By: Ana Burazer
Photo: Sašo Pešev, Viktor Nikolić, Stana Šehalić, Mojca Briščik, Jasmina Nikolić, Igor Čelebić, Dunja Ivana Ballon, Davor Bruketa and Ekrem Dupanović
The meeting was attended by the director of the Slovenian Advertising Chamber – SOZ Mojca Briščik, and SOZ board member Ana Ivandić. Croatia was represented by Davor Bruketa, president of HURA (Croatian Association of Communications Agencies) and Dunja Ivana Ballon, executive director of HURA. Macedonian representatives were Sašo Pešev from New Moment Skopje and president of Macedonian Association of Agencies for Marketing – MAAM, and Igor Čelebić from Publicis Macedonia, MAAM member. Meetings were also attended by the editor in chief of the portal Media Marketing, Ekrem Dupanović.
In his welcoming address, the President of UEPS and the initiator of the meeting Viktor Nikolić said that already with the fact that all the leaders of national associations from the region are sitting at the same table the meeting proved a success, and that it will certainly yield many initiatives, some of which will take more, and some less time to implement, but that the most important thing is that willingness was shown to talk and cooperate.
Each of participants had prepared a presentation that introduced the association and the platform for discussion. During the presentations, it already became clear that, regardless of the local specifics and level of development of this profession, all the associations face the same or similar basic problems. Common are also the efforts of the leaderships to actively approach the situation on the market and their willingness to engage in the introduction, setting up and promotion of professional standards. In that sense, there was a valuable exchange of experiences, especially those that have proved to be a good local practice, which are also applicable to the region.
All representatives agreed that there is plenty of space in which associations can mutually help each other, and that action should be taken mainly in the field of information and education, as well as harmonization of regulations. Most importantly, the meeting was held in a very constructive atmosphere marked with the willingness to precisely and accurately diagnose hot spots and suggest possible solutions.
It was agreed that conclusions and recommendations from the meeting would be prepared, and that each of the associations, in consultation with their bases, will verify them. That document will be the basis for further development and improvement of collaboration between professional associations.
