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Audio conference highlights

Jean Monnet, the founder of the European Community, once declared, "If I were again facing the challenge to integrate Europe, I would probably start with culture." Culture is the context in which things happen. Whether you develop, market, sell or purchase products for a global audience or interact with people from around the world -- even if they work in the next cubicle -- you must address the issues of culture to be effective.

How and why do the needs of people from one country differ from those in a different country? How do you assess this? In this presentation we examine definitions of culture and consider how cultural differences are expressed. We will then explore the use of tools called cultural models, review the variables that define these models of culture, and weigh their usefulness. We also discuss how to develop a customized model of culture for your particular context.

This audio conference covers:

• Defining culture, cross-cultural communication, and context
• Understanding the power and influence of culture
• Recognizing and identifying cultural bias and its consequences
• Popular models of culture from the U.S. and Europe
• Creating a cultural model that makes sense
• Collecting cultural data about your target market or audience
• Applying cultural data to create localized products

About the speaker:

Nancy Hoft is a Regulatory Affairs professional specializing in US and European submissions and translation of corporate documents. In 1991 she set up her own consulting practice, promoting effective techniques for communicating with multilingual and multicultural audiences. Nancy has won awards for both her writing and her website designs.

Her course content and teaching style continues to win praise from students and workshop participants worldwide. Clients and past seminar sponsors have included Ford Motor Company, Siemens Medical Systems, Microsoft, Walmart, Disney, McDonald's, the University of Washington, the University of California Extension, Eindhoven University of Technology in The Netherlands, and the World Health Organization in Switzerland. Nancy has a degree in English from the University of Connecticut, with post-graduate studies at Northeastern University, Michigan Technological University, the University of South Florida and the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication.

Who should attend?

• Marketing Managers
• Marketing Communications Specialists
• Business Development
• Senior Management
• Writers and Translators
• Product Developers and Trainers
• Usability Experts
• Project Teams
• Customer Support

This audio conference is rated General Interest.