You may have caught yourself at some point fearing a dystopian future in which artificial intelligence has taken over the world. In just a few months, you will have the opportunity to hear first-hand from the man who taught machines to think. The new edition of the Dani komunikacija festival returns to Rovinj this year, and the main stage programme of the 12th edition, taking place from 7 to 10 May in Rovinj, will be opened by the unconventional Prof. Jürgen Schmidhuber, a pioneer, disruptive genius and the father of modern AI.
Schmidhuber will speak at Dani komunikacija about the future of artificial intelligence, and our own intelligence, through the lecture Modern AI and the Future of the Universe, in which AI steps outside the technological framework and becomes a civilisational issue, not just another industrial tool. The scale of his influence is reflected in the fact that The New York Times wrote that artificial intelligence, when it grows up, will call him “dad”, while Elon Musk described him without hesitation as “Schmidhuber invented everything.” A scientist who put the G, P and T into GPT, creating technologies that today power ChatGPT, Google Translate, Siri, Alexa and modern generative models, used in billions of devices worldwide.
“Like our profession, Dani komunikacija do not settle for average,” said Dunja Ivana Ballon, the long-standing director of the festival and its programme. “Our goal is to create space for an industry that thinks more freely, more boldly and more intelligently.”
A mentor of strategic communications
Alongside Schmidhuber, the festival programme in Rovinj brings a strong strategic focus. Dani komunikacija will host Mark Pollard, one of the most influential global marketing strategists and mentors, author of the book Strategy Is Your Words and founder of the Sweathead platform, whose work is followed by hundreds of thousands of professionals worldwide.
After working for Facebook, Twitter, The Economist and Mozilla, leading strategy at McCann and Leo Burnett, and appearing at Cannes Lions and TED, Pollard comes to Rovinj with the interactive session Strategy On You, a lecture that returns strategy to its key starting point, the way we think.
Jelena Fiškuš, the most awarded Croatian creative director and president of the Croatian Association of Market Communication Companies (HURA), highlighted the importance of a strategic approach in communications. “Strategies in communication make the crucial difference between investing in growth and throwing money at noise which, without strategy, is really just a collection of random visuals and messages hoping to hit someone. Experience has shown that our market needs more knowledge and a better understanding of the importance of strategy, which is why this year we strategically planned to bring two strategists to DK who belong to the very top of the global scene. Anyone who wants to grow should not miss them.”
Brand as architecture, not decoration
The festival also confirmed the arrival of Julie Supan, one of the most influential brand strategists today and the woman who helped shape the identities of some of the world’s largest technology platforms. As a former director of marketing and communications, she participated in building brands such as YouTube, Airbnb, Dropbox and Discord, and in Silicon Valley she is regarded as one of the most sought-after strategic authors.
She views brand as strategic architecture rather than visual decoration, and that is exactly the approach she brings to Dani komunikacija. In a year when the industry is increasingly returning to the core values of branding, she will speak in Rovinj about long-term vision as the key to building strong brands, how strategic clarity is created, how vision guides decisions, and how sustainable competitive advantage is built long before it becomes obvious.
The most recognisable face of the domestic creative industry and a member of the festival’s Organising Committee, Davor Bruketa, added: “DK are the most intense three days of the year for everyone who lives communications. It is enough to look at our programme to understand the direction the festival is taking, towards people who change the industry, not just talk about it. This is an experience that must be lived live.”
Even more content announced and a new festival hall
Alongside a strong programme, Dani komunikacija continue to build a recognisable festival experience in which Rovinj, the sea and the May sun become part of the stage itself. This year’s edition brings new production and visual solutions, as well as the richest programme to date, taking place across as many as nine festival locations, from the beach and the Poolside Stage by the pool to a new festival hall, alongside new industry topics and the familiar Rovinj ambience.
An award that encourages quality
An important part of the festival is the awarding of the best, a segment addressed by Angela Buljan Šiber, a well-known name in domestic digital marketing and a member of the Organising Committee of Dani komunikacija. “Awards are an unavoidable and somewhat sexy moment of the festival. Excitement, glamour and competitive spirit raise the atmosphere, which is exactly why we have five awards, BalCannes, MIXX, IdejaX, Effie and Young Lions, that encourage creativity and highlight the quality of our market.”
The festival’s impact on the industry
The organisers announce a three-day industry gathering that will bring together a large number of participants from the worlds of marketing, communications and media, with strong support from partner and sponsor brands. The programme will be followed by a significant number of media representatives, with extensive media visibility and hundreds of publications, while festival content will be shaped by more than 200 domestic and international experts in the roles of speakers and performers.
Behind the festival stands the independent professional organisation HURA, the Croatian Association of Market Communication Companies, which brings together leading and multi-award-winning agencies on the market and acts as the official representative of the Cannes Lions festival for Croatia, together with IAB Croatia, the local representation of the world’s largest digital marketing organisation that gathers leaders of the digital economy in Croatia.
Damir Ciglar, one of the initiators of Dani komunikacija, an important figure in the domestic marketing industry and a member of the Organising Committee, invited the profession not to miss this year’s festival edition. “Dani komunikacija continue to raise the bar, through the quality of speakers, the strength of content, the number of visitors and the scale of the programme. If you want to know where the industry is heading, this is simply the place you have to be. And your competition is coming too.”
Registrations are open on the official festival website, with information on participation fees and accommodation options in Rovinj, one of the most attractive destinations on our coast.
