My awesome days and DK2026 experience in Rovinj, Croatia

Hello daily bloggers, I hope you are doing great! In my previous post, I shared my impressions from Rovinj and now I continue. The reason for my visit to this city a few weeks ago was the Days of communication 2026 festival.

It was an experience that combined inspiration, learning, and that rare feeling of being exactly where you are supposed to be. As someone working in communications, I truly value opportunities for personal and professional growth, and our company made this trip possible for that reason. Every time you hear something new there and return home full of ideas and inspiration.

And you are lucky when you have the opportunity to wake up in this city and spend perfect days there.

The festival was held at the Lone Hotel. The modern venue, beautiful surroundings, and the sea that seemed to be part of every moment made the festival feel completely different from any conference I've been to so far.

Some of the lectures we followed inside the conference hall, especially the ones we felt were important to experience live and fully focused.

Still, most of our time was spent outside, by the beach, where the sessions were streamed on large screen.

Sitting by the crystal-clear sea, listening to world-class speakers while waves rolled quietly in the background, created a completely different mindset for learning and absorbing ideas.

Looking at the sea during the breaks brought a sense of calm and reset between intense topics and conversations. Whenever we had longer breaks, my colleagues and I would walk to Rovinj's old town, grab something to eat, wander through the charming narrow streets, and spend some quiet moments by the water before returning to the festival atmosphere.

One of the talks that left the strongest impression on me was the lecture by Jürgen Schmidhuber, often called one of the fathers of modern AI. He spoke about the future of the universe and the way artificial intelligence will reshape our lives and society. His perspective was fascinating, especially his idea that human hands and physical skills could become one of the most valuable resources in the future, while children will learn in completely different ways than they do today. One thought particularly stayed with me: the most successful people in the future will be those who combine strong mathematical thinking with highly developed social skills.

Another session worth highlighting was the presentation by Dora Pekeč, a brilliant young strategist who, at only 26 years old, worked on Zohran Mamdani's PR campaign for New York City mayor.

Her confidence, authenticity, and energy were just as impressive as the campaign itself.

The key message I took away from her talk was powerful and deeply personal: criticism from others should not be seen as weakness, but transformed into your own strength and advantage. In a world full of noise and opinions, authenticity becomes one of the strongest tools anyone can have.

Another part of Days of Communication that I also enjoyed were the evening award ceremonies celebrating the best advertisers and campaigns in the industry. Beyond the atmosphere and excitement, it was inspiring to see so many creative ideas brought to life through powerful storytelling, bold concepts, and emotional connections with audiences.

This year's Days of Communication reminded me how important it is to step away from everyday routines, listen to people shaping the future of the industry, and allow yourself to be inspired by new places, ideas, and conversations.

Thank you for reading.

Jelena