Dissemination,
Marketing and Networking Conference for Socrates Project Co-ordinators and
Partners
Between Ideal and Fait Accompli
Introduction
The DissMark I Conference
occasioned quality networking among
experienced European projects coordinators, bringing them together with top experts in the fields of marketing and
dissemination, sharing queries targeting the better functioning of
partnerships and the better exploitation of the results achieved so far.
DissMark I Conference had a wide and varied
participation (Romanian version): projects coordinators and partners, representatives
of the marketing world (publishing houses, local, regional and national media,
etc), and representatives of the centralized decision factors and facilitators
(such as the NAs) as well as representatives of the European Commission in
The contents
transmitted and debated at DissMark I were approached from different perspectives. The workshops and
presentations made by coordinators of successful projects could be regarded as
“checklists” of things done well, to be compared and complemented with the
prescriptions made by experts in their illustration of the more theory-oriented
plenaries. This approach was meant to help the participants understand all the
hidden mechanisms and implications of the strategies of dissemination,
marketing and promotion of linguistic products. Also, the intensive exchange of
knowledge, information, experience and expertise that took place was extremely
favourable for the creation of new partnerships and for encouraging
professionals to take an interest in the field and transfer their own skills
onto the European projects environment.
The conference was more
than an en-suite of exposes with limited practical applicability. The
organizers devised the conference agenda (Romanian version) of the two full days with the primary target of covering both the theoretical and
the practical side, offering advice from well-known professionals while taking
care to complement plenary sessions with workshops on very specific purposes,
project showcases and the projects’ fair which accompanied all the extended
coffee breaks. Along the same line of thought, yet another important output of
the Conference is a Compendium
with one-page presentations of all projects represented at the conference by
the project coordinators.
This strategy allowed for a valuable and
continuous exchange of knowledge, experience and information between the
conference participants while making the schedule attractive, though admittedly
quite full. The plenaries on marketing strategies, international sponsorship,
dissemination and valorization were enhanced by workshops on designing a
successful webpage, integrating web 2.0 features into the dissemination
strategy of projects with linguistic components, media promotion strategies and
show-casings of successful projects. The participants attended these sessions
and had extensive networking opportunities in the breaks, which were dedicated
to the display of projects’ products, conceived in such a way as to allow for
the creation of an informal, pleasant atmosphere of contact,
exchange and mutual feedback among those present. At the end of the conference,
the participants handed in feedback
forms in which they expressed their
feelings
and opinions, identified useful tips
for project coordinators and partners,
and made suggestions for follow
up activities for Conferences on dissemination and valorization of
project results.