DUBAI — Senior media and comms leaders from Arab News, the Financial Times, Visa, Mubadala and Marriott have joined the speaker lineup for the Holmes Report's MENA IN2 Innovation Summit, which is returning to Dubai on 13 February 2019.

The second edition of the MENA conference follows the resounding success of the first event last year. Tickets for the conference can be booked here.

Arab News editor-in-chief Faisal Abbas and Financial Times Gulf correspondent Simeon Kerr will join a panel that uncovers media trends via a gameshow format, alongside Mubadala head of internal corporate relations Umayma Abubakar, Marriott International MEA communications VP Sarah Walker-Kerr and Hanover MD Jonty Summers.

Meanwhile, the IN2Summit keynote panel, which will explore CEO activism, has added Starz Play Arabia CEO and co-founder Maaz Sheikh and Visa corporate relations senior director Nicole Hayde to a session that already features ITP Publishing editor-in-chief Anil Bhoyrul, Ras Al Khaimah executive director Heba Fatani and Asda'a BCW president Sunil John. 

Another session, furthemore, will convene senior government figures to discuss how public relations can support climate change initiatives, featuring Taif Mohammad Al Amiri, director of government communications at the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, and IRENA communications and outreach advisor Sabah Ahmad Dalvi. The session is moderated by APCO's Nic Labuschagne.

The conference's integration panel brings together senior figures from marketing, agency and academia to discuss how public relations can build ideas that drive behavioral change across multiple communications channels, targeting the full range of stakeholders. The discussion will feature: Vivian Nasamu-Odior, director, Baby House of Brands, AMET, Johnson & Johnson, Salman T. Sultan, regional PR and social media manager, Jaguar Land Rover,  Dr Harris Breslow, professor of mass communications, American University of Sharjah, and Memac Ogilvy head of content, PR and influence, Joe Lipscombe.

The programme for the 2019 IN2Summit MENA is now live. The conference will take place at the Renaissance Downtown Dubai Hotel, ahead of the PRCA MENA Awards at the same venue that evening. PRCA MENA (along with other supporting organisations including the IABC and MEPRA) members are eligible for special discounts via their member bodies.

The second IN2Summit MENA is being backed by numerous partners and sponsors, including Asda'a BCW, APCO, Hanover, Memac Ogilvy, H+K Strategies, Weber Shandwick, Markettiers, FleishmanHillard and Strateus Group.

Tickets for the conference can be booked here.