TOGETHERNET 24 H - bringing the JCI magic around the world

Bringing the JCI magic to jaycees and non-jaycees around the world

TOGETHERNET 24H – ONLINE LEARNING JOURNEY GATHERED 2500 ATTENDEES FROM 85 COUNTRIES TO LEARN ABOUT VARIOUS TOPICS AND NETWORK. THE EVENT WAS FREE OF CHARGE AND OPEN FOR EVERYONE.

TEXT: MILLA-MARIA KOSKELA, KATARINA WECKMAN, PAULIINA PAPUNEN

IT all started in the middle of March. All the planned events for the springtime were beginning to get cancelled. Despite this, jaycees in Finland had already found creative solutions for the situation, e.g. the streamed awards ceremony organized by Area C.

Elna Jokinen and Hanna Kallio-Kokko had just had a brainstorming discussion about what more we could do and how we could use our international networks. The idea for the Togethernet 24h originated from this discussion.

The planning accelerated fast. The ambitious goal was to make the world’s largest remote training event that would offer participants a way to learn and step up to the next level. The idea of the event was presented to the national presidents, and everyone loved the idea. Jaycees from all around Finland were also inspired by the idea and joined the project team even though they knew they would have to give a lot of time and effort for the project.

The project was executed in only 4 weeks. The team worked in Teams and had meetings up to two to three times a week. The team consisted of 38 people. Pauliina Papunen was the project manager and Elna Jokinen the executive director. The project team planned the training schedule, contacted the trainers and speakers, updated the social media and Lyyti pages, gave technical guidance, marketed the project in social media, negotiated partnerships and gathered the materials for the event.

TRAINERS, SPEAKERS AND HOSTS

Fourty-four trainers and speakers from all around the world offered high-quality program for the entire 24 hours starting on 17th of April 5 pm UTC +3. The training sessions had inspiring topics such as foresight methods, crisis management, giving feedback and writing a phenomenal speech. The trainers and speakers were from many countries and used unique styles of presenting, for an example, Simo Engbom and Juha Ketola had a chat in Finnish nature by a campfire.

Five hosts presented the high-quality program and offered surprises for viewers during the program. For example, on Friday the hosts Susanna Ketola and Karim Hafez were seen visiting the sauna of Tampere Exhibition and Sports Centre during the live broadcast! The hosts added warmth, playfulness and sense of community for the event.

Besides the high-quality trainings and speakers, TogetherNet 24 h also included greetings from JCI World President Itai Manyere, JCI Finland National President Michaela Palmberg and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Pekka Haavisto.

NETWORKING

In the spirit of physical distancing and emotional closeness, the event had a live chat where the attendees could chat with each other, ask questions from the hosts or even discuss with the trainers. During the night time in Europe, some participants who were planning to stay awake the whole 24 hours were encouraging one another.

Many attendees were very active also in social media, where people could share pictures from their home studios with the hashtag #togethernet24h. The pictures with the hashtag were also seen in the social media feed on the same page with TogetherNet 24 h live broadcast. In addition to home studios, some behind the scenes footage was shared from TogetherNet 24 h studio in Tampere.

During the TogetherNet 24h there was a possibility to also network with other attendees in Tavata networking tool. Two hundred eighty-six people logged in to Tavata during the event to network globally.

RajuLive Oy took care of the technical execution of the 24 hour livestream withthree men from RajuLive Oy working tirelessly. The men from Rajulive also streamedthe Palkintopamaus JCI Finland National Awards after TogetherNet 24 h. Tampere Exhibition and Sports Centre offeredspace for livestream studio, where it was possible to keep physical distanceduring the project.

Susanna Ketola