Reinventing a Profession: How Communicators Become Agents of Change

Date: 24 April 2026, 14:00–14:45  

Location: Corvinus University of Budapest, Building E, E 3.332  

Language of the event: English 

Special Session of CoCoCo 2026  

Panelists: Tímea Balogh (Deutsche Telekom); Bálint Siegler (HOLD Alapkezelő), György Leitner (Corvinus-SEED) 

Moderator: Péter Janzsó (Corvinus University)  

What does it mean to be a communicator today — and is the industry itself satisfied with the answers? This panel brings together recognized practitioners to examine communication not merely as an organizational function, but as a driving force for creating business value and impact.  

We start with the fundamentals: how does communication create real organizational value, and how is it perceived — by management, employees, customers, and society at large? And what is equally important, how does the industry perceive itself? Where do self-image and external reality diverge, and what are the situations when effective communication is needed the most?  

Drawing on the spirit of Corporate Rebels book by Joost Minnaar and Pim de Morree, we also explore how organizations can become engines of inventive thinking and actions — and we find communications place in this organizational reality. What does it look like when a corporation organizes itself around genuinely inventive, even rebellious ideas? How do those ideas reach the public and get built into everyday operation, rather than reserved for only one-off campaigns?  

Finally, we discuss impact: what makes a campaign truly effective? How should communication contributions be measured? Our panelists will reflect on their key experiences, the ideas that challenge convention, and the honest question of whether the field is doing enough to matter.  

This Special Session is part of the Corvinus Communication Conferences, CoCoCo 2026, which addresses resistance, rebellion, and reinvention in communication and media studies. Besides the special sessions, the conference also brings together nearly 70 researchers and professionals in multiple sessions on April 24 at the Corvinus Main Building. The event is organized by the Department of Communication and Media Sciences, Institute of Marketing and Communication Sciences.  

For more information about other special sessions and the full conference program, visit cococo2026.com