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Small fish
It usually is tiny by any measure and I doubt it features highly in any chic restaurants yet there is something about the European sprat that keeps my thoughts occupied with it in recent weeks. Let me tell you why. It all started with an infographic. The European Parliament adopted its position on the reform [...]
Do you have an MEP?
When I was a student, I went to the European Parliament on a study trip. On site, I met a British student who asked me if I already had visited my MEP. MY MEP? I did not have an MEP, as far as I knew, and was immediately jealous of this British student who apparently [...]
Young, Europeans and abroad: here it is our presentation letter
Where would a Frenchman, an Italian, an English, a Danish, a Belgian, a German and a Spanish be seen together? On Erasmus. No this is not the introduction of a silly joke, they are fine examples of characters found in the opening scenes of many famous screenplays. I would recommend you watch or re-watch these [...]
Visualization #3 – Tobias Sturt’s “HOW TO create an infographic”
INTERVIEW. There's a place where web design, typography, journalism and cartography meet to produce surprising stories. This place is called Data visualization. Tobias Sturt, the Design Manager at the Guardian Digital Agency, explains us what it is (and why he hates Times New Roman). Data archives have always existed. How the web-design changed the [...]
It’s drawer time
I could even fantasize but this time I will stick to work related topic. It's about being an editorial desk in one person. So, there is a rule I tend to like – leave a story you are editing or writing for a day or two in the drawer and when you come back to it [...]
Where do you go on holiday?
Today, 27 September, is the World Tourism Day (so many days for so many different things …) – and for the occasion we have a great infographic, on tourism in Europe. No big surprises. France is the most visited EU country. London, Rome, and Paris are the most popular towns to visit in Europe. What is your favourite destination? [...]
Visualization #1 – Laura Cattaneo’s “HOW TO create an infographic”
INTERVIEW. She's 33 from Milan. Laura Cattaneo is a journalist. She creates the infographics and the illustrations for the Italian newspaper IlSole24ore. And she's the art director of la vita nòva, a science and technology supplement created only for the iPad. You can check her – brilliant – work on her site Half Past Twelve. [...]
10 things I’ve learnt while hunting “Who” Grant
How to accomplish mission impossible? First of all, is there such a thing? I believe that impossible is nothing, though you might need whole bunch of necessary skills and willingness to use any means available to get things done. One evening my fellow stagiaire asked me whether I would like to accompany her at hunting down [...]
How I became Giulio’s hero
“Florent is my hero”. This exclamation, published on 2 July by my colleague Giulio on Facebook, went straight to my heart. What a professional and personal achievement for me… You’re jealous? I understand. But I’m not selfish, so here is how I became Giulio’s hero. May it inspire you!
The true story of mister #
In radiography it's the symbol for a fracture. In linguistic it means that a sentence is semantically wrong. In chess note is the symbol for checkmate, and in cartography is the symbol for village. The hash we always use on Twitter has a long story. This week the Italian Twitter account of the EP – @europarl_it – [...]
When the chat is AFK, the mice dance on the TBL
Due to my last two posts having been rather lengthy, I'll try to keep this brief. And in light of the subject of the video, I'll make it even briefer by using as many geeky chat acronyms as my limited knowledge – and Google – allows: CTC? FYI: Geek, "CMG", hired by PTB to D [...]
The Creation (of a new paradigm for EP communication)
In the beginning was a word, and this word was from our Secretary General, and this word was the Secretary General. And the word was: “let there be light on the political side of the Parliament”.
All is revealed: the 15 shows in the Christmas video.
Our latest Christmas video, as afficionados of this blog, and indeed many others, know, is based on the title sequences of 15 well-known TV shows. Well-known? Well, yes. But so far, no-one has been able to recognise them all, with age and nationality playing a clear role in determining which ones are familiar and which [...]
Togo or not Togo…
This is a blog post I was supposed to write some time ago… But somehow I couldn't find the time to do it last week. Now I sit comfortably in my chair in lovely Strasbourg (yes, it's plenary once again), watching the Christmas market under the snow outside (or almost) and I can remember those [...]
Four gurus and six ideas to improve our web presence
With some other colleagues dealing with social media and the Parliament web presence, we went for a two-days trip to Paris to meet some geeks. Or, to be more precise, to meet web experts, public institutions webteams and web-journalists. A highly valuable school trip which gave some ideas about how we could further improve the [...]
MEP Awards 2011: who’s winning what?
A number of MEPs will be rewarded for their achievements over the past year during the 7th annual MEP Awards which takes place on 29 November at the Stanhope hotel in Brussels. The awards, hosted by The Parliament Magazine, consist of 17 different categories with three candidates shortlisted for each category. [...]
Tunisia 2.0: reporting back from refugee camps at the Tunisian-Libyan border
I went to Tunisia this summer and this experience may be worth a blog… You may think I just went there for nice, relaxed holidays on the seaside in a 5-stars resort. You may also wonder about the choice of this destination provided the recent events and the instability in the region…
Love your geeks, love me
“Love your geeks!” So we have been told. We could not do what we do without them. We could not progress without them. It is they, not us, who come up with the ideas which take the internet forwards. But should this love for our geeks extend to letting them loose on the blog? Read on, if you dare.
About the importance of being “outside”
Yes, I’m an insider, explaining the European Parliament from the inside. And yes, I do believe in the power people outside the institution can have. They may need us but, for sure, we need them as well.
The day I called 112
11 February is the European day of the 112, the emergency number that is working all over Europe. Because yes, accidents do not always happen to others and they also do not always happen in your home country… Let me tell you the experience I did with the 112, two or three years ago. Believe me, you should spread the word about this number!
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