This week: Dubai Press Club
With Dubai becoming a cultural hub, a city of international events and shopping festivals, General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Minister of Defence, established the Dubai Press Club (DPC) in November 1999.
The club motto being 'the idea exchange', the objective is to promote interaction among journalists and media professionals from around the world.
The premises provide world-class facilities that create the ideal environment for the pursuit of journalistic excellence. Within a period of three years, the DPC has invited Presidents, Prime Ministers and other leading political and business leaders from around the world as speakers.
Besides this, the DPC launched the first ever Arabic awards for journalism. Over the last three years, high-profile media summits have also been organised on a regular basis.
"We have had the Arab Media Summit, the International Media Summit and the IT-Journalism Media Summit. All of which serve as a platform for discussion, debate and action on strategic issues in their area of operation," explains Mona Al Marri, executive manager, Dubai Press Club.
A number of networking groups have also been created; one of them is the Women's Media Group. This meets on a regular basis to discuss relevant issues.
"All nationalities can be a part of this, and every Ramadan we organise an evening get-together with pot luck and fashion shows. It provides an atmosphere of fun along with helping us achieve our goal of creating awareness of certain issues," says Susan Suliman Saeed, customer service coordinator of the Club.
Besides the regular facilities of Internet, e-mail and fax, there are 12 televisions that are tuned to international news channels. Members have access to newspapers from the entire Gulf. The meeting rooms can be used free-of-charge by members depending on availability.
"We are committed to organising social and business activities for our members and their families. Two years ago, we decided to include children to get them interested in this field," added Saeed.
The Kid's Press Club is conducted for two to four weeks in the summer, for ages 10 to 15 years. A nominal fee is charged, and children are exposed to field trips and workshops.
"This year the children were given a photography assignment with Old and New Dubai as their focus. Each one made an individual presentation on that at the end of the course," explains Zeba Ahmad, media relations coordinator of the DPC.
Zeba also informs that in January, the DPC invited 18 international press clubs to form the International Association of Press Clubs (IAPC), of which Dubai is the permanent Secretariat.
"This implies that any DPC member can use the facilities of these various clubs around the world."
There are six kinds of journalistic memberships described in the brochure. These are even one for students who are studying media in college. Besides filling out a comprehensive form, one needs to get a letter from the company or provide a business card for identification. The fee structure varies for residing Club members and those who are visiting.
