Mrs. Şükran Ceren Salalı, Andreas Boris Weber
“Johannes Gutenberg was our first geek, the original technology entrepreneur, who had to grapple with all the challenges a Silicon Valley startup faces today.” —Jeff Jarvis (Introduction by Şükran Ceren Salalı, Value Art+Communication Fellow, Istanbul) I always enjoy meeting new people from various countries and different perspectives as a Sociology student from Turkey. After doing my AFS Exchange Program in Belgium and getting involved in an international peace project in the Netherlands, I said “why not to apply the Erasmus internship program which gives an opportunity to work in different European countries for 3 months”. The city of Mainz was a kind of un-existing place for me a few months ago. I have never heard the name of this beautiful city when I was in Turkey. I think, and also what I have heard so far, when it comes to speaking about Germany, is that most of the people from other countries only know; cities like Berlin, Frankfurt, or Nürnberg, but not Mainz. When I have arrived here to start my Erasmus internship in an international research and publishing company, Value Communication AG in where I get the chance to work with a professional analyst and the founder of Value Communication, Andreas Weber, I was fascinated by the rich cultural and artistic environment of Mainz as the hometown of Johannes Gutenberg and the surrounding area as a leading centre of the culture of communication. It was an emotion that feels like a magic from the history but still existing with its modern face in today’s world. All these feelings and ideas made me think about the lack of sufficient information and effective communication mediums about the existence of a 2000-year-old city. On that moment, I have decided to create a project which we called ”Value Art+Communication Project“ in order to showcase the real value of Mainz without turning it to a touristic advertisement. In the very beginning, I have prepared a scenario considering the steps of my city experience in Mainz
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