A girl from Zagreb went to the University of Maryland, which at the time was the leading centre of public relations research, to spend the year of her Fulbright scholarship with Professor James E. Grunig, who remains the most cited author in the field after more than 20 years. Before returning home, Professor Grunig suggested that she visit nearby Ljubljana, where someone who also knew something about the subject lived. And we were married a year later
My wife, Ana, calls me Forrest Gump, saying that I got her as the most delicious piece in my box of chocolates. Well, perhaps she chose me.
I originally studied political science in the 1980s, majoring in international relations, with the intention of becoming a diplomat. I became a journalist by accident and eventually turned into a politician. After helping the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia become the country’s largest political party for 15 years, I went into the private sector. Together with former Mladina magazine editor Franci Zavrt, I launched my first company: the International Press Centre Ljubljana (IPCL), in 1990. Soon after, we established PR Centre Ljubljana, followed by several other companies. Our latest venture is a strategy and communications consultancy called Herman & partnerji.
We thought globally and acted locally from the very outset. Just a few months after starting IPCL, we were invited to visit the UK’s Central Office of Information. During that trip, we also studied the BBC Monitoring Service, the Conservative Party’s communications headquarters, the (now Chartered) Institute of Public Relations, and organisational communications consultancy Smythe Dorward Lambert. Not long after, I was selected for the Young European Leaders Programme by the United States Information Agency, which took me across the ocean.
The world is no longer a global village—we now live in a global living room, where we look at and talk to each other, and taste each other’s chocolates
It was in Washington, D.C. that I met Professor James Grunig from the University of Maryland, and we became friends for the next 30-plus years. He was then managing the largest research project in public relations and communications management. A member of his research team, Dr John White, later became my supervisor during my doctoral programme at the London School of Economics and Political Science. I earned my Ph.D. from the University of London, completed my degree’s validation at the University of Ljubljana, and ultimately became a full professor.
Travel abroad has always been a crucial part of my life. I have lectured or presented in 38 countries worldwide, but building a business in Slovenia with the ambition of achieving global excellence also requires top experts from around the world travelling to Ljubljana. That’s why we launched the International Public Relations Research Symposium BledCom in 1994, which has gone on to become the oldest and largest independent event of its kind. This allows more local experts to connect with cutting-edge research and best practices in real time.
The world is no longer a global village—we now live in a global living room, where we look at and talk to each other, and taste each other’s chocolates.