In 2017, medical device manufacturer B. Braun Melsungen set out to do away with the organization chart and align the organization with the work tasks and the teams entrusted with them. It is still an ongoing project, but the combination of down-to-earth practicality and radical rethinking makes this book an extremely interesting read for anyone who has problems with departmental thinking and entrenched structures, finds getAbstract.

"With Wolfgang Elsässer, we have been able to bring a proven content and TV expert on board," says a delighted Urs Schaeppi, Swisscom CEO and Chairman of the Board of Cinetrade.

Cinetrade has developed strongly in recent years. Despite intense competition, the number of subscriptions increased in both the fiction and sports areas. The portfolio was realigned and new offerings such as Teleclub Now were launched. In the cinema business, new standards were set with innovative venues such as Gümligen near Bern.

Wilfried Heinzelmann will continue to be available to Cinetrade in an advisory capacity. "After more than 20 years in management responsibility at Cinetrade and almost five years as CEO, I have the desire to set other priorities professionally. In addition, I would also like to have more time for my family and hobbies," said the still acting CEO in a statement explaining his resignation.

After holding various management positions at Grundig, Premiere (now Sky) and SES Astra, Wolfgang Elsässer took over as Head of TV & Entertainment at Deutsche Telekom in 2016. There, he was responsible for the entire value chain, from development, operations, product management, the content areas of fiction, sports, VR and music, to communications, sales and marketing of all Magenta Entertainment products.

In this role, Wolfgang Elsässer decisively developed Deutsche Telekom's entertainment products, business models and content offering. He also opened up Deutsche Telekom's offerings to third parties such as Netflix and Amazon, as well as to OTT customers. He strengthened the offering with new partnerships, exclusive content, co-productions and in-house productions, as well as an innovative free-on-demand offering - the "Megathek.

"Swisscom TV and the Cinetrade offering are critical to our positioning in the mass market," said Urs Schaeppi. "In an increasingly competitive environment, it is important to bring relevant entertainment innovation to the customer. I am sure that with Wolfgang Elsässer we have found the right person for this task."

The EQUAM Foundation positions itself as a national player in promoting quality and patient safety in outpatient medicine. The aim of the new appearance was to visually "translate" the positioning as a professional, solution-oriented and innovative service provider and to attract more attention to the EQUAM Foundation. 

The focus of the new corporate design was the "wave", which was taken from the letter Q of the EQUAM logo. The wave serves as a graphic guideline for letterheads and communication materials, in combination with a complementary color area. It underlines statements, defines communication space and gives the brand additional uniqueness. 

"The wave also represents the flow that exists and is necessary in continuous quality development," adds Paula Bezzola, the Executive Director of EQUAM Foundation. That is why the wave also served as the basis for the development of the key visual for the foundation's 20th anniversary. This consists of a graphic element and can be combined with the foundation logo and a slogan.

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Sandro Brotz has hosted "Rundschau" on SRF since summer 2012 and "Rundschau talk" since March 2017. Now 49, he has worked for various media in a variety of roles, including deputy editor-in-chief of The Sunday. Prior to that, he was editorial director of Radio 1 and, from 2000 to 2008, head of news and deputy editor-in-chief at the SonntagsBlick. Sandro Brotz started his journalistic career in 1988 at "Vorstadt" and Radio Zürisee. Further stations were Radio Z and TeleZüri.

Sandro Brotz is expected to host "Arena" for the first time in May. Mario Grossniklaus will continue to deputize and lead the show during a possible transition phase. Jonas Projer will present "Arena" for the last time on April 26 and will then leave SRF. Thomas Schäppi, program developer and head of the Society, Consumption and Health division of the TV editorial team, will take over responsibility for Infotalk with the shows "Arena," "Club" and "Schawinski" with immediate effect. Franziska Egli will remain team leader of "Arena," and Barbara Lüthi will continue to lead the "Club" team.

Sandro Brotz in a statement: "I understand my new role as a host who leaves room for in-depth debates and is felt as a critical inquirer. For me, 'Arena' means living politics, in which different positions contribute to the formation of opinion. I look forward to standing for this culture of discussion together with the 'Arena' editorial team and thank the 'Rundschau' team for seven terrific years."

Sandro Brotz's successor at "Rundschau" is still open. However, in addition to hosting "Arena," he will continue to interview top politicians, business leaders and representatives of international organizations four times a year in "Rundschau talk.

The economic pressure in the media houses and among customers has further consequences for Keystone-SDA. By late summer 2019, the multimedia news agency will have to cut a total of nine full-time positions at its sites in Zurich and Bern.

Twelve employees are expected to be affected. The reductions will affect the Marketing & Sales, Solutions, Content and Administration departments. In the event of redundancies, the social plan negotiated last year will be applied voluntarily. The editorial department is not affected by the cutbacks.

Following the merger between SDA and Keystone, the new company is in the process of further transforming itself and positioning itself on the market as a multimedia news agency. Last year, against the backdrop of the media crisis, the company had cut 35 of its 150 full-time jobs, mainly in the editorial department.

The Syndicom union criticized the company management for leading the agency into a downsizing spiral. Since the strike in 2018, the attitude of the management has not changed. It is fueling uncertainty and undermining trust.

"While savings are being made at the bottom, top management continues to bloat," the communiqué says. The internal processes would endanger the functioning of the agency. The hallmarks of quality and reliability are being put at risk by the management. The agency must break out of the downsizing spiral, "otherwise it will slowly do away with itself. (SDA)

As Chief Product Officer and member of the Executive Board, Sigrun Albert will be responsible for the development and management of integrated offerings along the entire product portfolio. The Products unit was created at the beginning of the year and comprises product and portfolio development, product management of all print, digital and live services, and transactional business, as well as the digital investments of the NZZ Media Group. 

"In Sigrun Albert, we have found an excellent successor to head up the Products division. She is convincing not only because of her many years of experience in publishing and her proven digital expertise, but also because of her leadership qualities. I am very much looking forward to working with her," said Felix Graf, CEO of NZZ Media Group, in a statement.

Sigrun Albert has been Managing Director at Mediengruppe Oberfranken since 2012; she is responsible for the Digital and Local Media divisions and MGO Digital Ventures, the investment arm of Mediengruppe Oberfranken. She previously held management positions at Gruner&Jahr, Brockhaus, Duden and Cornelsen. Sigrun Albert studied German and English in Würzburg and Brighton and is a trained journalist. She completed a traineeship at the regional newspaper Nürnberger Nachrichten and at the Henri Nannen School of Journalism, after which she worked for several years as an editor and author in Hamburg.

Until Sigrun Albert starts, the Products Business Unit will be managed on an interim basis by CEO Felix Graf, CFO Jörg Schnyder and CTO Andreas Bossecker.

The new communication trio of the Swiss travel industry: Prisca Huguenin-dit-Lenoir (Hotelplan Suisse), Markus Flick (DER Touristik Suisse) and Bianca Schmidt (TUI Suisse) (from left).

The three largest Swiss tour operators are thus bundling their services for the first time. The aim is to be able to respond even more efficiently to the needs of media professionals, exploit synergies and reduce duplication to a minimum, according to a press release.

Due to the confrontation of mostly identical questions from journalists, the three media spokespersons Bianca Schmidt (TUI Suisse), Prisca Huguenin-dit-Lenoir (Hotelplan Suisse) and Markus Flick (DER Touristik Suisse) have therefore decided to bring their communications services together under one roof. This means that the same inquiries, for example about booking statuses, price and product offers, trend destinations or crises, can be answered efficiently and in a balanced manner.

"We are delighted that this merger will not only significantly reduce the daily flood of emails and telephone inquiries for journalists, but will also minimize competition within the travel industry - at least in the area of communication," the three media spokespeople said in unison. This structural optimization will not result in any job cuts.

In coordination with Goldbach Group, she will also sustainably position the TV Premium Network (Wilmaa, Teleboy, Zattoo) with advertisers as an extension of TV advertising. Celina Bernasconi has been rooted in the media business for years and most recently worked at Mediaschneider as a senior digital consultant, where she built up a solid know-how and network in the online and digital market.

In Switzerland, 4300 women and men are diagnosed with colorectal cancer every year. Detected early, it is usually curable. That is why the Cancer League recommends early detection from the age of 50. In addition, a healthy lifestyle with sufficient exercise reduces the risk. With the current awareness-raising on the topic of colorectal cancer, the taboo is once again being broken.

Because cancer is a reality. At the same time, the campaign draws attention to the broad scope of the Cancer League's activities: from prevention and early detection to counseling and support and the promotion of research, the organization plays a leading role - and has done so for over a hundred years.

Flavia Nicolai, Head of Marketing and Communication at the Swiss Cancer League: "Same tone and appearance, different focus: With the campaign on colorectal cancer, we are consistently continuing the information and awareness campaign on common types of cancer such as skin or prostate cancer. The concept developed together with MetaDesign is coherent for us and convinces us."

And Alexander Haldemann, CEO MetaDesign, commented in a statement: "The opportunity to work so closely with the Cancer League gives the brand continuity and the theme presence. We appreciate this partnership."

Graubünden's mountain railway operators and hoteliers are delighted: the winter season so far has been "above average", Martin Hug, President of the Graubünden Mountain Railway Association, told the Keystone-SDA news agency. In addition to the high number of hours of sunshine and the good snow conditions, the "renewed enjoyment of winter sports is clearly noticeable", said Hug.

By the end of February, Graubünden's mountain railroads had recorded 6.6 percent more guests than in the previous year. The late end of the season at Easter poses a challenge. Nevertheless, the mood among hoteliers is high. The latest overnight stay figures from January confirm the six percent increase in December, said Ernst Wyrsch, President of Hotelleriesuisse Graubünden.

The Bernese Oberland is also satisfied with the end of the ski season: In the Jungfrau region, the number of skier arrivals increased by 5.4 percent year-on-year to 987,000 "skier visits". With the new major V-Cableway project, the Jungfrau winter sports destination aims to return to the "Champions League" by 2020 at the latest, as explained by Urs Kessler, CEO of the Jungfrau Railways.

Adelboden-Lenk even recorded record figures. Up to March 25, there were around 1.1 million skier days in this ski resort - around seven percent more than in the previous winter season. The month of February will go down in history as "the best February ever" with its weather high.

In Central Switzerland, the brilliant weather in February virtually saved the season. The start to the winter was difficult, said Peter Reinle, Head of Marketing at Titlis Bergbahnen, when asked.

Without artificial snowmaking, snow sports would not have been possible from November to mid-December. By the end of the season, the Titlis region had attracted 497,500 guests to the mountain. That was 2.6 percent more than the previous year, said Reinle.

Although the start of the season was also delayed in Sörenberg LU, mountain railroad director René Koller speaks of a "very good winter". In February, his ski resort even achieved the highest turnover and the most first-time admissions since 1998. In total, the mountain railroads recorded around 300,000 first-time admissions on 102 days of skiing. This corresponds to an increase of around eight percent compared to the previous year.

And the Flumserberg SG ski resort was also able to make up for the loss of around 1.2 million francs up to Christmas thanks to excellent conditions in February, as mountain railroad CEO Heinrich Michel said. He expects around 3 percent more guests by the end of the season than in the previous year.

People in Valais are very satisfied with the season. Verbier has so far recorded a seven percent increase in skier days compared to the previous year, as Téléverbier Director Laurent Vaucher said on request. It has been a very good season with excellent snow conditions.

Thanks to the good weather, the Zermatt ski resort was also able to increase the number of admissions compared to the previous year, even though no definitive figures are yet available. Those responsible are pleased with the occupancy rate of the hotel rooms: this was over 90 percent over Christmas/New Year and from mid-February to mid-March. Over the entire season, Zermatt Tourism spokeswoman Simona Altwegg expects an increase of around 5 percent compared to the previous year.

In Nendaz-Veysonnaz, an increase in skier days of 2.5 to 3 percent is expected, while Crans-Montana is already at the same level as last year three weeks before the end of the season. And the prospects for Easter are promising, even if the vacations are very late this year, said mountain railroad director François Fournier. The winter sports resorts will draw a definitive balance at the end of the season. (SDA)

Photo: David Birri; Jungfrau Railways 2019

The founder of the world's largest online network wrote this in a guest article for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. "We need a more active role for governments and regulations," it continued.

In the Postwhich was also published in other newspapers such as the Washington Post, the Sunday Independent and the Journal de Dimanche Zuckerberg is in favor of introducing data protection rules in other countries that are similar to the controversial European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Legislators should also introduce some rules for issues that the GDPR has so far left open.

Zuckerberg also sees shortcomings in regulation when it comes to measures against political manipulation. "Laws for political advertising on the internet focus primarily on candidates and elections rather than on political issues that polarize society," he criticized. "Our systems would be more effective if there were uniform standards for the verification of political actors."

Furthermore, some laws only apply during election campaigns. "However, disinformation campaigns also exist independently of elections." According to Facebook, the relevant laws should be updated "to reflect the actual threats and set industry-wide standards."

The Facebook founder also proposes rules for data transfer between internet platforms. "Data that is shared with one service should be able to be transferred to another service," argues Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg is also calling for uniform rules for several companies when it comes to blocking content: "Because people use many different services, all with their own policies and processes, we need a common approach. One idea would be to have independent bodies set standards that companies are measured against," Zuckerberg wrote.

Facebook is repeatedly criticized because users often spread hate messages on the platform. Most recently, an Australian right-wing extremist broadcast his attack on two mosques in New Zealand live on Facebook. Fifty people died in the attack. The online platform has also been used to manipulate elections. Data protectionists also criticize Facebook's massive collection of personal data. (SDA)