SOCIAL MEDIA IN BELGIUM
How are social media used in our companies? What are our experiences? On 2 December, the ABCI (Belgian Association for Internal Communication) organised a networking event to answer these and other questions and share ideas and solutions about social media and collaboration tools (Sharepoint, Google apps, etc.). The ABCI invited several Belgian experts to share their experiences and knowhow by means of brief practical talks and discussions in the presence of 80 participants.

» For more information contact Bénédicte Papeloer
[benedicte.papeloer@aginsurance.be]
 

In November the call for submissions for the ViKOM’s communication prize took place. The top three rankings in the category “best internal print magazine” were VIVATIS Holding AG, OMV and Austrian Airlines. In the “best electronic medium “ category Erste Group, Siemens Green@work and Austrian Airlines were the best three submissions. Presentations to the winners and of the „Silberne Feder“ award and the release of the detailed rankings took place on was on 1 December.
 
» Further information contact ViKOM
[Vikom2@iv-net.at]
 
 

COTY winner Christina Schmid with IoIC President Alan Peaford.

Samantha Children, internal communicator of the year.

IoIC PRESENTS THE COTY AWARDS 2010
The Institute of Internal Communication (IoIC) has recognised the very best with the presentation of its Communicator of the Year Awards (COTY) 2010.

The awards were presented at the COTY lunch at the Landmark Hotel, central London on 26th November 2010. They assessed levels of professional attainment, dedication and consistent achievement in an individual or team rather than focusing entirely on a specific output such as a publication, project or campaign. At the same time, Christina Schmid was named IoIC Communicator of the Year 2010 for championing better equipment for soldiers in Afghanistan and her patronage of the Tickets for Troops Charity.

Christina is the wife of Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid, who, aged 30, was killed trying to disarm an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan on 31st October 2009. Since his death, Christina has spoken powerfully about a number of issues affecting the armed forces and has presented her own BBC1 Panorama investigation into the work of high-threat bomb disposal officers. Earlier this year Christina became a patron of the charity Tickets for Troops, which offers free tickets for big events to soldiers, sailors and airmen.

Her fellow patron Samantha Cameron, wife of the Prime Minister, has praised her ‘remarkable strength’ and her campaigning work on behalf of troops serving abroad

Samantha Children, internal communications manager at QBE European Operations, was also named IoIC Internal Communicator of the Year. Samantha has been recognised for her work on the international insurance company’s Big Difference engagement programme. This supported a business strategy aimed at moving away from operating as a collection of separate acquisitions in an entrepreneurial environment towards a much greater focus on integrated customer experience and internal collaboration to support significant growth.

An award was also given to Caroline Close, for Best IoIC Accreditation Programme Student.
 
» For further details on the event and a full list of winners please click on the link below.
[www.ioic.org.uk]
 
 
APCE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND ANOTHER NEW OFFICE
To present the Activities and Budget Proposal for 2011, APCE will gather its members in a General Assembly on 16 December.  In the last newsletter, the postal address of APCE Executive Office was announced. Due to a good opportunity, APCE has moved again and its Executive Office is now located at:

APCE, Rua Pinheiro Chagas, 41 – 2ºD – S5, 1050-175 Lisbon, Portugal.

» For further information contact Paula Portugal Mendes
[paula.portugal.mendes@apce.pt]
 
 
BUSINESS DRINK ON ‘SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY – THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE’
In Portugal, and particularly in Lisbon, the theme of Sustainable Mobility is a hot issue, which is why APCE organised a Workshop and a Business Drink with speakers from the companies involved in the implementation of electric vehicles in the cities, to debate how communication can be used to promote the use of these cars. This meeting had also the presence of the Lisbon Local Support Group from EVUE - Electric Vehicles in Urban Europe, an EU project focused in implementing sustainable and integrated strategies that promote the use of electric vehicles, Lisbon being one of the 10 participant cities.

» For further information contact Paula Portugal Mendes
[paula.portugal.mendes@apce.pt]
 
 

When the new chairman Henrik Vinther took the photo, Kenneth Wilson hand over the diploma to Jonas Schrøder from Jysk.

DANISH STAFF MAGAZINE 2010
GO Jysk is this year's winner in the national competition in the Danish Society for Internal Communications. For more than 60 years, FIK (fikom.dk) has declared a winner among its members' staff magazines at the general meeting. GO Jysk is a well-produced magazine printed in 8000 copies in the languages spoken in the multinational company Jysk.

FIK invited Jan Halling, CEO of the Politiken Local Newspapers A/S to the general meeting. The fact is that local newspapers and staff magazines are similar, though there are rarely any advertisements in a staff magazine. If the newspaper only writes what the advertisers want, the readers will disapear. Similarly, in FIK's view, many staff magazines today have a tendency to be more top-down communication. Companies would like to use the staff newsletter as part of the management tools, but FIK says that that isn't the way forward. It's the employees' magazine. There must be room for criticism and freedom to focus on problems within the company.
 
» For further information contact Kenneth Wilson [kenneth@clips.dk]