MFA: #HELSINKI2018 Media Center at Finlandia Hall offers Finnish experiences

The international Media Center at Finlandia Hall will open on Sunday 15 July. We have coined the center: Probably the Happiest Media Center in the World. It offers quality services, Finnish food specialities, a shipping container converted into a sauna and a cosy Helsinki Lounge furnished with Finnish design where you can watch the FIFA World Cup Final.

“In addition to a pleasant interior design for football fans, the Lounge serves Finnish craft beers and sweets,” said Vappu Mänty, Director of Sales and Marketing, Helsinki Marketing.

The staff of the Foreign Ministry are happy to help all reporters in finding the right contacts for interviews and places to visit. Experts specialised in Arctic matters, in particular, are well-represented in the Media Center. There are complimentary info tablets for media use. The #HELSINKI2018 App is used for internal communications for media representatives in the Media Center.

Country-branding experts in the Foreign Ministry planned the menus together with the staff of the Finlandia Restaurant. We serve locally produced organic products, some of which are traditional Finnish foods and others are novelties. You will find, for example, trout from Åland, mashed potato prepared from Lapland potatoes, rolled oat flatbread, Karelian pastries, pulled oats and cricket bread. For dessert there is blueberry cake, Finnish lingonberry rye pie, sea buckthorn cheese cake and chocolate mousse with seasonal Finnish berries. Special dietary requirements have been taken comprehensively into account. There is a wide variety of vegetarian and vegan options.

“Adjacent to the outdoors sauna there is a stand with fresh strawberries and peas in a pod in a genuinely Finnish style. Instead of ordinary water bottles, we offer reusable bottles that you can fill with the world’s best tap water,” said Meira Pappi, Country Branding Specialist, Foreign Ministry.

The overarching country branding message is that the Finnish society functions smoothly and is easily able to set up a meeting of this magnitude at short notice, with due consideration for sustainable development principles.

Helsinki Lounge at the #HELSINKI2018 Media Center features:

Artek/Vitra

Bright Finland

Eropan Oy/Boatsauna

Fazer

The Helsinki Distilling Company

Made by Choice

Maku Brewing

Marimekko

Sauna from Finland

Woltti Group

T:mi J. Vaahtokari

Inquiries:

Meira Pappi, Country Branding Specialist, Ministry for Foreign Affair, tel. +358 40 140 8940

Vappu Mänty, Director of Sales and Marketing, Helsinki Marketing, tel. +358 50 401 3548

The Foreign Ministry's email addresses are of the format firstname.lastname@formin.fi.