Society
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The actual Guest Stars - until the next ceremony: musician Chris Eckman, footballer Marcos Magno Morales Tavares, manager Thies C. Bruhn, ambassador John C. Groffen.
Guest Star 2009
Same Universe, New Stars
08.01.2010
Guest Star, the campaign that awards and puts the spotlight on important foreigners in Slovenia celebrates its sixth annual event.Guest Star has been successful from its beginning. The basic concept behind the event was warmly welcomed by everybody involved and further confirmed by the excitement of the invited attendees at the first event back in 2004, which was a huge success. In the beautiful setting of the Grand Hotel Rogaška, the magnificent background of the Crystal Hall was complimented by distinguished foreigners, the guest stars of the evening.
Out of nine nominees, Guest Stars were awarded in three categories: Politics & Diplomacy, Economy and Sports. Cristoph Steidel Porenta, a very successful entrepreneur with his small business, a jewellery shop, received enough votes to make it among the finalists in the Economy category. Since Porenta did not wish to compete in this category alongside managers of large companies and he did not consider himself to be a businessman but an artist, the organization committee respected his decision and granted him a special award. The next year another award for the category of Arts and Culture was added to the list.
During the following four Guest Star campaigns, many different people received nominations and awards, some of them more than once. The campaign – well organized and prepared by The Slovenia Times and Radio Slovenia International – continuously followed its goal of creating a more open and inclusive society. Final events never failed to bring glamour, fun and, most importantly, a chance for the diverse group of foreigners and Slovenians to meet each other. The events have always been well regarded by the media, while the ceremonies themselves excelled with cultural programmes, charitable additions and elegant ambience. The Guest Star ceremony has been held at five different venues and a huge variety of hosts and special guests. It guarantees the same this year.
The five successful years of the Guest Star campaign testify to its importance and significance on the Slovene diplomatic, economic, sport and cultural scenes. The efforts of the organisers are increasingly validated each year. In the relatively young Republic of Slovenia, a campaign of this kind has proven to be extremely valuable for establishing further successful international relations and open-minded cooperation between people of different cultural backgrounds. Above all, building a multi-cultural and cohesive society is a priority and the Guest Star campaign will continue to hold its meetings and continue to draw attention to the people who are making a positive contribution to Slovenia and its society.
This year’s campaign is bringing a new set of nominees, who will choose their favourite by voting at a website. There you can also find all the up-to details about the campaign, information about the nominees and the event.