Our planning in London for this major event - the centrepiece of the CIPR's 60th anniversary and a meeting place for associations and members of CERP and Global Alliance - is gathering pace. We have received many thoughtful suggestions on the key issues to be confronted. We will not be able to incorporate all these in a 2-day programme (plus a ‘fringe' week) nor do we want to spread ourselves too thinly. Ultimately some difficult programming decisions will have to be made by our President-elect Elisabeth Lewis-Jones and her team. But the main ‘streams' to be featured in first programme announcements scheduled for mid-October are:

Public Relations as driver of economic growth and regeneration - looking at international experience of the ‘soft' reputation issues that increasingly drive investment; and how countries and cities compete on reputation

• Public Relations celebrating diversity and achieving social inclusion - a topic especially relevant to London, often described as the world's most diverse city; but covering the empowerment of women in Muslim countries and the particular communication challenges faced by minority groups
• Public Relations campaigns that challenge commercial stereotypes in the face of new markets and consumers concerned by climate change and other ‘green' issues - the focus here, as elsewhere in the programme, on practical analyses which will have meaning for all our colleagues whether in consultancy or in-house, public or private sector.
• All exciting ideas, controversial and stimulating. Keep watching GA's website for detailed announcements.