Joachim Klewes is Senior Partner of Pleon and an associate professor at the Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf. His over 25 years of expertise include major assignments in the fields of organisational consulting, corporate change and crisis management, as well as corporate communications. He is a founding partner of the opinion research institute com.X and a frequent writer, publisher and speaker. Ralf Langen is Managing Partner of Pleon Germany and European Head of Pleon's Change & Transformation Practice. He has been a communications management professional for more than 15 years both on the industry side and as a consultant. He specialises in change management, and crisis and issues management. He is also the founder and chairman of the European Centre for Reputation Studies (ECRS). Pleon is Europe's leading communications consultancy, creating and implementing strategies for private and public sector organisations around the world. The agency has 33 branded offices with more than 1,000 employees in 16 European countries and associate agencies in ten countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Pleon was recently named "European Consultancy of the Year" by the Holmes Report and "Best Public Relations Agency" in The 2008 International Business Awards.