Organizer: Erika Both

The European Professional Women’s Network and Connecting Women are organising the next:

‘EPWN/CW Hague Borrel’
Tuesday 15 November 2011, 19:00-22:00
at ‘De Zoute Zoen’ – back in the Scheveningen Harbour

Dear ladies,
We are looking forward to welcoming you to our next event on Tuesday 15 November 2011 from 19:00-22:00 and we have decided to return to the Scheveningen Harbour. We are therefore very excited that our next EPWN/CW Hague Borrel will take place at the stylish restaurant De Zoute Zoen!

Yet another great opportunity for meeting other women, networking and exchanging views about work/life in The Netherlands. And remember that everybody is welcome, membership is not required. As always, we will have a table at our disposal for your business cards in order to promote your own business.

De Zoute Zoen, situated in the 2nd harbour in Scheveningen, offers fish oriented cuisine, in
a rustic, classical and warm ambiance, with a wonderful view of the harbour. The restaurant offers a spacious, bright but cosy dining room with adjacent terrace. It is a great location for lunch or dinner, and also available for private dining, wine tastings or business meetings.

And … De Zoute Zoen also honours the same offer we had with Braque – we will get 3 (!!) drinks for our pre-paid €12,50 plus canapes!
Cost and registration
The cost of the Borrel is €12,50 per person. This will entitle you to three drinks plus nibbles and tapas. You are asked to pay this upon arrival, for which you will receive three restaurant coins to redeem your drinks at the bar. Additional drinks are at your own cost – the bar will close at 22:00.

Please make sure you register your attendance (either as a member or as a guest) via the EPWN website http://europeanpwn-amsterdam.net/events/borrel-in-the-hague-november-15. Alternatively, you can send an email to Karin Bosscher at karin@isabellalinea.nl. As Erika will be away for a few days, please contact Karin for a speedier reply. For more information on the event, see www.connectingwomen.nl.

Please also don’t forget to de-register if you are not able to make it after all!
We need to confirm the number of attendees with the restaurant 24 hours in advance. When pre-registered people do not show up, this puts us in a difficult position, as the restaurant has prepared food for more people.

Directions to the venue
This restaurant, De Zoute Zoen is located in the Scheveningen Harbour, nextdoor to restaurant De Dagvisser. The address is Schokkerweg 37, Den Haag. For more details about the venue, go to their website http://www.dezoutezoen.nl/.

There is plenty of free parking. If you are travelling by public transport, take tram #17 from Den Haag Centraal Station (richting Statenkwartier) and get off at the stop called Van Boetzelaerlaan. Or take tram #11 to the Duinstraat stop.

We are looking forward to seeing you all and to enjoying yet another very exciting networking evening!

Warm regards,

Anna Farrenkopf, Karin Bosscher & Erika Both
European Professional Women’s Network / Connecting Women

Speaker: Nicky Nargues Adle

It starts with Brigitte Bardot, Catherine Deneuve, Vanessa Paradis, Marion Cotillard, and continues through the countless women you’ve seen in the streets of France.

How do these women master style? How do they combine effortless chic with their high sense of fashion? Trust us, it’s not that difficult. If 31 Million French women do it, so can you. That’s our promise to you.

French style is based on a number of rules and we will teach you everything you need to know about them in this 1h30 workshop. Bring your notebooks if you want, but remember, our lessons are fun!

In this workshop, you will learn how to:
- Find your style
- Know the clothes that fit you
- Mix and Match your clothes
- Accessorize
- Learn to watch others
- Shop smart
- Relax with your looks!

31 Million is a personal style consultancy that trains women on the ins and outs of French fashion whilst exposing them to the secrets of French style and nutrition. Our focus is to offer women in their 20’s to 50’s French style and nutrition lessons, organize for personal wardrobe consultations, arrange exclusive and fun Paris shopping trips, as well as provide a rental platform where women can gain access to French-styled clothing and accessories for any occasion.

31 Million started as a fun venture in Amsterdam, where Franco-Iranian Nicky Adle was missing the action of Paris shopping and decided to spread the word that French women don’t have more taste than others but simply dress and eat according to implicit rules that together constitute the French Touch. Raised in Paris, Nicky has been living in and out of France for the past 15 years, has never (ever!) shopped outside her hometown, or given up on her French eating habits. Like most Parisians, she knows the capital’s shops, current styles and future trends.

On weekdays Nicky is an INSEAD MBA graduate and internet entrepreneur, currently launching wondersale.nl, a promotions and discounts webshop that activates on key calendar dates such as Sinterklaas, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.

Website: www.31million.net
Weblog: http://31million.blogspot.com/
Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/31-Million-The-French-Touch/279785544491

Enjoy the class!

**SEATING IS LIMITED**
Be sure to register by clicking the register “as a guest” or “as a member” link above this post.
Participants are welcome to network from 19:00 to 20:00. The program begins at 20:00.

Registration and Guest Policy: Registration is required for members (no charge) and guests (guests are welcome at a cost of 25 Euro which includes snacks and drinks). Guests are allowed to attend two EuropeanPWN-Amsterdam functions per year. Please contact Caroline van Leuven, our VP Membership.

Breaking news: finally there seems be an increase in the number of female partners at the large law firms in the Netherlands. The total number of female partners has increased at the top 10 law firms from 57 last years to 61 this year, whereas the total number of partners decreased in that top 10 from 450 to 430. These data are published in De Stand van de Advocatuur 2010. On 26 March the first copy of this document will be handed over to Saskia Stuiveling, president of the general Court of Auditors and member of the Council of recommendation of the Dutch order of lawyers.

There is also less good news for the champions of diversity: at the top 10 last year  a total of 865 female lawyers worked, this year that number has decreased to 808. Also the number of male lawyers decreased, from 1,211 to 1,168. In terms of percentage the proportion male and female lawyers now amounts to at the top 10 of offices 59.4% for 40.6%, in contrast to last year 58.9% and 41.1%.

This text has been translated from: http://www.advocatie.nl

OBA (the Bieb)
Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam
Oosterdokskade 143
1011 DL Amsterdam

Happy New Year
This is your chance to come borrel with the Amsterdam board.
Ideas, brainstorm, feedback, questions are welcome.

We’ll all be on hand to talk with you about the organization, logistics, planning, future board positions, what’s happening with the federation, and how you can help to grow and to sustain the organization with your participation. “Club business” and updates.

We will meet in the New Library – next to Amsterdam Centraal Station
(same as last year). Join us on the top floor at the bar for tapas and beverages in the La Place Restaurant.

We have also reserved a meeting room – on the 6th floor.

We really enjoyed the productive discussions last year in this format.
Please join us again!

New Year, New Chances.

Proost!

In our training sessions, we regularly receive this type of question from participants: “Why is my Russian colleague always so negative? Is it something I did wrong?” asks Tom from London. Our answer is: “On the contrary Tom, your Russian colleague trusts you enough to share his concerns with you. Actually he is trying to be friends and bond with you.”

Bonding by complaining

In Western Russia, many Eastern European cultures and various cultures in Southern Europe and Latin America, people try to bond with others by complaining. Complaints about the boss or about tasks to be performed or simply about the food, places people ‘together’ in a common situation in which they can relate to each other - bonding with the suffering majority. These complaints are usually expressed with emotion. However, it is passive and is not followed by an action to change the situation that is complained about. An outsider will get the impression that something terrible has happened and that the complainer is deeply unhappy. This however is not the case. There are many reasons for such behavior depending on the context. Some of the underlying reasons may be uncertainty, risk avoidance, xenophobia, fatalism and the feeling of not being in charge as well as being unable to create or accept change.

Seeking appraisal by complaining

Another reason people complain is to seek appraisal. The complainer feels that they have to show and communicate how problematic life or a task is in order to be taken seriously by his boss, colleagues and others. In this case the complainer seeks admiration, respect and compliments for his skills and the effort put into the task.

The mirror

For those coming from a mindset where one bonds by communicating something positive like “isn’t this interesting” or “let us make this work” complaining is seen as negative. For these people, someone who frequently complains at work is seen as being inadequate for the job. Frequent complaining in a social setting is seen as whining and complainers are not taken seriously. In this case, ‘frequent’ means complaining several times a day. Complainers are seen as negative and dissatisfied people whom no one likes to work or socialize with. In case one does complain he is expected to take action to change the situation he complains about. When we look at the American corporate language, we see that the word ‘problem’ has a negative connotation. Therefore, Americans substituted the negative word ‘problem’ by the word ‘challenge’ which has a positive connotation. The word ‘problem’ implies a negative situation, while the word ‘challenge’ has a ‘yes we can change it’ positive type of energy and action in it.

Ideas for creating a positive attitude for everyone

If you have members in your multicultural team who complain to bond or seek appraisal and like to try to create a more positive attitude try the following;

• Explain how you experience complaining.

• Discuss the different interpretations of complaining in various cultures.

• Show how stimulating it can be to have a positive approach towards work.

• Try to provide insight into how complaining influences the energy of the team members from other cultures.

• Together make two lists. One of what is the benefit of complaining for each person present and one of what is the benefit of a positive approach for each person present (energy, pain, admiration) and which of those benefits serve the project or task best.

• Create together a code of communication.

• Make a list of desired behaviors during meetings or ground rules for the team or the office. Post them on the wall as an aid in guiding conversation towards positivity and constructive action oriented communication.

© Eleonore Breukel

www.intercultural.nl

Speaker: Richard Kwakernaak

Richard Kwakernaak, founder Institute for Communication Psychology and Transformation (ICPT);

Thursday, February 4^th, 2010

Location: Amsterdam Renaissance Hotel

Why is it sometimes a challenge to enjoy working together with others, men in particular, while it seems so easy at many other occasions? What role do emotions play? How do we recognize each other’s and our own emotions? And how do we consciously as well as unconsciously focus our attention, depending on how we feel?

During this interactive event Richard Kwakernaak will guide us to reveal our inner resources to communicate and cooperate as effectively as possible, even under difficult circumstances.

Richard graduated from Naval Academy with a specialization in Human Resources Management and founded the Institute for Communication Psychology and Transformation (ICPT) after fourteen years in active service of the Royal Netherlands Navy. During that time Richard acquired a vast amount of experience of communication in male dominated environments which he now also passes on in his work with various national and international companies and a number of seminars that he teaches for the military, especially at NATO’s Civil-Military Cooperation Centre of Excellence.

Discover how to benefit from the latest insights in social neurosciences, practically applied in the fields of Mindfulness, NeuroLeadership and Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Learn what all people have in common and yet how different individuals interpret experiences, including specific characteristics of male and female information processing.

Afterwards you will have a thorough understanding why men sometimes act in a neglecting way, how emotions arise and impact your communication. During entertaining exercises you will practice how to maintain focus in order to communicate how and what you want.

Participants are welcome to network from 19:00 to 20:00. The program begins at 20:00.

Registration and Guest Policy: Registration is required for members (no charge) and guests (guests are welcome at a cost of 25 Euro which includes snacks and drinks). Guests are allowed to attend two EuropeanPWN-Amsterdam functions per year. Please contact Caroline van Leuven, our VP Membership.

Electronics & Automation 2009

High Tech Heels, from design to manufacturing

Buzzing with anticipation and energy! You know that type of event, nothing has happened yet – and the room is electric. That was the sort of environment pre-existing in the Croesezaal at the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht on the 29^th of May. While I do experience that feeling on a regular basis at EuropeanPWN events, I don’t often come across it in my work conferences.

I arrived a bit early, wasn’t sure what to expect – had pre-registered half a year ago half expecting to get an email from FHI to tell me it was under-enrolled. I wasn’t sure at all what the program would be like. The seminar said it was relevant for “hardware and software engineers, production workers, purchasing & sales, and managers”. I thought, “impossible”! I was absolutely wrong – it was all that and more. The brochure said, “These women speakers will give insight to all the different phases from development to production and show the important role women fill in the electronics industry”. Ambitious goals they delivered in effortless fashion.

Each and every presentation was uniformly high quality and representative of each and everyone they said they were targeting. The presentations were theatrical, entertaining, and informative. Even graphical representations of how business was done 20 years ago (hand-written faxes) were up-to-date and freshly presented in a relevant format to show how women in the industry 25 years have stayed current, adopted new technologies, and excelled in their implementation (Hanneke van Wageningen).

The seminar participants were all “on time” and the session chair Bertha Verhoeven – van Lierop had enough space in the program to also provide brief biographies of several of the female colleagues of the plenary speakers. These women walked up and down the aisles left and right as their CV/bio was read to the tune of “I’m every woman”. One even waltzed up and down her “cat-walk” with an ESD kit strapped to her wrist and managed to make it look like she does that every day. The ESD kit I believe she uses – the parading in front of a crowd not.

Very little jargon was tossed our way, and that which was “right first time” would be clear across many industries (Tanja van Truijen). This was an exceptionally articulate group of speakers clearly demonstrating unparalleled excellence in the electronics industry.

I was totally enthralled and super-charged by the entire session High Tech Heels.

No detail was missing from the session. Even the multi-media elements were thoroughly tested and on key with just the right volume. As we also see at our EuropeanPWN events there is a special thrill in seeing other women excel in dynamic and glamorous ways. And I must say, Electronics & Automation was never quite so appealing as it was with all the High Tech Heels. I hope FHI invites more women to present at future conferences. The gentlemen in the audience accounted for nearly 40% of the attendees.

For more information on the electronics industry in the Netherlands you are advised to contact the sponsoring federation: FHI (www.fhi.nl). For specific information on the seminar (www.eabeurs.nl/hightechheels). FHI conducts its conferences in the Dutch language. For more information on the speakers and the companies they represent I have provided English language links when available (see below):

Session Chair: Bertha Verhoeven – van Lierop

http://www.div-management.nl/ambassadeursnetwerk-diversiteit/leden/bertha-verhoeven-van-lierop/

Research and Development: Mariejose de Ruyter – TEST OK (http://www.test-ok.nl/index.php/en/home)

Design and Architecture: Petra Eussen – CHESS (http://www.chess.nl)

From Design / PBOM to Delivery by way of 3C:  Kathy van Droogenbroek – Analog Devices & Hanneke van Wageningen – tbp electronics (http://www.tbp.nl)

Blijf “Right First Time” een utopie: Tanja van Truijen – Protonic Holland (http://www.protonic.nl/index4.html)

Equipment Support and Qualification:  Simone Tobar – ASML (www.asml.com)

Vrouwen & technologie:  Sabine Uitslag – CDA (www.uitslag.cda.nl)

Europe Invests in Women Leaders – by Sylvia Ann Hewlett.

Sylvia Ann Hewlett is an economist and the founding president of the Center for Work-Life Policy where she directs the “Hidden Brain Drain”—a task force of 35 global companies committed to fully realize female and minority talent. She also heads up the Gender and Policy Program at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University.

During the previous months the media and public discussions have been mainly gravitating around one topic: the economic crisis across all industries. Especially as marketing budgets are often cut first, the profession is prepared for a tough time ahead. What is often neglected is that change also means opportunities.

How refreshing was it that the EPWN Amsterdam kicked off its event series with an inspirational evening in which we took a different approach to look at the future:
“Crisis – what crisis? 2009 a huge opportunity for marketing talents.”

The Japanese word for crisis is “Kiki” and consists of the two words: danger and opportunity – which captures the essence of the theme of the evening.

Our guest speaker Regina Mehler, Marketing Director Central Europe and Emerging Markets at Adobe Systems has successfully dealt with a wide array of critical situation during her impressive career in the IT sector.
With a wide array of exciting and out of the box examples Regina showed us that this crisis provides the unique opportunity to do something that’s never been done before: Or would you have thought that 20 top-tier CIO’s cannot wait to ink a deal once you have introduced them to an industry legend like Bill Gates during a CIO Innovation Tour through Silicon Valley?

Therefore a crisis allows not only for marketers to do something that has never done before. Regina’s propensity to think across boarders and her innovative marketing approach has proven to be successful in all market circumstances because innovations are the base for advancement of any kind. Only innovative marketing will help in the highly competitive environment, only innovative marketing will lead to customer commitment and loyalty, and only innovation will bring new customers for further growth in this ever changing market.