Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Ekrem Dupanović, ekrem@www.media-marketing.com
Photo: Museum of the First Session of AVNOJ in Bihać
I am looking at a fax machine next to my desk, and I no longer know what it’s for. I haven’t turned it on in two, if not three years. Its time has passed. Today, documents are scanned and sent by email. I remember when I first saw it. It was beck in 1982, in the office Pavlo Lukač, then head of the press of the Organizing Committee of the XIV Winter Olympic Games in Sarajevo in 1984. Today, we would call Pavle a PR Manager of the Winter Games. I came to him, and he boasted that he got a fax machine. I asked him what it was, and he took a letter in his hands and said: „Look, I can now turn a number in Australia, and if they have a fax machine there, I would insert this letter here, and immediately it comes out through the fax machine in Australia.“ „Pajo, if you intend to pull my leg today, find someone else, I came on serious business,“ I said. Fax was then the revolution. Today it’s going out of use, it did not survive for more than 30-35 years.
Right now I can think of another revolutionary technological innovation in which I didn’t believe at first. A little more than 40 years ago, I spoke with Enver Gerumović, director of the sector for automation of business at Privredna Banka Sarajevo. He was telling me how the Bank will soon get cash dispensers. When I asked him what cash dispensers are, he replied that these were street machines used to withdraw cash. “You will no longer have to go to the bank. You insert a card in the machine, type in how much money you need and, if you have enough on the cart, the machine gives you the money,” Germa explained. Back then lemonade machines were popular, and were everywhere on the streets. I wrote a text for Oslobođenje titled “The money will flow like lemonade.”
Today, I started an action to help my young friends from Bihać. Three creatives from Una, Nermin Nino Kasupović, Adi Čavkić and Damir Midžić decided last year to shake things up a bit in the Bihać entrepreneurial community, and turn it towards communications. They devises the Bihać Creative Forum and organized it in early October at the Museum of the First Session of AVNOJ. They asked me to help them in the selection of participants and invite them to come to Bihać, which I did. Among those who came were Davor Bruketa, Damir Ciglar, Nikola Vrdoljak, Bojan Hadžihalilović and Petar Fridrih. I opened the Forum and – impressed by the ambience of the Museum where we were – immediately suggested that the Forum be renamed into Creative Republic of Bihać (Bihaćka kreativna republika). It was a wordplay on Bihać Republic, the first free territory in occupied Yugoslavia, which is why the first session of AVNOJ (Antifascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia) was held in this town. The proposal was accepted, and the speakers were asked to be the first members of the government of the Creative Republic of Bihać. The present entrepreneurs were named delegates of the first meeting of the Creative Republic. It was a nice two-day gathering at Una, where Nino, Adi and Damir proved themselves as excellent hosts. Entrepreneurs were very pleased with the excellent presentations.
Now the time has come for the Second Session – again, of course, at the Museum of AVNOJ – and I am again tasked to invite participants and secure their agreement to come to Bihać. I do this with great pleasure. The entire day I sent e-mails, explained, lobbied … The response was excellent, and I think this year we will again gather a great team of creatives from the Adriatic region.
The Second Session of the Creative Republic of Bihać will be held on 4 June, 2016.
Three very positive things business wise also happened yesterday.
The agency New Moment Ljubljana has informed us that IBM has accepted an offer for campaign on the portal. Thank you Boštjan Prijanović and Helena Škof Mihovilović.
We reached an agreement with Gacomelli Media on cooperation in exchange of information and texts between Media Marketing and their portal Media Change. This is a very beneficial arrangement for us (and I hope for them) because we will receive quality content and current information in the communication industry. Thank you Ladeja Godina Košir and Ana Isabel Munguia.
Gábor Hegyi also contacted me, director of Capital Communications, Budapest. We met in Budva at the PRO.PR Conference. Gábor is one of the initiators of the World Communications Forum, which was held two months ago in Davos, Switzerland. In Budva, we talked about cooperation in the Adriatic region. They are interested in having us as their exclusive partner in the region. Today, we discussed some details of that collaboration, and I was very pleasantly surprised by the conditions they offered us. We should define all the details after the May holidays and then start to work.
A nice and sunny day after yesterday’s snow. Yesterday was -2. It’s +20 today. It’s something to endure.
Sarajevo, 25 April, 2016.