Two media giants from opposite ends of the political spectrum are set to make Charity Communications ’08 a must-attend event » Health » 24dash.com

Charity Communications ’08, the annual communications event in the charity sector diary, will bring charity communication professionals together with some of the biggest names from the media and advertising world to address important issues facing charity communicators.

The third national conference will be held at Friends House, London, on Thursday 8 May 2008. Former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie, influential Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee and award winning investigative journalist and author of controversial new book Flat Earth News: Falsehood, Distortion and Propaganda in the Global Media, Nick Davies, are among confirmed speakers.

Back by popular demand, Carrie Gracie of BBC News 24 will anchor the day’s proceedings. Panel sessions involving charity communicators and experts in their field will cover key topics including the use of media in changing attitudes, surviving a PR disaster or media crisis and exploiting opportunities offered by new media.

The conference will also see a range of print and broadcast journalists speaking candidly about the kind of stories they look for. Other confirmed speakers at the full day event include Andy Smith, editor of BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours, Sara Ward, assistant editor, features at Take a Break magazine, and Russell Davies, online media guru and Campaign columnist.

Charity experts include Mike Hales, director of marketing at Diabetes UK, Brendan Paddy, media manager at Age Concern England and Camila Batmanghelidjh, chief executive at Kids Company. Crisis PR consultant, Sue Stapely is also confirmed.

MND Association has been nominated to deliver the brand new Charities Take Control session. Voters chose MND Association as the charity communications campaign that made the biggest impact over the last year. As winner of Take Control, the charity will tell delegates at Charity Communications '08 how they struck partnerships with London Underground and marketing agencies to pull off their most successful ever marketing push.

Flora Jenkins, Charity Communications '08 organiser, said: "This conference is all about getting charity communicators talking. We want to inspire them with challenging debates and informative discussions. We're encouraging this year's delegates to really question our panellists.

"The conference programme brings together big names from the media, key players from the world of advertising and charity insiders to talk about the communications issues of the year.

“We're highlighting some of the most interesting charity campaigns and communications work in our series of "Soundbite Sessions". There's already a real buzz about the new Charities Take Control session. We want the sector to decide which charity's media work has most intrigued them over the last 12 months; it gives conference delegates the chance to hear from the organisation they really do most admire."

Charity Communications ’08 will again run its successful bursary scheme to enable smaller charities to attend the event for free, or at half price. The Bursary Scheme offers four free places and six half-price places - reduced to £90 - to charities with an annual income of less than £500,000.

The conference also provides generous offers for group bookings. Charity Communications ’08 partners are NCVO, CharityComms, the Media Trust and askCHARITY. For a full programme and conference updates visit: www.charitycommunications.co.uk