Among the 150 panelists and lecturers from 15 countries who participated in the Weekend Media Festival in Rovinj this year, four representatives of our company WMG shared their experiences and insights into the most current topics and trends.
This is the largest regional media, communications, marketing and business industry festival, which was held again at the old tobacco factory in Rovinj from September 21st to 24th this year.
The WMG Company was formed following the integration of the largest media company in the region, Adria Media Group, and the leading digital transformation company, Wireless Media. WMG is the No. 1 digital media company in the Western Balkans, with an impressive number of brands under its wing (32 digital outlets, 8 print media outlets and three televisions). Thanks to advanced technology and a professional team, WMG creates exceptional media content for all channels and offers partners a superior advertising platform, thus giving them the opportunity to grow their business.
The editor-in-chief of Kurir, Aleksandar Đondović, was one of the participants of this year's Weekend Media Festival and took part in the panel discussion called “Media Transformation”. He spoke about all the transformations that Kurir underwent in the past four years, thanks to this daily has positioned itself as the strongest media brand.
“Our process is specific because, along with the transformation of the media, the work process, people and training them to acquire new skills, we also transformed the brand,” explained Đondović and clarified that that was a very challenging process, but that today all advertisers are happy to do business with Kurir. “Kurir from four or five years ago and Kurir today are two completely different media outlets,” concluded Đondović.
Bojana Zimonjić Jelisavac, editor-in-chief of the Mondo+ multi-brand media concept, which includes Mondo, Euractiv, Elle, National Geographic and numerous other media brands of the WMG Company, participated in the panel "How to Restore Interest in News". Together with the editors of some of the leading media outlets in the region, she spoke about the new generations and predictions about what the media would have to focus on in the future. Zimonjić Jelisavac also pointed out that the short-term monitoring of the development of new technologies would contribute to the media development and restore the audience's interest, but that the long-term key to the survival and further development of the media lies in winning over their trust. “Trust is something that will contribute to the further development and consumption of the media,” Bojana Zimonjić Jelisavac added.
Ruža Veljović, Corporate Affairs and Communications Director at WMG, participated in the panel titled "Where Do PR People Go Wrong?", which began with an analysis of the infamous prejudice that the relationship between PR people and journalists is a complicated love affair with elements of the Stockholm syndrome. “In this triangle of media-company-PR agencies, at first glance everything resembles a line from the song "Ljube se Dobri, Loši, Zli" (“The Good, the Bad and The Evil are All Kissing Each Other”) but in fact, if we all do our work professionally and responsibly, and at the same time have trust in each other and help each other to better understand each other's tasks, potential mistakes are minimized and there will be no problems,” Ruža Veljović pointed out.
This year’s festival had an entire segment called "HR Weekend", which was all about HR professionals. The People and Organizational Development Director at the WMG Company, Jelena Vuković, shared her knowledge and experiences at the presentation "HR TECH FOR NON-TECH HR", which she held together with Anja Godec from SAP. They pointed out that companies, even when they are in the process of transformation, can successfully start applying technology in the HR sector and transform human resources at the same time precisely thanks to SAP solutions, which offer processes in addition to technology. The following day, Jelena participated in the panel "How Trends Dictate HR Strategy". Among other things, she clarified her view of crisis HR:
"Crisis HR must be like a good coach, who tries to navigate certain things and express its opinion on how it the changes and whether it agrees with them. Furthermore, it should take into consideration the internal forces that can implement the change that the management thinks should take place", said Jelena Vuković.
The Method Agency, which operates under WMG, was a noticeable participant in the Weekend Media Festival this year. Method is a full-service agency that provides creative, content production and performance marketing. With its interdisciplinary team, Method creates stories and delivers results that ensure the digital future of brands. Method’s team of experienced professionals supported the festival in creating unforgettable video content. Their mission was to capture the festival’s spirit, record the statements of the festival participants and visitors and convey the key conclusions from panel discussions. With the Method Agency team, the atmosphere of inspiring lectures, unique networking and unforgettable entertainment came to life on the screen and social media.
"Our company has been organizing gatherings with business partners, associates and friends here in Rovinj for years and this year, we have an important serious occasion to celebrate. We formed a new company, which is a key step in the further progress of our business operations and towards realizing our vision of becoming a regional digital transformation and media leader. This festival gathers more than 6,000 business people, primarily from the media industry and is an opportunity to present our new organization, as well as top professionals, who in the previous period achieved extraordinary results with their teams," was the main message of the event organizer, the WMG Company.
The party guests were in an excellent mood while the performance of Jelena Rozga was enthusiastically greeted. This regional star performed for an hour and a half and the rain that fell that evening did not dampen the great atmosphere at the party, which was the talk of the whole Rovinj.
Two premises and a large outdoor area were rented, but even a space as big as that wasn’t enough to accommodate everyone who wanted to join the party and enjoy a surprise concert.
