NEW YORK — PRovoke Global 2020, our ninth annual global public relations summit including the Entrepreneurs’ Forum and the Global SABRE Awards ceremony, will take place virtually this year, from October 19-21.

This will be the first all-digital version of the event Hanover chief executive Charles Lewington called “a stimulating mix of industry mega-stars, best practice learnings from around the globe” and of which Laura Tomasetti, CEO of 360 Public Relations said: “The speakers and content were the best I’ve experienced — at any industry event.”

PRovoke Media founder Paul Holmes said: “While we love bringing the global public relations industry together in the real world for this event, we are confident that we and our partners can deliver the same high quality content and the same provocative attitude in an online environment. And by bringing the entire event to people’s screens, we hope this year’s event will give even more people an opportunity to engage with our flagship event.”

This year’s confirmed partners include six of the world’s seven largest PR firms as well as a handful of leading independent firms from around the world. The complete list includes Adfactors, Allison + Partners, BCW, Davis & Gilbert, Edelman, Finn Partners, FleishmanHillard, Highwire, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, Ketchum, KWT, M Booth, Stagwell, Strategic Public Relations Group, WE Communications, Weber Shandwick, and Zeno Group.

The event will include the Entrepreneurs’ Forum on Monday October 19, focusing on agency management topics; two days of PRovoke Global on October 20 and 21, providing insight into the major issues impacting the practice of public relations in this challenging year; and the Global SABRE Awards, counting down the 40 best campaigns from our regional SABRE Awards competitions, on the afternoon of October 21.

“This has been an extraordinary year for the practice of public relations, with the coronavirus pandemic creating new challenges in internal and external communications and the Black Lives Matter movement urging companies to take public positions on social justice issues as never before,” said Holmes. “The relationships between organizations and their stakeholders—employees, customers, communities, and shareholders—have been impacted in unpredictable ways. We will be exploring all of that, and how to respond, at this year’s PRovoke Media.”

Attendees can register for the entire event—or for individual days—at our dedicated PRovoke Global website.