FEIEA is the pan-European organization for internal communication, a community of national member associations connecting internal communication professionals.
We drive recognition of the value and impact that our profession has on great organisational performance.
We do that through:
- Collaboration: bringing together IC ideas, knowledge and the wide experience within our member association communities
- Championing: a pan-European voice and perspective for the IC sector and the people who make a difference within it
- Excellence: recognising and promoting the best standards and IC practice
- Inspiring and supporting our member associations to better engage thousands of people across Europe.
We’ve been connecting internal communication since 1955 – here’s our history…
FEIEA’s roots began in France. In 1948, the French Association invited representatives of national associations to Paris for an exchange of views and experiences – this was the first European conference.
1948 – the first European conference, Paris
1949: BAIE was founded in the UK by 51 members and affiliated with the “International Council of Industrial Editors”.
1951: The convention in London was attended by 50 overseas delegates and became a Pilot European Congress. Again, there was discussion about the idea of cooperation and coordination.
1955: FEIEA was born at the third conference, the first FEIEA conference held in Copenhagen, 22-25 August. Chairman was Gustav Weidner, President of the Danish Association, and with the help of the British colleagues, FEIEA was founded. From this time on, FEIEA Congresses were held every three years with a member fee of 1 DM per member association.
1955-1958: the first FEIEA President was Hedrik Anriessen from the Dutch Association
1958: 4th Congress in Scheveningen
President was Wolf in der Maur, Austria, † 2005
1961: 5th Congress in Vienna. FEIEA had 14 members: B, DK, D, GB, SF, F, Gr, I, NL, N, A, S, Ch, E
The congress was prepared by all the countries and divided into three main themes:
The cultural importance of the industrial press
The status of the editor
Schientific questions
An exhibition of magazine of all the countries was traditionally organised
1964: 6º Congress Turin
President is Dr. Martin Nebe, Germany
1967: 7º Congress Berlin
President becomes Geoffrey Phillips, GB, PR and advertising division manager BP Chemicals
1970: 8º Congress London, 500 Delegates, 180 Begleitpersonen und Gäste
Präsident wird Maurice Walter, France
1970 – Council Meeting
In his welcome speech Mr Phillips said: “How many industrialists would state publicly, as has Lord Robens chairman of Britain´s National Coal Board with its 350,000 employees, that his house journal is the biggest single factor in our success in industrial relations? Now why, in the name of good sense, cannot more managers say that? It is because most house journals are not objective, because they are not a true reflection of life within the company…with its successes and failures, highlights and its shadows.
Yet all this is part and parcel of good communications, about which all those pious words have been uttered, often by those very managers who have house journals – if they have them at all – which look, read and are about as useful as last year´s railway timetable.“
The first European statistical survey was published.
1971: Council meeting in Vienna (September).
Main topics:
- to promote scientific research on industrial journalism and communication and training for industrial editors to stimulate the quality of the house journal and other media of internal communication by contests
- to maintain contact with other international non-governmental organisations, employer´s associations, trade unions and government authorities.
1973: 9º Congress Paris
Eduard Scherz from Switzerland is the new president.
1976: 10º Congress Bern
Main theme of the Congress was „Information – Communication – Cooperation“, more than 500 delegates came, including USA, Canada, South-Africa and the Philippines
The new president is Rolf Kittel, Sweden.
Member fee was 1 DM per member, or 0.5 Euro.
1977: Executive meeting, London
Council meeting in Scheveningen, Holland
1978: Executive met in Belgium, the Council meeting was in Helsinki.
1978 Council meeting in Helsinki
1979: 11º Congress Stockholm
302 Delegates came,
President was Fernand Poot, Belgium, the next congress was meant to be in Brussels
Apllication from Greece for membership.
1981: Council meeting in Vienna, 12 Members, A, B, Dk, SF, F, D, GB, I, NL, N, S, CH
1982: 12º Congress, Scarborough
President Dr. Willi Meier, Siemens AG Germany, he followed Fernand Poot of Belgium
1983: Council Meeting in Arhus, Denmark. Members at this time: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Norway Sweden and Switzerland. It was a difficult year for Sweden and they considered the withdrawing from FEIEA, but had decided to remain as member by a majority of just four votes. Also Norway, Denmark and Switzerland reviewed their membership.
It seems that this year was very hard for FEIEA and that the future of the European association was in doubt. In the UK’s BAIE news from 1983 it was mentioned that FEIEA had enormous trouble with the budget, but with extra support of Great Britain, France and Denmark, they survived. The subscription was 1 Euro at this time, but those countries paid more to save the association. The Scarborough Congress had attracted a very large turnout of European countries and this gave FEIEA new support. Norway and Finland merged their house journal editors associations with the public relations associations.
1984: Council meeting in Paris
1985: 13º Congress München
President Dot. Paolo Benzoni
1988: 14º Congress Bologna
President: Jacques Dehedin, France. He was followed by Ghyslaine Pertusot
1990: Council meeting in Madrid, FEIEA has two new members: Portugal and Hungary.
1991/2: FEIEA Grand Prix 1st edition (Paris / France)
1992: 15º Congress Paris
President: Christian Fessard, Switzerland.
1993: Council meting in Copenhagen, Belgium is again – after a five years pause – a full active member.
1994: FEIEA Grand Prix 2nd edition (Award Ceremony in Crans Montana, Switzerland)
1993 – Council Meeting in Copenhagen (Denmark)
1994: 16º Congress Crans Montana
Due to major issues, President Jose Gonzalez, Spain, was dismissed in 1996. The next president Alan Peaford, Great Britain, took over the presidency one year earlier, and the statutes were changed, separating the presidency from the congress, and the next president was elected by the Council
1996: FEIEA Grand Prix 3rd edition (Award Ceremony in Den Haag, Netherlands)
1997: FEIEA Grand Prix 4th edition (Award Ceremony in Billund, Denmark)
1997: 17º Congress Billund
1998: FEIEA Grand Prix 5th edition (Award Ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal)
1998: Council meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
1999: Council meeting in Gothenburg, Sweden, the first election of the next president, Dr. Birgit Snizek from Austria
2000: 18º Congress London
2002: Council meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Birgit Snizek was elected for a second term, the statutes again were changed
2003: 19º Congress Eindhoven – cancelled
1999: FEIEA Grand Prix 6th edition (Award Ceremony in Gothenborg, Sweden)
2000: FEIEA Grand Prix 7th edition (Award Ceremony in London, United Kingdom)
2001: FEIEA Grand Prix 8th edition (Award Ceremony in Salzburg, Austria)
2002: FEIEA Grand Prix 9th edition (Award Ceremony in Ljubljana, Slovenia)
2003: FEIEA Grand Prix 10th edition (Award Ceremony in Vienna, Austria)
2004: FEIEA Grand Prix 11th edition (Award Ceremony in Bern, Switzerland)
2004: start of the FEIEA Academy in Bern
2005: 20º Congress Brüssel, 50th anniversary
2005: FEIEA Grand Prix 12th edition (Award Ceremony in Brussels, Belgium)
2005: Council meeting in Brussels, Belgium, for the election of the next president, Daniel L. Ambühl from Switzerland
2006: FEIEA Grand Prix 13th edition (Award Ceremony in Vienna on the 13th of October, Austria)
2007: FEIEA Grand Prix 14th edition (Award Ceremony at Sheraton Park Lane Hotel on the 9th of November in London, United Kingdom)
2008: FEIEA Grand Prix 15th edition (Award Ceremony in Zurich, Switzerland)
2008: Council meeting in Zurich, Switzerland, for the election of the next president, Steve Doswell from the United Kingdom
2009: FEIEA Grand Prix 16th edition (Award Ceremony in Podčetrtek, Slovenia)
2010: FEIEA Grand Prix 17th edition (Award Ceremony at the House of Industry on the 15th of October in Vienna, Austria)
2011: FEIEA Grand Prix 18th edition (Award Ceremony at the prestigious Landmark Hotel on the 17th of November in London, United Kingdom)
2012: FEIEA Grand Prix 19th edition (Award Ceremony at the UBS Conference Centre on the 7th of November in Zürich, Switzerland)
2013: Electoral Council meeting in London, United Kingdom (between the 16th and 17th of February)
Election of the new FEIEA board:
- President: António Rapoula from Portugal
- Past President: Steve Doswell from the United Kingdom
- Vice-President: Massimo Greggia from Italy
- Vice-President: Vesna Petkovšek from Slovenia
- Treasurer: Henrik Vinther from Denmark
- Secretary General: Carlos Manuel de Almeida from Portugal.
2013: FEIEA Grand Prix 20th edition (Award Ceremony on the 28th of November in Brussels, Belgium)
2013: Council meeting in Brussels, Belgium (29th of November)
2014: Slovakia (AICO) become an Associate Member (1st of January)
2014: Presidents’ Summit in Lisbon, Portugal (between the 14th and 15th of March)
Main decisions:
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- It was decided to maintain the same acronym “FEIEA” with a different sub-name: “FEIEA – European Association for Internal Communication”
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- It was decided to adopt the signature: Connecting internal communicators since 1955
- To elect 3 major projects: FEIEA’s Grand Prix, the European Certification project called EPIC, and a study of European internal communication trends
2014: Daniel Ambühl (President of the FEIEA Council) and Carlos Manuel de Almeida (FEIEA’s Secretary General) were invited as speakers at the 8º World Public Relations Forum in Madrid.
2014: FEIEA Grand Prix Judgment Weekend in Lisbon, Portugal (between the 10th and 12th of October)
2014: FEIEA Grand Prix 21st edition (Award Ceremony on the 13th of November in London, United Kingdom)
2014: Council meeting in London, United Kingdom (14th of November)
2015: Slovakia (AICO) become Full Member (1st of January)
2015: Launch of the FEIEA’s new website and new identity (16th of June 2015)
2015: Belgium (BVIC) become an Associate Member (30th of July)
2015: FEIEA Grand Prix Judgment Weekend in Lisbon, Portugal (between the 9th and 11th of October)
2015: FEIEA Meet the Winners 2nd edition (Session on the 16th of November in Rome, Italy)
2015: FEIEA Grand Prix 22nd edition (Award Ceremony on the 16th of November in Rome, Italy)
2015: Launch of the FEIEA’s new Oficial Corporate Soundtrack (16th of June)
2015: Council meeting in Rome, Italy (17th of November)
2016: Belgium (BVIC) become Full Member (17th of November)
2016: Spain (dircom) become an Associate Member (1st of January)
2016: Spain (dircom) become Full Member (4th of April)
2016: Council Electoral meeting in Madrid, Spain (between the 4th and 5th of April)
Election of the new FEIEA’s board:
- President, António Rapoula from Portugal
- Vice-President: Massimo Greggia from Italy
- Vice-President: Suzanne Peck from the United Kingdom
- Treasurer: Henrik Vinther from Denmark
- Secretary General: Carlos Manuel de Almeida from Portugal.
- Council Chairman Daniel Ambühl from Switzerland
2016: FEIEA Grand Prix Judgment Weekend in Paço de Arcos – Lisbon, Portugal (between the 14th and 16th of October)
2016: Council meeting in Estoril, Portugal (28th of November)
2016: FEIEA Grand Prix 23rd edition (Award Ceremony & Meet the Winners Session on the 29th of November in Estoril, Portugal)
2017: FEIEA launched in March the 2017 European Internal Communications Research (project with a European scope and managed by our member ASCAI and Università Cattolica of Milan)
2017: 9th annual BVIC Congress ( 20th of April in Brussels, Belgium)
2017: BVIC changed name to VONK – Netwerk voor interne communicatie (new brand on 20th of April in Brussels, Belgium)
2017: FEIEA Spring Council meeting (21st of April in Brussels, Belgium)
2017: Slovakia (AICO) withdrew its membership (10th of May)
2017: FEIEA launched in September the first promotional video for the Grand Prix
2017: FEIEA launched in September a completely new Entry Online Platform (company/organization register, entry submission and judgement process are now in the same secure platform).
2017: FEIEA Grand Prix Judgment Weekend in Cascais – Portugal (between the 8th and 10th of December)
2018: Council meeting in a freezing Paris, France (7th of February)
2018: 2017 FEIEA Finest Conference 1st edition the 8th of February in Paris, France.
2018: 2017 FEIEA Grand Prix 24th edition (Award Ceremony & FEIEA Finest Session on the Seine on 8th of February in Paris, France)
2018: FEIEA Grand Prix Judgment Weekend in Lisbon – Portugal (between the 19th and 21st of October)
2018: Council meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia (21st of November)
2018: 2018 FEIEA Finest Conference 2nd edition the 22nd of November in Ljubljana, Slovenia)
2018: 2018 FEIEA Grand Prix 25th edition (Award Ceremony & FEIEA Finest Session on the 22nd of November in Ljubljana, Slovenia)
2018: Austria (VICOM) withdrew’ its membership (31st of December)
2019: FEIEA Spring Council meeting (24th of April in Lisbon, Portugal)
2019: FEIEA Autumn Council and FEIEA Grand Prix in November in Zurich, Switzerland.