Apart from numerous practitioners in the public relations and communication management field in South Africa, a few international academics were also on the list of invited speakers. Prof Anne Gregory, from the Leeds Business School in England, addressed the audience on the power of integrated reporting and value-based organisations.

Prof Ronel Rensburg, from the Communication Management Division at the University of Pretoria and immediate Past President of PRISA, investigated the alignment of corporate social investment programmes to organisational strategy. Prof Gregory and Prof Rensburg will conduct future joint research on the non-financial and corporate reputation factors as opposed to financial factors in corporations that caused company executive officers to resign their jobs over the past couple of years.