Forum Programme & Speakers

Paul is Chief Marketing Officer & Managing Director of the EMEA branch of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA). He has over 24 years experience in a wide variety of sales, marketing, business development and commercial roles spanning several different industries and market sectors including automotive, printing, internet development and management consultancy. He has spent the past eight years in mobile marketing and has been a speaker at over 200 mobile events across the world, speaking to more than 30,000 people.Paul is a Business Leader in The Marketing Society, writing regularly for their blog, a Fellow of the Institute of Direct Marketing, a Chartered Marketer in the Chartered Institute of Marketing,  a Member of the CMO Council and a mentor in the Marketing Academy.

Zafer Younis is a marketing specialist paving new ways for companies to connect with their consumers in the digital space. He is the co-founder and CEO of The Online Project where his team develops and executes social media strategies for Fortune 500 companies and high profile organizations operating in the Middle East and North Africa. At the age of 23, Zafer co-founded his first company: Modern Media, LTD, a Jordanian media house that owns and operates two popular radio stations, including the award winning radio station Play 99.6. Since founding The Online Project in 2009, Zafer remains involved as Modern Media's strategic advisor. However, Zafer's focus today is on scaling The Online Project, setting up offices around the region to expand the company's geographical reach, and releasing innovative online tools targeting social media users around the world. The Online Project's latest release, ContentScorer (registered trade mark) is currently used by more than 250 media agencies and brand's across the US and Europe to monitor the effectiveness of their social media content.

Mohammed Al-Shaker is the co-Founder and CEO of ArabiaWeather Inc., the first Arabian weather web site (formerly JordanWeather.Jo). Mohammed is one of the most prominent meteorologists in the Middle East, appearing regularly on leading TV stations and in newspapers discussing the weather. He holds holding several meteorological certificates, two of which he obtained from the United Kingdom Met Office. He is also a digital media entrepreneur thanks to the success of ArabiaWeather, which currently covers 22 Arab states and thousands of cities with weather services and weather conditions, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arab Gulf. It provides exclusive forecasts hour-by-hour, weather for the next five days, news, special reports and more. ArabiaWeather has obtained a unique, loyal audience with a highly impressive number of visitors and page views, in addition to a vibrant community, which reflects the expertise of Mohammed and his team in delivering premium Arabic content and a user-experience that rivals international meteorological services. Mohammed believes in the power of Arabs Youth and is active in the region's entrepreneurship scene.

Mohammad Khartabil is the Director of Performance Advertising at ikoo. He graduated from the America University of Sharjah in 2005 with a degree in Management Information System/Computer Science. His professional experience includes Display Advertising, Affiliate Marketing, Business Development, Account Management, Client Servicing, Digital Media Operations, Trafficking, Planning, Buying, Online Media Sales, Sales Management, and Consultancy. Mohammad spoke at many events including Click 2009, Digimedia 2010, Internet Show 2010, Total Marketing Show 2010, Internet Show 2011 among others.

 Cesar Christoforidis is the Director of ROW at Socialbakers where he leads a team of international territory managers in key markets: LATAM, APAC, Middle East and Southern Europe. Responsible for executing geographical expansion strategy over the next 2 years and has already successfully opened offices in Dubai, Istanbul, Mexico City & Sao Paulo. Previously he led a team of digital consultants as Sales Director UK & EMEA for Experian Hitwise, one of the world’s leading online marketing intelligence tools. Prior to Hitwise, Cesar successfully developed new revenue channels and markets for the world’s oldest newspaper Lloyd’s List.

Meredith possesses 360-degree experience in marketing communications, which she has gained over the past 14 years in the APAC and EMEA regions. Meredith first began working with social media in 2002 and has since has specialized in the discipline. In this time, she has worked on global and regional social media initiatives with organisations such as PepsiCo, Henkel, Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, Porsche, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and Wrigleys.

Tareq Abu-Lughod is the founder of the Arab Media Network and co-founder of Istikana.com. Tareq graduated from Boston University in 1996 with a degree in Broadcasting & Film and a concentration in Economics. He is a member of the Arab Producers Union and Jordan’s Producers Union. He is also a board member in Tkiyyet Um Ali, Nakhweh, Raneen and Taaluf Al Khair. Tareq is also involved in Mazaj FM, ProdigiCorp, Talfizyon, ALS and Kuzbara. 

Bechir Omran is a Business Development professional specialized in formulating and growing strategic partnerships that thrive on innovation in the creative and new media industry. Bechir is currently the Chief Business Officer at Kharabeesh where he lead Sales operations, Marcom, Publishing and expansion, he has succeeded in establishing the company’s operations in his home country “Tunisia” and aims to accelerate the company’s development across the region. Kharabeesh creates and produces Arabic content on the Web, the company has now grown to become a collaborative environment for the Arab creative youth and a hub for the under-tapped talents in the Arab world. Prior to joining Kharabeesh and at the age of 22, Bechir was elected as Vice President of Exchange for AIESEC in Jordan and as part of AIESEC International board Team for Exchange; AIESEC is the world’s largest youth led organization. Bechir has been invited to train and speak at numerous forums and seminars in 10 different countries.

Abdelsalam founded Greyscale Films in 2006 and Aramram.com, the first local WebTV, in 2007. He heads the production department at both organizations and brings with him 20 years experience as director, producer and director of photography with regional and international players.He has assumed several positions within the TV and film making industry since then. His positions ranged from technical advisor, director of photography, to producer and director.On the production side Abdelsalam worked as Producer/Director on several TV shows and documentaries. Throughout his career Abdelsalam extensively traveled and worked on stories. He has freelanced with several international news organizations including Reuters, BBC, ITN, Channel 4, RDF, WDR, ABC Australia, AlJazeera and AlJazeera English, Orbit.

Samar Shawareb is the Founder and Managing Director of Arabia Weddings (ArabiaWeddings.com); an online bilingual wedding planning platform established in Jordan at the end of 2011 for the Middle East. Samar has over 25 years of work experience. She founded Events UnLimited in 2011 as a professional event management company producing top quality exhibitions and conferences, among them the International Hospitality Forum, the Wedding Show and Think Green conferences on Green Buildings. Samar holds an MBA from the University of Jordan and a Bachelor degree in Business Administration from the American University of Beirut (AUB). She is also a Certified Event Management Professional from George Washington University.  

Elias is the founder of The Media Supermarket, an online marketing agency based in Dubai. Currently, he manages the online marketing of several leading regional and global brands. His expertise lies in developing and implementing strategies for managing the online presence of brands, with a strong focus on web analytics and search marketing (paid and organic).