Tuesday 7th February 2012 – 19.00 to 21.30 at KPMG.

Parts of this presentation was performed live and recorded for future screening at the very first TEDxLyon event in November 2011. We are very pleased and honoured that the speaker is an active WPNG member. 

Parts of this biography could be you, couldn’t it? 

“When she left her career she had been a Quality manager for 10 years in the industrial field, 5 of those years in post in China.

Her husband’s subsequent move to Japan brought up childcare issues, so she quit her job and got involved in her daughters’ school: PTA president, substitute teacher and formal teacher in a 3-6 years old class. 

Fortified with this experience she wanted to give more parents the opportunity to “grow” international children and when she came back to France in 2010 she worked on opening her own international school.

Her own opinion is that she has failed, but that is not true, her adventure and ambitious project is not over.

We invite you to come and meet Claire Blondel, entrepreneur and mother, and listen to her very personal story and project; it has brought to light interesting specificities in the French education system that we will all recognize to some degree.”

Join the discussion afterwards where we will focus, not on the French educational system, but what is good and can be learned from educational systems all over the world.

The WPNG membership represents over 20 nationalities and we expect the exchange to be very rich indeed!

111109_succession-property-law

WPNG Winter Social evening at the tapas bar SUELTA VERDE, 13 December 2011

I wanted to say so much but muffled my speech…, well actually a lot of what I wanted to say wasn’t written down to tell you the truth…

What I should have said was:

“Do you want to know what the WPNG membership really gets up to in their spare time?”

…and then go onto say…

Did you know that almost 10% of the WPNG membership was involved in the very first TEDx conference that happened in Lyon on November 10,  2011? TEDxLyon lead organizer and licensee Fatiha teamed up with co-organizers Roelien and Bieke, Marion mentored the speakers, Evie advised one of the speakers on content and one of the illustrious speakers was Claire, the welcoming team included Aurélie, Marie and Karyn.  All of whom are WPNG members, which means that ten of the most dynamic international women in Lyon is in fact one of us!

Did you know that there are another 5 people working (after hours) to make the WPNG a dynamic, fun and happening place to get together and network?

Did you know that Steering Committee members are regularly and actively promoting the WPNG in other organizations and associations, like our sister group in Grenoble the WWNG, at FIBA (Franco British International Business Association) and the up and coming LYINC Lyon International Club and many more.

Did you know that the WPNG is making a name for itself and getting queries from other associations who have heard of us and want to know more, how we function, what we do, where we meet…

Well, we do and high five to us!

Before signing off, I wanted to extend a special thank you to all you ladies who are actively spreading the word and who brought a friend to the Winter Social, because you know that together we carry the torch and spread the word of the WPNG…eh oui!

Phew, there you are! The words I should have said and the message I wanted to give on that Tuesday night, but then you were busy chatting, networking, laughing and discovering why some people can’t wear lipstick for more than 5 seconds before licking it off!

Thanks for turning up, it was fun, we’ll have to do it again someday!

Kristina Ashton, WPNG President

Monday, January 9, 2012 – 19H00-21H30 at KPMG

Active listening’ and how to put your point across successfully in a multicultural environment

Have you ever wondered how confident you are to have understood what the person sitting opposite you said, or do you think you actually know what the other person said? How well do we do when we operate in a multicultural environment? Are we fixed in our mindset or do we try and understand cultural differences?

During this session, we will learn how ‘Active listening’ enables us to become a better negotiator. In our everyday life, we need to negotiate all the time, everywhere and for everything with our partner, children, friends, manager or colleagues….It is therefore important to understand better each other thanks to Active Listening!

We will be welcoming former businessman and international lecturer, Jean-Pierre Bernard, Associate Professor at Grenoble Graduate School of Business.

About Jean-Pierre Bernard

Jean-Pierre Bernard is a consultant in Semiconductor, Intellectual Property & High Tech business. He is also Associate Professor at Grenoble Graduate School of Business, France. His main teaching specialties are Technology Management, International Business Negotiation, International Operations and Cross-Cultural Management. Formerly Vice-President Europe at Amkor Wafer, an American-Korean company, he was responsible for the European Operations, interfacing European clients and Korean manufacturing facilities. In addition to these European activities, he spent some time at restructuring the US and Japan customer support teams, and negotiated technology transfers from USA toward Korean and Chinese foundries. He spent also a couple of years within the Indian group Wipro between Europe and Bangalore, being in charge of merging European and Indian engineering teams, defining a common working methodology for off-shore engineering. As an engineer, he spent several years in Germany at Philips Munich where he led the European Analog Design team, dedicated to integrated circuit products like ASIC and System-on-Chip.

Thanks to 25 years of international professional activity in Europe, USA, Asia and India, he has acquired some extensive experience in international negotiation and team-building with different cultures. Jean-Pierre Bernard holds a Ph.D. in Microelectronics from Grenoble University and a MBA from IAE Grenoble. Based for 9 years in Germany and Austria, he is trilingual in French-German-English and fluent in Italian.

Please note that this meeting is exceptionally on a Monday, and not on our usual Tuesday.

And please don’t forget to bring either a healthy snack or drink to the meeting. Home-made quiches, cakes and other dishes are always appreciated and the purchased varieties are welcome too.

]]> http://wpng.org/2011/12/21/january-2012-meeting-active-listening/feed/ 0 http://wpng.org/2011/11/18/2011-winter-social-event/ http://wpng.org/2011/11/18/2011-winter-social-event/#comments Thu, 17 Nov 2011 22:02:32 +0000 admin http://wpng.org/?p=491

Tuesday, December 13, 2011 – from 19H00 at Suelta Verde Lyon Cité

It’s time for our Winter Social Event again, so let’s take a break from the serious stuff and relax in the cosy Latino surroundings of the SUELTA VERDE!

Time: From 19h00 onwards for apéro, with the buffet starting at 20h00.

Location:
Suelta Verde Lyon Cité
Cité Internationale
69006 Lyon
Tel: 04 72 82 08 87

How to get there:
To visualize the restaurant on a map, please click here
Parking: Cité Internationale P2
TCL: Buses C1, C4 and C5 (“Musée d’Art Contemporain” stop)

ON THE MENU

APERITIF
Kir Framboise, Melon ou Cassis
Sodas ou jus de fruit

BUFFET DINATOIRE
Les 6 bouchées salées
Entrées
Verrine de gaspacho à la tomate et basilic
Wrap de Saumon
Guacamole et Tortillas Chips

Plats chauds
Verrine de riz safrané aux fruits de mer
Mini burrito (galette de blé garnie de poulet et garnie de boeuf)
Assortiment de Tapas (onion rings, chicken wings, bâtonnet de mozzarella et chorizo)

Les 3 bouchées sucrées
Desserts
Panna Cotta aux fruits rouges
Verrine de fruits frais
Mini Fondant au Chocolat

BOISSONS
Eaux Minérales : Badoit et Vittel
Vins Latins : Astica Merlot (Rouge) ou Santa Helena Chardonnay (Blanc)

Price : 20 euros (drinks courtesy of WPNG)

If you’re planning on joining us, please confirm your attendance by SENDING YOUR CHECK FOR 20€, made payable to WPNG, to WPNG Treasurer Marie France Derderian (address in the mailing current members received or on the membership form you can find in the “join WPNG” section) and an email to info[at]wpng.org by Thursday, December 1 at the very latest.

Please note: for now we have negotiated for 50 people only – your early registration will help us know whether we need to increase this number. Leaving your inscription too close to the date (December 1) will restrict us to a party of 50 – it’s up to you to decide how many we’ll be on the night!

We hope to see many of you there!

Tuesday, November 8, 2011 – 19H00-21H30 at KPMG

All you need to know about succession planning and owning property in France.

If you own property in France, you should understand the different means of owning such property. French succession law will apply to your French property, no matter your nationality you may have. Do you know the rules about reserved beneficiaries under French law? Have you made a French will?

If France is your domicile, then French succession law will apply not only to your French property, but also to your  worldwide estate, except for real estate owned in other countries. You ignore French succession law at your peril!

These issues are vitally important for you to understand and the presentation will give you the information you need to know.

Tim Hughes is an English solicitor and avocat communautaire. He qualified in England in 1994 and moved to France in 2005, gaining admission to the Lyon Bar (Barreau de Lyon). Whilst he generally advises on French business law matters, Tim also deals with areas of the law relating to individuals, particularly the buying and selling of property in France and French succession law. Tim is the Chair of the Lyon Bar’s GB Working Group and the President of FIBA – the Franco-British International Business Association based in Lyon:  www.fibalyon.org.

I am sure that you have already asked yourself why you go to the WPNG evenings and tried to answer someone who wants you to justify why you go. What do you answer?

Tip: There are many reasons for coming and each of us has their own, some may come because they are convinced of the utility of developing and maintaining a professional network, others may want to move in Anglophone circles and some of us may just need to get OUT!

There is no wrong answer. You come because you want to.

But here is the thing, like everything here in the world if we want to achieve something we have to make things work for us, we are the drivers of our destiny.

The WPNG membership is jam packed full of women with talent, women with drive, women with potential, women with jobs, women looking to change jobs and women looking for jobs! Whatever your situation or motivation you are one of these women.

You will have noticed that there is no barrier or selection procedure to join the WPNG other than that you need to be able to communicate in English; a language that unites over 120 women from over 20 countries all over the world, right here in Lyon.

Whatever your motivation, make sure that you get the maximum benefit out of your membership. Come prepared to talk and introduce yourself with a smile; this networking group must be the most non-threatening environment ever to exist. Where else can you practise walking up to a stranger and start talking on a regular basis? Where else can you find a room full of well-travelled women with an interesting story to tell? Where better to learn about new technologies like social networking or women in the work place or about happiness and choice? Nowhere!

There you are – I have answered the question.

That’s why I am part of the WPNG here in Lyon – the only Anglophone 100% female professional networking group in Lyon and no-one will get between me and the WPNG!

Kristina Ashton
WPNG President

Tuesday, September 13, 2011 – 19H00-21H30 at KPMG

Welcome to a new season at our usual meeting place, KPMG offices in Lyon Vaise (51 rue St Cyr, 69009 Lyon)!

We will start our evening with our Annual General Meeting (which will take about 20 minutes).

AGENDA

1. Progress report since the last AGM (8 June 2010)
2. Financial report since the last AGM
3. Plans for the 2011/2011 season
4. Election of the WPNG Steering Committee (you need to be a paid 2011/2012 WPNG member in order to vote, so please pay now or bring your checkbook to the meeting)

Then we will give the floor to the organizing team of TEDxLyon, to tell us a bit more about this exciting event coming to Lyon on November 10, before we continue with our main topic of the evening, the N in WPNG… NETWORKING!

Do you consider yourself a great networker? Or do you think it’s more a necessary evil? And what exactly is your definition of networking…? This session will be led by  WPNG’s own Marion Chapsal, business coach and blogger on women in management, and will focused on you and an opportunity for you to meet other WPNG members through more structured networking. We will discuss in small groups what networking is all about. What do you expect from it? What networking ‘tools’ do you use? What do you get out of it and… how do you profile yourself? Each group will summarize its findings after the discussions.

There should also be the opportunity to do ‘before’ and ‘after’ personal presentations so you can bring the things you’ve learned during the discussions into practice right away! A little preparation goes a long way! So come prepared – start thinking about the above mentioned questions – and don’t forget to bring your business cards!

Reminder: 2011/2012 membership fees are now due: please make out a check for 30€ to WPNG and hand it to our treasurer Marie-France Derderian, at the meeting. Alternatively you can post your check (the address can be found in our latest newsletter).

And please don’t forget to bring either a healthy snack or drink to the meeting. Home-made quiches, cakes and other dishes are always appreciated and the purchased varieties are welcome too.

74 current and future members gathered at the Reine Astrid on Tuesday 14th June 2011 for an evening of sharing and fun.

At the end of the evening we had gathered more than 100 suggestions for our programme next year.

This event gathered virtually everyone who had at some point brought the association to where it is today. Co-founders Theresa Cooper-Kislik and Catherine Bassompierre shared their story of how the WPNG came to being; their differences and how they dared to step out of their comfort zone and do something they’d never done before? Past presidents spoke of their involvement and how they saw the group advancing and becoming more professional in their planning and approach.

The event was an excellent opportunity for everyone to have their opinion heard and together we brainstormed on what type of topics we would like to see for the season ahead. The post-it notes were then transcribed and you can download the file here: 2011_2012_branstorming_program_suggestions.

We have noted the huge success that the dinner brought the group – purely and simply from a networking point of view – and we have decided to turn our December meeting in to a cocktail with a theme. Watch this space!

You will find the usual professional topics for our meetings in next years program and we have also taken into account your comments of introductions: Who’s Who, Who does what, How can I help? How do the meetings work?

The September meeting will kick-off with a networking session where we will all have the opportunity to introduce ourselves in small groups. This will be lead by our very own Marion Chapsal, business coach and blogger on women in management.

Our September meeting is also very important because we will start the season with the AGM (20 minutes) and we will vote the new steering committee. To participate in the voting you will have to have paid your yearly dues of 30€ (Sept 2011 to Sept 2012), which quite a few of you have already done in anticipation. Send your cheque now or come to the meeting armed with your chequebook.

Vive la rentrée !
Kristina