-the upcoming event that will make people Inspire,Explore, Develop!

As a part of Event Management course of AD&PR Lab, we- the students, were asked to organize a worldwide tech- themed event and build it from scratch. So, our goal was to create the appropriate content that would attract a lot of people, find the right sponsors and partners, create a marketing plan and in the end…deal with the crisis of COVID-19.

Having these in our mind, we started planning our event named “TechNorama”.

A few words about the upcoming event:

“TechNorama” conference will take place October 22–24th 2021 and it is meant to be one of the most important annual conferences on Technology worldwide that will bring 3 days full of content and inspiration targeting the tech enthusiasts.

We attempt to organize a huge technological event aspiring to connect people with the newest accomplishments of technology in a diverse range of fields and offer to everyone an intense feeling of a new tech — world. Held in Metropolitan Expo center (Eleftherios Venizelos Airport, Spata) it’s the global gathering place for all those involved in consumer technologies and the next generation of innovations.

Where our strategy is based on…

Taking into consideration the Greek improvement in technological achievements and innovations, we consider that a technological conference placed in Athens, will offer a great experience to visitors, combining famous innovations and successful speakers. Even more, the conference will be the first of its kind, because visitors will have the chance to experience workshops and activities, driving them in the ancient Greek civilization by using high technological equipment. For instance, visiting the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete, which has been called Europe’s oldest city, only by using high quality equipment, could easily be characterized as one of the most unique experience in a conference.

In addition, event’s name “TechNorama” represents the congress including the main idea and the content in one word- while, part of our goal is to create a congress with a global interest and presence in a Greek way. We strongly believe that we achieve to transfuse the Greek identity in the congress early through its name, since we combine the word “technology”, which is the key note, with the Greek word “Orama”, which basically means the upcoming goals and dreams someone’s having and finally augurs the innovation.

Within the strategic organization of the event, comes the choice of the date (October 22–24th 2021). The certain season is towards the end of the year, providing the opportunity for the exploitation of new ideas that will be materialized the upcoming year. Temperature is also a factor, October is a month with good weather conditions, avoiding that way extremely high or low temperatures that can create a huge amount of discomfort for event attendees. Moreover, our planned date doesn’t conflict with any major national or local holidays or observances. There aren’t any other major events happening in the same location at the same time.

A varied content:

“TechNorama” is mainly based on huge technological companies that lead in global technology. Specifically, there will be multiple kiosks by technological brands from all over the world exhibiting the latest technological devices and services. Also there will be given speeches for the newest and most interesting technological issues so that the public can be informed and gain an unforgettable experience by the experts of technology. Moreover we empower interaction through different workshops. This conference of techies doesn’t just serve to educate on emerging technology through its big exhibition of top brands’ achievements, but also features a start-up expo, workshops and interactive tech- themed activities.

Some of the most inspirational speakers:

We decided to invite a llot of aforementioned people to share give speech to the event, as they are acclaimed on technological researches and they are broadly known for their argumentative abilities. The chosen speakers are the most recognized experts as regards technology and they have proved it on uncountable occasions in the past. In the picture below you can see only some of them.

About the activities:

We believe in the power of interaction and every area of Metropolitan Expo will become guests’ fun area! Within the exhibition venue and kiosks, 13 simulation activities are provided by our big sponsors and partners: Dolby, Mercedes Benz, ABB, Cannon inc, I-Fly indoor, Google, HP, Electronic Arts, Apple, Spotify, Supercell, Softbank, Bosch, Microsoft, Tesla, ORamaVr. The interactive activities will last from 8 to 10 minutes, and people will have the chance to gain insights on plenty and different fields of the latest technological achievements, such as driving the newest model of Mercedes Benz and observing its high tech- features, or experiencing a 360o travel back to the ancient Greek civilization, with VR headsets.

About the workshops:

Guests are invited to attend training sessions located at various campus labs throughout venue. The sessions follow the seven core themes of the conference: Simulated Reality, Big Data, Innovation, MusicXTech, Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence, and Cyber Security. Workshops are an interesting procedure including speakers and tech executives during which visitors will have the chance to experience tree different types of workshops:

1. A NEW TOUCH. Computers (sponsored by Dell Technologies) will be installed in the area of the conference, offering visitors the chance to explore advanced Microsoft Office services, Google Apps. Adobe products and Cloud storage.
2. 2. CIRCLE MEETINGS. Meetings in a circle will be available for those who want to network and come in contact with tech experts in a more personal level. Sitting in a table and making interesting questions to professionals will offer a meaningful experience, as workshops like that are intended to foster communication among visitors and experts.
3. 3. CREATE POTENTIAL CAREERS .Stands with tablets (sponsored by Dell Technologies) will be there, giving visitors the chance to visit our website and create a personal account. After this procedure attendees can upload their bios which will be accessible to all partners, speakers and other users too.

Strategic partners and sponsors:

Collaborating with the right partner and having by your side the right sponsor can change the outcome of an event for the better — it can help attract new audiences, decrease costs, and boost brand authority. In a successful partnership and sponsorship, both parties have a benefit.

Some of the partners we decided to attract are:

· The Hellenic Police can ensure the overall safety during the worldwide event.

· Municipality of Athens will give us the approval for the event’s organization in the city. Moreover, the municipality will support the event while it will upload it on its website with the rest of the city events.

· IT department of Metsovio and National Kapodistrian University of Athens as partners they will participate in the congress through the students’ innovative technological exhibition.

· Cosmote Mobile Telecommunications S.A will equip the hall with high speed internet that will be accessible to the exhibitors and the participants of the event (guests will use the internet provided by Metropolitan Expo).

Moreover, in order for such an international conference to take place, it is necessary to approach sponsors who will support the implementation of the event in various ways. So we approached leading companies in the field of technology and more such as: Dell Technologies, Cosmote, Huawei, IBM, Samsung, Android, Google, Apple etc.

We formed 5 sponsorship packages depending on the money offered by each sponsor. Every sponsorship package includes separate and unique privileges for its category. It’s worth mentioning the specific name given to each package.

TechNorama goes digital

The creation of social media accounts, as well as a website, were considered to be necessary for organising and promoting TechNorama.

How we dealt with Covid-19…

At the end of our project we had to face and manage successfully a crisis called Coronavirus. The dramatic pandemic threatened our plans due to the huge health crisis that still spreads across the world. Our team had long — lasting meetings and discussions during which we were analyzing the consequences of the pandemic at “TechNorama”.

Cancelling or postponing the event was a significant dilemma, however taking into consideration the impacts of each option, cancellation seemed to be the most beneficial. Despite our huge effort to organize the event, we were forced to cancel all our plans but keeping in our mind the hope of organizing “TechNorama” again in the future. Dealing with Covid -19 is extremely difficult and needs a really diplomatic handling of the situation, in order to avoid any aggravation.

As detailed bellow, we created and followed carefully an action plan, trying to acclimate to the new circumstances caused by Covid-19. Our plan consisted of the following steps.

In the beginning we wrote a press release explaining the reasons why we cancelled our event and featuring the great importance of people’s health since we should avoid any risk. Afterwards, we wrote a letter to the guest speakers which would be sent via an email. We explained to them about our decision and the reasons they made it. Our main goal was to attribute a sense of trust to the speakers in order to make them accept a potential entrepreneurship in the future through our letter. Moreover we wrote an email for our sponsors informing them about the cancellation. Through our letter we would express our respect to them and we would thank them hoping to be our sponsors in the future. Furthermore, taking into consideration that partners were also an important part of our event, the contact with them would be one of our first priorities. We would inform them about the difficult situation that we faced expressing our appreciation for their willing to offer their services to “TechNorama”. Regarding to the participants, they would receive an apology email and a refund including the total amount of their ticket. Finally, the cancellation of the event would be published in all our social media channels ( Facebook , Instagram, Twitter & Linkedin ).

To sum up the organization of a huge technological event was an absolutely significant and interesting project since we gained a lot of experience and useful knowledge. We learned how to build a strategy which would accomplish our goal and how to actualize it. As a team we had an excellent communication and after a brainstorming we managed to emphasize in the creative concept which would differentiate our event. We are really thankful to our professor Betty Tsakarestou and our coach Athena Fradelou , as long as to Ad&PrLab in general, for this unique and creative project!

Betty Tsakarestou, Athena Fradelou

Eua Tsimpouka, Katerina Apostolaki, Mirella Sifri, Kelly Vlachou, Erieta Basdeki

TechNorama: was originally published in AD DISCOVERY — CREATIVITY Stories by ADandPRLAB on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Στα πλαίσια του εργαστηρίου «Ηγεσία και συναισθηματική νοημοσύνη» κληθήκαμε να διεκπεραιώσουμε ένα ομαδικό project με στόχο την στήριξη, την ενθάρρυνση και την ενδυνάμωση των πολιτών κατά την περίοδο της κρίσης του κορονοϊού. Ειδικότερα, το ζητούμενο αποτελούσε η δημιουργία και ύστερα η διάχυση περιεχομένου σχετιζόμενου με ικανότητες ηγεσίας και συναισθηματικής νοημοσύνης.

Αναφορικά με την θεματική του περιεχομένου, κατόπιν συζήτησης και ανταλλαγής απόψεων με τα μέλη της ομάδας μας, αποφασίσαμε να εστιάσουμε στους ηγέτες των επιχειρήσεων σχετικά με τον τρόπο διαχείρισης της κρίσης.

Η προσωρινή διακοπή λειτουργίας πολλών επιχειρήσεων σε συνδυασμό με την απαγόρευση κυκλοφορίας, επηρέασε δραματικά την οικονομία και κατά συνέπεια την ψυχολογία των πολιτών. Το γεγονός αυτό αποτέλεσε ισχυρό κίνητρο για την έρευνα της συγκεκριμένης περίπτωσης.

Επιθυμώντας να αναδείξουμε την αξία της συναισθηματικής νοημοσύνης, επιλέξαμε να εμβαθύνουμε στις τέσσερις, κατά τη γνώμη μας, πιο σημαντικές ικανότητες που πρέπει να διαθέτει ένας ηγέτης με σκοπό την αντιμετώπιση περιόδων κρίσης. Συγκεκριμένα, πρόκειται για τον αυτοέλεγχο, την αισιοδοξία, την ενσυναίσθηση και την προσαρμοστικότητα.

Με βάση τα παραπάνω, αποφασίσαμε να προσεγγίσουμε το θέμα μέσω της δημιουργίας ενός ντοκιμαντέρ, το οποίο θα περιελάμβανε προσωπικές μαρτυρίες ηγετών, αναφορικά με τον τρόπο διαχείρισης της επιχείρησης τους, στα πλαίσια του κορονοϊού. Ο δημιουργικός τρόπος μετάδοσης σημαντικών μηνυμάτων θεωρήσαμε πως θα προσέλκυε το ενδιαφέρον των πολιτών, με απώτερο σκοπό την στήριξη και την κινητοποίηση ανάπτυξης των αντίστοιχων ικανοτήτων συναισθηματικής νοημοσύνης.

Για την επίτευξη ενός αποτελεσματικού project, σε πρώτο στάδιο, πραγματοποιήθηκε έρευνα και συλλογή χρήσιμων πληροφοριών για την καλύτερη κατανόηση της κατάστασης. Συγκεκριμένα, μελετήσαμε την χρονική πορεία εξάπλωσης του ιού σε εξωτερικό και Ελλάδα, τις συνέπειες του ιού στις επιχειρήσεις καθώς και τα μέτρα ενίσχυσης αυτών. Στη συνέχεια, στηριζόμενες στα παραπάνω στοιχεία, καταγράψαμε πολλαπλές ερωτήσεις οι οποίες θα χρησιμοποιούνταν στο επόμενο στάδιο της συνέντευξης. Ως συνεντευξιαζόμενοι, επιλέχθηκαν οχτώ ηγετικά πρόσωπα διαφορετικού είδους επιχειρήσεων (επιπλοποιίας, συρματουργίας, τηλεπικοινωνιών, τουριστικού καταλύματος, εμπορίου ρούχων, κέντρου κοινωνικών εκδηλώσεων) με σκοπό την απόδοση πολλαπλών μηνυμάτων, με ανταπόκριση σε ένα μεγάλο εύρος εργασίας.

Μέσω αυτής της ερασιτεχνικής προσέγγισης ντοκιμαντέρ, αναδεικνύεται αρχικά, η προσπάθεια και πολλές από τις κινήσεις που έκαναν και συνεχίζουν να κάνουν οι ιδιοκτήτες επιχειρήσεων καθώς αυτοί επιδιώκουν την βιωσιμότητα έχοντας απέναντί τους τον αόρατο εχθρό…την πανδημία. Περιγράφονται από τους ίδιους, συναισθήματα, πρώτες σκέψεις, και προβληματισμοί για την ξαφνική επίθεση του Covid-19.

Μέσα από τα μάτια των συνεντευξιαζόμενων- ηγετών, βλέπουμε πόσο σημαντικά είναι να κατέχει ο κάθε ηγέτης τα εξής χαρακτηριστικά : αισιοδοξία, αυτοέλεγχο, προσαρμοστικότητα και ενσυναίσθηση. Εστιάζοντας λοιπόν σε αυτές τις αρετές, το μήνυμα που θέλουμε να περάσουμε είναι πως δεν αρκεί απλά κάποιος να διοικεί ή να κατέχει μία επιχείρηση και να λέγεται ηγέτης…Το να αποκτήσει κάποιος τον τίτλο αυτό προϋποθέτει πως διαθέτει κάποια χαρακτηριστικά που θα του επιτρέψουν να προσαρμοστεί ακόμα και στις πιο δύσκολες συνθήκες, να πιστέψει και να παλέψει για το καλύτερο, να είναι κύριος των συναισθήματα του, να κατανοήσει…να συναισθανθεί… Διότι μόνο έτσι θα μπορέσει καταρχάς, να αποτελέσει το παράδειγμα προς μίμηση για τους υπόλοιπους εργαζομένους, και επιπλέον, να σώσει μια επιχείρηση ακόμα και σε συνθήκες –όπως είδαμε και βλέπουμε, κρίσης.

Με την δημιουργία του ντοκιμαντέρ, COVID-19 και ο αγώνας των επιχειρήσεων, στοχεύσαμε στο να περάσουμε ένα αισιόδοξο μήνυμα και να σταθούμε με τον δικό μας τρόπο πλάι σε όλους αυτούς τους επιχειρηματίες που αγωνίζονται προκειμένου να δώσουν ένα αίσιο τέλος σε αυτή την κρίση. Νιώσαμε την ανάγκη να κάνουμε μία έρευνα μέσα από την οποία δεν θα αναδεικνύονταν μόνο κάποιες από τις αρετές εκείνες του σωστού ηγέτη, αλλά θα δώσει επίσης ένα κίνητρο σε όλους εκείνους τους ιδιοκτήτες επιχειρήσεων να συνεχίσουν! Ένα αισιόδοξο μήνυμα μέσα από τα χείλη των ίδιων σε μία απαισιόδοξη περίοδο… Σε μία περίοδο που όπου και αν κοιτάξεις θα διαβάσεις αρνητικές προβλέψεις και θα δεις ειδήσεις που φέρνουν την καταστροφή, υπάρχουν άνθρωποι που προκειμένου να φέρουν τα καλύτερα, αισιοδοξούν, προσαρμόζονται και προχωρούν… Και είμαστε σίγουροι πως θα βγουν νικητές σε αυτόν τον αγώνα!

-COVID-19 και ο αγώνας των επιχειρήσεων-

#StandforBusiness

Eua Tsimpouka Mirella Sifri Kelly Vlachou Erieta Basdeki Katerina Apostolaki

Ο COVID-19 και ο αγώνας των επιχειρήσεων was originally published in Ηγεσία και Συναισθηματική Νοημοσύνη on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

As part of the «Leadership and Emotional Intelligence» workshop, we were asked to carry out a group projects aimed in supporting, encouraging and empowering citizens during the Covid-19 crisis.

In particular, our purpose was to create and then disseminate content related to leadership and emotional intelligence skills. After discussing and exchanging views with the members of our team, we decided to focus on businesses’ leaders and on how to manage the crisis.

The temporary cessation of operations of many companies in combination with the traffic ban, dramatically affected the economy and therefore the psychology of citizens. This fact has been a strong motivator for the investigation of this case. Wanting to highlight the value of emotional intelligence, we chose to exploit four of the most important skills, according to our opinion, that a leader must have in order to deal with times of crisis. Specifically, it is about self-control, optimism, empathy and adaptability.

Based on the above, we decided to approach the issue through the creation of a documentary, which would include personal testimonies of leaders, regarding the way of managing their business, in reference to covid 19.

We believe that by transmitting important messages creatively, would attract the interest of the citizens, with the ultimate goal of supporting and mobilizing the development of the respective abilities of emotional intelligence.

In order to achieve an effective project primarily, research and collection of useful information was carried out to better understand the situation. Specifically, we studied the timeline of the spread of the virus both abroad and in Greece, the consequences of the virus in businesses as well as the measures to strengthen them. Thereafter, based on the above data, werecorded multiple questions that will be used in the next stage of the interview.

As interviewees, eight leaders of different types of businesses (furniture, wirework,telecommunications, tourist accommodation, clothing trade, social events center) were selected to deliver multiple messages, responding to a wide range of work.

Through this amateur documentary approach, we present the effort and many of the moves made and that will continue to be made by business owners as they pursue their sustainability having across them an invisible enemy…. the pandemic. Emotions, first thoughts and concerns about the sudden onset of Covid-19 are described by them.

Through the eyes of the interviewers-leaders, we can see how important is for each leader to feature the following characteristics: optimism, self-control, adaptability and empathy.

Thereby, by focusing on these virtues, the message we wish to spread is that is not enough for someone to run or own a business and eventually call himself a leader. So, getting the title of leader, presupposes that someone has certain characteristics that will allow him to be adapted to even the most difficult conditions, to believe and fight for the best, to own his emotions, to understand, to empathize. Because, that is the only way he could be an example for the rest employees and save the business even in adverse circumstances, as we saw and keep seeing.

With the creation of the documentary, COVID-19 and the business race, we aimed to come across an optimistic message and stand with our own way alongside all these entrepreneurs, who are struggling in order to put a propitious end to this crisis. We felt right to make a research through which not only some of the virtues of the right leader would show up, but it would also give an incentive to all those business owners to continue!

An optimistic message through the owners’ lips in a pessimistic period…In a period which wherever you look, you will read negative predictions and watch hard news which all they do is to bring disaster, there are people who in order to bring the best, they hope, adapt and move forward… And we are sure they will be victorious in this race!

-COVID-19 and the struggle of businesses-

#StandforBusiness

Kelly Vlachou Eua Tsimpouka Erieta Basdeki Katerina Apostolaki Mirella Sifri

Covid -19 and the struggle of businesses was originally published in Leadership & Emotional Intelligence Lab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Yes, people love music- and yes!- people love discovering new voices, new song versions and new music opportunities!

So what we did, was to think and develop the idea of Music Arena, a music community platform where amateur singers can be discovered and have the chance to perform on stage at Arena’s Music annual Festival.

‘How did we come up to this idea?’ — ‘Which were the problems we wanted to solve?’

We had to analyze the trends and the gaps of the music industry today and check if this is a startup that could successfully come into life and bring sustainable results.

To begin with, none can deny the fact, that for an amateur artist, the entrance in the big music world is not so easy and the most of the times it needs not just talent but a little bit of luck too. Singing in front of big audience may sound like a dream for a lot of talented but amateur singers but –really, how many of them will ever manage to do it? This is where a lot of music talent shows have been based on, and also why the past few years, this kind of shows are becoming more and more famous to the audience. Music talent shows give singers the chance to raise popularity, spread their music around and in the meanwhile they offer pleasure to the music fans by letting them discover new voices and song versions. This trend is something that definitely inspired us and played a significant role in the creation of Music Arena’s startup.

Music Arena was not a result that occurred just when we recognized the already mentioned difficulties that the amateur artists cope with, but also when we noticed the absence of music platforms, where people can find an organized content that specializes just in amateur singers’ work. So, we decided to step on those problems and gaps and create a platform that would give a solution.

‘How does Music Arena work?’

After the subscription the singers can create their own profile uploading their audiovisual material. The music fans, -that means the people who want to discover new talents and hear to different music versions, they can navigate in the platform and interact with amateur singers’ work, as simple users without any paid subscription. And this is how a Music Community is being created. Finally, the singers who appeal the most to the audience will be able to perform on stage in Music Arena’s Festival that will take place once a year, every time in a different European capital city.

All in all, we strongly believe, that a concept like this, could easily change the problem of the recognition that a lot of new artists are struggling with by providing them the space to build their profile and spread their music around through the interaction with their fans. And in a second level, the artists who would be chosen to sing at the Music Arena’s Festival, could come in contact with music stakeholders who would may be interested in giving them a chance to access the big industry’s world.

Moreover Music Arena’s platform could upgrade the users’ music experience by offering a well-organized content online and giving them the ‘power of the vote’ for which artist they want to see on stage at Music Arena’s Festival.

And last but not least, who wouldn’t love to attend a music Festival that consists of talented but still not recognizable singers on stage?

Our team: Eua Tsimpouka Mirella Sifri Katerina Apostolaki Kelly Vlachou Erieta Basdeki

Betty Tsakarestou

Estella Group consists of 5 members who shared the same goal of upgrading people’s holiday experiences. Through extended research, we realized what was missing of Greek hotels and that was novelty. Taking into consideration that nowadays technology is an integral part of our life and that the universe has not been explored yet, we decided to combine both of them and to create a theme space hotel. Our Estella theme palace hotel aim to experience seekers providing high quality services and unique space-themed facilities.

Creating such a different hotel is not only an innovate attempt with a great potential efficiency, but also a chance of every guest to experience an accommodation based on a verge of facilities combined with a special type of entertainment. What’s the definition of ‘special’ for us? Let’s find it out! Different space themed rooms have been designed so as to offer the feeling of being in space. Simulations of space crafts, planets and stars into the rooms make the feeling even more realistic. Reception, restaurants, lobby or even spa rooms are based on that unique idea too.

Trying to bring our guests one step closer to the universe, we designed five spaced-themed amusement rooms. Each room includes huge monitors, visual reality masks, interactive white-boards, digital and sound effects, 4K, 3D even 4D TVs. For further information click here https://mirellasifri.wixsite.com/estellathemepalace.

Estella Theme Palace **** was originally published in Estella Theme Palace (story telling) on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.