International Alpine Symposium: Successful new edition

Long-time attendees of the Alpine Symposium will have noticed that there were fewer visitors to the two-day symposium at the beautiful Hotel Victoria-Jungfrau in Interlaken on January 30 and 31, 2024 than in the "heyday" before the coronavirus pandemic. However, those in attendance were able to enjoy a varied program packed with all the latest topics: artificial intelligence, cancel culture, the opportunities and limitations of ChatGPT, discovering new trends and successfully overcoming crises.

Proven mix of topics

In this respect, the Alpine Symposium remained true to its proven and successful formula under its new leadership: panel discussions and presentations by people who have something to say on their core topics. Futurist Magnus Lindquist, for example, gave tips on how to prepare for the uncertainties of the future, while former FCB President Bernhard Heusler shared his experiences as a leader with the audience. And of course there was also some local color: Urs Kessler, CEO of Jungfrau Railways, proudly presented the latest achievement of the "V-Cableway", which takes guests to the Jungfraujoch even faster, and Marc A. Trauffer said in a panel discussion on the contrast between AI vs. creativity that computers cannot reproduce the emotionality in music.

International celebrities

But there was also no lack of political topics at the traditional management event in Interlaken. For example, the Afghan women's and civil rights activist Zarifa Ghafari, who lives in exile in Germany, spoke about her fight against the mullahs. And former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer spoke about current global political issues, in particular the war in Ukraine. However, he did not want to give any advice to Switzerland - for example regarding neutrality. "Switzerland does not need our advice. It reacts very sensitively to advice from outside," said the elder statesman.

The top star alongside Fischer was a second German: tennis legend Boris Becker. The youngest Wimbledon winner of all time answered questions from presenter Florian Inhauser about the highs and lows of his life to date in a good-humored and visibly relaxed manner. The final applause showed that Becker still has many fans in Switzerland.

The only downer of the two-day event was the cancellation at short notice of Eugene Chaplin, Charlie Chaplin's son, who had to cancel his trip to Interlaken due to a Covid-related illness. On the evening of the first day of the congress, he missed the performance by the Swedish cover band "ABBA Gold", who were cheered on by the audience with the hits of their idols.

International Alpine Symposium: "Rocker of business meetings"

Overall, the organizers were highly satisfied with the symposium, which was held under their leadership for the first time. "The response from the participants was very good, and the support we received from the public sector and our sponsors was fantastic," says Thomas Dürr from the management team. "We are already looking forward to the next Alpine Symposium in 2025." And his co-leader Iris Huggler was self-confident: "We are the rockers of business meetings." One visitor's personal conclusion: "International Alpine Symposium - as if it had never been away..."

More information: www.alpensymposium.ch