At the BledCom 2009 Symposium, July 3-4 at Lake Bled, Slovenia, the Institute for Public Relations and its Commission on Global Public Relations Research presented a €500 Special Prize recognizing the best new research to help practitioners understand how and why the culture of a country or region is an essential variable influencing how public relations is practiced there.

Winning paper:

An Expanded View from the Corner Office - Further Discussions and Research on the Global Navigation of International Corporate Communications
By Holger Sievert and Stefan Porter

Finalist papers:

Cultural Diplomacy as a Form of International Communication
By Marta Ryniejska - Kiełdanowicz

Transcending Boundaries: The Public Relations Practitioner as Cultural Mediator
By Michèle Schoenberger-Orgad