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Рy09 September 2019
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In 10 years, ‘Decat o Revista’ (DoR) has become one of the most read publications in Romania. It became popular not only due to the essays, reports and portraits about people but also because of the events it organises in order to be closer to its readers. To learn what happens ‘behind the curtains’, on 4 September 2019, the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) invited journalists to a meeting with Laura Trocan, event coordinator at DoR.
During two hours, Laura Trocan discussed about how the most important events were organised and talked about the people involved.
The biggest DoR event is, for sure, ‘DoR Live’ - ‘the live magazine’ which was transposed on stage by journalists and artists and acted out as a performance that lasted 2-3 hours.
"The concept of a ‘live magazine’ was not invented by us, but we did invent the stage performance. Those 15-20 stories manage to convey to the public a great deal of emotions through reading sessions, short films, theater, dance and live music. Why did we decide to do DoR Live? Because there are people who don’t read, but who go to the theater. This way, during two hours they can find out what is happening in the Romanian society," said Laura Trocan.
The discussion focused mainly about the logistics of such an event – venue, tickets, artists, sponsors and promotion. Also, participants touched upon the feelings journalists experience when they are on stage, playing the stories they write. Before coming to Chisinau, Laura Trocan asked her colleagues from DoR to write a message about what DoR Live meant to them and the emotions they felt on stage.
"For me, DoR Live is like an ongoing course about public speaking and public presence, about exposition – things that we didn’t learn in the Romanian schools when I was growing up: we were certain that we had to stay quiet at our desk and raise our hands even when we wanted to go to the bathroom. For a person who has a hard time when it comes to speaking, even as an adult in front of a classroom with 7 graders (children are the toughest public), speaking in front of almost 1,000 people at DoR was like the end of the world. As I spoke to the spectators about a high school student who was stepping into maturity and was preparing for university, I felt the connection with the people in the room, I made pauses when they laughed and I forgot about myself and my nervousness. After all, it wasn't about me but about how we relate to each other's stories. That evening many have probably remembered how complicated it was to be in love at 16-17 when nothing else mattered," wrote Anca Iosif, a DoR reporter.
"For a reporter, producing content for a stage performance is like learning a new job. Of course, the steps are the same: you research, write a script, but the logic of the written message is not the same when it comes to performances and a new logic is needed. You exercise a lot and you search for public speaking lessons on YouTube, you realize that you don’t know how to hold the microphone, how to read a script (while not looking at it for too long) or how to convey a message, that you have been training for years to deliver in written form, to people that you can’t see because the light blinds you. On stage you have to be concise because people don’t come to see a funny one-woman-show. The public can’t be entertained only with information. You also need to behave naturally, the way in which you have been avoiding since you decided not to become a TV reporter. However, few long-form stories transmit the same emotions as a theatrical moment can do. You prepare for a whole new context, you take the viewers into a new world with all your senses and you make them care three times as much," wrote Nicoleta Radacina, DoR reporter.
During two hours, Laura Trocan discussed about how the most important events were organised and talked about the people involved.
The biggest DoR event is, for sure, ‘DoR Live’ - ‘the live magazine’ which was transposed on stage by journalists and artists and acted out as a performance that lasted 2-3 hours.
"The concept of a ‘live magazine’ was not invented by us, but we did invent the stage performance. Those 15-20 stories manage to convey to the public a great deal of emotions through reading sessions, short films, theater, dance and live music. Why did we decide to do DoR Live? Because there are people who don’t read, but who go to the theater. This way, during two hours they can find out what is happening in the Romanian society," said Laura Trocan.
The discussion focused mainly about the logistics of such an event – venue, tickets, artists, sponsors and promotion. Also, participants touched upon the feelings journalists experience when they are on stage, playing the stories they write. Before coming to Chisinau, Laura Trocan asked her colleagues from DoR to write a message about what DoR Live meant to them and the emotions they felt on stage.
"For me, DoR Live is like an ongoing course about public speaking and public presence, about exposition – things that we didn’t learn in the Romanian schools when I was growing up: we were certain that we had to stay quiet at our desk and raise our hands even when we wanted to go to the bathroom. For a person who has a hard time when it comes to speaking, even as an adult in front of a classroom with 7 graders (children are the toughest public), speaking in front of almost 1,000 people at DoR was like the end of the world. As I spoke to the spectators about a high school student who was stepping into maturity and was preparing for university, I felt the connection with the people in the room, I made pauses when they laughed and I forgot about myself and my nervousness. After all, it wasn't about me but about how we relate to each other's stories. That evening many have probably remembered how complicated it was to be in love at 16-17 when nothing else mattered," wrote Anca Iosif, a DoR reporter.
"For a reporter, producing content for a stage performance is like learning a new job. Of course, the steps are the same: you research, write a script, but the logic of the written message is not the same when it comes to performances and a new logic is needed. You exercise a lot and you search for public speaking lessons on YouTube, you realize that you don’t know how to hold the microphone, how to read a script (while not looking at it for too long) or how to convey a message, that you have been training for years to deliver in written form, to people that you can’t see because the light blinds you. On stage you have to be concise because people don’t come to see a funny one-woman-show. The public can’t be entertained only with information. You also need to behave naturally, the way in which you have been avoiding since you decided not to become a TV reporter. However, few long-form stories transmit the same emotions as a theatrical moment can do. You prepare for a whole new context, you take the viewers into a new world with all your senses and you make them care three times as much," wrote Nicoleta Radacina, DoR reporter.
Laura Trocan spoke about ‘The Power of Storytelling’, the biggest event dedicated to storytelling in Eastern Europe, ‘Pe Bune’ podcast but also about the small events that DoR holds periodically in order to maintain a permanent dialogue with their subscribers, which are also the main source of funding for the magazine.
"We organise small events to get to know our readers and maintain a permanent contact with them. People must see that there is no wall between us," she said.
When asked where does she get the ideas and the motivation to always create something new, Laura Trocan answered that the most important source of inspiration is the brainstorming. "My colleagues put their ideas down on paper and we discuss them afterwards. Obviously, the best ones start taking shape."
Regarding failures and lessons learned from organising events, Laura Trocan mentioned that there are people who buy tickets but never come. "To make sure we had a full room, we established the rule that we’ll invite more people than the number of available seats," she noted.
Ludmila Bogheanu, PR & Marketing Manager at Ziarul de Garda admitted that the meeting with Laura Trocan answered the questions she had about organising quality events. "We could pick up some ideas that worked in Romania and, why not, set up new formats in order to build bridges between journalists and readers," Ludmila mentioned.
"Media institutions in the Republic of Moldova still need to develop in order to reach the level of Romanian media institutions. The greatest problem in this regard in Moldova is, I think, the fact that people are not interested in participating in such events," said Diana Guja, PR manager.
This event was part of the "Media Enabling Democracy, Inclusion and Accountability in Moldova (MEDIA-M)" project, funded by USAID, UK Aid and implemented by Internews in Moldova. Its purpose is to promote the development independent and professional mass-media and to build a media sector that is more resilient to political and economic pressure.
