The Chartered Institute of Public Relations is launching a Swiss Chapter.

The new Swiss chapter  will be part of CIPR International, the sector group for professional communicators who work in an international context, or who wish to develop their careers in an international direction.

The inaugural CIPRI Swiss event will take place at 17h00 on 3 April at Edwards Lifesciences in Nyon and is open to CIPR members and non-members. If you’re interested in learning more about the CIPR and how being a member could enhance your professional development, and the success of your business, please come along. Future events will take place in Geneva, Bern and Zurich.

Registration for the event on 3 April is now open 

Please note that places are limited and registration is treated on a first come, first served basis.

The CIPRI Swiss Committee looks forward to meeting you on 3 April.

Those of you involved in coaching and training may find this new practical workshop from VoxImpact (Maria Wilhelmsson) interesting.

Lead by Mark Walsh, one of Europe’s leading ‘embodied’ trainers, the workshop sets out to look at how our physical presence impacts the way we work with and influence others. It aims to demonstrate how participants can make better use of posture, movement and breathing, as well as better assessments of the signs from others, to improve the learning experience and improve results – even in a no-nonsense business environment.

The workshop will take place in Morges on Friday 23 May from 09:00-17:30.

For more information or to register, visit the relevant page on the VoxImpact website.

Webster University Geneva have announced their 2014 Media Trends conference:

On behalf of Webster University Geneva, it is our pleasure to invite you to Media Trends 2014: “Media and Privacy Invasion.” The event will take place at Webster University from April 3 to April 4.

The conference program features speakers from academia, media production companies, human rights NGOs  and international organizations as we explore some of the vital issues and concerns related to privacy and the media.

The conference is free and open to the public.

Read the full program and register here>>

Dear GCN members,

The Lift Conference is a leading event about innovation and digital technologies listed in Techcrunch’s 2013 top ten startup events in Europe. It takes place annually in Geneva over 3 days featuring a special blend of inspiring speeches, truly interactive workshops, exhibitions of interactive media projects and prototypes to play with… and its legendary Fondue!

The 9th edition will take place on 5, 6 and 7 February and is a unique opportunity to get inspired from world experts and pioneers such as Mark Post – maker of the world’s first in-vitro burger – or David Nuescheler – VP for Enterprise Technology at Adobe.

We are pleased to announce that GCN members may benefit from a 15% discount on a normal 3-day pass, daily tickets and combination tickets with Seedstars World competition.

An interesting workshop offered by Sarah Clark of Clear Thinking – Clear Communication:

Visual language and graphic facilitation

Maison de la Communication, Lausanne, Wednesday 29 & Thursday 30 January 2014

An introduction to the techniques of using hand-drawn visuals in a range of professional contexts, including group facilitation, coaching and training.

You will learn the basics of visual language and how to use a mix of simple drawings, colour, words and metaphors to develop and share ideas, record presentations and meetings, and engage and energize groups.

Thinking that you can draw is absolutely not a prerequisite— if the techniques interest you and you’re prepared to experiment, please join us. We will spend a large proportion of the time each day practising and sharing within the group.

Engage both your right and your left brain and have fun!

Details are attached. Space is limited, so reserve your place now! The deadline for registration is 6 January.

Summary agenda
Day 1
§ The power of visual thinking
§ Materials — markers, paper, pastels
§ Basics of visual language
Lettering
Basic icons
Simple solutions for representing people
Connectors and graphic organizers
§ Colour
§ Preparing for a visual meeting
§ Individual projects

Day 2
§ Organizing visual space
Different formats, different functions
Visual metaphors
Working with templates
§ Communicating visually
Creating a visual vocabulary
Listening and recording: words to pictures
Presentations and training
Working one on one
§ Individual projects

Cost: CHF 690 for two days

View the flyer (pdf)>>

Contact: sarah@clearthinking-clearcommunication.ch

World Usability Day will take place on Thursday 14 November this year.- Telono,  a Geneva-based usability consultancy,  is organising an event on this day.

The event will take place on Thursday 14 November at 5.30pm at Swissôtel Métropole in Geneva.

This year, it will be focusing on usability and user experience in healthcare, with the following presentations:

Rolf Wipfli, PhD (Geneva University Hospitals): “Usability in the Hospital”
Virginia Lang, PhD (HirLan): “User Centered Participatory Design and Medical Devices: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”
Florian Egger, PhD (Telono): “Mapping the User Experience of Smart Blood Pressure Monitors: International Findings from the User Experience Alliance (UXa)
The presentations will be followed by our traditional networking apéro, sponsored by Telono, a Geneva-based user experience research and design agency.

Register & join!
The event is FREE but places are limited. Please register via the link below:
http://www.telono.com/en/about/world-usability-day-2013/

Andrew Johnston is holding a worskhop on writing for international organisations on 25 November 2013 in Geneva:

This workshop is designed to help you transform documents into lively
narratives that engage, inform and convince the non-specialist reader.
It is aimed at communications staff, researchers and others who write for
international organisations.

The workshop covers a wide range of writing situations, from reports and press
releases to web pages and social media. It includes hands-on editing practice.
The group is limited to 15 people to give all participants a chance to share their
needs, questions and experiences.

More details and registration information (pdf) >>

  The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies invites the public to come discover their new home – at the Maison de la paix on Saturday 5 and Saturday 19 October.

A presentation of the building, designed by Eric Ott, from IPAS in Neuchatel, will take place from 11:00 to 14:00. A guided tour of the library will be held at 12:00 and 15:00.

The public will be able to tour the building and view the commissioned art works by Peter Kogler, Monika Sosnowska, and Franz Gertsch.

More information>>

The CDAC Network is  organising its first ‘101’ Seminar outside of the UK on Lifeline Communications for Emergencies. The seminar will be led by BBC Media Action’s Jacqueline Dalton (Senior Humanitarian Producer) and Robert Powell (Senior Adviser for Resilience and Humanitarian Response) and is being hosted in Geneva by the ICRC.

The Lifeline Communications for Emergencies seminar will cover how to share information effectively with crisis-affected people, including a particular emphasis on working with the media to achieve this. Among other challenges, attendees will be invited to develop a communications strategy and produce a short radio bulletin for an imaginary crisis-affected audience. The seminar will be of particular benefit to emergency operations managers who are keen to find ways of delivering  the most appropriate aid faster, more effectively and more securely to those who need it most.

For more information regarding directions to the venue, please click here. 

If you have any further questions, please contact: Philippe Marc Stoll, Tel: +41 22 730 3140, Mobile: +41 79 536 92 49, Email: pstoll@icrc.org.