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

Hi all,

We’ve had many people asking about the event this Thursday evening – looking forward to seeing many of you there this Thursday – the details again:

Map
Trams: 13 & 15
Môle

Patricia & Glenn

An interesting seminar from GWIT:

Subject: Leveraging Your Life OnLine
New bosses, old lovers, clients and your children: what will they learn about you on the net?

Date: Wednesday, 25 June 2008, 12:15 – 14:00

Leverage your internet profile, make it work for you – learn to manage the hazy border between professional and private in the online world with Ellen Wallace, founder of GenevaLunch.

Ellen will help you sketch your virtual online profile, then she’ll whisk you through the world of blogs to show how they can be a tool in your Internet Makeover: what they really are, why they matter. We’ll take a brief tour of what’s happening online and help clarify why Facebook, YouTube, Second Life and your corporate website serve different purposes in terms of your online First Life.

More information and registration>>

Here is an interesting conference taking place in Geneva from 12-14 June: 

“A leading world forum bringing MBA students, graduates and leaders of tomorrow to exchange ideas, energy and passion with leading professionals from across sectors to discuss how business and business skills can impact social change.  This year’s Europe conference will address the theme Sustainable Prosperity: Taking on the Global Challenge. A keynote speaker will be Mel Young, founder and President of the Homeless World Cup.”

More information and registration >>

An e-business convention is being held in Geneva on 29 April 2008 – could be interesting for communicators wanting to learn of the latest developments and offerings in e-communications.

More information on the convention website>>

Glenn

This morning, we concluded the 3rd communicators blog breakfast meeting at the Geneva Press Club. Expert storyteller, consultant and coach, Sue Hollingsworth, entertained some 50 communicators with a very animated and interactive presentation about storytelling.

Unfortunately, time was scarce and many had to rush off to work. If you would like to get in touch with Sue, send us an email and we will send you her details.

We have added a few photos on our photo feed to the right of your screen…

Thank you again to Sue for her interesting presentation, to Nicole Voillat for making this possible, and to all of the participants who contributed to the discussion.

Any suggestions for future breakfast meetings are most welcome!

Patricia & Glenn