Iprn Annual General Meeting

IPRN ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Helsinki, June 5 – 9, 2004

MEMBERS ATTENDING

The Chairman: Harkonsalo & Vesa Public Relations Oy (Karri Vesa) – Finland General Secretary: Nexus Communications Group (Jonathan Choat) – London, U.K.

Maggi Bonner Fox, The Maggi Fox Consultancy, St Georges, France Jonathan Choat, Nexus Communications Group, London, U.K. Mary Crotty, Mary Crotty Public Relations Limited, Dublin, Ireland Claude Sauber, Oxygen, Luxembourg, Luxembourg Barbara Fleetwood, Information & Communication, Stockholm, Sweden Alexandra Fleetwood, Information & Communication, Stockholm, Sweden Luis G. Canomanuel, LUCA Comunicación Corporativa, Madrid, Spain Michael Stringer, Stringer, Burlington, U.S.A. Marsha Stringer, Stringer, Burlington, U.S.A. Gert Träger, butterlies pr and more, Aarhus C, Denmark Jonas Sondergaard, butterlies pr and more, Aarhus C, Denmark Keith Webb, Edson Evers & Associates, Stafford, U.K. Wolfgang Weber-Thedy, Weber-Thedy Corporate & Financial, Zürich, Switzerland Larry Weis, Autocom Associates, Bloomfield Hills, U.S.A. Jeffrey Weiss, Harbinger Communications Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada Marilyn Short, Harbinger Communications Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada Jim James, Eastwest PR, Singapore, Singapore Júlia Lajos, Headline Public Relations Ltd., Budapest, Hungary Mária Kelemen, Headline Public Relations Ltd., Budapest, Hungary Geoff Drucker, Corporate Kudos, Australia Inge Drucker, Corporate Kudos, Australia Mark Knight, Broadgate, London, U.K. Jeanne Perego, Perego & Solera Comunicazione Integrated, Milano, Italy Gary Wells, Dix & Eaton Incorporated, Cleveland Ohio, U.S.A. Steve Mangold, PRx Inc., San Jose, U.S.A. Trude Holthe Moll, Communicator, Oslo, Norway Anne Harkonsalo, Harkonsalo & Vesa Public Relations Oy, Espoo, Finland Karri Vesa, Harkonsalo & Vesa Public Relations Oy, Espoo, Finland INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC RELATIONS NETWORK

Annual General Meeting on June 6th continued until – 8th , 2004, in Helsinki, Finland.

1. AGM 2004 Opening (Chairman Karri Vesa). 2. Welcoming the participants and introducing new members (Chairman) 3. Apologies for absence from Annekathrin Koch, Pentacom, Germany; Micoh Ohtaka, Japan; Guido Minerbi, Argentina; Dénes Széchényi, Germany; Marie Dettinger, France; Niels Bartels, the Netherlands; Herman Verkoost, the Netherlands; and Roar Moll, Norway (General Secretary). 4. Votes registered by proxy recorded (Gen Sec). 5. Approval of minutes of AGM 2003, held in Luxembourg 2003. Proposed by Maggi Bonner Fox, seconded by Luis G. Canomanuel. 6. Approval of Constitution amendments agreed in Luxembourg 2003 Item 11.1 Item 11.2 a) and b) Proposed by Jeffrey Weiss, seconded by Larry Weis.

7. Financial Matters 1.1. Approval of audited accounts, year ending December 31, 2003, proposed by Maggi Bonner Fox, seconded by Keith Webb, approved by the majority and signed by Chairman 1.2. Approval of budget and membership fees, year ending December 31, 2004, proposed by Inge Drucker, seconded by Steve Mangold, approved by the majority and signed by Chairman 1.3. Discussion on items to be considered in the year 2004 and 2005 budgets. Discussion on the budget will continue at a later stage.

2. Report by the General Secretary 2.1. New members: East West; Jim James, Singapore, with extensive Far East connections; Ohtaka Jimusho, Japan, Mico Ohtaka,; Sabel Communicatie Niels Bartels in addition to Herman Verkroost, the Netherlands. 2.2. Lost members: New York, Lisa Lori 2.3. New applications which came to nothing: Chile, Spain, Italy (refused), Australia, New Zealand, Singapore. 2.4. Good contacts: Greece, Turkey, Russia, India, Portugal, the Czech Republic 2.5. Hours spend in administration for the year 2003; 21.3 days. Allocation from budget 24 hours. 2.6. Other networks: ECP Global; main office: New York, Paris, Quebec, 13 members over the U.S.A., Europe, Russia, 14 years old; First Partner precedence in each country for new business. Annual sub; $ 2500, Shareholding: $ 5000, Meetings: 2/3 pa EuroPR Group: main office in London; 22 connections in countries in western Europe, Scandinavia, the U.S.A. Includes all marketing services, Adv-PR. Single agency with connections, not a network. ECCO: main office in London with full time administrator. 26 agencies over Europe, Middle East, Africa, the U.S.A. and Asia. Shares owned by 6 leading European agencies (including Wellcom in Paris); other are associates. Objective: Form a branded international group of independent agencies which can eventually be sold or floated financially as an international network under group ownership. All members are increasingly calling themselves ECCO country. Exclusivity in countries plus specialist areas e.g. 4 agencies in Germany. Annual Subs; the U.K. – around £10k. Business to business accounts actively handled Europe- wide. Media Consult: main office; Berlin, Koln. 25 correspondents covering western and eastern Europe and one in New York. Include all marketing services adv-PR. A comprehensive European network. Annual Subs; not known. Worldcom: main office: New Jersey, the U.S.A. 3 regional boards, 7 international directors plus CEO, 100 partner offices over 35 countries. Annual subs; not known.

8.7. J. Choat has done an excellent job in administering the network. He has acted as an ambassador to the network. But there is the issue of the high costs; he is highly paid. It was suggested that his workload were divided. Importance of finding clients.

3. Election of officers for the year 2003/2004

 Election of General Secretary for 2004/2005: Jonathan Choat, proposed by Maggi Bonner Fox, seconded by Jeffrey Weiss, approved  External Auditors: Carringtons proposed by Jeffrey Weiss, seconded by Luis Canomanuel, approved  Administration Committee: Karri Vesa, Jonathan Choat, Maggi Bonner Fox and Keith Webb, approved unanimously  Chairman for the year commencing on June 9, 2004 (2004/2005): Mary Crotty proposed by Maggi Bonner Fox, seconded by Steve Mangold, approved

4. Decision on the location and date of the next AGM 2005 Dublin, Ireland was unanimously approved. Mid-May was proposed as the time for the meeting. May 21 – 24, 2005 was approved as the date of the next AGM.

5. Activities of the different Committees during the year 2003  Policy Committee: Chairman: J. Choat including M. Fox, C. Sauber, K. Vesa, G. Minerbi, L. Canomanuel. Main issue: Chile, which used to be a member of IPRN, should not use their past membership in their PR operations, nor should any other ex-IPRN agency.  Marketing Committee: Chairman: Dénes Széchényi; absent, S. Mangold, G. Drucker, G. Minerbi, B. Fleetwood, G. Trager, L. Weis. Dénes Széchényi’s report has been delivered to all the participants. Geoff Drucker presented some of the recommendations of the report, as follows: Website is often not up-to-date, because some members do not update their information on the website. No need to redesign the website (approved by everybody). Easier login: email address login and favorite password valid as of July 1 (proposed and approved). Templates e-mailed every quarter year for updates rater than online changes (rejected). Creating a member reminder facility for checking site details every three months. Developing a “How we work as a network” introduction on the website including case histories: to be developed. Creating a matrix where multiple skills can be included: approved. Decision on search engine optimization: to be looked at by the Marketing Committee. Costs: logins and passwords - £100; new skills matrix - £440; quote for 2005 maintenance fee - £2,450; hosting - £175. Logins and passwords and the new matrix optimization is to be examined by the committee. Geoff Drucker will give a quotation approved for immediate action for the pages to be translated into six languages. A slight change in the IPRN logo will be considered.  Project of the Year Committee: Chairman: Luis Canomanuel, Mary Crotty, Annekathrin Koch, Larry Weis. Nine participants. No major changes in last year’s rules.  Recruitment Committee: E. Europe – K. Vesa; W. Europe – J. Choat; South America – G. Minerbi; North America – G. Wells; Asia Pasific – G. Drucker; Africa – J. Choat; India – J. Choat. Eastern Europe: continuing contacts, but difficulties in getting them join the network. This will take several years. One request arrived from Bulgaria. Investments are coming from wealthy western countries, such as the U.S.A. High-quality material, including case studies, about the network is required and should be sent to companies in eastern Europe. If agencies in e.g. Hungary, Bulgaria, and Russia cannot be found, free-lancers could be used. Joining the E.U. has increased the new E.U. countries’ interest in tourism, where we could be of assistance. As far as regional planning is concerned, the network should carefully analyze the countries/markets we want to attract. Furthermore, these countries must be motivated to the network. Networking our existing clients, and marketing ourselves more aggressively as a network will increase IPRN visibility to clients and prospective agency members. Western Europe: In France there are problems of communication with Communicor and their new partner Wellcom. We need a broad business-to-business and consumer agency in France. JC to recruit a replacement . Otherwise in Europe, we have been quite successful. An agency in Greece and/or Turkey would be good, but currently contacts are available. North America: a potential new agency in the U.S.A. South America: we have an agency in Mexico, but problems with feedback and contact, as well as subscription payments. It would probably we prudent to start looking for a new agency as assistance in Mexico is needed for the network. Asia Pacific: meeting with one agency in New Zealand, another high-quality agency in New Zealand considers joining. New agency recruited in Japan (Micoh Ohtaha). India: talks with an Indian agency, but contact only. Another contact in Mumbai. Africa: contacts with small agencies, who are not ready to join due to financial reasons. Associate membership to be considered.

 Business Development Committee: Chairman: Gary Wells, L. Canomanuel, W. Weber- Thedy, A. Mendes, C. Viriyachitt, L. Weiss. The Committee’s recommendations: the network should establish a framework to capture relevant information about business conducted among members; this information shall be available to all members. Two frameworks for capturing this information. Filling in forms should be mandatory, and the forms will be posted on the website. The list of former agency clients should only be posted on the intranet by each agency using international reach clients only and divided into industry sectors e.g. health care, b-to-b, consumer, corporate, financial services, etc. by the end of September.

 Information and Communication Committee: Chairperson: Marilyn Short, P. Richter, P. Czarnowski, J. Choat, C. Sauber. The Committee’s report was presented by Marilyn Short. Main points: limited formal communication between members, underutilization of the website. Issues that could be shared: client lists, case studies, best practice, news. A survey of member agencies, and what information they are prepared to share with other members on the public website will be conducted shortly.

 Affiliates membership Committee: Chairman: M. Fox, J. Choat, P. Czarnowski, K. Vesa. The Committee was put in place last year. The affiliates program exists, though currently we have no affiliate recruits.

11. Appointment of Committees 2004/2005 Policy Committee: Jonathan Choat, Maggie Bonner Fox, Claude Sauber, Karri Vesa, Guido Minerbi ( NB now defunct due to decision on IPRN Executive Council cf item 18.1) Administrative Committee: Jonathan Choat, Maggie Bonner Fox, Keith Webb, Mary Crotty

Marketing Committee:, Chairman; Mark Knight, Dénes Széchényi, Steve Mangold, Larry Weiss, Geoff Drucker, Jeffrey Weiss. Brief of the Marketing Committee: Website-related issues: optimization, intranet and networking section plus case histories; multi-lingual; associates (nonmember) list by country. Project of the Year Committee: Chairman: Luis Canomanuel, Mary Crotty, Annekathrin Koch, Larry Weis. Recruitment Committee: Eastern Europe: Chairmen: Karri Vesa and Juliá Lajos. Western Europe: Jonathan Choat, Asia: Jim Jones, Australasia: Geoff Drucker, North America: Gary Wells, South America: Guido Minerbi, Africa: Jonathan Choat Information and Communication Committee: Chairperson: Marilyn Short, Claude Sauber, Jonathan Choat Affiliates membership Committee: Chairperson: Maggie Bonner Fox

6. Election of Vice Chairman (Chairman for 2005 / 2006) North America in 2006 (3 joint Chairmen) and 2007 Deputy Vice Chairman Júlia Lajos/Hungary.

7. Motions received from members Guido Minerbi’s proposal for a new class of membership, a group membership, for certain geographical locations where we need coverage: South America, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. The price of membership would be $500 per annum, in case four agencies join the network. It was agreed that the agencies’ revenues would fall below $150,000 fees per annum. Those in the new membership class would have no voting rights at the AGM, but would be able to attend the conference on payment of the $300 each conference deposit. Proposed by Geoff Drucker, seconded by Larry Weis. Approved by majority vote.

8. Date and location of next meeting May 21 – 24, 2005 in Dublin.

9. Any other business The membership unanimously thanked Karri Vesa and Anne Harkonsalo and their team for the arrangement of the conference in Helsinki.

10. End of AGM 2004 Chairman ended the meeting.

Four presentations by new members;

a) presentation by Jim James, Eastwest PR on Singapore, Asia and China as a developing market b) Sabel Communicatie - Netherlands (J. Choat) c) Herman Verkroost - Netherlands (J. Choat) d) Micoh Ohtaka - Japan (J. Choat) 17. Additional items agreed outside the agenda

18. Motions:

18.1. That an Executive Council be formed comprising the current Chairman, previous year’s Chairman (Chairman Emeritus),Vice Chairman, Deputy Vice Chairman, General Secretary and 2 committee members be established to administer the execution of decisions and deliverables agreed at the AGM. The Chairman is the organizer of the next AGM. Committee members are selected by the Chairman. This executive council also now assumes the responsibilities of the Policy Committee. Proposed by Geoff Drucker, seconded by Maggi Bonner Fox, approved by majority vote.

18.2. That an e-Newsletter be established that will be distributed on August 1, 2004, December 1, 2004, April 2, 2005 and edited/produced by Claude Sauber, for one year. The action: information will be demanded by the end of June. Proposed by Steve Mangold, seconded by Inge Drucker, approved by majority vote.

18.3. Notification of multi-agency business That an easily accessed, easy-to-use database be established to require cooperative agency campaigns by agency partners as soon as the campaign agreed. A template will be produced by Gary Wells and submitted to Geoff Drucker for quotation and inclusion on the intranet by the end of June. Further information on previous campaigns to be discovered and included on the intranet. Case histories of previous campaigns to be proposed by Gary Wells and information progressed by the Marketing Committee by the end of September. Information to be included on the website intranet by the end of July 2004. Proposed by Gary Wells, seconded by Steve Mangold, approved by majority vote.

18.4. Pricing and quoting between members agreed that Item 1: A budget must always be provided for the project. Item 2: A clear brief must be given. Item 3: Commission only chargeable on jobs exceeding 1500 euros per month. Item 4: Fees and disbursements should be paid to all agencies by the lead agency as soon as they are paid by the client. Action: The committee will create a spreadsheet showing various basic costs for press releases etc. to be completed by member agency and posted on the Internet. Action by June 30, 2004. Agencies to complete by July 31, 2004. Proposed by Gert Träger, seconded by Maggie Fox, passed by majority, objection: Jeffrey Weiss.

18.5. IPRN network presentation A PowerPoint presentation format to be developed by J. Choat and the marketing committee and submitted to the membership by the end of July for use by members and adapting to their own purposes in presentations to prospective network clients. It was agreed that every member agency should endeavor to present the network to at least two prospective clients over the next year. Proposed by Jonathan Choat, seconded by Geoff Drucker, passed by majority.

International project idea by Jeanne Perego Guide book, website for families with children covering every capital city with details of travel, entertainment, events, etc. suitable for children of all ages. Possible opportunity for the network with an international sponsor and strong branding. Referred to the Marketing Committee for progress.

18.6. Vote on adapted logo, proposed by Steve Mangold, seconded by Michael Stringer, approved by majority vote. M. Stringer to send to J. Choat asap for distribution to members.

19 The presentations made for the Ellis Kopel Project of the Year Award ;

19.1 Autocom Detroit USA ; AIAG- Automotive supply Chain Management programme. 19.2 Broadgate Marketing London UK/Weber Thedy Zurich Switzerland ; Launch of Starmine Best Analyst System 19.3 Corporate Kudos Melbourne Australia; Visy Industries World Re-Cycling Games . 19.4 Headline PR Budapest Hungary ; PR Programme for Hungary’s referendum ,supporting EC entry. 19.5 Nexus Healthcare London UK ; Reckitt Benckiser Digestive Fitness Information Bureau, ‘Fit from the inside out’ campaign. 19.6 Mary Crotty Dublin Ireland ; Tesco Young Cook of the year campaign . 19.7 Luca Comunicacion Corporativa , Madrid Spain ; World premier event for Barcelona’s ‘1000 days to the future ‘. 19.8 Harbinger Communications Toronto Canada; Kitchen Aid ‘Cook for the cure’ Breast Cancer research support campaign.

The winner of the award was Harbinger Communications Toronto Canada

Ends .