short term - New normal - what might the new trading environment may look like - Winners and losers - who will thrive and survive in a world with social distancing and no vaccine Richard has more than 30 years experience in the agency business, with senior management roles at Fleishman-Hillard, Shandwick and Ketchum. He has merged, turned round and launched several agencies from scratch. Richard is Past-President, ICCO and Former Chair of the PRCA. Most recently he published Grow, Build, Sell, Live - a practical guide to growing and building an agency.’