There are various reasons why we decided to have a blog on Europe, sorry… on the EU. We thought that writing a blog must be a cool thing. And it’s cool indeed! “Writing to the world” corresponds more or less to our paternalistic aspirations. In fact, teaching ignorant people how the EU works makes us feel intelligent.

Nah, we actually don’t know how it works: nobody does! But we felt we could share a few clever thoughts with you. In fact, we know some stuff ‘cause, at the end, we’re studying in the capital of Europe and it happens that some Euro-technocrats give us courses. Yes, they do give us courses! As if they were not getting enough shekels, man! Perhaps, they need to teach stuff in order to feel useful. Just kidding, my dearest professors. I appreciate your hmmm… hard work.

More seriously, our idea was to make “uninterested people from the street” the blog’s  main target group. You know, Europe is fascinating but – sorry but I love this useful expression – people from the street (ALL THESE POOR PEOPLE WALKING PURPOSELESS IN THE STREETS OF THEIR CITIES, TOWNS AND VILLAGES) just don’t know how enthralling Europe is. They simply don’t know. As Jean-Claude Van Damme, Belgium’s most famous philosopher, would say: “ils savent pas, les pauvres, they are not aware”. Ignorance irritates us.

And we were sure that the under-informed Mr. Smith and Mme Dupont from the street would be delighted if they had a chance to read our blog. Instead of using their soles walking aimlessly from one corner of their street to the other, Mr. & Mme should get a seat, grab a MacBook and learn how Europe works. Yes, we were hoping they would finally leave their avenues, boulevards and cul-de-sac, go home, type www.nicetomeeteu.com and let the EU imbue their mind.

There are actually so many people in the streets who don’t know how diverting and interesting Europe is. As you can see, our target group is quite large. Here’s where our main problem pops up: the marketing issue. We actually can’t really reach the guy in the street. The only way people find our blog is through Google (via tags) or YouTube. The rest is family, friends, friends’ friends, friends’ friends’ friends, etc… Believe us or not, but we have good stats. A relatively high number of internet users visit our site daily but we kind of know these are no “people from the street”. I suppose they are EU lovers. Yep, we’re mostly getting EU sweethearts here! Why is it so?

Like all political parties, EUTube and even Barack Obama, nicetomeeteu.com is confronted with the same notable communication problem: the principle of selective exposure. It means that people will always tend to go to websites that contain information they’re already familiar with. You’ll avoid visiting sites that will say something that doesn’t really correspond to your expectations, opinions or knowledge. That’s why a Europhobe with some self-esteem won’t bother watching YouTube clips explaining EU policies. He simply knows this is “EU propaganda”. At the same time, an eager “defender of the EU” will find it difficult to devote a couple of minutes to listen to someone complaining about the “undemocratic character of the EU”.

So what about us? We can’t do anything about the fact that people are very limited in the choice of their information sources. This is why I’ll suggest to my co-editors either to stop being too idealistic and merely concentrate on the “EU-veterans” or to start a street campaign for our blog. In fact, if people are not eager to spot a new information source, the source should spot them. The campaign could involve a BBQ and an ukulele concert on the Schuman round-about (which is in the middle of the European district), coupled with a distribution of free water and flyers containing the internet address of the blog. Sounds compelling.

And how about making a nice YouTube vid of the street campaign involving our readers? If you live nearby Brussels, send us an e-mail to contact@nicetomeeteu.com with your name, age, phone number and a short motivation letter stating why you would like to take part in the pioneering marketing campaign in the streets of Brussels. You’re also encouraged to attach a picture to the e-mail. It’s not that we won’t take you if you’re ugly. You might simply do another job, not involving your face being visible in the clip. The applications will go through a harsh selection procedure consisting in the members of the panel (blog editors) randomly choosing the most suitable solicitations. Financial contributions are also very welcome.

We’ll keep you posted. For the time being, enjoy our blog and feel free to share your thoughts with us.

[The above pic belongs to the EC and can be downloaded for free from here: http://ec.europa.eu/avservices/photo/photo_thematic_en.cfm?id=012491]