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?