The German American Business Association (GABA), British-American Business Council (BABC) and French American Chamber of Commerce (FACC) in cooperation with the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce, Danish-American Chamber of Commerce, the Business Association Italy America (BAIA), the California-Spain Chamber of Commerce, the German American Chamber of Commerce (GACC), the Irish Network Bay Area, the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce (SACC), the US-Polish Trade Council, the Hungarian American Chamber of Commerce and the American-European Chambers of Commerce and Business Associations, invite you to join us for another wonderful European Networking Event.
Come and mingle with entrepreneurs, VC’s and a range of professionals involved in cross-border business in a very relaxed and European atmosphere.
WHEN August 29 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
WHERE Werqwise 149 New Montgomery Street, San Francisco
Clear the calendar! The fall edition of the European Pitch Night is coming up. Five out of Europe’s most interesting Startups will take the stage and perform a five-minute pitch followed by three minute Q&A and feedback from the audience.
Take this chance to join the European Chambers and Business Associations on our collaborative event European Pitch Night. This is a perfect event if you want to expand your European network in San Francisco, learn more and get inspired by European innovation and business or just enjoy beverages and light snacks in a nice venue.
Last April this event was a huge success which sold out so be sure to get your tickets in time!
WHEN
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM, 20th of September, 2018
WHERE
DocuSign, 221 Main Street, Floor 15, San Francisco, CA 94105
TIME Magazine recently came out with its first annual list of the World’s Greatest Places, which were divided into three categories: To Visit, To Stay, and To Eat & Drink.
The staff at TIME collected thousands of places in categories such as museums, parks, bars, restaurants, theme parks, cruises, hotels, and more. They then evaluated each entry based on factors such as quality, originality, innovation, sustainability, and influence until they narrowed it down to 100 winners.
Although we could talk about each place for hours, we’d rather tell you a little about each of the two winners in the To Stay category. Get out those key cards and let’s check them out!
Credit: Treehotel
Treehotel
Harads, Sweden
Remember the times when you used to play in a treehouse as a child? If you’ve ever wanted to come back to that magical time, just book a room at the Treehotel!
This hotel, located in the middle of Sweden’s Arctic region, has seven rooms in various designs. Treehotel brands itself as “a landscape hotel where nature and imagination run wild,” and you can definitely see it in the rooms: there’s a room in the shape of a UFO, another in a black cube, and even one in a bird’s nest!
Prices start around $500 per night and the closest airport is Luleå airport, about 100km away. You can see more info on their website.
Icehotel 365
Jukkasjärvi, Sweden
For the “coolest” experience in Sweden, head over to the Icehotel 365. You might have heard about the original ice hotel, which was launched in 1989 and was taken down every year after winter (because snow melts!) The newest hotel, aptly named Icehotel 365, is available all-year round thanks to a built-in conditioner that keeps the hotel at -5 C (23F).
There are both warm (regular) and cold (ice) suites. Each ice carved suite is individually themed and hand carved by artists from around the world. One special thing about the ice hotel is that you live the Swedish life — even for a day! In the morning you get to wake up next to a cup of hot lingonberry juice and a sauna session before a traditional breakfast foraged from the nearby village.
Which one of these hotels would you rather stay at? Let us know in the comments below!
Waterworks Conversation and Cocktail Party with Jason “Timbuktu” Diakité
When
Thursday, November 15 at 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM EST Where Harlem Stage, 150 Convent Ave, New York
This evening is dedicated to reflecting on the visionary artists and works presented at Harlem Stage through their signature commissioning program, WaterWorks. They will highlight the significance of the program (past, present, and future) while creating space for dialogue, community, and transformational ideas.
Where:
Join Harlem Stage for an intimate cocktail party examining the journey of transnational MC, musician, author, and WaterWorks artist, Jason ‘Timbuktu’ Diakité as he brings to life a new theater project inspired by his debut book A Drop of Midnight. He will be in conversation with scholar and author Monica Miller followed by a riveting performance.
Born of American parents with roots in Harlem by way of South Carolina and Pennsylvania, this first generation Swedish artist unpacks racism, bigotry, artistry, family and belonging through an unflinching narrative that dares to ask the questions: Where do I belong? Who are my people? Does my skin define me? Music, text, and visuals weave a compelling story that journeys across continents and musical genres. Jason will be accompanied by a live band: The Rakiem Walker Project.
Bring your family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors to join us for Swedish Heritage Night with Swedish Chamber of Commerce- San Francisco/Silicon Valley!
Tuesday, October 30th the game between Sharks and Rangers takes place at the SAP Center in San Jose. Put on your Swedish hockey sweater, Viking helmet and bring your country flag to cheer on your favorite Swedes Melker Karlsson and Marcus Sorensen. Tickets bought through SACC-SF/SVs link will include a specially made scarf and a group photo with the Swedish players after the game. Make sure to book your tickets asap because the Swedish cheer section will soon be sold out, Go Sweden!
It recently celebrated 100 years of being a democratic country and is preparing for the general elections this September.
But not everyone is happy: the younger generation of Swedes naturally has their own opinions over who should run the country.
In a recent study done by Kairos Future, a Swedish-based market research and analysis group, a majority of millennial Swedish citizens believe the current parliament system should dissolve. A majority of 54 percent of those aged 16-25 think it’s a pretty- or very- good idea to “let experts – not parliament and government – decide what they consider to be the best for the country.” In addition, one in four Swedes believes that there needs to be a “strong leader” who does not have to be voted in through parliament or public elections.
Even more shocking is the fact that more than half of young Swedes believe that people shouldn’t vote “if one does not know anything about politics.”
In spite of this, there’s good news for at least one part of Swedish politics: the Swedish Royal Family. In a recent poll, Swedish newspaper Dagbladet found that the majority of Swedish citizens prefer to retain the monarchy. King Carl XVI Gustaf can rest easy – especially since he recently broke the record of being Sweden’s longest reigning royal.
If you’ve traveled frequently, chances are you might have seen a guide dog sitting next to its owner on an airplane. But have you ever seen a guide horse?
Yes, you heard that right: Southwest Airlines recently changed its policy to include miniature horses on the approved list of service animals. Starting in September 2018, only dogs, cats, and miniature horses will be allowed to help their owners aboard flights.
While this might seem strange, Southwest and other airlines have been dealing with fake service animals for years, including a woman who wanted to bring her peacock emotional service animal aboard the airplane (spoiler alert: she was rejected), as well as snakes, rats, and even monkeys.
This new policy states that Southwest will only accept the animal if the staff can determine that the passenger has a disability and that passengers must correctly answer questions that prove the animal has been trained. In fact, there’s a specific organization called The Guide Horse Foundation that trains every miniature horse who becomes a service animal.
With all of this, you might be wondering, why would people use miniature horses instead of dogs as a service animal?
There are actually many benefits!
Perhaps the most important is that mini horses can live between 30 to 35 years, which is twice as long as dogs, who usually live for around 12 to 15 years, meaning that owners will need fewer horses in their lifetime. Likewise, miniature horses are only about 30 inches (0.75 meters) tall and can do a variety of tasks like bringing items, pushing wheelchairs, navigating for their blind owners, and more. Surprisingly, they have excellent navigation skills because they can sense roads better plus a wider field of vision because their eyes are on the sides of their heads.
The process of training a guide miniature horse takes about the same amount of time as a guide dog: about 8 to 10 months. They can learn over 25 commands and are extremely smart animals.
What do you think about Southwest’s new policy? Would you sit next to a miniature horse? Let us know in the comments below!
It’s no secret that Sweden has some of the most generous parental leave laws on the planet: the country gives out 480 days (!) of paid parental leave, and each parent is entitled, meaning it’s obligatory, to 90 days each from those days.
Most parental leave compensation is 80% of the parent’s salary, and those who are unemployed get a set amount of 180 SEK (about $20) per day.
Likewise, Sweden is at the forefront of many things, including parental leave. It was the first country in the world to introduce parental leave in 1974 (other Nordic countries followed shortly after). Not satisfied enough, the government also enacted a “daddy month” in 1995, where Swedish fathers were given 30 days mandatory leave to encourage them to stay at home. If the fathers didn’t take their leave, they would lose that month’s paid leave. As you can imagine, paternity leave surged after that and has been steady ever since.
Even though new parents have almost 1.5 years of parental leave, it’s imbalanced: according to the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, fathers take only 106 days of parental leave by the time their child turns eight. However, Swedish men with high education levels and those with higher salaries (such as doctors and lawyers) take twice as much paternal leave as men with less education and lower salaries.
What’s even more surprising is that this trend is reversed when researchers looked at Swedish mothers! Those with higher wages and better education took the least maternal leave: an average of six weeks less. Swedish women in managerial positions were the least likely to take leave.
The Swedish Social Insurance Agency also found that the couple that’s equally well-educated splits their days the most equally, with 2 in 5 couples splitting the days 50/50.
Were you surprised by the results? We sure were! Although there are so many variables in this research, it seems like higher-educated men know the importance of taking paternal leave (it’s been proven that men who take paternal leave are happier and more connected with their kids).
What do you think, should Swedish fathers take more leave? Let us know!
More than 300 people attended SACC Arizona’s Business Soccer Breakfast events. Together with the German American Chamber of Commerce, ProMexico, Swiss nationals, expat Brits and other soccer fans we followed the exciting, exhilarating journey of Sweden to the World Cup Quarterfinals 2018!
The results are in, and it’s another fabulous win for Sweden: They’ve been named the third most innovative country in the world!
The Global Innovation Index (GII) recently announced its 2018 Innovation Awards, which ranks countries based on over 80 factors, including the country’s education, business environment, creativity, assets, research and development, impact, and more. The countries are then given an “innovation number” between 0 (lowest) and 100 (highest).
This year’s winner, Switzerland, came in with 68.40 points. The Netherlands had 63.32, and just a few points below was Sweden with 63.08. The United Kingdom and Singapore rounded out the Top Five.
Let’s look at what makes Sweden so innovative. First off, it’s ranked first in governmental laws that support innovation, as well as being the country with the most patents. Sweden was even listed as 3rd in the country that has the most Wikipedia edits!
Thanks to all of these factors, Sweden has always been in the top rankings: between 2014 to 2015 it was in third place, jumped to second in 2016 and 2017 and went back down to third this year. Sweden was also ranked 2nd in a separate Innovation Index created by Bloomberg.
What makes Swedish innovation tick? Is it all the disruptive Swedish startups? Or perhaps because they’re planning on creating their own cryptocurrency?
Only time will tell – and we’re excited to see what Sweden comes up with next!
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