Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Ekrem Dupanović
Photo: Mojca Briščik, director of the Golden Drum at the reception for jury members, Photo by: Žiga Intihar
I don’t know if you, dear readers, missed the Diary last month, but I must say that I really missed this type of communication. I lacked the minimum requirements for writing. Severe aches and continuous bed rest were killing any inspiration for writing. Thanks to the iPad though, I still worked – I wasn’t just resting. I concluded some things that I was dragging for months. I set up the project Woman.Comm, defined its mission and vision, did the plan for our reorganization – which envisages a shift from the Civic Association into an Ltd. Our new company will be called 38 d.o.o. because our concept is to link the region, and the numbers that connect all the countries of the region start with 38 … There will be more news, but the mission remains essentially the same: to contribute to the development and success of the communications industry in the Adriatic region.
Had someone else written certain things as I wrote them in the preceding paragraph, I’d tell them not to communicate such important things like this, like an afterthought, but it’s just that insufferable state where you just can’t stand not saying something that should remain unsaid. Anyway, we are dealing with strategic changes, and in a month time will be brand new, even better, more creative and more useful.
I finished the book The Best of CDs. Now it remains for Žare Kerin and his team in Ljubljana Futura to do their part. Žare has done a great design and the book will look like a million bucks. On the other hand I made little progress on my second book, Hotel Yugoslavia, because of the situation I was in, but I have made sketches for the final part so that it could also see the light of day by the New Year (Zvezdana, I did my best, I swear…)
Since I hurt myself and heard my doctors say that the recovery will take two or three months, I entirely dedicated myself to get on my feet by the Golden Drum. And with the help of dr. Sabina and my great physiotherapist Haris, I did it. They wouldn’t let me go to the Book Talk in Novi Sad, nor the Direct Media Academy in Tuhelj, or the Weekend Media Festival. Last weekend they allowed me to go to Belgrade for the IAA Academy, where I spoke to members of the youth section. It was a trial run for my endurance for the Golden Drum, which I am certainly attending. In the meantime, I also had to skip the Creative Republic of Bihać, which was held on Friday. Doctors suggested a break between Belgrade and Ljubljana.
I owe my thanks to Vedrana, without whose help and understanding all of this would be much harder (and more painful). I also thank Asja, who came from Switzerland to help us, especially in the preparation of healthy food. Thank you to my granddaughter Tara, who improved my condition every single time she came to my bed to cheer me up.
Also thanks to Adnan and Amir, who over the last few weeks took over most of the obligations regarding the editing of the portal.
I received hundreds of messages with wishes for a quick recovery. Thank you all! Thank you Ilarija, Ejub and Zvezdana for the great surprises that you treated me with.
On Friday I spent the whole day on the phone with friends from Bihać, wanting to know how the Creative Republic of Bihać was going. Fantastic. Selma Riđanović said the Bihać conference was a top-notch for the entire region. I heard from Vlado Čeh, Slavimir Stojanović, Ejub Kučuk, Nino Kasupović, Adi Čavkić. They were all elated. When it was all over, in the evening, Čeh called and said that a dinner for all the guests was organized in the restaurant on Una, in Ripač. I shuddered. Ripač is a village ten kilometers from Bihać in which my grandparents from father’s side lived. In Ripač I spent all my summers until the end of high school. Forget the sea, Una rules – especially in its part through Ripač. I would have given anything to be there at the dinner, to show them Ripač and Una at dawn.
On Sunday, I corresponded with Mojca Briščik, director of the Golden Drum Festival and the Slovenian Advertising Chamber. She, along with Lučka Peljhan, who is responsible for the competition program of the Golden Drum, greeted the jury and organized a lunch for them. She is delighted with their energy and commitment to judging. The official photographer made a series of photographs that Mojca sent me even before she saw them for herself. Photos speak volumes about the atmosphere at the first meeting of members of the jury who will be already hard at work when this article reaches you (see the gallery at the end of the text).
In one of the mails I asked Mojca how satisfied she was now, just before the start of the festival. She said she was very pleased, especially with the number of entries. Had there not been all the rurmoil in Turkey, this year would have seen a very good harvest of works, but even this way things turned out great. Adriatic region excellently responded to the introduction of the Golden Drum Adriatic Award. Although she did not tell me this explicitly, I read between the lines that she perhaps expected more personal participation from the region. If so, then I would say her expectations were reasonable. Golden Drum this year “returned” to the region. It introduced a special award in the competition program, and I believe that the program has never had more participants from the Adriatic region. All this should have resulted in good number of visits from Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia. Because of the panel on pitches, 3+1, which is jointly organized by the national associations of the advertising industry in the region, this Golden Drum could go into history books of advertising in this region as the event at which the industry in this region finally began to change itself, where agencies finally raised their voice and said in unison that situation with pitches can’t continue as it is.
Mojca (Briščik) is for the first time at the head of a festival – and no less than the head of Golden Drum. Together with another Mojca (Majhen), who with her agency Paideia took on the entire burden of the organization of the Festival, they made a fantastic result. Experience (which two Mojcas did not previously have), speaks that our people mainly at the last minute decide to go to a festival, so it should be no surprise if today and tomorrow (Monday and Tuesday) about a hundred people decide to travel to Ljubljana. Whoever can, should afford themselves the pleasure this year to go to the Golden Drum. The festival moved to Ljubljana, which is logistically much better location than Portorož. Ljubljana is today the most beautiful small metropolis in Europe. The festival will be held in a castle (the Ljubljana Castle) which is a unique place for organizing such events. Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković, as an experienced businessman, recognized the importance of Golden Drum for Ljubljana and gave his maximum support. I think that the atmosphere at the festival will be fantastic, as almost nowhere else. Bars and restaurants along the Ljubljanica until late at night will be a gathering place for participants of Golden Drum. Such an atmosphere, offer and energy for social life is really hard to find elsewhere.
Therefore, rethink your options of going to the Golden Drum. Bojan Hadžihalilović says that to miss the Golden Drum is like forgetting to congratulate a wedding anniversary to your significant other.
I have already packed my agenda in Ljubljana from Tuesday afternoon to Saturday morning. I’ve chosen the lectures I want to attend, and I’ve planned all the rest of the time for meetings, because such concentration of people from the industry and so many countries in one place must be used.
On Wednesday at noon I will lead a panel with the participation of Marko Pekica, Vladimir Čeh and Jernej Repovš. I gave it the title The History of Future. Although there were those who felt that the industry is so preoccupied with the search for the right path to the future, that there is no time to dwell on the past, I believe that an industry that doesn’t have a past, also doesn’t have a future, and that, if it wants to survive, advertising has to build its future on the highest values of its past. Advertising wasn’t jeopardized either by low budgets or the internet and new technologies. Advertising is in a serious crisis because it abandoned its fundamental values, its ethical standards, its creativity … I have finally concluded the concept of the panel, the questions and sent them to Marko, Vlado and Jernej. I did keep some questions as a surprise. I believe that we will be interesting, and simply can’t wait to run out to the field.
See you in Ljubljana!
Monday, 17 October 2016.