Short Summary
The second phase of the project “Media Creator #2: Design & Creativity” has finished and it was as great as the first part Media Creator #1: Self-Branding & Social Media. We are impatiently waiting for the “Media Creator #3: Photo & Video“. As a result of the second phase we have:
- 29 outstanding Media Creators
- 6 video movie productions
- 29 photo portraits
- 29 much more refined Facebook and Instagram profiles
- Some freshly baked creative CVs with Prezi, WordPress, Resume Builder, Video and Canva tools
- Thousand of photos
- Unemployement campaigns
- Self-branding campaigns
- 25 discovered strong Personal Brands on the streets of London, 5 children go to know what branding is, 35 people received compliments about their offline branding
- 29 pitches
- 35 cups made
- 29 people experienced Holy Herma
- 29 creativity circles
- 35 secret and public, but well bonded friends from 7 countries: United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Greece, Romania, Italy, Poland and Lithuania
- 7 strong partnerships: Brno Connected (Czech Republic), Synergy Flow (Greece), Break the Couch (Greece), Synergy Romania (Romania), EUROSUD (Italy), Europe4Youth (Poland), Inovatyvi Karta (Lithuania)
- and outstanding self-branding journal (please see the third journal of self-branding here):
Click to access Media-Creator-II-Journal-of-Self-Branding-v2.pdf
Videos by Media Creators
Testimonials by Abroadship’ers
Eugenia (Greece): “This program made me realise in a better way who I am,in what I ‘m good at and how I should promote my pros. One of the most important lessons that I took was about self confidence and initiative and it is this simple frase :”fake it until you make it”. Which means believe if yourself, but even if you don’t, fake this confidence infront of the other people,until it comes naturally”
Peni (Greece): “Media Creator II provided me with inspiration and motivation. It actually helped me to realise more about me and the way i interact with people from different countries. We took initiatives and we did great actions/ workshops. All the time we had by our sides, a great team that i would love to see again.”
Kotryna (Lithuania): “I learnt how to write and design the CV and I think that it is a very important thing for me because I’m young and I will need it in my life. Also, I managed to get over my fears like to talk in front of many people or to express myself in not my native language. ”
Maria (Greece): “It’s an honor being part of such a project, with facilitators that have the ownership of it and give their best in order to makecreate us underand ourselves better and become reql media, creators! Except of that I experienced a full intercultural experience as well!”
Davide (Italy): “I found out that even if you don’t have your own company, you also have a brand and you also have to think about it, how it is and how it can be improved. I also found a lot of hidden skills/abilities which can be helpful in my life. ”
Aris (Greece): “I was delighted to meet people from different countries and explore ways to approach each one of them. I also enjoyed the fact that everyone shared their knowledge on media tools, and expressed their opinion on the content we created.”
Panagiotis (Greece): “What did I get out for myself out of this experience is that I can do many things by using media tools. I manmand also to speak in public and come out of my comfort zone. I managed to learn new things about self branding and ways to build up my own brand . I am also happy that I met new people and I learned from them many things ”
Milda (Lithuania): “The best thing I got from this youth exchange is the opportunity to meet a lot of different people from various countries. This international experience is a great way to learn in an informal way while still having a lot of fun : )”
Martina (Czech Republic): “I got out for myself that I have to do detailed research before I sign in for any kind of project, course, etc. and decide if it really meets my needs and expectations. Anyway I met nice and inspirational people and made good friends.”
Francesco (Italy): “It was a great experience. Living in contact with nature and talking about technologies seems almost an oxymoron. The combination of these two elements has allowed a perfect success of cultural exchange, both from the point of view of learning and humanistic and relational”
Martynas (Lithuania): “It was a nice time to reflect upon the things I have been making and take a look back. It is more clear which direction I should go with further work of mine. I now have a better understanding of what specific steps I should take and in what order.”
Francesca (Italy): “I think that this experience has deeply changed the way I see myself as a human being and as a creative person. I got to know myself from a different point of view and I feel much more confident. My activity and the way I promote it are surely going to change in a positive way after this experience.”
Grabriela (Czech Republic): “I broadened my knowledge in more fields. First of all I learned a lot about how social media work, how can I use them for good self-branding but also about the possible threads in this virtual area. Besides all that I learned new things about different cultures and evetually got a great and useful experience.
Miruna (Romania): “Day One: No expectation what so ever. Day Eight: Somehow all the expectation I didn’t even know I had we’re met. It was a journey of introspection and team work guided by valuable persons and among such inspiring people. Besides the skills I have improved during this exchange, I find myself now benefitting of a boost of self confidence that I will most definitely use in new projects. And like in a restaurant where the proof of the food quality is the return of the clients, I will end my review with a : See you at the next one, guys! ”
Kristina (Lithuania): “I’ve got to learn very much about myself. Also, this experience gave me some really handy tools to manage my goals and to feel more confident with the future. I also met some nice and warm peolple from various countries which is always a very pleasant thing to experience. One of the most important things is diversity of minds that come together in one space for a short but intensive period of time and this definatelly widens perspective.”
Ladislav (UK): “I met some very interesting people, but I also gained the skills I needed. I visited also places where I have never been to. And what did I get from this exchange is friendship skills in media and technology etc”
Gaia (Italy): “Thanks to this experience I think I am become more aware on how people perceive me in real life and on social medias. I will certainly do more practice on how to take and edit pictures, also I will work on my curriculum vitae in order to make it more creative and suitable with my personality.”
Camilla (Italy): “This international experience was very important for me. I learned a lot of new things about social media and, more important, about myself. I improved my english skills and I met a lot of amazing people from other country that taught me their culture and customs. I will do other youth exchange like this.”
Simona (UK): “I have gained a lot of things from this international experience but most of all I have gained more confidence in myself and my abilities. I have never participated in a project before that created an environment where you are supported and encouraged to learn as well as teach at all times from all directions: the facilitators, other participants and guests of the project. Learning how to empower others to create positive improvements – which is one of the objectives of the exchange – has taught me how bringing best in people makes one self grow emotionally, helps spread creative ideas and get to know yourself better.”
Dominika (Poland): “language skills (expressing my needs, thoughts and feelings in a foreign language was one of the biggest challenges), new motod of organization, how to collect your thoughts, feel more confident in public speaking (which I’m always scared about), new aplications/ programs which can help me create my brand in the internet.”
Gabriela (Romania): “When I applied for the project I found it interesting but I wasn’t sure that it will help me. Now, that it ended, everything turned upside down and I am extremely satisfied with what I learned. An international experience is always different. Besides the new countries and cities, you meet so many insipiring and motivated people and when you hear their stories you want to do more in life. The project itself was great, very well organized and so useful for everybody. So out if this international experience I got inspiration, useful facts, motivation and desire to improve mysef.”
Ildiko (Romania): “As I saw the well made info letter I was sure, that it will be an interesting project, but I couldn’t even imagine, that I will learn this much from it. It wasn’t easy, because the learning process is never easy, but I am very happy with the result. The project was very well prepared, every action had a purpose. The organizers made from the individuals one big team.
It was definitely one of the 2017 best moments (best days).”
Adam (Poland): “I strongly recommend the organization abroadship.org and the self-branding program.
In my opinion the main value of this project are both facilitators and participants. This youth exchange Media Creator 2 helped me to understand the importance of interpersonal cooperation and the fact that the world is smaller than it seems. Getting to know new cultures through international evenings was a great experience. Thanks to intensive program I learned how to improve my self-brand and how to become more effective, better person. I sincerely thank the organizers for all hard work, which they put into preparing and carrying out the project. I hope that the effects of my self-branding improvement will be the best recommendation. Thank you very much! Adam”
Aleksandra (Poland): “a lot of knowledge, amazing relationships and the courage to change a few things in my life – as well as tools to do so.”
Project description
Youth Exchange – Media Creator – Self-Branding & Media Creator – photo credit: Ruta Skudraite
Project: Youth exchange “Media Creator #2: Design & Creativity”
Location: London, UK
Dates: 13-22 July 2017
Number of participants: 35
Participating countries: United Kingdom, Lithuania, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, Greece, Romania
Partners:
| Abroadship.org | UK | hello@abroadship.org |
| Break The Couch | Greece | panagiotis@breakthecouch.com |
| Brno Connected | Czech Republic | brnoconnected@gmail.com |
| Inovatyvi Karta | Lithuania | raminta.rusoviciute@gmail.com |
| EUROSUD | Italy | EUROSUDNGO@GMAIL.COM |
| Asociatia Synergy | Romania | angelaaciobanitei@synergyforyou.ro |
| Europe 4 Youth | Poland | info@europe4youth.eu |
Infopack: Media Creator: Creativity & Design – youth exchange – London – UK – abroadship.org
Click to access Media-Creator-2_Infoletter.pdf
Description: Nowadays, digital skills are essential in almost all fields. The difference between today and ten years ago is the raise of social technologies that made possible innovative forms, such as self-branding. The issue is that youth represents a quarter of the world’s workforce, but they also represent half of the unemployment population around the world. MEDIA CREATOR project is developing practical and innovative digital skills that employers and clients (in case of entrepreneurial path) are looking after, involving youth directly as media creators.
Overall Focus
- use media tools to express yourself, increase employability or explore your entrepreneurial path;
- self-brand through offline and online media, such as Facebook, Linkedin, blogs, websites, articles, photos, videos, creative CVs;
- create media by yourselves – using photo, video, creative designs, social media, blogging;
promote your unique personal values and qualities on the labour market; - increase intercultural competences to communicate effectively your message with people from other cultures;
develop communication, team work, leadership skills and get equipped with tools for self-development.
Who Should Attend
The background of participants is youth (18-30 years old + 1 leader with unlimited age) that are unemployed and are willing to self-develop in order to be hired or pursue an entrepreneurial path or that are still under construction of their personal branding and identity.
Structure of of the 2nd Youth Exchange Media Creator: Design & Creativity
DAY 0: Arrival
DAY 1: Intro, getting to know each other, identity, needs & vision, communication as a tool of learning, portrait photos.
DAY 2: Personal brand – values, imperatives, social media platforms, pitching, feedback, intercultural evening #1.
DAY 3: Working with balance, trust, creativity – shaping new ideas, video production time, intercultural evening #2.
DAY 4: Simulation day – design & creativity – to generate increased awareness on self-branding, study case, best practices.
DAYS 5 and 6: Production days, workshops, critical analysis, improving content and results.
DAY 7: Reflection time, working on own campaigns, connecting with own social media accounts, social time.
DAY 8: Youthpass, evaluation of results, thanks & feedback, follow-up, plans for the future, closing.
DAY 9: Departure
Delivery Style
Methodology is a combination of:
- “learning by experience” – learning from experiencing different activities and putting them into practice;
- “learning to play, playing to learn” – connected with learning through games, from actions and playful environment;
- “media practices” – having youth as media creators.
Methods Used
- group dynamic processes;
- teamwork activities;
- lectures and facilitated processes;
- group simulations and demonstration tutorials;
- dynamic workshops and presentations;
- online work and assignments;
- intercultural sharings and learnings;
- learning by doing in a group setting or individual processes.
Media Creator Team
George Adrian Oprea is a professional trainer working with youth and adults for over 6 years. His experience as entrepreneur, trainer in media and outdoor education, project manager in two NGOs, facilitator in adult teambuildings with over 700 participants/year has generated know-how in advertising, marketing and contouring brands.
Angela Aciobăniței – In the last years Angela gained experience as communication responsible in several organisations.
As a certified trainer she delivers learning programs to children, youth and adults using mainly non-formal methods on subjects connected to her skills: communication, sales, marketing, STEM, entrepreneurship. She is currently growing her start-up.
Justinas Brikys is an entrepreneur and founder of Abroadship.org, a centre of learning through mobility, which is an applicant organisation of Media Creator project. He is based in London, lives on a boat and enjoys alternative lifestyle. Justinas self-brands as media creator of a blog developingmoneyideas.com
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