The 3rd International Hitch-hiking Conference

The 3rd International Hitch-hiking Conference

Date: 6-7 March, 1999
Town: Vilnius (Lithuania)
Organizer: Vilnius Hitch-hiking Club
Participants: 73 (!!!) hitch-hikers from Lithuania, Russia, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Australia, Portugal, Ukraina, Kazakhstan
Photos

Bernd's Wechner's article about the conference at www.suite101.com

Goals

1) Establishing of the International Hitch-Hiking Association

The International Hitch-Hiking Accociation will be established in the course of the conference. This association will coordinate activities of various hitch-hiking clubs and local associations. It will also provide suport to newly established clubs. The interclub hitch-hiking competitions rules for memeber clubs will also be approved during the conference.

2) Promoting closer cooperaton between hitch-hiking clubs

Conference participants from major hitch-hiking clubs will discuss ways to improve inter-club relations and cooperation, define major obstacles to this cooperation and best ways to overcome them. The International Hitch-Hiking Association will be established in effort to improve this cooperation; its activities and expected results will be discussed in a special workgroup.

3) Promoting foundation of new hitch-hiking clubs

Individual travelers will be introduced to an explanation of the concept of hitch-hiking clubs - a circle of like-minded persons who willing and able to help her/him with their travels. New clubs in Lithuania and other European countries are expected to be founded after the conference.

4) Shaping public opinion on autostop as a positive social phenomenon

For nearly a century hitch-hiking as we know it was a way of traveling which helped thousands of people see places they couldn't have reached otherwise, meet people they wouldn't have met without hitch-hiking, and have an experience, unachievable using more conventional ways of traveling. These travels helped many young people to develop their personality and become matured members of their countires. However, more often than not the genaral public hears about about hitch-hiking only after a hitch-hiking related crime or accident occurs. Obviously, the public has to be better acquainted with the phenomenon and its positive sides, which would better hitch-hiking's image and its ranking among other social phenomenons.

One of conference workgroups will be dedicated to discussions of this problem and best ways to solve it. The conference itslelf will also serve as a medium for the public to get acquainted with positive sides of hitch-hiking, and to get more positive coverage of hitch-hiking in massmedia.

5) Promoting hitch-hiking as a cheap and effective form of tourism

Despite the long and rich history of hitch-hiking travels, this phenomenon is usually considered less serious than other forms of tourism. That's why one of the main goals of this conference is encourraging the society to regard hitch-hiking equal to "traditional" ways of traveling and encourrage people to travel this way.

In effort ot achieving this goal inexperienced hitch-hikers will be tought more effective mothods of hitch-hiking travels, usually acquired only through trials and errors. These methods will make hitch-hiking faster, more enjoyable and relaiable and thereby encourrage then to become more active in the field. This material will be also published in a book on on the Internet, so it will be available to those who weren't able to take part in the conference.

6) Discussing better ways of using Internet for hitch-hikers purposes and for hitch-hiking promotion and encouraging

Internet, the most rapidly expanding communications network, is a perfect medium for hitch-hikers who cross borders oftenly and thereby meet people from various countries. Internet, a medium without political and cultural borders, is the perfect solution for such travelers who can easily stay in touch with newly found friends and find potential friends in countries they expect to see. Information about their possible destinations is also often found in the Internet, together with advise of various people who already tired the road and/or are living there. The hitch-hiking stories and anecdotes also found their place in the medium, and are not only encouraging new travels but also help to better the reputation of hitch-hiking. Internet is also used as a database of information for hitch-hikers -- various free accomodation databases is perfect example of such usage.

But the full potential of Internet is yet to be fully employed. A special workgroup consisting of maintainers of the biggest and most popular hitch-hiking websites will be included in the framework of the conference, and is expected to discuss the current state of hitch-hiking presentatation in the Internet and try to find more effective ways of usage of this medium for hitch-hikers purtoses.

Some moments from the conference

After a "hot" day in the pub: Alexandre Netoujilov, Andrius Stanaitis, Abylai Ospan and some Polish hitchers