For those of you who speak French, the group SwissW2 organises regular meetings on various issues related to web 2.0. 

Last night, Hervé Bloch (Country manager for Switzerland at Emailvision) gave a very interesting presentation about using social networking platforms for business. The meeting was organised by Sandrine Szabo (founder of Netinfluence, director and editor-in-chief of Profession-web.ch and organiser of the network and SwissW2) of and it was held at Crossystems (thanks to Jérôme Bailly). You can find video coverage of this event on Thierry Weber’s blog Cuture Pod.

The group was created as a platform for networking and sharing ideas. It is for people who work with or are interested in learning about web 2.0, including marketing and communication professionals, web developers, project managers, freelancers, etc. 

Their next meeting, on 25 September (in Lausanne), is about using web 2.0 for marketing. For further information check the SwissW2 website.

Dear Communicators,

Phones are rapidly evolving beyond talk and text devices to fully fledged, ubiquitous tools able to enhance our lives in ways never dreamed of. Video conferencing, social networking, even paying for your coffee are all a reality right now. What are the implications of this to us as communicators? Where are the opportunities? Where are the challenges? How do we stay relevant with ever increasingly segmented audiences?

To address these questions, we have decided to organise a special evening conference jointly with the London Area Communicators Group. The conference will feature one of the UK’s premier consultants on the mobile communications industry.

Ewan Macleod, founder and editor in chief of www.mobileindustryreview.com (over 300,000 unique visitors per month ), will provide an update about what’s happening in the world of mobile communication and technology. Participants will be able to follow his speech live via video broadband.

The presentation will be followed by a question and answer period from Geneva to London.

Date & time: Tuesday 23 September 2008, 19h00-20h30

Location: International University in Geneva, ICC building, Rte de Pré-Bois 20, Geneva (Map)

This event is free of charge. Drinks and small snacks will be offered courtesy of the International University.

Registration: please register – click here>>

This event is organised in collaboration with Thierry Weber of Culturepod.

We look forward to seeing you there!!

The University of Lugano MScom programme presents its third communications forum in Geneva:

Date and time: Thursday, September 18, 2008, 18:30 hrs
Location: Swissôtel Metropole Genève, 34 Quai du Général Guisan, CH-1204 Geneva
Speaker: Prof. Leslie de Chernatony

Theme: «A brand-new world: how challenger brands are changing marketing conventions»

Professor Leslie de Chernatony, one of the leading experts in brand research, will discuss a paradigm shift. Brands are expanding from tangible goods to services, creating a dedicated culture and engaging the customer in creating the ultimate brand value. A new stream of brands is thriving by challenging traditional approaches to brand management and marketing conventions. These “challenger brands”, which can be described as visionary, maverick and unconventional, include such well-known names as Virgin, innocent and Cirque du Soleil. Professor de Chernatony’s recent research has focused on that largely unexplored field. He will present the processes that were used to develop a challenger brand in the UK’s financial industry and will review some of the key success factors.

Registration and more information >>

An interesting seminar on the role of expatriates in the Swiss-French region of Switzerland:

Title: Swiss Innovation – The Role of Multinational Expats
Patrick Aebischer, President, EPFL Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
followed by
Swisster.ch – the New Platform for Expats in the Romandie
Philippe Sordet, Director of Projects, Regional Publications, Edipresse Group

Date: 10 July 2008, evening

place: Procter & Gamble, Geneva

More information & registration (pdf)>>

The World Blind Union is looking for volunteers for the 7th General Assembly of the World Blind Union
to be held in Geneva from 15 – 23 August 2008 at the International Conference Centre (ICCG)Anyone interested can contact:
Marja Kämpfer
Tél: 031 390 88 02
Fax: 031 390 88 50
E-mail: marja.kaempfer@sbv-fsa.ch

For further information check:
www.wbu2008.ch
www.worldblindunion.org