Buy Greek for
Christmas...
Share the page - Share the passion - share the thought!
it doesn't have to be big, a chocolate, a card, a book is
fine...
just make sure it is Greek!
All those who have been following our blog and our
Global Greek World Facebook Page
know it as a blog which is for and about Greeks all over the world.
Global Greek World, or GGW as most of us call it, aims at bringing Greeks together, while promoting the best and
brightest that Greece has to offer at home and abroad, uniting them
all under the Global Greek World umbrella.
Let's
not forget that each and every Greek, wherever he or she is in the
world, is a walking, talking and sometimes even singing Ambassador for
Greece. We need to harness and project the enormous potential this
dynamic gives us as much as we can for Greece's benefit, especially
today.
One of our traditional Greek sayings goes... Άν δεν παινέψεις το σπίτι σου θα πέσει να σε πλακώσει.... if you don't praise your home it will fall and crush you... what else is Greece but our collective home and one of the most beautiful in the world!
If only we knew how blessed we are!
Greece
has so much to offer - at every level. Greek products are world class
in many sectors yet, until recently, Greece has never really promoted them
as such.
Take our excellent, top of the tops, pure, extra-virgin olive oil, or Greek
Yoghurt, as examples of products which have taken off with just a little
work...ultimately they sell themselves because their quality is so good.
The concept of Buy GREEK was
something I was thinking of for a while as a way to make people aware
of the significance of supporting Greece's 'producers' as a move away
from the crazy and indiscriminate consumerism of all things imported
that has prevailed in the last few years in Greece. I had already done
the necessary back office work, the domain, the email and the Buy GREEK page but I was working on the direction it should take...
However
life has a way of taking over one's plans: Christmas and a question
from a friend on facebook actually acted as a catalyst to get it going
earlier than planned...so voila, the
Buy GREEK for Christmas This Year Campaign event was launched at the end of November...
a) a movement which will make people at home and abroad show their confidence in all things Greek similar to the O ΕΠΙΜΕΝΩN ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ movement of the 80's
b) a 'meeting place' for Greek producers and consumers in Greece and around the world,
c)
a way to provide a shot in the arm for all products and services which
are also part of a much bigger picture - the image Greece presents to
the world - Brand Greece if you like, a brand which has taken a lot of knocks in the last few years and which needs to be rebuilt, yesterday!!!
d)
a generic term that refers to all the things available in Greece -
from physical products to Greece's rich and unique cultural heritage,
and everything in between, on land or sea... the sky's the limit when it
comes to showcasing the best!
There hasn't been any contact with
any of the producers or the companies either 'liked' on the page or as
direct links as yet, but that will come as we develop our strategy ... right now we are happy for people to post suggestions for
Greek products, which as you can see they are doing, both on the actual
page and on the event.
Buy GREEK
is a concept which ultimately can be applied to all Greek products,
businesses and services all over the world. We are thrilled to see that
people themselves are not restricting it to Greek in the geographical
sense and are including the diaspora Greek businesses which promote
Greek products and services as well.
The
feedback so far has been very positive, but confirmation that it is a
good idea and one that everybody will try to embrace will come with an
increase in 'likes' or attendance for the Buy Greek for Christmas event itself, so please get 'like-ing'!
There's been a great response following publication of the article by Nelly Abravanel in Kathimerini tis Kyriakis and on Skai as well as the English edition of Kathimerini - a much appreciated gesture, and a big thank you to Nelly for getting in touch!
As a result of that interview, the number of guests for the event are multiplying fast as are the 'likes' on the
Buy GREEK page. Not
bad at all, but we would love it to go viral of course! Ιf we can get
those numbers high it means that we increase people's awareness of
Greek products and services and show them that it is quite easy to
Buy
GREEK, wherever we may be.
Along
with all the rest of our diaspora Greeks, I grew up and studied abroad, very
much involved in all things Greek in our small Greek Community, bridging and
bringing together the two worlds I belonged to. Now living, working and
raising a family in Greece, I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of
one of the best things Greece did in the course of her modern history -
Athens' Magic Olympic Games - ATHENS
2004!
The
amazing things Greece was able to show the world during those
unforgettable days in August of 2004 was a result of the fact that as a
nation, both at home and abroad, WE worked together as ONE, united and
focused on the noble cause - the homecoming of the Olympic Games, one of Greece's
many legacies to the world.
Unfortunately
our political leaders didn't take the golden
opportunity that presented itself after Athens' magical Olympics and
they didn't run with it at all. Quite the opposite in fact...
The
often undeserved battering Greece has had on the world stage because of
the economic crisis has helped many people take a good long look at
what has gone wrong in Greece.
We now need to get to work again and fix it all for the good of Greece and the future generations.
We
need to start working for the common good again rather than just that
of our immediate circle... and Buy GREEK is an initiative in that
direction.
We need YOUR help to get the news of this initiative out there.
We need to make people passionate about the cause.
Share the page - Share the passion - share the thought! Buy Greek for
Christmas... it doesn't have to be big, a chocolate, a card, a book is
fine...just make sure it is Greek!
If you love Greece, it's simple...
Buy GREEK!
Join us
Global Greek World
PS
Just found out that the Dutch central bank has given its 2,000 staff a Greek hamper this Christmas,
containing cheese, olives, wine, a travel guide and a book about Greek
myths... so...Let's
start a trend!
If the Dutch Central Bank can do it so can WE, wherever
we are in the world!
GREEK Christmas Hampers for all!
Buy GREEK!
