In June, I was fortunate enough to represent Prohibition at the annual Worldcom Young Professionals meeting in Budapest alongside my colleague, Liv.
Worldcom is a global network of independent PR agencies, with over 2000 communications professionals spanning 39 countries, 105 cities and 6 continents. It provides clients looking to expand internationally with a trusted and peer-reviewed partner agency with local knowledge and connections to inspire direct action and deliver an immediate impact.
The meeting brought together fellow young professionals from some of our Worldcom partner agencies for a series of engaging workshops and insightful conversations about PR and communications.
Welcome Dinner
We were introduced to our hosts and partner agency colleagues, Andras R.Nagy and Zsofia Szabo, from PRBK in Budapest, along with representatives from other partner agencies at the Welcome Dinner. Young PR professionals had come from all over; Spain, Germany, Italy, Austria, Poland, France, the Netherlands and the USA!
We struck up really interesting conversations, hearing about the clients and projects our colleagues work on and discussing different countries and their media landscapes. It is really inspiring when a group of people, passionate and interested in such a similar field, come together and discuss their experiences. After the welcome dinner, we headed out to explore Budapest, get to know everyone and build on these conversations.
Day Two
Our schedule for Day Two was jam-packed. We were up early and had a lovely morning commute across the city to the Corvinus University, where we had an exciting day ahead of talks, workshops and interactive sessions.
The Chairman of the Hungarian PR Association, Andras Sztanislav, started the day with a presentation on the state of the Hungarian media and communications industry, with a particular focus on the changes since the election and ousting of former Prime Minister, Victor Orban. Having studied four years of politics for my undergraduate and master’s degrees, it was incredibly interesting to hear this first-hand perspective from an influential figure within the sector. It was also fascinating to hear the domestic challenges PR and communications face in Hungary and how different these are to the UK.
Corporate Storytelling
Our host and the founder of our Hungarian partner agency, Andras, spoke on the power of corporate storytelling and his own personal PR journey, which included an incredible video example from Google that has been on my mind ever since. The video took a mundane topic, the most searched terms of 2024, and turned them into an incredible montage referencing events spanning politics, sport and global affairs. Our Spanish colleagues from Madrid took a particular liking to the inclusion of Spain’s winning goal from the Euro 2024 Final vs England.
AI and Storytelling
The afternoon included an interactive workshop session from media lecturer, Viktoria Szabo, around the topic of AI and Storytelling. It was thought-provoking and hands-on, unlocked our creativity and got us thinking differently in our approaches to storytelling.
Through a series of exercises, the session showed how words and creative thinking can bring something to life. I particularly enjoyed working as a group to tell the story of a picture, with no background knowledge or content, working to fill a 15-minute speaking slot, and turn the image into a reality.
Our group created a whole story around a static image, developed advanced stories and personalities behind the people in the picture, set the context around why this image existed and touched upon the history of what we could see. Creating a new identity and purpose to an image and collaborating with colleagues from different cultures and countries brought new ideas to the fore.
Case Study Presentations
To close the day, agencies presented a storytelling focussed case study. I was proud that Liv and I spoke about our client, Yorkshire Cancer Research, a regional charity that has had a national and international impact in cancer research, and brings the stories of those impacted by cancer to light in moving and creative ways.
Our work with them over the past 12 months has inspired me and given me a sense of purpose to our work, working for a greater good and something bigger than yourself is an incredible opportunity. We presented our work across four campaigns; White Rose Ride, For More Christmases Together, The Campaign poem by Simon Armitage, which secured national coverage, and We Walk for Yorkshire.
Evening
After we had finished for the day, we organised to meet everyone for a pizza in central Budapest. We met up with our Spanish colleagues, Pablo and Victor, beforehand, outside a beautiful Basilica. Football and the FIFA World Cup became a particular point of discussion over our trip – I introduced the whole Worldcom contingent to my beloved Bradford City and made sure England’s chances in the USA this summer were well represented.
This was much to the disliking of our French and Spanish colleagues, who equally fancied their own nations’ hopes of glory. It was great to chat to colleagues from across Europe and America over some drinks, reflecting on our experience – an incredible opportunity I was grateful to be a part of!
The Value of Worldcom
Being part of the Young Professionals meeting really highlighted the value of Worldcom. It is an incredible asset to us and our clients at Prohibition, with peer-reviewed, best-in-class agencies spanning all corners of the world, able to collaborate and work with us confidently. We were accepted into Worldcom last year, so it was an amazing honour to be some of the first representatives from Prohibition to experience the benefits of the group. For our clients looking to grow internationally, we can support them with confidence, and unlock new collaborations, alongside our local partner agencies.
Our Directors, Chris and Will, came back from previous Worldcom meetings in Stockholm and Paris full of excitement, fresh ideas and a renewed spirit of belief in what we do. They’ve said it is hard to explain how much they benefitted and enjoyed their days spent with partner agencies, and I can see why! It is infectious and inspiring being around talented individuals who experience what we do day after day, just in a different city or continent. Sharing our challenges and experiences helps build us as people and that’s the overarching emotion I felt leaving our few days in this incredible city!
Reflection
We left Budapest with a spring in our step, inspired by the conversations we’d had, experiences made and friendships forged across Europe that I hope continue. Thank you to all our colleagues who joined us in Budapest, it was an incredible experience to meet you all and I hope we stay in touch. Thanks to PRBK, Andras and Zsofia for hosting us in your beautiful city of Budapest and to Worldcom Public Relations Group for putting on a great event for young professionals!
To find out more about how we can support you in the UK, visit: Prohibition PR | Our Award-Winning PR Services | Leeds
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