Speakers

Jo Burford

EMEA Head of Creators, Edelman

Paul Holmes

Founder & CEO, PRovoke Media

Paul Holmes, founder and CEO of PRovoke Media, has been writing about public relations for more than 25 years. Paul began his career in local newspapers in the north of England and also worked for a newspaper group in South London before joining PR Week as news editor in 1985.

In 1987 he moved to New York to launch the short-lived US edition of that publication, and after that project came to an inglorious end worked with Adweek and Adweek’s Marketing Week for a year.

In 1989, he launched his own company, initially publishing Inside PR, and later Reputation Management magazine, both focused on providing analysis of critical trends and issues in the public relations industry. He created the annual Public Relations Agency Report Card, which included profiles of the leading PR firms in the US, and the Creativity in Public Relations Awards, which grew to become the largest in North America.

Early in 2000, Holmes launched The Holmes Group, which provides knowledge and insight to public relations professionals across a variety of platforms, including a website, an e-newsletter, events, printed reports, research and consulting assignments, and the SABRE Awards competition. The group’s flagship title, PRovoke Media (p/k/a The Holmes Report), covers the public relations business in the Americas, EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and the Asia-Pacific region. In 2011, Paul was inducted into the ICCO Hall of Fame.

Thomas Morris

Senior Partner, FINN Partners

Kerry Parkin

Founder and CEO, The Remarkables

Kerry Parkin is Founder of The Remarkables. After 25 years building an in-house and agency career, Kerry set out to create the agency she always wished existed: agile, senior-led and free from the layers of traditional networks. Since 2024, she has been building an international collective of senior specialists working across campaigning, corporate communications, reputation and GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation).

Kerry has advised leadership teams and global brands on reputation, stakeholder engagement, organisational change and high-profile campaigning programmes designed to drive visibility, influence and impact. Increasingly, her work focuses on how brands build trust and authority in the age of AI-powered search.

Kerry is also leading conversations around GEO – Generative Engine Optimisation – helping organisations understand how they appear and are recommended within AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. GEO combines PR, reputation, search visibility and authoritative content strategy to improve how brands surface in AI-generated answers.

Through The Remarkables, Kerry and her team work with brands including SPAR, Cover Genius, Amazon, ODEON, Stock Spirits Group and AF Blakemore.

Maja Pawinska Sims

Editorial Director, PRovoke Media

Maja Pawinska Sims is the Editorial Director at PRovoke Media. She has been writing about public relations and communications for 26 years, first as features editor of PRWeek and then as a freelance writer and editor for PR agencies and their clients around the world, including three years as Weber Shandwick’s EMEA editor. Maja joined PRovoke Media in 2018 and covers UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa news, features, analysis and podcasts, as well as leading major global projects including the Best Agencies of the Year, the Influence 100 list of the world’s most influential in-house chief communications and corporate affairs officers, and the Innovator 25 lists of disruptors, innovators and gamechangers in the PR industry. She was named Journalist of the Year at the Global Women in Marketing Awards in 2019, where the judges noted: “Maja proves how empathy can drive brilliant editorial thinking. She is clearly an absolute expert in her field and proves that you can challenge an industry while also championing it.”

Allison Spray

EMEA Chief Data & Intelligence Officer, Burson

Paolo Zanetto

CEO, Excellera Advisory Group

Paolo is the CEO of Excellera, a leading Corporate Affairs consultancy across EMEA. He co-founded the firm and has driven its rapid expansion across EMEA. He brings extensive experience in corporate affairs, strategic communications, public affairs, and regulatory risk management.

Before founding Excellera, Paolo co-founded CZP, Italy’s leading public affairs firm. In that role, he advised Fortune 500 clients on regulatory challenges, advocacy strategies, and reputational risk at both the national and European level.

Paolo is also an Executive Fellow at SDA Bocconi School of Management, where he teaches non-market strategy. He chairs the steering committee of Bocconi’s Public Affairs and Institutional Relations initiative. He is the author of three books and a regular contributor to leading scientific and mainstream publications.