ABS NEWSLETTER

December 2020

Contents:

• Editorial

• Unser Dank an WEGA - von Prof. Dr. Kurt Tiroch

• Unsere künftigen Events - Kommentar von Dr. Alexander Christiani

• Unsere Events im Dezember und danach

• Unser November-Versprechen: Social Media Schwerpunkt

• Unser Members´ Forum: ein exklusives Angebot - von deVere

• Unsere cheer-up! message - the very last page in 2020

Editorial

Dear members and friends of the ABS,

by the time you read this newsletter, we´re all obeying to the guidelines of lockdown #2. Though in the case of ABS, lock down doesn´t mean closed down. Quite the contrary is the case, as your board members are busy in the background organizing a stream of events for the days after. With the availability of vaccinations to be expected in the very near future, the much desired "light at the end of the tunnel" is nearing. Watch this space and, read more about it further down.

Enjoying the little surprises of your traditional advent calendar by opening one of its little windows each day, helps bridging the time until Xmas. In our case, my wife Monika has chosen to supply me with a ´spiritual´ calendar, containing 24 different kinds of rum from 24 different countries, to be tasted in 24 days. Cheers!

Wishing you, too, good spirits and vibes for the coming Festive Season -

stay safe, be happy and have a BETTER Year 2021!

Yours, ever so motivated,

Fred Fruth, Secretary General and Editor-in-Chief

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If you see news, hear news, or make news - we want to hear from you! 
Join our MEMBERS´ FORUM!

Send your contribution by email to  f.fruth@gmx.at

Thank you!

UND, wir sind übrigens auf facebook. Dort finden Sie viele Informationen für Anglophile - nicht nur über unsere Veranstaltungen. Also bitte Like, Comment and Share!
(Mit Klick auf das facebook Logo gehts zur Seite)

JETZT NEU - ABS auf Instagram - Werden Sie ABS Instagram Follower

www.instagram.com/austrobritishsociety/

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Unser Dank an WEGA - von Prof. Dr. Kurt Tiroch

"Liebe Mitglieder und Freunde der ABS,

ich habe mich jetzt persönlich bei Oberst Walter Ziegler-Benko, einem leitenden Offizier der WEGA, für das entschlossene, mutige und professionelle Auftreten der WEGA beim Terroranschlag am 2.November in der Wiener Innenstadt bedankt. Der Herr Oberst hat die ABS mit seinen Kameraden bereits im Oktober 2012 zur Präsentation und praktischen Vorführung der WEGA in die Rossauer Kaserne eingeladen. Bereits damals waren wir von der Kompetenz und Schlagkräftigkeit dieser polizeilichen Sondereinheit in Wien mehr als beeindruckt.

Die WEGA ( Wiener Einsatz-Gruppen Alarmabteilung) ist in Wien zuständig für den überlagernden Sektorstreifendienst, für Zugriffe und Festnahmen von gefährlichen Straftätern sowie diversen Amtshandlungen aus Eigenem und für die österreichweite Ausbildung anderer Sicherheitseinheiten, genau so wie für Kooperationen mit Rettung, Feuerwehr und Bundeswehr. 

Lieben Gruß,   Ihr Kurt Tiroch"

Editors´ note:

In der kommenden Dezember Ausgabe des SOCIETY Magazin erscheint ein ausführlicher Bericht über unsere ABS samt Interview mit President Dr. Kurt Tiroch. Schwerpunkte dieser Publikation, herausgegeben von Mag. Gertrud Tauchhammer, sind Diplomatie, Kultur, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Das Magazin ist auch offizielles Organ der mit uns befreundeten ÖGAVN (Öst. Gesellschaft für Aussenpolitik und die Vereinten Nationen), deren Co-Vorstand unser Vice President Dr. Alexander Christiani ist.

Das SOCIETY Magazin kann man online lesen unter www.society.at

Unsere künftigen Events - Kommentar von Dr. Alexander Christiani

"Liebe Mitglieder und Freunde,

die ABS plant im ersten Halbjahr 2021, und zwar zwischen der zweiten Februar Hälfte und Ende Juni, sich u.a. mit Einzelvorträgen, aber auch mit panel-Diskussionen intensiv mit hochaktuellen Problemen wie dem Terrorismus und der Pandemie auseinanderzusetzen. Wir hoffen, dazu Top-Experten aus verschiedenen Wissensgebieten einladen zu können.

Nach der langen Veranstaltungspause sollen damit unseren Mitgliedern in attraktiven Veranstaltungsorten wieder hochkarätige Präsenz-meetings geboten werden. Dass diese Vorhaben unter dem Vorbehalt der jeweils aktuellen Lage stehen müssen, dürfte einsichtig sein.

Ihr Dr. Alexander Christiani"

Unsere Events im Dezember und danach

08.12., 19:00h. Benefiz-Konzert von Clemens Unterreiner in der Lutherischen Stadtkirche, 1010 Wien. Limitiert wg. Corona Vorgaben, for corporate and board members only.

??.12. Pre-Xmas Gathering. Durchführung kurzfristig und outdoor, sofern irgendwie möglich, alle Details offen.

2021: verschoben bzw. neu geplant:

• Vortrag Dr. Andreas Szekeres, Präsident der Österr.  Ärztekammer
• Buchpräsentation Robert Pimm
• Vortrag Mag. Andreas Treichl: Europa und die Welt in Corona - wie geht´s weiter?
• Vortrag S.E. Dr. Michael Zimmermann, London: BREXIT Update

Unser November-Versprechen: Social Media Schwerpunkt

THE ABS PERFORMS – ALSO IN THE DIGITAL WORLD!

(an overview by Jochen Ressel, ABS board member)

From the very start after the restructuring of the ABS more than ten years ago, the board decided to put an appropriate digital strategy in place. Part one was a modern and informative web portal, covering all events with summarizing articles and pictures. Thanks to ABS board member Fridolin Richter, the web as well as the member database and the web based event registration tool works perfectly. www.oebrg.at 

From the beginning a regularly published newsletter, accurately edited by our Secretary General, Fred Fruth has been a part of our digital strategy. Besides an outlook to actual and future ABS activities, lifestyle tips are given as well as special offers from our Corporate members. And not to forget the highly appreciated “last page” cartoon, which achieved cult status already! By now the newsletter is received not only by more than 450 members of our society, but also by more than 1,200 interested recipients. www.oebrg.at

As part two of the ABS digital strategy, a Facebook presence has been implemented in December 2011. Highly interesting news of the ABS activities with additional posts from the world of UK related politics, economics, sports, Royal and societal life as well as a good sense of humor building the content. By now, more than 840 contacts constantly following our Facebook page, but achieving an average reach of more than 3,700 contacts per week, which is this month up by 39.6% as the ABS forced the social media activities because of the soft-, and now hard lockdown. Interestingly, 51.3% of our followers are female – how good to see that the content is attractive to both genders.
https://www.facebook.com/austrobritishsociety/

As Brexit appeared on the stage of UK politics, the ABS established an expert group in 2016, led by ABS-Vice President and former Ambassador Dr. Alexander Christiani, and by former OSCE-Ambassador Colin Munro. Since then, 21 high quality Policy Papers have been published, with relevant background information for UK citizens in Austria as well as people generally interested in the Brexit process. It turned out, that the Policy Papers are also a documentary of the Brexit developments and give a historic view of the happenings. All Policy Papers are digitally accessible via our ABS-web portal.
http://oebrg.nu-media.at/index.php/de/statements

The next step taken has been taken by the ABS in late 2019, where the establishing of an ABS blog has been decided by the board. Led by Wolfgang Geissler and Jochen Ressel, from January 2020 until now 15 blog articles have been published already, inviting the readers to give their comments and views on actual issues covering societal, economic, and political developments. New bloggers are always welcome! Just let us know!
http://oebrg.nu-media.at/index.php/de/blog

The latest achievement of the ABS’ digital strategy is the implementation of an Instagram profile. ABS member Ekaterina Yaneva took major efforts to set it up and to let it go live on 22 October, 2020. The results so far are outstanding: 43 posts have been done, 108 followers have been attracted already and via keyword and hashtags new potential followers are constantly invited to follow the ABS on Insta. 463 contacts have been reached so far, the ABS profile got 1,328 impressions, and the main aim to reach a younger target group seems to be achieved as well, as 31% of all visitors are in the age of 18-24, and 50% between 25-54. So we just invite you to follow us there as well: https://www.instagram.com/austrobritishsociety/
 

Unser Members´ Forum: ein exklusives Angebot - von deVere

"Two free consultations per year for active members of the Austro-British Society" lautet das exklusive Angebot von David Mihelic, Area Manager unseres ABS Firmenmitglieds deVere Austria:

deVere Austria, part of the deVere Group, offers savings and retirement planning solutions in Austria to cater for your future objectives. Whether you would like to plan for a safe and secure retirement or you would like to start a savings plan to pay for your children's future education fees, deVere Austria has a broad range of bespoke solutions to help.

Furthermore, our advisers fully understand that each client is different, with their own unique set of circumstances. For this reason, once you have become a client, we will provide you with your own adviser who you can regularly meet to discuss your needs on a one-to-one basis.

Further details see attachment.

... the very last page in 2020

Impressum:

Österreichisch-Britische Gesellschaft
Austro-British Society (ABS)
Garnisongasse 11/1 1090 Wien
abs@legalconsulting.at
www.oebrg.at

Für den Inhalt verantwortlich: Fred Fruth