Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Ekrem Dupanović
Tilda Bogdanović graduated tourism at the Dubrovnik University (back then it was called the Faculty of Tourism and Foreign Trade), and her first encounter with the PR was in the city administration where, as she says, she spent ten beautiful years on the tasks of protocol, international cooperation and public relations. There she experienced her first major organizational projects such as the New Year celebrations in 2000 and 2001, as well as scholarships for training abroad (Florida, Austria, France).
“Dubrovnik has given me the knowledge, experience and confidence to start my own agency. Although at first it did not look like a serious project, because it was created as a hobby, unpretentious, like a challenge at leisure during my pregnancy with daughter Rina, Dubrovnik PartneR quickly became a way of life. When you’re doing the job you love and when you live your projects, you adjust them to yourself and your standards, and then you can say that you are happy and that you are successful.”
Tilda Bogdanović and her agency Dubrovnik PartneR today are partners in the organization of FestiWine Dubrovnik, a unique festival of the best wines that is being held for the fourth consecutive year in Dubrovnik.
Media Marketing: What is actually Dubrovnik PartneR?
Tilda Bogdanović: Dubrovnik PartneR is an agency for market communication, production and organization of cultural, sporting, humanitarian, economic events, as well as gatherings, conferences, congresses and, in short, anything that requires creativity, communication and organizational skills.
The agency was created in 2001. My great desire was to work in PR. I started with this idea, but I soon realized that my skills, experience of PR and protocol, have a very good use in event management and production that have become the core business of the agency due to the specific market – with tourism and culture as the basic traits of Dubrovnik.
Media Marketing: You have proven yourself and became recognizable for event management and production of cultural events in Dubrovnik.
Tilda Bogdanović: The projects of Dubrovnik PartneR are always imbued with the scents, colors and flavors of the region. We strive in our work to embody as many local elements that Dubrovnik and our region stand out for as possible: from the cultural and historical heritage, artistic programs of original folk to urban scenes, we use as much as possible the unique atmosphere of open stage, terraces, palaces and fortresses; with a strong emphasis on the original gourmet atmosphere and high quality Croatian wines.
That is a constant! That is our philosophy, principle, commitment.
The maximum value and competitive advantage that we must cultivate are: the rich tradition, authenticity of products and our heritage. It is up to us to preserve them and properly value them for tourism purposes, to educate younger and brand the values that we have.
Media Marketing: How did the idea for Dubrovnik FestiWine came to be, and why only three last years? It seems that there’s nothing more logical than Dubrovnik having one such event.
Tilda Bogdanović: Dubrovnik FestiWine (www.dubrovnikfestiwine.com) is a young wine festival which is being held this year for the fourth time. The initiator and organizer of the festival is the Dubrovnik-Neretva County with its Development Agency Dunea.
Media Marketing: They say the last three years were good. This year, you are going one step further. You have crossed the borders of the county and into the market of the European Union. What are your experiences?
Tilda Bogdanović: Over the three previous years FestiWine represented and promoted exclusively wines from our county, while this year for the first time it goes beyond local boundaries and opens up to the EU market. Therefore, the number of wine producers-exhibitors is significantly increasing. We will host winemakers from various European wine-growing regions whose wines we will have the opportunity to taste and enjoy. Experience is good, of course.
Media Marketing: You have your PR agency in Dubrovnik, and this year you boldly took over the complete organization of the Festival from the County. Why? There’s not enough work in PR, or is it just passion for something new, better, more creative?
Tilda Bogdanović: Agency Dubrovnik PartneR, which I head, has created the concept and content of the festival with which we won a competition. My husband Vido was the one who compiled the complete program, just like all the other key projects that are characteristic of Dubrovnik PartneR. He is the one who always puts together the entire visionary challenge, and then retreats to the backstage, “pushing” me to the fore, but he is really always there when you need support, help and honest criticism.
This year has brought another challenge, along with executive production we have taken over the responsibility of running the festival, all its risks and potential successes.
I have to admit Ekrem, it was you who actually intrigued me and got me thinking about the details and hues of the future. . . when you asked me if I was aware that I’m holding “a nuclear bomb” in my hands. Wine and Dubrovnik. . . doomed to success. :)
I honestly believe that FestiWine is one of the most promising projects that Dubrovnik has, but we need to continue to develop it in the right way and in the right direction, with a good fusion of all the participants. FestiWine has all the necessary prerequisites of the great global festivals, primarily: we have excellent local wines as a precondition for the development of a distinctive wine region, where wine is one of the motives for visitors and wine lovers. We have Dubrovnik! – the magnet, the motive, the reason and the goal. Our Dubrovnik – which always, at the very start, gives us 50% better chance of success than others have. We must be aware of that and appreciate it. FestiWine has a great time slot – the end of April, when the young wines are ripe for tasting, when winemakers are not overworked with their core business so they can come and exhibit at the festival. It’s a prelude to the tourist season.
Media Marketing: How do winemakers usually react when they receive invitation to come to the Festival? Are they responding in the volume you expect?
Tilda Bogdanović: We are interesting to winemakers, wine professionals, retailers, caterers and, of course, wine audience, people who enjoy wine. Festival’s entry into the international market has just started. FestiWine provides an opportunity for winemakers to enter the wine cards with restaurateurs and hoteliers and to put their wines on the shelves with retailers. It also gives the chance to retailers and restaurant owners to taste hundreds of wines in one place, and choose the one that best suit them. FestiWine is a win-win for all participants.
In addition to presentations and tasting, at the central exhibition which is held in the historical Lazareti on 21 and 22 April, FestiWine is organizing an international panel evaluating of wines “FestiWine Trophy” – attended by renowned wine connoisseurs from around the world. Under the expert evaluation, we organize and evaluate the wines that best compliment the Ston oysters – one of the biggest brands in our region. This event will be held in Mali Ston, called Blind Date, and it includes professional judges but also enthusiasts – our sponsors, media partners and friends of the festival.
It is worth mentioning the Dubrovnik Wine Week within which the Festival takes place. Wine Week lasts from 17 to 23 April this year and during these seven days Dubrovnik restaurateurs offer special menus of creative dishes and wines at affordable prices. You just have to walk through Dubrovnik and seek a balloon with label Wine Friendly.
Dubrovnik FestiWine Gala dinner. . . certainly one of the more interesting content of the festival. It all starts with wine, as wine is the star of the evening, where wines are a challenge to top chefs to create menus. This dinner aims to create a scholarship fund for young sommelier talents and chefs, who win one-month professional training in the restaurant of the guest chef of the gala dinner.
We believe that FestiWine has a bright future, especially now that it began to open to the market and hosts all those winemakers and wine lovers who see Dubrovnik as an attractive place to do business.
Media Marketing: Do you have any regrets for leaving the zone of comfort of a PR agency, and ventured into the open where many dangerous winds blow?
Tilda Bogdanović: Enologist-gourmet image of Dubrovnik is becoming brighter, as Dubrovnik is making strides and gaining more diverse and better quality restaurant offer. Many young people are continually educating themselves, we have an increasing number of sommeliers who feel the wine, who give it the role that it truly deserves in the gourmet scene, and are reclaiming Dubrovnik’s title of the wine city, a city with style …
FestiWine is only one, but it is indeed the biggest project of the agency. This festival demands yearlong engagement, a lot of effort, a lot of communication, excellent staff, constant learning, and as a result brings acquaintances and friendship with many winemakers and wine experts, as well as participation in various wine events.
No, I have no regrets. I’m enjoying myself! This is a very exciting creative project.