Happy New Year from Executives International

Dear Executives International Members and Friends,

2020 started with much hope and ambition. Though there were reports of a new virus a few continents away, it seemed far from our safe haven here on Lac Léman.

The Executives International 2020 year began like always, with a full calendar of speakers, workshops, social events and First Mondays. However, the threat of the new Coronavirus, COVID-19 soon approached, penetrating Northern Italy, uncomfortably close to the Swiss border. This would ultimately put organizations like EI in a quandary - could we safely hold events or do we close down?

In January, before any knowledge of the pandemic to be, financial expert Dan Scott, Deputy CIO of Vontobel, led off the EI schedule of events with a memorable and much appreciated presentation on the "2020 Market Outlook" followed in February with Ekatarina Filippova presenting a workshop entitled, "Attracting the right clients on social media".

After our highly informative March 12th, speaker event, “Are you UBER curious?”, featuring UBER General Manager, Steve Salom, Executives International decided that to best protect our community, we would transform our upcoming in-person events into virtual Zoom events until we were sure the infection rate of the pandemic was under control. This meant that EI often exceeded the official federal guidelines.

As it turned out, this decision, was not only prudent, but also enabled Executives International to greatly enhance our 2020 Program! We were able to successfully add speakers and participants from many countries around the world and from localities throughout Switzerland. Our virtual events made the term “International” in our name even more meaningful. The reach and recognition of EI has never been more widespread.

Everyone who attended the virtual (by necessity) 2020 EI events:

Bettina Palazzo’s Dealing with Ethical Dilemmas with Confidence and Courage Workshop,
The Sustainability and New Business Models Panel Discussion,
the Creating Value in Negotiation Workshop held by Giuseppe Conti,
Alex Edmans’ Webinar on Responsibility in Business,
The Third Annual EI Stars of the of the Start-up World and Mentoring for Start-ups Event,
the Energy Mutation Webinar featuring Teddy Püttgen,
the EI Workshop to Enhance Communication Skills featuring the Renegade Saints,
the Extraordinary Association General Meeting to approve the new EI Statutes,
the EI Virtual Christmas Apéro,
and EI First Mondays,

will attest that the quality of these events, while different than live events, was maintained, if not improved.
We were able to hold two events after March 12th in person, the Brand Storytelling Workshop led by Marc Checkley and the EI Summer Social, but then quickly reverted back to virtual events when the spiked outbreaks returned.

I am happy to report that Executives International adapted to the challenges of 2020 with a positive “can do” attitude. So much so that a series of virtual events has been incorporated permanently as part of our annual calendar.

The 2021 calendar promises to be a great one and we promise to remain vigilant in safeguarding our participants. Please take a look at the 2021 calendar on the website for details of all the upcoming events.

A heartfelt thank you to all our Speakers, Workshop Leaders, Members, and Friends for their enthusiastic participation in 2020.

Special appreciation is extended to our Sponsors:

Vontobel
RSM, and
Logan & Partners

whose continuing support is essential to the well-being of Executives International.

Thank you also to Kristiina Urban, whose digital marketing expertise and administration allows EI to run smoothly and efficiently.

Finally, an expression of gratitude to the EI Committee Members: Rik Segers, Mark Kissack, Janet Shaner, John Fearn, Rosalind Duns, Richard Heath, Stephan Kreuzberg and Brigitte Bürgisser who devote many hours of their time and energy to make Executives International the organization we appreciate so much.

A Happy and Safe New Year to all and look forward to see you very soon.

Kind regards,
Tom Rosenfield
President

EXECUTIVES INTERNATIONAL
CP 143 - 1066 Epalinges
TEL: 079 816 59 20
info@executives-int.ch
https://www.executives-int.ch