NETWORK NEWS

Transcription

NETWORK NEWS

WCN
March 2007
NETWORK NEWS
ALTHANN, Clementine • ATTINGER COLIJN, Beatrix
W O M E N ’ S
C A R E E R
N E T W O R K
V I E N N A
BAUER, Birgit BLAIVE, Muriel • BLONDEAU, Marie-So
ALTHANN,
Clementine
•BUERGERMEISTER,
ATTINGER COLIJN,
Beatrix
phie
•
BRUNNER,
Susan
Jane
CAS
ALTHANN, Clementine • ATTINGER COLIJN, Beatrix • BAUER, •Birgit
BAUER,
Birgit •BLAIVE,
Muriel
• BLONDEAU,
Marie-So
BLAIVE, Muriel Elisabeth
BLONDEAU, Marie-Sophie
• BRUNNER,
Susan
SELS-BROWN,
• CHAPMAN,
Elizabeth
phie
• BRUNNER,
Susan
BUERGERMEISTER,
• CAS
BUERGERMEISTER,
Jane
• CASSELS-BROWN,
Elisabeth • Jane
CHAPMAN,
CHATWANI,
Neha
• CHEETHAM,
Michelle
• CRAWFORD
Elizabeth • CHATWANI,
Neha • CHEETHAM,
Michelle •Elizabeth
CRAWFORDSELS-BROWN,
Elisabeth
•
CHAPMAN,
PFANNHAUSER,Valerie
• CZERNIN,
EdelJanice
• DAMON,
Janice
PFANNHAUSER,Valerie • CZERNIN,
Edel • DAMON,
• DEL MUNDOCHATWANI,
Neha
• CHEETHAM,
Michelle
• CRAWFORD
KORPMUNDOVinia • DOEBERL,
Vera
• DORNER,
Renate
• DR
GALEA,
Caterina
• DEL
KORP
Vinia
• DOEBERL,
Vera
• DORNER
PFANNHAUSER,Valerie
• CZERNIN,
• DAMON,
Janice
• EBERMAYER-MINICH Gisela
• EHRLICH, Edel
Sharon
• ELONA, Vucini
Renate
•
DR
GALEA,
Caterina
•
EBERMAYER-MINICH
Gi
Wenk
•
FARAG,
Ingrid
•
FARTHOFER,
Andrea
•
GANZHA,
Irina
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DEL• MUNDOKORP Vinia
• DOEBERL,
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ELONA,
VuciniVera
Wenk
FARAG
GARDAVSKY,
Doris Sharon
• GASSNER,
• GLEDHILL,
Brigitte ••GRUBER
Renate
DR GALEA,
Caterina
• EBERMAYER-MINICH
Gi
Renate• ••FARTHAFFNER,
Christiane
• HARRINGTON,
Alana • HAUG, Isabelle
Ingrid
H AY,•P aEHRmela
sela
HOFER,
An- CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S
HEIS,Susanne
LICH,
Sharon
H E R• NGANZQ U I S T, DAY WITH THE WCN
drea
•HA,
ELONA,
Vu-•
BetsyIrina
• HUMER,
Ingrid
• HYDE,
Juliette
• INDINGER,
Sabine
• JOZSA, Delia •Andrea
KARALL,
cini
Wenk
•
FARAG,
Ingrid
•
FARTHOFER,
GARDAVSKY,
Doris
• GASSNER,
Suzanne
GLEDHILL,
Bri
Eva • KEEM, Marie
Ph.D.
• KEITEL, Vanessa
• KIEFER, •Patricia
• KNERERGANZHA,
Irina • Renate
GARDAVSKY,
Doris
• LIEGERT,
GASSNER,
Suzan
SCHALLY,
Birgit Professor
Dr.KUJUNDZIC,
Azra •Christiane
Ute •• MARgitte
• GRUBER
• HAFFNER,
HAR
ne
• GLEDHILL,
Brigitte
•Claudia
GRUBER
Renate
• HAFFNER,
Chri
KOVIC,
Mira • MARTENS,
• MAYROS,
Lauren
• MENAPACE,
RINGTON,
Alana
•
HAUG,
Isabelle
HAY,Pamela
Sophie• • HARRINGTON,
MERSICH, Olivia • MOLLAY,
Ira
MOORE, Mickela
• MOSOCI,
stiane
Alana
•
HAUG,
Isabelle
HAY,Pa
HEIS,Susanne
HERNQUIST,
Betsy
•
HUMER,
Ingrid
• HY
Renata • NACHLA, Brenda • NEUHAUSER, Ulrike • NIMMRICHTER,
mela
• HEIS,Susanne
HERNQUIST,
• HUMER,
Jennifer
• OSZVALD-MORE,
Susanne
• PANFIL,
Olimpia
• Delia
PECH, Maria
DE,
Juliette
• INDINGER,
Sabine
•Betsy
JOZSA,
• Ing
KA
, Christin
• PHILLIPS,
Carol • PLATON,
Elena
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• HYDE,
Juliette
• INDINGER,
Sabine
• JOZSA,
Delia
RALL,
Eva
•
KEEM,
Marie
Ph.D.
•
KEITEL,
Vanessa
• KIE
Mariska
•
PRODANOVIC,
Selma
•
RAHIMOVA,
Matanat
•
ROTH,
Barbara
KARALL,
Eva • KEEM,
Marie Ph.D. • KEITEL,
Vanessa
FER,
Patricia
KNERER-SCHALLY,
Birgit
RÜCKER,
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Karin • Professo
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Birgit
Professo
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SIMANOWITZ,
• SIMONCIC,
• SINGHANIA,
Dr.KUJUNDZIC,
Azra
•Jenny
LIEGERT,
Ute •Martina
MARKOVIC,
Mira
Asha
•
STOXREITER,
Ursula
•
STRANIMAIER,
Kerstin
•
TESTEN,
Marina
Azra ••LIEGERT,
Ute
• MARKOVIC,
Mira
•Dr.KUJUNDZIC,
MARTENS,
Claudia
MAYROS,
Lauren
•
MENAPACE
• TEZCAN, Catherine • THOMAR, ChristinaTONCIC-SORINJ, Susanne
•Sophie
MARTENS,
Claudia
• MirelaWALKER,
MAYROS,
Lauren
• MENAPACE
ULRICH,•Susanna
• VAHDANI,
Jessica
• WALKER, Lindsey
MERSICH,
Olivia
• MOLLAY,
Ira MOORE,
Micke
Sophie
• MERSICH,
Olivia
• MOLLAY,
Ira• MOORE,
Micke
• WAZIR-STAUBMANN,
Lydia • WEDAM,
Gerhild
WEITENSFELDER,
la
•
MOSOCI,
Renata
•
NACHLA,
Brenda
•
NEUHAUSER
Daniela
• WELLS,Renata
Sandra • WESTON,
KirstyBrenda
• WETL, Birgit
• WIESMAYER,
la
•
MOSOCI,
•
NACHLA,
•
NEUHAUSER
Ulrike
NIMRICHTER,
Jennifer
• OSZVALD-MORE,
Su
Sabine•• WILLE,
Sophie • WISE,
Anne • ZAVRSKI-MAKARIC,
Dina • ZILAUlrike
•• NIMRICHTER,
Jennifer
• OSZVALD-MORE,
Su
HY, Belinda
• ZOEHRER,
Susanne
• ZWICKL,
Simone
• ZWOELFER,
sanne
PANFIL,
Olimpia
• PECH,
Maria
• PHILIPP
, Chri
sanne
• PANFIL, Olimpia • PECH, Maria • PHILIPP, Chri
Michaela…
WCN
INDEX
The letter from the editor ................................................................................2
Letter from
the editor
This Month ..................................................................................................................3
February’s Review ................................................................................................3
Introducing Ms.Taous Feroukhi ......................................................................4
NETWORKING CLUB
Dear Ladies,
the WCN celebrates International Women's Day and I
believe we don't have to look very far to find inspirational women.
The WCN is full of fascinating women and as this
month's newsletter reflects - you are infinitely interesting, full of surprises, intelligent, funny and beautiful!
Thank you for all the GREAT, MARVELLOUS, WONDERFUL articles this month. This diversity clearly reflects the rich diversity of the WCN, showing just how
infinitely interesting and full of surprises we are AND
just how much talent/expertise/help/humour/support/insight and tips we are able to share with one another.
I am proud to introduce several new features in this
edition. Azra Kujundzic has a great passion for books
and literature and this month she takes a look at Assia
Djebar who is one of the best known and most influential writers from North Africa. Alana M. Harrington
starts up The Interview Corner. This month she interviews Emmy Abrahamson who is Alana’s friend, neighbour and director of The Vagina Monologues in Vienna’s 7th District. Renate Dorner, already a regular in
the newsletter, adds a fun new feature with Tips and
Secrets of Re nata sharing ideas and websites links on
a variety of subjects.
More seriously, Global Warming, yes it is here to stay
but if you want to know what you can do to improve
the future for ourselves and the rest of the world then
take a look at the insightful article by Jane Burgermeister and Pamela Hay on this subject. Those principles
of persuasion really work and Renate Mosoci reveals
her success using them in her article Confessions of a
Workaholic. How about self-improvement through language? Elisabeth Cassels-Brown shares the benefits of
avoiding the word ‘Not’.
So thank you to all new contributors, thank you to all
the regulars and know, that beyond a doubt, what we
can achieve together is truly GREAT!
Enjoy the Newsletter,
Valerie
More Networking Opportunities before
the General Meeting at the Hilton Bar ..................................................5
THEME OF THE MONTH
Extraordinary/Inspirational/Motivational/
Beautiful/WONDERFUL WOMEN! ..........................................................6
Self-Coaching with Neha Chatwani............................................................7
INSIDE THE NETWORK
Steering Committee..............................................................................................8
Steering Committee Introductions..............................................................9
EUROPEANPWN
What’s making news on the
EuropeanPWN NetVestibule? ....................................................................10
MEMBERS NEWS AND VIEWS
Confessions at the Workplace A Workaholic
or an Idiot? ................................................................................................................12
Just One of Those Things ................................................................................13
The Newborn Child- Enemy Number One
of Austrian Companies ....................................................................................14
Avoiding “Not” ......................................................................................................15
Email from Hamburg..........................................................................................16
Global Warming ..................................................................................................17
BOOK REVIEWS ........................................................................................................18
THE INTERVIEW CORNER
EMPOWER YOURSELF
..................................................................................19
..........................................................................................19
News from Re nata Image Consulting..................................................22
w w w. w c n v i e n n a . o rg
Wo m e n ’s C a re e r N e t w o r k V i e n n a |
2
WCN
THIS MONTH Review
Join us at WCN's next
General Meeting Monday,
March 5, 2007!
To coincide with International Women's Day in
March, our very special guest speaker will be H.E.
Ms. Taous Feroukhi - Ambassador of Algeria to Austria and the United Nations, speaking on various
topics related to women as leaders in international
affairs and on women's rights and access to education in Algeria and Africa as a whole.
Where: Vienna Hilton am Stadtpark,
Bruckner Room
When: 7:00pm Networking upstairs begins
(by the Bruckner Room with
'Special Interest' tables),
7:30pm General Meeting begins
For more details on our March speaker, refer to
our website!
Tim Birdsall
Back by popular demand
and following on from his
talk in October, Tim shared
more information and insights about the Principles of
Persuasion, as well as much
good humour along the way.
For the benefit of the large
audience and many new
guests, Tim took the time to
recap from his earlier talk
and fielded many questions from the floor. Tim gave many
examples of how to position our proposals (what we want)
within another person’s interests. We have opportunities at
our disposal to persuade others as long as the ethics of the
situation are ok – ultimately what we want still has to be in
the other person’s interests. Through principles such as reciprocation in which we can use our moment of power to
‘label the exchange’ and create value for ourselves and
employing scarcity – showing what people stand to gain if
they move in your direction and what they lose if they
don’t, to aspects of achieving consensus and displaying authority Tim highlighted how to develop our potential and
strength.
Looking for MORE Networking Opportunities?
Then join us at the Hilton Bar before the next General Meeting for a half-price cocktail during Happy
Hour in the After Work Lounge.
Date: Monday, March 5, 6:00 pm
(table reserved for WCN beginning at 6:30pm,
meeting starts at 7:30 pm)
Make sure you stop by and get more out of the network while enjoying a cocktail and free snacks at the
bar.
Andrea & Elisabeth look forward to meeting and
talking to you!
3
| WO M E N CA R E E R S N E T WO R K
N E T WO R K N E W S M A R C H 2 0 0 7
WCN
The WCN is Proud to Present Her
Excellency Ms. Taous Feroukhi
In celebration of International Women’s Month, Her Excellency Ms. Taous Feroukhi, Ambassador of Algeria to Austria and the United Nations, will be the guest speaker at the WCN’s March General Meeting. She will be speaking on topics relating to women as leaders in international affairs and women’s
career and educational opportunities in Algeria and Africa. The following is a brief biographical note
highlighting Ambassador Feroukhi’s distinguished career:
Ambassador Taous Feroukhi is Permanent Representative of Algeria
to the United Nations and other
International Organizations in Vienna. Notable highlights of her
term in Vienna have been serving
as Chairperson of the CTBTO
Preparatory Commission for 2005
and as Chairman of a special safeguards and verification committee
of the International Atomic Energy
Agency Board of Governors for
2005-2006.
Ambassador Feroukhi studied literature and political science at the
University of Algiers, Algeria, and
at the University of Madrid, Spain.
She joined the diplomatic service
in 1976 and served from 1979-1981
In the Foreign Ministry in Algiers,
Ms Feroukhi was responsible for
Southern European countries
(1986-1990). In 1994, she was appointed Deputy Director for Programmes and Specialized Agencies
of the United Nations, followed by
the position of Counselor to the
Secretary of State for Co-operation
and Maghrebian Affairs until 1999.
as Secretary for Cultural and Educational Cooperation in Ottawa, Canada, and from 1981-1986 as First Secretary of the Embassy of Algeria in
Madrid, Spain, and further as First
Counselor and Deputy Ambassador
at the Permanent Mission of Algeria
to the United Nations in Geneva between 1990 and 1994.
Prior to her current appointment,
which she took up in November
2001, she served in the Cabinet of
the President of the Republic of Algeria.
Her Excellency
Ms. Taous Feroukhi
addresses the
United Nations in Vienna
WO M E N CA R E E R S N E T WO R K
|
4
WCN
NETWORKING CLUB
Drinks, Snacks and Ample Networking Opportunities before the General Meeting at the Hilton Bar
The Happy Hour at the Hilton
with half-price cocktails and a delicious - free - snack buffet allowed
for an excellent start into our February General Meeting.
Some 20 ladies from the WCN
gathered around the bar to enjoy
drinks, snacks and ample networking opportunities with all the other
ladies that had managed to show
up earlier than normal for the
General Meeting. Thankfully, the
biggest challenge - getting everyone upstairs in time - proved to be
less difficult than anticipated!
Due to the great success of this additional networking activity, we
have decided to make the Happy
Hour at the Hilton bar a regular
"event" in the upcoming months,
provided the Hilton does too.
For March, we'll even reserve a
table and hope to see many of you
in the bar again!
For all of you interested, the
Hilton is doing this After-Work
Lounge with Happy Hour drinks
every Monday from 6-9 pm.
Wine-tasting Event: "In 80 minutes
round the world", March 23rd at
6.30pm
bread and miscellaneous antipasti.
The wine tasting will be held in
English.
Join us for a wine-tasting as requested by many of you during our
poll taken last September. The
wine-tasting will be held at Vinissimo, Windmühlgasse 10, 1060
Wien. Vinissimo is a nice place located between Gumpendorferstraße and Mariahilferstraße offering various kinds of wine-tastings.
We'll do a wine tour called "In 80
minutes round the world", tasting
seven wines from South Africa,
Chile, Australia, Argentina and California. The tasting includes wine,
Registration: Places are limited to
15, so do sign up on the EPWN to
make sure you can "travel" with us!
Fee: 16.50 EUR; includes 7 wines,
bread and assorted antipasti (fee
applies with 15 people attending).
DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION:
Thursday, March 15!!!
Cheers!
Elisabeth & Andrea
News from the WCN Photo Club
The WCN Photo Club will hold its next meeting
(postponed from February) on
TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 6:30pm at Cafe Griensteidl.
The topic still is: "MY VIENNA".
Please bring your photos on this topic - we look forward to seeing
you there!
Kind regards, Andrea
|
5
WCN
THEME OF THE MONTH
Theme of the Month:
Extraordinary/Inspirational/Motivational/
Beautiful/WONDERFUL WOMEN!
Elisabeth Cassels-Brown tells us
about her Mother
The most extraordinary woman I know
is my mother—and not just because I
may be a bit biased in this case.
For one thing, my mother is one of the few true intellectuals I know. She has a genuine interest in subjects like philosophy and history, reads (and sometimes writes) about these subjects in her free time,
with a truly rigorous academic discipline. She does
not indulge in sloppy thinking and encouraged her
students not to indulge in it either.
At the same time, she is one of the wisest women I
know—two points that do not always go hand in
hand. She understands people, understands a
healthy discipline, and knows when one needs to go
easier on oneself. Not only has she always helped me
through the difficult times of my life (and has also
celebrated my triumphs). Many of my friends also—
still, into middle age—turn to my mother, recognizing the value of her wisdom and support.
My mother is also someone who quite simply makes
the best of situations as they are, although not in the
sense that she resigns herself to whatever happens.
In a life filled with dislocations and interrupted
dreams (she grew up in Germany during and after
WWII and as a big city girl and newly-wed at the age
of 29 landed on a country road in upstate New
York), she has truly made the best of each situation,
creating something worthwhile in each case, giving
back to others what she could, and doing it with humor.
Perhaps most of all, my mother knows how to love.
She is the one who first quoted Albert Schweitzer’s
famous comment to me: The only things that count
6 |
in life are the imprints of love we leave behind us after we have gone. She is constantly leaving imprints
of love.
Renate Dorner tells us about
her friend Suzan
For me this is my friend Suzan - it is she
who I thought of immediately when I
first read the topic.
I know Suzan from my time in Jakarta, she was my
neighbour and yet it took me 3 years to finally meet
her. This is how we got to know each other:
I was asked by people from Indonesia to work in a
project called "Red Feather" aimed at handicapped
people, but before committing to this, I wanted to
find out more about it and talk to people already involved with the project. People always mentioned the
name Mrs. Reagan, but no one was able to tell me
where she lived, so I often waited in order to meet
her.
In addition, I wanted to get to know my neighbours
and in particular the people in the house in which
Mrs. Suzan lived, which I did not know. Finally, I
started working for "Red Feather" and one day Mrs.
Reagan came and turned out to be the Mrs. Suzan I
had been looking for!
For years, Suzan and myself were closely involved
with this project for handicapped people and have
achieved a lot together. Who is Suzan?
Suzan has a wonderful family with two children, she
has a lot of friends and loves parties which she organises perfectly and turns into marvellous and
memorable events!
Why is Suzan a role model for me?
For Suzan everything is possible, she does not know
INSIDE THE NETWORK
the word "NO". She has always given and helped lovingly and from the bottom of her heart, she has never talked about it much or bragged about it.
But Suzan has done much more: so she has started a
bazaar which takes place in Jakarta´s luxury hotels
on an annual basis. She started out with an idea
which she then made come true. When she left
Jakarta after 7 years, the initial four exhibition tables
had turned into 400 tables, i.e. exhibitors, and her
bazaar had become a fixed institution in Jakarta.
This bazaar was intended for women from Indonesia
as well as from abroad who wanted to promote their
home businesses. The charge requested for each
table was then invested in charitable projects.
WCN
Suzan has devoted her life to a large extent to handicapped people: she paid for their surgeries or visited
them in the hospital and supported them with her
love, soul, money and gifts. She has given work to
lots of people in the villages and let them produce
for her, etc.
Suzan is a very generous woman in all respects and
she made me realize that:
If you give with love, you get much more back in return.
This is why Suzan is my role model and I think of
her a lot.
Self-Coaching with Neha Chatwani
John P Kotter's ' Eight Steps to Successful Change'
John Kotter's highly regarded books 'Leading
Change' (1995) and the follow-up 'The Heart Of
Change' (2002) describe helpful models for understanding and managing change. Each stage acknowledges a key principle identified by Kotter relating to
people's response and approach to change, in which
people see, feel and then change. The model is most
useful for those of us who act as change-leaders at
the workplace and can be summarised as follows:
1. Increase urgency - inspire people to move, make
objectives real and relevant.
2. Build a „change“ team - get the right people in
place with the right emotional commitment, and the
right mix of skills and levels.
3. Create a vision - get the team to establish a simple
vision and strategy, focus on emotional and creative
aspects necessary to drive service and efficiency.
as possible, communicate the essentials, simply, and
to appeal and respond to people's needs.
5. Empower action - Remove obstacles, enable constructive feedback and lots of support from leaders reward and recognise progress and achievements.
6. Create short-term wins - Set aims that are easy to
achieve - in bite-size chunks. Manageable numbers of
initiatives. Finish current stages before starting new
ones.
7. Foster and encourage determination and persistence - ongoing change - encourage ongoing progress
reporting - highlight achieved and future milestones.
8. Make change stick - Reinforce the value of successful change via recruitment, promotion, new change
leaders. Weave change into culture.
4. Communicate for buy-in - Involve as many people
WO M E N CA R E E R S N E T WO R K |
7
WCN
STEERING COMMITTEE
Advisory Board
Tasha Faltys-Linden
Patricia Kiefer
Co-President,
[email protected]
Mobile: O699 1524 1899
Networking-with-other-Networks
[email protected]
Susan Brunner
Brenda Nachla
[email protected]
Co-President
Mobile: 0699 1115 7217
Lauren Mayros
Gisela Ebermayer-Minich
Membership Development
[email protected]
Suzanne Gassner
Mickela Moore
Sophie Menapace
Project Co-ordinator
[email protected]
Marina Testen
Muriel Blaive
Renata Mosoci
Daniela Weitensfelder
EuropeanPWN
[email protected]
Treasurer
[email protected]
Elisabeth Cassels-Brown
Barbara Roth
Events Co-ordinator
[email protected]
Public Relations/Marketing
[email protected]
Valerie Crawford-Pfannhauser
Marina Testen
Newsletter Editor
[email protected]
E-mail Net
[email protected]
(Alphabetical Order)
Catherine Tezcan
This month´s
contributers:
Muriel Blaive
Jane Burgermeister
Vinia Del Mundo-Korp
Belinda Zilahy
Training/Professional
Advancement
[email protected]
Treasurer
[email protected]
Andrea Farthofer
Events Co-ordinator
[email protected]
Ida Cerne
Simone Zwickl
Neha Chatwani
Public Relations/Marketing
[email protected]
Renate Dorner
Andrea Farthofer
Elona Vucini
Renate Gruber
Newsletter Design
[email protected]
Betsy Hernquist
Membership Development
[email protected]
Data
[email protected]
Alana Harrington
Sandra Wells
Tina Hofer
Training/Professional
Advancement
[email protected]
Shadi Jahangard
Azra Kujundric
Brenda Nachla
Renate Mosoci
Vanessa Keitel
Meeting Facilitator/Web Master
[email protected]
Patricia Kiefer
Sophie Menapace
Web Master
[email protected]
8 |
Pamela Hay
STEERING COMMITTEE INTRODUCTIONS
WCN
Hi, my name is Patricia and I joined the WCN at
the end of 2006 and am also a member of the
Steering Committee in charge of 'networking
with other networks'.
I was born in the US but soon moved to
Salzburg with my Austrian father of Italian origin
and Belgium mother.
I was born in Vienna, spent my first four school years
at the Lycee Francais de Vienne, a year in the south
of France and then moved to New York since my
mothers family is spread across the US. When I returned back to Europe, I graduated in Vienna, studied translation at the University of Vienna and
moved to Ireland where I spent four years and got a
degree in Marketing & Executive Advertising and
worked in the Marketing Department of Danone. I
speak German, English, French and Polish which
makes up for my analytical skills I guess. Since I really enjoy travelling and have friends all over the world
I decided to move to Dubai after my brilliant time in
Ireland. The two years in Dubai were an amazing experience, living in such a booming city, making new
friends from different countries and working as Marketing Executive in the fashion industry for brands
such as Chanel, Ralph Lauren, Valentino, Lacroix
and Ungaro. 'The devil wears Prada' is nothing compared to what we had to put up with, but it was definitely the most exciting job I ever had and let's not
forget all the designer clothes we got for free... But
now I'm back in Vienna because my mother is unwell
and had two surgeries in the past year, the luxurious
Dubai lifestyle is over and I am looking for a new
challenge in Vienna - and if nothing exciting comes
up, I guess I'll move abroad again because for some
strange reason I have always felt more at home as an
expat abroad than in Austria. But never the less I
would like to make the best out of my time in Vienna
and am very happy that I joined the WCN as I have
met some lovely ladies in the past few months!
Growing up speaking French at home I love foreign
languages and cultures and spent my first year
abroad alone at the age of twelve. Since than I have
enjoyed living in France, the US and Lebanon and
tried to spend most of my vacations abroad (especially in Italy, Spain and Belgium) while studying Austrian law. After a year of law studies in Washington, DC,
I moved to Vienna to start working in an Austrian
law firm. I love Vienna with its opera, art, historic architecture and many coffee houses as well as great
nearby nature but often missed the “international
feeling”. However, when joining the WCN about 1 _
years ago I discovered that Vienna is also a very international city full of interesting and active international business women. I’m now looking forward to
getting actively involved in this great network.
Sophie Menapace
Democrats Abroad Austria will hold its General Meeting 2007 on March 22nd, 2007,
7 pm, at the Austro-American Society,
1., Stallburggasse 2,Vienna.
Officer elections for the positions of Chair,
Vice-Chair,Treasurer, Counsel, Secretary or
Member-at-Large will be held at this meeting.
For more information, visit
(http://www.democratsabroad.at) or contact
[email protected].
Patricia Kiefer
9
WCN
EUROPEANPWN
What’s making news on the EuropeanPWN NetVestibule?
([email protected])
March 2007
This month is yet again an illustration of the fact that an active state or
government policy can and does
change things for professional
women. A number of press articles
have raised this issue !
• As a first example, Sandra Belland (Paris) shared
with the network a very interesting article published
on Business Week online on 8 January 2007 entitled
« Spanish Women: Breaking the Glass Ceiling. In a
country that lagged behind, progress now is taking
place in business, politics, and the judiciary », by
Joan Tarzian.
The article describes how Spain is now moving forward at great speed. The four decades of authoritarian dictatorship keeping women in traditional roles
are now being overcome. Even though (or because)
still less than 3% of top management in Spain's public companies is female, new laws have been designed to increase women’s power in business. The
number of women enrolled in Spanish universities
now surpasses that of men, with efforts such as mentoring programs and a growing number of scholarships for female students. Also, two "first vice-presidents" and half of the ministers in the Zapatero government are female. Spain now ranks eighth in the
world in number of women with political posts. And
a new "Law of Equality" is set to go into effect this
year. As with similar legislation in Norway, it aims to
boost the representation of women on the boards of
publicly traded companies to at least 40%.
If Spain doesn’t solve the dilemma of balancing professional accomplishment with personal and family
life, some are seeking the solution in an appropriate
workplace environment. Amparo Moraleda, president of IBM for Spain, Portugal, Greece, Israel, and
Turkey is married and raises two children and she is
also known for shutting off her computer and going
home at 7:30 p.m. in a country where many executives are still at the office past 9 p.m. Far from holding her back, Moraleda's example underscores IBM's
10
position as one of Spain's most flexible companies in
balancing work and family life. As the article concludes : « Breaking the glass ceiling is a long process,
and the toughest part is changing attitudes. » For the
full version, see :
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/ja
n2007/gb20070108_521313.htm?link_position=link1
• Pernille Giraud-Sauveur (Paris) has also posted a
very interesting report from the Wellesley Center for
Women website entitled « Critical Mass on Corporate Boards: Why Three or More Women Enhance
Governance », by Vicki W. Kramer, Alison M Konrad
and Sumru Erkut.
Although numerous articles make a case for diversity
on boards and scholars have begun to focus on
women on boards, the Critical Mass project is the
first research study to examine multiple perspectives
on the impact of the number of women on corporate boards of directors.
After a number of interviews, the results show that
three or more women must serve on a board to
make a real difference. Women directors broaden
boards’ discussions to include the concerns of a
wider set of stakeholders; they are more persistent
than male directors in pursuing answers to difficult
questions; and they often bring a more collaborative
approach to leadership, which improves communication among directors and between the board and
management. To summarize, women directors do
add value to the boards’ governance but there must
at least three of them. See
http://www.wcwonline.org/pubs/title.php?id=487
(the full version can be bought for $ 20.
• And finally Natasha Gunn (Amsterdam) has found
the surprising Telegraph (UK) article « I'll tell you
why women are running out of men to marry » by
Boris Johnson.
The author reminds that women now make up 57
per cent of university entrants in the UK, and they
outnumber men in every subject — including maths
and engineering. If British women are « currently
WCN
EUROPEANPWN
giving the male sex a good old intellectual thrashing
», he argues with humour that a major downside is
linked to this this « social revolution of our time » :
greater equality between the sexes is actually leading
to greater division between the classes.
Women, he says, generally look for a partner/husband who is either on a par with themselves, or their
superior, in socio-economic and intellectual attainment. In other words, the more female middle-class
graduates we create, the more they seem to settle
down with other middle-class graduates. And because for multiple reasons relatively few children
from poor backgrounds have been encouraged to go
to university, the massive enrolments of middle-class
women results in the widening of social divisions.
Women graduates (« Bridget-Joneses ») are so numerous that they can't find a graduate husband anymore and male non-graduates feel increasingly trampled on by the feminist revolution. For the full version of this somehow innovative analysis, see :
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?xml
=/global/2007/02/01/do0101.xml
• Emmanuelle Muller and Ann Bouisset (Paris) have
launched a discussion thread on women & mobility/dual career. Everybody can contribute as much as
wanted with ideas, inputs, or connections and members from other countries are encouraged to join,
too. Log into the EPWN website and go to : Members only section / groups / think tank initiative /
women & mobility/dual career.
If you have been in a situation where you have had
to take a decision concerning mobility and dual career, if you would you like to debate and share your
ideas on this matter, if you know any other interesting people/role models you could recommend to
contact concerning this topic, if you can help gathering information to provide guidelines to women
on mobility/dual career, and decision makers to
make things better, then it is a forum for you !
• And to conclude, yet again an unpleasant personal
experience : Jennifer Varino Thiis-Evensen (Oslo)
has been victim of e-mail bullying/harassment : «
Via a project I am working on, I receieved impolite
emails from an individual which progressed to inappropriate and finally to outright threats. I'd love to
hear if any of you have experienced such or have
any advice. He obtained my email address and that
of my colleague from the project's website (we are
administering an award which received lots of press
in December in Norway). »
The community’s answers generally suggested contacting authorities since alerting the police sometimes discourages people to keep harassing others,
and in many countries special police teams dedicated to "web harassment" exist. But the best answer
seems to be a change of e-mail address.
And that’s all for this month !
Muriel Blaive
WCN Announcement:
Free Guest Pass Giveaway and Membership Drive
The WCN continues its new membership drive in the hopes of expanding our networking opportunities and membership base. In this regard, all current members are entitled to two free guest passes to
hand out to their friends and colleagues, which can be turned in at any general meeting until the end
of the year! Members can pick up their free guest passes from the membership table at any general
meeting.
The goal of our WCN membership drive is for all current members to be responsible for bringing in 1
new member to the network! If each current member is successful in bringing in 1 new member, we
will create even more networking opportunities for each other and the WCN! So ladies, hand out those
guest passes to women who you feel will both benefit and contribute to the WCN and encourage them
to join!!
11
WCN
Confessions at the Workplace
A Workaholic or an Idiot?
All of us have had periods
of reflection and moments
of self-realization. Some of
us have done sabbaticals,
others have tried mediating or chatting with good friends, all with a purpose
of getting to know ourselves better and finding out
what makes us happy. But how many of us have succeeded?
I always took pride in knowing what I wanted, or to
be frank, of convincing myself that what I had at any
particular moment was what was good for me. I consider myself independent and ambitious, someone
who loves working hard and is not afraid of new
challenges. But the events of the last few weeks made
me afraid and worried and made me ask myself
whether self-persuasion is the shortest way to happiness.
I have been working a lot lately. I mean A LOT. You
may say “so what?”, as if nobody else works long
hours or gets stressed out. I agree, working overtime
has become our daily reality, but when you wake up
at 5AM thinking that you are getting a heart attack
(before the age of 30!), that becomes a worry. I woke
up one morning, and I thought “this was it”. I was lying alone in my bed not being able to breathe, my
chest hurting. I thought about what my options
were, and although my first thought was to call an
ambulance, I pushed it quickly away by another one:
“my boss will kill me if I don’t show up at work tomorrow”. How ridiculous, you may say, he can’t kill
you if you are already dead. Sure, I agree again, but
try convincing me at that moment that the world
would survive without me, and I would debate you in
a heart beat, because I had convinced myself that I
was irreplaceable. And even worse, I had convinced
myself that I was happy with the situation. How
many of us have kept going and going, giving our
outmost to our work and not getting much or anything in return except dark circles under the eyes,
12 |
greenish-yellowish skin and permanent state of irritability? My favorite phrase became “I don’t have a
choice”. Ironically, I wouldn’t show much patience
for someone giving me the same excuse.
A very good colleague of mine died three years ago
from a heart attack. Then another colleague quit his
job as per doctor’s orders, because he was in a constant state of pre-heart attack. And at the beginning
of February, another colleague died – yes, you are
guessing right – of heart attack. Combine that with
my chest pain, permanent lack of sleep and difficulties with breathing (not to mention the difficulties
with thinking or talking about anything else but
work!), and you can see why I was getting worried. I
stopped and asked myself why I simply couldn’t admit that I couldn’t do it all and even more importantly, that I shouldn’t have to do it all. Nobody does.
I had a choice, but I just had to make it.
So, when my boss walked into my office today to tell
me that due to restructuring I would have to share
an office with another colleague, while praising my
work and skills at the same time, I remembered our
“Principles of Persuasion” lecture and jumped on a
“favor for favor” principle and asked for an assistant.
And guess what, he agreed!
My priorities obviously got mixed up for a while, and
I have to admit that I was more an idiot than a
workoholic. Whatever it was, I snapped out of it early
enough to be able to save some energy and maybe
make it to 40 before getting any work-related illnesses (getting another assistant helps, too). I see the
light at the end of the tunnel, and no, it’s not the
train this time.
(Written during “one of those evenings” at work,
when I simply couldn’t take it any more… J)
Renata Mosoci
WCN
Just One of Those Things
By Ida Cerne
I had just sharpened all my pencils
and sorted the paper clips by color, feeling it was going to be one
of those slow days, when the mail
came with a bunch of flyers for
furniture I needed but couldn´t afford. Our couch-bed-thing (where
we all watch TV in a horizontal position) has such a lump in the middle next to the pothole like center,
that one day soon one of us is going to fall right through it and end
up with a bruised rear end. And
let me tell, you a bruised rear end
is the last thing you need. I got
one skating last week on the slippery wet not-quite-frozen ice (due
to these crazy temperatures) and
despite the added lipid padding
and glorious dimensions of my
posterior I was no match for that
ice. I mean ice is nice, but only in
the form of icicles hanging from
windows at Christmastime or a
large glass of whiskey. When it
comes to alcohol, why is it I used
to be able to drink all night and
still function the next day, and
now after only a few glasses of
wine and a not-so-late-night at a
party wrapped in smoke and loud
music (where even my boisterous
voice does not manage to have
more than two line conversations)
I end up half-dead the next day.
Not only half-dead, but also hoarse
and with circles under my eyes
that Dracula would have been
proud of!!! Speaking of bloodsucking, I can´t believe how expensive everything is nowadays. I can´t
seem to go into the supermarket
without dropping at least 40 Euros
and coming out with a measly halffull bag. A very smart friend of my
told me she manages to buy groceries for a family of 4 for 50 Euros a week at discount stores. But
when I went to Hofer, I had my
wallet stolen and had to pay 50 Euros just to get a duplicate of my
driver´s license. And that´s without
the photo that costs 5 Euros in
one of those machines where you
end up looking like an idiot the
first time and have to spend another 5 Euro (and cross your fingers)
the next time, just so you at least
have your eyes open in the picture.
That also does not include the
third 5 Euro bill you have to dish
out once they tell you at the counter (after you have waited for 2
hours to have your number called)
that they only take photos where
your ears are showing. I mean, I
know its some sort of new EU rule,
but what do they need to see my
ears for…I mean they might just as
well ask for a sample of my
DNA…which brings me back to
blood sucking…and it really is
frightening, but I saw a mosquito
in the elevator last week and it was
just like something out of a science fiction movie, or the prelude
to Jurrasic Park, but how the hell
did that little guy survive this winter and live to sting someone!!!!
But before I get into the creepy
crawly lives of insects in this topsyturvey world, I need to get back to
dreaming about new furniture, at
least that should keep me sane, or
maybe not?
March 2007
Kirsty Weston brings us up to date with Changes to Austrian Childcare Benefit Legislation
The newly formed coalition between the SPÖ and ÖVP parties
will bring with it changes to the
laws relating to childcare benefit Kinderbetreuungsgeld.
Until now, this amounted to 436
per month which could be claimed
until the child reached 30 months
(or 36 if both parents took turns
being the primary carer). Within
the new system, you can opt for a
shorter maternity leave of 15
months (or 18 if both parents take
turns) and be paid 800 per
month.
The maximum amount you can
earn while on maternity leave will
also increase to 16,200 per year. It
is also possible to stay with the existing system and claim the usual
436 for 30 months.
This is a compromise between what
each party was campaigning for. It
aims to encourage mothers to re-
turn to the workplace earlier and
certainly benefits mothers who intend to return to work before their
child reaches the age of 15
months. Under the old system,
working mothers simply had to
forego their childcare payments
when they returned to work, if they
earned over the maximum amount
allowed (Zuverdienstgrenze).
The new legislation is due to come
in mid-year.
13
WCN
The Newborn Child- Enemy
Number One of Austrian
Companies
In 2004 and 2006, the European
Professional Women’s Network
launched together with consulting agency Egon Zehnder a study
on the proportion of women sitting on the European top-300
companies‘ boards. As usual, the
Scandinavian countries proved to
be the best pupils in the class –
Norway 28.8%, Sweden 22.8%,
etc., the European average being
8.3%. Confirming the worst
clichés about Latin Europe, Italy
and Portugal came last with 1.9%
and 0% respectively. Austria stagnated in Europe’s lowest half
with a mere 6.8% of female
board members.
The reasons for this disappointing result are numerous. But they
all boil down to the dilemma of
every woman under the Danubian sun : what will she choose
between a child and a potential
career ? The well-known results
are rather devastating : there are
both very little children being
born in Austria and very little
women in upper management.
Of course it’s in part men’s fault.
As the WCN’s General Assembly
abundantly showed last year in its
June meeting, female employees
announcing to their (usually
male) boss that they are pregnant are more often than not
considered traitors to the company and treated as such. One of
the panelists was even threatened
by her boss to be fired if she testified. He had downgraded her
from a full-time upper management position before she got
14
pregnant to a 8-hour a week
doorkeeping job when she tried
to come back after two years. In a
caricature straight out of the Austro-Hungarian empire and reminding Jaroslav Ha_ek’s Good
Soldier _vejk, he sent a spy to the
women’s evening – a male spy,
who was immediately spotted and
expelled.
Women’s rather miserable position in the professional world is
also, undoubtedly, the government’s fault. Austria’s official
policy is characterized by its lack
of dynamism. It is forbidding
what has to be forbidden according to international treaties
rather than promoting a new
state of mind. It is anti-discriminatory rather than pushing for
gender equality. Mentoring programs are still rare and insufficient. Interministerial cooperation on the women’s question is
in its infancy. No legal program
is on the agenda, quota policies
are not even being considered.
Perhaps most symbolical is that
just a few years ago, the Minister
for Women was a man, whose priority sometimes seemed to be defending men’s rights against a
tough women’s world.
Last but certainly not least, it’s
the women themselves who contribute to creating this unsolvable dilemma between children
and career. In a conservative society, the responsibility to bear a
child tends to lie on the woman
alone : « Women make this decision by themselves, their partners
are only following », says Cornelia Absenger, a board member
on the newspaper Österreich. «
And once a woman decides to
have a child, it makes her dependent on the father at the cost
of her career. Our society is very
conservative, actually more so
now than it was in the 1970s,
when we had more freedom, including more sexual freedom. »
The most ominous sign of this
conservative way of thinking ?
Once mother of a new-born
child, a woman is expected to
stay at home for at least three
years, then restrain herself to
part-time working for perhaps an
even longer time. If you were a
professional expert in your field,
having to stay at home will kill
your comeback’s chances : «
That’s it. One year at home and
you can say goodbye to your career », says Dorothea Sulzbacher,
managing director of OMV Future Energy Fund. The crux of
the matter lies in the social conviction that a young child’s happiness and healthy developement
rests on his mother’s sacrifice.
Most women would feel guitly to
challenge this model, even in private. The « bad mother » sign is
looming...
Other European examples show
that there are remedies both to
the low birth-rate and to
women’s inequality in the professional world, which happen to be
intertwined as they stem from a
pro-active governmental policy.
To have more babies, the French
recipe is a model : ensure that
women think it their patriotic duty to go back to work 10 weeks after their child’s birth, build a sufficient number of affordable daycare centers, consider writing in
the law that kindergarten is compulsory from age 3 (it is being
discussed right now), set the exit
time of day-care centers at 19:00,
while kindergartens and primary
schools last till 16:30 with a free
or cheap day-care until at least
18:00, and work out a very
favourable tax law resulting in
middle-class families with two
children not having to pay taxes
anymore. You will even get as a
result a growing number of
mothers who send their offspring
to kindergarten already at age 2
to insure better school results
and children psychologists who
guarantee that crèches are the
best way to develop social skills.
But if France is a birth-rate
champion in Europe with Ireland, it is not leading in terms of
women’s professional equality.
There remains the problem of
how to push women in uppermanagement. The Norwegian
and Spanish examples, on the
other hand, serve to show that
political will and the good old
quota method might be the answer : both countries’ parliaments have passed laws requiring
public companies to hold a proportion of at least 40% women
on their boards, resulting in a
dramatical improvement in figures within months - under the
threat of heavy fines.
In case one finds these methods
efficient but slightly brutal, there
might be a last option to consider, which is being increasingly
discussed all over Europe : what
if the unavoidable parental leave
associated to the new-born child
was to be shared equally between
the mother and the father ?
What if the parents themselves
set its time-length in accordance
to their needs - within a pre-de-
Avoiding “Not”
A number of years ago now, I came
across an idea in a letter to the editor of Psychologie Heute and, although the initial contact was fleeting, the idea has stayed with me.
The author of the letter simply
pointed out that our brains process
the “not” in a sentence like “Today
I shall not eat chocolate” later than
the rest of the sentence, so that the
first message our brains take in is
“I shall eat chocolate”—the very
opposite of what we want!
His point was that we can send
messages to ourselves more effectively by reformulating the sen-
tence so that it does not contain
the word “not” (or avoids the word
“not” J). I have no idea if this is
true. I don’t remember which
study he was citing. Still, I have had
great fun ever since trying to reformulate my sentences. I find it creative and stimulating, and I am often happier with the results when I
do succeed in eliminating the
“not”.
One now-standard change is that I
no longer admonish myself not to
forget something. This has been
changed to “I must remember to
…”. Do I remember more things? I
haven’t measured it, but I do have
to say that “I must remember …”
has a different—better—feel for
me than “I mustn’t forget ….”
The real fun comes in reformulat-
WCN
termined frame ? No doubt men,
eager to go back to work, would
upset the traditional 3-year model in record time. « I think it
would be the best, if not the only
way », says Dorothea Sulzbacher.
« It would solve everything :
women would be on an equal
footing with men, the company’s
look on them would be normalized, the salaries would be equalized, fathers would be considered
as responsible as mothers for
their children. »
Wouldn’t it be a nicer world and
a significant democratic step if
half of the population were not
forced anymore to make an overhuman choice between their professional and personal self-fulfilment ? The solution is around
the corner – but only for those
who care to look for it.
Muriel Blaive,WCN Vienna
ing sentences with adjectives. “I
don’t want to lead such a stressful
life” becomes what? I want to lead
a happier life? I want to lead a
slower life? I want to lead a simpler
life? I want to lead a more relaxed
life? I want to learn how to meditate so that I can just detach? It
gets you thinking, doesn’t it? And
it can be valuable simply because it
pushes us to be more precise and
specific.
To go back to my original sentence—“Today I shall not eat
chocolate”—I still haven’t worked
that one out completely. I have
tried reformulating the sentence to
“I shall eat fruit today” to put the
focus on the outcome I really want.
That has not worked. And really—
can anyone who loves chocolate as
much as I do say “I shall eliminate
chocolate from my mealplan today” and mean it?
15
WCN
Email from Hamburg
I started to write this on an aeroplane somewhere high above India
on my way from Australia to Vienna and finished it here in Hamburg. So I guess it makes the title
Email from Hamburg the most correct one!
to speak to you. Others claimed that
my application didn´t progress because you´d need "Australian experience" for that particular position.
I couldn´t really argue against that
even though it appeared to be just
an excuse in at least some cases.
After travelling around Australia
for 4 months I settled in Sydney. I
found a nice flat to share with a
funny South-American flatmate
and spent my days in Internetcafés
looking for a job. But it was hard.
It seemed as if my lack of working
permit and my future Australian
employers having to sponsor my
visa was quite a no-go-criteria,
more or less expressed. One company wrote:
your profile is very interesting for
us, just organise your working permit and we´ll be more than happy
In any case it was very frustrating so
I decided to end my dream of some
nice years on the other side of the
world and go back to Europe. Before leaving I went back to the
Whitsunday Islands where I left a little piece of my heart (in more than
one sense) and to say goodbye.
Then I went on a trip to the Great
Ocean Road that I really wanted to
do before leaving. And it turned
out to be a perfect thing to do, I
could enjoy all the things I loved so
much in Australia one more time:
bushcamping underneath a million
16
stars, stunning rock formations,
rough sea and high waves on endless
beaches, rainforest, kangaroos and
koalas and some more of those
breathtaking sunsets. Back in Europe again I wish to have at least
one more stop before I return back
to Austria (for good?). So I sent
some applications all over Europe.
And how great for the self confidence isn´t it when recruiters and
companies call you and want to see
you for interviews? Right now I´ve
had some talks here in Hamburg
and one of them is particularly interesting.
And I´ve got this nice feeling in my
stomach again: everything is possible and the future is going to be exciting!
Tina Hofer
WCN
FACT: Global Warming is here to stay
FACT: If we ALL take small steps it can make a BIG difference
FACT:There are no excuses
Imagine this: you are 79 and in an
old person's home - without a roof.
A tornado has ripped it away during the night. There is no fire
brigade to help you deal with the
devastation. The emergency services cannot cope with the 300,000
buildings destroyed in the region
by the latest series of hurricanes
and floods.
You want to send an email to your
family, but there is no electricity.
Communications, economies and
law and order around the globe
have broken down as people struggle to cope with rising sea levels,
the melting of the ice cap and hurricanes. London, New York and
The Netherlands no longer exist.
Outside in the garden, there are
tropical plants and mosquitoes carrying malaria. You think to yourself: if only I made other choices
back then....back then, when there
was still time to save our planet in
2007!
Scientists say a rise in the earth's
temperature of only 4 to 6 degrees
is enough to wipe out our civilisation. Temperatures have already
risen by 0.7 degrees. The latest UN
report predicts a rise of at least 1.8
by the year 2100. However, many
scientists think temperatures could
rise much higher and more quickly.
Global warming can no longer be
stopped. However, the extent of
the temperature rise depends on
our actions now. If we substantially
17
cut the amount of carbon emissions going into the atmosphere,
the globe could be spared the c 4-6
degree rise.
Where do carbon emissions come
from? From burning fossil fuels
such as oil and gas. Everything we
therefore do that uses up energy
that needs to be created by burning fossil fuels (for example, electricity) contributes to global warming.
That is to say whenever we put on a
light, whenever we drive instead of
cycling or walking around town, we
are doing something that results in
carbon emissions.
Also, whenever we chose to buy
products and services that we don’t
need, we are contributing to the
emissions of huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
that will, if unchecked, destroy the
basis of our life and the life of future generations.
Just to manufacture one new car or
one new kitchen requires a huge
amount of electricity and energy,
and so results in vast carbon emissions.
So next time: let’s ask ourselves: do
we really need that new car? That
new kitchen? Do we really want to
sit in a traffic jam in Vienna instead of walking or cycling or even
jogging around the beautiful city -and reaping the physical benefits
of improved health? Do we need
that heater turned up so high, so
many lights on, to stay so long in
the shower, to run the drier or
dishwasher right now rather than
wait until bedtime when the demand on the grid is lower?
Let’s ask ourselves: is my government doing what must be done to
reduce carbon emissions before it
is too late? Is my MP, senator doing
what needs to be done to put pressure on the government to introduce legislation to cap carbon
emissions? And develop other
sources of energy?
These are small steps we can take
today to create a safe and sustainable future for our world.
Now imagine this: you are 79 and
everything is peaceful in your
home. The lights function; the water functions; your family is flourishing, happy and contented in
their jobs. Society is stable and
prosperous, producing goods and
services using sustainable energy
sources. The infrastructure is working. There are storms and tornadoes but terrible as these are, the
damage they cause is relatively
small and can be repaired easily by
the emergency services, still in tact.
Surrounded by love and respect,
you spend your final days, knowing
that in 2007, you did the right
thing. You recognised the danger,
you got the timing right, you took
reasonable steps -- and you helped
save our wonderful world!
Jane Bürgermeister
With a contribution from P. Hay
BOOK REVIEWS
WCN
In this New Feature Azra Kujundzic Shares Her Love of Books
She starts this month with the author Assia Djebar
When I first came across a book by
Assia Djebar I was expecting a “usual” story about a suppressed, completely powerless woman in a patriarchal environment, one among
hundreds of such stories, sad, but
somehow no longer able to touch
me inside. Probably because I had
read too many of them and became
“immune” in a way. But I was mistaken. Although the writer is often
pessimistic about the ability of
women to change and win against
the overbearing patriarchy, there
was so much power in the story and
in the woman described by Djebar
that it made me read everything
written by her that I could get hold
of. These are stories of highly remarkable women, lifting their veils
and letting us look at them in another way, discovering women far
away beyond the clichés we all know
so well.
Assia Djebar is one of the best
known and most influential writers
of North Africa. Besides novels she
has published poetry, plays, short
stories and has produced two films.
In her books Djebar has explored
the struggle for social emancipation
and the Muslim woman's world in
its complexities. Several of her
works deal with the impact of the
war on women's mind.
She was born as Fatima-Zohra
Imalayen in Cherchell close to Algiers in 1936 and completed her
secondary school in Algiers before
moving to France. After her studies
at the Lycée Fénélon in Paris, she
became the first Algerian woman to
be accepted at the elite Parisian college “École Normale Supérieure”.
She joined in the Algerian student
strike of 1956, in the early years of
the Algerian independence struggle
and her first husband was a member of Algerian Resistance. She was
working as a university professor
and journalist in Algiers and Morocco and has been teaching at the
New York University since 2001. Besides winning many prestigious
prizes for literature such as
“Neustadt Prize for Contributions to
World Literature” and “Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels”,
Assia Djebar has been awarded the
honorary doctorate of the University of Vienna and has frequently
been mentioned as a candidate for Nobel Prize in
literature.
filming peasant Algerian women
and combines their stories with
memories of her childhood and stories about her female ancestors and
relatives, richly detailed and gracefully told stories.
FAR FROM MEDINA: My favourite
one - will be interesting to anyone
exploring women in Islam. It describes female characters of the first
Islamic community and in the stories of Qur’an. Important Muslim
female figures, such as Aisha, Fatima or Hajar are given voices and
this in a very imaginative and wonderful writing. Although fiction, the
text sticks to historical
events which makes it
even more interesting.
ALGERIAN WHITE: A
novel giving account of
religious extremism and
intellectual persecution
Assia Djebar
in her native Algeria.
She recounts the lives of
three of her friends, who were
SO VAST A PRISON: The novel bekilled in the aftermath of the 1956
gins in the city of Algiers, in the
struggle for independence.
world of a post-colonial middle class
influenced both by French and AlLES FEMMES D'ALGER DANS
gerian culture. The narrator is IsLEUR APPARTEMENT (Women of
ma, an educated married woman,
Algiers in Their Apartment):
consumed by love for a younger
named by the famous 19th century
man. Isma’s actions however are reDelacroix's painting of a harem, this
stricted less by the Islamic society
is a collection of short stories dethan by her emotional commitment
picting moments in the lives of Alto her marriage. When her husband
gerian women. More than a century
discovers her dalliance, he beats
after Delacroix, and decades after
her, intending to blind her. The afAlgeria won its political independfair marks Isma's awakening and the
ence from France, these women still
beginning of her quest for true inhaven’t managed to fully free themdependence. When she finally
selves.
leaves her husband, she starts working on a documentary film project,
to be called Arable Women. She is
Azra Kujundzic
I will mention Djebar’s
books I’ve read so far, although there is much
more of her work still to
be discovered.
18
WCN
Alana Harrington gets Comfortable on the Couch interviewing
her
Neighbor/Friend/Actress AND Director of the Vagina Monolgues - the multi-talented
Emmy Abrahmson
This March, women in Vienna are tossed. We are
tossed from the comforts of our furry, cozy, floral
couches and sweltering dampfenbads. We are tossed
out of our old school Adidas and fabulous tan Gucci
boots. We are tossed into places we don’t want to go
— but have to.
All of this fuss because of the one tiny word: vagina.
I recently had a cup of black tea on Emmy’s comfy
(maybe even floral?) couch. Emmy Abrahamson, my
neighbor, friend AND the director of this year's performance of the Vagina Monologues, spoke candidly.
This March, the first-ever English performance of
Eve Ensler’s famously infamous play, the Vagina
Monologues, comes to the seventh district. Be there
or be square.
Half Swedish and half Polish; this actress, teacher,
and artistic director has grown up around the world
— yes, I am jealous, too. With a masters degree from
the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London and
a lead in film Dutch for Beginners which premiered
this year at the Rotterdam Film Festival, she is one
hot cookie. (Emmy, I want to be invited to the Vanity
Fair party after the Oscar’s next year. Remember
ladies that I asked her here first. You are all my witnesses.)
form themselves or taking on an empty stage . . . I just
have a deep love for theater.
A: How do you think theater affects an audience or a
population?
E: Theater is important for people because it is direct.
Good theater has to touch you, kind of, in the belly. If
theater does not make you feel anything, it has failed.
And I think being just a person just sitting in front of
the TV, instead of actors on stage, gets two complete
different reactions. The immediacy of it is, for example, you can never film theatre. It never, kind of, works
with film. You have to be there and that is the beauty
of it. And you can never recreate a moment in theater.
Which is sad but also it’s a unique value that nothing
ever can be recreated.
A: And so would you say that you prefer theater over
film? Or it is just a different medium or form of art?
E: It is. It is a different medium and art form but I do.
A: So you like to interact with the audience?
E: I love that contact, that direct contact that you have
— a certain electricity in the air. You can’t get that in
cinema or in front of your telly.
A: So why did you decide to get involved with the Vagina
Monologues?
A:Thanks for doing this interview with us. So please,
tell me how you fell in love with the theatre?
E: My parents were very cultural. They installed this
kind of faith. I remember being six years old and my
mother took me to see an Akira Kurosawa film.
(laughing) You know, I have always loved the idea of
changing yourself and being someone else. That is
the whole idea of theater. For a half an hour or one
minute, a second . . . I love watching actors trans-
19
E: I have always, well I had heard about it — it has actually been around for 11 years — but I never got
around to seeing a production of it. I was always intrigued, especially since it is quite controversial, even
in our modern day and age. I was approached about it
and it appealed to me. Now, I have twenty-six amazing
women on board. There is nothing else like it.
A: Have you worked with the Vienna Theatre Project before?
E: No, I have done some play readings for them and
this is the first production of the Vienna Theatre
Project after their new re-launch.
A: And your directing debut! (laughing)
E: Yes! So this is really the big re-launch of the Vienna Theatre Project.
A: Great. So the Vagina Monologues?
E: It is an Obie-Award winning play by Even Ensler. It
premiered in 1996 in New York. Initially, Eve Ensler
played all the women herself . . .It is a series basically
about women's memories and experiences of their
female self . . . Young girls and older women . . . A
woman who is furious about tampons. It is a huge variety of monologues, in all various and different
forms.
A:Why do you think there is a necessity for this play?
Do you think there is?
E: Absolutely. I do not think the world was waiting
for it. . . .I think this is a play for a new generation. .
. There is a lot of mystique around the vagina, a lot
of mystery and that needs to be addressed.
A: So this performance is connected to VDay 2007?
E: The V stands for valentine, vagina . . . it is there to
raise people’s awareness of violence ranging from
rape to, you know, domestic violence.
A: And there have also been a few new monologues
added for this day and age, right?
WCN
E: Yeah, we have got new monologues that have never
been staged before. For example one called “What Happened to Peace?”. We are making a connection with violence in the world, like war, and violence in the home.
That as long as we accept violence at home, we will accept violence abroad. And vice versa.
A: Should there be the Penis Monologues?
E: Absolutely! (laughing) I think men have a lot to
learn from the Vagina Monologues, but I am sure we
women would have so much to learn from the penis
monologues. (laughing)
A:Why do you think most words for vagina are vulgar or
most things to do with sexuality? For example, in Austria,
there seems to be only one “nice” word for vagina,
muschi.Why do you think things have gone down this
road?
E: It depends a lot on the country on what words are
vulgar. I think in Catholic countries, genital is just considered bad because, in a way, sex is considered bad. . .
You know it’s a shame and it is a question that needs to
be asked, why are the words for female genital . . . then
again, men get to experience the same thing. Like the
words dick or dickhead. For me the worst, I always considered the worst swear word in the English language
cunt. It is the worst thing you can call someone.
A: Right, there is that one monologue.
E: Yeah and thankfully with the Vagina Monologues,
the monologue “Reclaiming the Cunt” tries to break
that — the power that that word has — and she tries
turn something negative into something very positive,
20
WCN
something very empowering. I think that is the
strand throughout the Vagina Monologues, throughout the whole play. That none of these women are
victims. These monologues are all empowering.
They’re not asking for sympathy. They’re not asking
for pity. They are showing strength. Showing just
how empowering vaginas can be.
and that is quite fascinating, actually — that even
our boyfriends — that men, are so scared. I think it
is actually the word vagina itself that makes them run
for the hills. It is not the nicest of words.
A: It reminds me of fifth-grade anatomy.Where you
have your penis and vagina picture on the board
(laughing) and a nun telling you . . .
A: I think that is true with the “Hair” monologue or
the “Skirt” monologue.
E: Yes. It is kind of icky.
E: Right, right . . .
A: Right.
E: I just think men don’t know what to expect.
A: How do you think this play has affected people over
the last 11 years and how do you think it will continue
to affect people?
A: It’s the unknown. (laughing)
E: It’s the unknown. (laughing)
E: I think it will continue to shock people, hopefully
make them think, hopefully spur them into action.
A:Why do you think a lot of men and women are
afraid of this show? I know, personally, my boyfriend
sees it as a favor to me to come see me in the show.
(laughing)
E: Yeah, my boyfriend says that he will be in the back
row with a sock in his mouth (laughing) because,
Next month in The
Interview Corner
As part of VDay Vienna 2007, the vienna theatre
project will provide you with an unforgettable
evening of discovery about female sexuality. On Friday 2 and Saturday 3 March 2007, an astounding 27
women will perform Eve Ensler’s Broadway hit at the
Kosmos Theater. Proudly, Alana Harrington will also
be one of them.
More info: www.viennatheatreproject.at
Stop Domestic Violence Against Women:
www.coe.int
• A MUST. Something we should all know by heart:
The Austrian Women’s Helpline 0800/222555
Vienna’s seventh district has a remarkably progressive
and modern program to deal with domestic abuse
consisting of support for both victim and perpetrator.
Currently, as I understand it, if you are a women, who
has been involved with domestic abuse and you live in
districts 12, 13, 23,19, 15, 18, 27 or 19 — due to lack
of funds — the Vienna Domestic Abuse Intervention
Program (DAIP) cannot give you the appropriate
counseling, tools or resources to assist you.
Read an exclusive interview with Rosa Logar, one of
the founders of the first Women’s Austrian Shelter
and director of DAIP, Vienna.
Did you Know that: In 2005 there were a reported
5,618 calls to the police concerning violence against
women in the household. There were a reported 668
violations of restraining orders in this matter. There
were another reported 6,171 cases of further interventions regarding domestic abuse against women,
states the latest figures from the Domestic Abuse Intervention Program in Vienna.
"We are making a connection with violence in the
world, like war, and violence in the home." - Emmy
Abrahamson, Director of the Vagina Monologues
• To get involved with this issue or to volunteer your
time contact: [email protected]
• To learn more about the European campaign to
“As long as we accept violence at home, we will accept violence abroad. And vice versa.”- Emmy Abrahamson, Director of the Vagina Monologues
21
WCN
EMPOWER YOURSELF
MAKE THE BEST OF YOURSELF
News from Re nata Image Consulting
Hello ladies, dear members of the WCN,
It’s time to get started! There are
so many new colours, new forms
and new “packagings” out there
that our money surely won’t go
bad this season either!
But the confusion is great: There
are so many things awaiting us,
or our purse, so that we can buy
and own another piece of clothing, a new one, from this season.
The world of fashion wakes up after the winter, and so do we. We
want to change which is why,
once again, we buy something
new – something which we do
not have in our wardrobe yet, or
at least not in this very form or
colour. It is modern, it is a musthave. We always find answers or
excuses why we have to buy certain things.
Shopping is alright – and it is
fun. But whatever you buy, it
should fit you, no matter what
fashion or salespeople say.
My motto is:
that with our ancestors seeing
and the seeing of colours followed the smelling (after all
pheromones were important for
choosing the right partner).
Thus, be careful, because we see,
react and judge – our natural instincts at work!
But back to clothes. Depending
on the job or position the following trends can be recommended
in 2007.
them apart from the catwalk?
Moreover, I often wonder why we
have to pay a lot of money for
items that are very poorly manufactured. But this is another story
altogether, isn’t it?
But fortunately we can choose to
select whatever is right for us because we know that clothes are a
means of communications, a visual language which says a lot
If we love to wear and really wear whatever we’ve bought,
then it was certainly worth the money, regardless of the price!
Of course, magazines and fashion shows promoting the most recent trends are very tempting.
And the models wearing these
items mostly look great, even
though I often wonder who
could wear those items in daily
life, or where you could wear
about the person wearing them,
which makes things easier at
work or in one's leisure, but can
also make things harder or even
impossible. We see, react and
judge.
What is interesting is the fact
www.renata-imageconsulting.com
22
Femininity is not a weakness,
quite the contrary. Thus it is perfectly fine to hint at our femininity to a certain degree.
Wear blouses with a waist belt
rather than jackets, dresses
rather than pantsuits, and by
wearing skirts you will look nice
and can show off your legs.
Please note: When wearing dresses, suits or skirts, always wear
stockings – regardless of how hot
it is. And it goes without saying
that fish net stockings were not
invented to be worn in offices!
And now venture out into the
rich hunting grounds of the
world of fashion. Look forward
to bringing home your trophies
(purchases) which support your
personal development, express
yourself by choosing the right
things for yourself, wear them,
embellish yourself and express
what you mean!
If you are not sure, give me a call
MAKE THE BEST OF YOURSELF
and I’ll help you find your visual
language to make sure your style
speaks for itself!
Renata Image Consulting
EMPOWER YOURSELF
WCN
Tipps & Secrets of Re nata
Funny:
When you want to hear something special:
http://www.oddcast.com/home/demos/tts/frameset.php?frame1=talk
Make your own movie!
http://www.dfilm.com/index_movie_start.html
Food:
the authenic thai food in "Yellow" athmosphere
Restaurant, Bar & Lounge
www.yellow.co.at
Super skin product:
an absolutely perfecct soft face peeling is
Kanebo Silk Peeling Powder

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