Here is a little more information about the Brand Jamaica Symposium being held this Thursday and Friday up at the University of the West Indies. I will be presenting on Friday, the schedule is below for those who are in Jamaica. Come check it out!

9:00 – 9:15AM 9:15 – 10:30AM

Re:Imagine Jamaica: Unlimited Possibilities A Brand Jamaica Symposium

University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, July 16-17, 2015

CONFERENCE THEMES AND DRAFT PROGRAMME DAY 1 – THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015

Opening Remarks

Introductions and Conference Goals

Brand Jamaica and Identity: Defining Jamaica on its Own Terms

This panel will explore how Jamaica may define itself on its own terms, and make claims to its own identity based on the consensus of all stakeholders.

CHAIR: Dr. Kamille Gentles-Peart, Associate Professor, Roger Williams University, USA, and Scholar of West Indian Diaspora

PRESENTERS:
Dr. Hume Johnson – Chairman, The Re:Imagine Jamaica Project and Assistant Professor of Public Relations, Roger Williams University, USA
The Brand Jamaica Dialectic

Re-imagining Tourism: Beyond Sand, Sun And Sea

This panel will discuss the contemporary approach to tourism campaigns and promoting Jamaica. It seeks to re-imagine tourism beyond the sun, sand and sea, as well as new innovative ways of attracting visitors to the country.

CHAIR: Hon. Raymond Pryce – Member of Parliament, North East, St. Elizabeth

PRESENTERS:
Zachary Harding – President, Phoenix Group, and Former Deputy Director, Tourism Re:Imagining Tourism in Jamaica: New Trajectories; New Vistas

Sydney Henry – Project Director, Sandals Foundation
Expanding Tourism Beyond Sun, Sand and Sea – The Sandals Synergy

Nicola Madden Greig – President, Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) Branding Kingston: Role of Parish Brands in Positioning Brand Jamaica

Alana Osbourne – PhD. Candidate, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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10:40 – 12:00PM

Dr. Moji Anderson and Dr. Erin MacLeod – Senior Lecturer, Anthropology, UWI Mona;

Lecturer, Cultural Studies, UWI Mona

Back to the Brand: Inequality and Alienation through “Brand Jamaica”

Cordel Green – Executive Director, Jamaica Broadcasting Commission

UnMasking Jamaica: Who are We? Who Would We Like to Be?

12:00 – 1:00PM

1:30 – 3:00PM

Imaginary Tourisms: Aestheticizing Poverty and Violence in Trench Town, Jamaica

*LUNCH* Special Presentation:

Michael McMorris – CEO, Kronos Investment and Board Chair, VMBS

Popular Culture, Creative Industries and Brand Jamaica

This panel explores the ways in which the Creative Industries may be mobilized to develop, promote and project Jamaica’s multifaceted image to the world.

CHAIR: Carole Beckford – Film Commissioner and Manager, Creative Industries, JAMPRO

PRESENTERS:
Dr. Donna Hope-Marquis – Senior Lecturer and Director, Institute of Caribbean Studies Let’s Dance: Branding Jamaica Through Dancehall’s Creative Industries

Tanya G Davies – Lecturer, Video Production and Illustration, University of Technology (UTECH)
The Soft Economy: Producing, Marketing and Branding Jamaica the Korean Way

Saudicka Diaram – Journalist
The New Image of Dancehall: Captivating the World?

Dr. Deborah Hickling – Chair, InterMinisterial Technical Working Group, National Cultural and Creative Industries Commission, OPM, Jamaica
Creative Economic Policy Development: The Case of Jamaica

Who Owns Jamaica?: Protecting Jamaica’s Symbols and Identity

This panel will address the governance and management of Jamaica’s intellectual property, highlighting contemporary practices and challenges including usage, contamination and exploitation of national symbols, as well as how Jamaica may leverage its symbols for economic advantage.

CHAIR: Patrick Barrett (aka ‘Tony Rebel’) – Reggae Artiste & Promoter

PRESENTERS:
Troy Folkes – Master’s Student, Cultural Studies, UWI Mona Capitalising on Brand Jamaica through Music and Sports

Natalie Corthesy – Attorney-at-Law, PhD Candidate, Queen Mary University of London Thinking Outside the Brand – From Nationalism to Competitiveness

Lilyclaire Bellamy – Executive Director (Acting)/Legal Counsel, Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO)
Jamaica’s Copyright Agenda

Governance and Jamaica’s International Image

This panel will explore the impact of Jamaica’s reputational challenges (perceptions of poor human rights record, homophobia, crime and police brutality, corruption etc.) on the country’s global image, and develop measures to address, counter and challenge them.

CHAIR: Sharon Hay Webster – Talk Show Host, Former Member of Parliament PRESENTERS:

3:10 – 4:30PM

4:40 – 6:00PM

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Dr. Lloyd Waller – Senior Lecturer and Director, Centre for Leadership and Governance,

UWI

Values and Attitudes: Their Role in Re:Imaging Jamaica

Jaevion Nelson – Human Rights and Development Practitioner

Opportunity in Crisis: (Re)Presenting Jamaica – The Most Homophobic Place on Earth

Dr. Anna Kasafi Perkins – Researcher and Lecturer, UWI

Brand Jamaica and the Economic Cost of Homophobia: Beginning the Conversation

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KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Venue: Undercroft Building, UWI, Time: 7:00pm
Samantha North – Nation Brand Specialist and Journalist (Istanbul Turkey)

Trends in Nation and Place Brands Around the World

CHAIR – Cordel Green, Executive Director, Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica *****

END OF DAY 1

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9:00 – 9:30 AM

9:40 – 11:00 AM

DAY 2 – FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

SPEAKER SESSION:

Dr. Kadamawe K’nIfe

Lecturer, Mona Business School, University of the West Indies, Mona

JAMAICA: A Place of Choice to Do Business?: Perspectives from the
Business Sector
This panel will explore the intersections between Jamaica’s reputation and brand image, and its ability to attract foreign direct investment, and opportunities for leveraging products and services for economic benefit. Speakers will address the issues and variables that both deter and appeal to investors.

CHAIR: DiMario McDowell, Entrepreneur and Creative Designer

PRESENTERS:
Stephen Johnson – Research Fellow, Centre for Leadership and Governance, UWI, Mona Brand Jamaica and the Domestic Trade Value Chain

Roselyn Fisher –

Beyond the Track: Building Jamaica’s Sports Brand and Economy

This panel explores the ways in which Jamaica’s sports image may be expanded beyond Track and Field, and how the country may better harness the global capital accrued from this industry to create a more complex image of Jamaica.

CHAIR: Donald Oliver – Sports Broadcaster and Commentator PRESENTERS:

*LUNCH*

Jamaica To The Worl’: Brand Jamaica, Global Reputation and Community Relations
This panel explores how Jamaicans and Jamaican organisations, both at home and abroad, treat and are treated by various publics, and the consequences for Jamaica’s global image.

11:10 – 12:30PM

12:30 – 1:30PM 2:00 – 3:20PM

Research Council, SRC)

General Manager, Marketech Limited (A Subsidiary of the Scientific

Leveraging Jamaica’s Nutraceutical Products for a Global Market

Delano Seiveright – Director of the Cannabis Commercial and Medicinal Research

Taskforce

Ganja as Commodity: Economic Prospects for Jamaica

Dr. Julian Cresser – Sports Researcher and Lecturer, Dept of History, UWI Mona

Sport and the Construction of National Identities in an Age of Globalization

Karen Madden – Sports Reporter and Analyst, RJR Communications Group

Playing Ball – The Closely Guarded Secret of Success for Brand Jamaica

Dr. Dennis Howard – Managing Director, Institute of Cultural Policy and Innovation

Branding, Football Philosophy and Marketing Jamaica Through the Reggae Boyz

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3:30 – 5:00PM

CHAIR: Kathy Francis McClure – Management Consultant

PRESENTERS:
Hope McNish – Human Resources Management Consultant
Jamaica “No Problem”: Achieving The Consumer Service Image Fit for Brand Jamaica

Dr. Kamille Gentles-Peart – Associate Professor, Roger Williams University, USA, and Scholar of West Indian Diaspora
Voices From the Diaspora: Brand Jamaica and the Lived Realities of Jamaicans Abroad

Hon. Arnaldo Brown – Minister of State, Foreign Affairs and Trade (with responsibility for Diaspora Affairs)
Brand Jamaica and the Jamaican Diaspora

Communicating Brand Jamaica: Challenges & Opportunities

This panel will explore how Jamaica may handle communication challenges during times of crisis (e.g. natural disasters, political unrest, outbreaks of disease, etc.), as well as how to deploy the internet to reposition the Jamaican brand, and create and disseminate a more complex narrative about Jamaica to the world.

CHAIR: Saudicka Diaram – Journalist PRESENTERS:

Gordon Swaby – Internet Entrepreneur
Using the Internet to Push Jamaican Informational Products: The Case of EduFocal

Closing Remarks and Reception

RECEPTION

Venue: Undercroft Building, UWI, Time: 5:00pm – 7pm?? *****

END OF DAY 2

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5:00 – 7:00PM

Stacy-Ann Hayles – Online Marketing Consultant and Trainer

Repositioning Brand Jamaica: A Social Media Approach

Kate Chappell – Journalist, Blogger, Canadian Volunteer, Cuso International

Jamaica: Land of Wood, Water and ChikV?

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