now it is already done

Today Päivi left her office after eight. Again, as usual for last days. Aleksi is already flying, not running anymore and about walking we are not talking at all. Preparation is almost done, but still some surprises will arise and some little details must be fixed: what is Sue's title, who is doctor, who is professor, who is mr...
who did not get invoice and why university financial office is not so quick we'd like to see... when who will be were? etc etc... thousand of questions are solved but anyway hundred new will come with sunrise :)
But generally, all is under control and all will be perfect :) Finnish way to do things. And, last but not least, all will end with salmiakkikossu :):)

A-class student assistants

There's a lot of work in organizing a congress, and today we recruited some more student assistants, this time amongst freshmen (we've got every task covered, but you can still apply to assist us; the deadline is 13th of September). Our assistants are quite a bunch: gifted, enthusiastic and with various backgrounds - for example, from the fresmen recruited today one has worked as a communication manager and another as a combat cameraman!

Gray hair with the airlines

For our bad luck, a Finnish airline company Finncomm has announced it will cease all flights to Jyväskylä. This has created a lot of fuzz around here, because it is the other of the only two companies flying to Jyväskylä at the moment. The whole process has been so sudden and surprising that the actions of Finncomm have created some speculation of being part of lobbying or competitive business actions. There might be some truth in this, because even the government has had an emergency meeting because of the matter.

Good thing for us is that Finnair has announced it will cover Finncomm’s absence. Other companies’ have also announced that they will begin flight routes to Jyväskylä (so if it was a competitive or a lobbying action for subsidies, it went terribly wrong).

Finncomm assured us that all clients are informed about the flight cancellations and replacement flights by Finnair. So the situation looks promising, but is still a bit fuzzy. To play it safe, we are planning for a direct bus connection on Saturday morning from the congress venue to the Helsinki-Vantaa airport, so the departure from Finland would go as smoothly and pleasantly as the arrival and the rest of the congress. But about that, we will inform more later on after the registration period expires.

We’re back in business

Some of you might have noticed our reduced activity in the social media, such as on this blog. There’s a simple explanation: we’ve been on vacation. You see, in Finland the university students chill out from May to September (well, actually most of them work vigorously in summer jobs), and the staff has it’s holidays in July. It’s very difficult to contact anyone in Finland in July, because so many are visiting their summer cabins in the countryside.

But now, in the beginning of August we (or some of us) are back! Right when most of the other Europeans start their vacations.

Wanna hear about Euprera 2010?

Current congress theme, inspiring speakers, interesting case studies, exotic location, awesome organizing team, even more awesome guests, EUPRERA 2010 has it all! Now we want to make sure that everyone also hears about it! When you have a good 'product', you want to tell it to the world! There are many options to do this, but here it is especially the media, that becomes another congress organizer's best friend. So many possibilities we hope to grasp and so many people we want to reach!

Not only do we hope to tell our stories through conventional media, but to utilize social media, through which we hope to reach even more people interested in the role of communication science and practise of the field in the future. Already in the beginning of the congress organizing, social media has turned out to be an important channel to tell about the congress in a more unconventional way and also to get valuable feedback. In the future, closer to the congress, we will be telling more and more news and interesting stories about our unique EUPRERA 2010. So stay tuned, you'll be hearing more about us! ;)

And media representatives, if YOU want to ensure a tasty EUPRERA story in your media, let us know! We got news!

Early bird!

It’s spring! Snow is finally melting away and birds are flying back to Finland.

Though there are some hardy city ducks, which stay in an icy Touru river near our Department of Communication the whole winter time. These urban birds are called Tourula ducks, one attraction to visit and see in Jyväskylä during the congress.

But now you can also be an early bird. Start registration now and get the early bird price!

Early bird price will be valid until July 25th.

“Be bird or be square”!

Hunting for money!

We has a good sponsor-hunting-team, but as we are dealing in the economic depression, all our team is now hunting money: looking around and developing creative ideas how to found additional resources.

"We are looking for a cooperation and partnership. Promote your organisation or present your interesting case study. More specific info about possibilities from organizing team. Do not hesitate to contact!"

Puzzle pieces

Organising a congress is like doing a puzzle. First you have just a big picture to guide you. Later you find all the pieces for the frame and after that proportions of the project became clear. Then you start to piece together the whole puzzle.

After the Euprera board meeting which was held in Ghent attached to the Spring Symposium, many pieces found their right places. One could say that we have solid frames and part of the inside of the picture ready. The worthcoming months are meant for taking care of many practicalities, finding the best solutions and checking that everything is in order.

At the moment the online registration platform is being programmed to be ready by the end of March. So the registration will start soon. Be prepared to get the early bird price!

The congress dinner venue for Friday evening is just confirmed. Participants can expect to get an atmospheric dinner in an old drying barn which is renovated for festifities. Many menu options are offered to us. Hard to decide. : )Would you prefer venison to salmon? What about buckthorn-white chocolate mousse or cheece cake with rasberry sauce?

Cut, glue and create

There are days when you can't do anything but sully your hands. Get the job done. Or at least plan it to be done.

While conceiving visual appearance of Euprera 2010 congress, I need to feel the paper, cut some wounds to my fingers, draw with marker pen to my cheek, frown and squeeze failed sketches and tear some paper.

Computer is too clinical tool for that. So here I am. Cutting, gluing and creating with my scissors and pens in the web 2.0 era.

It is surprisingly hypnotic sound that comes when paper is been cut. Squeezing some sketches is a good way to blow off steam and frustration. And when feeling distressed it comes a lot cheaper to throw some paper on the floor than throw the computer towards the wall.

So when you get some glue to your fingers from your badge or guidebook in Euprera 2010 -congress here in Jyväskylä, you know who has sullied your hands...

Breaking news: EUPRERA 2010 is here!

Greetings from the EUPRERA 2010 media team! The congress preparations are moving along, and the media team has also started its work in getting in contact with local and national media to inform them about our upcoming congress. We are positive that the very current theme of the congress will interest different types of media and that it will enable diverse media co-operation.

For now, the media team's work is mostly about building relations and informing the media. Basic messages should be clear: What is EUPRERA 2010 going to be and why should people be interested about it? The very current congress theme will surely be an asset in promoting the congress as a source for distinguished news stories! Also our great keynote speakers will surely attract media. A sign of this can already be seen in an article in the TIME, where EUPRERA 2010 keynote speaker Prof. Timothy Coombs comments on Tiger Woods' apology. Crisis communication is no doubt THE topic!

Still, the media team is not relying solely on ”traditional” media. As all active users of social media know, the EUPRERA 2010 team has also been active on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Social media has turned out to be an effective way to reach people and promote interest towards the congress. Of course, many things in social media should still be done better. As the registration for the congress and the congress itself is getting closer, the information provided should be even more up-to-date and informative about the future. Altogether, working through social media has been great fun! I have to say I'm pleased that now when I'm on Facebook, I can actually say that I'm working! :)

Abstracts review started today!

All, more than 100 abstracts are sent to vetting committee leader, to prof Inger Jensen now. Last phase with abstracts was busy, as we, specially Päivi of course, did many handwork in place of use our technical possibilities comes from our registration system. But sometimes it is also necessary to be ready for different solutions. Main idea is that vetting committee can start work now and let's hope the conference content will be interesting.

Partners, an organisers best friends

Things are moving ahead with the preparations and the spirits are high among the team. A strong belief of “Yes we can!” is evident. Many things are still unclear and others are sure to come up that have to be dealt with, but we’re going forward.

Unfortunately very few things in life are free and organising a congress is no different. There are so many things, some smaller and some bigger, that are needed. Some can be borrowed, some can be manufactured, but some have to be bought.

Money may run the world, but partnerships are about so much more. If you get assistance in the form of goods, that means they won’t have to be bought. An event as big as this is not going to succeed or even be organised without good partners. That’s why we’re constantly looking for new organisations to make the congress happen. At least this year’s theme, “Communication in a changing society; dynamics, risks and uncertainty“, will most likely be of interest to all companies in this economically uncertain time. We’ll see.

I have to confess, saying you’ll get the business side under control is a lot easier than actually doing it. That’s where a team you can count on really is weighed in gold. With the people I have doing this with me, I have full confidence we can pull this off. We’ll see how I feel in about a month. Has every door been shut in front of me and calls left unanswered, or do we have a full set of committed and enthusiastic partners for the conference?

I believe each and every organisation can get something out of the congress. The congress brings together the elite of the communication experts. This event will be all about collaboration and discussion between different experts from the both sides, the practioners and the academics. It's a great arena to present problems and learn the newest ways of tackling the challenges.

Getting involved is as easy as contacting us.

Abstracts, many abstracts

Wow! Looks very promising. Our submission system is so full of abstracts, that it takes many minutes to scroll down and see the end of the list. : ) Altogether 96 of them. At first I was little bit worried about the situation, not getting enough abstracts by the deadline. Kaja comforted me and said: "Everybody will wait until the last day, before sending anything". And that was the case. Of course, should have known that, because I'm also acting in the nick of time. Somehow you are able to give your best under a pressure of runnig out of time.

So here it starts. The vetting committee will begin its job and as a result we will have a great variety of high quality papers to be presented in Jyväskylä. :) See you then!