Making the Difference:  how EVN Members make the Eurovision News Exchange the "Gold Standard"- helping each other bring breaking news coverage to audiences of millions; how BBC Online will bring an unprecedented streaming of 2,500 hours of live HD coverage of the 2012 Olympics; how Online news offers new ways to deliver news and communicate with a wider audience - these are just some examples of the subjects discussed at the annual Eurovision  Contacts meeting in Cascais last week. 

Held in the sunny coastal Portuguese town of Cascais from 31 May to 1 June,  the meeting brought together more than 80 contacts from the EBU members coming from the News, Sports News, Special Events and Satellite Coordination departments to share their experiences, discuss current issues and also to find ways to improve and innovate.

Gudrun Gutt, chairman of the Editorial Subcommittee - the organizing body of the annual gathering - opened the meeting emphasizing new opportunities now that News is part of the newly formed EBU Media Department headed by Annika Nyberg Frankenhaeuser. The Media Department brings together News, Television, Radio, Training and Media Lab.

Guest speakers: Mark Coyle of BBC, Lars Damgaard Nielsen of DR and Ignacio Gomez Hernandez of RTVE presented their online news and content experiences to meeting participants . 

Meeting presentations will be online soon here.