Gastein is the place to be in October
There were a few empty seats in the FH Brussels office back at the beginning of October as many of our healthcare team members made the trek to a very far-away place. Clock up an 8 hour journey involving 2 flights and one shuttle bus journey, and you get to the town of Bad Hofgastein in Austria. Now why on earth would they go there at such a busy time of year?
Our healthcare team was making their way to THE healthcare policy conference of the year in Europe, the annual European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG). The almost weeklong conference is jam-packed with seminars and workshops, involving a cross-section of high-level speakers spanning Commissioners, health economists, patients and industry. Besides helping to run three such workshops, our healthcare team thought they’d share here what makes the trip to EHFG so worthwhile:
- Bringing people together – The EHFG brings many of the top EU, national and regional level policy stakeholders engaged on health issues together in this one isolated place. Real progress by the EU on health can only be achieved with the engagement and cooperation of this mix of stakeholders around the table to discuss common challenges and workable solutions.
- Building a partnership approach- The conference brings together different points of view on the health issues of today. EHFG highlights the need to unite business and policy perspectives, in line with patients who are placed at the core of the discussions. This allows for everyone not only take part in the discussion but also be a part of the proposed solutions.
- Glimpse into the future – EHFG gives a sense of what future challenges lie ahead and what health policies are needed to address these.
- Being part of the solution – Gastein gives everyone an opportunity to propose solutions across all the different health issues from NCDs, e-health, HTA, and more. It’s a great venue to put forward solutions for discussion and contribute to future policy making initiatives in the making.
- Making friends –EHFG provides a unique opportunity to meet and build relationships with the key players on health policy at all levels possibly because you all have nowhere else to go, and because of the inexplicable pull of the infamous Ice Cube bar !
So in the end it really is worth the 8 hour trip (door– to –door) from Brussels, well that and the view’s not half-bad either.
Michelle, Aoife, Clemence and Tatiana
A Brit in Brussels: Bonfire Night Blues
For British expats living in Brussels, Guy Fawkes Night on November 5th is a low, low point in the calendar. It’s not that we don’t see fireworks all year round here – of course we do. The Brussels authorities make fine use of our over-generous tax contributions to put on a whole range of displays throughout the summer months to mark various, indecipherable occasions. I’m told the same thing happens over Christmas and New Year but, being an expat, that is something I can’t confirm.
No, I’m not going so far as to say that there are no fireworks in this country AT ALL. My point is that come this Saturday, the British expat community will be overcome with a sense of overwhelming ennui. Sure, they’ll be a few scouts putting on a show at the local British School of Brussels, and good on them, but for most of us, November 5th will be just another day sans fireworks. A quick glance at Angloinfo – an online forum for English speakers − shows I’m not the only one to feel disappointed at the prospect of this.
I’m fairly convinced that most people don’t even celebrate Guy Fawkes Night in the comfort of their own homes here. Natural instincts will be telling all right-thinking Brits to take an old shirt and pair of trousers from the cupboard, stuff ‘em full of dead leaves in the garden and burn them on a clumsily constructed bonfire. But we won’t do it. Why? Well, I suppose it’s a bit to do with the origins of the celebration itself. Although few people bat an eyelid at the idea of burning a (symbolic, happily) effigy back home, it’s not really the done thing here – and can lead to all sorts of awkward conversations with indigenous friends and neighbours. It’s hard to explain that although the celebration has lost all sense of historic and religious significance, it remains a central tenet to British culture. Basically, it’s just a bit of a laugh.
So November 5th is a right-off. And it’s a shame really, because for 364 days of the year, Brussels is a fairly natural destination for Brits abroad. Unlike expats of other nationalities, the weather is far from a shock for us (read what Lindsay has to say about how American expats respond to Belgium, for example) – in fact it’s fairly similar to our own weather (invariably awful). Also, we’re a paltry two-hour train ride from home (well, to London at least), the beer and food are heaps better, there’s a trendy international, multi-lingual vibe, loads of cultural stuff to enjoy, clubs to join – the works. Sure, the bureaucracy is time-consuming and shops are shut on Sundays (inconvenient, yet economical) but overall we know we’re onto a good thing.
In spite of my love for Guy Fawkes celebrations – and deep-seated belief that fireworks can only be enjoyed on freezing cold, autumnal evenings – I have to admit that this country’s refusal to mark the occasion doesn’t distress me for longer than a few days each year. If it’s the only time I genuinely feel foreign in Belgium, I suppose I should count my blessings.
Perhaps next year I’ll take a trip home for November 5th, and get all this Bonfire-Night angst out of my system.
By Catherine
FH Podcast: Journalists & Digital #4 – Ian Wishart of the European Voice
Continuing our occasional series on how Brussels journalists use social media, today we feature an interview with Ian Wishart of the European Voice. Ian talks about how – as a new arrival in Brussels – Twitter helped him navigate the Brussels maze. He also muses on the potential for better Twitter performances from the Brussels power brokers.
Click here to listen to this edition of the podcast.*
Click here to subscribe to the FH Europe podcast on iTunes.
* If using Internet Explorer, you may have to right-click on the link and save target as, then play the saved file by double clicking it.
In case you missed it, here’s the Storify page and the web page of the recent seminar held by the Council on “The Impact of Social Media on Journalism”. Outside of the Brussels bubble, here’s an interesting analysis in writing and film from the BBC of how social media had changed its newsroom.
Anita
Breaking news from UK PM – Commission supports completing internal market
I have to admit to being a little bit of a pro-European (no? never! you say), so it is with some fidgeting discomfort that I read overnight the happenings in my native land on the EU. Our London office have done a quick round up of the rebellion on their blog (sounds like something Darth Vadar would want to crush).
I think it’s worthwhile reading the Prime Minister’s full statement to the House of Commons from last night in case you missed it. As Jon Worth notes (hat tip for making the front of the Guardian’s online edition yesterday) being in office has driven probably the most Eurosceptic of Prime Ministers closer rather than farther from Europe. As I read through his speech I noted many of the arguments that pro-Europeans make for why the EU is a good thing and in our national interest. Pity it’s taken a financial crisis and frightful backbench rebellion to get Mr. Cameron to say these things out loud and in public. I do have to laugh however that he’s only just noticed that the Commission are actually for completing the internal market and a friend of the UK’s agenda generally…One has to wonder where’s he’s been since the Single European Act, oh, the UK (well that explains it).
As for the future, I’m of the opinion this debate is not going away, especially in light of the further integration needed as a result of what’s happening in the Euro-zone and the PM’s desire to fundamentally renegotiate our relationship with the EU as expressed in the same speech. As the Americans would say, “Good luck with that”. Well, so be it. It’s time the UK had this discussion and that those who are generally have an aversion to “Europe” acknowledge the good things that the EU does deliver for UK business and citizens. As someone who takes delight in seeking to convert London cabbies to the European cause I’m up for it.
James
(note – see top right, all views expressed on this blog are personal)
FH Podcast: Reputation and Public Affairs
Public Affairs in Brussels has traditionally centred heavily on government relations, namely the practice of communicating with policy-makers. In a digitalised world, however, organisations and industries are increasingly finding that reputation issues that have little to do with the legislative, often very technical, debates that take place in Brussels, are having an impact on how they are perceived here.
For that reason, Public Affairs professionals are increasingly required to appreciate and incorporate elements of reputation management in their work.
In this interview, Dan Baxter, Senior Vice President and Partner at FH in Brussels, tells us more about why reputation management matters and provides some pointers on how to successfully conduct reputation management.
Click here to listen (if using Internet Explorer, you may have to save the file – right-click and save file as – and then play that file separately.)
Click here to subscribe to the FH Europe podcast on iTunes.
Steffen
Merkel battles for the euro, but her troops are restless
People may have questioned Chancellor Angela Merkel’s commitment to the European Union over recent years, but there is no denying the pivotal role which she is playing in defence of the euro. What a desperate battle she has to fight! The trouble is that her own battalions are deeply sceptical of her campaign.
The misgivings in Germany over any bail-out of Greece, Portugal or Italy already run deep (Ireland is making tangible progress in tackling the crisis), but Friday’s resignation of German ECB board member Juergen Stark has given them greater force. Everyone is saying that his departure stems directly from his objection to the ECB purchase of bonds from the weaker economies in order to safeguard their banks.
Stark couldn’t possibly comment, but his decision has much the same flavour as the resignation of Axel Weber as president of the Bundesbank earlier this year and the subsequent appointment of Italy’s Mario Draghi as head of the ECB from November. What’s more, Stark is a member of Merkel’s own party, the CDU.
The German constitutional court gave Mrs Merkel some comfort early last week, when it pronounced as legal the measures which have so far been taken to support the euro.
More threatening was the Court’s insistence that further measures must be subject to a formal vote in the Bundestag. That could potentially scupper the introduction of yet further measures to support the weaker eurozone member states, in particular the expansion of the European Financial Stability Facility to €440 billion, of which €211 billion would be committed by Germany. It almost certainly rules out the idea of eurozone bonds, a widely canvassed option for resolving the crisis, but one which would imply even greater German burden-sharing.
The future of Germany’s coalition government is now at risk of collapse if Merkel’s own party has too many defections over support for the euro, maybe even in advance of the 2013 elections.
Merkel’s approach is to stress the need for long-term measures, and she is adamant that treaty changes are needed to make the stability and growth pact legally binding and defensible in the European Court of Justice – yet another reminder that it was Germany and France which drove coach and horses through the pact in 2003. The Chancellor blames that failure on the Socialists, as she does the decision to allow Greece to join the euro in 2001before the country was ready. There is no way to avoid modifications to the treaty, she says, if the euro is to survive.
Negotiating proposals for treaty change will be a major preoccupation for eurozone ministers in the coming months, but it will be a difficult process, coming to fruition in 2013 or later, which is hardly the short-term solution that the markets are seeking.
British euro-sceptics, especially Conservative members of parliament, see any treaty revision as the perfect opportunity to argue for a watering-down of the UK’s commitments to Europe. It would be sad irony if the creation of the euro, such a powerful force for integration, should evolve into a weapon of disintegration.
Michael
An American in Brussels
It’s that time of year again. The time of year when the populace of the EU Quarter abandons Brussels like rats from a sinking ship and those few of us left on board are trying to wrap up all of the ‘admin’ tasks that we’ve put on hold for the several previous, hair-raisingly busy months.
It’s also the time of year when I, as an American, have to go through the annual bureaucratic rigmarole that is renewing my Belgian work permit. This is now my third time down the path of renewal and every year it’s the same somewhat maddening procedure (though the first time is always the worst!). This year, however, I’ve found myself pondering the question that I always find myself answering for curious Europeans who say something like ‘But, it’s normal for Europeans to want to go to the States, but you’re an American, how did you find yourself here, in Brussels?!’, and so I decided to take a little poll around the FH Brussels office to see why the other Americans (there are 5 of us in total!) are here.
Carey Evans, from Los Angeles, California
“I came for the weather… clearly.”
Jessica Henderson, from the Twin Cities area (Minneapolis/St. Paul), Minnesota
“Because I couldn’t afford London, Paris, or Geneva.”
Tatiana Hulko, from Evergreen, Colorado
“I blame the Brit in my life for trading in sunshine for rain.”
Katie Wolicki, from Asheville, North Carolina
“Belgian chocolate, frites, waffles, and the little boy peeing….what more could you ask for? ”
That leaves me. So why am I here? Well, I can’t say I came for the weather and I, too, am probably unable to afford the luxury of life in London, Paris, or Geneva. Nor can I claim that it was the infamous beer, waffles, or chocolate that lured me here – though they didn’t hurt. And although my colleagues have all provided (what I like to assume are) tongue-in-cheek responses to my query, I have to say that I originally landed in Brussels sort of through happenstance and, like most Europeans here who are not natives to this fair(ish) city, I guess I got sucked in. It started innocently enough, with an internship here during my undergrad studies, but living in Brussels piqued my interest in EU affairs and the policy making scene. I returned after graduating to do a Masters’ in Leuven, got a job in a public affairs consulting firm in Brussels, then another job, et voila, little by little, before I really realized, the exciting world of the EU had gripped me and the slightly more laid-back lifestyle of the Brussels-scene kept me close. Despite the rain and the endless red tape, the lack of friendly service, and the inconvenience of much of everyday life (I’m sorry, but it makes NO sense that all of the shops and stores close on bank holidays when people actually have time to spend their money!) I find myself willfully going through this renewal process that keeps me here for at least another year.
And so, as much as this writer likes to complain about the above mentioned issues (and more!) I have to accept that actually, we do have it pretty good here. The international work environment that I’m lucky enough to be a part of is a unique one. The friends I’ve made who live here and who depart to the far reaches of the globe are largely friends and contacts I’ve made in Brussels. The proximity to the heart of European policy making and the opportunity to have interesting interactions with policymakers means that my job is interesting every day – not something that can necessarily be said even for my counterparts who live and work in America’s version of Brussels, Washington DC. These are the things that brought me here and which keep me here still.
That said, for now I’ve had about as much of Brussels as I can take for 7 months at a time without ‘escaping’ and I’m off on hols back to New England as of Monday. So ‘bonnes vacances’ everyone! See you in a few weeks when I’m back – refreshed by the warm weather, sunny, blue skies, and ocean breezes of the Maine and Massachusetts coasts and ready to face the gray skies and Bruxellois lifestyle that we have all come to, err, know and love.
Lindsay Hammes, from Augusta, Maine
European Parliament goes mobile – when to choose a mobile website over a native app
Earlier this month the European Parliament launched the mobile version of its ever popular (at least in the Brussels bubble) website. Hooray! Forgot the room number of the MEP you are meeting? Well now you can go on your mobile device and find it with ease.
In seeing the new site, we asked ourselves why an organisation would choose a mobile website rather than one of those trendy apps we spend far too much time (and money) downloading for our iPad/iPhones? Well, call us curious, but we decided to phone a friend far more knowledgeable than ourselves to find the answer. Gwen Foutz, SVP and Director of Mobile and Social Platforms in our Washington D.C. office and global co-chair of FH Mobile practice group happily picked up the phone. Here’s what she had to say.
What’s the difference between a native app and a mobile website?
A native application is an application designed and built for a specific operating system, e.g. iPhone iOS, Google Android, RIM BlackBerry, etc., that users download and install to their devices. A mobile website (or mobile web application) is essentially a mobile optimized website – a site designed specifically for the smaller screen and mobile context. Mobile websites are accessed through a URL and work across all web-enabled mobile devices.
Is there anything you can do with one that you can’t do with the other?
Mobile websites provide the best opportunity for a single platform to reach a majority of mobile devices with an enhanced experience, including lower-end devices not considered smartphones. Mobile websites can vary in complexity from static, information-based experiences to more robust, feature-based experiences similar to those of native applications.
Mobile apps provide the most feature-rich approach for mobile as they offer access to native device features such as GPS functionality and cameras. An app generates the highest level of engagement through an ideal mobile user experience that is tailored to the specific device it was built for. However, with the advancements that HTML5 has brought to the mobile space, the line between what is possible with mobile web vs. native apps continues to blur. More and more developers are building application-like experiences via the mobile web that can be accessed through the browser.
When would FH’s Digital Practice counsel an organisation to use one rather than the other?
We first ask the organization three critical questions before recommending a mobile solution:
1) Who is your target audience?
2) What are you trying to achieve with mobile and how does that fit with your overall business objectives?
3) How will you tell people about it?
Based on the organization’s goals and resources as well as audience research and insights, we may recommend an optimized mobile website, a native app, a text message campaign or all of the above.
Mobile optimized websites really should be seen as a starting point for most organizations before jumping into the mobile app space. Main company “.com” websites should be viewable and usable from any device, especially as mobile browsers become users’ primary browsers. Furthermore, mobile web provides the largest reach, regardless of the type of phone people are using and allows you to be found the same ways users find you on the desktop web (via direct URLs or search).
Native apps are recommended (as an addition to a mobile website) to serve a focused purpose that addresses a user need – usually in the form of providing utility or entertainment. Apps are chosen over mobile web when there is a need to offer robust functionality and features, such as those that are transactional in nature (e.g. shopping, banking), highly customizable or account-based services (e.g. photo tools, cooking/recipe assistants, travel tools), entertainment focused (e.g. streaming video and music, games) and those that are used frequently (e.g. social networking, mapping/navigation services).
What’s the easiest to develop, mobile website or app? Is the process very different?
Mobile websites typically require less overall effort to design and develop, and have a much larger reach than native apps alone. They are also easier to update and maintain once released, as updates can be pushed to all users at once and accessed via the browser, rather than a user having to download and install a new version.
Native apps have to be built platform by platform (i.e. iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, etc.) – there is no one size fits all – which requires a significant investment. Each version of the app across platforms can and should share similar user experience and design aspects, but ultimately will be built independently. Another factor is that apps have to be selected by the user, usually from an app store, which requires a significant investment in promotion and awareness-building to make people aware that it exists.
Is it common practice for public institutions to use mobile websites rather than apps?
Yes, it is fairly common for public institutions to provide mobile websites rather than apps. This is due to usually having limited development and promotional budgets and a desire to reach the widest audience possible. If the public institution desires to provide a more robust experience, they may go the native app route, but at the cost of reaching less people with their content.
Where can we find out more?
Check out these two posts from other FHers in the mobile space:
“Are You Really Ready for a Mobile App?” by Erick McNett, FH Kansas City
“There’s An App for That! Cutting Through the Clutter to Find the Best Branded Mobile Apps” by Radu Iancu, FH Cleveland
James
