By: Ekrem Dupanović
The “heavy” book came from Žozef Lončar. The two of us obviously love making books that match our personal size – they must be heavy and thick. The title of the book is Svedočanstva o jednom vremenu (Testimonies of a Time). It contains the texts by 88 authors who wrote about the past of market communication in our region.
The second book, “You’re Strongest when You’re You”, came from Kristina Ercegovic with the dedication: “Dear Ekrem, all that I never got to tell you is inside ?.”
A profession that has no history, has no future. I suppose this is what Žozef was thinking when he came up with the idea to make a book that will testify about a point in time – about world of marketing, before and now. I know that the first version of the book was supposed to contain texts by 100 authors. 88 responded to the call. Among the 12 who did not respond to Žozef’s call is yours truly. Everyone has their own reason. For me it was the lack of time to write a serious piece for such a serious book. Now I regret not doing it. I doubt anyone will ever muster the strength again to write such a serious testimony of a time. All of us who haven’t wrote our texts, although Žozef provided us with such an opportunity – we’ve shown our utter irresponsibility. Had I written the piece, I would have closed one circle. Immediately after the book’s release, Žozef announced the closing of Taboo magazine and retiring from the scene in which he was active for nearly six decades. And I, thanks to Žozef, entered this profession 48 years ago. I should have written the piece. Actually, it was my duty to write it.
Žozef has repeatedly announced his retirement, and never held that promise. Now I know why. He had to make this book. The book is especially valuable for young people who are interested in finding out how the profession in which they make their bread came into being. It’s a shame that it was printed in Cyrillic, so it’s limited only to the Serbian market, because young people in the region don’t know the Cyrillic script. I know that Žozef is a great fighter for preservation of Cyrillic script, but printing a book in Latin should have been a strategic decision.
I won’t write here about the texts in the book, because I need to devote some reading time to it first. I mostly read books in the evening, before bed, but my old hands find the task of holding this book too hard. This is the first book in my life that requires special reading conditions. Žozef can’t be anything else but different from everyone.
The book begins with a text by Žarko and Lazar Sakan, and on this basis I conclude that New Moment was the sponsor of this monumental publishing project. It’s befitting of Saki’s sons. The back side includes thank you messages to advertisers, without whom, I’m certain, this book wouldn’t have happened, so they really should be mentioned: New Moment, I&F McCann Grupa, NewStartegy, Belgrade Fair, Direct Media, Alma Quatro, Olaf&McAteer, Komercijalna banka, UM, Metalac, Red Communications, Orange Studio and Henkel.
The book by Kristina Ercegović, You’re Strongest When You’re You, is devoted to the future – or how successful you can be in your entrepreneurial endeavors if you adhere to the guidelines from this book. Kristina is the right person to write a book on the human side of business. Her education, with MBA degree and additional skills learned at countless conferences and seminars across the world, is complemented with talks with hundreds of entrepreneurs within the unique Business Cafe project. All this makes her an absolutely relevant witness to the entrepreneurship development in the Adriatic region, and a person who can really give advice on how to start one’s own business and succeed in doing so. The book is one of those that every businessperson needs to have on their nightstand. It’s not the one of those you read and shelve. This is a book that you pick up often. In five days time I read it twice. And I’ll read it again. And I could have left it aside after the very first page, when I read the passage that best describes my pleasure.
“The longest-running study of happiness, involving several generations of people over a timespan of 75 years, has shown that people are made happy not by fame or fortune, but by fulfilling relationships and meaningful work, the kind of work that makes people feel they are part of something bigger, and that they give their contribution.”
Get the book You’re Strongest When You’re You, and don’t drop it down. It’s easy to carry around. In a pinch, it could even fit in your back pocket. It’s a great read even when you’re having a coffee somewhere on your own. Ten minutes of reading are just enough to learn two or three things from this book.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) I’m going to a one day trip to Dubrovnik with Zvezdana Žujo, and I’ll bring the book to read her some things from it.
October 1, 2018.
