 Well, up next is the keynote session and this is quite the different session. It is a virtual session that we are now going to witness. Ms. Thapmik Simonyan, co-founder, director of communications at Spring PR, will be sharing her views on the new PR world, searching identity, loading changes. Can we welcome the lady with a huge round of applause. Thank you so much, dear colleagues, dear global PR community. I would like to welcome and to congratulate the organizers, exchange for media for this great summit. Unfortunately, I am joining you online, but I feel all these emotions and all these professional touch you have in the place. I hope next time I will join you offline and will be at the same stage with you all. So I would like to thank Karen Batya for inviting me for this speech and to be a part of this great summit. I would like to welcome all participants all over the world, all our global PR community who is joining this great summit from various parts of the world. And as part of this great session we enjoyed just now, I would like to continue and to talk about the new PR world when we are searching our identity professional and of course there are a lot of changes. And in my speech, I will touch upon the new requirements the PR profession face, transformations and challenges of PR and communication in the age of drastic changes both in Armenia and the world. So, yes, I'm that Hedik Simonyan. I am a woman in PR for whom PR is not just a profession but a passion and lifestyle. And I will present you first of all some short historical approach because as I know lots of PR specialists joining us from various parts of the world and I would like to present the historical approach from Armenia first of all and to tell you how our PR profession was developed here and what are the challenges now. So early in 2009, three women, me and my two partners with quite different temperatures, temperaments, united by positive energy to care and determination toward the work and establish the Spring PR agency. And since then the company has been successfully operating in Armenia already for 30 years and we implemented 900 plus projects and we are involved in international PR community. We had a great team, international recognition and reliable partners. And there was a time when PR needed PR and significant increases and rep profiling were established in the communication field in the recent 10 and 12 years in Armenia. And if we spoke about this topic 10 years ago I would definitely say PR needed PR in Armenia and it's hard to believe but only a decade ago the Armenian business community perceived PR as an advertisement or sales and PR was mainly used by politicians and poor politicians and mostly in political sector. Then the PR was considered as a part of making marketing which was more familiar to the business. But then since 2011-12 PR sector has been some movements and positive developments and there were several factors for this of course. First of all, it was the advancement such as the entire foreign companies into the local market and collaboration of local companies with foreign ones awareness of importance to increase the visibility and the reputation of the organizations from different sectors. Of course the appropriation of the education in Armenian universities increasing numbers of specialized stuff in the field and it's worth mentioning that it has been only a decade since we had PR and communication master's program in Armenia at the Yerevan State University. It's my alma mater too which is the leading Cairo educational institution here in Armenia and this year we have launched the PR bachelor program. Of course during the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic periods our profession accelerated unprecedented growth worldwide and Armenia of course is not the exception. What is now the new now and where the communication on top and I would like to link to the Edelman trust barometer which made in 2022 it reveals that business holds on to its position as the most trusted institution with even greater expectations due to the government's failures in various countries of course to lead during the pandemic. By every five to one margin respondents in the 28 countries surveyed wants the business to play a larger role in the climate change economy, quality, workforce risk healing and addressing racial injustice. All stakeholders want the business and it's in Armenia too to fill the wall with nearly 60% of consumers buying bread based on their values and beliefs. Almost 6 in 10 employees choose a workplace based on shared values and expect their CO to take a stand on social issues and 64% of investors looking for businesses aligned with their values. Of course the global pandemic was a litmus test and during that communication professionals were among the first to respond to the situation and started searching for new approaches more effective ways and formats for communicating with the audience. And what will our new normal look like? I'm sure that this is the main question that both business and government leaders seek to answer these days and we PR professionals thinking about this too. And also new circumstances and working attitudes are shifting after COVID-19 pandemic. And what we can state? Yes. Now we are in boundaries of let's say turning point for the PR profession because of let's say the change perception. We are no more a service provider or a specialist or a consultant, but we are decision makers, a core equal partner for the client. Now we are working mainly with the CEOs and our business founders. We are on board. We are board members and partners of organizations we cooperate with. And public relations now is not about communications only, but to the quotation building PR professionals are becoming strategic advisors for partner organizations to achieve their missions. In my way of thinking it is positive transformation of the perception of our profession. Especially this vision was formed and proved during the crisis, the pandemic where we communication professionals are making 100 decisions a second and it was the right time. We call it the finest hour to show the full spectrum of communication power. And I would also like to state the importance of applying the environmental, social and governance goals, let's say ECG goals of UN as a key approach for socially responsible businesses. Of course, let's say various conflict zones. We have now all over the world the Russian Ukrainian war and war in Nagorno-Karabakh where my people suffered came to prove that as a part of the international community, we must work aligned with, let's say, sustainable development goals to ensure the well-being of all people across the world. And this crisis had a crucial role in bringing strategic advice to the front line and proving that having a conflict communication strategy, including crisis communications is a must also reinforcing trust and building and bringing relations forming an interesting new partner-partner cooperation model. Of course, when we are talking about public relations now, we have a lack of PR specialists and professionals in the field and talent recruitment is one of the main issues we are facing. I'm sure all over the world in various companies, agencies and fields. And as an international research state, the last one is the CIPR's research. It's called PR, a growing industry standing still. There is a great research where we can find that recruitment responses suggest that in general, business is booming for public relations, across all organization types. Teams are growing, then reducing in size. But those responsible for recruiting are struggling to find or attract the right talent. Talent attraction and retention is the number one challenge that our global community faces worldwide. The companies are trying to establish policies and programs aimed at reducing employee turnover. And yes, businesses looking for strategically mining decision maker PR professionals in their teams. And the next aspect, what I would like to touch is the social media platforms of the future. And one thing that is very important about social media is that it has transformed into a platform where everybody can promote services and sell and buy goods. Now everyone is a brand. And most importantly, various social platforms act as an online representation of a person or a company giving a chance to form a personal brand. And we cannot ignore new developments and trends in the sphere too. And we as PR professionals mainly use these tools to reach out to our various target groups. And yes, if our target is in TikTok, mostly generations that, so we need to go there. But along with this power to promote the brand, social networks can also, yes, we can say, totally destroy the reputation of the organization. Here is the responsibility that social networks should be forced to take. And from the individual perspective, media literacy and education are essential for our societies to practice and not to be harmed by longdoing. And I can ask a question and I'm sure that you will love it. So how many online platforms, online applications you currently use? Of course, we need to do something with these and it's very hard to care about our mental health. And for example, I use more than, I don't know, 50 application platforms, mailing, meta, everything. And it's chats and communication with clients where everybody needs feedback from your side. So this new media and its transformation, of course, also is very, very, very important. And even though traditional media continues to play a vital role in the dissemination of information, of course, it has its role till now. It is increasingly being influenced by online content and interactions. And in the era of rising fake news, PR professionals have a responsibility to help their audiences to figure out what is fake news and what is reliable information. And in regard to the new media and its future, one of the key issues is to clarify our role, the role of PR professionals in the context where everybody is a communicator and find solutions to deal with it, especially in crisis management issues. Also, along with the challenges that new media brings, it opens new opportunities, new fields for PR professionals to create narratives and build trust, which is an incredible asset for each organization. And when we are talking about women in business, because this summit also gave recognition to women in business and women in PR, I would like to give some little statistics from Armenia. In Armenia, we can say that most of the top management in public relations are women. And we have these networks, we have the associations. And I'm very proud that Spring PR is a 100% woman in business. And we do believe that we, being a woman in business, doesn't cause difficulties in Armenia reality. And because both men and women can face the same obstacle equally, and during working negotiations, it becomes clear with whom you are dealing. You are considered as a professional. And it is not important whether you are a woman or a man. And I can note that despite some stereotypes, they are being appreciated for their work, women, and as a result, professionals always wins. And I became sure within the working experience that time and resource management is always more effective among women. Perhaps it is one of the secrets of our success. And of course, the emotional intelligence allows us to enter into the situation and even intuitively feel and foresee the situation. I would like to say thank you. This is the part of my keynote speech. I would like to say good luck to other speakers. And it's a great honor to join you from Yerevan and to be a part of this great event. Thank you.