Culture & Education | Tuesday 19 April, 2016 4:33 am |

After a hugely successful first edition in 2015, Festival of Media MENA is back this year with a fabulous line-up of speakers and a glamorous awards night to celebrate the best media work in the region. The conference will take place on April 20 from 9am to 5:30pm at the Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi, and will be followed by the awards ceremony at MusicHall, Zabeel Saray in Dubai from 8pm onwards. 

The prestigious event will bring together the sharpest minds in the region, including advertisers, media agencies and media owners. Mixing global expertise with regional insight, the daylong conference will feature prominent speakers from the likes of Google, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Omnicom Media Group and GroupM to serve as a knowledge-sharing hub for industry leaders to discuss and debate key topics and issues integral to the advertising and marketing arenas. The riveting keynote speeches and thought-provoking panel discussions are aimed at providing speakers with a critical understanding and perspective of the media landscape not only in the region, but also around the world. 

In line with the entrepreneurial spirit of the region and to encourage fresh ideas, Festival of Media MENA is proud to announce Emerge, a platform for start-ups to battle it out and win the attention of the jury. Ten start-ups. Five judges. Ninety-second pitches. 

Alexandre Hawari, Co-CEO of Mediaquest, says: “We are extremely excited to be hosting the ninth edition of the Festival of Media and the second edition of its presence in the MENA region here in Dubai. We’ve seen some great work being entered this year and compelling insights from our guest speakers to be shared with the advertising and marketing professionals.”

Charlie Crowe, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of C Squared, adds: “I created the Festival of Media concept back in 2007 to establish a platform that encourages talent to compete in the creative marketing fields and to enable the MENA region to be recognised globally for its outstanding contribution to the fields of marketing, advertising and digital. I am extremely excited to see what this year offers in terms of industry research, insights and creative communication campaigns.”

This edition of Festival of Media MENA is sponsored by Choueiri Group, Dubai Media City and OMD, among others.