Stroytransgaz Group Representatives Take Part in Baltic Cultural Forum

Plenary Session of the Baltic Cultural Forum 2023

From 20 to 22 of April, Stroytransgaz Group Press Relations Service employees from Moscow, Vladivostok, Kemerovo, Rostov-on-Don and Kaliningrad took part in the Baltic Cultural Forum hosted in Svetlogorsk. The well-known multifunctional Yantar concert hall served as a venue for meetings, lectures and round tables. Guests from the country’s leading cultural institutions attended the Forum.

The opening speech was delivered by the Governor of Kaliningrad region Anton Alikhanov at the plenary session: This is an event highly anticipated by the professional community across Russia — more than 900 participants, 150 speakers. The theme of the fifth cultural forum is Cultural Immunity. This subject was selected in continuation of the dialogue on the harm that enforced restrictions can cause to intercultural communication. In the past year, the number of participants of cultural events in Kaliningrad region exceeded the figures of 2021 by 11%, with 13 million visits registered, and the level of sales on the Pushkin cards exceeded 70 million roubles, thus exceeding the target value by 25%. The demand in cultural institutions is effectively boosted by the implementation of major infrastructural projects. I am always in contact with the Minister of Culture, Olga Borisovna Lyubimova. She was here when we laid the first foundation stone of the Tretyakov Gallery branch building. I am now astonished by the rate at which the construction of the Bolshoi Theatre branch building is going. I am simply awed by the level of education infrastructure we have here. We have already opened the branches of the Moscow State Academy of Choreography and the Central Music School. The Central Music School Branch already has eight state-funded places for future higher education students. It is just unbelievable! No other words can describe it. And the interior is simply fantastic!’

Stroytransgaz Group media relations specialists at the Forum

The three days of the Forum saw more than thirty events, such as educational seminars, open lecture courses, expert meetings and round tables, panel discussion, case study sessions and presentations. Employees responsible for PR support of key state construction projects attended a number of educational lectures. The round table dedicated to Vakhtang Festival of Theatre Managers case on the topic of new ways of PR promotion attracted major attention. Managers and PR specialists of cultural institutions across the country shared life hacks in the field of brand promotion, success stories of PR and advertisement campaigns, and best practices in the area of media relations. Stroytransgaz Group media relations specialists shared their experience of creation and development of the corporate STG-TV channel and other communication channels, and presented interesting practices used in their work with the media at the company’s construction sites, using the completed ‘Fourth Dimension’ project in Kemerovo as an example (we covered it; * click the link to view the report).

Principal of the Russian State Institute of Performing Arts Natalya Pakhomova

Dmitry Rzhannikov, STG-Zapad Director General

Stroytransgaz Group employees conducted a number of meetings at the Forum, talking to representatives of cultural and educational institutions, including the future users of the Complex being constructed in Kaliningrad. Dmitry Rzhannikov, STG-Zapad Director General, was also interviewed by Kaliningrad state TV channel covering the events of the Baltic Cultural Forum. Oktyabrsky Island will be an integral part of the cultural image of the region and will become a distinctive location on all maps. The TV segment was featured in the local news, and also nationally by the federal Kultura (Culture) channel.

As part of their visit to the forum, the STG Group employees visited Oktyabrsky Island where the buildings of the Tretyakov Gallery and Bolshoi Theatre branches are being constructed along with the building of the Baltic Higher School of Music and Dramatic Arts. Our colleagues were taken on the tour of the facilities under construction. It was very interesting for them to see actual work on a project similar to those they have been involved in, but in a different city, to see how exactly the project is being implemented, what the differences are and so on. They also took part in a work meeting, where a media plan for promotion of these culture and education complex construction projects was developed to boost the media in this important pre-election year. The comprehensive media plan includes PR projects to be implemented at all four of the MTEC construction sites.

Stroytransgaz Group media relations specialists at the construction site in Kaliningrad

STG’s Corporate Communications Department Head Natalya Kalinicheva noted: ‘Obviously, participation in such major events has a positive effect. On one hand, such a meeting may be seen as a team building activity, which always positively affect the team’s performance and efficiency, and on the other hand, post-effect, that is, what the results of joint work will be, is also important. Our brainstorming session was aimed at development of a comprehensive media plan featuring special projects involving all MTECs and other strategic projects being implemented by the company. The facilities under construction are at different stages and phases of readiness, and the media coverage will be reinforced by global PR campaigns. The new knowledge and studied practices in the field of media relations will help to apply new formats enabling maximum engagement of our media specialists in the activities covering the construction progress in each region, even at the federal level.