PRESENTERS

András Staniszláv, President, HuPRA; CEO, ICCO

András Staniszláv is a strategic communication consultant, leading partner of PersonaR Kft., and managing director of WhiteElephantDigital. He began his professional career over fifteen years ago as a freelance journalist and editor. Since 2005, he has specialized in PR communication, initially working with large corporate clients and now managing a diverse portfolio. His expertise includes planning, content and stakeholder management, measurement and evaluation, and sustainability and responsibility consulting and communication.

From 2013 to 2016, he lived in the United Kingdom, where he contributed to several communication projects. He has been a member of the English Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) since 2015, and since January 2019, he has served as the president of the international department. He is the first Hungarian accredited PR expert at the CIPR. Between 2016 and 2023, he represented Hungary on the board of the International Communications Consultancy Organization (ICCO). Starting in 2024, he will serve as the interim CEO of ICCO and the president of the Hungarian PR Association.

Gábor Sarlós, Associate Professor, University of Roehampton, HuPRA Member Emeritus

Communication consultant and academic. He previously taught in the media department at the University of Wolverhampton, England, and later at the Worcester Business School. For two years, he led undergraduate courses at RMIT Vietnam’s School of Communication. Before his academic career, he co-founded the PeppeR 21 PR Agency, where he managed several strategic communication campaigns for both business and non-profit sectors. In 2002, he won the IPRA Golden World Award and was also honoured by the Professional College of PR Agencies for a charity campaign, which his agency initiated pro bono for UNICEF.

Zoltán Győrffy, Director of Public Relations Centre, PTE

Born in Vojvodina, Zoltán Győrffy has lived in Pécs since 1992. He graduated from Janus Pannonius University in Pécs with a degree in Hungarian language and literature.

He founded two university newspapers, Pécs Campus in 1994 and UnivPécs in 2000, and served as the press spokesperson for the University of Pécs until 2010. In 2017, he received the Golden Pen Award from the Croatian Tourist Board and the City Hall Commemorative Medal from the Municipality of Pécs for his contributions to the Pécs wine region. From 2016, he served as executive vice president of the Hungarian Wine Writers’ Circle and was president from 2022 to 2024. In 2020, he was honoured with the Par Excellence Award from the Hungarian Sommelier Association as Wine Writer of the Year. Since 2020, he has been the Director of Public Relations Centre at the University of Pécs, where one of his priority areas is domestic enrolment marketing.

Prof. Dr. Gábor Szécsi, Head of Department, University Professor, Dean, PTE KPVK; Chairman, Committee for Communication and Media Theory – Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Prof. Dr. Gábor Szécsi serves as the Head of Department and Dean of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Education and Regional Development at the University of Pécs. He is also the Chairman of the Committee for Communication and Media Theory of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, a senior scientific associate of the Philosophy Institute at the Research Center for the Humanities, and a full member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA). Additionally, he is the President of the Hungarian Society of Applied Philosophy and Vice-President of the National Council of Student Research Societies. Prof. Dr. Szécsi has taught as a visiting professor at the University of Helsinki and the University of Heidelberg. He is a member of several international and domestic scientific societies and has received numerous prestigious professional awards. He has authored a total of 24 books to date. His research areas include communication theory, media science, semantics, and communication and media philosophy.

Some of his notable books include: Consciousness, Language, Communication (1998), The Communicative Mind (2003), Communication and Thinking (2007), Language, Media, Community (2013), Media and Society in the Age of Information (2016), A Mind Locked in Stories (2020, 2023)

Dr. Árpád Papp-Váry, Habilitated University Associate Professor, Supervisor, Branding Consultant, Budapest Business University; HuPRA

Dr. Árpád Papp-Váry is a habilitated associate professor at the Budapest Business University (BGE), where he oversees the master’s course in marketing. He also serves as head of the Marketing and Tourism program at the Doctoral School of Economics at the University of Sopron and holds a senior research position at the Knowledge Center for Economic Geography and Urban Marketing at the John von Neumann University in Kecskemét. With nearly two decades of experience, he specializes in country and city branding, having authored two books and published over a hundred articles on the subject. As a branding consultant, he assists Hungarian businesses in entering international markets and is a prominent instructor at HEPA. In the realm of social engagement, he has held the position of vice-president at the Hungarian Marketing Association continuously since 2013.

Gábor Bruck, Communication Expert, Sawyer Miller Group

Gábor Bruck began his career as a psychologist at the Academy’s Institute of Psychology, where he worked for 7 years. He then spent 9 years in New York, focusing on the study of politics. He has been at the head of the Sawyer Miller Group for 30 years. During his tenure, the company was a market leader, orchestrating some of the country’s largest and most impactful campaigns.

Retiring from the PR profession in 2010, Gábor Bruck shifted his focus to teaching, specializing in the decision-making, leadership, and communication strategies employed by successful global leaders. With a wealth of experience witnessing both failures and triumphs, he possesses deep insights into the mindset of effective leaders and strategies that contribute to success or failure.

Balázs Szántó, Managing Director, Noguchi

Balázs Szántó is a communication consultant and managing partner at Noguchi, where he represents the second generation of PR professionals. With expertise in customer relations, customer service supervision, and business development, he has accumulated significant experience in corporate communication, crisis communication, brand PR, and digital/social media. Today, he is recognized as an expert in issue management both home and abroad. Balázs Szántó has led communication programs and award-winning campaigns for numerous large Hungarian companies and multinational brands.

Zsófia Lakatos, PR Expert, Emerald PR, HuPRA Permanent Member

Zsófia Lakatos is the founder-owner and managing director of Emerald PR. An economist and PR specialist, she formerly served as president and is a Permanent Member of the Hungarian Public Relations Association. She is actively involved in Superbrands and the Green Brands Committee, as well as the Clean Air Action Group and Budapest Club management. Recognized as a CSR expert, Zsófia Lakatos is a frequent lecturer at domestic and international conferences and teaches at several universities. She was the first in the country to receive the Professional Ambassador of Sustainability award. In addition to Emerald PR, she owns Válság112, the Business Sustainability Program, and the Emerald Academy.