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CommsCom Question Time panel to include bosses of PRIA and PRC along with Frank’s global CEO and One Green Bean founder

PRIA's Watson

PRIA’s Watson

The man who controversially took the helm of the Public Relations Institute of Australia earlier this month is to make one of his first public appearances at the CommsCon conference.

Mike Watson, who abruptly replaced Terri-Helen Gaynor as president of PRIA, is to appear on the plenary CommsCon Question Time panel which concludes the conference.

A fellow panellist is Stuart Gregor, who chairs new industry body The PR Council.

CommsCon, which is organised by Mumbrella’s parent company Focal Attractions and is aimed at public relations and communications professionals, takes place on March 20 in Sydney.

CommsCon logo

Also on the panel are Kat Thomas, executive creative director of public relations agency One Green Bean and Graham Goodkind, London based boss of Frank PR which has offices in the UK, US and Australia.

Watson, Gregor, Thomas and Goodkind will address the issues and debates which arise across the day of the CommsCon conference and take question from the audience.

Watson’s day job is as a lecturer at Swinburne University in Melbourne. He has also worked in government and run a public relations consultancy. He rose to the top of PRIA after promising a fresh start for the organisation.

Stuart Gregor

PRC’s Gregor

As well as chairing the PRC, which is part of The Communications Council, Gregor is also the founder and boss of public relations agency Liquid Ideas whose clients include Citibank, Kellogg’s, Westfield, CUB and Singapore Airlines.

Gregor is a former News Corp journalist and ex communications manager of Foster’s. A week ago he called for a PRIA-PRC merger.

Kat Thomas One Green Bean

OGB’s Thomas

Thomas is one of Australia’s best known PR practitioners after launching the award-winning One Green Bean in 2007. The agency’s clients include CommBank, Woolworth’s, Pacific Brands, Coca-Cola, Ferrero Australia, Kimberly-Clark and Diageo.

Last year, when the agency hit a headcount of 50, Thomas moved into the new role of executive creative director in order to focus on the agency’s creative outpout.

Frank's Goodkind

Frank’s Goodkind

Goodkind founded Frank PR, which is one of the most successful agencies within the ASX-listed Enero Group’s global portfolio. Frank has office in London the US and Sydney.

Goodkind originally rose through the ranks of Lynne Franks PR, the British agency which was the inspiration for the sitcom Absolutely Fabulous. He started Frank PR in 2000.

The program for CommsCon can be viewed via this link. Highlights include keynote guest Joe Jareck, public relations director of The Los Angeles Dodgers; an overview of the world’s best PR thinking from CLIO, Cristal and Lions juror James Wright and a series of best practice case studies.

An early bird discount for the conference is available until this Friday.

UPDATE: Since this story was posted, Graham Goodkind has unfortunately had to withdraw for personal reasons which will prevent him from being available to make the journey from the UK.

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