YELLOW ACADEMY PROGRAMME 2019
CREDIBILITY COMMUNICATION STAKEHOLDERS SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCING MESSAGE REGULATORY AFFAIRS BRUSSELS PRESS CORPS CAMPAIGN The Yellow Academy is celebrating its eighth year! The Yellow Academy is a series of workshops on EU Lobbying and Communication with a strong focus on case studies. The key concept of these sessions is to focus on sharing the latest trends in communication and lobbying and illustrate them with concrete examples, in order to generate interaction between participants. Trainers have been selected from among the best consultancies in Brussels in order to spark vibrant interactions. Participants are EURACTIV s communication partners coming from trade associations, corporations, NGOs, political parties or think tanks. WHO SHOULD ATTEND Senior management. Registrations are on a first-come, first-served basis. These workshops are by invitation only and will take place at EURACTIV s offices in the International Press Centre, Boulevard Charlemagne 1, in Brussels. WORKSHOP OUTLINE Each workshop will take place during lunch time from 12.00 until 13.45 : 12.00 Sandwich lunch and drinks 12.30 Presentation 13.00 Open discussion EXPERTS
WORKSHOP DATES IN 2019 W1 24 JANUARY Building grassroots support in a changing political environment W2 21 FEBRUARY EU technical regulations, standards and innovation funding: how to build winning EU advocacy strategy W3 21 MARCH Brexit: the final countdown W4 16 MAY Developing an awareness raising campaign from design to implementation - a case study of the European Portable Battery Association W5 13 JUNE How media drives regulation W6 26 SEPTEMBER Lobbying dynamics under the new EU legislature
W1 24 JANUARY Building grassroots support in a changing political environment BRETT KOBIE, SVP & DIRECTOR, EMEA DIGITAL PUBLIC AFFAIRS LEAD, FLEISHMANHILLARD Presented by Brett Kobie Brett Kobie leads FleishmanHillard s Digital Public Affairs offering across the EMEA region, which works across sectors to combine deep political and policy expertise with innovative, creative communications. A seasoned transatlantic public affairs professional and strategic digital communicator, Brett has split the last 15 years across private sector, government and non-profit roles in Brussels and New York. He also sits on FleishmanHillard s global social & innovation leadership team. BRENDAN TOBIN, HEAD OF GROWTH, ECANVASSER Brendan Tobin is head of growth at ecanvasser a grassroots political technology company based in Ireland. He has worked with over 2,000 political and issue-based campaigns in 70 countries worldwide helping organizations to solve the challenge of communicating effectively with voters. Presented by Brendan Tobin
W2 21 FEBRUARY EU technical regulations, standards and innovation funding: how to build winning EU advocacy strategy THOMAS LINGET, SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER Thomas Linget is a highly qualified and recognized EU public affairs and communications consultant with a particular focus on transport policies. Over the years, he has acquired in-depth knowledge of the automotive, aerospace and smart mobility industries. Having led highprofile advocacy campaigns for global manufacturing companies, Thomas is a skilled negotiator and an excellent communicator, with a strong ability to engage both political or technical audiences. He currently leads the Transport Practice within LOGOS-MCI, while managing two cutting-edge industry coalitions, driving strategic engagement and advising to Board members. Thomas has a Master s degree in European Politics & Public Affairs from Sciences Po Strasbourg. Presented by Thomas Linget
W3 21 MARCH Brexit: the final countdown THOMAS TINDEMANS, CHAIRMAN, BELGIUM Presented by Thomas Tindemans Thomas Tindemans is a Belgian national with over 20 years experience in EU public affairs and communications. He has a proven track record of advising corporate, government and NGO clients on their public and corporate affairs strategies, including legislative procedures and political developments in the EU institutions and the Member States. He assists clients in establishing their public and corporate affairs strategies, including the drafting of legislative proposals, position papers and suggested amendments to draft legislation, and has been instrumental in forging coalitions to carry majorities on these issues. This work includes the establishment of contacts with Commission officials, Council representatives and MEPs. He speaks frequently at major conferences and has published articles and interviews in major European newspapers. Thomas is Chairman of H+K Strategies Brussels and Global Practice Leader Public Affairs of Hill+Knowlton Strategies. From 1994 to 2010, Thomas Tindemans was head of the Public Affairs practice at renowned law firm White & Case. Before that he gained business and political experience. Thomas Tindemans is a guest lecturer on EU lobbying and interest representation at various academic institutions in Europe, including the KULeuven, UCL, Institut d Etudes Politiques in Paris. He is also a former Director of Ideas Matter. Thomas speaks Dutch, English, French and German and studied law.
W4 16 MAY Developing an awareness raising campaign from design to implementation - a case study of the European Portable Battery Association CLAIRE COUET, EU AFFAIRS MANAGER NELE DEVOLDER, ASSOCIATION DIRECTOR Claire Couet is a Public Affairs and Communications expert with more than 8 years experience in the Brussels arena. With Kellen for over two years, she has been servicing global association as Regulatory Affairs Manager in the field of energy and environment, namely IALD, the International Association of Lighting Designers, and EPBA, the European Portable Battery Association. On top of leading public affairs efforts, she also represents her members towards policymakers and external stakeholders across Europe. She is used to dealing with multicultural environments and the specific challenges that diverse cultural and professional backgrounds can pose to association management. She joined Kellen coming from Eurelectric, the electricity industry trade association where she leaded various working groups composed of experts from European electricity distribution companies. Claire is a Belgian national, but she studied and lived in various foreign countries including France, Italy and Argentina. Her mother tongue is French, she also speaks English, Spanish and Italian. She has a degree in International Relations and EU affairs from Sciences Po (Aixen-Provence, France) as well as a Master from Luiss Guido Carli University (Rome, Italy). She is also certified in People Management from the Brussels Business School ICHEC. Presented by Claire Couet Presented by Nele Devolder Nele Devolder joined Kellen Europe in 2001 and is an Association Director. Nele has over 15 years of experience in the management of national, European and international associations and is involved in strategic advices projects and consulting for trade associations and professional societies on a global level. Her current assignments include the IALD, the International Association of Lighting Designers, for which she serves as their European office Manager. Nele also serves as the Executive Director in Europe of the EU-Russia Industrialists Roundtable, a business platform composed of leaders of multinational companies from the EU and Russia. She also leads the Kellen team that serves as the secretariat of the CEC, the Co-ordinating European Council for the Development of Performance Tests for Fuels, Lubricants and other Fluids and she is the Senior Manager of Operations for EUTC, the European Utilities Telecom Council. Besides these long term assignments in the management of associations, Nele is also active in short term projects, mainly in Strategic Advice and Global Consulting. Nele studied Communications at the EGON Hogeschool in Gent, Belgium. Before joining Kellen, she worked at KBC Bank and Ernst & Young Association Management. She is Belgian of Dutch mother tongue and speaks English, French and German.
W5 13 JUNE How media drives regulation ROXANA TURCANU, ACCOUNT MANAGER Roxana supports regulatory engagement and communication campaigns for Red Flag s clients. Before joining, she worked in a Brussels based legal consultancy coordinating compliance assessments in the field of health, financial services, justice and home affairs legislation for the European Commission. Her previous experience includes advising Romanian companies in the agri and fisheries sectors on how to access European Structural funds and the Romanian Embassy to Belgium. Presented by Roxana Turcanu
W6 26 SEPTEMBER Lobbying dynamics under the new EU legislature GILES KEANE,PARTNER Giles Keane has ten years experience in EU public affairs consultancy. Prior to joining acumen public affairs as a founding partner, he was a Director at Hill & Knowlton in Brussels. His first role in Brussels was as a trainee in the External Relations Director General of the European Commission. Giles strength lies in his ability to combine traditional public affairs with other communications disciplines to provide integrated communications counsel to his clients. He has worked across numerous sectors and policy areas including food & agriculture, environment & energy, healthcare and international trade. Current and recent clients of Giles since the creation of Acumen include Cargill Europe, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, Heineken, LEO Pharma, PlasticsEurope, Procter & Gamble and Syngenta. Previous clients of relevance include the British Poultry Council and US national renderers association for whom he monitored and advised on EU veterinary legislation, the European Sugar Manufacturers Association, Kellogg s, and the European Whey Producers Association. Giles is an Irish national and in addition to his native English, he speaks fluent French and Spanish, as well as conversational Italian. Presented by Giles Keane Presented by Nikos Manaras NIKOS MANARAS, ACCOUNT DIRECTOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND COMMUNICATIONS Nikos Manaras has 8 years experience in public policy, EU public affairs and communications as well as an in-depth knowledge of health policy. Prior to joining acumen public affairs, he worked at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) as the Senior EU Affairs and Media Coordinator, where he set up the EU Affairs and Media department. He provided strategic advice on public awareness campaigns, public policy issues, media and communication strategies and the organisation s interactions with the EU institutions. While at EADV, he set up and managed a number of partnerships on key policy issues (occupational skin cancer, the risks of sunbeds, psoriasis) with other non-profit stakeholders, pharmaceutical companies and other medical associations. Nikos has also worked extensively with key EU health journalists and media outlets pitching stories, providing comments, op-eds and articles. Prior to coming to Brussels, Nikos worked in academia for six years as a researcher and lecturer on negotiation techniques and policy coordination. In addition, he was a campaign manager for an election campaign in Greece and an external consultant specializing on EU social policy issues. Nikos is a native Greek speaker, is fluent in English and an intermediate level French speaker.
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KRISTINA LECLOUX kristina.lecloux@euractiv.com tel. +32 (0)2 788 36 91