23 March 2012 Zagreb, Croatia [Darko Kovacevic, tedNEWS] A hundred fifty participants gathered on 17-18 March 2012 in Zagreb, Croatia for the media conference organised by the Adriatic Union of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The main purpose of the meeting was to explore the possibilities in social media, photography, writings and video production. All the participants at the media conference agreed that media has a power and has already made an impact on the society which creates the values that people follow. Therefore we as a church need to be there and share the ancient values found in the Bible using this medium.
The main speaker of the conference was Dr Miroslav Pujic, Communication & Media Ministries Director of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Trans-European region, based in St. Albans, United Kingdom. He was talking about the power of social media and the paradigm shift that took place in our society, as the result of the internet influence. “Internet is the primary medium of the postmodern generation. There is a lot of information there and if we are no there, somebody else will be’, says Dr Pujic and concluded “therefore, our duty is to be there and share the story of what God has done for us, including the Biblical values which are very relevant in this time of confusion.”
Internet Ministry initiative, known as LIFEconnect, was explained to the audience by Dr Pujic and Mirjana Kicusic, experts in Social Media Development and Marketing. All delegates were invited to join the initiative and become digital missionaries (DMs) that is now available in seventeen languages (www.lifeconnect.info).
The participants also had the opportunity to listen to other presenters such as Mr Robert Zuber, a TV journalist from Croatia, who was explaining how to write news and articles for church publications; Toni Hnojcik, eminent photographer in Croatia who explored the topic of ‘The Power of Image’ (photography); the aspects of public and media relations that would help church to foster the positive image in the society done by Kristina Laco, the leading PR expert in Croatia. Dr Drago Cmuk, the expert in the area of new technology and social media social media, was talking about the mind-set of ‘digital aborigines’.
Dragana and Frederic Duval, tedMEDIA filmmakers taught the participants about producing short, attractive video clips for internet ministry. Their expertise and professionalism was highly appreciated by the participants.
“Today, more than ever, the Seventh-day Adventist church in Croatia and Slovenia wants to pursue the strong usage of media in the mission of the church” says Branko Bistrovic, President of the Adriatic Union, which Croatia and Slovenia are part of, and he continues: “Our purpose is to integrate photography, video, audio, music, graphic design and other creative forms of digital technology into the efforts of the Church and to live out our Vision and Mission.”
For more information about the work of the church in Croatia and Slovenia, please visit the website: www.adventisti.hr [tedNEWS]
tedNEWS Staff: Miroslav Pujic, director; Deana Stojkovic, editor
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