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A passionate communicator, prominent strategist, experienced advisor, and empowering leader, with deep knowledge and understanding of the MENA Region’s communications industry, Mohamed Al Ayed came to prominence in 1998 when he established TRACCS in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Since then, he has grown the single operation to become the largest independent and homegrown communications consultancy in MENA, with 14 offices across 13 markets, serving a diversified portfolio of clients including government entities, MNC’s, family run businesses, corporate giants, local companies, and NGOs. For the past 25 years, under Mohamed’s leadership, TRACCS has been inspiring, driving, and leading the evolution of communications in the Middle East and North Africa into a gamechanging industry with the power to influence positive change and deliver present and future impact. He has built a team, comprising local market experts and Arabic-speaking communications professionals, that continues to provide real time, strategic communications insights and develops and deploys optimal, high-return communication programs for some of the most influential, complex, and mission-critical organizations operating in the region. Mohamed has helmed TRACCS’ efforts in becoming the preferred communications partner for several national champion organizations in Saudi Arabia, and in sustaining its commitment to nurturing the talent of young communicators across region. Mohamed has provided counsel and communications training to hundreds of senior government officials and C-suite executives and led strategic communications program for a wide array of high-level government and private organizations across the region, including the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, Mastercard, Pepsi, Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (KSA), Olayan Group, Diriyah Gate Development Authority, Toyota Motor Corporation, DHL, Careem and Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts among others. Mohamed also serves as the principal trainer for ENRICH, the proprietary communications training program of TRACCS, and to date, has conducted over a thousand individual and group training sessions delivered exclusively and through workshops, seminars, and webinars, covering more than 2,500 beneficiaries. Mohamed is a certified trainer of the Public Relations Communications Association (PRCA).

A graduate in hotel management, Ian Fairservice moved from Assistant Manager of the prestigious Grand Hotel in Eastbourne to take up the role of Deputy General Manager in Dubai’s second five-star hotel (Excelsior, now Sheraton) in January 1978. With media in its infancy, Fairservice identified the opportunity to launch the county’s first magazine and set up his media business, Motivate Publishing, in June 1979. Together with his partner, Obaid Humaid Al-Tayer, he has seen the company develop into one of the most successful media houses in the region. Publishing a wide range of award-winning magazines and books along with diverse media interests across digital, content, events and cinema, Motivate has a team of more than 200 media professionals in a network of Middle East offices. What’s On, Gulf Business, Emirates Woman, Identity, Golf Digest, Campaign and Business Traveller are some of Motivate’s established consumer and trade brands with websites that reach an audience of more than two million people each month. Motivate’s book division was founded in 1986 and has more than 300 titles in print including many from well-known authors such as Sir Wilfred Thesiger, Ronald Codrai OBE, General Sir Peter de la Billiere, and British royal photographer Lord (Patrick) Litchfield. Motivate published My Vision, an autobiographical account of the development of Dubai by its Ruler, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates. Eight different language versions of My Vision have now been released. Further books by His Highness include Poems from the Desert, Spirit of the Union and Flashes of Thought. The company has several successful joint venture partnerships across a wide-spanning media landscape including their cinema advertising business, Motivate Val Morgan, which exclusively represents more than 90% of the cinemas in the Middle East including the three key operators in Saudi Arabia. Fairservice has been the Middle East representative of the Cannes Festival of Creativity since 2000. In March 2007, he founded the Dubai Lynx Advertising Awards and Festival of Creativity for the Middle East & Africa in partnership with Lions Festivals. Ian is also the Chairman of Athar Saudi Festival of Creativity.