DCN is everywhere| 3 continents, 5 cities, 16 local communities in two weeks!
These were definitely two intensive weeks for Digital Communication Network! In less than ten days we managed to visit Nairobi, Tbilisi, Sarajevo and Washington D.C., to participate in two forums, one conference and one training, to finalize one website, and last but not least, to create 16 local communities. Impossible? That’s how we made it!
Editor: Marianna Tanagia
Media for Democracy Forum | Washington D.C.
DCN’s Vice President Franak Viačorka also serves as a research media analyst for U.S. Agency for Global Media. On the 7th of May, they hosted a multi-session event which is called “Media For Democracy Forum” and it is designed for exchanging ideas and networking.
The future of journalism, censorship, digital technologies in media and other updated topics were on the top of their agenda.
The future of journalism, censorship, digital technologies in media and other updated topics were on the top of their agenda.
#M4DF attracted all the professionals who are interested in the ways media and information technologies support democratic communities, in other words, media experts, practitioners, opinion leaders and policy makers.
Franak gave kudos to all the participants and this great team:
Workshop for Georgian Journalists | Tbilisi
On the next day, U.S. Agency for Global Media organized a workshop for Georgian Journalists in Tbilisi, called “Digital Storytelling, Social Media Engagement and Advertising”.
Our board member Lusine Barseghyan and Lili Hakobyan, her partner and co-founder of Well PR Agency, presented results and insights from their research on digital influencers, a study they did in order to contribute on Digital Communication Network’s project. As Lusine said: “Sharing is caring”, so they gave hints on how someone can collaborate with influencers.
Business of Truth | Nairobi
Our sister organization, Digital Communication Network Africa and World Learning hosted the two-day “Business of Truth” Forum in Nairobi. The event focused on the latest developments in journalism and the way digital information technologies are reshaping communication and societal behavior. On the 8th and 9th of May, some of the top media professionals visited Africa in order to share ideas, thoughts, and useful info.
Founding President of DCN Africa Noloyiso Mtembu says that “We have been evolving, the changes we are seeing now in how we disseminate information, we cannot avoid. There are threats and opportunities.”
DCN had, of course, its representative! Our board member Maryna Dorosh talked about countering disinformation with Media Literacy. Maryna shared all the practices that work and all the techniques that they don’t (you can read her conclusion summary from our Bratislava event here).
Digital Influencers in Action | Montenegro
Meanwhile, we are just one… click from our upcoming forum “Digital Influencers in Action”. 200 participants from 30+ countries will gather in Budva, Montenegro in order to have a chance to look at digital campaigns with social impact in a comprehensive way.
Our landing page is on the air and you can check the program and the speakers’ line up here.
16 local communities on Facebook
Digital Communication Network (and especially our executive manager Stela Roman) never sleeps and of course, loves Facebook. Our next big challenge is to work more closely with each country that has DCN members, by creating local communities and helping you collaborate, solve local issues, share local insight and opportunities.
Point Conference
DCN was on the stage of Point 8.0 Conference! Franak Viačorka was the moderator of DCN panel “How Digital Influencers Can Help or Harm Journalism and Mass Media” with Žiga Vrtačič (Today is a New Day),
Veranika Laputska (EAST Research Center), Stela Roman (Digital Communication Network) and Katarina Klingova (GLOBSEC). You can watch the full video of this conversation here or you can read the highlights on this article.
We also organized a workshop and meetup on “Building influence online — Instagram for media and influencers”. DCN Vice President, Franak Viacorka talked about Instagram for media and organizations, shared a ton of tips and tools for creating engaging content online and DCN Executive manager Stela Roman explained who are influencers, what is their power and how understanding the algorithm, your audience, and your goals will help you in becoming a quality influencer.
16 local communities on Facebook
Digital Communication Network (and especially our executive manager Stela Roman) never sleeps and of course, loves Facebook. Our next big challenge is to work more closely with each country that has DCN members, by creating local communities and helping you collaborate, solve local issues, share local insight and opportunities.
There is more!
In the next couple of weeks we are planning to organize DCN meetups and workshops in the following countries/cities:
Tallinn (Estonia) — 24rd of May (join the event here)
Lviv (Ukraine) — 1st of June
Sofia (Bulgaria) — 4th of June
We believe in the power of DCN community! If any of you is willing in any way to help with the organization of these meetups, please let us know!
We would like to know if maybe there are potential partner organizations or co- working spaces that would be interested to host us. Who we should invite that is relevant in your countries (influencers, journalists, communicators, NGOs, activists etc), and what are the ways of dissemination of this info (maybe relevant fb groups in those countries, some media or organizations/people willing to share the event etc).
We will talk about Influencers Hubs, present the research on influencers in that particular country, DCN strategy and how local communities can be involved, find out what are the local issues and how we can work together on projects.
Feel free to write us a DM on our Facebook Page or email us to stela.roman@digicomnet.org.
Photo by Andrew Stutesman on Unsplash
