communication project management approach for non govermentals by wyc

Projekt został sfinansowany w ramach funduszy Komisji Europejskiej w ramach programu Erasmus Plus.

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Communication Project Management Approach for Non-govermentalsStorytelling and other style of the communication process in the multinational work


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STEPS IN SUCCESSFUL COMMUNICATION – HOW TO MANAGE SUCCESSFUL COMMUNICATION.

Chapter I

Photo Danijel Borna


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What is communication?

Communication is the activity of conveying information through the exchange of ideas, intentions, feelings, atti-tudes, perceptions or commands by different channels like: speech, non-verbal gestures, writings, behavior and possibly by other means such as electromagnetic, chemical or physical phenomena and smell. It is the meanin-gful exchange of information between two or more participants.

What is marketing communication?

Marketing communication is the mean by which organizations attempt to inform, persuade and remind the target group about products, ideas or brands they promote. According to this study work, marketing communica-tion represents the voice of the organization and its projects. Communication is the mean by which the organi-zation can establish dialogue and build relationships with society.

Marketing communication also is built to strengthen target audience’s idea or project equity and allows organi-zation to link their projects to other people, places, events, brands, experience, feelings and things

First of all, you need to have a project idea. You need to know what you want to do and how it should look like. The project idea in this phase should be very precised and ready to start or run. Before preparing the project you should have done some research on the target group. This knowledge is essential for projecting the right marke-ting communication.

Your project needs to be visible to your target audience. The content needs to correspond to the preferences of people to whom you address it. Basing on the collected data you can set up the project communication objecti-ves, which may be for example:

• creating some need• rising awareness of your NGO idea• changing the attitude • creating project conviction intention

When you face the multichanner, wide and idea standing marketing communication, you should be very careful with your message and goto people strategy. Why is it so important? It is simply because after you finish your communication activities you will be faced with these questions: What are the results? Have my project changed something in people’s thinking? Did I manage to target the right audience with the right channel and with the right content? To reach the goal of communication in much easier and more understandable way, marketers developed the insights (more often known also as marketing insights).

Defining a marketing insight is to discover the fact that the target audience which has not previously been used, when leveraged will generate increased profits to the message sender. Marketing insight can also be defined as the attempt to discover a penetrating truth about the target audience, their aspirations and motivations, which can, in turn, be used to follow your project.

Finding the insight simplifies designing the marketing communication strategy and will bring you closer to your communication objectives.

*(Source: James C. Anderson and James A. Narus, Business Market Management: Understanding, Creating, and Delivering Value, 3rd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2009))

I. Steps in successful communication

step

one what to say and who to speak to

To run successful communication of your project you need to make these simple steps explained below.


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When you already know what to say and who to speak to, you need to set up a marketing communication strategy, which consists of:• content strategy • channel strategy• creative strategy.

The content strategy have to connect the points of parity and the points of difference in your project. Some of them might be related to your project elements of your organization profile. The message strategy have to be adopted to the communication channel and be based on your project insight. The content strategy should be constantly supervised to check if it reflects your target group in the way you planned it. The Channel strategy should be based on researches of your target group preferences. Even if your message stra-tegy is precisely and perfectly set up and you do not choose the right communication channel your whole effort will be worthless.Only the appropriate message and channel strategy will bring you closer to your communication aim.

Communication effectiveness is also based on how the message is being expressed. Creative strategy is the way of translating the message into a specific communication. To face the respond rate of your communication tools you have to be visible, rememberable and the project needs to be distinctive from others. One tool of creative strategy might be for example making an interactive TV channel or storytelling. More about storytelling will be explained in Chapter 2. Creating communication is also a state of art. You need to remember about all the details and always be innovative to achieve success.

When we speak about communication in terms of project management, we need to remember about the last fra-mes which are: monitoring and evaluation. You need to check if you realized the objective of your communication process. If so, it is perfect, and you can proceed with your strategy. If not, you have to check what went wrong and try to correct it.

Dealing with successful communication is also dealing with the response rate. When we speak about the project from 3rd sector run by the non-governmental bodies aiming in social behavior, we can define some phases of response hierarchy models:

Exposure – persons that have faced your message.Reception – persons that can recall your message.Attitude – person that are confronted with your message.Intention – persons that are willing to follow your message.Behaviour – persons that identify themselves with your message**.

* (Sources: aE. K. Strong, The Psychology of Selling (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1925), p. 9; bRobert J. Lavidge and Gary A. Steiner, “A Model for Predictive Measu rements of Advertising Effectiveness,” Journal of Marketing (October 1961), p. 61; cEverett M. Rogers, Diffusion of Innovation (New York: Free Press, 1962), pp. 79–86; dvarious sources.)

** (Sources: Philip Kotler, K.L Keller, Marketing Management (Pearson Education, Inc., Permissions Department, One Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458, 2012, p 476, 481-482, 484-485)

step

two building and managing communication strategy

step

three monitoring and evaluation


BehaviorExposure Reception Cognitive response Attitude Intention


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Each communication process project manager should keep up to date with the latest trends and be familiar with the most successful case studies of relevant projects. Today, there are many marketing communication feed channels where you can read about the latest trends and world’s gurus of marketing communication expertise. Below, please find some of the most current communication trends:

1. Mobile Shift to MobileGlobal mobile traffic currently represents twenty percent of all Internet traffic and has been rapidly increasing. Mobile Internet use is expected to surpass traditional Internet use in next years. Mobile has become so popular by offering convenience through immediacy, simplicity and context.

2. Youniversepersonalization is tapping into our emotional desire to be seen as unique personalities. With communi-cation you need to have smarter approaches that extend your target audience personalization capabi-lities beyond the devices.

3. Social Media ImpactThe crucial difference from the traditional media is the need for engagement. You need to prioritize your communication: find out who matters, determine what they are saying, how it sways others and how best to engage with them. Balancing the emotional dialogue with the rational (measurement of influence) is the key to success.

4. Quality storytelling/Brand JournalismThe very definition of "news" is changing, and this evolution creates the opportunity for content marke-ting pros to create timely content that earns credibility, earns media and generates ongoing visibility for your project.

5. Crisis in the "Always On" Erahyper-transparent communication – the speed of communication is allowing to rapidly growing crisis possibility. You need to be always prepared and ready for sudden project unpleased news and situation.

6. Transparency is the only answer and any failures in this area are punished with alarming speed and efficiency. It is better to be honest with your message because you lose much more credibility if the media will uncover the truth.

7. Integrated Communication driven by the fast pace of technological innovations, you can expect the industry evolution towards integrated communication*


Be successful - follow the communication trends.

** (source: http://www.burson-marsteller.com/bm-blog/10-global-communication-trends-in-2014/vvv)


6 I. Steps in successful communication

Communication

I think that NGO Marketing Communication is ringing the NGO to the foreground. Outstretch the publicity of our projects, increasing awareness and participation. For our sector is very important to keep track on issues of the city or region and ideas so we need to be close with the public. Sharing and receiving lots info is important and also important is to do it constantly and in an organized way. The most essential and important tools of modern communication that I use in my NGO is Social Media, Press Releases, Open-Public Events, Campaigns involing partners, networks and platforms.

Christos Papas KremmydasYouthnet Hellas

Saloniki, Grecja

When I was running for the position of secretary general in my former NGO, I had presented a plan. A strategic plan for the next four years, which contained a completely new way of developing the NGO through marketing and project development. After I was elected, none of my ideas were supported, although they chose me to lead the NGO on the basis of my ideas. Why is that? The answer is simple. Lack of understanding. The communication was bad. The communication on the outside (towards the sponsors, other NGO’s, all other beneficiaries from the project) was excellent. But the communi-cation within the NGO was really bad because people are not always at the same level. The reasons could be various. In my experience, the biggest communication gap was always caused by three factors: big age difference, difference in the educational level and personal interests.

Communication is extremely important because of the visibility of the work that we are doing, so that everybody knows exactly what is being done at the exact moment, so they can follow the project through in detail. But it’s not just about other people following your project, it’s also about their inclusion in the project and their ideas. Teamwork is everything. Other people can see problems and solution to these problems where you can’t, so good and understandable communication in a working group is essential for the project.

Ivan ĆosićAssociation for personal develo-pement and nonformal learning "Slon"Zagrzeb, Chorwacja

I think exchanging information, ideas, attitudes and experience between two people or group of people is important for fostering the relationships between coworkers which can improve the work-flow and overall productivity. In our NGO we count mostly on the external communication tools as the social networks. During the project(more information about the New communication and new technology pathways for NGO! In Chapter 4) we learned how useful the blogs can be so we decided to built up one and we are now constantly working on it so as to make it more beneficial. We also gained great practical experience during the training course and after our coming back we reated a team which is developing a new communication strategy for the year 2015.

Anita KaynakchievaAssociation for development of Arab-Bulgarian initiatives and collaboration

Sofia, Bułgaria


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STORYTELLING AS A STYLE, TOOL AND TYPE OF COMMUNICATION.

Chapter II

Photo Danijel Borna


8 II. Steps in successful communication

What is storytelling?

Storytelling is the transmission of events into words. Each story consists of certain events, characters and nar-rative points of view, which determine through whose perspective the story is being viewed. Storytelling takes a broad range of forms such as fairytales, folktales, legends as well as our personal stories. It is also widely used to address educational as well as marketing and promotion objectives. The main difference between stories and other kinds of narratives is that stories guide feelings about their content and give rise to an emotional respon-se. That makes stories more attractive, more memorable and more infectious for people than other forms of reporting and recording. Besides that, stories extend your imagination to see the world from perspectives other than your own. When you hear someone’s story, your sympathy is engaged and you recognise the other person as a conscious being capable of suffering and joy*.

How does storytelling affect us?

From Personal...

Narrative couching: We share our very personal stories with another person in order to learn from each other, find the right answers for ourselves and look for the best way to go forward.

Meetings: with groups of people: As NGO workers and volunteers we share our stories with our target groups meeting them in schools, youth centres, on the street, etc.

Blogs, web-pages, publications: We share our personal or NGO stories with wider audience on the internet or by publications. Examples: the story of a famous Bangladeshi photographer GMB Akash, who is supporting his community through his job*, the Story Exchange of women in business**.

Social media: We create and share our personal and NGO stories in social networks everyday, and these stories reach many different people. As there is a lot of information in social networks, it is crucial that our message is exciting and relevant, so that other people find it interesting and visible among all other stories and pieces of information.

Campaigns: For wider audiences we create easy-understandable and short stories that we promote and distri-bute by different channels. Stories can be both about people (example: families lying down in the garbage they generate in one week and things (example: the majestic plastic bag).

* (Imagines &Objects. Active methodology toolkit 5 – PERL, Hedmark University College, Hamar, Norway, 2014, p7)

** (http://www.gmb-akash.com)

*** (http://thestoryexchange.org)

https://www.onespot.com/blog/infographic-the-science-of-storytelling, Elizabeth A Doty “Transforming Capabilities: Using Story for Knowledge Discovery & Community Development, p 17: http://storytellinginorga-nizations.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/DotyTransformingCapabilities.pdf)

https://www.onespot.com/blog/infographic-the-science-of-storytelling

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLgh9h2ePYw

http://www.treehugger.com/culture/photos-families-in-7-days-of-garbage-gregg-segal.html


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...to public

How to make storytelling more effective?1. Use imagines to make stories more compelling. The rate at which the brain processes imagines is 60 times

faster in comparison to words.

2. Deliver content that is linear and expresses a clear narrative. 92% of consumers want brands to make ads that feel like a story.

3. Keep your story short and have a great title to grab readers’ attention. Already now, there are huge amounts of digital words consumed and information received by an average citizen. (https://www.onespot.com/blog/infographic-the-science-of-storytelling/)

4. Establish relationships: without relationships, sharing is unlikely to happen. Once that mutual openness is established, it opens channels not only for sharing but also for innovations and new solutions jointly invented.

II. Steps in successful communication

During our training course(more information about the New communication and new technology pathways for NGO! In Chapter 4) I learned, that Storytelling has many benefits and in my opinion is becoming more and more important. It´s visible in increased usage of it in the world of marketing and advertisement. I think storytelling can be something illustra-tive, connecting imagination of teller with his personal traits and visions. When we practiced this method on our training, each participant told simple story and through it shared cur-rent vision and opinion about simple matter. We learned that our stories were maybe different but values and dreams more or less same. It helped to build stronger connections and to remember informations more easily.

Adriana HerakovaAssociação Backup

Vila Real de Santo António, Portugal

I think we could use the storytelling for some of our NGO’s current aims as changing people’s attitude and standing against the stereotypes, the discrimination and the prejudice in our society. We have done the storytelling before as a part of diffe-rent public events Since the establishment of our NGO, we have been communicating with people from the minorities and mostly refugees coming from the Arab world. We often invite them to talk in front of other people about their experience and we use their stories to help other people in the similar situation.


Sofia, Bułgaria

I see storytelling as a part of communication. It’s important because through the videos or pictures or whatever your storytelling technique is, you can spread you message in a more powerful way than just talking. People love stories. People will listen to good stories and pay attention. When you get some-one’s attention and you are telling a story and they find it interesting, the original message will have a greater impact and that is the goal of storytelling. Making people understand what it is about and that is the biggest benefit that anyone can have from storytelling. VIDEO – Story telling - Daniel


Example of a video based on Storytelling:

http://vimeo.com/85518999


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PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Chapter III

“Trying to manage a project without project management is like trying to play a football game without a game plan.” (K. Tate)


11 III. Project Management

What is Project Management?

Project Management is a discipline that encompasses the organization, planning, and control of resources in order to achieve set objectives within certain limitations. These limitations are usually scope, time, quality and budget. Thus, the aim of management involves interaction between knowledge, technology, environment, struc-tures, processes, services and products.

THE PROJECT CYCLEThe project cycle is a model that helps to manage the entire project organization of entities: from the detection of environmental needs and action plans to the evaluation of results and impact achieved*.

Project cycle helps to ensure the following:• projects are relevant to the real problems of the target groups and make the most of existing opportunities• projects are feasible: objectives can be realistically achieved within the constraints of the external environ-

ment and capacities of the organization• the benefits generated by the projects are sustainable*• Graphing Project Cycle

What is Project Management?

The Project Management is a discipline that encompasses the organization, planning, motivation and control of resources in order to achieve the objectives to attain success in one or more projects within the stated limita-tions. These limitations are usually the scope, time, quality and budget. Thus, the aim of management is to coordinate all available resources to achieve specific objectives which involve interaction between knowledge, technology, environment, structures, processes, services and products. In this regard, management solutions and project management (methodologies, techniques, technologies, models, tools) must support the project management process. This process in turn should be successful, based on reaso-nable principles.

THE PROJECT CYCLE The project cycle is a model that helps to manage the entire project organization of entities: from the detection of environmental needs and action plans to the evaluation of results and impact achieved***.

Project cycle helps to ensure folowing:• projects are relevant to the real problems of the target groups and make the most of existing opportunities• projects are feasible: objectives can be realistically achieved within the constraints of the external environ-

ment and capacities of the organization• the benefits generated by the projects are sustainable**** • Graphing Project Cycle

* (source: Prince S., Squire C., Project Management Course Toolkit, Cyprus, 2007, p7)

** (source: Project design manual - International Labour Organization, 2010, p17)

*** (source: Prince S., Squire C., Project Management Course Toolkit, Cyprus, 2007, p 7).

**** (source: Project design manual - International Labour Organization, 2010, p17)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YokJY3GPjBo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BkAAK9pc2E


12 III. Project Management

Project Identification: Understand problems, causes and effects. Find out who is involved, in what way, and what their capacities are. Gather information and examine the context.

Preparation: Set aim and objectives of the project, decide on activities, develop a plan, budget and project pro-posal*.

Appraisal: It is an analytical assessment of the design to ensure that technical and design standards have been met and that the proposal is consistent with the NGO’s strategic plan. The appraisal is part of project quality control**.

Implementation: Implement the project activities.

Monitoring: Monitoring takes place throughout the project. It is an internal, participatory process and allows the NGO to see whether the outputs are being achieved and the resources efficiently and effectively used and to take corrective action when needed***.

Evaluation: Evaluation is generally conducted at the end of the project to see whether the planned results were achieved. Lessons learnt are underlined and could be documented so that they can be replicated or scaled up and integrated into future projects****.

Impact assessment: Analyse the long-term wider social change in relation to the project.

In addition to these phases, the authors of this publication would like to propose another two phases: DREAMING: Every project that is ever done starts with a dream of an individual. Once a person has an idea or a dream, the first step is to share it with a group of people. Decide with whom you wish to share your dream, invite them to a meeting and share your dream. This is a meeting where the collective intelligence of a group is libera-ted. Your individual dream needs to die in order to be reborn as the dream of the whole group. There is a different

Picture: Ignacio Salgado


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energy when you are working on your own project compared to when we are working on our project*****.

CELEBRATION: At the end of the whole project it is necessary to „celebrate” (in the sense of recognizing) each of the steps accomplished. Moreover, it is necessary to not only celebrate the successful steps, but also celebrate / recognize the steps that have not been satisfactory or might be improved. Each of the project’s phases entails a learning process for participants and managers, and this way it is used as a tool for the growth of the organiza-tion, the workgroup and all individuals involved in the project.

III. Project Management

During the training course(more information about the New communication and new techno-logy pathways for NGO! In Chapter 4) we have received the basics which gave us the essential groundings in the project management and since our coming back we are following the main ideas for developing a strategic plan for managing our NGO’s projects.


Sofia, Bułgaria The basic knowledge of project management has definitely impro-ved my working skills in terms of – now I’m more organized and i have realized how important it is to have people who understand the cause and have the enthusiasm to do the work. Togetherness and teamwork – that are the 2 most essential things I have learned during the training course.


My experience in Project Manage-ment: In my NGO we implemented a variety of projects. Budget less, or self-productions, or funded in co-ope-ration or in total by an Institution, a Foundation, the Municipality, E.U. etc. An example is our International Film Festival „Taratsa Film Festival”, held in Thessaloniki, co-financed by our NGO and the Municipality. Some steps: Getting the idea, finding and putting together the team. Budget projection.

Christos Papas KremmydasYouthnet Hellas

Saloniki, Grecja

* (Prince S., Squire C., Project Management Course Toolkit, Cyprus, 2007, p 7)** (Project design manual - International Labour Organization, 2010, p18)*** (Project design manual - International Labour Organization, 2010, p19)**** (Project design manual - International Labour Organization, 2010, p19)***** (Dragon Dreaming Project Design, 2013)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZyComW1_Q4


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PROJECT OVERVIEW

Chapter IV

New communication and new technology pathways for NGO! Project run by Wroclaw Youth Club and its Partners in 2014 year.


15 IV. Project overview

The project, called "New communication and new technology pathways for NGOs" is a response to the needs of today's non-governmental organizations that want to make their actions become more visible and organized with a great added value. The project involves 14 organizations from the following countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Italy. The project lasted for several months from June 18th, 2014 but the main activities was the training course for Youth Staff and Youth Leaders, which was held in Świeradów Zdrój between 2nd and 10th August 2014.With the knowledge of new technologies and project management skills the participating organizations and their participants are able to improve the quality of projects run by the organizations. Thanks to the latest tools used to communicate in an ultra-technological era, organizations can raise their publicity and theirs actions can be more visible in the society. Cooperation with the using a Public Relations tools in NGOs is very important. In this project the social objectives pursued as a starting point to determine the appropriate communication and public relations strategies were put in the first place.

During the training Wrocław Youth Club also wanted to equip organization with certain knowledge that will improve its work and have an impact on developing it’s members, so that they were able to find their future jobs more easily.

During this training the trainers team intended to develop a package of practices that help organizations in their daily activities from the Public Relations, the added value of the communication and project management. This project helped organizations to improve the efficiency of their activities related to the realization of social goals. During the training, there was also proposed how to introduce the position of Public Relations Manager in the organization and how to manage and motivate this person. The project's key was rising the quality of the project maintained by organization and improve their relationship with the society.

http://vimeo.com/105221559


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BELGIUM, GENT - SOF INGO

CROATIA, Zagreb – Slon

BULGARIA, SOFIA – ARABIS

GREECE, ATHENS - YOUTHNET HELLAS

IV. Project overview

SoF is an international Network Organization who develops the mind & talent in young people. Through developing the mind, youngsters are able to believe more in themselves and take responsibility for their own creation process and results in their life.

Slon (Elephant) was founded in order to promote mobility, the development of creativity and art, social inclusion, environment and entrepreneurship and nonformal learning.

Association ARABIS is a fully independent non-profit public benefit organization. Foun-ded in 2010 by young people graduated in MENA studies and Arabic language at Sofia University „St. Kliment Ohridski „ its main objectives are to intensify relations between the Bulgarian and Arab societies in all spheres of public life and to promote the active participation of young people in building active citizenship in a tolerant and democratic society.

Youthnet Hellas is a non-governmental and non-profit organization that aims to engage young people at local, national, European and international level through activities and interventions. Youthnet Hellas started as a Youth Network 15 years ago, evolved into a Confederation of Local Youth Councils countrywide, and eventually from 2009 onwards developed into its current form, that of a flexible and modern NGO with members from all over Greece.

www.sofingo.org

https://www.facebook.com/SoF.NewsPage

https://www.facebook.com/udrugaslon

www.en.arabis-bg.org

https://www.facebook.com/YouthnetHellas

www.youthnet.gr

https://www.facebook.com/YouthnetHellas

HUNGARY, Budapest – FDEFDE is an umbrella organization for student organizations in higher education in Hun-gary, operating in a non-profit and non-political working format. Through its member organizations, FDE is represented at almost every major higher education institution in Hungary, in the fields of engineering, economics, medicine, law and natural sciences.The goal of the organization is to support student organizations in their professio-nal activities, to increase the efficiency of their operations, to represent them and to develop the abilities of youth leaders and youth workers, their skills, and professional knowledge.

ExperienceOne of FDE’s main activities is providing regular training courses for NGO leaders and youth workers.

https://www.facebook.com/www.fde.hu

ITALY, Cinisi - Associazione Photofficine OnlusThe association describes itself as a social-educational service which aims to promote greater awareness of teenagers to the realities in which they live through the medium of visual communication. In particular, it gives ample space to knowledge of new technolo-gies and the different opportunities of expression and / or education related to them.

www.photofficine.it

https://www.facebook.com/photofficine


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LATVIA, Riga - Human People to People in Latvia

IV. Project overview

Human People to People in Latvia has worked with global education projects since 2006, with an increased focus on these activities in 2009 when it became a board member of the national development NGDO network (LAPAS) in Latvia. Humana People to People Latvia is implementing projects in different regions across Latvia. The main target groups are youngsters, teachers and pupils in schools. HPPL has developed educational projects in cooperation with NGOs from Caucasus.

https://www.facebook.com/HumanaPeopleToPeopleInLatvia

LITHUANIA, Kaunas - Ateitis

MACEDONIA - Youth Can

POLAND, Wrocław – Wrocław Youth Club

PORTUGAL, Algarve - Backup

Ateitis federation is the oldest youth organization in Lithuania. The main five principles, which is the core of activities in this NGO are as follows: Catholicism, intellectual gro-wth, family values, patriotism and social responsibility. This NGO is active in the public life as well as in high schools, universities and parishes. Ateitis federation organizes the academies for teenagers, summer camps and other gatherings for pupils, various events for students and families

Youth Can is a non-governmental, non-profit and independent civil association which aims to empower young people to take active participation in the development of a democratic society trough active citizenship and social activism. The organization was founded by young people and for young people as to share the idea of the power of youth as catalysts in today’s society.

The Wrocław Youth Club Association was set up for young people operating in Wrocław and Lower Silesia. WYC is a group of people trully sensitive to current social problems. Our aim is to inspire youngsters in a sense of being an active European citizen. We focus on building solidarity and tolerance in nationality, gender or any other differences.

Backup is a non-governmental and non-profit youth association, born in Vila Real de Santo António, Portugal with a mission to promote personal empowerment and commu-nity development.

www.ateitis.it

https://www.facebook.com/Ateitininkija

http://www.youthcan.org.mk

http://www.facebook.com/WroclawYC

www.yourbackup.pt

https://www.facebook.com/portugalbackup

ROMANIA, Bucuresti – Young Initiative Association

The Young Initiative Association is a Romanian nongovernmental, non-profit organiza-tion that organizes and promotes projects in the fields of youth and education.

www.younginitiative.org

facebook.com/fb.young.initiative


18 IV. Project overview

SLOVAKIA, Bratyslavia - Mladiinfo Slovensko

SPAIN, Malaga – AIGU - Asociacion de Igualdad de Genero Universitaria

Mladiinfo Slovensko was established by former EVS volunteers in 2010. It is a non-profit organization promoting education and youth mobility. Mladiinfo supports students and young people with information about EU programmes, different scholarships, intern-ships, conferences and volunteering opportunities abroad but also in Slovakia.

Mladiinfo Slovensko was established by former EVS volunteers in 2010. It is a non-profit organization promoting education and youth mobility. Mladiinfo supports students and young people with information about EU programmes, different scholarships, intern-ships, conferences and volunteering opportunities abroad but also in Slovakia.

http://www.mladiinfo.sk/en/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mladiinfo-Slovensko/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Asociación-de-Igualdad-de-Género-Universitaria-AIGU/


19

WORKSHOPS – SOCIAL MEDIA, THREATS OR OPPORTUNITIES?

Chapter V


20 V. Workshops – Social Media, threats or opportunities?

During the Training Course one day was dedicated to the WEB 2.0 solutions including Social Media. The trainer, Marek Kozioł, conducted trainings around Social Media and Communication subject. Just after the breakfast,the introduction part took place. Marek showed to participants how we can use Social Media tools in NGOs, explaine what is the importance of its proper use and what is the role of the Social Media in marketing. An important part from the introduction was the consideration about advantages and disadvantages of social media usage.

Just after the introduction part, which took place in the conference room, participants, trainers and staff went outside for a short trip. The goal of the trip was to continue the workshop, which was presented by Marek next to Stóg Izerski Mountain not far away from the hotel.

To conduct the training properlyit was necessary to divide the participants into groups. Not to let them choose the group themselves, trainers used the energizer game called “Popcorn”. People had to stay very close to each other, in a “huge hug” which looked like corn grains. All of them were supposed to start bouncing slowly, and few second later they jumped from the group like popcorn in a pot. When each of the participants was standing alone, the trainer asked them to create four groups out of people standing the closest.

Members of the random groups:

Group 1 Ivan (HR), Daniel (HR), Nikola (SK), Benedek (HU), Sarlota (HU), Natalia (PL), Jurek (PL), Mihai-Adrian (RO)

Group 2 Maria (MK), Laura (RO), Adriana (PT), Rocio (ES), Mara (LV), Eva (SK)

Group 3 Jarah (BE), Akvile (LT), Todor (BG), Carmelo (IT), Patricia (ES), Angeliki (GR)

Group 4 Francesco (IT), Kristina (MK), Christos (GR), Anita (BG), Annaleen (BE), Karolina (LT), Jorge (PT).

General task explanation: each group had to prepare a short scene (3-minute long), but what was very important – in complete silence – nonverbal signs (gestures, body language, etc.). The subject of the scene was: “Social Media- threat or opportunity?” The time for preparation was 30 minutes.All groups dealt with the task very well.

The idea of the first group was to prepare few short scenes. In the beginning, they presented the benefits of So-cial Media. Sarlota (HU) played the role of “Social Media”. Through it, the people created a network of contacts and knowledge, learned about Ivan’s life (HR) and his work of which they previously had not known and learned about the event during which they could play together. As you can see, the group focused on the relationships between people. As the threat of Social Media, members of the group presented the case on how easily you can get all the data about the users. They also noted that users of Social Media feel unpunished and offend others. The second Group also drew attention to the aspect of interpersonal relations. The Group noted that while So-cial Media helps to maintain contacts with friends from different countries hundreds of kilometers apart.The third group glanced at Social Media with other parties. As the first scene they presented how easy is to impersonate someone. Jarah (BE) and Akvile (LT) talked and agreed to meet. But it was Todor who arrived at the meeting and (BG)claimed to be Akvile. As the opportunities of Social Media the group pointed gainful activity. Carmelo (IT) needed money, so he published the information about his store in Social Media, and everyone that saw his post, came and bought his products.

Another approach was presented by the last group, which showed to other participants of the training a rebus associated with positive and negative aspects of social media by means of drawings.During a summary all participants of the training agreed that Social Media carry both huge opportunities and threats as well. The most important thing is that we should be aware of users and the sense of the use of all of the tools offered by social networking sites. Participants also pointed out very positive impact of the environ-ment on the course of workshops. They said that working outside in the fresh air adds energy and positive effect on their well-being.

Katarzyna Żmudzińska

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCtvciQK168


21

PROJECT GROUPS FROM THE WORKSHOPS

Chapter VI


22 VI. Project group from the Workshops

1. ART+ KIDS

Aim: The aim of the project is to provide young people with equal opportunities ofpersonal development.

Objectives: Developing understanding and tolerance of cultural differences.

Target group: Young people (age: 10-18)

Main activities:Local: • Music workshops – teaching young people how to play musical instruments (at local schools, 2 times a

week)• Art workshops – teaching young people how to be creative in all art forms and how to express themselves

through art. (at local schools, 2 times a week)• Homework help – helping young people who have learning difficulties with their homework (everyday)• Music concerts – showing the local community and the project shareholders the progress of their work.

(2 times a year)• Art exhibitions - showing the local community and the project shareholders the progress of their work.

(4 times a year)

Summer Camp (2 weeks):• Intercultural music workshop – helping young people from different cultures to gain cultural knowledge

through music. (daily)• Intercultural art workshop – teaching young people how to be creative in all forms of art, how to express

themselves through art and how to present their specific cultural characteristics through art.• Sports activities – developing young people’s sense of team spirit and cultural unification through sports.

(everyday)

Used Tools:• Marketing insight gave us opportunity to get to know our target group and make specified activities which

make them more interested in our project.• Press release - creating relations with media reporters, allows wider discussion and questioning from the

reporters to take place, opportunity to present our product and give the serious image of the NGO.• Social media allows us to establish instant communication and interpersonal relations with the public. The

fastest way to give out more entertainment materials.• Flyers - presence on the streets/schools, direct target group reach (parents, etc.)• Video - presence on the web, easily and permanently accessible to stakeholders, trend tactic, adding creati-

ve value to our organization, clear picturing of our activities• Blog - our Internet home-base, all the information are there, easily and permanently accessible to stakehol-

ders, can create online community and generate discussion, multiple tooled (script, pictures, videos, online forum, e-mail, social media, events) it is our main connector (from there you can see, read and reach all of our tools)

Culture ExchangeOutputs Activities Sub-Activities

Gaining Cultural Knowledge 1.1 Polish day1.2 Portugal day1.3 Romanian day1.4 …1.5 …

1.1.1 Cooking class1.1.2 Presentation of Poland1.1.3 Presentation of handmade stuff

Developing a sense of cultural understanding through Art.

2.1 Polish day2.2 Portugal day2.3 Romanian day2.4 …2.5 …

2.1.1 Music lessons2.1.2 Art/Painting workshops2.1.3 Dance2.1.4 Traditional handmade workshops

Acquire sense of team spirit through sports 3.1 Sport activities 3.1.1 Mixed sports activities from every country



SWOT analysisStrengths

• free lessons• many levels (you can start at any level)• international experience• diversity of programs• practical knowledge• cultural activities and diversity

Weaknesses

• depend on the external capital (we are non-profit)

• limited to a certain age range

Opportunities

• become a meeting point• everyone can be a teacher• sponsorship• big marketing campaign• get partners• community development

Treats

• no participants• we won’t find partners• competition• people may think that it’s for poor people Project Team

Adriana HerakovaAdrian HarabagiuAnita IvanovaCarmelo Galfo

Christos Papas-KremmyoasIvan CosicJerzy MędrekKristina Ilevska

2. ECO-NECKED

Aim: Raise awareness to environmental problems

Objectives:Have Fun, save the planet! It doesn't have to be boring to do something good.• Education• Fun and convenience• Motivation and inspiration• Stimulate creativity

Target group• Youth between 12-30.• Youth movements, Clubs, Organizations, Schools

Main Activities

Training• Designing the website, education, networking

Local Events• Everybody conducts the project in their own country• Put material from every events (photos videos ...) on the website• Contest for the projects from each country, an award for the most frequently voted community to keep them

motivated• Exchange the projects between different countries, so that the local events can be adapted to the different

communities



Project Team: Akvile VainiuteEva Duriacova

Jarah van acoleyen and Anneleen LagaeKarolina Sadauskaite

Marija Dimulkova Suri Benedek

Evaluation• Training• Every day, in the evening with the participants• Website and general projects monthly through skype• We collect

• Number of participants• Number of visitors• Feedback of the participants• Feedback of partners• Visibility in the media• Number of projects• Google analytics measurements

Celebration: Big international event, once a year. (for example a festival)

Used tools• Problem Tree

• You can analyze the problem in a better and more complete way and start focusing on the solution more easily.

• We had our problems in an organized and differentiated way so we could directly convert them into solu-tions.

• SWOT• To analyze Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats• We had a more complete view about what strengths and opportunities we could use to reach the content.• Logical Framework

• Specify indicators and sources to make assumptions• It didn’t work for us because our project wasn’t specific enough.

• Storytelling• We used storytelling in our videos about eco awareness which we linked to social media (fb, Youtube).• We could reach more people and the message was more attractive.

3. RISING SMILES FROM PPTX

AIM - Even in modern societies, inequality and unfair treatment of minority groups is still the problem. We aim at creating a more inclusive society that respects and safeguards the dignity and basic human rights of every individual.

OBJECTIVES• Reforms aimed at the creation of a more efficient system of education• Promoting the change in attitudes of society towards minority groups• Encouraging involvement of young people • Lobbying for pro-active state policies



Team: Patricia Cervello, Mára Gudakovska, Laura Manache, Todor Kiriakov

TARGET GROUP & MAIN ACTIVITIES• …Disabled people, immigrants and minorities

• Job seeking help• Lobbying for policy reforms • Language courses • Sport events • High school students, youth• Teacher trainings

• Awareness campaigns

TOOLS USED• Breakdown Matrix

• The ultimate objective is to extract who is responsible for each specific activity. To do that, we split the outputs in activities and the activities in sub-activities.

• It facilitates to organize the different activities.• Stakeholders analysis

• Determine target groups and third parties related to the project• SWOT Analysis

• To get the clearer view of our opportunities, threats, strengths and weaknesses• We used it to identify potential problems and to clarify the possible outcome

• Storytelling • Using personal stories to raise awareness of the issue we are dealing with.• To reach the target audience in a more personal way.

Communication mix • Social Media (wide outreach, boosting engagement):

• Blog: ¨Smilers¨, with personal stories• Facebook: promoting the blog, celebrity endorsement• Youtube: event videos, video blog

• Radio slot (local outreach): An advertisement for a charitable sports event

Press conference• Informing the audience about our plan to expand our activities at international level• Gained popularity, established contacts with the media, provided information about the project to wider

audience


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4. CATCH THE CULTURE FESTIVAL

VI. Project group from the Workshops

Title: “Catch the Culture” Festival

Aim: to organize a festival that gives the opportunity to the entire family to have fun and express themselves

Objectives: • Entertainment for the entire family• Emphasize the cultural education• Cultural understanding & information• Empowerment of women• Promotion of equality• Raising environmental awareness• Cleaning the environment and making it more beautiful• Engagement of local people in Culture

Target group: the entire family (more specific group ages: 10-30 (children) 30- 50 (parents) & 50 – 70 (grandparents)

Main activities: • 3 days of team organizing and teambuilding• 1day of graffiti creations accompanied by music concerts• 1day of motivational (short) speeches of women leaders, traditions and innovation story sharing• 1day of gardening and cleaning the environment• 1day of Workshops, Global Village & Cultural package creation



Used tools

SWOT analysis – used to identify all the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the festival – al-lows us to recognize the characteristics and have a clearer strategy building in advance (slide 4)

Monitoring & Evaluation – Key Performance Indicators of the whole project, how we will measure the success of the festival – being able in every step of the project to identify the sectors where we need to put more effort and re-evaluate the project (slide 5)

• Number of participants• Number of NGO participating• Number of activities• Number of graffiti’s• Number of gardens created• Number of areas cleaned• % of satisfaction with activities (through surveys-evaluations / mobile application• Social media usage (hash tags on Twitter)

Poster / Advertisement – A4 paper with all the different activities, images of how graffiti & gardening events will look like – reaches the target audience in a more massive level, catch the attention an doesn’t have to be only printed it can be integrated in another page or to be posted on social media (slide 6)

SWOT analysisStrengths Weaknesses

• different experience• networking• brand new idea

• lack of human resources• different approaches to work• communication problems

Opportunities Treats

• connect different NGOs from different fields and different countries

• virtual communication• EU funding’s• flexibility of location

• lack of money• there is already a lot of festivals• burocracy



Website + Blog – images of the events, program of the festival, details on the events, contacts, newsletter sub-scription – online promotion of the event, easier way to reach more people in short time. (slide 7)

Promotional video – scenario of a video promotion with 6 scenes in total and approximately 1:30 minutes la-sting – eye catching storytelling method for promoting the wide range of activities of the festival

1 scene: A teenager boy drawing graffiti on the street and feeling anxious, because what he does is illegal, won-dering about the place where he could do it freely. Then go home.

2 scene: Grandparents doing gardening in the garden and wondering about sharing their gardening experience with their friends. Then go home.

3 scene: The mother watching the speech of Michelle Obama. Wondering about how strong the woman is. Then switch off and go to lunch.

4 scene: The father arriving home, talking on the phone about business ”I can not work with them because I don’t know everything about their culture”. Then go to lunch.

5 scene: a 12-year old little girl playing in her room. Making traditional puppets. Then go to lunch.

6 scene: The family arrives to have lunch togetherThey talk about how popular are different festivals nowadays. Wondering about festival where all of them could meet their needs, hobbies.

7 scene: picture, date, location and appears!

Team: Angeliki Kosta

Francesco ChiofaloJorge MachadoNikola Repiska

Rocio Galvez SerranoSaci Csonka


29

GENERAL FEEDBACK ABOUT THE PROJECT FROM PARTICIPANTS

Chapter VII


30 VII. General feedback about the project from Participants

The experience from the training was wonderful especially because of the connections and energy that we sha-red with the other participants; there was a strong synergy in the whole group. I’m glad that I was a part of the whole experience and I miss it very much, especially Poland - a beautiful country.One of the lessons that I have learned and have tried to practice is active involvement and taking initiatives in the communication process, I started asking questions about the things I didn't know in order to learn and not just waiting the others to delegate activities.Another thing that I have learned from the training and tried never to forget is: no matter what I do, I always keep in mind my value as a human being, and this has helped me to respect more the others as well. I have also learned to be braver and not withdrawn whenever I come across a "sharp stone".Young people who want to become members of our NGO always value the personal experience, especially if it is connected with experience from trainings like this, so telling my story as a member of Youth Can motivates others to involve and become members as well.

Boundless in Poland*

The world creates chances, opportunities. Sometimes, the thing is to grab them without much thinking. Just let them come to you.

Those are the best.

It’s been two days since I’m back from an international training in Poland. We would learn about ‘Marketing and Communication Strategies for NGO’s’. It might as well have been about ‘nucleair microwaves in an underwa-ter drilling station’. But look, it appeared to be new, interesting and useful. In many ways, it was an answer to questions I had only vaguely asked, as well for the blog, SoF INGO, Sit-In (my proper NGO) and any other project that is about to happen. Be prepared, y’all!

Marija DimulkovaCivil Society Organization Youth Can

Skpoje, Macedonia

(source: http://wanderingwithyouni.wordpress.com/2014/08/13/boundless-in-poland/ )

https://wanderingwithyouni.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/d4-6.jpg



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In between, we have engrossed in Project management and every team has worked a thriving project. I hope to show you all everything about ‘Eco-Nected – Have Fun and Save the Planet‘, because it doesn’t have to be boring to do something good.Maybe there is the most to say about those teams. Under the skilled and committed leadership from the trainers and facilitation team all 28 of us were able to give the best we had. But you must do it, so many people, cultu-res, angles, expectations and challenges. So little time. Only few times in life, you end up in a team in which everyone lifts the spirit to a higher lever. The team in which you make each other stronger, wiser and richer.in the team in which you share insights, emotions and stories. A group of people who face the challenges about working together with enthusiasm.

VII. General feedback about the project from Participants



32

Also a group of people in which the humor comes as easily as the focus. One who celebrates life every evening and most of the nights, but in the morning, everybody was ready (well, more or less ;) ). Really, that doesn’t always happen. In no time, a universal European language could grow. Though, I have to admit, this extract is one of the last few days :) As someone said so beautifully: ‘it’s about opening yourself up and then noticing that by doing so, you invite the other to do the same’. How many times I was touched by stories about working conditions in different countries, life stories and dreams. I didn’t keep the beat, but there is still energy running thro-ugh me, so I guess it will be constant.





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When you unite youngsters from 14 countries to spend their spare time on training, education and exchange, that’s a risk. Or an investment in possibilities. These people have proven how unique and special each and every one of us might be, no matter what background or culture- we are so much alike. This time I was part of a group of youngsters who don’t want to produce, but to create. Who don’t want to know, but to understand. People who share the urge for change, improvement, creativity and meaningfulness, in every unique dream and goal. The youth of today, no matter in which country, can not wait to accomplish things.To my Friends-From-Everywhere: thank you so much for this expe-rience and for the first blogpost in English. Feel free to give you suggestions, comments and concerns. I cannot wait until we realize some of the projects. And remember, you’ll always have a place to stay in Belgium!

Look, this is what makes me happy.

Anneleen LagaeSpirit of Freedom INGO

Gent, Belgium



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Marek KoziołProfessional Marketing and Business Development Manager regular contracted by the biggest New Technologies distribution companies in CEE (central Eastern Europe Region). Heavy experience in trainings: from 2009-2014 a head of Poland wide training project team of 8 trainers (1 000 big trainings facilitated yearly). Over 14years of experience in non-formal education and NGO sector. Trainer, facilitator and coordinator of over 26 different European level. Currently - the president and founder of Wrocław Youth Club.

Ruta KronbergaProject manager and leader of NGO „Humana People to People in Latvia” that is Latvian branch of international organization. Ruta has 5 years expe-rience leading NGO and developing local and international projects in fields of global education, youth work, project management. Lecturer in Universi-ty of Latvia, Faculty of Pedagogy, Psychology and Art, specifically focusing in global education field and sustainability. Board member of „Latvian Plat-form for Development Cooperation”, coordinating Global education working group that consist of Latvian NGOs active in global education field.

[email protected]

[email protected]

About Authors and trainers

Stowarzyszenie Wrocław Youth Clubul. Pretficza 53/19, 53-407 Wrocław, Polska

[email protected]

This project has been founded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Beneficjent

w związku z realizowanym Projektem, podczas wszelkiego rodzaju komunikowania się na zewnątrz oraz w przypadku każdego rodzaju publikacji rozpowszechnianych z użyciem wszelkiego rodzaju środków medialnych, zaznaczy, że w przekaz odzwierciedla wyłącznie pogląd autora w sprawach tam omawianych i że NA oraz KE nie będą odpowiedzialne za wykorzystanie tych informacji

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