The Trid of Success: Learning, Exchanging and Celebrating Together

At the end of the first week of February, Lorina, who is currently doing a traineeship in the Marketing & Communications team, and our press spokesperson Markus made their way to Munich. Their joint destination was the annual conference of the Arbeitskreis Verlags-PR (AVP). More than 160 communicators from Germany, Austria and Switzerland met at the Penguin Random House publishing group in Munich.

The speciality: The two-day event combines networking and further education in such a way that newbies and pros can talk to and learn from each other. We asked the two of them about their insights.

What topic did you choose?

• Lorina: Perhaps I should start by explaining the concept: You can choose from nine different topics in advance - from social media analytics and moderation training to AI integration. After the start in the plenary session, the workshops then take place simultaneously over two days. I found several topics interesting, but as a beginner in this field, I finally decided in favour of the basic workshop on press and public relations work.
  
  
• Markus: I chose ‘Creative time and priority management’. It was about how to fight time wasters and concentrate on the essentials. And not in a standardised way, but based on your own needs and adapted to the specific framework conditions of your own job. We also learnt how to ensure that effectiveness is not neglected in the face of efficiency.

What do you take away from the event for your day-to-day work?

• Markus: A sharpened eye for needs and self-management, for example thanks to Eagle Flight and the No certificate. The goals must determine the tasks, not the tasks the goals. Otherwise stress cannot be reduced. That wasn't a fundamentally new realisation for me. But the speaker's different approach and the experiences of the other participants made it much clearer to me where the pitfalls in everyday working life lie and what I can do about them.
  
  
• Lorina: Unsurprisingly, the basics of press relations. For example, which media even exist and what their target group is, which topics are easy to place and which topics don't work well. And the most important thing: contacts are essential. You are only as good as your network.
  

Would you recommend the conference to others and if so, why?

• Lorina: Definitely! On the one hand, the workshop and, above all, the open dialogue with the other participants gave me many insights into PR work in the book industry, some of which were still unknown to me. On the other hand, I like the opportunities to get to know each other and network. There were a lot of people in my workshop who, like me, had started a traineeship in the last few months - some of them even former fellow students of mine. And it was cool to talk about our own experiences.
  
  
• Markus: Admittedly, I'm biased because I've been a member of the AVP myself for many years and also run the Rhine-Main regional group there. But in my opinion, the annual conference really is an unbeatable format and is always a good time. Every time you meet lots of familiar faces and at the same time always get to know new people and can therefore easily expand your network. The various workshops are the ideal door opener for discussions. At the same time, you also find out what the essence of the other sessions is and go home with ideas on various topics. Especially in a field of work where teams are often very small, this cross-company exchange on specialised topics is very important. Long story short: an absolute recommendation for communication people!

PS: Because the format ensures that the participants mingle, Lorina and Markus didn't even manage to take a selfie together. If that's not a sign of successful networking.