The 2nd annual seminar of the 2009. programme of Academy for Political Development  took place in Postire, the island of Brač, from May 21st to 24th. The purpose of this seminar is to enable participants to acquire practical skills, applicable in everyday situations. The programme began with the opening speeches by Nevena Crljenko, Executive Director of the Academy, and Branislav Bibić, the president of the Steering Board.  

Introduction was followed by the projection of a documentary entitled „Lords of the Spin“, which gave an insider perspective of political marketing and communication in practice. Further discussion was initiated by the lecture of Krešimir Macan on the topic „Public Relations“. Through numerous examples from domestic and international practice, the participants were able to see the importance of perception, the timely and proper response in case of crisis situations, possible ways to understand public relations in the Croatian and regional political context, as well as how PR can affect election results.
In the afternoon, dr. sc. Marijana Grbeša from the Faculty of Political Science gave a lecture entitled "Political Communication in Croatia: local elections 2009" in which she outlined analysis of campaign results in the various local communities. Lecture (and the whole seminar) took place between the first and the second round of local elections, so there were a lot of practical and actual examples at hand.

The second workshop’s topic was lobbying, and was moderated by Gordan Bosanac (Center for Peace Studies), also an alumnus of Academy’s programme. Introduction to the theory and practice of lobbying was a good starting point of the workshop, followed by a case study allowing the participants to examine every aspect of the lobbying – or more precisely, advocacy process – undertaken by the civil society organizations.

Davor Tomašković, President of the Tobacco Factory Rovinj Board, gave a lecture about negotiations – with an emphasis on the business negotiations. He has presented a rich display of techniques to negotiate the desirable outcome. Mr.sc. Igor Kanižaj from Faculty of Political Science gave a lecture on media manipulation. Lecture was followed by a lively discussion on development of the media scene in Croatia, growing trend of commercialization, sensationalism and disappearance of the journalists’ profession and ethical principles in reporting.

 The guest speaker of the Saturday afternoon programme was a candidate for the mayor of Split,  Željko Kerum. Through moderated discussion, Mr. Kerum explained his ambitions, motives for political career and managing strategies.