News

Biel-Bienne Communication Days Foundation: No Comdays in 2010

Biel-Bienne, 08.07.2010 – The Biel-Bienne Communication Days Board has decided to cancel Comdays until further notice. Representatives of the City of Biel-Bienne, the Hasler Foundation, Publigroupe S.A. and OFCOM hope to be able to reveal a new Comdays concept in the medium term in cooperation with suitable partners and on the basis of continued use of Biel-Bienne.

In 2010, for the first time in eight years, there will be no Comdays and the event will be cancelled until further notice. Despite the enthusiastic response from participants, it has not been possible to create a stable economic base for Comdays. After two loss-making years, there is no basis for guaranteeing a future event. Increased public sector support is not feasible. Furthermore, Publigroupe S.A. has taken advantage of a clause to terminate its sponsorship contract.

The Board will assess the options for a future format, with implementation possible only in the medium term. The main focus is an event taking place in the new Stades de Bienne stadium, which deals with a wide scope of information and communication technologies and issues ranging from telecommunications infrastructure to media content. There is currently no comparable event in Switzerland.

Publigroupe S.A. is prepared to cooperate in a strong new organisational and conceptual direction.  The same applies to the Hasler Foundation, insofar as the new format serves the purposes of the foundation, i.e. research and professional development in the ICT sector. The City of Biel-Bienne and OFCOM have also confirmed their cooperation in the new concept.

According to the principle of rotation, the presidency of the board will transfer from the City of Biel-Bienne to OFCOM. OFCOM's Director, Martin Dumermuth, recently joined the foundation board and was appointed president in succession to Hans Stöckli.  Marc Furrer, Comday's programme director, has resigned from his position on the foundation board, but is prepared to contribute to the content of future events.

  • Since 2002, the Biel-Bienne Communication Days Foundation has organised eight Comdays at the Kongresshaus Convention Centre in Biel-Bienne.
  • Comdays' strengths were the expert speakers, the programme of additional events and the optimum technology in an increasingly complex communications environment together with a diverse, innovative and exciting programme over two days with up to 700 participants. The participants' feedback was consistently positive.
  • The 8th Comdays to take place since Expo 02 in Biel-Bienne had to contend with a difficult economic climate in 2009.
  • Despite the support of sponsors and organisers, i.e. Publigroupe S.A., the City of Biel-Bienne, the Hasler Foundation and the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM), the number of participants has not been sufficient to finance the event and it became dependent on sponsors and other partners.

Information:
Andreas Sutter, Biel Communication Days Foundation, 032 327 55 03

Biel Bienne Communications Days
P.O. Box
2501 Biel Bienne
Phone +41 32 327 57 90
Fax +41 32 327 56 69
or fill in the contact form




Biel Communication Days Foundation: OFCOM Federal Office of Communications / Biel-Bienne City of communication / PUBLIGroupe / Hasler Foundation