Krynica, Poland – 7 to 10 September 2005
The ICF was asked to present two sessions at the 15th Conference of the Eastern Economic Forum from 7 to 10 September 2005 in Poland’s beautiful mountain resort town of Kyrnica. The event was attended by 1,700 participants from all the countries of East and South-East Europe, from Russia and the CIS. They came from business, politics, the media and multi—national companies working in the area. Simultaneous translation in Russian, Polish and English was provided for all sessions, plenary and workshop.
The President and the Prime Minister of Poland and former President Lech Waleska were among the main speakers, and they were joined by heads of State and senior government ministers from the Baltic States and neighbouring countries. The Conference was widely reported in the Polish print and broadcasting media.
The subjects of the ICF sessions were ‘Media and a Positive Image of the World’ and ‘Public Relations, Advertising and Values’. The first was chaired by Christian de Boisredon, Co-Founder and Co-President of Reporters d’espoir of France, with supporting panellists, William Porter, Founder President of the ICF; Thomas Schreiber, former Eastern European affairs correspondent of LE M0NDE; Andrzej Zybala, Vice President of the European Club of Journalists in Poland; and, as a guest speaker. Alexander Klyukin, a Member of the Russian Duma, a former television journalist and Vice-Chairman of the Committee for Information Policy.
The second session was chaired by Ron Nahser, Provost of the Presidio School of Management. San Francisco, and President of Corporantes Inc, a consultancy for management development, and the panel consisted of Peter Alvarez, spokesperson for the European Public Relations Confederation; and Charlotte Gutman, Managing Director of C.G.P., a European PR company based in Brussels.
Bernard Margueritte, President of the ICF provided the working liaison with Zygmunt Berdychowski, Chairman of the Economic Forum Council. Bernard also met with Lech Waleska, who enthusiastically recalled his visit to the Caux Conference in 2003.
Back in Warsaw a preparatory meeting took place for a launching event to establish an ICF Polish Chapter of the ICF, It was led by Malgorzata Bonikowska, Director of the European Information Centre in Poland, and included Jerzy Klosinski, Editor of the weekly SOLJDARNOSZ: Andrzej Krajewski, former Editor of the Polish READER’S DIGEST, Monsignor Wieslaw Nieweglowski. Priest to the Warsaw cultural community who drafted a Code Of Media Ethics, and Bernard Margueritte. Draft statutes are being prepared and will be submitted for association status, following a larger meeting of founder members.