Through these communication measures, MC will be highlighting the charm Turkey offers to its visitors. The campaign will focus on several aspects related to tourism, such as city breaks, family-oriented holidays and sports tourism. Moreover, it will convey the message that Turkey offers more framework programmes than any other partner of ITB, by also linking with the city of Berlin.

The initial press work prior to the International Tourism Bourse included the press conference which took place at the Pergamon Museum on the 24th February 2010, for which MEDIA CONSULTA had invited several journalists. During the press conference that launched the ITB, Ibrahim Yazar, Representative Director General for Information and Public Relations within the Ministry for Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey, presented the programme of events, which will include holiday competitions, culinary specialities, replicas of famous Turkish buildings as well as a bazaar with numerous shops.

Further information, pictures and press material related to Turkey's participation at the International Tourism Bourse is located at www.itb-türkei.de.

During the coming months MC will implement numerous events and press activities on behalf of CULTURESFRANCE, the agency responsible for the promotion of French culture internationally. MC will also provide its advertising and online services.

Thanks to its expertise on an international level, the MC network has been entrusted with the design, organisation and coordination of an integrated communication campaign for the ‘Year of France in Russia’ to promote the year’s events among the general public. The aim the ‘Year of France in Russia’ is to strengthen the positive image of France in Russia, and present France as an innovative, creative and diverse country.

“We are proud to organise the ‘Year of France in Russia’ despite being a German international agency”, explains Harald Zulauf, CEO of MC. “With 56 branches worldwide we are optimally equipped to accomplish international campaigns. It is also due to the experience of MC Moscow and our international team in Berlin that we could stand up to all the French competitors.”

In its integrated campaigns, MC uses an array of communications tools, namely PR, advertising, media cooperation, and event organisation. For the ‘Year of France in Russia’, MC will organise several press trips to Russia as well as press conferences and interviews with ambassadors, celebrities and politicians, write special articles and create material for the press. Besides, the agency network will design, produce and distribute advertising and informative material. MEDIA CONSULTA will collaborate with major business sponsors, Russian television and radio stations, news agencies, and print and online media to promote the initiative.

The ‘Year of France in Russia’ is part of France-Russia Year 2010, initiated by CULTURESFRANCE, with the ‘Year of Russia in France’ which is taking place simultaneously. These two series of events will strengthen mutual cultural and business ties.

Further information about the ‘Year of France in Russia’ may be acquired by visiting the official website of the France-Russia Year 2010 (www.france-russie2010.fr).

Fellows and business partners have the opportunity to participate in MC Academy workshops, too. In March, MC offers a seminar regarding “Strat-egies for web 2.0 in the communication business”. Besides this lecture, creative courses and a workshop about acquisition and bargaining are on the agenda.

Due to its global network, MC enables all staff members to work in other EU countries and obtain expertise abroad. In the scope of the MC Exchange Programme, they could gain industry knowledge and intercultural competencies overseas. Furthermore, MC continues to support the pro-gramme “Journalists International” of the Free University Berlin/Germany in 2010. The agency affords foreign awardees, journalists and advertisers insights into the workflow of the MC headquarters Berlin.

To find out more about the MC Academy, please visit: www.media-consulta.com/mc-academy-eu.html.

Dušan Milenkovic, student of the University of Applied Sciences Düsseldorf/Germany, designed the winning logo, which convinced 82,149 voters with his Euroleaf. This image shows the EU stars in the shape of a leaf against a green background – so nature and Europe are united symbolically.

The online voting ended on January 31st 2010; and the winner of the organic logo competition has been determined. At a press conference on February 8th 2010 in Brussels, Mariann Fischer Boel, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, presented the new EU Organic Logo officially. In July 2010, an award ceremony for the three finalists will take place. Next, MEDIA CONSULTA will organise an exhibition in Brussels where the advantages of the new logo for Europe’s organic farming will be shown. At the same time, the agency will start an advertising campaign to promote the logo across Europe. MC will present the Euroleaf at international tradeshows, produce promotional material in different languages and will initiate media cooperations in all 27 EU member states.

Since 2006, MEDIA CONSULTA has worked for the European Commission, Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development. In addition to the organisation of the organic logo competition, MC has designed an organic farming website and implemented an integrated communications campaign for the European Commission.

By means of the network meeting, MEDIA CONSULTA (MC) offers an opportunity for its clients from globally active companies and institutions to meet up annually with the managing directors and key account directors of all MC network agencies. They discussed international campaigns and how they are to be adapted on the national level. The two-day agency summit in Berlin served as a venue for discussions on impact, working practices and strategies for pan-European and international informational campaigns in all MC network countries, and how to harmonise them with one another. The meeting's agenda included topics like future development of the network, continued expansion abroad, MC's pan-European employee qualifications programme MC Academy and the significance of corporate responsibility for the network.

The schedule for February 10 also included an invitation by MC's CEO Harald Zulauf for agency heads and clients from business, politics and the media to join him for a European Evening in the Museum for Communication in Berlin. A round table discussion on "Where is Europe headed? The international role of the EU 20 years after the fall of the Iron Curtain" with Genscher and Dr Günther Nonnenmacher, the co-publisher of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, capped off the evening's events.

Worldwide, MC is the biggest German agency network with 56 network agencies and branch offices in all 27 EU member states and all key business centres throughout the world. With that, MC ranks number 12 of the top 50 international agency companies (Source: Advertising Age "World's Top 50 Agency Companies", April 2009).

With representatives across Eastern and Southern Europe, including Poland, Czech Republic, Rumania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Albania, Croatia, Serbia, Moldova, as well as in Russia and the Ukraine, MC practically covers the entire region. It ofers its services to a wide range of clients, including Gazprom, STIHL and Bausch & Lomb. Additionally, MC leads a large number of campaigns for institutional clients, such as the European Commission's initiative entitled "Window to Europe", for which MC produces a weekly 30-minute TV programme.

The Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations is the center of the German Economy for the Eastern European and Central Asian markets. It conducts a large number of projects, events and corporate trips. It comprises 130 companies and trade associations.

MC will develop the encompassing communication strategy and will organise the opening event of the SME Week. Moreover, the agency for integrated communications has been entrusted with the design, editing and production of posters, merchandising products and a brochure about successful entrepreneurship. MEDIA CONSULTA will also optimise the existing website and will produce several viral spots to raise awareness of the SME Week.

The European Entrepreneurship Video Awards are part of the SME Week. In the scope of this competition, employers and students are encouraged to submit videos that explore the subjects of responsible and innovative entrepreneurship. MC is responsible for the promotion of the awards on the internet, for the nomination of the jury and for the organisation of the awarding ceremony. The producers of the best videos will be awarded at the opening event of the SME Week.

In addition to the promotion of small and medium enterprises, the SME Week is meant to motivate potential entrepreneurs to work towards achieving their goals. Existing SMEs should be encouraged to further develop their business to maximise its full potential.

The events of the SME Week give existing and potential entrepreneurs the opportunity to develop new ideas together and to establish networks. In 2009, 1.200 events took place in 35 European countries. The SME Week is one of the measurements to implement the “Small Business Act” (SBA) of the EU, which also aims to strengthen SMEs.

The 2009 winner, Christopher Azzopardi, was enthusiastic about his success: “I am very honoured to receive the prize. The photo was the most challenging picture I have ever taken. I was wearing protective clothing when I took the photo of a beekeeper working in an apiary in Malta, but the bees still managed to sting me several times. Through this photo I wanted to show the importance of wearing protective clothing while working in a dangerous environment.”

The second and third prize were handed to Eric Despujols from France (“Welder”) and Rodrigo Cabrita from Portugal (“A hard and complicated life”).

The Europe-wide photo competition has captured the imagination of photography enthusiasts across the European Union, who submitted around 1,700 photos. With every new photograph an insight into the interpretations of safety and health among Europe’s citizens was gained. Jukka Takala, Director of EU-OSHA, emphasized the great success of the competition at the award ceremony in Bilbao: “The interest shown and creative talent on display has been very encouraging. I am very pleased to award the best and most original photos answering our question “What’s your image of safety and health at work?”. Humour, simplicity and innocence are often present, sometimes accompanied by a slight sense of tension or even provocation, as if to remind us of the everyday importance of healthier and safer workplaces.”

The photo competition was organised in the framework of the Agency’s Healthy Workplaces campaign on risk assessment. All photographers – professionals or amateurs – were invited to join the competition and submit their photographs between May 9th and August 15th 2009. An acclaimed international jury was in charge to select the best entries: Top photographers Mertxe Alarcón, Clemente Bernad, Miguel Ángel Gaüeca and Ambroise Tézenas were joined by Peter Rimmer, communication expert in occupational safety and health and formerly from the Health and Safety Executive UK.

For more information on the submitted photographs and the “What’s your image of safety and health at work?” competition, please visit www.osha-photocompetition.eu.

The activities in the Latin-American Mercosur states, to which Brasil belongs, too, are part of a strategy for advancing MC’s global presence. In addition to founding further network agencies, priority is given to gaining new clients such as APEX Brasil. The organisation of the WAIPA Conference is the first project MC has implemented for the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency; further campaigns are planned. Besides the meeting in Milan, the APEX has supported a second project in Europe: a press conference regarding the topic “Exotic fruit juices made in Brazil” during the food and beverage exhibition Anuga 2009 in Cologne/Germany together with Etélio Prado, President of the Association of Tropical Fruit-Processing Industries (ASTN).

A panel of judges in each of the 36 participating countries will select the respective national winner. Furthermore, an international jury will award three special prizes, one for the “Most original” submission, one for the “Best research” and another one for the “Best journalistic style.” Each of the three Special Prize winners will receive a cultural trip to a European capital of their choice.

Olli Rehn, Commissioner for Enlargement welcomed the European Young Journalist Award: “The third edition of the European Young Journalist Award continues to reward excellent journalism and gives the European Commission the opportunity to exchange ideas with Europe’s most promising young journalists about matters that are at the core of the EU Enlargement project.”

The winners of the European Young Journalist Award will visit Istanbul in May 2010 for a cultural and historical trip. Istanbul, one of Europe’s Capitals of Culture for 2010, provides an ideal location for the winners to enlarge their vision through cross-cultural interaction. The trip will end with a conference where views about European culture, identity and EU Enlargement will be exchanged with leading international analysts.

For information on how to enter the competition, please visit www.EUjournalist-award.eu.

Press contact:
Maurizio Picheca
European Commission/ DG Enlargement
Tel. +32 2 29 51929

Yasmin Love
MEDIA CONSULTA International Holding AG
Tel. +49 (0)30 65 000 – 361