Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Ekrem Dupanović
Two and a half years ago, or more precisely on 26 April 2016, I started writing the Diary of a Methuselah. It happened quite accidentally. One morning I was thinking about how I could start writing and posting texts about the everyday things happening to me. It seemed to me that the dynamic of life in my mature years might be interesting to read to someone – to motivate young people, and to bring us a certain number of readers (clicks). Without second thoughts, that same morning I wrote the first Diary of a Methuselah.
Initially, it went quite well. I released stories about what I was doing, with whom I met, drank or dined, what we talked about etc. These texts attracted quite a lot of attention, they were well read, the visits grew, I got strictly positive comments, I was motivated to continue. Sometimes I didn’t have the time to write regularly so the Diary was not a real diary. I couldn’t keep up with the daily dynamics. In the meantime, other obligations caught up, we entered into new projects that had to be given priority, and as my day could not last at least eight hours longer, the Diary has always been the victim of some other priorities. I had less and less time to write serious texts. My writing came to a mere mention of what I was doing during one (or more) days. Although the ratings of the Diary had never declined, I was more and more dissatisfied. It was not what I wanted it to be. There was simply no time.
The Diary made me more famous in the regional advertising industry. Whenever I went to a festival, people approached me and mostly commented on what I was writing in my diaries. I started becoming a kind of a brand. And that’s what I wanted the least. If in almost 50 years of intensive work in the advertising industry – first as a producer at Radio Sarajevo, then as a journalist, and a director of a local agency, then the Yugoslav-Swiss Agency IMS / Studio 6 and, finally, as the agency owner, as founder of Business Magazine and the Media Marketing, as a journalist and editor – if through all that I haven’t gained my position in the advertising industry, I won’t do it now as well. Deep down I am a humble and simple man, and I would like to remain such, regardless of the fact that many will not agree with me on this. That just means they don’t know me well enough.
Portal Media Marketing is too much tied to my name. That’s also something I did not want. But this is the result of the modest financial resources available to us in implementing our media projects. We don’t have a budget to hire more people to tackle the everyday operational jobs. That would enable me to devote myself to strategic thinking, creating new projects, and building a powerful brand architecture that Media Marketing can create. We started to lag behind in our own development – the obligations started piling up, and the list of unfinished business started getting longer and longer. Even though I work all day, I don’t get to do everything I need, and everything I have to do. I love what I do! Even at the expiration of the sixth decade of my life, nothing is difficult for me. I travel a lot. The time spent behind the wheel is unproductive time for me, though I do try to keep thinking while I’m driving, and thus turn even that time into something useful. But still I lag with everything. I’ve decided to change it all – change my working and living habits, change my priorities, change my lifestyle. From today I will start to take on responsibilities and create space for some new ones that will be more profitable and which will enable Media Marketing to hire new people and go on a new path from the New Year.
Decision to stop writing the Diary was not made on a whim, as the decision to start writing it two and a half years ago was. I started thinking about it in mid-summer – when I became aware of the accumulated obligations and my modest economy of time that would not allow me to keep up with everything. I started to work out a plan for 2019 and the first thing I became aware of was that all my plans, in this time that God has given to me, will remain nothing but futile dreams if I don’t change some things. It’s never too late. I have so many plans and unfulfilled wishes that every minute of my time will be precious. The Diary is the first one to pay the price of change. You’re strongest when you’re you! This is the title of an excellent book by Kristina Ercegovic who, when I read it for the first time a month ago, confirmed what I was thinking about in the previous months.
I showed that I was serious in my intentions to change a month and a half ago, when I proposed Adnan that we hand over the creative of all our projects to the Communis Sarajevo agency. We have become a client. Now we have our agency in which we have a lot of confidence. We also talked with the digital agencies PromoTim to take care of the portal, design and production of websites for our projects. We will develop graphic design with the Herah team. Asja fully assumed responsibility for the new Creative Portfolio that will come out of the press in January 2019. Five days ago, Adnan and I talked with one of our friends (can’t publish his name yet), who would take care of our development, thinking outside of our own daily frustrations. From January 1, 2019, our team will also be joined by Amela, who will take over a large part of my operational tasks. Today (Sunday) she left for a two-month holiday. She went to her relatives in Australia to gather strength for everything that awaits her when she joins us. A recent visit to New Startegy and a conversation with Miša Lukić was very inspirational for me, and new ideas were born in my head. A conversation with Jovan Stojanovic, the Chief Operating Officer of Direct Media, whom I met in Belgrade a few days ago, also got me thinking about some new things. We will try to be serious, precise and transparent. Challenge Media Marketing!
“All the good days are ahead of us,” Goran Takač told me thirty years ago. I sincerely hope that my most beautiful and exciting years are yet to come. I only wish that health will serve me. I don’t lack in will, desire and energy at all. And I need you and your support. Media Marketing is strongly focused on the promotion and development of the advertising industry in the region. This is your media outlet! It is dedicated to the best that you do. It is time for you to accept it as such, and stand by our side. We can do wonders together.
Thank you for reading the Diary of a Methuselah!
October 22, 2018.
