BECOMING 007: The Ultimate BOND Experience

Basic Event Information

Date: 12.-16.09.2018
Location: Serbia
Organizer: Vekol DMC
Client: SECTOR Alarms, Norway
Event type: Team Building Event

EVENT CATEGORY: CATEGORY B2B – Best Incentive

Event description and key objectives

From the very moment Karl Benz lit a puddle of gas down the throat of his Motorwagen in 1886, mankind’s love affair with cars only grew stronger. Even James Bond would sure have struggled to maintain his debonair swag if Ian Fleming had him get out of something other than a 4-wheeled piece of luxury. And what’s more Bond than reaching dizzying speed in a first-rate vehicle?

Sexy, glamorous and action-packed, DMC Vekol signature “Becoming 007” team building for SECTOR Alarms offered the ultimate James BOND experience to the 80 lucky delegates. Whilst we couldn’t promise Ursula Andress, we aspired to deliver the energetic driving adventure in order to improve the team mood, build community pride and exercise cohesion. In accordance with company commitment to employees’ wellness, the goal was not only to let the managers get wild behind the wheel, but rather test their reflexes and endurance and introduce them to the life-saving driving practices through specially designed education and training.

Key challenges

The biggest challenge came way too early in the bidding process, when it simply turned out: Serbia is nobody’s usual suspect when thinking about premium cars. Also, during its uneasy past, it has lived to be in the spotlight of world’s attention and concern quite a few times too many, making it almost impossible to win the trust and sympathy of travel agents.

On the other hand, Serbia is a country that doesn’t do mild and driving is no exception. To simply say Serbs are obsessed with cars would probably be an understatement. Thus, it took a lot of convincing that our competitiveness as a destination comes from deep within: to us, cars are fun, empowering, fierce and just about enough dangerous, at a time when modern-day society conspires to take all little thrills away from us. Eventually, DMC Vekol team together with our respected local suppliers managed to be perceived as more than capable to execute a premium action-fueled event start to finish.

Creativity

There’s no better way to trigger attention and break down the usual misconceptions than the good old storytelling. Did you know that, according to the official Ian Fleming memoirs, an inspiration for the loveable James Bond character was Serbian-born MI6 double-agent, Dušan Popov?

According to British secret files released for the general public in 2002, Popov was charismatic, cultured, good-looking and insanely rich, with a seductive gaze and a taste for fine liquor & fast cars and an espionage mission that brought him to London back in 1941. To introduce delegates to the life and work of the ruthless spy and notorious playboy, DMC Vekol event intelligence designed and printed a vintage newspaper piece of “Belgrade Times”, with a full centrefold article “My name is Popov, Dušan Popov: THE REAL 007 WAS SERBIAN”.

To engage delegates and keep their pulse racing even when they’re off the track, we decided to spice things up with SECTOR alarm’s own Pirelli experience. Ladies in cat suites looking all glamorous and dolled-up, leading Serbian fashion photographer Nebojša Babić and an open-air shooting studio added that final backdrop and turned the entire James Bond experience into a piece of art. So instead of some ordinary and expected gadget waiting for them in the hotel room, each delegate walked out from the event on the very next day with their own personal Pirelli calendar to remind them about the experience.

Innovation

Only a short drive from the Belgrade city center and Hilton hotel, spreads the National Drivers Academy (NAVAK) – a massive facility occupying 33ha, out of which 3 km are paved tracks and the rest is additional off-road area.

The goal of creating the “Becoming 007” team building program was to blend high-end safety driving training with some James Bond driving manoeuvres and make it one-of-a-kind experience, unique in Southeast Europe, mixed up with a variety of colourful side activities that would keep the delegates adrenaline-pumped and entertained for a full day.

Also, who said transfers have to be a numbing experience? Not if you’re speeding up the high-way in a brand new Porsche to set the mood for the day!

Execution

The final “event architecture” outset?

During an intense 6-hours program, participants tested everything that could represent danger in real traffic through MICRO-tailored activities including: drifting on wet surfaces, high-speed braking, rally slalom, avoiding road obstacles, driving through deep waters and an off-road self- drive. In terms of 007 experiences, delegates were able to reconstruct the exact iconic chasing scenes from the movies, as well as other thrilling moves such as pushing another vehicle off the track or firing bullets as if at the shooting range

Also, besides a massive variety of self-driving activities, one of the key parts of the signature 007 experience involved special remote control simulators for critical situations. In simple words, delegated not only had the opportunity to do wild stuff with cars they’ve never tried before, but also to familiarize with rare and unexpected situations on the road.

The “Fantastic 4” of the delegates that scored the most points combined, won the ultimate prize: the one & only formula Predator laps.

Measurable results

“Becoming 007” team-building not only brought the delegates an overload of fun, but also a great portion of education. The post-event survey ended up showing clear improvement of delegates’ driving skills with a clear tendency of reduction of their driving risks thanks to sharpened anticipating and ability to make safe and well-thought-through decisions due to increase in hazard awareness. The experience got the delegates ready for many unexpected situations on the road and helped them detect probable errors of judgement. In the future, the company expects to obtain significant savings on insurance and vehicle damage by reducing the incident rates caused by the human factor.

The use of sustainable practices

Serbia is a place where it’s very easy to appreciate the beauty of nature and in order to preserve our community, at DMC Vekol we decided to declare War on Waste a while ago. In accordance with our Green Commitment Policy and sustainability credentials, all measures were taken during this program in order to minimize any negative impact on the environment.

“Becoming 007” team-building went full digital from scratch to execution – a responsive web site and an easy-to-use mobile app were created to keep delegates flawlessly updated, optimize every step of the planning process and give priority to paperless communication that is beneficial for both our business and our planet.

We always choose eco-minded suppliers that use energy and natural resources wisely, so the National Driving Academy made sure only the latest models of vehicles (up to three months of age) were used, with minimal emission of CO2 in order to decrease waste footprint on the surroundings. Also, all vehicles were turned off while not in use.

Instead of offering well known international specialities at all costs, at DMC Vekol we give advantage to local food – grown organically close to where it’s bought and consumed to avoid travelling long distances and consequent pollution. After the sanitary check, all food leftovers were donated to the local shelter for elderly homeless to eliminate as much waste as possible.

Lastly, in terms of giving back to the local community – a significant part of funds has been re-invested and dedicated to a safety training for five young and inexperienced drivers as a joint courtesy of SECTOR Alarms and DMC Vekol.

In bed with the storytellers: Uroš Goričan

READY TO JUMP IN BED WITH THE STORYTELLERS OF CROSSOVER 2019?

…to listen to bedtime stories, of course.

Just like bedtime stories that we used to listen to as children, every event creates and shares its own story. A well-told story is an event where the narrator and the listener meet, where the participant and the speaker form a personal bond. Before you come to the hottest conference of the summer, we wanted you to meet our storytellers, to make the storytelling experience even stronger and more engaging.

LET’S TALK FUTURE

Q: How are we going to organize events in the future?

One segment of events in the future will, in my opinion, become much more a multi-reality experience, a combination of real-life events with virtual and augmented reality layers. And some will probably be organized predominantly in virtual spaces, simultaneously at different locations. So the organizations of such events will have to adapt to technical and experiential aspects of those platforms.

Q: Is there something you would like to change in the world of events?

Not change as such but just understanding and following the future developments in the field of technology and marketing can be very exciting for events’ industry.

Q: What do you love about your job the most?

It is very simple – the reason I started working in this industry and why I still like being here is the opportunity one has to leave an impact on people with creative ideas and tools.

Q: In your opinion, what is live marketing’s best advantage?

Live marketing still offers the thrill of experience that can create a unique emotional connection with the brand. And that will remain even when it starts to switch on different reality platforms.

CROSSOVER CONFERENCE

Q: What are you bringing to Conventa Crossover?

I hope to bring interesting ideas to the conversation as someone who is working every day with brands’ DNA and how to spread the core idea of a brand into stories, events, ads,… on different media outlets. I also like to explore what can we learn from storytelling craft in the movie industry and what the opportunities are on platforms such as virtual and augmented reality.

Q: What do you expect from Crossover in Ljubljana?

I want to meet passionate people with challenging ideas.

Q: Why should an attendee not miss your session?

Because they can get some new insights and inspiration for their future project that comes from a different perspective. This is what I will try to bring to the table.

Q: Hashtag suggestion for the 2019 edition?

#crossaders #becorssader

ABOUT UROŠ AND HIS WORK

Uroš Goričan has over 15 years of experience in marketing, branding and content production. Having previously worked as a copywriter and creative director for Pristop, Publicis Group, Saatchi&Saatchi and LUNA/TBWA he is now currently executive creative director at ArnoldVuga+ He is also a screenwriter and producer for TV, web and mobile content and has experience in the media industry where he was working as a programming director for mobile and web portals for Telekom Slovenia. He is also the author of the thesis “Brands as Storytellers – how can storytelling help brands create content” at the Berlin School of Creative Leadership and is currently researching and developing different content formats for brands.

Interview with Jeannine Koch, Founder of re:publica

1_Jeannine-Koch_Credits_Jan-Florian-Dietrich-1024x683

READY TO JUMP IN BED WITH THE STORYTELLERS OF CROSSOVER 2019?

…to listen to bedtime stories, of course.

LET’S TALK FUTURE

Q: How are we going to organize events in the future?

I hope like we are doing it today: full of energy, with a deep love for details, with a lot of empathy for the attendees and the organizing-teams and with an urge to develop, grow and reinvent ourselves over and over again.

Q: Is there something you would like to change in the world of events?

I think events should follow a specific purpose and should give answers to important and relevant questions of the society. We don’t need another meaningless event which is not planned out on questions of sustainability, for example. Events should be a place to connect with people, with ideas, with new ways of thinking. It needs to be a place for new experiences.

Q: What do you love about your job the most?

I love that I can talk to so many interesting people from so many different backgrounds. It´s also a privilege to me to work with a fantastic and international team and of course, it´s thrilling to see how many people in Berlin but also elsewhere, such as in Accra, are willing and eager to share their thoughts, knowledge and time with all of us at our conferences.

Q: In your opinion, what is live marketing’s best advantage?

Face-To-Face connections with people. The sounds, the views, the smells.

CROSSOVER CONFERENCE

Q: What are you bringing to Conventa Crossover?

I will bring a package full of “E´s” of how to create a memorable event.

Q: What do you expect from Crossover in Ljubljana?

Connecting with people. And coming home with new ideas and different perspectives.

Q: Why should an attendee not miss your session?

Because the “package full of E´s” I´m bringing, will be very important to all people who are working in the events industry.

Q: Hashtag suggestion for the 2019 edition?

#diversity #attentiontodetails #eventsthatmatters

ABOUT JEANNINE AND HER WORK

Since its beginnings in 2007, the tech event re:publica has become the largest European digital conference. In its 12th edition in Berlin, a total of 19,500 visitors were able to attend lectures of 929 representatives of digital culture. The specialty of re:publica is that around 50 percent of speakers in 2018 were female, what made for a unique and praiseworthy feature of the tech event that is changing the future of events also thanks to its director, who is not afraid of being openly feminist, Jeannine Koch.

Western Balkans Digital Summit

Basic Event Information

Date: 4/5.04.2019.
Location: Palace of Serbia
Organizer: M2Communications
Client: Government of Serbia
Event type: Conceptual Event

EVENT CATEGORY: CATEGORY CROSSOVER

Event description and key objectives

The biggest digital summit that gathered six leading economies of Western Balkans at the monumental Palace of Serbia building.

The Summit brought together representatives of governments, businesses, regional organizations, CSOs, the academic community, and the youth, with the aim of setting up a digital platform for an exchange of ideas and proposals. Six economies joined forces and set a new standard for organization of such events, through a synergy of over 200 speakers, 1,000 people in production, and 4,000 participants.

For the first time ever, the grand hall was darkened, transforming the space for an extraordinary hi-tech experience that started with a magnificent opening scene. The conference, which was held in the two-story space at the Palace of Serbia (“SIV“ building), required the biggest and most significant project solutions.

Key challenges

The event was extremely challenging, let’s name a few challenges:

• The first one was to make the main stage area pitch dark, which was done by the external covering of the dome of the building. We managed to achieve that effect by using a specially designed structure that was placed on the external part of the dome of the Palace of Serbia.

• Another big challenge was to organize a high-end summit in a space of great cultural significance. A special task was how to fit a high-end digital summit into a retro environment.

• Furthermore, we faced challenges in terms of logistic procurement of equipment and elements from the local market, especially those concerning arranging an import of LED screens from Slovakia.

• A special challenge was a temporary import of TITAN THE ROBOT – which required special procedures and checks for this event. Another challenge was to meet all the requirements on the robot performance.

Creativity

Modifying the existing space at the Palace of Serbia to create a brand new digital environment. Designing an interesting content that will captivate the audience in conference rooms throughout the summit. In parallel with defining the content, our team of designers was working on creating a visual solution for a complete visual identity of Serbia Digital Week, as well as redesigning the WBDS logo.

In parallel with organizing the event, our team designed two brand new websites where it applied a plethora of creative and functional solutions, as well as new logos designed exclusively for this event. Along with planing the event, our team developed and completely designed two websites which followed the events at the Palace of Serbia – Serbia Digital Week and Western Balkans Digital Summit. The WBDS web page was published and launched one month ahead of the event, while the SDW web page was published one week ahead of the event.

Innovation

Several innovative elements were used at the event:

Opening performance – Scenic audio visual spectacle of summit opening – custom performance of special guest from London -TITAN THE ROBOT followed by light, laser and audio effects.
Fun segment was an important part of the summit, and with the help of TITAN THE ROBOT, it was brought to a higher level. During conference breaks, the robot had an interactive performance and was taking photos with guests, and this was covered by all social media.
Development of a special installation at the salon:
IMMERSIVE ROOM – this complex installation called for a perfect match between the set design, audio and visual effects. The salon was transformed into a “white room”, to which sculpted geometrical forms were added. By special programming and coordinating of four projectors, a unique 3D visual effect was created for each visitor of the room.

Execution

Organization of the event that was remembered as the best one in 2019. It took more than two months, more than 150 people, technicians, logistics and designers. This number did not include performers, dancers and guest stars. Apart from the people that took part in this project, we had more than 200 visual devices.

Measurable results

More than 1.500 guests shared their experience via social networks, reporting about the event of the season
Over 30 media representatives (both local and foreign) joined the WBDS – Western Balkans Digital Summit 2019
The total PR value in TV, print and web media reached the sum of around one milion EUR

Communication

Numerous connections were established between visitors and foreign delegations thanks to which they have exchanged experiences, knowledge in digital technologies, innovations in the digital world and international trends.

The event was covered by both national and regional media. News about the event was also publicized via the official website of the summit, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

We have created an event structure and communication which is easily transferable to other markets and upgradeable for the local use.

The use of sustainable practices

Even though we have used a 172 m² LED screen, the biggest one so far, and TITAN THE ROBOT, we were thoughtful about power consumption, and it is with great pride that we can report that the power consumption was at the lowest possible level.

1st World Hospital at Home Congress

Basic Event Information

Date: 5-6 April 2019
Location: Madrid, Spain
Organizer: Kenes Group
Client: N/A – WHAHC is a Kenes Group Original Event
Event type: Congress

EVENT CATEGORY: CATEGORY CROSSOVER

Event description and key objectives

For the very first time, international hospital at home (HaH) stakeholders had the opportunity to meet face-to-face at the World Hospital at Home Congress (WHAHC) and connect the HaH ecosystem beyond borders. The HaH model meets the urgent need of the healthcare providers for a cost-effective alternative to the standard inpatient treatment, the increased pressure on hospital beds and patient-risk hospitalisation. Recent scientific findings show that hospital at home services can provide cost-effective treatment to acutely ill patients, lowering expenditure, improving health outcome and increasing patient safety and satisfaction.

The World Hospital at Home Congress is a first-of-its-kind international platform instituted by the Kenes Group Original Events team. The goal of the meeting was to provide all parties, from healthcare practitioners to policymakers, dedicated education and a place to showcase homecare best practices and technologies.

Key challenges

The main challenge of the event was in creating a unique platform that would provide enough room for discussion to the audience, which was eager to meet like-minded people and share challenges and best practices. The question was what combination of event formats would yield best results for this first-time event and how can the overall experience be enhanced starting before the event, all the way onsite, and continuing the conversation well after the meeting. The continuation of the conversation was key especially having in mind that there is no uniform association behind WHAHC.

Creativity

Prior to the event, to generate interest there was a focus on marketing campaigns with sharable content, as infographics and videos on the topic. Additionally, there were open calls to the audience for topic generation for the scientific program, questions towards the speakers, and campfire discussions points.

An event mascot was created, which was presented before WHAHC and through a game all participants were invited to suggest a name that would fit it best, receiving over 60 submissions in only a week.

Among the session formats, we selected: one-on-one meetings, campfire discussions, and the house of demonstrations – a home-looking set onsite that served to present different solutions for treating patients at home. There was also tailored Madrid HaH Tours – three groups visited respectively a hospital, a HaH unit, and a patient’s home to learn first-hand from Spain’s model.

Innovation

Apart from the creative physical set up and engaging marketing, there was a very easy to use mobile app that allowed attendees to ask questions onsite during the sessions. After working closely with the speakers and moderators, it was ensured that there would be ample time for discussions.

During lectures, the presenters used the polling feature and during the question & answer part all participants were able to ask and “upvote” each other’s questions. In this way, the session moderator was able to address the popular on the list. All questions that were left unanswered due to time limitations were later on addressed by the speakers through the event’s podcast.

Execution

The event mascot was a big part of the onsite experience for delegates. There was a large version that welcomes all participants at the registration desk. A limited number of smaller-sized mascots were gifted to participants through different games, including an engaging social media photo competition. The mascot appeared on the signage in the venue and there were fridge magnets for all delegates in their welcome pack.

The attendee feedback, with over 90% of participant expectations met, was overwhelming thanks to compelling content and engaging session formats and tools.

Measurable results

434 attendees from 41 countries (expectations were for 250 delegates in total)
90% delegate expectations met (according to post-event survey)
259 questions asked via the app

Prof. Bruce Allen Leff, co-chair of the event commented: “We talked a lot about the HaH community that this meeting has helped to build, but with this congress we became a tribe. A tribe is a group of people who are “your people” in a deeply meaningful way. We addressed the models, technology, scalability, and more but for what I am most pleased is what the future holds – HaH is a major culture change, and we will continue developing it beyond borders through more meetings and the dedicated WHAHC community space.”

Communication

1.441M impressions on social media

Clear communication and a focused message starting before the event helped to achieve great campaign results. All special initiatives contributed to creating a very positive buzz and excitement towards the event (videos, infographics, mascot, opportunities for audience engagement, compelling content). Next step in the development of the WHAHC brand is the creation of the World Hospital at Home Community – a platform aimed to advance the hospital at home model and ecosystem through a dedicated online space.

The use of sustainable practices

At this event, there were no specific sustainability policies, but only following the Kenes Group standard procedures in this respect and using what the venue and the destination could offer. This is certainly a topic to better address in the next editions of the event.

The Citroen Berlingo Saga

Basic Event Information

Date: 13 September 2018
Location: ,,Hangar,, Marina Portorož
Organizer: Agency PROMO, d.o.o.
Client: Citroen Slovenija
Event type: Product launch

EVENT CATEGORY: CATEGORY B2B – Best Product or Service Launch

Event description and key objectives

The trigger of the event was the presentation of the new Citroen Berlingo. The event was held for representatives of their Slovenian Sales network, for approx. 200 guests. We took on the complete event preparation and organisation for our client, and found the location, drafted the script and executed the entire event. This was the presentation of the third generation of Citroen Berlingo, which is why our aim was to make a different, humorous and extraordinary presentation, such as the guests of the event, sales agents, have never been to before.

Our aim was to introduce more socialising into the event, a term that refers to the meaning of the word Berlingo* and is a reference to the club scene supported by Citroën.

*Berlingo Name Meaning: Historically, surnames evolved as a way to sort people into groups – by occupation, place of origin, clan affiliation, patronage, parentage, adoption, and even physical characteristics (like red hair). Many of the modern surnames in the dictionary can be traced back to Britain and Ireland. Similar surnames: Herling, Werling, Merlino, Erling, Berling, Gerling, Berlin, Herring;
Source: https://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=berlingo)

We chose a large yacht warehouse at the Yacht Marina Portorož for the location of the event and rearranged it into a space suitable for the event, including set-up of special scenery that was matching the concept and the idea of the event. We wrote a script, which leaned on the script of the famous Walt Disney Company’s franchise of talking cars from the animated movie Cars. Our cars i.e., actors-imitators were using different voices and melodies of speaking from the models of target buyer groups. The narrative revolved around the reunion of six Citroën vehicles, who are having a conversation which took us into the adventure that Berlingo and people who live with it and drive it to experience every day. The main message was devotion to friendship and desire for adventure.

Key challenges

Our challenge was to make a different, innovative presentation of a Berlingo. This was the third generation of the car, which has preserved all the strong points of the previous generation and has been upgraded with additional modern functions. The new Citroën Berlingo’s bold and decisive character brings an innovative solution in terms of design, modularity and practicality. As a rule, presentations of new cars usually revolve around highlights of the use of technology, while this time, our goal was to surprise guests, sales agents, with a different and humour-filled presentation.

Creativity

At agency Promo we conceived the story with a creative script, a saga, presented/narrated by six types (of Berlingos)

We breathed life into cars. We wrote a real-life narration about the life of one of its representatives, i.e., of one generation: which is a definition of saga. Each of the cars spoke of his or her »birth«, special features, talents, attractions, features therefore, which represented the epitome of design, practicality, technology, competition and comfort of its time. Every new model of the car was a new highlight. So they all feel superior to the model that came before them, i.e. or several previous models, which brought into the presentation the desired dramaturgical bragging, jokes and inter-generational comparisons. The one thing they all share in common is their superior understanding of the target group’ requirements– those of families and younger, active people. They understand them better than the competitors and even the target group itself.

Each model of Berlingo, of each generation is a »cool guy«. It is a fresh, original wind of Citroën’s original unique creativity in the automotive world. It is proud, with just the right amount of self-righteousness. It went to become a global success with a generic name, right! It denominates general features of family minivans. After leading a revolution, today, Citroen Berlingo is the »golden« standard and avant-garde in its class.

The story concludes with a movie-like, happy end, when Berlingo and Belringa go on a date, paving the way for the fourth generation of Berlingo.

Innovation

Presentation of Berlingo’s evolution, development of the car itself, is a precisely planned vision; and vision always starts with imagination. Cars are personalities, and marketing is often about personification. Presentation gave arguments in favour of trust in the present and the future, which, in its start is always animated, springing from tradition-continuity-Avant-garde. The comedy-infused and surreal presentation was based on highly categorical and dramaturgic confrontation that all the previous models shared as well, models that are still alive, something that became more intense in the auditorium through ability for memorisation and presented education.

Execution

The event was set in a warehouse, which we redecorated into a presentation area and provided it with lighting and video technology. We recruited a group of actors to help with the performance, who dubbed all dialogues live on location, by turning themselves into ,,Berlingos,,. Musicians were also hired in order to help personify cars and there was a dialogue in rap music-style, which additionally animated the audience. Added value certainly came from the fact that we managed to convey and educate guests on characteristics of Berlingo in an entertaining way.

Measurable results

The client Citroen Slovenija was highly satisfied with the event. The guests loved the innovative delivery of the presentation, the script and performance.

Communication

Communications with guests (pre and post event) were managed by the client. Visual communication (projectors, light techniques) was used at the event itself, as well as verbal communication, which thrilled the guests. The Launch allowed us to penetrate into other areas of communication, as the event was part of the complete content communication package, advertising campaign, PR, etc.

The use of sustainable practices

Dialogues in the script were drafted in a way which accentuated environmentally-friendly aspects of the car.

Istra Inspirit

Basic Event Information

Date: 1.06.2019. – 8.09.2019.
Location: Istria County
Organizer: Istrian Tourism Development Agency – IRTA d.o.o.
Client: Istrian Tourism Development Agency – IRTA d.o.o.
Event type: Storytelling experience reviving stories, myths and legends about Istria

EVENT CATEGORY: CATEGORY B2C – Best Cultural Event

Event description and key objectives

Istra Inspirit enriches the peninsula’s cultural and touristic offer by reviving historical events on authentic locations through Istrian legends and myths. Its goal is to give value to unexploited heritage resources in the destination as well as involve both tourism stakeholders (hotel companies, tourism boards, municipalities etc) and visitors – locals and tourists. Together with partners, Istra Inspirit performs all over Istria and several natural heritage sites. The Istra Inspirit ensemble is continuously learning how to perform as great storytellers, while local communities participating in the experiences are being attributed to a new value and getting recognized. Legend of Thorndancers in Pićan, revives the story of St Nicephorus who was accused of having an affair with his niece (all heard through the grapevine) and thus damned locals to forever dance barefoot on thorns. Crispo at the archaeological site Vižula in Medulin, follows the tragic fates of the Roman hero Crispus, his father and stepmother.

Dvigrad Storytelling Tour at the remains of the medieval castle in Dvigrad follows the history of the place through wars, plague and its final fall in 1714. Historical facts intertwine with the legend of the pirate Henry Morgan and the treasure he allegedly buried there.

Casanova Tour in Vrsar recounts the story of the famous lover Giacomo Casanova while visiting Vrsar. He guides visitors through Vrsar and stumbles upon various people he affected during his visits.

Creativity

Istra Inspirit is the pioneer in Istria in creating events and experiences on authentic locations by telling stories, myths and legends and involving both local participants and audience. Local communities carry local knowledge of the legends in their own way and share a voice with academic actors and other professionals. The team also researches historical information, consults historians and other people with the knowledge of the chosen stories. Beautiful vistas in central Istria, as well as the coast, surely inspire their creativity.

The 100th session of the UNWTO Executive Council was held in Rovinj in May 2015 for whose members Istra Inspirit had the opportunity to perform its experiences; after that Istra Inspirit was listed in the hundred best tourism stories in the world in the renowned publication issued by the World Tourism Organization.

Istra Inspirit was invited by the Scottish International Storytelling Festival to present Istria and Croatia at the festival ‘Open word, open world’ held in Edinburgh in October, 2017.

Innovation

Istra Inspirit has been awarded for both creativity and innovation several times. It has received national as well as international awards which contributed to recognizing it as innovative, different and worth expanding.

The project connects people from different sectors emphasizing its interdisciplinarity – locals, artists, actors, historians, musicians, costume and set designer, logistics, management etc. The introduction of unpredictable and unexpected elements in the performances of local myths, legends and stories is certainly one of the ways Istra Inspirit actors “capture” the audience’s attention. Through the years, the Istra Inspirit performers have been educated to become heritage interpreters to enable them to guide the tours (Casanova Tour, Dvigrad Storytelling Tour…) as storytellers.

Execution

Istra Inspirit experiences and events start with the interest of stakeholders – local communities, tourism boards, hotel companies etc. The team, then, gathers information needed to create an experience through meetings and getting to know the local community and the subjects involved. The goal is to combine all of their desires and expectations, include local producers, institutions and other interested parties.

After that, the team researches available historical materials, gathers information, gets guidance from historians and decides on the ones involved and their tasks. At this point, the Istra Inspirit creative director writes the screenplay and sets designers and costume makers. In the meantime, the Istra Inspirit marketing team prepares all the promotional activities – timeline and materials Depending on several factors – length, budget, number of actors and locals, etc – the production can take up to several months.

Measurable results

Istra Inspirit has been developing its experiences for the past 8 years. During this time there had been more than 700 performances all over Istria reviving various kinds of legends, myths and stories. It has developed from performing around 30 experiences the 1st year to more than a hundred now. Audience’s reactions and comments are great, local communities and tourism boards, as well as hotel companies each year increase the number of performances and more actors, are engaged. The media coverage is also very satisfying – printed media, radio, TV, social media, while Istra Inspirit social media channels gain more followers year on year.

Communication

Through the project, there is the constant use of many ways of communication, online and offline, to inform about the activities of the projects. Istra Inspirit project has won the Golden Zoom award in 2013, an award for the most creative, strategically sophisticated and effective tourism campaign given by Travel Zoom, at the International Conference on Strategic and Creative Marketing in Tourism in Bled. The Umbrella marketing plan has been established – the aim of the strategy was to gather events on the whole peninsula under one brand, Istra Inspirit and it was the first strategy of this kind ever established in Istria. Also, the Istria Tourist Board has also given its support and helped promotion and communication at the national level. The communication tactics involve strong relations with local media in Istria and with some specialized media at national level, through press conferences, releases, interviews and other online and offline channels which result in a huge amount of media coverage which is another proof of the high level of professionalism of the project and its recognition by the trade and media representatives.

The official website is also a channel on which can be found all important information about events and news about the project, as well as on the social media official sites. Social media is also used for the „real marketing “, through Facebook or Instagram live posts from the events, as well as video and photo materials in general.

Future Tense

Basic Event Information

Date: October 1 and 2, 2018
Location: Zagreb (Lauba Gallery – People and Art House)
Organizer: Komunikacijski laboratorij
Client: Komunikacijski laboratorij
Event type: CROSSOVER

EVENT CATEGORY: CATEGORY CROSSOVER

Event description and key objectives

Future Tense is a project designed by agency Komunikacijski laboratorij and it was the first Croatian and regional B2B conference on futurology with strong impact on media and wide public. Until the launch of the conference, theme of futurology was completely unknown to the wider public in Croatia, while being continuously present in the rest of the world. One of the main reasons for organising the conference was the lack of any discourse about futurology and the fact that the public and media space in Croatia is congested with issues on past and not the vision of progress. Apart from changing that agenda, our goal was to make sponsorship partnerships with leading Croatian and international companies and to enable the C Level Executives the opportunity to open the dialogue, exchange topics and ideas with colleagues from different industries and world-leading futurologists. With the sponsorship support of the private sector, we also achieved the goals of profitability, sustainability and longevity of the conference, which will be organized also next year.

In order to provide conference sponsors the additional experience, know-how and networking opportunity, the day before the conference interactive workshops led by futurologists were organized as well as exclusive Future Tense CEO dinner with CEOs and futurologists. The main event featured four futurology presentations and a CEO panel discussion with representatives of Croatian hi-tech companies from various industries.

Key challenges

Considering that this is a project designed and performed by the agency Komunikacijski laboratorij, the biggest challenge was to ensure the commercial sustainability and profitability of the project so we could provide the best professional standards, premium content and unique experience for partners and guests. An additional challenge addressed the issue of recognizing the potential of the conference content among all stakeholders since the topic of futurology was not present in the public and media at all. Since it was the first, the challenge was also to set properly the KPIs and SMART objectives (specific, measurable, accessible, realistic, timely) in order to determine the weaknesses and strengths of specific event elements.

Organizationally, it was a very complex high-production fully digital event (no printed materials at the event) that involved finding and selecting key note futurologists that will fit conference needs, coordination and preparation of a CEOs for presentations at the conference and media communications, preparation of tailor made sponsorship deals, co-ordination of multiple media sponsors and their needs to provide exclusive content as well as securing payment via cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ripple and Ether.

Creativity

The Future Tense was the first Croatian and regional conference that hosted only keynote worldwide famous futurologists who shared their predictions on future development of technology, business and living. This content was unique and different from any conference held in Croatia before. Aside from theoretical predictions, the futurologists transferred the ideas and know-how and ensured participants guidelines and advice how to integrate them into their business. Given the positive feedback from the participants and partners of the conference the second conference will be organised in 2020 with several partnerships and futurologists already confirmed. Apart from exclusive content, highly creative element was the logo that is not static – it is an online bot that continuously changes in real time, based on twitter hashtags related to topic of future. Also, this was the first Croatian conference with the possibility of paying a certain number of tickets with cryptocurrency: Bitcoin, Ripple and Ether.

Innovation

In addition to the innovative theme of futurology not presented on a conference in Croatia before, the innovation was the visual identity the type of which was never seen in Croatia. Conference logo is an online bot – a visual that is unpredictable and constantly active depending on Twitter hashtags. Depending on the presence of predefined words – hashtags on Twitter, the animation is generated and begins with the rotation of the cubes that are being decomposed, searching for answers beyond the known frame, just as futurologists do. The visual is one that builds the vision of the future with its own symbolic language and everything starts with two points that represent the robot’s eyes – a look into the future. Some of the hashtags that affected the change of visual identity conference were future, business, foresight, innovation, change, machine learning and sustainability. An innovative moment of the conference was also the possibility of paying a certain number of tickets with cryptocurrency: Bitcoin, Ripple and Ether.

Execution

The planning and organisation of the conference started in January 2018 and culminated in a two-day event on October 1 and 2, 2018. On the first day, futurologists held tailor made workshops for top and middle management of sponsorship companies. Participants had an impact on the content of the workshops by closely defining the topics with the futurologists. The same evening, an exclusive CEO Future dinner was organized for 30 guests – CEOs and board members of the sponsorship companies and futurologists with the opportunity for additional networking.

The second day, the conference was launched. Four futurologists talked about the future of business and the trends they envision. Keynote speakers Morgaine Gaye, Gerd Leonhard, Aric Dromi and David Birch spoke about the development and impact of technology on humanity, smart cities, micro and macro-food trends, and the future of payment. CEO Future Panel was also organised during which CEOs from banking, ICT and FMCG industries discussed on how to apply future forecasts in business planning and strategies. The project achieved media partnerships with the leading commercial TV company (NovaTV), radio-station with high reputation among conference stakeholders (Yammat.fm) and the outdoor advertising company (Europlakat).

Measurable results

The project achieved specific goals as well as a general goal – the first regional and Croatian conference on futurology was successfully organised and a solid base was established for a second Future Tense conference that will be organised in March 2020. Many specific goals were also achieved – the venue was sold out with 410 participants at the conference. Desired structure of the participants was achieved, including stakeholders from the CEOs to the entrepreneurs and representatives of the public administration and media representatives. Partnership with leading companies from their sectors (banking, ICT and FMCG) and with the Zagreb Tourist Board was successfully realised. Regarding business goals, profitability and sustainability of the project was achieved in the first year enabling longevity of the project.

Communication

The theme of the futurology was communicated intensively weeks before and during the conference. PESO model was integrated in communication strategy to generate maximum results – 32 media representatives attended the conference and the project was represented in the media 214 times with 70 percent of TIER 1 media. The reach of up to 215,000 Facebook members has been achieved.

Besides successfully reached quantity results, high quality of the communications was achieved. The topic of futurology was strongly represented in the media during that period. In conclusion, an important first step towards changing the public agenda and moving from past themes to the themes of future, success and moving forward.

Regarding the partners/sponsors of the conference, media have recognized these companies as ones looking forward and actively participating in the development of their industries as well in the development of a community in general.

The use of sustainable practices

Since this was fully digital high production conference there was no printed material on the conference. In a context of business sustainability, the conference is guided by the organizer’s vision and a sense of a responsibility to be the leading voice in the industry and to use the best practices from communications and event management industries in launching themes of futurology and progress in a local community. In order to do that, it had to be designed commercially viable and profitable from the first year to fulfill its objective of longevity.

SAM Gala 2018

Basic Event Information

Date: 12.12.2018.
Location: Belexpocenter/ Belgrade-Serbia
Organizer: M2Communications
Client: Serbian Association of Managers
Event type: Awards Concept/B2B

EVENT CATEGORY: CATEGORY B2B – Best ceremony

Event description and key objectives

SAM Gala Evening 2018, a glamourous event organized by the Serbian Association of Managers (SAM) with annual awards for extraordinary achievements in promoting the best business practices and creating a business enabling environment, was held in December 2018 for the seventh consecutive time. ‘SAM Annual Awards’ were conferred in 12 categories both upon individuals and companies that serve as role models in leadership, corporate social responsibility and business excellence. The 12 categories also include special jury awards for ‘Personal Heroic Act’, ‘Breakthrough of the Year’, ‘The Initiative of National Importance’, etc.

Creativity

A touch of luxury and exclusivity, in the spirit of major international gala events, such as the Academy Awards ceremony, i.e. the Oscars, was achieved thanks to a specially built stage for the event, reflecting an ideal combination of minimalist elegance and high-quality production.

The SAM Gala was opened by an impressive acrobatics and aerial performance on stage performed by the leading ballet dancers of the National Theatre in Belgrade, which was highlighted by perfectly coordinated special effects, lighting effects, the laser show, music and narration, produced exclusively for the gala evening.

Innovation

For 2018 SAM Gala event we had a goal to set new standards and raise the level of the event, using the Academy Awards ceremony as a model. For this event, we prepared an amazing aerial performance, where ballet dancers flew over the audience and interacted with them. This show was performed by the leading ballet dancers of the National Theatre in Belgrade, supported by exclusive music and lights.

Execution

The event was very demanding in terms of stage design and technical preparation.

• Total event area: 2,000 m2
• 2 event zones: cocktail area and main area
• Stage: over 300 m2
• more than 120 moving heads and spotlights
• over 500 m of truss line
• over 60 m2 of LED screens
• more than 30 hours for set-up and rehearsals
• over 80 creative and production minds involved

Measurable results

TV stations that announced and covered the event were Studio B, N1, RTS. The awards ceremony was covered by cameras of RTS, N1, Tanjug and BKTV. The news report from the awards ceremony, along with statements, was first published by N1 TV (10 p.m. news program) and RTS (Dnevnik 3 news program). The event was covered by 102 media reports in total.

Communication

Announcements on the nominees for the awards, live coverage of the event and content sharing were made via social media, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Total no. of likes: 1,800
Total no. of comments: 73
Total no. of posts shared: 40
Lifetime Post Total Reach: 52,767
Lifetime Post Total Impressions: 73,289
Lifetime Engaged Users: 3,410

TWITTER
Posts: 16
Total Impressions: 9,856
Total Engagement: 645

LINKEDIN
Total no. of posts: 13
Total no. of likes: 1,125
Total Impressions: 75,059

World of Synergy: Inclusive Leadership

Basic Event Information

Date: 14. 3. – 16. 3. 2019
Location: Terme Olimia, Slovenia
Organizer: Eventnika d. o. o.
Event type: Experiential Conference

EVENT CATEGORY: CATEGORY CROSSOVER

Event description and key objectives

The first edition of WoS: Inclusive Leadership, a unique blend of B2B and B2C international conference, was an innovative event designed, organized and executed by multiple individuals and organizations, that saw an exceptional potential of the Initiative to explore and evolve new leadership qualities. The 3-day conference has presented new inspirational and practical models of multidimensional (body, mind, soul) form of leadership on an individual and organizational level, that brought vitality back to our lives, work, and our organizations, in order to confront today’s social challenges. The stories we shared and the qualities we discovered through a participatory, sensory experiential way opened the perspectives in individuals and teams to find and follow their spark of potential, and supported the balance and activated the synergy of community initiatives.

The conference addressed the need to develop a new attitude towards leadership in organizations and individuals, by spreading awareness of new leadership competencies and developing them. It stands as a solution for all individuals and organizations from different social spheres, both in Slovenia and abroad, who want to work towards the sustainable development of society and the planet, and are aware of their responsibilities in this regard.

The key objectives of the conference were:

To share stories, tools and practical models that can help us expand our horizons and posing better questions – to ourselves and to others.
To define, what limiting paradigms can we remove together to tap into a wider sphere of possibilities as individuals, organisations and societies towards more synergic world.
To set a foundation and an example to enable environment where diverse, (pro)creative and engaged people work really well together in ways that make things better from a bigger picture perspective.
To define ways for an individual to embody these qualities in her/himself as a leader to be more impactful change agent.

Key challenges

As the event was the first of a kind, the following key financial, organizational and content-building challenges emerged:

How to provide stable financial construction of the project, as we had limited marketing results and sales?

With an open and clear communication to the public, and a team of notable experts with wide networks and negotiating skills, we managed to provide sufficient funds mainly through sponsorships and volunteering, connecting us to like-minded organizations and individuals.
How to select and properly use a venue that was coherent to the event’s design and purpose?

We defined the main design of the event as an experiential and sensoric Leadership Learning Lab, and its inseparable connection with nature, so selected a supreme business conference venue in a natural and remote location with possibility to scale up our event at hoc, and at a reasonable price.
How to present new, innovative and non-traditional content in traditional business environments in a way that will spark interest and no resistance?

We brought together highly capable and warm content builders, facilitators and speakers from all across the spectrum of our society (business, schooling system, culture, healthcare, government, art, personal development, innovation), and from different countries (Slovenia, Croatia, Switzerland, Germany, England, Malaysia, Austria, France, Serbia, Belgium), and held the space for self-initiative involvement of participants in the co-creation of the content.

Creativity

From the sole beginning, design thinking and design management was implemented into the development of WoS, by including a design expert into a core team. Graphical identity of the Initiative matched its purpose, thus also the contents and preparation of the constantly changing venue (hall(s) layout, scenography, lighting, audio, visual, special effects). The contents was divided into 4 modules (Leadership of the Future, Path from I to We, Balance for wiser Decisions, The realized Synergy), each of them supported by one of the natural elements (Fire, Air, Water, Earth), presented in the layout and scenography. Each module was composed of storytelling followed by unique workshop, Learning Lab, where participants explored, experienced and embodied previously delivered concepts, and co-created new experiences of leadership with one another and all together. We tried to gently push the participants out of their comfort zones into unknown and non-traditional, to be inspired and thus enhance one’s capacity for creativity: starting with an opening ceremony with fire and dry ice performance; welcoming them into an empty hall and asking to set up their own chair wherever they feel they belong; creating a sensoric evening event outside the main hall, Path of Senses, which allowed participants a new perspective on the role of the senses for the purpose of leadership; supportive environment at all levels: ambient, facilitator leadership, graphic and audio facilitator support, subtly involved natural elements in the space.

Innovation

Innovation of WoS is inseparably linked to its creativity and shows through:

FORMAT: new tools, models, principles, innovative and non-traditional ideas through subtle facilitation, also graphic and sound, storytelling and workshops, with all participants present and active.
CONTENT: new and innovative paradigms of Leadership, the most recent approaches for developing group potential and the expansion of leadership skills with a holistic approach: from rational to energetic, emotional, mental and physical (asking strong questions, active listening, non-violent communication, reinvention technique, embodied leadership, mobilizing community potentials for the development of individual initiatives).
ORGANIZATION: focusing on providing synergy all the time and on all levels with carefully choosing resources that tuned in with the concept and cause of WoS: like-minded team members, sponsors and service providers with a sense of sustainability, venue within natural atmosphere, supportive and innovative speakers.
EXECUTION: max. 250 participants for higher quality of the joint work, 4 trained facilitators who co-create a participatory experience by managing processes of mobilizing community intelligence, graphic and sound facilitator, digital guidebook, Path of Senses (an innovative experiential event within the event), experience in embodiment of new paradigms of leadership.
IMPACT: organizational innovation that can be implemented into every company for HR development, combined with clear personal growth factor for each individual participant, facilitator, speaker and organizational team member.

Execution

Project management and content-building was inseparably connected through 3 leading innovators, which later on formed a core project team of 10 members with different backgrounds (entrepreneurship, communication, economics, event organization, design, ICT etc.). Each of the members had an active role in the creative process of event design and inclusive responsibility in managing specific tasks.

For the effective execution of the tasks and the event itself a larger team of volunteers was gathered, which was lead by Eventnika. The enthusiast team expanded to 25 people who synchronized and actively took care that everything was going smoothly. The organizational team members brought in their self-initiative with executing planned tasks and their creativity with solving problems right on the spot. Synergy spread in the organizational team and among facilitators who unconditionally joined the co-creation of the conference precisely because of a noble and pure idea to do something good for the community. The logistics was managed through newsletters, separately for participants, speakers, sponsors, contractors and team.

In cooperation with Terme Olimia as a venue provider, we managed to offer our participants even more: stay at the prestigious Wellness Hotel Sotelia at a lower price, including gourmet delights and spa pampering. For the Friday evening event, The Path of Senses, they provided us with 6 different halls to host the rich and fulfilling sensory experience.

Measurable results

For the first edition, we promoted the event mainly on Slovenian market, only to a lesser extent, through established personal networks, on selected foreign markets: Croatia, Austria, Serbia, the Netherlands, England, Germany and Switzerland. Total revenue from the conference fees was 12,775 EUR, and roughly a third of that was from foreign markets. A total of over 1,000 of volunteer work hours of the content team and 1,000 hours of content and organizational teams for the implementation of the conference was delivered.

The number of participants in the room varied from 90-150, reaching 190 registered persons in total, but surprised us in the last session, when 90 people actively involved participated in a group challenge of the last evening workshop. Enthusiasm spread and a long list of concrete supportive measures for WoS 2020 was presented by the participants to the organizers. Additionally, 72% of the participants stated that they will certainly come to the next conference.

WoS was supported by 17 speakers, 6 co-creating artists, 17 sponsors, 19 partners and 1 media partner. We collected over 35,000 EUR of financial and 10,000 EUR of material sponsorships. The most vivid conference partners are Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (CCIS/GZS), Managers’ Association of Slovenia, AmCham Slovenia, The Society of abroad educated Slovenes, Slovenian Business Club from Serbia and the leading slovenian publishing house Delo, which already expressed its further support.

Communication

A brand new website worldofsynergy.com was designed and published to provide a main communication channel for the new Initiative. Rich content was (and still is) published on blog and new social networks profiles, mainly Facebook and has a flowing engagement of the visitors.

For communicating the rich contents of the conference to the participants a special digital Workbook and Guide was published. It represents an important tool for delivering contents of the conference to reality and so multiplying its impact.

The most powerful of the media involved in WoS communication is more traditional, printed media, DELO d.d., the leading slovenian publishing house, and its weekly SVET KAPITALA. They supported our conference with regular publishing of the WoS contents, presentations of our programme, speakers and sponsors, reports and comprehensive care for WoS’ press coverage. They dedicated a special edition of SVET KAPITALA, that issued that very Friday, when WoS was on its high, to our conference – it was very popular among the readers. As already said, Delo has promised renewed co-operation for next WoS event.

Nevertheless, we consider viral channel for communicating the Initiative’s cause, exclusivity and its ability to inspire, that one cannot miss, the most important one. In our opinion, the enthusiastic participants will provide us with an effective and most importantly authentic promotion for our World of Synergy.

The use of sustainable practices

WoS genuinely, per se, directly addresses all three pillars of sustainability, as they were all inseparably integrated into the development, organization and execution of the event and very much linked one to another. In terms of economic, the organiser experienced revenue growth, visibility, acquired new partners, and exceptional reference. The team members were all richly rewarded, although they were all non-paid volunteers (paid for stays, meals, spa and thermal baths entrance, sponsors’, speakers’ and participants’ gifts to the team, when they saw its connectivity and pristine synergy). People broadened their personal and business networks forming new project alliances. One of the main objectives for 2020 is to bring financial sustainability for WoS.

WoS is environment friendly: unpackaged vegan and local finger food, biodegradable name tags, only non-alcoholic beverages, recycling of plastic bottles for our sponsor’s (Donor) production of designer chairs, including environmentally conscious companies (Patagonia and its film Blue heart of Europe).

Although the team members were mainly strangers to each other, they formed a real, tangible synergy that shone through to everybody present. The participants experienced a change of mindset for implementing new approaches in leadership. All who have co-created the conference in any way experienced that synergy works and what can happen if you truly integrate everything. World of Synergy has become a precedent for future conferences.

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