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The meeting of first-contact personnel and the editorial board of the Prison and Judicial Guard Corps (ZVJS) is gradually becoming an annual tradition, during which selected officers from the institutions not only learn about news and changes but also undergo training and creative exercises within a packed three-day meeting program. From September 21st to 23rd, 2026, at the Treatment and Rehabilitation Center in Omšenie, it was no different. The three-day event was focused on developing communication skills, exchanging experiences, improving publication outputs, and finding new ways to present the work of the ZVJS to the public.
The program combined professional education with practical activities and space for mutual acquaintance and cooperation. During the meeting, participants tried out various communication situations, discussed content creation, and addressed current issues related to the presentation of the ZVJS in the media, on the website, and on social networks.
The meeting started with a creative team challenge. The participants' task was to find as many non-traditional solutions as possible in a short time. The activity promoted creativity, cooperation, and the ability to look at a problem from different perspectives. This was followed by a networking activity called "Networking Mission." Participants changed partners in individual rounds, and topics included, for example, secret talents, job interviews, human encyclopedias, or project proposals with a positive social impact.
Participants also addressed practical issues of creating and publishing content. They recalled the importance of correctly processing articles, photographs, and related requirements. Attention was paid, for example, to consents and personal data protection, working with databases, correctly naming photos, cover photos and headers, and using keywords. When publishing, it is important to think not only about the topic itself but also about the context and the visual aspect of the output. There was a discussion about appropriately depicting colleagues, sensitive situations behind bars, and the need to consider the reputational effect of content. Attention was also given to website changes, specifically automatic translations into English and the continuous refinement of FAQs for the new website feature - the AI chatbot.
The final activity focused on crisis communication. The simulation worked with three different perspectives – that of the institution, journalists, and the public. Participants thus had the opportunity to experience a situation in which the individual parties have different amounts of information and pursue different interests. The goal of the simulation was not to find a culprit, but to show that quality communication is a process that changes along with incoming information. The exercise included statements from individual parties, questions from journalists, audience reactions, voting, and subsequent confrontation with new facts in the form of a "crisis card."
The second day, and thus a significant part of the program, was devoted to the development of communication competencies under the guidance of Major Mgr. Ondrej Veľký in cooperation with Captain Mgr. Daniela Bartošová. Participants dealt with active listening, working with questions, argumentation and persuasion, as well as conflicts and different behavioral styles. Practical activities allowed them to reflect on their own communication style and the way it influences interaction with other people. Through model situations, participants could practice reactions in more demanding communication situations and look for suitable ways to handle them. This professional part was based on the concept of dynamic security and the principles and values embedded in the code of ethics of the ZVJS officer and their application in professional practice.
The final day belonged to publishing activities. Through a lecture and discussion by Mgr. Alexander Balucha, participants looked at the journey of an author who not only worked long-term as a member of the editorial board of a prison magazine but also at his story of creating publications about the prison system. They also focused on evaluating the quality and effectiveness of publication outputs on social networks and the website, with working with the audience being an important topic. Part of the closing block was the evaluation of publication results and an award for work that brought enormous reach, interaction, and new audiences.
The three-day meeting in Omšenie showed that quality communication does not arise just from publishing information alone. It is the result of cooperation, well-established procedures, the ability to listen, respond to different situations, and at the same time think about how the final content will affect the public. It is precisely the first-contact personnel and members of the editorial board who play a significant role in the daily communication of the ZVJS. Their experiences from individual organizational units bring diverse perspectives and concrete stories from practice into joint communication.
The meeting in Omšenie was therefore not just a work event, but also a space for exchanging experiences, making new contacts, jointly searching for solutions, and strengthening cooperation. As stated at the end of the meeting, openness, ideas, questions, and cooperation are the foundation for ensuring that ZVJS communication is understandable, professional, and trustworthy. Therefore, we thank all participants not only for these inspiring three days but especially for the quality work they perform throughout the year.
