![\"Marko](\"https://www.seebtm.com/wp-content/uploads/intervju-sr.jpg\")
1. When did curling come to Serbia?
\nAs far as I know, curling came to Serbia, or Yugoslavia, several times. After my wife Dara, our friend and Secretary-General of the Association Miodrag Kastratovic, and I founded the first curling sports organization in 2003 and the Curling Association of Serbia and Montenegro in 2004.
\nAfter that country also collapsed, and we founded the National Curling Association of Serbia in 2006. Many people at the time would tell us something along the lines of, \u201cWell, I was planning to set up an association, too, and go to the Olympics.\u201d
\nSo, the idea was there, but the entrepreneurial spirit wasn\u2019t. I myself watched curling on French TV in 1992 when I lived in Paris, which is where I was training in mime. That year curling was a demonstration sport at the Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, France, and turned out to be quite a hit.
\nAfter I returned to Belgrade in 1994, I was telling everyone about curling and the idea to go to the Olympics.
\nI met Miodrag Kastratovic at the end of the \u201890s, which was a turning point because he had also been involved in competitive dancing; he had a club and headed an association; he had a lot of experience with administration. But even from that moment on it took a lot of cups of coffee, talking about curling, and dreaming about the Olympics for us to register the association after three or four years.
\nThe Bowling Association of Serbia was celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2013, and that\u2019s when I got a document that said that from 1949 to 1953 the Bowling Sports Association of Serbia represented bowling, bocce, and ice bowling, i.e. curling.
\n2. The 4th Annual World Curling Congress took place in Belgrade last year. How was Belgrade chosen to host the event?
\nWe applied to host the event two times. On both occasions the application was submitted in partnership with DMC Vekol from Belgrade and with the support of the Serbia Convention Bureau. The competition was serious both times.
\nThe city of Reno in Nevada, USA, known for its big hotels and casinos resembling those in Las Vegas, won the first time. However, with extra effort and lobbying, as well as the good will of the members of the Management Board of the World Curling Federation to at least send the event to some of the emerging curling countries that don\u2019t meet the requirements for competitions, Belgrade won.
\nThat\u2019s how, after a golf resort near Glasgow called Turnberry, Denmark\u2019s Copenhagen, and the USA\u2019s Reno, we got the chance to organize the biggest non-competitive event of the World Curling Federation. This was a great responsibility for the National Curling Association of Serbia and a great honour for Belgrade and Serbia.
\n3. How many participants were involved in the event and which countries did they come from?
\nProfessional events are most commonly promoted among industry people by sending an invitation to participate and a small brochure. We decided to develop a more serious PR campaign online.
\nA year before the event we sent information to the members of the World Curling Federation about Belgrade and Serbia, our culture, tourism, and history. We referred them to links on Wikipedia, Tourist Organization of Serbia and Belgrade, different interesting videos on YouTube. We told them about musicians, restaurants and specialty dishes, wines and rakijas, customs, but also the options in medical, dental, and spa tourism.
\n![\"Michael](\"https://www.seebtm.com/wp-content/uploads/MichaelMarklundSWE-KateCaithnessWCF-MarkoStojanovic.jpg\")
We also filmed a mini-series called Serbian for Tourists, which we uploaded to YouTube, and we were sending them links weekly, one episode after another, teaching them to say \u201cHello\u201d and telling them about the three kisses when meeting, about what rakija is and how to order it in pubs, about leaving the tip. We set up a Facebook page for the Association that now has nearly 2,000 fans, and we used it to share different information.
\nAll our efforts paid off \u2013 we had around 200 visitors and more than 140 delegates from 47 countries out of the 53 member countries in the World Curling Federation. This is the biggest, the best, and the most visited congress so far. That\u2019s what prompted the Serbia Convention Bureau to grant me the title of Congress Ambassador of Serbia for 2015 and 2016. Of course, the reward belongs to everyone who was involved in the event planning.
\n4. What made the biggest impression after the event?
\nThe biggest impression on us who organized the event was changing the prejudice against Serbia. Some feared for their safety so they didn\u2019t bring their spouses, others \u201ctook a risk\u201d and came with their husbands and wives, but all of them left thrilled with Serbia, Belgrade, their people, culture, and history, food and drinks, our customs, and every event we planned for them.
\nMost of them promised to come back and spend their holidays in Serbia, and all of them can\u2019t wait for us to build the first curling venue in the Balkans, whose first wall holds a brick signed and placed by each of them.
\nThe post About curling in Serbia from first hand appeared first on SEE Business travel & meetings magazine.
\n", "content_text": "About the arrivnig of curling in Serbia, great efforts and time which was necessary to invest in the organization of the 4th World Curling Congress, we talked with talked with Mr. Marko Stojanovic, President of the National Curling Association of Serbia and Congress Ambassador of Serbia for 2015 and 2016.\nMarko Stojanovi\u0107\n1. When did curling come to Serbia?\nAs far as I know, curling came to Serbia, or Yugoslavia, several times. After my wife Dara, our friend and Secretary-General of the Association Miodrag Kastratovic, and I founded the first curling sports organization in 2003 and the Curling Association of Serbia and Montenegro in 2004.\nAfter that country also collapsed, and we founded the National Curling Association of Serbia in 2006. Many people at the time would tell us something along the lines of, \u201cWell, I was planning to set up an association, too, and go to the Olympics.\u201d\nSo, the idea was there, but the entrepreneurial spirit wasn\u2019t. I myself watched curling on French TV in 1992 when I lived in Paris, which is where I was training in mime. That year curling was a demonstration sport at the Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, France, and turned out to be quite a hit.\nAfter I returned to Belgrade in 1994, I was telling everyone about curling and the idea to go to the Olympics.\nI met Miodrag Kastratovic at the end of the \u201890s, which was a turning point because he had also been involved in competitive dancing; he had a club and headed an association; he had a lot of experience with administration. But even from that moment on it took a lot of cups of coffee, talking about curling, and dreaming about the Olympics for us to register the association after three or four years.\nThe Bowling Association of Serbia was celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2013, and that\u2019s when I got a document that said that from 1949 to 1953 the Bowling Sports Association of Serbia represented bowling, bocce, and ice bowling, i.e. curling.\n2. The 4th Annual World Curling Congress took place in Belgrade last year. How was Belgrade chosen to host the event?\nWe applied to host the event two times. On both occasions the application was submitted in partnership with DMC Vekol from Belgrade and with the support of the Serbia Convention Bureau. The competition was serious both times.\nThe city of Reno in Nevada, USA, known for its big hotels and casinos resembling those in Las Vegas, won the first time. However, with extra effort and lobbying, as well as the good will of the members of the Management Board of the World Curling Federation to at least send the event to some of the emerging curling countries that don\u2019t meet the requirements for competitions, Belgrade won.\nThat\u2019s how, after a golf resort near Glasgow called Turnberry, Denmark\u2019s Copenhagen, and the USA\u2019s Reno, we got the chance to organize the biggest non-competitive event of the World Curling Federation. This was a great responsibility for the National Curling Association of Serbia and a great honour for Belgrade and Serbia.\n3. How many participants were involved in the event and which countries did they come from?\nProfessional events are most commonly promoted among industry people by sending an invitation to participate and a small brochure. We decided to develop a more serious PR campaign online.\nA year before the event we sent information to the members of the World Curling Federation about Belgrade and Serbia, our culture, tourism, and history. We referred them to links on Wikipedia, Tourist Organization of Serbia and Belgrade, different interesting videos on YouTube. We told them about musicians, restaurants and specialty dishes, wines and rakijas, customs, but also the options in medical, dental, and spa tourism.\nMichael Marklund SWE, Kate Caithness WCF, Marko Stojanovic\nWe also filmed a mini-series called Serbian for Tourists, which we uploaded to YouTube, and we were sending them links weekly, one episode after another, teaching them to say \u201cHello\u201d and telling them about the three kisses when meeting, about what rakija is and how to order it in pubs, about leaving the tip. We set up a Facebook page for the Association that now has nearly 2,000 fans, and we used it to share different information.\nAll our efforts paid off \u2013 we had around 200 visitors and more than 140 delegates from 47 countries out of the 53 member countries in the World Curling Federation. This is the biggest, the best, and the most visited congress so far. That\u2019s what prompted the Serbia Convention Bureau to grant me the title of Congress Ambassador of Serbia for 2015 and 2016. Of course, the reward belongs to everyone who was involved in the event planning.\n4. What made the biggest impression after the event?\nThe biggest impression on us who organized the event was changing the prejudice against Serbia. Some feared for their safety so they didn\u2019t bring their spouses, others \u201ctook a risk\u201d and came with their husbands and wives, but all of them left thrilled with Serbia, Belgrade, their people, culture, and history, food and drinks, our customs, and every event we planned for them.\nNational Curling Association of Serbia was founded in 2006.\nMost of them promised to come back and spend their holidays in Serbia, and all of them can\u2019t wait for us to build the first curling venue in the Balkans, whose first wall holds a brick signed and placed by each of them.\nThe post About curling in Serbia from first hand appeared first on SEE Business travel & meetings magazine.", "date_published": "2016-06-09T14:29:29+02:00", "date_modified": "2016-12-21T15:16:22+01:00", "author": { "name": "Mirjana Novitovic", "url": "https://www.seebtm.com/en/author/officebs/", "avatar": "https://www.seebtm.com/wp-content/uploads/slika-.jpg" }, "image": "https://www.seebtm.com/wp-content/uploads/749251.jpg", "tags": [ "belgrade", "curling", "Interviews" ] }, { "id": "https://www.seebtm.com/en/curling-a-winter-olympic-sport/", "url": "https://www.seebtm.com/en/curling-a-winter-olympic-sport/", "title": "Curling \u2013 A Winter Olympic Sport", "content_html": "This game can be played by teams of women or men of different ages and requires little strength.
\nEarly Days of Curling
\nCurling is a sport that has been played for nearly half a millennium and the game can be traced as far back as 1540 in Scotland. Over time, curling spread from Scotland to Canada, America, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, and New Zealand.
\nThe first international curling events were recorded in the 19th century in Europe and North America, but only at the 1924 Winter Olympic Games was the first, official international competition for men\u2019s teams recorded.
\nThe early curling games were played outdoors, since ice rinks did not exist. A frozen lake, stones, and wooden brushes were the elementary markings of curling. Today, the development of technology transformed what curling looks like. First of all, games are played on ice sheets where ice temperature is controlled using manufactured granite stones that must have prescribed weight.
\nHow to play?
\nCurling is played on a field 44.5 m long and 5 m wide, using granite stones that weigh 20 kg. Both ends of the field have two sets of four concentric circles with hacks on the very ends of the field. The player uses hacks to push off for the shot and deliver the stone.
\n![\"Curling](\"https://www.seebtm.com/wp-content/uploads/Curling-in-Central-Park-New-York-1900-1906-1-slika-na-drugoj-strani.jpg\")
As for teams, curling is played in two teams consisting of four players who use brushes and brooms to try and push eight stones each as near to the center of the house as possible. Teams can be men\u2019s, women\u2019s, or mixed.
\nThe sport requires special shoes and brush. Shoes are comprised of a slider, worn on one leg and used for sliding, and a gripper, worn on the other leg and used for improving traction. According to the rules, the slider is worn on the leg opposite of the hand used for throwing the stone.
\nIn addition to the basic there is also the additional equipment, such as special gloves, aids for exiting the hack, stopwatch for measuring the time it takes to throw the stone.
\nIn short, curling is played by two teams competing to be faster in pushing the stones from one end of the field to the other, where a big round target is located. The end goal is to have as many stones as possible near the target center as a team and to determine team skills of the players.
\nThe spirit of curling in a certain way represents the players\u2019 code. It is actually the mutual respect among the players, as well as for the game itself. There is even a proverb saying that a curling player would rather lose than win unfairly.
\n![\"Curling\"](\"https://www.seebtm.com/wp-content/uploads/slika-sr-2.jpg\")
Respecting other players is one of the basic principles of the spirit of curling. A player who adheres to this code will never try to put competitors in an awkward position by unsportsmanlike conduct or by breaking the rules.
\nIt could be said that the spirit of curling requires honorable, kind, and sportsmanlike behavior.\u00a0 Regardless of whether competitions are professional or amateur, the spirit of curling plays the key role, since there are no judges for the sport in most countries.
\nToday, curling is a global sport played in Andorra, Austria, Bulgaria, Belgium, Netherlands, Croatia, Serbia, and many others, while Canada has the highest number of players.
\nThe significance of curling as a sport is also evident in world curling conventions that have so far taken place in Denmark, America, Serbia, and this year in Sweden.
\nThis is one of example of sport in which your employees could participate, in addition to bowling, games in adrenalin parks or in escape room, or in a little bit less active game – in team cooking.
\nThe post Curling \u2013 A Winter Olympic Sport appeared first on SEE Business travel & meetings magazine.
\n", "content_text": "Curling is one of the Winter Olympic sports whose origins are related to Scotland, since this is where the very first evidence of the sport was discovered.\nThis game can be played by teams of women or men of different ages and requires little strength.\nEarly Days of Curling\nCurling is a sport that has been played for nearly half a millennium and the game can be traced as far back as 1540 in Scotland. Over time, curling spread from Scotland to Canada, America, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, and New Zealand.\nThe first international curling events were recorded in the 19th century in Europe and North America, but only at the 1924 Winter Olympic Games was the first, official international competition for men\u2019s teams recorded.\nDid you know?\nRoyal Caledonian Curling Club, founded in 1838, is the oldest curling club in the world and the first ever rules of curling were written in the club.\nThe early curling games were played outdoors, since ice rinks did not exist. A frozen lake, stones, and wooden brushes were the elementary markings of curling. Today, the development of technology transformed what curling looks like. First of all, games are played on ice sheets where ice temperature is controlled using manufactured granite stones that must have prescribed weight.\nHow to play?\nCurling is played on a field 44.5 m long and 5 m wide, using granite stones that weigh 20 kg. Both ends of the field have two sets of four concentric circles with hacks on the very ends of the field. The player uses hacks to push off for the shot and deliver the stone.\nCurling in Central Park, New York, 1900-1906\nAs for teams, curling is played in two teams consisting of four players who use brushes and brooms to try and push eight stones each as near to the center of the house as possible. Teams can be men\u2019s, women\u2019s, or mixed.\nThe sport requires special shoes and brush. Shoes are comprised of a slider, worn on one leg and used for sliding, and a gripper, worn on the other leg and used for improving traction. According to the rules, the slider is worn on the leg opposite of the hand used for throwing the stone.\nCurling player would rather lose than win unfairly.\nIn addition to the basic there is also the additional equipment, such as special gloves, aids for exiting the hack, stopwatch for measuring the time it takes to throw the stone.\nIn short, curling is played by two teams competing to be faster in pushing the stones from one end of the field to the other, where a big round target is located. The end goal is to have as many stones as possible near the target center as a team and to determine team skills of the players.\nThe spirit of curling in a certain way represents the players\u2019 code. It is actually the mutual respect among the players, as well as for the game itself. There is even a proverb saying that a curling player would rather lose than win unfairly.\n\nRespecting other players is one of the basic principles of the spirit of curling. A player who adheres to this code will never try to put competitors in an awkward position by unsportsmanlike conduct or by breaking the rules.\nIt could be said that the spirit of curling requires honorable, kind, and sportsmanlike behavior.\u00a0 Regardless of whether competitions are professional or amateur, the spirit of curling plays the key role, since there are no judges for the sport in most countries.\nCurling has been an Olympic sport since 1924.\nToday, curling is a global sport played in Andorra, Austria, Bulgaria, Belgium, Netherlands, Croatia, Serbia, and many others, while Canada has the highest number of players.\nThe significance of curling as a sport is also evident in world curling conventions that have so far taken place in Denmark, America, Serbia, and this year in Sweden.\nThis is one of example of sport in which your employees could participate, in addition to bowling, games in adrenalin parks or in escape room, or in a little bit less active game – in team cooking.\nThe post Curling \u2013 A Winter Olympic Sport appeared first on SEE Business travel & meetings magazine.", "date_published": "2016-04-27T12:31:18+02:00", "date_modified": "2016-12-22T15:07:38+01:00", "author": { "name": "Mirjana Novitovic", "url": "https://www.seebtm.com/en/author/officebs/", "avatar": "https://www.seebtm.com/wp-content/uploads/slika-.jpg" }, "image": "https://www.seebtm.com/wp-content/uploads/naslovna-sr.jpg", "tags": [ "curling", "interesting facts", "pick", "team building", "winter olympic sport", "Team building activities" ] } ] }