This week the Promarket conference and exhibition took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The conference ran for three days between the 17th. and 19th. of February. On the second day, the Direct Marketing Conference titled “C2C Marketing” organized jointly by Dimacenter and the Slovenian Direct Marketing Association, were attended by around 100 Slovenian direct and interactive marketers.The conference and exhibition was very well organized and I had the impression that the attendees were quite happy to attend. It is difficult to judge how my presentation (about marketing through social networks) was received, however most people stayed to the bitter end :-). No, I was invited back, so I can’t have been all that bad.

Cool networking party with Slovenian wine, entertainment and great people

On the evening of the 18th. I attended a surprisingly interesting networking event, which included a Slovenian singer, a belly-dancer, a snake and a Slovenian TV-and radio host. The networking event was attended by quite a few interesting people, including the owners of U 3 Nek who claim to have developed the best chocolate in the world. Locally developed and produced, they focus on the Slovenian market first, and - I guess - will later take on the Belgian and Dutch chocolate giants. I hope to get a chance to taste it some day.

Slovenia: Direct Marketing Conference and Exhibition

Bostjan Zrimsek - who owns Dimacenter with his wife - shared some interesting cases from the local direct marketing scene over a delicious dinner he and his wife hosted for Chris and I. The dinner involved a tart (cake) with 7 layers one of which apparently included opium. Not my favorite cake, but indeed interesting to have tasted this Slovenian specialyt. The veal, though, was quite excellent as was the wine that went along with it.

Spokesmodel sold out in 4 minutes
During a smoking break, the Lucija Gubensek told Chris Catchpole and I that she previously worked as a spokesmodel for skincare infomercials in the US. Once, she told us, she sold out all products within 4 minutes after saying something to the tune of “as a European….”. Interesting.

Going to the airport on my way to Prague, the driver stopped so that I could film the mountains. I got a quick glimpse of the Julian Alps and the Karawanken Mountain range. The video is above (click photo).

If you haven’t been to Slovenia, you need to. It is indeed a beautifuld country. I experienced friendliness everywhere and a seemingly high level of English fluency making it ease to connect and communicate with all sorts of interesting people.

UPDATE:
In May Dimacenter is organizing a new event. Email marketing is the topic, and I will be back there to speak, teach and experience. Can’t wait to experience Slovenia in late spring.