On 10 April 2008, at the Polis Conference Centre in Thessaloniki, the Managing Authority of the Operational Programme (OP) for the Region of Central Macedonia organized a transnational Forum on 'good practices' in communication of the development programmes co-financed by the European Union.  Key participants were the information and publicity officers of almost all the Managing Authorities of the CSF3 throughout Greece, representatives of the European Commission, top executives from the Ministry of the Economy and Finance, representatives of advertising companies and research companies from all over the Country, in addition to members of the publicity network formed by the final beneficiaries of the OP for Central Macedonia. Significant added value was brought to the event through the participation of the information and publicity officers of the Managing Authorities of other EU member-states - such as France, Italy, Spain, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Malta, Hungary and Austria.

The presentations and overall proceedings of the event were both thought-provoking and a source of discussion and exchange on three basic issues, concerning communication addressed to the general public:

A) What is, or what should be, the message (and tone) of the communication, such that it can get through to its target ?

B)  To which 'public' is the communication addressed?  The characteristics of the target group and its disposition towards the messages must clearly be known, for the messages to get through, influence the target group and instill confidence, in order to come across in a positive way.

C)  In what way can collaboration between the public and private sector (i.e. between the employer and the advertising company) be improved, in order ultimately to achieve 'good practice' in communication?

During the afternoon session of the Forum, over 200 participants had the opportunity to follow presentations of 'good practices' in communication, from four different European Union countries - Austria, France, Spain and Greece.

The exchange of experiences on communication issues and products of co-financed programmes, targeting the general public - which was the quintessence of the event - culminated in an exhibition of 'good practices', featuring all the programmes from throughout Greece and a host of other EU Countries. This was the first time such an event had been organized in Greece.  Widely regarded as an impressive international exhibition of communication tools and products, it acted as a forum for ‘osmosis’ and brainstorming, and gave the opportunity to all participants to gain valuable experiences in their field of work.

Finally, what confers particular added value - and a major reason for the success of the event - is the animation of three different types of networks, well-received on all sides:  One network of information and publicity officers at national level, another network of information and publicity officers at European level (Inform) and a third network bringing together final beneficiaries representatives in charge of information dissemination and publicity, in the context of the OP for the Region of Central Macedonia.