بشير الخوري

Soapbox Communications is an image building PR & Communications firm based in Beirut, Lebanon and catering for various clients across Lebanon and the MENA region.

Achievements & Responsibilities:
- In charge of all content related services
- Handling critical crisis and reputation management issues for local and regional clients.
- Providing and rolling out Content and Media Strategies related to crisis and reputation Management.
- Developing new formats of releases to better fit a changing landscape with the rise of social media.
- Implementing Media Training Programs for corporate spokespersons, senior executives, and social and political public figures
- Managing teams of multilingual writers catering for a wide platform of clients in different fields

Achievements:
- Defining a new content strategy for Shabiba Online.
- Staffing digital department.
- Implementing a new workflow across English and Arabic print/online platforms.
- Exponentially increasing the online traffic of Shabiba.com.

Responsibilities:
- Manage and coordinate content creation and curation for the Arabic digital platform.
- Overlook the migration to a new modern CMS and digital platform in line with the latest online best practices.
- Work across language platforms to enhance content planning and creation.
- Work across marketing and sales departments to improve the commercial exposure of our products.
- Setting up & staffing the new content operation based on the model of “One Integrated Newsroom”.
- Create and implement innovative content products that fit in the “User’s Digital Ecosystem”.
- Monitor performance of team members & render productivity enhancement feedback.
- Optimize resource utilization to minimize costs.

August 2011 - Present: AWI, Group Content Director/Editor in Chief. Implementing a group editorial strategy for: Marie Claire Arabia, Fortune Arabia, Gala ME, Top Gear UAE, Layalina, Albalad newspaper, Albalad Online, Al Balad Radio Station. Magazines restructuring at group level. Implementing quality control editorial units and overlooking the editorial workflow between branches in countries and editorial head office. Starting Al Balad Radio Station as a content platform based on the concept of linking all the editorial satellites owned by the group and involving in house journalists with no extra headcount to create quality air time.

February 2011 - August 2011: AWI - Regional Editor in Chief Albaladonline: Starting the news website from scratch and implementing print/online synergy.

February 2005 - February 2011: BBC World Service (Arabic Radio and Online)
Broadcast Journalist and Special Envoy
Joined in 2005 as a Producer at the online desk in London, and evolved in a multimedia environment to cover for both online, radio and was directly involved in the launch of the BBC Arabic Television. Main missions as Broadcast Journalist and special Envoy included: Organizing the road show "Engaging Audiences" in Syria and Jordan in spring 2005, covering the July war in Lebanon summer of 2006 from the field, dispatched to Beirut a number of times as expert and special envoy to report on security and the political situation between 2007 and 2009, covering the French presidential election for radio and online in May 2007 from Paris and its suburbs, and a high profile under cover mission to Eastern Chad and Darfur late 2009 to report on refugee camps and profile the armed rebel group "Justice and Equality Movement". London Reporter for Radio on a number of Middle Eastern Stories and covering cultural, political activities in the UK.

July 2002 February 2005: L'Orient Le Jour Newspaper - journalist at the International desk. Future TV - Contributor to the daily news bulletin in French. Al Arabiya TV - Bel Arabi Program - Main producer and senior researcher. Al Balad Newspaper - Head of International and Arab Department. Saints Coeurs Sioufi - History and Social and Economical Sciences teacher for students preparing French Baccalaureate.

Writer and journalist at the Arab and international desk of L'Orient Le Jour Daily, a Lebanese newspaper of French expression in Lebanon.