In mid-March, Dr. Alan Moorer, Director of the Josef Korbel School's Professional Communication Program, participated in the 1st International Conference on Communication Technology and Social Change, hosted by the Department of Communication at King Saud University; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The conference included over 100 foreign participants, presenters, scholars and communication experts from 25 countries including but not limited to-- Switzerland, Finland, Germany, Australia-- Egypt, Tunisia, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Oman, Sudan, Yemen, India and Pakistan.

According to Dr. Moorer, "Last October, I had a Visiting Professorship in London teaching an intense short course in Media Relations and Crisis Communications to a delegation from the Saudi Arabian Embassy." It was during this time that Dr. Moorer met Dr. Fahad Alkheraiji, from King Saud University.

"After lengthy discussions about communications, he asked me to be his special guest at the conference, both as a participant and serving on several discussion groups."

Dr. Moorer served on the discussion panels of Communication Technologies and Public Diplomacy, New and Emerging Communication Technologies, Globalization Challenges, Communication Technologies, Public Relations and Crisis Management.

"The conference was masterfully organized, which must have been particularly difficult with the number of languages and cultures represented. It was an extraordinary experience. It would be difficult to overstate my appreciation for the opportunity and my hopes to return."