Surprising but welcome news spread on Facebook today. The Frontline Club is apparently opening up at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA) in Tbilisi, Georgia. In what appears to be an evolution of their own club, the new initiative promises to follow the remit of the Frontline Club in London.
Media club that aims to serve as a politically-neutral venue for journalists, public officials, students, intellectuals come together in a dialogue over media, social, political and cultural issues.
The Frontline Club is no stranger to GIPA with fellow blogger Guy Degen paying a visit in April last year during the opposition protests. I've also presented albeit with my Global Voices Caucasus editor hat on.
Hopefully the new club will also provide myself and others a venue with which to present our own work in areas such as the use of new and social media tools in cross-border communication and media projects too.
Unfortunately, I'll be fixing for National Geographic as of tomorrow and so cannot attend the opening on Friday. Nor can the Frontline Club's man in Georgia, Matthew Collin, as he'll be in Istanbul. However, I'm looking forward to paying a visit when I next visit Tbilisi. It's very much a welcome development not only for Georgia, but also for the region itself.
