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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Enjoy the class!

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

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

More Female Partners at the top 10 lawfirms

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

New Year, New Chances.

Proost!

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

Bonding by complaining

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

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

Thursday, February 4^th, 2010

Location: Amsterdam Renaissance Hotel

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Electronics & Automation 2009

High Tech Heels, from design to manufacturing

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

Article from HarvardBusiness.org:

Europe Invests in Women Leaders – by Sylvia Ann Hewlett.

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

Regina Mehler, Marketing Director Central Europe & Emerging Markets at Adobe Systems
Post event summary
Thursday, January 22nd 2009

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

The long-predicted talent gap is upon us and the leaders of today and tomorrow are in the midst of dealing with the talent challenges. Knowledge professionals, who are in ever-decreasing supply and ever-increasing demand, will drive business growth in the early twenty-first century. And these are the same workers who are irreversibly blurring the relationship between work and life and redefining what it means to build a career. Mass Career Customization (MCC) is a wake-up call and a guide for all business leaders. It provides a refreshing approach to attracting talent and strengthening leadership pipelines while providing varied and well-balanced career journeys. The approach identified four core dimensions of a career: Pace, Workload, Location, and Role.