Thomas Achelis

Thomas Achelis, a PR consultant with more than fifty years of experience. He is specialized in international automotive, environment, energy saving, road safety, health and insurance sectors. Besides his PR activities he has initiated the European Communications Convention (ECC), a series of international conferences around public relations and communications.

Thomas was a board member of the German PR Association (DPRG) and from 1995 to 2006 president of the European Public Relations Confederation CERP, the former umbrella organization of national PR associations in Europe. From 2005 to 2007 he was also a board member of IPRA, the International Public Relations Association. Immediately after the demolition of the Iron Curtain in 1989 Thomas has supported the creation of several PR associations in Central and Eastern Europe, especially in Romania, where he co-founded in 2003 the “Forum for International Communications”, a Romanian foundation, which has created the Romanian PR Award, an annual best practice competition.

He is a member of the British Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), honorary member of the German, Russian, Ukrainian and Romanian PR associations.

Besides managing his PR business, Thomas has lectured public relations in practice at the University of Munich since 2000. He is married to Christina Kahlert, an international renowned producer of audio-visual media for public relations, marketing and information.