Looking back at the 15th ICORIA in Ljubljana
Vesna Zabkar, conference chair, and her team organized a great ICORIA on the sunny side of the Alps in Ljubljana. The conference took place at the FELU in Ljubljana between June 30 and July 2.
More than 130 participants from 22 countries participated in 32 sessions over the three days of the conference. In line with the conference theme “Challenges in an age of (dis) engagement” the organizing team prepared engagement activities, including a big white Photo Frame and a Truth and Lies advertising bazaar.
The Doctoral colloquium was very well organized by Sara Rosengren: 20 participants listened to rich experiences from Edith Smit, Patrick de Pelsmacker and Jisu Huh. The participants in this colloquium were also involved in chairing conference sessions and did well. The conference started with an enlightened speech from Shintaro Okazaki, EAA president, and two key-note speakers that presented the advertising in Central and Eastern Europe through the time and at present: Jure Apih, an important and influential figure in Slovenian and regional advertising, and Davor Bruketa, creative director of a top advertising agency in the region, Bruketa & Žinić OM. The conference included a special session on content marketing and a ‘meet the editors’ session. Awards for the best conference paper and best student paper were handed to the winning authors by Charles R. Taylor, Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Advertising at the gala dinner on Friday evening, when Belgium was playing at the European soccer championship. The conference concluded with tours around Ljubljana, either exploring the river Ljubljanica or visiting the castle of the city. The organizers from the two schools of the University of Ljubljana would like to thank the authors who participated with their papers at the conference, Sophie, Claire and Verena for managing the reviewing process, the reviewers for their valuable contribution, the young session chairs for chairing, the EAA Executive Board, all the sponsors and the FELU. The organizing team hopes and believes that this ICORIA created some great memories in the Green Capital of Europe in 2016.
