Introduction - sans flourish

So, what qualifies me to talk about communications in the Middle East? 7yrs of trying? As those who know me will know, I have a tendency to hold an opinion on most topics, including quite a few on the development of the PR industry in to an integrated communications field, regionally and internationally.

During my time in the UAE, Dubai has mushroomed from a relatively modest town into a city with global ambitions. Many of the PR companies who were here and established back then, are (by and large) still in business, with loyal clientele who know that their advisors understand the way this town works. Whether or not they are totally au fait with the way this town wants to work is a completely different matter.

The onset of the financial boom in Dubai opened a window for an influx of international PR brands setting up mini-offices here staffed by personable types with the gift of the gab, selling global networked teams and experience of top level comms in western capital markets. Their arrival shook the local industry, and raised everyone's game significantly.

The media landscape has changed enormously in the 7yrs I've been here, from swelling (and shrinking) local papers, to the wires bureaus expanding their teams from one floating editor covering all stories coming out of any one, or all, of the GCC countries, to fully staffed and supported offices, to an actual broadcast industry, or the launch of new papers like The National that actually do push the famous envelope.

And finally, the part that I'm most interested in, the onset of social media. I'm indulging my voyeuristic tendencies at the moment, tweeting and facebooking relatively frequently, blogging (on my personal blog) relatively frequently, and dipping in to the worlds of Blip.fm, Netvibes, Google Wave and more. I'm fascinated to see how this trend develops, as it continues to encroach on the mainstream media world, impacting the way we consume media on a daily basis.

Enough of an intro. I'll be back, when something irks me, or I have a point to make that doesn't fit in 140 characters.