Lobby Work - schleuser.net
To be able to present the trade association for smuggling people (Bundesverband Schleppen&Schleusen so called schleuser.net) at the Lothar Späth Award celebration was a special occasion for us, because the trade association fits harmonically into the long row of highly successful business enterprises.
As an association of business industry with the motto 'we support mobility' schleuser
.net links two themes that seem to be contradictory. There is a discrepancy between the actual impact of nations on global economics, and the movement so-called globalization has triggered: the free circulation of commodities, data and ideas and the restricted circulation of people who follow those products.
The effort to explore the interconnections between the two phenomena has been recognized with the Lothar-Späth-Prize in 2002. In his laudatio the donator of the prize emphasized the necessity to research the phenomenon of globalization.
For the occasion, schleuser
.net presented the new image campaign on globalization issues: an image video and a series of posters. The image campaign deals with economical aspects of the changing professional image of people's smugglers. As an example, in 1998 taxi-drivers, in test-cases, were sentenced for smuggling. From the viewpoint of the prosecutor and the court, it was the drivers’ duty to check the identity of the customers before a taxi trip across customs.
‘
Why should I have to check the identity of my guests? That is not my job. It’s all about the customer, isn’t it?’
(Slogan from the image campaign)
Previously, taxi businesses as a part of public transport had a specific duty of transport. This duty of transport is now, in the recent legal situation, dependent on the nationality of the customers. Independent of where in the state territory the taxi is used, it becomes a customs office, because the driver must examine people’s identity and in a given case refuse the service or take them to the next police office.
Even businesses traditionally engaged and specialized in traveling are confronted with new professional challenges. They must analyze which passages should be offered to which circles of people if they do not want to risk trespassing new globalized laws.
Arts meets the corproate world.
The trade association for smuggling people – schleuser.net –
takes successful stock:
Ambiance is important if one wishes to make an impact in an unobtrusive way. The Munich Hofgarten is a privileged location in this respect, with its direct historical references, the immediate neighborhood to the government’s administrative buildingsand to other lobby organizations.
So the invitation of the Kunstverein München was welcome to schleuser.net and its office was opened at the Hofgarten. The communications team worked at the temporary office from July 24 to August 18, 2002, with an emphasis on addressing political decision makers and on public relations activities.
The culmination of the temporary office was ‘
Open House’ day on 10 Aug 2002. Sascha Büttner from Wiesbaden allowed us a glance behind the scenes of the newly founded county association (Landesverband Hessen) and Frankfurts’s Rhine-Main airport ‘Fraport’.
Those interested could read up on the refugee rate in Schleswig-Holstein in the magazine ‘Der Schlepper’ and learn of current publications at the book stand. There were surprises, pennants and hot dogs for the whole family, plus a small and usefull give-away.
