An independent citizen journalism project of Netzeitung is to be officially launched online at the end of May. The concept is simple: anyone can and may write for the "Readers Edition". "We expect reports, articles, news, photos from all countries and on all topics. Anyone who knows more than we do should publish. Editors-in-chief and department heads are elected by the people," reads the description of the project. The contributions will first be viewed by volunteer moderators and only then published. The service is rounded off by a points system and comment functions. However, as the industry service Kress writes, the project is a bold undertaking. Large-scale projects such as "Opinio" from the "Rheinische Post" have already shown that it is difficult to get enough good content produced by users. Even "germanblogs" from Holtzbrinck could not manage without professional bloggers in the start-up phase.

The Zurich agency Exxtra Kommunikation is once again in the running for an award at this year's International Food and Beverage Awards (FAB Awards). The creatives have once again been nominated for a Migros commercial: After winning last year with the TV commercial for the Migros ice cream Crème d'Or, the TV commercial "Wedding" for the own brand Léger is nominated in the "TV/Health" category in 2006.

Peter Baumgartner (Tages-Anzeiger) has been awarded the Zurich Journalism Prize 2006 for his entire body of work. The main prize of 10,000 Swiss francs was awarded to Baumgartner in recognition of his outstanding journalistic achievements, it was announced at the award ceremony in Zurich on Thursday evening. He had worked for the "Tagi" for 32 years. Baumgartner has reported from Africa for the last 10 years and has literally brought the continent closer to the readership "from below", as laudator Esther Girsberger said.
Two female journalists and four male journalists also received prizes for their work. The five award-winning works were selected from 154 entries. The "Magazin" journalist Peer Teuwsen received a prize worth 7,000 Swiss francs for his interview with the Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk. Pamuk's critical remarks about Turkish nationalism and Islamism earned him a lawsuit in Turkey - which caused a stir. Prizes of 5000 francs each were awarded for three works.
Ursula Gabathuler and Hansi Vogt won the "Beobachter" award with their
published an article on social welfare that brought the topic down to a concrete level. Under the title "Scenes from a marriage", Christoph Scheuring portrayed Formula 1 reporter Roger Benoit in the Sonntags-Blick magazine "SIE+ER". And Karin Wenger published a report on the Bedouins in Israel's Negev desert in the "Neue Zürcher Zeitung". The prize of CHF 3,000 for Everyday Life/Small Form went to René Brunner for his report in the "SonntagsZeitung" on the summary trials surrounding the French banlieu riots.

400 invited guests attended the presentation of the JdW Megaphone (Econ Awards) and the "Yearbook of Advertising 2006" on May 16, 2006. The
The 10th award ceremony, which is organized annually by Econ Verlag, is the official conclusion of the creative competition for advertising from German-speaking countries.
Around 420 companies took part in the competition for inclusion in the 2006 Advertising Yearbook.
Agencies from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and South Tyrol with over 1,100 works
took part. An independent 16-member jury and a special expert jury for the
Online projects evaluated the entries and selected five winning entries. These
were awarded the silver megaphones at the event. For the
"Campaign of the Year", the competition trophy went to the VW GTI campaign "For
Boys who were men back then" by DDB, Berlin. Schitto, Schmodde, Waack,
Frankfurt am Main was awarded a prize for the poster campaign "The Magic of the Everyday".
Megaphone honored. The "National Spot of the Year" comes from Young&Rubicam
Germany, Frankfurt am Main, whose advertising film for Sharkproject convinced the jury.
The jury also awarded a prize for the "Regional Spot of the Year". The award
went to H'N'C, Hunters and Collectors Wiesbaden for their work for the Leipzig
Transportation companies. The adidas Y3 website from Neue Digitale, Frankfurt am Main, was created as a
"Website of the Year" award. The megaphone for the "Newcomer Agency of the
This year, two agencies were awarded the "Agency of the Year": kempertrautmann, Hamburg and Krieg,
Schlupp, Bürge/Springer and Jacoby, Zurich. The jury also selected the winners
seven areas and a total of 36 sectors. These are presented on the website.

According to the latest results from Publica Data's Radiocontrol measurement system, the Bern-based "capital city radio" Capital FM, which has been broadcasting since January 23, 2006, has significantly better listener figures than its predecessor station Radio Extra Bern. In the evaluated period from January 23 to April 22, 2006, Capital FM recorded an average daily reach in German-speaking Switzerland of 75,100 people, an increase of 12.6 percent compared to the last reported quarter for Radio Extra Bern. The average daily usage time is 37 minutes, which also represents an increase of 10 percent compared to the last figures of the predecessor station. As Capital FM announced on Thursday, the listener figures evaluated to date should be interpreted with caution and restraint due to the small survey panel. Reliable findings and real trends on the station's resonance can therefore only be expected after six months of broadcasting at the earliest.

On Thursday, the Vaud government presented a draft law to restrict the advertising of tobacco and alcohol with more than 15 percent by volume. However, advertising for cigars and alcohol in the press, in cinemas, at points of sale and at sporting and cultural events would continue to be permitted. The reason for this decision lies in the fact that tobacco producers sponsor these events with up to CHF 2 million per year. The bill will be decided in the Vaud cantonal parliament in November. The law will come into force at the beginning of 2007 at the earliest.

The Zurich-based creative agency is responsible for the new image of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra. The logo of an orchestra functions like the logo of a product, according to a press release. The design must be easy to understand and also demonstrate a likeable brand value. The logo of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, which consists of the string ZKO, was newly created from characters known from musical notation. This has created a link between the name and the music. In addition to the logo, the entire communication of the ZKO is to be made with a creative, artistic claim in order to emphasize the quality level of the orchestra. Euro RSCG has taken on the mandate pro bono. Not least because its CEO Frank Bodin was once a musician himself.

Large-scale advertising can now be booked in Zurich's Kreis 5 district: Paron, a company specializing in large posters, is offering two new locations ("Neue Hardstrasse" and "Pfingstweidstrasse/Duttweilerbrücke"). "On over 200 square meters, advertisers can convey messages that cannot be overlooked," says Paron sales consultant Marco Spadacini to Werbewoche. The large poster specialist currently has around 50 spaces on offer throughout Switzerland.

Prevention Drugstores want to be the first
Positioning ourselves as a contact point for health. Just in time for the start of summer
Together with the Cancer League, they are launching the Kidzz campaign, with which
children should also be sensitized to sun protection.
In preparation, more than 500 druggists attended the Höhere Fachschule
Neuchâtel on the subject. Now they offer at their "sun events"
a whole range of gadgets, such as the "sundial", for example, on which
from which the radiation intensity can be read.

Heinrich Werbeagentur und PR-Consultants has acquired new clients. These include Rigi Bahnen, Kaba Safes & Vaults, 4-teamwork AG and sub-projects from Johnson & Johnson Medical and Illycafé.
One measure for Rigi Railways is currently very much in the air: to welcome the Brazilian national football team, Heinrich has given the gondola a new Brazilian look.

Swiss television's "Tagesschau" will soon be available in German-speaking Switzerland as a special cell phone edition that is one to two minutes long. Production for UMTS-enabled cell phones is planned, reports "20 Minuten". Swiss Television has already produced individual pilot broadcasts and is currently looking for telecom companies as partners who would like to include the new cell phone news in their offering. The realization of the project depends on whether the major telecommunications companies in Switzerland participate. A corresponding project for French-speaking Switzerland is still open.
The aim of the efforts is to offer content in a more media-friendly way. The project is intended to follow the international trend, SF spokesman David Affentranger told "20 Minuten". The aim is to make "Tagesschau" more attractive to young viewers in particular. It is still unclear whether the mobile news will be moderated and how many updates there will be per day. It has also not yet been decided how expensive the new paid service will be for cell phone viewers.

The new ADC President Jean Etienne Aebi also wants to win over marketing executives who previously had little to do with creative communication.
Mr. Aebi, you are taking over the ADC presidency again after four years.
What are you happier about: this new position or this new job?
on the unanimous adoption of the rigorous changes to the share price and articles of association?
Jean Etienne Aebi: Clearly
about the second. Not to say exclusively about these
Reorientation of the club. I did not look for the position itself
nor does it bring me any status or profiling that I can
I didn't already have. Never in my life would I have done this job again
interested if it is not about the realization of the project I
proposed concept. The adoption by the
General Meeting is regarded as a mandate to do everything consistently so
to tackle.

WW: The
Changes seem revolutionary in the 30-year history of ADC.
Despite this, the opening of the creative club, which was considered elitist, was
accepted without any resistance. This is surprising when you think of the often
fierce jury debates. What do you attribute this unanimity to?
back?
Aebi: Well,
It seems that the presentation of these plans was convincing. Whereby the
of course benefited from the fact that these were not just vague goals and approaches.
is about. Since last December, when the Board of Directors gave me the
order for the analysis, worked quite hard for it. Which is why I
a pretty well-rounded package, right down to the personnel and financial
consequences.

WW: Exciting
is how the still vaguely formulated tasks of the Projects group sound. What
the members of the Board of Management should specifically introduce what is
form does not already exist?
Aebi: The
ADC now wants to send out a signal that it is not only interested in its, in the
In all other respects, the judging process remains elitist in the good sense of the word. The
The ADC's concern stands for a common interest of all
market partners, from clients to media companies. The group
Project" consists of strong networkers. Among other things, their job consists of
in now realizing new, regular specialist events - so
interesting that the marketing team also wants to take part, which
had little to do with creative communication in the past.

WW: What were the initial reactions of the organizations and companies that you want to bring on board the ADC in the future?
Aebi: Already
almost super. Just today I received two requests for
Sponsoring memberships. We already have six concrete negotiations
with interested sponsors. Media companies in particular see it
as an existential question of how faith in advertising can be strengthened again.
and are therefore very interested in joint activities.
interested.

WW: What will happen first? Do you already have a roadmap on how to proceed?
Aebi: Essential
Preparatory work has already been completed. Towards the office and
I have been putting pressure on everyone involved for some time now. The now
elected new Board of Directors met in April. My personal
The aim is to start the new events this year,
have a number of collegial members on board, supporting members
and with a few new sponsors we can have all the fun too.
can afford.

WW: Off
Among other things, your study clearly shows that
ADC non-members and those who do not know the ADC the importance of
of creative advertising for efficiency is quite clear. Why do we need
then such an oversized club of creatives?
Aebi: Firstly:
What all those who agree in a survey that creativity is
important to actually advertise in their practice is a
another question. Secondly: ADC awards will always be a precious commodity
and the ADC will never be an oversized club. But it is
also not an inbred association with self-celebration, which is why it is now
opens its doors to all those who wish to support its activities - which are
are in the interests of the entire advertising industry.

WW: Throwing
Let's take a look into the future: How should the ADC look in five years' time?
and what role will it play in the Swiss economy?
Playing in the advertising landscape?
Aebi: Everyone
other association in our industry represents specific interests. The
Art Directors Club represents the capital that is invested in exceptional
ideas. And would like to be a topic leader when it comes to better
quality with the effect of better impact.

Interview: Luca Aloisi