Professor Verčič, Ph.D. and professor van Ruler are renowned experts in the area of public relations and authors of various books that educated many generations of European communication experts.

Two renowned European public relations experts – professor Dejan Verčič, Ph.D. and professor Betteke van Ruler, Ph.D. – confirmed their participation as keynote speakers in the first international academic conference Communication Management Forum 2015. Professor Verčič, Ph.D. will talk about “Why invest in strategic communication? Because it creates value!”, while professor van Ruler will speak on the topic “Forget about everything you learned about communication management before”.

Professor Dejan Verčič, Ph.D. is a Slovenian communication expert, a Professor and Head of Centre for Marketing and Public Relations at the University of Ljubljana. During his career he wrote many books related to public relations. His most recent editions are Culture and Public Relations (2012) and The Global Public Relations Handbook (2009). In 2000 and 2010 he received special awards by the Public Relations Society of Slovenia, and in 2001 he was awarded the Alan Campbell-Johnson Medal for outstanding service to international public relations by the UK Chartered Institute of Public Relations. Prof. Verčič served, inter alia, as the chairman of the Research Committee of the IABC Research Foundation and as the President of the European Public Relations Education and Research Association (EUPRERA).  Between 1991 and 1993, he was the founding director of the Slovenian national news agency (STA), and he co-founded communication agency Pristop. Since 1994, he organizes an annual International Public Relations Research Symposium – BledCom.

Professor Betteke van Ruler, Ph.D. is professor emerita in Communication Science and Corporate Communication at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Her research focuses on trends in communication management, on the practice of communication management and its professionalization. Professor van Ruler, Ph. D. was recently presented by the Queen the honorary title of Officer in the Civil Order of Orange-Nassau for her work in bridging the gap between academic theory and practice, and last year she was elected as the most influential person in the communication field in the Netherlands. She was Chair of the Department of Communication Science of the University of Amsterdam, and a Past President of the European Public Relations Education and Research Association (EUPRERA) and Past Chair of the Public Relations Division of the International Communication Association (ICA). Professor van Ruler, Ph.D. published in numerous journals, and her most recent books are Communication NOW, With an Eye on Communication, The Reflective Communication Scrum and Strategic Communication Frame.