In July, for the 22nd consecutive year, Bled hosted the global elite of scholars and practitioners in public relations. This year they’ve welcomed 130 participants from 22 countries discussing the topic of Sleeping (with the) Media.
We live in a world where everything is mediatized. From a combination of advertising and journalism, the mass media are developing into clusters of social, owned, paid and earned content. In a time when media companies are being brought to their knees, businesses and other organizations are entering the world of publishing. Just 50 years ago, there was one public relations practitioner per journalist in the USA; today, there are five per journalist. Corporate and marketing communication are connecting and changing. But changing into what? How? Why? These were just some of the questions discussed at the 22nd International Public Relations Research Symposium – BledCom, taking place on 3 and 4 July at the Hotel Golf, Bled.
A highlight of this year’s BledCom was “Bled welcomes Miami”, a session featuring a select group of participants from the US International Public Relations Research Conference (IPRRC), an event five years younger than BledCom and organized by the University of Miami. Moderated by Professor Don Stacks from Miami, the group also included Don Wright (University of Boston), David Dozier (San Diego State University), Shannon Bowen (University of South Carolina) and Julie O’Neal (Texas Christian University).
BledCom is the world’s oldest annual conference of scholars and practitioners in public relations. Since 1994, it has welcomed over 2500 participants from 51 countries. The conference was organized by the Centre for Marketing and Public Relations at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences.