WOW - Women of the World

First Expatica HR Conference in Frankfurt Big Success

Best Practices for Managing Expatriate Families was the theme of the first Expatica HR conference on October 9, 2003 in Frankfurt.

Judging by the excellent turnout – over 60 participants representing the HR departments of well-known multinationals, global banks, IT concerns, and consultancies, etc. – this is a topic of continuing interest to the community of international HR managers.

The main speakers at this year’s conference zeroed-in on three specific themes addressing the needs of the accompanying family as well as the repatriation of employees after their assignments. They have all had first-hand experience as expat accompanying spouses spanning many years.

To have a look at the expatica slideshow click here

*Robin Pascoe “The Expat Expert”, is a Canadian author and journalist who has published several books on expat life in an informative but witty and entertaining way, most recently “A Moveable Marriage: Relocate Your Relationship Without Breaking It”. She spoke on the topic of repatriation, the consequences of which she believes to be underestimated. Robin was followed by

*Hilly van Swol-Ulbrich, a multicultural personality herself with a Dutch-English-German background. Hilly has been particularly involved with expatriate children and family life and is the author of “When Abroad, Do As the Local Children – Ori’s Guide for Young Expats”.

The third author, *Jo Parfitt from the U.K., offered ideas and encouragement for spouses to search out job opportunities while abroad, using imagination and creative skills. Her “A Career in Your Suitcase” books are popular in the expat community, helping trailing spouses to find fulfilling, productive employment almost anywhere.

There was also a wealth of experience on hand at the conference from service providers who focus on assisting HR professionals responsible for international assignments. IM2S International Mobility Management Services GmbH, the founding sponsor of WOW, was also present as one of the sponsors of the event. IM2S brings over thirty years of experience to bear in assisting the expatriate community with international removals and related mobility services. The founding of this website, with it’s focus on the expatriate family, is an extension of the IM2S’s basic philosophy, “We move families, not just furniture”. To contact IM2S for assistance with your move, use our handy link.

The City of Frankfurt, as one of the main sponsors, also had a high presence at this Expatica HR Conference, displaying a modern expatriate-friendly infrastructure, and with a booth where participants could pickup information on upcoming cultural events, museums, theatres, music for all tastes, traditional festivities and much more.

Books and publications by the three presenters listed above can be obtained through info@wow-net.org .

We would like to welcome you to WOW, Women of the World,
the portal for expatriate women living and working in the Frankfurt region. On these pages, you will find information and tips about educational services, lists of English-speaking doctors and dentists, health, beauty care and sports facilities, local events as well as fun and interesting things to see and places to go.
If you want, just write us an e-mail and send us your information about any of these topics, stories or your questions and we will publish it here. Moreover you can send us your experiences about living abroad.

To ensure that WOW provides lively and useful content, we are very interested in establishing regular contact with as many Expats as possible, please contact us at info@wow-net.org