OWIT Lake Geneva Articles from events

Wealth Management for Women by Sonia Rüegger from Lombard Odier

Iulia Popescu — Sat, 16 Apr 2022 16:00:00 GMT

Wealth Management for Women by Sonia Rüegger from Lombard Odier

Event held on 7th of April 2022 at Maison de la Femme, Lausanne

The insightful session touched upon some core aspects of women, financial investments, challenges, and how they can control their financial situation and build financial stability. Sonia Rüegger spoke of why women should think of their future financial position and plan better. Women need to manage their finances better in various situations - as an entrepreneur or while living as a couple.

Some of the critical areas of the session included the following:

Need for custom financial planning

Everyone has their priorities and their custom financial situation. There is no one size fits all formula.

Discussion included strategies for creating wealth, accumulation, and consumption of capital with various financial instruments. Some of the financial planning aspects were multiple aspects of investment like optimization of post-tax performance, pension, and retirement planning. The investment duration spanned short-term to mid-term to long-term based on financial goals like succession planning and philanthropy.

Financial planning strategies for women

Women managing their capital should focus on a two-pronged strategy: wealth preservation in the short/medium term and wealth generation in the long term.

Importance of having the correct asset allocation to align with financial goals

Asset allocation is a critical part of attaining one's financial goals. Sonia discussed the returns and risks from major asset classes over a 10-year horizon. The expected annualized returns versus expected annualized volatility mapped low risk-low return instruments like Bonds to high risk-high return ones like Private Equity.

Challenges in a women’s financial journey

Women hold nearly one-third of global private wealth. However, a women's financial life planning is different from men's as women's financial life journey faces significant challenges.

● Lower risk tolerance

● Maternity leave

● Flexible working conditions

● Gender pay- gap

● Longer life expectancy

Due to this, women have less money to invest and grow, lose their wealth over time, and fall short of meeting their financial goals.

Solutions for women to successfully invest in wealth management

Women are more disciplined investors than men and can achieve success in financial investments with appropriate knowledge and some guidance.

We thank our VP and volunteers for their work: Katarzyna Grzesik-Harz, Patricia Fromaget-Montanier, Jenitha Jacob & Iulia Popescu.

WEBINAR: Introduction to ENTNEST

Iulia Popescu — Sun, 17 May 2020 09:02:39 GMT

Please find here the registration of the webinar hold on 7th of May by Johan Franzèn, the founder of Entnest.

WEBINAR: BLOCKCHAIN, AN INTRODUCTION

Iulia Popescu — Sun, 17 May 2020 08:47:16 GMT

On 5th of May we had the pleasure to have Kusum Gurbani hosting a webinar on #blockchain introduction: basics, use case, benefits.

Please find here the registration link of the webinar.

WTO Public Forum 2019 - Gender Inclusiveness in Trade and Services

Iulia Popescu — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 14:30:00 GMT

Click here to watch OWIT Lake Geneva / WEI session on Gender Inclusiveness in Trade and Services at WTO Public Forum 2019.

In completion, please find here the Session Overview & Recommendations - WTOPF WEI-OWIT Report October 2019 (1).pdf.

Panel discussion "Future of Digital Trade" - hosted by the ITC (26 April 2017)

Thu, 04 May 2017 13:52:10 GMT

OWIT Lake Geneva organized a Panel Discussion on the Future of Digital Trade on April 26. The event was free of charge for OWIT Lake Geneva members and our special guests. The 44 participants that attended the events benefited from the vivid discussion, and the debate.

The high-level panel discussion highlighted the importance of e-commerce in the inclusive trade agenda and the leading role played by ITC and eBay.

We are honoured to share with you a statement delivered by Her Excellency Ms. Rhoda M. Jackson, Ambassador of the Bahamas.

Distinguished speakers included:

H.E. Mr Eloi Laourou, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Benin
H.E. Ms. Rhoda M. Jackson, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Representative of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas
Mr Paul Batibonak, Trade and Development Specialist, Cameroon Permanent Mission
Mr Juan Hoyos, Adviser Sustainable and Inclusive Value Chains, International Trade Centre
Mr Fabian Staechelin, Business Development Manager, eBay

Connect with us on Twitter and Facebook to view a livestream of the event!

For more information on our panelists and their e-commerce initiatives visit:

Special thanks to Girls in Tech for being our technology partner for the event and thanks to Florence Maghe for the amazing pictures.

OWIT Lake Geneva - "White Nights" Summer Gala Dinner

Anca Gosling — Fri, 17 Jun 2016 14:23:17 GMT

OWIT Lake Geneva held its annual Gala Dinner on June 7 at Swissotel Metropol. The event was a real success with a group of 28 participants that benefited from the networking opportunity in a cordial summer meeting.

Our special guest, James Spencer guided us through a series of exercises demonstrating how the marriage of leadership and improv encourages creativity, team building, and brings along effective communication.

La Genevoise and OWIT

Anca Gosling — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 14:31:23 GMT

Running remains the most popular endurance sport and for the last decades the number of women outnumber men.

Individually a lot of us run for fun, for health, for an active lifestyle or for networking. There are OWIT running stars among OWIT members. It was in 2016 that OWIT Lake Geneva tried out the first team running experience.

La Genevoise is one of the Geneva Marathon: a two day sport event in favor of UNICEF. La Genevoise is a race exclusively for women, gathering ladies ladies of all ages, nationalities and backgrounds. This year, three OWIT members (Veronika, Nasya and Hulya) decided to support UNICEF and joined the team running the 6.5 km race through the beautiful landscapes of Geneva.

"Being part of the team is amazing: you don’t own your result anymore, you share it and we absolutely loved it. We did not feel exhausted but empowered by the great spirit of La Genevoise. It’s a feeling of mutual encouragement and inspiration - the whole community of running ladies drives you to the finish line."

OWIT Lake Geneva will certainly repeat the initiative next year, stay tuned for more details on the event.

OWIT Monthly Networking Meeting Lausanne – 12th April 2016

Wed, 11 May 2016 20:48:32 GMT

The text below has been kindly contributed by Natalie Mazhindu, Proposal Writer and Project Manager, who attended the networking meeting in Lausanne in April 2016.

*****

We’ve all been there. Hovering on the sidelines, clutching a glass of warm wine and silently willing ourselves to make a move - any move - just to get the proverbial ball rolling. We glance discreetly around the room hoping we appear as accomplished and fabulous as everyone else seems. We ask ourselves “Should I make eye contact?”, “Who can I approach?”, “Does everybody know each other?!”, and then ponder how best to introduce ourselves with confidence but not arrogance, assertiveness but not aggression, smiling but not manic…

Perhaps you can gather from this introductory insight that networking events are a million miles away from my happy place. I’ve always struggled to feel comfortable in these situations and I suspect I am not alone. As women, it is often against what we know and how we’re educated to push ourselves forward, to raise ourselves up, and to make ourselves heard. Of course, this is not always the case – I speak only of my own experience. However, it is universally acknowledged that there is a significant imbalance with regards to the presence (or absence) of female role models in many professional industries, and this is something I hope to see change.

I attended my first OWIT networking meeting in early 2015 but then, due to a number of setbacks - both real and imaginary - I did not find my way back until this spring. Luckily, as soon as I arrived I remembered what brought me back. Mira, our host for the evening, warmed us up with an entertaining icebreaker featuring a somewhat unconventional use of toilet paper! As we started the game I was unsure of the intended outcome but, as the activity progressed, we began to develop an understanding of the varied interests and experiences of the group. What began as a fairly quiet evening, soon evolved into lots of friendly chatter, which helped to initiate the deeper conversations we enjoyed for the remainder of the event.

Though we may all attend these meetings for different reasons, when we find ourselves in the midst of like-minded people with a diverse range of experiences, it is at once interesting and inspiring. Mira brought us together and this room full of bright and educated professionals transformed into something inviting rather than uncomfortable.

At times, we women can be our own worst enemy - often overly critical of ourselves and each other as society has taught us to be. This event was lively and dynamic and I hope it leads to further opportunities to go beyond the usual; where I can meet other supportive influences and engage in intelligent conversations within a positive environment.

Coaching for Innovation by Mira Lannutti

Fri, 22 Jan 2016 11:56:37 GMT

John Steinbeck once said in an interview, “Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple, learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.” The evening with Cristina Bianchi and Maureen Steele (Innovation Event, Part 2 on Nov 26, 2015)was very much about all of that. Well, all except for the rabbits.

We’ve been wired to think of innovation as a sudden breakthrough, something which happens miraculously in the head of a single genius, or a disruptive idea brought to life by a bunch of smart engineers working in a lab. Cristina and Maureen invite us to take another perspective – to look at innovation as an incremental change – something new, useful, with added value, which each and every one of us can help create, be it a product, a process, a system in our organization, or the way we communicate… Cristina and Maureen help us understand how creativity draws on divergence and a collision of different ideas. You don’t need to be born an innovator, but you can become one. To get ideas, people need to switch to exploratory mode. So try these:

· Observe and be curious.

· Ask questions. Listen attentively.

· Look for opportunities. Take risks, experiment.

· Dare to be creative and do things differently.

· Be willing to fail but learn from it.

You’ve been tasked with coaching a creative team. You know that people working together have more and better ideas but how to get them to the harmonious spirit where 1 + 1 = 3? How to keep ideas coming? Cristina and Maureen offer us their Model for running a creative team session -a clear set of guidelines on how to behave with each other. Think of it as a bridge across the wild river of change. It takes you in a structured way from where you are to where you want to be. This bridge consists of 8 stepping stones:

1. Agree operating guidelines and rules - decide how you’re going to interact.

2. Define the issue – make sure you all have the same understanding.

3. Decide what you want to achieve, including – and very important! – how the stakeholders will be affected so take into account their needs and interests.

4. Generate ideas by adopting divergent thinking. Typical questions to boost creativity are “What if…?”, “What else..?” Welcome ideas from everyone.

5. Filter generated ideas – consider which idea stands the most realistic chances of achieving, what would be the outcome and impact of each idea.

6. Assess feasibility of the best ideas – for example what are the resources needed, are they at hand or they need to be sourced externally, or what the financial implications might be.

7. Action planning. Remember: Innovation = idea generation + action. So plan the implementation and how to measure success.

8. Close the process and feed-back. Acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of the team.

Sounds simple. In practice however the process of innovation in a team can be a lot more complicated. How you as a coach can handle people in a situation of conflict, preserve the team’s innovative spirit and keep ideas coming in? Maureen and Cristina shared a handful of trouble-shooting techniques. Just two of the essentials:

· Revert to the team’s ground rules. Look for win-win solutions.

· Remember it is how you and the team deal with the problem that makes the difference and lead towards a positive outcome to everyone.

Now you have a rough idea how to awake the creativity, how to structure the process of innovation and how to handle in case of conflict. Enjoy.

Article contributed by Mira Lannutti, OWIT Lake Geneva Marcom team volunteer

After Meeting Amnesty Int'l on October 15 - by Derwyn Cafferkey

Wed, 20 Jan 2016 12:04:03 GMT

When you think of Amnesty International, you may think of their work for political prisoners. You would probably not make the link between Amnesty International and human rights within business. 50 years after Amnesty was set up to defend human rights they are dealing with questions like poverty, gender inequality, forced evictions and the responsibility of multinational companies for human rights

On October 15 at OWIT event in Lausanne Stella Jegher, director of media and advocacy for Amnesty International Switzerland gave a fascinating insight into how multinational companies can help sustain human rights through the way they do business.

Companies operating across borders can be involved in some severe abuses such as forced labor, child labor; forced evictions of communities from their lands and violence against trade union members. Many states are failing to protect the human rights of their people – namely those of the poorest ones, amongst them women, indigenous people, rural and migrant communities who are at the greatest risk of exploitation.

Often, nobody is held to account for this kind of abuse as it happens far from the company headquarters. Amnesty calls this the accountability gap which canoccur for a number of reasons: such as a lack of specific legislation, the lack of capacity to prosecute and the dependence on the company as an investor.

Stella highlighted to the group 3 main cases that Amnesty is working on:

1) The Bhopal case in 1984 where a toxic gas leak left more than 20,000 people dead and where 30 years later survivors and activists are still fighting for justice.

2) The Shell Petroleum Development Company in the Niger delta, where huge oil spills have destroyed the livelihoods of fishermen, farmers, and families.

3) The Trafigura case in Cote d’Ivoire where operations to clean a petroleum product coker naptha produced toxic waste that was dumped by a third party at 18 locations in and around Abidjan causing contamination and illness.

Amnesty is calling for four standards of conduct for multinationals: prevention, accountability, remedy and protecting rights beyond borders.

Article contributed by Derwyn Cafferkey, Change Consultant and OWIT Lake Geneva Executive Vice President

Behind the scene - how Maureen set her OGT (OWIT Get Together)

Mon, 12 Jan 2015 21:20:01 GMT

Maureen is a volunteer with us for several years already. She decided to organize her OGT after participation to Action Café event, meant to bring ideas on how to increase the benefit from being a member of OWIT. And our proposal to all was - create your own event to share your passion or professional expertise and we will support you!

Please read Maureen's article here.

An introduction to compassionate communication - by Martina Tassini

Mon, 31 Mar 2014 20:18:47 GMT

On March 31st a very interesting, inspiring and enriching event was organised in Nyon. The theme of the evening was compassionate communication; the speaker was Emma Collins, a lady who has found the key to her existence in studying compassionate communication and in becoming a transitional coach.

I clearly remember the day I read about the event on the website, it was about two months before the event took place and I immediately registered. I was curios and tempted by the topic. But I immediately asked myself the following questions: what is compassionate communication? What does it mean? How could it be useful in my day to day life? I don’t know what everyone expected from the evening, but I know for sure that we all were very exciting and curious.

The event was organised in a place called True Colours; I think that the choice of the location was just perfect: a very pleasant location that could host an event during which the atmosphere between the attendees was inspiring, friendly and comfortable. Personally I felt right at home.

We were about 20 people, including the speaker. She really impressed me because of her positive energy, she was not exaggerating, she did not speak loudly, she did not pretend to be the best; she simply was there amongst us and shared her expectations regarding the evening and some private details about herself. She cared about the group and she smiled all the time with her eyes. From the very beginning the evening felt positive.

The event was interactive; we did some exercises to increase our self awareness. I would like to share one particular exercise with you: Emma put out some examples of possible emotions and gave us some situations (for example: how would you feel if you, in your work group, would be the only one not enjoying the project you’re following?). Our task was to show how we would feel and it was impressive to realise how everyone could have very different feelings: from happiness to worry; from curiosity to anxiety.

But going back to the question I asked at the beginning; What is Compassionate Communication? It is about knowing and understanding ourselves and the reasons behind our emotions, in order to better understand others and the world around us. Compassionate Communication is about empathy: knowing yourself, understanding why you experience certain emotions and then, listening to others, understanding the inner reasons of their behaviours, even of the behaviours that just drive you crazy; listen, accept, do not try to teach others how to live, do not judge, do not try to change people or manipulate them. Know yourself and accept yourself and your emotions.

But Compassionate Communication is even more than this because it is not something that we simply experience in private; on the contrary, it is something that can… or… must be applied to how humans communicate with each other; and even more than that: it is about peace and non-violence. Wow, isn’t this a wonderful way to interpret the human being and to relate to people? Isn’t it inspiring? How many times have you received tips that you were not ready to accept just because you wanted to be heard? How many times have you tried to teach someone how to live his/her life? How many times have you been in situations where you just didn’t understand someone else’s point of you? Think about the world we live in: how many wars have been fought because of misunderstandings and inability to communicate and accept? How many fights between people exist in everyday life? How many times were you not able to decipher someone else’s behaviour?

The answer is simple: many, many times. That is it: when it is difficult to place yourself in someone else’s shoes people can experience frustration, generate misunderstandings and close the doors to communication.

Emma put the focus on a very important issue: every kind of behaviour, even the more unintelligible, is an attempt to meet a need. There are needs that are universal, people need to satisfy them, for example: the need for love, recognition, intimacy.

If we understand that key point, we would be able to understand ourselves and to communicate with others in a more satisfactory way. Of course, it is not something that can happen from one day to the next: knowing ourselves is something that takes time and courage; accepting others is even more difficult. But if we can do that we could revolutionize our life and our relations with the world: not to change people but to understand them.

I think that all the attendees went home with some food for thought…

Discussing shared value for women entrepreneurs - by Andrea A. Betancourt

Fri, 14 Mar 2014 07:15:00 GMT

According to academics Michael Porter and Mark R. Kramer, companies can create shared value. They can improve working conditions, reduce risk and support small enterprises, while also increasing their own productivity and expanding markets. Can women entrepreneurs in developing countries benefit from the ‘shared’ value created by these companies? This is the topic that we wanted to explore at the co-hosted ITC /OWIT Lake Geneva event, “Creating shared value: A role for women entrepreneurs in developing countries”.

On March 4, 2013 the International Trade Center (ITC) and the Organization for Women in Trade, Geneva (OWIT) co-organized this meeting on the occasion of the International Women’s Day. Ms. Arancha González, Executive Directors of the ITC moderated the meeting. Ms. Janet Voûte, Nestle Vice President of Global Head of Public Affairs and Mr. Marc Van Ameringen, Executive Director of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) shared their ideas and experiences on the role of women in shared value initiatives. Ms. Nasya Dimitrova, Co- President of OWIT, closed the meeting with valuable remarks on the shared value promoted by our organization.

Ms. González started by reinforcing the importance of businesses creating socio-economic value at the heart of their activities. However, when it comes to advancing women’s economic opportunities, signing the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles is, and should not be enough, she remarked. Ms. Voûte proceeded to expand on the meaning of shared value for Nestle, and to reflect on how this initiative can improve women’s situation on the ground. For Nestle, the principle of creating shared value is at the core of their business: it makes sense for Nestle to create shared value in the areas of nutrition, water and rural development. Promoting sustainable agriculture, for instance, allows Nestle to work with farmers, teach them to use new and better techniques, to improve the quality of their products, and ensure the sustainability of the supply chain.

Did you know that Nestle’s SV efforts are committed to increasing women’s participation in the supply chain? The company leads initiatives that go from helping women to build coffee and cocoa businesses; to helping small growers create cooperatives; to buying directly from women dairy farmers. By doing this, Nestle empowers women, opens up their economic opportunities and, at the same time, strengthens a sustainable supply chain for its business.

Mr. Van Ameringen’s intervention presented a distinct view on women’s current situation and companies’ capacity to create shared value. From GAIN’s perspective, the problems that women face, in relation to nutrition, are big and are not addressed by most corporate players. 120 million women and children are underweight; women own only 1% of the world’s land and have reduced access to extension services and financial support, making it harder for them to become productive farmers and growers. The concept of ‘shared value’ is interesting and helpful, but still remains a small part of most companies’ operations – due, perhaps, to the contradictions between profit-making and doing social good in the current capitalist model, he noted. Mr. Van Ameringen referred to 3 areas that will need to be addressed to improve nutrition and empower women: a) structural issues that inhibit women from owning land or accessing finance; b) regulatory frameworks to drive changes in companies, that go beyond incentives to doing social good; and, c) provision of support services at all levels, particularly when dealing with women.

To finalize such a vibrant and informative discussion, Ms. Dimitrova referred to the shared value that our organization creates. OWIT provides a platform for women to develop professionally, share knowledge, expand their networks and exert leadership. “A society where women are active, is a healthy society”, she concluded.

The controversial question of whether companies could accomplish social gains continued during the Q&A session. Some companies, like Nestle, say to live up to the commitments made to the communities where their factories operate. However, this is not the case for all companies. As Mr. Van Ameringen said, significant changes happen through pressure – from policies, governments, consumers and shareholders. Moreover, when it comes to empowering women entrepreneurs, the issue is even more complex: we need to break structural barriers, promote coherence in policies and provide women entrepreneurs with access to markets. On the bright side, companies like Nestle are actively engaging with women entrepreneurs; initiatives like GAIN are advocating for women’s improved nutrition; organizations like the ITC are working with governments to set policies that support women entrepreneurs; and others, like OWIT, are committed to the promotion of women leadership.

The discussion panel ended with a delicious cocktail. People gathered to meet; to continue discussing the topics at hand; to enjoy themselves, and to add value to such an interesting evening.

*****

See the photos of the event here

*****

Annual Networking Happy Dinner 2014 - by Nzinga Blankendal

Wed, 26 Feb 2014 17:30:00 GMT

Set in the magical salle Belle Epoque our 2014 Networking Happy Dinner has been an unforgettable event! Some of our members even got into the spirit of things and dressed up! Well done ladies!

Our members were able to reconnect with members they had already met but also made new contacts through networking. The networking part was made fun through a networking game where we each had to find our celebrity partner. I was Mary Jane Watson in search of my Spiderman, Peter Parker, so yes I have to repeat it again: the networking was great fun!

After a few words by our co-president Nasya Dimitrova welcoming our guests, our Guest of Honour and keynote speaker, Arancha González, introduced us to a few key projects of the ITC regarding small and medium sized enterprises that were female owned and gave us a recipe for growth: “Put yourself in the shoes of others and at the same time languages are important to be able to connect with others”.

Throughout the evening our woman of the year, Meg Jones, was honoured and received a nice gift from OWIT. Thank you Meg for your inspiring leadership!

And there was more fun during the evening as we auctioned off unwanted quality gifts for nominal amounts of which all proceeds went to Room to Read.

So all that is left to say is congratulations and thank you to all for making this event very special! And for everyone that could not join us please keep an eye out for our future events on our website or by signing up for our newsletter. And our Annual Happy Dinner will of course be back next year so do not miss out and join us next time!

Can impact investing help women work from home and save traditions? - by Nzinga Blankendal

Sun, 09 Feb 2014 14:11:29 GMT

Upon reading this title some or many of you were probably wondering what this event was going to be about. Impact investing is about how to generate social impact and get financial returns. And the sub title quickly clarified the scope of the evening: “Ethical trade - The challenge: working women and their communities”.

The evening started off by our moderator Andrea Delannoy who presented our panellists and in turn each of our panellists had prepared a few words to share their thoughts on the topic at hand which already promised a lot for the discussion to come, but first we watched “The unpaved silk road” a short documentary produced by OlaRe. OlaRe works with “small artisan and weaving communities, and actively searches for those who haven’t received external support”. The organization “mediates between two worlds: (1) the demands and tastes of modern women in Europe and the US, and (2) the practices and culture of silk artisans in a developing Asian economy”*.

OlaRe’s founder Zsuzsa Hutton states: “we are no different from the women in the movie; women are the glue in communities and societies. Women are the glue that keep communities together and investing in women is investing in the future”. This was one of the main schools of thought of the evening. We all should be more conscious about the buying choices we make and also as Zsuzsa explained we should “follow the chain and see into whose hands the money goes to” as many women do not get to reap the benefits of their hard labour and return on investment is low to non-existent.

This point was emphasized by Meg Jones, our OWIT woman of the year, who said: “look at who receives the money, trace the money back, raise awareness, it’s not about the product but about the people”. And our third pannelist Arthur Wood remarked that “there is a big growth in youth populations and we need to empower societies with entrepreneurism, decrease government aid, and beware that how we consume drives companies”. And that we need to “recognize that people need to own the process”.

It shall be clear that the evening was much too short for such an interesting and fascinating discussion on this contemporary topic. And during the networking part after our panel discussion many conversations were still had on the this topic.

This evening’s discussion has provided quite some food for thought, when was the last time you actively wondered where the money you spend goes to? Does it go into the hands of multinational corporations or actively finds its way back to that one female entrepreneur working hard to provide for her family while fighting to sustain a small family business? Most of us are all guilty of choosing price over quality and ethical trade, but in order to help change the livelihoods of many small communities all around the world you should keep in mind that the power is in your hands**.

*www.olare.org
** www.standardsmap.org

To buy or not to buy, that is the question! - by Martina Tassini

(Past member) — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 07:47:20 GMT

The question of whether investing in real estate is a waste of time and money in Switzerland, was the theme of an event OWIT organized in early December.

Assimina Walther, architect in Morges, with published research in the real estate field at EPFL, conveyed her expert knowledge in an informative and detailed presentation about the Swiss property market. In particular, she dealt with the question that many long-term ex-pat residents ask themselves: Is it worth buying in Switzerland or not, and if so, how do I go about it?

Why is investing in real estate in Switzerland complicated?

The 15 attendees left the event with a better understanding of what's involved in investing in Swiss real estate.

Finding a place to buy is quite complicated, because there are more interested buyers than properties. Added to this, the growing population over the last 10 years has led to a dramatic increase in the cost of property.

Useful tips for interested buyers

The audience learned what to pay attention to, where and how to search for property and to remember that it is often possible to negotiate the price.

While the answer to the theme of the event remained open, the key to answering it was given: it depends on you. If you are thinking of investing in real estate in Switzerland, ask yourself what do you really want or need? Talk to an expert, take time to do the calculations, research the market and once you have all the information, you will be able to make a decision.

Final thoughts from expert Assimina Walther: never buy on impulse, do your homework first and above all, consider all possibilities.

Emotional Intelligence at Work and Within Yourself! - by Martina Tassini

Wed, 06 Nov 2013 15:46:21 GMT

On October 30th, a very interesting and inspiring event took place at the Alpha Palmiers Hotel in Lausanne. The theme of the event was Emotional Intelligence: how well do you know yourself and the people you work with?

The speaker was Les Morgan, a person that found his true vocation when he started his business helping people change their lives.

Let’s start from the beginning: what exactly is Emotional Intelligence and why it is so important in our personal and professional development? Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to the ability to perceive, control and evaluate our own emotions and the ability to understand, interpret, and respond to the emotions of others. Usually we make a distinction between EQ and IQ. IQ refers to the ability to concentrate and plan, to organize materials, to assimilate and interpret facts.

No man is an island: everybody, in everyday life, lives together with others, in the private sphere as well as in the professional one. The ability to understand our emotions, how they influence us and our actions and reactions, as well as the ability to understand others, is a powerful tool: IQ predicts on average 6% of success in a given job; EQ predicts between 27 and 45% (depending on the field).
EQ is something that we can develop during our entire life, the very beginning is to look inside ourselves to accept who we are and to look outside ourselves and to accept who other people are.

Click here to access the booklet "EQ at work and within yourself"

I can’t be exhaustive because the topic is complex but one thing is clear: the better we manage our emotions and understand others, the more we can have good quality of life, happiness and personal and professional satisfaction. The topic is so important and actual, considering the society where we live that asks us to be performing every day, that the event was a great success, full of attendees.

The evening started as usual, with some time to network and to eat and drink something; then we moved into the heart of the evening, the conference started and the atmosphere was inspiring and positive!

In my personal opinion, the speaker was brilliant: he had the ability to catch the audience’s attention and to keep it until the end by using different kinds of inputs: his words, music, interactive exercises and a movie. Les stands for active listening and a striking presence and spreads a lot of personal energy. He does not teach or tell, he is.

Even if I believe that many attendees went home with something to think about, I still had the perception that others were expecting something more. As I wrote before, this topic is complex and huge, it touches us directly and personally because I think that the very purpose of life is finding a good balance between who we really are and the society around us. And it’s not always easy! A single evening on this topic can just introduce the subject: it’s up to everyone to understand if and how they want to continue working on it.

I would like to end with a quotation:
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Martina Tassini

MarCom Volunteer

"Join our Follow Up Sessions for Job Seekers!" - by Saskia Howsam

Tue, 29 Oct 2013 17:40:00 GMT

A bit of history

On 29 August 2013, a Get Together for Job Seekers was organized by several OWIT Lake Geneva members. The central question was “What can you do to make a positive impact on your job search?” Four topics, hosted by four guest speakers, formed the basis for discussion in groups:

• Knowing yourself
• Targeting your market
• How to network
• DO's and DON'Ts of successful networking

Just like all the other participants, I left the evening feeling very inspired and motivated to start creating my own profile and vision. At the same time, though, I realised how difficult it can be to go through such a process on your own. That is why I took the initiative to organise Follow Up Sessions for Job Seekers: by exchanging information and experience we learn from each other, we motivate, support and inspire each other.

Follow Up Sessions for Job Seekers
Twice a week we meet in Geneva. One is what we call a “homework” session, which means that we agree on a topic prior to the session so we can all prepare the homework. During the session, we discuss the process we went through and the obstacles we came across while doing the homework. As we all have different backgrounds and work objectives, this leads to interesting discussions and cross-over fertilisation!

The other weekly session is more informal. The focus is on the exchange of experiences, knowledge, tips, upcoming events on networking or job hunting, etc. It can be quite invigorating to be talking to women who are going through the same process as you - most of us feel uplifted, revived and refreshed afterwards!

The group atmosphere is an open and genuine one. There are no experts; we are all keen to help each other and to learn from each other. Such an exchange can shed a different light on how you view yourself and your strengths, which you would not have been able to do on your own.
On certain topics we call for help from external experts, using our group’s network; we are about to have expert advice on how to set up and use your LinkedIn profile in a professional and effective way.

Practical information

Every Monday from 13.30 till approx 15.30 at the Migros restaurant at Balexert in Geneva: “homework” session.
Every Thursday from 10.30 till approx 12.00 at the Migros restaurant at Balexert in Geneva: “informal” session.

The topics are announced on the OWIT Lake Geneva Forum. You will need your username and password to log in to the OWIT website.

I usually send out an email asking to confirm your attendance the day before a session. This is in order to ensure a minimum participation of two persons the following day. There is no obligation to attend every session every time, the choice is totally yours. The sessions are open to women and men, OWIT members as well as non-OWIT members.

If you would like me to add you to my group distribution list for these emails, then please let me know. And of course, please do contact me in case of any questions etc. via howsamscg@hotmail.com.

And last but not least, if you are interested in setting up something similar in the Lausanne region, then I am more than happy to help you!

Saskia Howsam

Thomson Reuters Open Doors for OWIT – A Great Event

(Past member) — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 10:32:28 GMT

We’ve read countless Reuters newspaper articles and followed its breaking news stories online and the television, but there’s much more to this company.

On Thursday, OWIT member and Thomson Reuters employee Hulya Kurt, organized a truly great open doors event at the Thomson Reuters Geneva office.
The networking and nibbles – a fabulous spread of delicious canapé and drinks – got the evening going in the building cafe/reception area, designed like the inside of a boat, taking its inspiration from Lake Geneva, which is only a hop, skip and a jump away!

We then made our way to a conference room, where the presentations began. Hulya gave us an interesting overview of the company. The OWIT audience discovered that not only is Thomson Reuters the world’s most trusted news organization, it also serves professionals in the financial and risk, legal, tax and accounting, intellectual property and science and media markets.

Fellow colleague and OWIT member Maria- Angeles Martin also spoke in more depth about financial services and her work colleague Valentina Gilardi gave us an excellent and very informative demonstration of their highly successful product EIKON – a professional platform for market analysis and trading software, enabling better market intelligence, collaboration and trading.

With our brains boggling the scope of the trading world and this quite amazing technology, we made our way back to the reception for a little more networking and a quick tour of the site, which concluded our evening.

Once again, many thanks to Thomson Reuters and the three presenters, and all OWIT volunteers who helped organize the evening.

OWIT Get Together for job seekers (29 August 2013) - by Petra Kummer

Sun, 01 Sep 2013 07:26:55 GMT

„What a fantastic evening! 21 women determined to make the right move and find THE job of their dreams and 4 inspiring speakers. We could have spent the entire night speaking and sharing ideas and experience!“

- A members for members initiative -

Our OWIT members expressed a need for guidance – other members with the according skills responded to it!

In times of a tight job market, you might feel alone and helpless – so what could be better to gather people for an inspiring exchange with experienced HR professionals and coaches? And with professionals who know all about successful networking as a daily business!

YOU know best how to bloom!

So what can you do to make a positive impact on your job search? In four round table discussions, our passionate speakers replied to that question and took us through the following interrelated topics:

• Knowing yourself ( www.YOU.com ) - hosted Celine Beaurain

• Targeting your market - hosted by Derwyn Cafferkey
• How to network - hosted by Natacha Angélique Rault
• DO's and DON'Ts of successful networking - hosted by Andrea Delannoy

And here is what our participants say:

“An interesting and useful event that really exceeded my expectations! It was exactly the kind of motivation I needed to tackle my job search in a more efficient way and I look forward to applying what I have heard tonight.”

“I was very interested in all four topics that were discussed this evening. Above all, the discussions inspired me to take my job hunting to the next level by further enhancement of my profile and my networking activities. It was good to share experiences and to hear that other women are struggling with the same challenges as I am. I hope the follow up sessions will give room for more support and inspiration for each other.”

“My personal key learning of the evening is the importance of the “Knowing yourself” part – I am determined to invest more time in this field to pave the way for a more fulfilling professional future. How can you actually know where to go and successfully network without knowing yourself properly? Thank you for opening my eyes!”

“OWIT Lake Geneva has most inspired and helped me grow since I came to Switzerland, 11 years ago. I have spent the most fabulous and intense moments volunteering for it, I’ve learnt tremendously! Last Thursday I spent yet again a fabulous moment, from a new angle – as a speaker - but with the same excitement and joy as ever! Thank you all for making OWIT LG the most open, fun and enriching organization around Lake Geneva.” (Andrea Delannoy - speaker)

The overall aim of the evening was achieved: bringing people together, helping and motivating each other by exploiting our internal HR resources! A pleasure to see that this intense session of 3.5 hours was enriching and rewarding for both speakers and participants - thank you to everyone!

Petra Kummer
Marketing Communications volunteer

***************************************************************

Do you want to keep up the momentum and continue that fruitful exchange?

Check the members forum for a follow-up or propose and post your own Get together!

***************************************************************

The OWIT Get Together initiative is about connecting members by region and / or by interest. We encourage each member to organize her or his own Get Together: host a topical party in your home community, organize some local social or cultural gathering, propose to jointly attend a business or other kind of event. If assistance is needed, you can count on the full support of our Events, MarCom and Get Together teams!

1st Geneva International Women Entrepreneurs Forum

Thu, 04 Jul 2013 10:31:17 GMT

We are delighted to inform our members about the 1st Geneva International Women Entrepreneurs Forum that will take place on July 4th and 5th, organized by

Dr. Ingrid I. Vanore-Speer, association des Femmes Chefs d'Entreprises Mondiales (FCEM),

Cost:
Public: CHF 280.-
CFE & OWIT members: CHF 250.-
Dîner de Gala: CHF 140.-

Registrations:
http://www.femmes-entrepreneurs.ch/index.php/fr/evenements/programme-2012-2013

WCO - Women in Customs, Trade Leadership Conference

Mon, 01 Jul 2013 10:30:00 GMT

Opening up opportunities for women through Customs reform and modernization

On July 1, 2013, the World Customs Organization will host an inaugural “Women in Customs, Trade Leadership Conference”. A diverse and exciting range of speakers from within and outside of the Customs community has been assembled, and the WCO is expecting a diverse and professional audience from the Customs, diplomatic, trade and private sector communities. In particular, the WCO is pleased to announce the two keynote speakers for the Conference.

To read more visit:
http://www.wcoomd.org/en/events/upcoming-events/women-in-leadership-conference.aspx

Summer Party 2013

Thu, 27 Jun 2013 16:30:00 GMT

On June 27, 2013 we had our summer party at a beach between Nyon and Geneva, surrounded by the beautiful landscape and the charming atmosphere of Lake Leman. The weather was on our side because it did not rain. Although it was not too hot, the great energy circulating between us, as well as the desire to share a fun evening together, created a very beautiful and lovely ambiance, which made us forget about the cooler weather.

The purpose of the party, for members and non members, was to spend a pleasant and informal evening all together. It was a great success and we had many attendees. The idea of the Canadian picnic was for everyone to bring some food to share. I think sharing is one of the great merits of OWIT.

The party started around at 7 pm, in front of a charming and enchanting sunset we laid some tables cloths and put out the food: bread, cakes, pasta, meat, wine. Everything was really tempting. While we were eating we chatted amongst ourselves, and met and discovered new people; the atmosphere was amazing: friendly, full of positive energy, full of the desire, that unites all of us, of sharing experiences and learning from others.

We did a game all together in a circle, the energy flowing was tangible.

I went home motivated and satisfied with the evening and I believe that others went home with a great memory of the party as well.

Martina Tassini

MarCom Volunteer

Annual General Meeting – by Ania Ferdyn (22 May 2013)

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 05:02:08 GMT

About this time every year women of OWIT Lake Geneva gather to talk about “business”! On May 22nd, 2013 we got together in a very cozy Metropole Cafe to elect our new Executive Board, talk about the lessons from 2012, and last but not least, discuss the future of our association. How exciting! Beyond doubt it was a great evening!

The core of the event, of course, was the election of our new Executive Board! Eight very enthusiastic and experienced ladies took the challenge to lead our association forward. Next year should be a piece of cake looking at the amount of knowledge they are all bringing along – legal, finance, marketing, project management, professional coaching, supply chain, you name it. All elected with majority of votes were Caroline Brenot and Violette Ruppanner as Co-Presidents of OWIT, Nasya Dimitrova as Executive Vice-President in charge of Membership and Volunteers, Agnieszka Majszczyk as Vice President in charge of Events, Nzinga Blankendal as Vice-President in charge of Marketing and Communication, and Catherine Gambotto as Treasurer in charge of Finance and Operations. We wish them all success in their journey of co-creating the future of OWIT Lake Geneva. Go Ladies!

What were the highlights of 2012?
Last year was exceptionally energetic with many accomplishments! We organized several successful events and networking meetings, giving our members and non-members the opportunity to both develop and network. We were able to launch four wonderful project groups, which are focused on helping women establishing their own business, promoting female leaders, focusing on mentoring prospects, and outreaching to smaller cities. Please don’t forget that in order to execute those initiatives in 2013 we need volunteers!!!

In conclusion, we had the pleasure to host two very special guests at our AGM this year. Giovanna Beaulieu joined us representing Room to Read, OWIT’s preferred charity, which tries to transform the lives of children in developing countries focusing on the importance of quality education. We strongly encourage you to donate! Isabel Contreras, the Founder and Director of Life Motivations closed the meeting with positive thinking workshop making everyone energized and inspired by following her lively and dynamic work out.
We all look forward to this promising year and we hope that we can exceed our expectation once again in 2013!

By Ania Ferdyn
MarCom Volunteer

Co-creating the future of OWIT Lake Geneva– a lively Action Café (14 May 2013) - by Petra Kummer

Fri, 24 May 2013 09:25:59 GMT

What was kicked off during the OWIT World Café in March, was continued in a dynamic and interactive Action Café two months later: 20 enthusiastic women literally rolled up their sleeves and turned their project ideas into concrete action!

“How might we as an association fulfil our highest potential for our members and have a positive impact on the world around us?” Such was the initial question that allowed some challenging projects ideas to take shape while the World Café.

During the Action Café, four OWIT projects were selected and broken down into rolling actions plans. The overall aim of all projects is to provide a platform where women (and men) can share their experiences, exchange their ideas and knowledge, learn from each other – and all this in a relaxed atmosphere!

What an inspiring evening for everyone! Project owners and contributors brainstormed together on how to give life to those projects outlines – and this approach worked incredibly well! Here are the four projects that will be in the centre of interest over the coming months:

1. “Promote women who make a difference!” – that is the core essence of the OWIT Female Leadership project, fully in line with the association’s purpose to foster the advancement of women. OWIT wants to identify “TOP women”, connect to them and have them share their experience and “recipe for success”. And the idea is also to offer them a platform as a speaker where they can present themselves and shine differently! OWIT will define some criteria and will set up an award to value the achievement of an outstanding woman!

2. How can we make OWIT as a sustainable association more attractive to both existing members as well as potential new members? The Membership engagement project puts the focus on the three pillars: talent pool, mentoring and buddying. First step will be identifying and outlining the various skills of our members and setting up a transparent talent pool to interconnect people in a better way. Once identified, those skills will be – in a second step – at the heart of an efficient mentoring system: the mentor will help its mentee to tackle a challenge and will help her grow, certainly a beneficial experience for both! And last but not least, a subtle buddying approach to make newbies feel at ease and get them on board in a smooth way. OWIT is open to everyone and wants to help women to develop.

3. Do OWIT Lake Geneva’s activities need to be limited to Geneva and Lausanne? No, the OWIT Get Together project will explore ways how to bring the association’s spirit to a wider circle by outreaching to smaller cities. It is about connecting members by region or by interest proposing them to organize their own get-togethers: hosting topical parties in your home community, organising some local social or cultural get-togethers, jointly attending a business event in your region … there are no limits apart from the creativity and motivation of our OWIT members. It might also be worthwhile to organize a side event along with an official cultural or sports event in the region, such as the Montreux Jazz Festival, a regional Slow-up or a Bicycle event. Let us use our members as passionate ambassadors who spread the word about OWIT and bring people together!

4. And finally, the Developing your small business project aims at helping women who are interested in self-employment and are facing a huge amount of questions. You are an expat living in Switzerland and cannot see the wood for the trees? Where to start, which regulations to respect, which risks to take into account, which mistakes to avoid – OWIT will gather and provide plenty of useful information and will interconnect experienced business owners and potential company founders. An open door evening will be a start to encourage and give support to women who are about to take this step.

We all look very much forward to the next round of the Action Café to hear about the groups’ progress. This will also bring some visibility on how we can interlink projects and foster an on-going transversal exchange in-between members and groups.

The OWIT project groups are open to everyone who is willing to help driving our association’s aims. Have you been inspired by one particular project? Then don’t hesitate to contact us – volunteering@owit-lakegeneva.org - your fresh ideas and motivation are welcome!

Petra Kummer
Communications Team Volunteer

Sustainable business models - how companies reconcile growth with sustainable development (18 April 2013) - by Petra Kummer

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 04:20:31 GMT

Sustainability and Sustainable Development – buzz words in everyone’s mouth. But can a bank put sustainability into practice? Is a company in the field of luxury goods able to build a sustainable business model? And what can a business school do to reconcile economy and sustainability aspects?

A fascinating panel discussion, jointly hosted by the International University of Geneva (IUC) and the Organization of Women in International Trade (OWIT - Lake Geneva), brought clarity to some burning questions. The complex topic could be tackled from different angles thanks to the good representation of services, luxury goods, an international organisation and a university institution.

Dr Claude Martin, Chancellor of IUG and Chairman of the International Sustainability Innovation Council of Switzerland recalled the initial definition of the concept: We should meet the needs of the current generation without comprising the needs of future generations – so the need to live within the biophysical limits of our planet. Over the last decades, the discussion on economic, environmental and social aspects of sustainability has shifted from purely minimizing the impact to beating new paths and turning the economy.

Focussing on ethical banking, fairness and transparency, Martin Rohner, General Manager of the Alternative Bank Switzerland (ABS) outlined the social responsibility of a value-based bank. What matters to ABS is where the money comes from and what it is used for, which requires a detailed assessment of the entire business model of a potential customer. Its traditional core business are ecological, social and sustainable financings, namely in the fields of renewable energies, social housing or ecological construction. In terms of transparency, all loans are published including amount and purpose! A divers board, gender balance and equal pay make the difference. And living the values in daily life stretches to using bikes or public transport. Concessions have to be made to the demands of the modern customer, but key is to stick to the extremely strict ethical standards – hence, no extraordinary business growth over the last 20 years. However, since the 2008 financial crises, people have started to care more about ethical banking.

Can sustainability and luxury goods go hand in hand? Since the creation of her company, the guiding theme for Giselle Rufer, Founder, President & CEO of the Swiss watch brand Delance, has always been: Respecting the tradition and passing on its flame without preserving the ashes - and this involves particularly the respect for people, for their talent and for our blue planet. The woman entrepreneur underlines her commitment to women empowerment, not least because women are more aware of the need for sustainability. For the production of the Delance masterpieces, the finest materials and most talented craftswomen are selected, while making sure that raw materials come from a controlled production wherever possible. No excess, no waste and a minimalist marketing, those parameters express Gisele Rufer’s conviction that sustainability is a way of life.

Looking at the landscape of business schools, the message to embed sustainability at the heart of business is more important than ever. Carolina Moeller, WWF Head of Business Education One Planet Leaders Team, presented a joint programme of WWF and IMD that brings together cutting edge business and sustainability knowledge. Based on the 3-legged stool planet – profit – people, it concentrates on the question of how sustainability can drive innovation and growth. This requires a radical and creative rethink of your business purpose and strategy, of processes and technologies, of your markets and audiences. The One Planet MBA creates an understanding of why we do need action, what the business opportunity is on an organisational level and - last but not least - makes the business leaders aware of the power in their hands to drive change: by bringing their values more into the business, a new balance can be achieved.

For sure, there is no absolute state of sustainability, but we are all called upon to contribute to solving some of the threatening world problems. Companies need to realize that they are able to shift the market! And the consumer power should never be underestimated: regulations have often been put into place following the driving force of some courageous pioneers.

There is no better way to sum up this need to think differently than by the following anecdote:
A teaching assistant went running to Albert Einstein. „Excuse me, Sir, it's about the test you have just handed out. It’s the same as three months ago. “Yes,” said Einstein, “but don’t you worry, I changed the answers.”
A lively and interactive Q&A part confirmed that this was another outstanding OWIT event and a rewarding and enriching experience for the participants!

Petra Kummer
Communications Team Volunteer

Mentorship Cafe - Position yourself uniquely in today’s job market - by Ania Ferdyn (27 February 2013)

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:08:17 GMT

What do we do when the questions concerning our careers are becoming difficult to answer? How do we position ourselves uniquely in today’s job market? Some of us want to change jobs or are in transition period already, some of us realize that they work way too much and need help on how to build a life-work balance, others strive to become influential leaders but it is just not happening. Nowadays, those career subjects are becoming part of our daily life and getting little guidance on how to get where we want to be can be incredibly supportive.

Once again the annual Mentorship Cafe event hosted by OWIT Lake Geneva ended up being exceptionally successful. More then 40 women had the chance to meet and benefit from the wisdom of 6 extraordinary mentors who offered guidance on topics concerning leadership, networking, work-life balance and job transitions.

Our wonderful mentors, business professionals, astonishing women were Carolyn J. Lutz giving the best tips on how to Network, Amy Carroll speaking about the Art & Science of Positive Influence, Diana Ritchie uncovering the Secrets of Finding a Job, Sue Johnson instructing on how to Manage the Bubbles of Work, Life and Yourself, Elena Pancé-Petrova coaching on Transition and Change, and Dr. Madelon Evers training on how to Walk your Talk to get a Powerful Leadership Role. Everyone of them was extremely knowledgeable and we thank them for taking their time to be our guests.

The atmosphere and energy flow in the room was great. Based on several comments from the participants, all attendees got their questions answered and they are ready to apply the teachings and instructions in order to achieve their career goals.

One of our members said “The event was very interesting and useful as the mentors were experienced women from several fields. The atmosphere was very energetic as all the participants were eager to learn from the mentors, from each other and to ask all their questions.

In the group “Managing the bubbles of work, life and yourself” we were challenged to draw three circles that were linked and each one represented the size of the importance of each topic in your life; a very confronting exercise! However this motivated us to think about the questions whether or not we were happy and if we would like to change anything in our life. And when changing something you have to compromise and commit to sticking by your choice.

I really liked this topic as it gave us a lot of food for thought. I can definitely recommend this event to other professional women. There was a very diverse choice of topics ranging from networking to leadership and transition. “

To sum it all up, after attending the OWIT Mentorship Cafe we can definitely say that the “difficult” questions concerning our careers are more explicable today. The help of our mentors was priceless for many of us. We are truly looking forward to apply the principles received during this year Mentorship Cafe and save the date on our calendars to do it again next year!

Annual Networking Happy Dinner - by Nzinga Blankendal (17 January 2013)

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 18:00:00 GMT

On 17 January 2013 it was that time of the year again; time for OWIT Lake Geneva’s Annual Networking Happy Dinner! Over fifty people, including members and non-members, some of whom brought their partners, gathered at the cosy restaurant l’Adresse in Geneva. The evening started with everyone drawing a number that would determine where everyone was to be seated; a perfect way to ensure that the networking evening was off to a good start.

The evening’s speaker was Terri O’Brien, Director in Supply Chain Operations at Johnson & Johnson. She emphasized the importance of being happy at work, to say what you think and make a change. She left us with some food for thought: ‘What makes you happy at work?”.

The overall feeling during the evening was very positive and it was found to be both interesting and rewarding. All members have very diverse reasons for joining OWIT and its events. New member Jennifer Hawkins joined because of positive experiences with OWIT’s Washington DC’s chapter and women who have been a member longer such as Ionna Foka says that she would advise all women who come to Geneva to join OWIT because of the friendly, genuine open atmosphere and the fact that it is very good for professional networking: “Through people you get to know corporations and a country’s professional environment!” For Caroline Mahner it’s inspiring to learn what people do for a living as this creates new perspectives on working and living while increasing one's networking skills.

New member Ania Ferdyn admitted she did not know what to expect of the evening but found the atmosphere very relaxing and energizing because of all the conversations with many positive minded business women. As she said: “There is no better place to make quality connections, cultivate relationships and get to know so many unusual, bright professional women in our region!”

Nzinga Blankendal
Communications Volunteer

Trading hub Geneva – live from the inside (12 September 2012)

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 08:52:14 GMT

Geneva is considered to be one of the major hubs of world commodity trading. It is currently home to more than 400 companies who have set up their headquarters or international offices in this picturesque city. If you add service companies directly linked to this industry such as lawyers, fiduciaries and auditors, around 8,000 employees are generated in this sector.

Impressively, a third of world trade in crude oil and products takes place in Geneva. It is number one worldwide in grains and oil seeds trading and the finance of commodity trading and number one in Europe for sugar and cotton (along with London).

On a rainy evening on Wednesday 12 September, OWIT Lake Geneva and WISTA Switzerland hosted a talk at Thomson Reuters with a panel of experts from this field.

Claire Doole, Founder and Principal, ClearViewMedia moderated the event and kicked off proceedings by asking about the daily life of a commodity trader. Natacha Medina Garcia, Sugar Risk Management Marketer, Cargill, gave the audience a female insight from the front line. Natacha is very passionate about her work saying organisation is key, with a very early start to spend quality time with her 10 year old son - the most important part of her day. Starting work at 8am, she studies the market news and prepares for meetings that are central to her daily decision making process. Decisions depend on the views of the rest of the team, global supply and demand, financial structures, news headlines and more, involving copious amounts of reading for accurate information.

Ole Siig, Asset Owner and specialist in Commodities and Energy at Thomson Reuters, provided information from a trade and trade finance position. He helped explain what people pay for when they turn to Thomson Reuters for their expertise. Detailed information on fundamentals, exchange rates, shipping costs, power production and supply and demand, to name but a few, are all factors to be considered when making a decision in any part of this business such as where a mineral deposit may be, what markets are shifting and more importantly the direction they are going in.

Ole went on to suggest that Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance – ESG, is another important consideration for many in the sector today as this sets out the main areas of concern in measuring the sustainability and ethical impact of an investment in a company or business. Naturally, every company wants to optimise these benefits from farmer to trader, and investors are growing ever more interested in this area, highlighting the continued importance of its development.

Hans-Peter Egler, Head Sustainable trade, Economic Cooperation and Development, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO, took this consideration further, delving a little deeper with his expertise. The use of pesticides and chemicals is monitored, often requiring the retraining of farmers to produce crops in a different way. Not all products have to be organic but they do need to be sustainable. It is essential that the right conditions are in place for produce to grow and they must meet standards as quality is the pillar product. In this respect, sustainable produce is a living data as we are learning new things every day in order to keep the system relevant.

Companies that are at the forefront of this continued advance such as Unilever and Nestle deliver products that will be sustainable in the long term and do not put one supply chain up against another, reducing the threat of competition. Reputation for a leading brand is its most valuable asset.

Alongside sustainability under the wider ethical umbrella are worker’s rights. Do these large multinational companies really care about them? Hans-Peter explained that well treated workers are more engaged and allied towards a company. Although better working conditions can be considered as an extra cost to a company, it is far better to invest in this as it can dramatically affect the quality of a product. For example in garment production: if the quality is not up to standard, this in itself would prove to be an extra cost – however if the workers have good working conditions, the final product will likely be of a higher quality.

Next up was Robert McCunn, Consultant at ARBIS LLP: Robert gave an insight into the role of law and regulatory framework in trade and trade finance. He demonstrated how complex a structure a single oil sale transaction might be. Every step of the way there are opportunities for hedging risk management including such factors as; Will the deal go through? Will the goods be shipped on time if at all and necessary payments made? Much like what Hans-Peter touched on, he again explained that it is in the interest of an investor to ensure that conditions are good and workers are sufficiently well paid to guarantee a contract for the next however many years. He stressed that a successful business should be built over a long period of time, meaning good risk management to be essential, and with such a fragile market, sustainable commodities are vital. The aim is to not maximise, but to optimise profits.

Magalie Dubosson Torbay, Professor, Geneva School of Business Administration gave an educational perspective, discussing why there is reluctance from women to become involved in trading. Finance trading has the image of being a male dominated world that women are not attracted to. This could be an ethical issue as women by nature are more concerned about the consequences of this. A few years ago one of her best students wrote her BA thesis on the ethical speculation of trading and now works for Cargill supporting the derivatives department. Many women don’t work on the front line; they work in support roles, but this can open the door for them to work on the trading floor if they have the drive and ambition to do so.

Natacha contributed to this topic suggesting that if men have 50 per cent of the skills required for a role they will go for it where as women are more likely to hold back if they don’t think they have all requirements. There are many obstacles for women – historically a male would be the first choice for a trading role, but this mind-set is now changing and it is acknowledged that females bring value and balance to a trading team. Natacha believes that you shouldn’t debate about gender and assume that women should take on certain roles; the key is to have the courage to think ‘Why not? Let’s go for it!’ a message that more females should endeavour to embrace when considering the broader trading environment.

Robert supported this with the notion that there are plenty of opportunities for women and if there was a glass ceiling for women, it has gone. He said, ‘A little bit of pressure goes a long way. You need guts to push a little and to keep pushing.’

The panel were then asked; Is Geneva going to maintain its status as a trading hub, knowing that Singapore is gaining momentum? Robert commented that if you take risk management into consideration, Switzerland is far more secure than London, Spain, Italy and Greece and it is very convenient for travelling around Europe where as Singapore is far away.

Jeremy Davis, representing GTSA and a member of the audience, contributed to this topic. He commented that international trade is active 24 hours per day spanning many global time zones, so to participate you need to bebest placed to serve both the east and the west. Asia services the east, the U.S services the west and Europe services both, resulting in a huge demand for businesses locating in central Europe. Switzerland’s political stand in the world is non-aligned, therefore people trust its impartiality and are willing to invest. Tax and banking in Geneva are also important factors – with Switzerland not being part of the Eurozone they are not in danger of being dragged down by EU taxation and the Euro currency. Singapore is certainly seen as a threat but the companies that are out there tend to be subsidiaries of companies based in Geneva.

Overall, this event provided a fascinating insight into commodity trading in the hub of Geneva. With ever changing and evolving policies being put into in place, and the endeavours of women to attempt to infiltrate into this ‘man’s world’, it is interesting to learn how this sometimes heavily criticised industry is dealing with the challenges it faces in order to advance into a more sustainable and ethically moral environment.

Author: Clare Richardson

Women in career transition - mastering life changes (26 June 2012)

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 08:58:52 GMT

Life throws many career transitions and/or transformations at us, both expected and profoundly surprising. How can we navigate these transitions successfull?

This well-attended, energizing evening in the beautiful Dare to Glow loft in Geneva provides clues on how to face today’s tumultuous job market. To make mid-career decisions now more than ever, you need to clearly understand who you are, what your goals are and the path you want to take to reach those goals. When in transition, nothing should be left to chance; you need to have a strategy on how to evolve professionally, survive and succeed!

The keys are in our stories.

Moderator Hulya Kurt, Global Project Manager for Customer Experience, EMEA, of Thomson Reuters, ignites panelists’ personal stories to help us emulate fruitful strategies.

Carolina Rodriguez Barros, Founder and Director of Dare to Glow, inspires us to create a life that is aligned with our newly discovered self. Gently reminding us of the importance of having the right mindset, she puts the crises we face into context, “In Spain, withdrawing your life savings could be difficult…” She advises to stop and reflect when shaken by life; “difficult conditions are an opportunity to reinvent yourself – it is all too easy to get caught in an “activity trap” that gives the illusion of control yet achieves nothing. Instead, pause, and go back to what you fundamentally want to do”.

Jennifer Borrer is a boutique recruitment and executive search agency owner, and Strategy Coach at IMD; a leading business school. Through her lenses of a recruiter, a career strategy coach, as well as a seasoned professional who built her career on three continents, Jennifer shared her experience spanning 15 years in five steps, from newly minted finance graduate in Montreal to headhunter in Lausanne. Her career grew through natural, incremental, transitions, such as moving laterally between companies while keeping the same role; and several challenging – transformational – breakthroughs where “the key to success is being strategic enough to create new opportunity”. While the first change draws on transferable skills, the second entails strategically creating something that doesn’t yet exist. “Look for a gap in the market, create a value proposition – even if it means acquiring new skills”.

Violette Ruppanner, Partner at Strategos SA; Founder and Director at Azay Management & Advisory, has lived on three different continents, worked in Asian, American and Swiss cultures, and is President of OWIT Lake Geneva, a highly visible non-profit association in the international community of Lac Leman. Her magic ingredients are networking and gaining support. She recounts earning one of her earliest jobs in Vietnam, by taking advantage of an informal event provided by her company, to chat with the Vice President and, upon hearing of the opening – blurted “If you are looking for someone – I’m ready!”, Violette affirms, “SAY what you want; speak up, show you are available and interested – and you might just be at the right place, at the right time”. Once established, cherish your relations: Violette adapted her style to better relate to her bosses’ needs for recognition.

Men, she believes, network better as they are provided enabling contexts, such as military service, and consider networking an integral part of their jobs. Women should emulate them and strategically build ‘networking’ into their work plan or job search. Everyone has a network: family, alumni groups, acquaintances, etc. When meeting people “never discount yourself with the usual boring response of ‘I’m not looking now’, ‘I’m not in a job right now’ or ‘I’m a housewife’. Remember all the exciting things you do – even if it’s not for money – such as volunteering or caring for your family. Bring your business cards, knowledge of what you can offer; passions, and stories about the fun activities you do, and don’t be shy to talk: you will bring value to somebody. The key is to combine your skills with your network. Find the right connections, share yours. Take your stories and business cards to your network. Be authentic, balance give and take, and accept help graciously”.

“Networking is invaluable at every stage in your career; for ideas, connections, and help. It helps you fall back on your feet in difficult times. And remember: only the traces of love we leave in people’s hearts will stay after we depart this world”

Pamela Grant, Managing Partner of Performance Development Partners’ Geneva office, and Master Coach specializing in career transitions, believes your ideal career can often be found by going back to your roots (at age 5, she was praised for helping her classmates). Pamela’s 16 year career at the World Wildlife Fund in seven different jobs shows the importance of constantly being marketable. There are no jobs for life now, and this makes life more interesting. She got all her jobs through network introductions and the kindness and support of people who believed in her; even if she didn’t yet have the skills; she could acquire them. It is about having the courage to accept challenges and move beyond your comfort zone. Not much of her career was planned, but having the skills, motivation and ability to fit with a company was inestimable. For example, her first manager’s kindness opened her way to the World Wildlife Fund. Seeing opportunities there for improvements, she made suggestions which she was often asked to implement. Her most daunting promotion was being asked to become head of Human Resources. Despite her great fear, as she had zero experience (and 30 minutes to make up her mind), she accepted. Attuned to the difficulties of managing people – especially worldwide – she wisely asked for, and received, the training necessary for her credibility in this role.

Pamela’s 4-point philosophy is:

We need people in our lives – help others and hopefully it will come back. We all have an amazing story and can learn something from everyone who crosses our path.
Create opportunities – for your company and yourself.
Work on yourself – your resources and values; work in a job you believe in.
Dare take on the job – even if you don’t have the skills, but just the motivation and resources to succeed.

“Step out of your comfort zone! If you prepare, opportunity will come. Successful people are people with options.”

Mind the traps

Several barriers hinder transitions. The first is mental. Carolina warns “Don’t fall into the ‘identity trap’. You are not just your university degree: look at your whole self; your physical, intellectual, emotional strengths, and continue positive activities like attending events and keeping fit. Don’t give up just because you don’t have a job anymore”. She gently reminds us that “transition is the best teacher; we learn from life, not books”.

“The best way to succeed is to dare to glow, be unique, be yourself – network, build relations, tell your story, know who you are. Knowing your story helps you connect from a different place”.

“Choose to lead the change in your life rather than push through mindlessly. Once you aim right, answers will be found in the doing....”

Unfortunately, fearing change and loss of control, we often fall into the frantic ‘doing’ mode… Instead; pause and reconnect with who you are… who can I become next? Analyze what’s missing in your life, your values.

Don’t feel guilty networking or claim you have no time; give yourself time. We don’t have men’s physical strength or network – but women have singular abilities, such as sharing wisdom from an authentic place without fear of judgment.

Pamela adds that we need to make ourselves visible and ask for the recognition we deserve, and convince our partners to support us. Women often say that they would like to stop/start working but ‘my husband doesn’t want me to’. The panel agrees that the support of their significant others has been key to their success, while Carolina notes that sometimes we refuse support out of a misplaced need for self-sufficiency. “Women: bear to share your workload and responsibilities.”

Impress your headhunter

Jennifer Borrer provides first-hand insight into the mind of a headhunter. Contrary to widespread misconceptions; and although in practice boundaries can blur, headhunters are not career coaches or outplacement agencies (Jennifer uses her job strategy coaching skills for IMD career services, but not as a recruiter). Never assume – like many do – that they will magically “read your mind” and know what’s right for you.

They depend on the jobs their clients mandate them and seek the best fit for their client’s needs in terms of skills, behavioral competencies, cultural fit, and shared values. It is not necessarily about finding an ‘exact’ match by ticking boxes in a job description, but rather knowing the client’s and candidate’s needs deeply.

Thus, aim to let them know EXACTLY where you add value. What specifically are you looking for in your next role/company? Be efficient, on time: have CV, certificates and references ready. Be helpful: provide that list of ideal jobs or companies. Provide success stories of past transitions, ask questions. Know your limits and put your cards on the table. One of Jennifer’s best candidates was a CEO who realized his limits and sat down with her to tailor his job to keep parts he loved and eliminate the rest. She knew exactly how to help him.

“Your headhunter is your ally and representative in the marketplace and needs to be fluent in knowing your qualifications, skills, and motivations. So be effective, honest, be yourself and know who you are” – Jennifer Borrer
Finally, in assessing your chosen path, recruiters will look at your potential-to-risk ratio in three areas: are you changing your title, industry or geography? Changing three is the riskiest, two is medium risk and one is doable – it all depends on the industry. You may consider accepting 2-3 smaller steps up the ladder towards your ideal goal to lessen the perceived risk.

Too old? How do I transition as an older woman?

Pamela draws on her experience as a career coach, who has set up the 50+ Autrement network at the Career Women’s Forum. “Sadly, the reality for Geneva is that the age limit is now 35 in some cases for women, and 45 for men. The only way to confront this is through your own attitude; don’t be afraid you will never get a job again: be a fighter! Companies are looking for ‘25 year olds with 25 years of experience’ – you will get hired for your skills, motivation and if you fit. You have the first two, so prove you fit”. An inspiring example is that of a 61 year old who joined a company as personal assistant and rapidly became Vice President, as the value she brings matters more than her age.

While not belittling the challenges, Pamela states the only way to beat discrimination is to fight back – for example, by joining a movement such as 50+ Autrement, which helps companies look at people differently, and see older people’s unique added value. “Fight, believe in yourself and find the right fit”, she concludes.

“The value you provide matters more than your age”

Remove your age from your CV if you believe it’s a barrier, Jennifer adds. Shifting through hundreds of CVs, recruiters process by elimination. Remove reasons for them to eliminate you! Your goal: get face to face. Then, as Carolina says, you can showcase your unique selling proposition: “Embrace and accept your uniqueness and show up as your own brand – which is the outer expression of your inner skills. Our visual impression, voice, and how we enter a room counts. Get the visual part of communication right – know how to power dress, get out of your comfort zone, and improve!”

Shattering the glass in big organizations; on being a ‘superwoman’ or How do women market themselves in big organizations, what does it take to succeed?

Hulya notes that her large company has many highly skilled women, who are never denied a job they want. They just don’t dare apply for senior jobs. They fear they can’t maintain their life-work balance, and wish to stay on the safe side.

Pamela adds that one of the unique women she knows who made it to the very top, a highly competent specialist in a rare field, complains it is very, very, lonely there, and being the only woman prompted her to resign. Another super woman declined the presidency of a huge local company, to take a lesser role which allows her to care for her handicapped husband and two kids. It takes impressive skills to manage a family, a high powered job and travel. Very few women are prepared for the huge cost; such as high divorce rates. Societal values need to change. At the moment, men rely on women to get ahead in their careers, yet women find less of that same support. Violette concurs that among her role models was the current State Secretary, whom she believed reached that position because she had a supportive husband. She says, “There are always trade-offs and the choice is ours, we can sometimes control more than we believe. Letting go of the need to control everything can make it easier – trust yourself and know your limits. Moments of doubt are normal”.

“A supportive partner is key”, says Jennifer, “and don’t be afraid to seize opportunities”. In one of her transitions she was terrified as she knew nothing about human resources, but took the job and made it happen.

Carolina adds, “it’s important not to self-excuse because we believe in a ‘glass ceiling’. Reframe, believe it is possible to break through”.

Succeed in a male-dominated environment

Responding to remarks that Switzerland is an attractive yet male-dominated environment compared with North America, with many women weary of trying to break through, especially when ‘45 with 2 children’… Pamela responds there is no real answer, but there are female-friendly jobs, for example in human resources. She remembers insisting on hiring a woman when a company blatantly disregarded the CVs she proposed, favouring male ones. “Go for companies that value diversity, say “damn it, we’re worth it” and remember we offer different things at different ages. We are all part of the solution – stand up for what’s right”.

Recruiters often have no prejudice, adds Jennifer, but few women apply for director roles.

An audience member quips that she faces the opposite challenge: she is a single, over-45 high flier, who now welcomes a simpler life. In her experience, companies do promote women, provide coaching etc, but a top job can be lonely and friendless. Women tend to have more empathy than men, which means these competitive contexts are hard ball for women. She notes wistfully that men are raised to compete, then drink together at the pub. Men seem relaxed about competition, not her.

Carolina adds, “This means there is space for women to find solutions. Be careful how you frame the issue, if you view progression as a “fight” it will remain a fight. It is a shame that some women who get senior positions become louder, meaner, less compassionate, as they have had to fight their way up by emulating men. Why not go forth the way you are, with confident self-assurance instead?”

Is there a magic potion to enhance self-confidence?

Pamela wants us to laugh – it’s contagious. Pretend you are confident, if you believe it, everyone else will. Even if you are terrified; it’s about how you appear externally. But beware the fine line between bluff and blatant lie, confidence and arrogance/pretentiousness that is not to be crossed: remain authentic. Just be confident and surround yourself with positive people. Violette agrees that it is about finding the right balance between authenticity and pretense/play, and taking an improvisation course can pay enormous dividends as it helps you with your body language and enhances your credibility.

Carolina concludes by sharing an approach for generating self-confidence. “You know how to do it. Be clear about who you are, get new experiences/skills and remember to build on your past successes”. Self-mastery is being aware of how thoughts trigger emotions, which in turn trigger actions, with the resulting feedback flowing back into our belief system. So watch your thoughts positive and negative, and see how changing your thoughts improves your emotions and then how you show up differently.

As for their take-away advice: Pam says “trust people more quickly” and Carolina concurs, “Listen to yourself and trust people and life in general, there’s a reason for everything.” Jennifer and Violette emphasizes the importance of stopping the busyness to take time to reflect – then act to break down elephantine tasks bit by bit to achieve our desired success!

Author: Katia Kerswell

“The Global South”: Fuelling Economic Growth and Development? (23 February 2012)

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 10:12:34 GMT

“The Global South” is a label, which represents nations from Africa, Central and Latin America, and most of Asia. This part of the world is currently experiencing political, economic, social and cultural changes and, at the same time, is offering great opportunities for modernization.

Unfortunately, the majority of the population of this region is facing problems such hunger, poverty, diseases, human and civil right abuses, ethnic and regional conflicts, environmental degradation. Is the rest of the world ready to “give a hand” and help these nations come out of the existential agony and take direction to convert their economies into examples of modern political, economic and social models?

Four experts in the area of international cooperation and sustainable development leaded the open panel discussion of our event held on the 23th of February in Geneva.

Statistics were shown representing the quickly growing populations, especially in China, and the importance of this country in the functionality of the Global Supply Chain.

China owns 40% of the world R&D initiatives, which together with its proved potential of being since decades a world producer # 1, represent an enormous potential and economic power.

Different on-going international programs are focused on the economic development in the countries of the Global South, based on non-oil trade.

The control of the use of the unique natural resources of each region prevents from environmental devastation and also assures a sustainable economic growth.

More over, these countries have to be prepared to respond to the strong interest coming from the North and the developed countries in the area of international trade.

One interesting physiological phenomenon was mentioned – in general, the world should “redraw its mental maps”, which means to think “out of the box”, out of the accepted so far as “status-quo”, and assume that the next world economic rise may come from the developed and event under- developed countries. Ready to see it?!

Another concept was described under the logo “One future … one planet”. This model is based on the research and establishment of tools in synergy to support strategic planning towards sustainable development. Only close cooperation and respect in considering the interest of these tree players could bring to a fair and stable base for economic, political and social advancement.

The building of a better life is a learning process. Its time frame could take decades but if it is done in a sustainable way, the success is measurable from the very beginning. Sharing best practices is something the developing, and why not, all countries should follow to make known the good techniques in policymaking and avoid from doing similar mistakes.

This transformation phase is a very complex and important step of the modern human history. It should be done with respect, tact and for the wellbeing of all.

When talking about figures, it would be a serious negligence to forget about the people. In the developing counties the hanger is not strong enough to kill the optimism of these nations in their efforts to have a decent life. This should be honored with respect, providing international cooperation in help for the sustainable growth.

The role of the woman in the countries from the Global South is fundamental. Her strength to fight for maintaining the life, her pride in preserving the cultural and ethnical characteristics of the local society and be at the same time entrepreneur and active participants in the recently created trade and production start-ups, dedicate to her a leading place. Her voice should be listen.

The conference was followed by a nice cocktail giving opportunity for networking and the discussions to continue.

by Nasya Dimitrova

Networking on ice!

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:21:04 GMT

Our January Geneva Networking Happy Hour took place at Unimail/les Vernets and was shared with other womens' networks and two charity organisations. The "Ladies Night at GSHC" was filled with networking, nice cocktail and a real game! - what an amazing atmosphere to connect with others and to share good practices.

Check out this short video from this fabulous night, maybe you will recognize some of the faces...

You’re worth it! Manage your wealth and retirement (31 January 2012)

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:15:29 GMT

A panel discussion with four speakers led us throughout the world of personal finances.

Many women use to work part time, are off work for a few years or decide to set up their own business and empty drastically their savings.

All these different situations in our careers have important consequences at the time of retirement. Better we manage our proper finances, starting on time, more secure we will be once stepped aside from of the labor market.

Virginie Guido, Associate Partner at Microgestion made a comparison between the financial situations at the time of retirement for two different ladies. The first one was “hoping” to retire early even though she had not contributed to AVS, had a reduced LPP and insignificant savings. The second lady was contributing regularly to the two social security pillars, plus was conscious about saving. Her retirement seemed to be much more pleasant and secure. She was “assuming” and managing her financial future.
We had also Patricia Infante from Microgestion who was so kind to reply all questions related to taxes.

Anne Hornung-Soukup, partner at Bruellan S.A. advised that the most important behavior related to finances is to be proactive. The pension plan will not come as a life jacket but the personal finances should be managed starting as early as at the age of 30, so that once retired or when not having regular or enough income, one is ready to face possible difficulties with enough savings.

Anne Hornung-Soukup associated to the three legs of a stool the composition of the base of our financial stability – (1) the two pillars of the Swiss social system, (2) the investment in real estate and (3) the individual savings. Even investments in appropriate funds and bonds can be welcomed if we know how to manage the risk.
As we have very different personal, social and professional situations, the best would be to, again - be proactive, including looking for professional advice and start building our future financial security in an optimal way.

Assimina Walther, Architecture Expertise Conseil & Immobilier showed figures and statistics about the real estate market in Switzerland from the last few years. Price fluctuations and barrier levels for accessing to financing have been and are determining the demand of properties. Since this is a serious long-term investment, it should be well synchronized with the contributions to the Pension plan and the possible personal savings

After these briefs the participants to the event had the opportunity to sit two times for about 30 min at a roundtable to discuss directly with each speaker the specifics of these topics. The dynamic conversations and the interest in the discussions were obvious. Many questions, many doubts but also many good and professional answers.

Since these subjects require dealing with legal data, statistics and financial modeling, we were suggested individually to take a professional consultation with an expert. How to choose it? – counting on our perception for confidence and judging by competence and experience.

by Nasya Dimitrova

Mentorship Café – Launching a business in Switzerland – what does it take to succeed? (15 November 2011)

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 10:32:31 GMT

Again the Mentorship Café proved its success in evoking open and dynamic discussions between mentors and participants. Six round tables, plenty of questions, ideas, experiences to share over the 6 different topics:

Launching an internet-based business
Developing a winning business plan
Entrepreneurial marketing & challenges of high-tech start-up
Finance, legal & taxes, accounting and admin ropes
Social entrepreneurship – creating sustainable business models
The journey to a social business project

The event started with a visual presentation about the technology used in the elaboration of high-quality hand-made guitars by the company JMC Lutherie. Music, quality, style - a perfect tonus to welcome all participants and to mark the beginning of the inspiring group discussions.

Our mentors were ladies with outstanding experience in managing own businesses and helping other’s businesses. There were also real examples of how to be a good manager combining mothers and family duties. Especially in hard time, the support of the closest ones is fundamental. Their presence brings later the complete satisfaction from achieving the business goals.

The participants found many answers in building-up the big and complex picture of how to become a successful entrepreneur. Many noted the extremely positive effect of exchanging knowledge. Apparently, sometimes the inner criticism and desire to be perfect, prevents from seeing that the preparation is completed and the launch should be done.

The confidence was a feeling, which reigned over the hall. The motivation multiplied and it turned into inspiration of seeing the business plans becoming a reality. To believe in the own idea and to know how successfully to move resources between the different milestones of the projects, are the main flavors of one great realization.

Here came the positive energy of breaking the limitations of the unknown and the questionable and opening the mind for being creative and move to action.

A passionate discussion followed in the after event cocktail. We left with a good reserve of courage, knowing better how to prioritize, organize, build models, delegate and express ourselves in the challenging role of being a successful entrepreneur.

by Nasya Dimitrova

Non-profit Oceana's winning strategy (18 October 2011)

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 09:37:17 GMT

When a Chinese fin shark soup is eaten, somewhere on the bottom of the ocean a real shark is dying slowly… This is the reality for about 100 million sharks per year. The polemic over the preparation of this traditional Chinese dish, a symbol of great honour to whom it is served, is controversial. The tones of killed sharks due to increased fins consumption, is shocking.

“Our Oceans in Collapse” – was the title of the presentation given by Jim Simon, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Oceana - the largest international advocacy group working solely to protect the world’s oceans.

The organization deals with governments and companies giving publicity in protecting the submarine life.

This incredible conference was about how Oceana is building bridges withtheir opponents and enemies and how it is affecting and winning policy changes.

Facts were presented showing the gravity of the problems in the ocean ecosystem. Some of them are:

Since 1950, 90% of the big fish in the oceans is gone.
There is a biomass composition shift in proportion between fishing predators/low-level carnivores/herbivores of 0/49/48 percent at present, which fifty years ago was 54/18/27. This is a critical distortion of the natural life balance in the oceans. The power in kW/day consumed by the fishing boats increased from 2.8 to 4.2. As a consequence, from 1974 to 2008, the overfished worldwide territory increased from 10 to 32%.
It is a responsibility of each country to take care of its waters up to 2 miles off shore but in Europe, only 10% of the European Exclusive Zone is protected.

We heard the expressions “Hunting for rats with bulldozers”. This is happening when huge driftnets are used in fishing, called as well “ walls of death”, trapping thousands of whales, dolphins, sharks, turtlesand many others, plus devastating the corals reefs.

Oceana is earning credibility showing real facts, giving publicity on the fatal ecosystem consequences, trying to make the human practices a national concern and provoke a policy change.

A lobbying, publicity and advocacy are the main instruments in achievingpolitical awareness. Despite of an individual concern, it is the political outcome, which is triggering the most changes in the legacy system. This is due to the power of voice of the political supporters.

Publicity and negotiation were used in pushing the management of Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, sending enormous ships to the most beautiful places in the oceans, to start controlling the discharge of gallons of sewage and the contamination of the waters. It was the opinion of the proper employees who influenced the company because it was considered that the excellence of the service is very much depending on the satisfaction of the staff.

If the oceans are saved, many people will eat and have jobs, because more we preserve the submarine life, more fish and more healthy the waters will be, more compromised we will be to the sustainable development and the future of our planet.

Oceana is using five approaches to achieve its goals: law, science, press, people organization and lobbying.

To be successful and efficient requires settling short-term goals, making them measurable, delegating who and what, and be clear. Use imagination, give opportunity to different talents, and innovate trying to create awareness.

Since 2001 Oceana has protected 1,2 million square miles of oceans and innumerable sea creatures. More than 500,000 members and e-activists support Oceana. In some environmental projects Oceana is collaborating with other organizations like WWF and National Geographic.

More information about Oceana.

by Nasya Dimitrova

Open door: EPFL Rolex Learning Center (2 September 2011)

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 09:59:07 GMT

The EPFL Rolex Learning Center attracts with its unique design and construction complexity. It is an unforgettable experience to see from inside the charming style of this building.

Created by the Japanese Company SANAA, this advanced architectural creature provides in a very natural way space for studying and for having relaxing breaks. It’s modern and multifunctional.

Even being out of the standard engineering, it gives the impression to have been built offering comfort and enough space for individual and group use. It is cozy, fluid and sensual.

The corridors do not have limits as in the standard constructions. They are a kind of end-less passages, but at the same time, their curves form “bubbles” used for studying. The space between them is left as a convenient direct connection between the different points.

The Rolex Learning Center is a pilot project in every sense as it is unique in its kind. It is not just a library but a multifunctional building created for social and knowledge experimentation. Its unique design and spaces dynamise the platform of what can be designated the library of the future, while creating at the same time an architectural icon.

The Swiss Federal Institute wanted to have something unique able to stand out to the academic and architectural society. By doing so, EPFL expected to compete with the highest international worldwide standards similar to those of MIT or Cambridge campus.

Excellence is intended not only with laboratory or academic production and recognition but also by its infrastructure facilities. By providing top class architectural and engineering facilities the institute expects to attract also world top class staff and alumni.

With these goals in the horizon and with its first built achievement open to the public since may 2010, EPFL and this building entered very quickly in the “mouth” of the worldwide medias.

Through an International competition made in 2005, SANAA won the commission of the Rolex Learning Center. The project will take 4 years to fully develop and the construction approximately 2 years. It represents a hard work not only because of its engineering complexity, but also because of the clash of two very strong cultures – the Japanese and the Swiss ones.

A Japanese compromise in combination with a feminine and sensual woman’s approach, as one of the leading architects of SANAA is a woman, is put in collaboration with the “Swiss made”. The result is a building comparable to no other.

The Japanese project is the most futuristic one. In its original plan, at the time of the competition, the shells slabs were considered as a mix of natural highly compressed glued fibers to provide a strong and yet light structure, something so unusual that had to be reconsidered to something more realistic to the Swiss highly demanding norms and standards. Architram, the Swiss local architect firm provided the Swiss know how and helped SANAA redesign the whole project changing the core material of the slabs to a special kind of gel-concrete.

The work for the project development is very complex and intense, leaving few times for the architectural team to sleep. The enormous difficulty in building the curved slabs and the logistics involved lead also to a documentary that testifies the whole challenge from the start until its end.

The shells by themselves - the gel-concrete slab arches, with up to 70 meters spans, are not responding to the engineering principals of the stand-alone arch. And the multi 3D directional geometry is so complex that thousands and thousands of hours of parametric 3D design software are needed to masterise these curved slabs only.

During the construction of the biggest shell, a non-stop process that lasted 3 nights and days, a concrete truck arrives on average every 15-20 minutes to deliver the special concrete-gel. To make it more challenging, as if the task is already not complex enough, the weather offer nothing better than heavy rain and the chilly Bise.

Hundreds of workers are involved in continuous shifts. And the volume of pure manual work is very high. The formwork that shapes the future slab is made of unique boxes that were cut out from plywood using laser cut processes and placed on site by machinery equipped with GPS. The precision is extremely high with tolerances of up to 1 cm. In a building of approximately 165 long per 135 meters wide.

Considering its size and slopes and the fact that it consists of a unique continuous surface, the building is often submitted to very significant deformations. The solution to these is to provide moveable welding pieces in its most parts, particularly the windows and courtyards. These are not fix as in most common buildings, but moveable like on a bridge.

Due to its complexity, the cost of this project is above standard public building cost and its construction was only possible thanks to the sponsorship of institutions like Rolex, Sicpa, Nestle, Logitech, Credit Suisse, among others.

The building can take up to 860 student working places and its main floor surface covers approximately 19'000 m2. The library counts approximately 500'000 publications and its open to the public.

Cited as being the only library that can be seen from the space, due to its size, it is conceived to supply the contemporary academic demand of information, not only in its printed form but also electronically. When it was concluded, the Japanese firm was awarded the Pritzker prize 2010, the Nobel of architecture.

The Rolex Learning Center visit finished with a cocktail enjoying the elegant atmosphere of the south west side bathed with a beautiful sunset light.

Authors: Nasya Dimitrova & Hugo Duarte

Negotiate for satisfaction and success (16 June 2011)

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 08:42:34 GMT

"It’s a bit of science and a bit of art”, we do it up to 15 times a day, throughout our lives, and according to a USA study, men are more keen to do it than women.

Negotiation, whether it’s haggling over the price of a Turkish carpet, supervising children’s playtime, buying a new car, or asking for a pay increase, can be improved with a knowledge of the techniques and lots of practice. Giuseppe Conti has had plenty of practice, he is currently in charge of Services Procurement at Merck Serono Global HQ in Geneva, with extensive international experience in procurement leadership roles (P&G, Novartis, Firmenich), and is a lecturer in the fields of negotiation and change management at leading European business schools.

Giuseppe Conti treated his audience to a lively presentation based on his four-point guide to negotiation. His professionalism and passion shone throughout, as he combined academic research findings with his personal experience and insight. He shared some techniques and reflections in his 4 point plan.

When we negotiate, is it a ‘confrontational showdown, reminiscent of a shoot out’ or a ‘harmonious waltz’? Part 1 of Giuseppe Conti’s guide was about our attitude. Our attitude affects our behavior, and that of the person we are negotiating with.

If it is our own request for a raise, we need to be convinced that we deserve that increase, in order to be convincing to others. An effective negotiator sees both parties’ perspective, so much so that she/he can present the other party’s argument as well as their own.

The second part of the guide discussed the importance of preparation, relevant to many aspects of business and indeed private life. Mr Conti shared results from an Accenture study showing that a prepared non-expert negotiator enjoyed a 60% chance of success, whereas for an unprepared expert negotiator the chance of success was only 40%.

An example was given of steps we could take to prepare for buying a car:

We can consider expert reports,
comparing different models/manufacturers,
talking to users,
visiting different garages,
looking at sales statistics, and
finding out what the typical margin is.

What we find out helps us negotiate the best deal.

Included in the preparation is an assessment of the balance of power. This is affected by:

How many alternatives are available, should the negotiation fail, (known as the Best alternative to a Negotiated Agreement or BATNA).
How strongly we desire or need the item under negotiation.
What risks are we are prepared to take-the more risk we are willing to take, the more powerful we are.
The superior charisma or authority of one party.
How urgently we need the item and
What the relationship is between the parties.

The last aspect of preparation is to negotiate the right deal. If, for example we are negotiating pay rates for a nanny, is negotiating the lowest pay rate the best deal if what we are looking for is a person who will offer the child a good education, be reliable and flexible? There are creative ways, in the terms offered, to obtain a ‘win-win’ result, for example: offer further education, or more holidays but with less flexibility.

The third part of the guide concerned what to do at the negotiating table. The person who asks the questions leads the negotiation. Open-ended questions, especially if they encourage the other party to reconsider their thinking are important.

A question, which shows that we have listened to the other party, works well. And, after the good question, keep silent for the reply.

Timing is important, consider, for example, end of quarter, end of replacement cycle, and when might be time to make a new proposal or change the offer.

Active listening (including non-verbal behaviour), shows respect for the other person’s opinions, and enables us to focus on the content.

If questions lead the negotiation, emotions shape them. Despite the preparation, adopting the right attitude and listening actively, the discussion can still become emotional. At this point the active listening becomes empathetic listening, and includes listening with our eyes, our ears and our heart. We suspend our own thoughts and judgment, and feed back what the other party is saying, to show our empathy. Giuseppe Conti suggested we practice establishing rapport and being empathetic, and that we manage our emotions. Both rational and emotional messages have a place at the table.

Just how good are we at recognizing emotions? Interestingly, studies have shown that there are six emotions which are globally recognized. And Giuseppe Conti tested us to see if our recognition supported the studies. By and large they did, with a few people hesitating between fear and surprise!

What is the difference between a win-win and a win-lose attitude? Quite simply, the win-win attitude (creating value) is about relationship building, using objective arguments, exploring creative options (like the Nanny scenario).
The win-lose attitude (claiming value) is the ‘Turkish carpet trader’ scenario, when the first offer is aggressive to establish an entry position. Here we do not give anything away, we learn as much about the other partner and their BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement) and we manage the concessions.

The last point of Giuseppe Conti’s plan concerned personal standards and ethical behavior. On a personal note, his words do not just relate to purchasing, but equally to many areas of business, including marketing. People do business with people they trust, and ethical behavior builds credibility over time. We should keep our promises, become partners once the deal is reached, and refrain from any activity which will betray that hard-earned trust.

He finished by repeating that negotiating is a skill, and practice is the key to success.

Questions from the audience:

We were able to get more wisdom from our speaker during question time:

We learnt that written negotiation is less effective than sitting around the same table, since we cannot see non-verbal or emotional behavior.

Procurement is a 7-step process, and negotiation is step 6, so there are many more facets to procurement than we heard about during the evening.

What about cultural differences?

This is a minefield. Clearly respecting etiquette is important, and we should find out about that before the negotiation. Stereotyping should be avoided, and stereotypes go beyond nationalities and cultures in the usual sense of the word, companies may have a very specific culture as well. One large difference, for example, is whether the party looks at the big picture or focuses on detail.

And what about the difference between men and women at the negotiation table?

The biggest difference is that most of the time, men tend to negotiate and women don’t, (found in a US survey). And the reasons can be found in our upbringing and culture. Women tend to be more modest, and are expected to be compliant and to conform to policies. So Mr Conti’s advise for us is to go into negotiation more readily, and to take a firm position. We are better at win-win situations and need to improve in win-lose ones. And that was where we lost the negotiation in favour of networking over a glass of wine!

Submitted by: Jane Rowsell