A Look Back at 2011
From workshops and seminars to London comedy shows and charity corporate events. We take a quick look back at Libris 2011 before saying goodbye and welcoming 2012.
For me and Libris communications, it's been a year of contrasts. The last 12 months have given me my fair share of feeling the troubled times, but also it brought new ideas, new connections and projects and naturally, a string of new friends and colleagues along the way. Where do I start? Well, editorial services in terms of proofreading and copywriting have been on demand more and more as I began cooperation with additional translation agencies and publishers.
At the beginning of 2011, we took our teambuilding event (The Ultimate Pub Quiz) to the next level in cooperation with the five-star Regent Esplanade hotel in Zagreb, The event brought together 18 company teams who battled it out against each other in the Emerald ballroom in order to be victorious winners, taking away prizes and enjoying a teambuilding night out. The event, in its 3rd year then went on to feature at other corporate events in Zagreb, conferences in Slovenia and Dubrovnik and Christmas parties for corporate clients.
The Battle of the Esplanade - Libris... by peterhopwood
In April, we were very proud to be involved with the 1st Charity Ultimate Pub Quiz working together with the Red Noses Clowndoctors Croatia organisation bringing laughter to children during their time in hospital. The event attracted a host of teams who contributed to raising money for the organisation. Arcotel Vienna kindly donated the first prize - a weekend in the Austrian capital for the winning team. A great night of fun, adrenaline and competitiveness all for a worthy cause. We are currently planning another charity concept that will bring together companies in order to raise awareness and support the Red Noses Clowndoctors organisation.
During March 2011, after a long period of preparation, a new "matura" (state exam) handbook for those preparing for the English state exam was finally placed on the shelves at Profil bookstores around the country. Proudly, as part of a quartet of new authors, I contributed to writing practical tasks and also featured on the CDs lending my voice regarding the listening tasks. An interesting project to be involved with and of course a positive experience working with other authors and the publishing team.
This year I've been lucky enough to have been presenting my workshops and presentations to even more people than in 2010. Working as an independent presenter and equally for British Council Croatia, this always opens up further opportunities to travel around the country sharing ideas. This year I presented in various schools, institutions and open days including Zagreb, Osijek, Split and Zadar. I'm currently creating and developing new presentations and workshops to take on the road in early 2012 including some on behalf of the British Council Croatia. So, I'm looking forward to sharing thoughts, tips and ideas.
As I'm always on the look out for new projects and ideas to be involved with, at the beginning of the year I started cooperation with Udruga Urbani ured working together on an international project called "London Calling" - a comedy concept that brings a taste of "English" stand-up comedy acts from the London comedy scene to audiences throughout Croatia. Since the first show at Varaždin's national theatre which attracted a full crowd of just under 350, we've managed to host London Calling 4 times in the region including an outside treat in front of a crowd of 400 at Varaždin's most popular street festival "Špancirfest" at the end of August. We were also delighted to welcome Ćakovec during November as a further venue with a very strong public reaction at the end of November at the cultural centre.
So, four shows packed with great audiences in 2011, simply proves this form of live comedy entertainment from London is here to stay! The project continues to expand attracting strong audiences around Croatia namely, Zagreb, Osijek and Rijeka with the addition of a few shows on the Croatian coast during the summer months and a special mini-tour in Slovenia. To keep up-to-date with current shows, news and ways of getting your hands on free tickets, join the facebook group and keep posted to the London Calling website. The first tour of 2012 is scheduled for February which will be announced shortly.
Each year, during the summer months I return to the UK managing a summer centre for international students from around the globe. After running centres in London, Oxford and Cambridge, Frensham Heights is where I have been for the last fours summers. Once again, a successful year as I regularly host and organise groups and individuals from Croatia, as well as other parts of Europe. If you're thinking of how your teenage son or daughter can spend a summer with new experiences, new friends, boost their language communication skills during a fortnight that will change them in many positive ways, get in contact and we'll see how I can help you.
There we go! With 2012 just around the corner I'm sure we'll all be facing challenges and tough decisions, but equally there'll be lots of opportunity to connect more with one another and develop more ideas and projects. Already, here at Libris communications, I've got a few developing projects that I'm looking forward to pushing forward during the new year with a few tricks up my sleeve and there'll be no doubt, the unexpected along the way. Whatever happens in 2012, I hope you'll be able to make the right decisions through the year and manage to find solutions to deal with the wrong ones! Remember, you can join me on facebook, follow me on twitter or perhaps connect on Linkedin. Or just a good old-fashioned email!