The Slovenian Convention Bureau marked 2017 with its promotional project “Spotlights from Slovenia”, whose main goals were to motivate destination stakeholders in engaging and original ways, offer quality expert coaching and, through synergistic group activities, discover new avenues of addressing the international market.
Undoubtedly, Slovenia has been quietly developing into a five-star MICE* destination, catering to a diverse variety of business meetings, events and incentives with its reserved yet warm invitation to exploration. In this context, the Slovenian Convention Bureau published a cycle of stories in Slovenian and English, presenting our country through core MICE products and traits. Stories all of our own, stories that help us stand out.
Slovenia is certainly more than just a nice advert, closer to a novel with an impressive plot. It’s the single country whose name contains the magic word love. Indeed, love is found in many of its nooks and crannies, uniting diverse landscapes in a tiny place. The country’s natural environment is absolutely phenomenal, while richness of landscape is one of its radiant competitive advantages. As a Slovene folk story goes, the creator forgot about this little piece of the world at first, and so in the very last moment, he crafted it from parts of all the others. Indeed, a unique feature of Slovenia are its four cultures and landscapes – the Alps, the Pannonian plains, the Karst and the Mediterranean; shaped by the historical influences of four peoples, the Slavic, Romance, Germanic, and Finno-Ugric.
In Slovenia, everything is conveniently close yet impressively beautiful. The big advantage of being small is that you can focus on the little things, the details. The personal touches that make your meeting matter, that make it genuine. Isn’t authenticity precisely what every event planner wants these days?
Expert and business meetings come in all kinds of shapes and sizes of course, but the standard classroom, movie theatre or banquet layouts are dull concepts that no longer excite, something Slovenia is well aware of. Focusing on creativity, expertise and team spirit, we strive to prepare unique custom events that exceed the expectations of the target groups. In turn, this requires a flexible and resourceful destination partner, but luckily Slovenia has these traits in its DNA.
We understand working in the meetings and events industry is full on. It’s much more 24-7 and a lot less 9 to 5. It requires a yes-we-can attitude, an ability to roll with the punches and, of course, a 24 hour smile. That’s professionalism, Slovenian-style! Diligence and enthusiasm are thus the essential elements of the national brand I FEEL SLOVENIA, part of what we like to call Slovenian energy, the heart of Slovenia Meetings and our country’s congress and tourism sectors.
Slovenian energy is different.
It’s naturally laid back. Relaxed. Calm.
Not all sparkly on the outside then quickly running out of fizz.
It’s slow release, enduring, in it for the long haul.
Slovenian energy is there for you when you need creative input. It’ll be there throughout the event journey, right until the end when your attendees give you a standing ovation for a job well done. With you all the way!
Other things are constantly in motion, too. Like a tsunami, digital technology has swept across the meetings and events industry. The old paradigms are history now as ever-new, exciting horizons emerge. Perhaps, we’re already in a time when it’s all just a little too much. We have to escape, revisit the first principles. Nature. The genuine charm of personal presence, of face-to-face conversation.
Wisdom begins in wonder
Socrates, the great philosopher, said “wisdom begins in wonder”. Certainly, creativity is another fundamental element of meetings and incentives, next to expertise, motivation and networking. To resonate this message, the Slovenian Convention Bureau organized four educational-motivational conferences for domestic expert publics and stakeholders, dealing with the subject of key guidelines for the successful placement of four core MICE products in Slovenia: meetings in the Alpine and Subalpine world, meetings on the coast and in the Kras, meetings in our natural health spas, and meetings in the green cities; as a promising offer for the planning and execution of a range of business networking events, with a focus on exciting incentives.
“Slovenia, the small nation with the big green image (it’s one of the world’s most eco-friendly destinations) offers rafting, hiking, boating, and biking in the summer; alpine skiing in the winter; and fabulous food and culture year-round.”
Melissa Klurman, Travel Expert, Reader’s Digest in its recent article “10 Places You NEED to Go in 2018, According to Travel Experts”.
Much to our delight, Slovenia’s reputation has been steadily growing across the tourism world. It’s up to us to step together and present our wonderful natural traits and advantages in an even more engaging, original and sustainable manner.
The informative part of the conferences ran under the guidance of Mr. Gorazd Čad, noted regional MICE industry marketing authority, who presented the latest industry trends in the content and digital marketing spheres on practical and feasible local cases. The second part was shaped as a creative incentive experience, involving the conference participants in fun tasks under the tutelage of Mr. Matjaž Jug from an agency specializing in teambuilding programs.
After the experts shed their light on the importance of content and creative copy in the digital world, participants engaged in brainstorming based on the innovative “Event Canvas” method. Stakeholders delved into the exploration of creative incentive experiences across the region using digital media, discovering, along the way, that one old media adage still holds true: “Content is queen, video is king!”
Wrapping up the project, the Slovenian Convention Bureau together with agency Adriatic ETC released a video montage of the content prepared by the groups throughout the conference workshops. The video is found at the following link: www.slovenia-convention.com
Connecting people is certainly the common denominator of all destination meetings, in many ways. Our conferences brought domestic stakeholders together, creating a space for the exchange of good practices and great ideas. The role of the national convention bureau can be paraphrased as that of a conductor, guiding and assisting the development of the events industry, helping to manage and promote our exceptional heritage whilst always striving to connect interested parties. Together, we’ve proven that the best events happen when all the players work together like a well-rehearsed band. Slovenian energy stands front and centre in our MICE community, resting on the interplay of the Slovenia Meetings brand values – genuine charm, 24-hour smile, personal touch and team flexibility. We’re with you all the way!
Sounds appealing? Follow “Spotlights from Slovenia”** at www.slovenia-convention.com.
Welcome, and let us impress you!
*MICE – Meetings, Incentives, Congresses/Conventions, Events/Exhibitions.
**The project was made in cooperation with the Slovenian Tourist Board. Original articles appeared as “Žarometi iz Slovenije” or “Spotlights from Slovenia” respectively, prepared by the Slovenian Convention Bureau in Slovenian and English to present the country through its core MICE product offer. All the stories are available at the website of the Slovenian Convention Bureau www.slovenia-convention.com, in the section Žarometi (Slovenian) and Spotlights (English), and on Slovenia Meetings social media (Twitter: @SloMeetings, Facebook: SloveniaMeetings, Instagram: sloveniameetings and LinkedIn: SloveniaMeetings). Selected stories are distributed through the Slovenian Tourist Board’s communication channels and other relevant media. The articles also appear in the e-monthlies of the Slovenian Convention Bureau, sent out to a mailing list of 22.000 registered addresses. In our digital communication, we use the hashtag #sloveniaspotlights.
