The Geneva Centre for Humanitarian Studies is offering an online course over two weeks on “Digital Innovation in Humanitarian Action” from 17 – 28 October 2022.

Since the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit, enthusiasm over the potential of digital innovations and new technologies to improve humanitarian assistance has dominated the aid sector. While it shows the prevalence of technological determinism and data revolution among aid actors, the relation of humanitarian assistance to innovations is not unprecedented. The growing involvement of tech companies in global philanthropy has only accelerated this “innovation turn”. From crowd-sourced data used to create crisis mapping to the expansion of drones to facilitate relief distribution, humanitarian innovations capture a large diversity of digital and technological creations meant to improve the efficiency of humanitarian assistance during disasters, conflicts and migration. Exploring the entanglements between neoliberal actors, innovation labs, “tech for good”, data management and humanitarian governance allows questioning the opportunities and challenges of such innovations beyond the “tech utopia”.

Further information and registration>>

Hurricane Media is offering communicators in Geneva a free training session on “Effective communications in a video first world” –  Wed, 29 June 2022,  08:30 – 11:00 CEST

The session will  cover:

– Explain the theory of video marketing, including the psychology of effective content .

– Introduce basic models that can be used to understand video, including “Hero, Hub, Help” and the “digital content funnel”.

– Look at specific social channels and how to use video on them, including YouTube, Tik Tok, Instagram and Facebook.

– Give tips on how to run effective organic and paid campaigns.

– Show how to use emotions in your content to drive behaviour change.

– Explore how brands and charities can use Content hubs to build an audience and drive action.

– Discuss content creation on a limited budget.

– Showcase new technologies including interactive and personalised video .

– Answer all your video questions.

Learn more about the session and register here. 

Presented by the SEO & Web Swiss Chapter:

Stories have the power to move us and change our behaviour, to shift us from indifference to positive, constructive action. But too many organisations throw away the chance to use this simple, straightforward technique to achieve their goals. Worse still, poor storytelling is losing them their audience, their reputation and their funding, which has a knock-on effect on staff morale and engagement.

The good news, however, is that this situation can be turned around and with powerful results. ‘Corporate storytelling’ is about helping organisations better reach their goals through accessible, compelling and moving stories. This webinar will look at how, when underpinned by the correct and effective Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Corporate Storytelling enables content creators to reach targeted and wider audiences.

Speakers:

Robert Bartram is a Corporate Storyteller of over 25 years’ experience, having worked for organisations as diverse as the UK government, the BBC and the United Nations, as well as several private companies. He will set out what organisations often get wrong with their storytelling, before outlining his three-phased approach for producing much better – and well-deserved – results.

Nadia Mojahed: A Digital SEO consultant offering personalized and actionable custom SEO workshops as well as top SEO consultancy services to local and international brands. She helps with SEO strategy, technical website audits, content marketing, backlink building & performance optimization and digital strategy planning and impelmentation.

Meeting details:

Date: Friday 13 May, 2022

Time: 9:00 AM – 09:40 AM (CEST)

Location: Online

Sign up for the event here>>

Join online on Monday April 11th at 18h Geneva time for   Webster University Geneva’s next Spotlight Seminar:

Gaming: “What’s Next”

Webster University’s Assistant Professor of Game Design Matt Burton discusses the future of gaming trends and technology. Matt will talk about how game design technology is used in a variety of different industries from film to architecture and for a wide range of uses from training simulations to virtual production

Further information >> 

Dear communicators,

We are pleased to announce our first event for 2022, hosted jointly with the Basel Communicators Network:

Stephen Welch, FRSA and Director of Archetypical Ltd. will introduce us to the three key elements of Trust, using the “Trust Equation”. This 1-hour session will be a modified version of a workshop he has developed for senior executive teams, to help them build trust and improve organizational effectiveness. By attending this session, you will learn the approach and be able to apply it to create your own success.

Date: Wednesday  9 February 2022
Time: 12h00-13h00
Register here>>

Date: Friday, September 24th 2021

Time: 13-14h (CEST)

Online Event: The Zoom link will be shared with registered participants

Registration: Click HERE to register

Risk communication can be risky. Declining trust in authorities and in the media and the exponential increase in misinformation we are exposed to has led to communication fatigue and confusion. COVID-19 has illustrated the challenges to communicate clearly and effectively when the risks are not fully known and evolving rapidly.

And yet, it has never been as important to communicate on risk to inform decisions that affect us as individuals and communities – in areas such as health and the environment that fundamentally shape our lives.

In collaboration with the Geneva Communicators Network, this seminar explores the increasing challenges of communicating on risk in uncertain times. It also presents the best practices to communicate risk effectively to build trust and encourage informed decision-making and positive behavioural change.

Speakers:

Frédérique Tissandier, Director of Communications of the Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève

Dr Glenn O’Neil, Founder of Owl RE, Research and Evaluation Services and Geneva Communicators Network,  Adjunct Professor, MA in Communications Management, Webster University Geneva

The European Centre for Public Affairs is offering the following online training session:

Thursday 4 March 2021, 12.00-13.30

Trainer: Dr Glenn O’Neil

Increasingly, organisations are using advocacy to bring about policy and practice change in a wide variety of areas, from public health to the environment.

However, there are specific challenges in being able to evaluate the contribution of advocacy to any progress seen.

This training will present an overview of the challenges faced, assess various methodologies and the possible solutions that exist to evaluate advocacy and public affairs initiatives, irrespective of location.

Free for members of the ECPA and a fee of 100 euros will be asked of non-members.

Further details and registration>>

Applications are now open for the 2021 edition of the Executive programmes on Advocacy in International Affairs offered by the Graduate Institute, Geneva.

The programmes offer the analytical framework, practical tools, the leadership and communication skills to drive successful advocacy campaigns.

They are degree-granting, designed for professionals, and are organised in part-time modular format.

The dates for the Executive Certificate are as follows*:

• Module 1 – Context, Actors and Strategies: 14 to 17 April & 28 April to 1st May 2021 (live virtual classrooms)

• Module 2 – Analysis, Tactics and Tools: 22 to 30 June 2021 (Geneva)

Further information>>

Welcome to our first event for 2021, an online simulation game for communicators!

Come and play Corporate Snakes and Career Ladders, an on-line simulation that helps you navigate the ambiguity between communication theory and practice as you encounter real-life scenarios.

When you play Corporate Snakes and Career Ladders, you will take on the role of Carmen Spinoza, Corporate Communications Director of a major international company. You will be presented with a series of communication challenges which you need to resolve as a team. Your challenge is to think strategically and position yourself (aka Carmen) as a strategic adviser to the senior leadership team. How will you get – and keep – a seat at the table? The on-line taster workshop is a mini version of training that has been delivered to communication professionals around the world and is now coming to the Geneva Communications Network.

When: 12h30-14h00 – Thursday 21 January 2021
Where: Online (via Zoom)
Cost: Free of charge

Register online for the event>>

Join us on 21 January for a fun, interactive session that will give you a chance to network with your peers from across the region … and beyond. Don’t forget to bring a sandwich!

You can find out more about the game at  www.corporatesnakes.org

(Photo below shows Corporate Snakes and Career Ladder face-to-face version – we will be playing online!)