XXVI Blanquerna Conferences

The three days of conferences will reflect on the transformations in the sectors of communication and international relations.

The CEO and founding partner of the advertising agency Double You, Daniel Solana, will lead the opening session of the conference “Return to the future. A vision of the evolution of communication.” The event will take place at 9:30 am on Monday in the auditorium of the school (Valldonzella, 12), and will be introduced by Josep María Picola, professor of the degree in Advertising, Public Relations and Marketing.

Twenty five years training committed professionals

From then on, there will be sessions related to each of the areas of studies we teach. So as not to miss any of them, we recommend that you follow the programme of events on the Blanquerna Conferences web page.

In one of the sessions, for example, the duo made up of former student Xavier Daura (11th graduating year) and professor Manel Lucas, script writer and coordinator of Specialization Diploma in Script and Realization of Comedy Programme for Radio and TV, which we do with Minoría Absoluta, will be discussing the progressive importance of humour in their social and political critique.

We’ll also be exploring the transformations in the international agenda with hop topics such as the climate change crisis. This will be led by two ex-students from the first graduating year of the degree in International Relations: Judit Galí, "Waste Warrior" of Too Good To Go and Laia Segura, Policy Assistant and Advocate for Environmental Justice of the Group on Governance of Climate Change.

Blanquerna everywhere

Is there a special Blanquerna hallmark? Of course there is! Those in Audiovisual Communication say so. In fact, the question will be answered by the coordinator of contents of Mediopro, Patrick Urbano (17th graduating year) and the director of communication and citizen services of Sant Cugat del Vallès, Mónica Lablanca (2nd graduating year, Journalism).

We’ll also hear the professional testimony of Susana Guardiola (1st graduating year), CEO of Stories By; Àlex Lafuente (5th graduating year), producer and distributor of BTeam Pictures; art director Marta Bazaco (7th graduating year), and cinema director JiaJie Yu Yan (14th graduating year), nominated in the last edition of the Goyas.

«And the media, the fourth power?»

Can we still talk about the media as being the fourth power? This will be another one of the question raised in this year’s Blanquerna Conferences.

“How does its concentration affects media groups? And the emergence of new independent digital media?.” To discuss this, there will be Jesús Maraña, editorial director of InfoLibre; Neus Tomàs, deputy director of Eldiario.es and Ester Vera, director of Ara.cat; with Professor Marçal Sintes as moderator.

But, at the same time, we want to know what needs to be done in order for something to be news. To talk about this, we will have three experts from the Degree in Journalism and Corporate Communication: the professor and author of the book Salir en los medios. Lo que una empresa debe saber para ser noticia (Cabecera Books, 2020), Miquel Peralta; Professor Patrícia Plaja, head of communication of Mossos (alumni 6th graduating year) and the director of the Degree, Patrícia Coll. Together they will discuss the criteria, factors and elements involved in the process of deciding what is news and what is not.

Artificial Intelligence, Consumer Behavior and Ethics

The Professor of the Degree in Global Communication Management, Dr. Antoni Castells will talk with Professor Andrea Weihrauch of the University of Amsterdam about the relevance of artificial intelligence when making decisions related to consumers. The most important dilemmas surrounding this complex topic will be presented in the talk.

In the other hand, Professor Miquel Franquet will present Scott Eldridge, from the University of Gröningen, with whom he will discuss the ethical challenges of photojournalism in the digital era. These sessions, like those linked to the Degree of International Relations, will be in English.

Tuesday afternoon, key moment

On March 10 at 6:30 p.m., the most anticipated moment of the conference will take place: the presentation of the 2019 Best Communicator of the Year Award for the "Alma y Amantes" campaign by Estrella Damm; the Blanquerna Extaordinary Prize, for the Betevé information services and a special recognition: the first Alumni Ambassadors awards.

For the acceptance ceremony, there will be Fede Segarra, director of Communication and External Relations at Damm; the director of Betevé, Sergi Vicente and Sandra Mestres, presenter of the Informative Midday of the Barcelona based channel and alumni of the 11th graduating year. She will be responsible for the annotation of the extraordinary prize. As for the Alumni award, there will be Sara Canals (15th graduating year, Journalism), host of LaLigaTV and collaborator of BBC and CNN; Tomás Ferrándiz (Advertising and Public Relations, 1st graduating year), creative director of Tiempo BBDO; Álex Lafuente (Audiovisual Communication, 5th graduating year) and Pat Rubio (International Relations, 1st graduating year), Program Lead to Refugee Rescue UK. The Dean of the School, Dr. Josep Maria Carbonell will preside over the closing.