Participating in ACYPL’s US-Russia Media Dialogue 2014 was a great experience for me. I had a great chance to visit the USA and to learn more about this country. During the 10-day program, I really enjoyed meeting new people, especially those working in media. Some of my best memories include a meeting with Twitter in DC, a one-day placement at the Washington Post and two days in Detroit at the Netroots Nation Conference. A visit to the Pentagon, of course, was incredible!

It was very interesting for me to learn about the USA’s approach to new-media and social-media stories. At least I understood that we in Russia do the same, but people are less open and maybe not as ready for open dialogue in social media. My personal opinion after this program: our countries (USA and Russia) are very similar and we really should know more about each other by meeting face-to-face as opposed to getting information from official TV-programs. It was also great to meet new colleagues from Russia; we stay in touch with each other and continue to discuss our professional work on Facebook.

I’m really thankful for the US-Russia Media Dialogue organized by ACYPL. It was one of the best educational programs of my life!

Alexandra Poblinkova is the chief editor of the-province.ru