local.ch blog

In early June, Michael Wuschech became head of local & social media for the online communication of local.ch.

Moritz asked Michael a few questions, so that you can get to know him better.

Moritz: Welcome to local.ch! How did you spend the first few days with us?
Michael: It was a very warm welcome! I spent the first days in the offices in Bern and Zurich to get to know the different departments and processes, as well as the contact people with whom I will be working in the future. I gathered many new impressions and information – which is typical for such introductory programmes.

What will be your tasks here at local.ch?
One task is to be in charge of the social media presence of local.ch – specifically Facebook, Twitter and, of course, this blog here. Most of the topics will feature our products and services. This mix of topics will be enriched with information about our different engagements and “insider information” – our DNA should become even more tangible for our readers. Another task is the further development of our intranet from a conceptual standpoint to serve the needs of our employees. Within the organisational structure, I am part of the communications team and work in Bern and Zurich.

How did you first learn about local.ch?
I followed several employees and @localch on Twitter. I don’t remember the exact sequence of events, but my interest grew organically. Through these contacts, I learned about my current job.

What have been the different points in your career and how did you come to work in social media?
I completed a traditional apprenticeship in trade and commerce. After a few stays abroad, I started my studies in business administration and graduated in 2006. During this time, I first became interested in social media and eventually wrote my final thesis about online networking. After completing my studies, I began work as product manager at a media monitoring company and expanded its services to include social media monitoring. I also conducted internal seminars about social media and with clients, and took care of their respective company profiles on social networks.

Which platforms do you use personally?
The two most important ones for me are Facebook and Twitter. I like Facebook because it makes staying in touch easy, and Twitter because of its speed. I like looking at my contacts’ pictures on Instagram, but post my own pictures only every now and then – if I do, I post pictures of nature or of a fine meal. I use RunKeeper mostly privately, but am happy to receive motivating comments from my contacts. I am registered with XING and LinkedIn, but use those platforms only passively or very infrequently. I am an onlooker at Tumblr, which means I read but don’t post any content myself.

What do you do when you aren’t exploring the social web for local.ch?
I like to move! A year ago I started training for a triathlon, so swimming, road biking and running, supplemented by some strength training, are a fixed part of my training schedule. To balance things out, I like to bike and hike through our beautiful Alps. On weekends, I like to go to the cinema or a poetry slam session or enjoy a nice meal.

Thank you very much for the interview and good luck with your new tasks at local.ch!
Moritz Adler

The 20-km Lausanne run was held at the end of April. A local.ch team including Sébastian Aymon and John Riordan supported the runners with a tent and held a prize draw of an iPad for the spectators.

The entrants in our competition had the task of finding and choosing the best special offer on the local.ch app. Special offers have recently become available on our app. The best offers could be chosen directly from the app. More than 200 spectators joined in and selected the most interesting offer.

John then drew the winner from the entrants. Together with our colleague Patrick Schenk, John presented the prize, a brand-new iPad 64GB, to the lucky winner Rachel and her two children Loïc and Lucy last week.

For all those did not win this time round: keep your eyes peeled; we organise regular prize draws and discounts on our app. And great special offers, events and discounts can be found on the app every day.

Interview (in French) with the winner:

Over the past weeks, we have focused our efforts on setting up a new technical platform to support our website, local.ch.

You may not have noticed – that was our objective. For us, the idea was to give the impression that the airliner’s engine had been smoothly replaced during the flight so that you, the passenger, barely felt any turbulence. Throughout the month of April, your visits to our site were progressively diverted to the new platform. We ensured that no one was left behind, that each passenger remained comfortably seated. In other words, we brought our loyal audience on board and landed safely on the new platform.

Of course, the running around like headless chickens continues meanwhile. Some people persist in monitoring the host of existing web traffic indicators, although they mean a bit of everything and a whole lot of nothing.

For our part, we prefer to look ahead to the future. Can you imagine all the improvements and new services that we could offer? That’s why we have chosen to focus on this balancing act, rather than keeping our eyes glued to traffic statistics. In fact, local.ch’s new platform creates significant opportunities to enable a more user-friendly, interesting and faster use of our website. 

We have even found time during this in-flight operation to make a few improvements, such as:

– quick and clear presentation of information on shops and businesses that you are looking for (opening hours, presentation of the firm and its products, photos, videos, panoramic virtual visits).

– an enlarge function that allows you to increase the size of the map at any time in order to locate your search results.

– an area on the homepage that speeds up access to some of our services and to important information, such as emergency numbers.

But the best is yet to come in the weeks and months ahead, without missing a beat. Stay tuned!
Gregory Grin

Head of web Business

We were looking for 11 children for the final match between Basel and Lucerne on 16 May 2012. The lucky winners will be walking out into the sold-out Stade de Suisse stadium in Berne alongside Switzerland’s finest football players.

The following children beat off competition from hundreds of applicants to win their place in the line-up:

- Jolan Bonny
- Ramon Wernli
- Luis Otter
- Joya Stettler
- Steen Straub
- Florence Baila
- Yanis Schärer
- Eric Lustenberger
- Yannik Stübi
- Fabian Suter
- Linus Weiland

We are delighted to have made this dream a reality for them and would like to offer our sincere congratulations to the winners. 

local.ch

Picture the scene – your child is walking out into a packed Stade de Suisse at the final match in the Swiss Cup, surrounded by the best footballers in Switzerland. Wouldn’t that be an unforgettable experience for your child! – local.ch will be making this dream a reality for 11 kids.
As part of our sponsorship partnership with the Swiss Cup, local.ch is offering 11 children the opportunity to join the kids’ line-up at the final match on May 16th 2012 and walk out onto the famous Stade de Suisse pitch in Berne, alongside the football stars. We’ll also be providing match tickets for an additional two people so that you can share in the excitement as your youngster strides out into the stadium. This is a unique offer from local.ch for you and your child. The deadline for applications is Wednesday, 9th May 2012. The next day the lucky winners will be announced on the 10th May in this blog at blog.local.ch.

Register you and your child today by sending an e-mail to sponsor@local.ch with the following information:

• Child’s first and last name
• Date of birth
• Height
• Clothing size
• Name of chaperone
• Street, house no.
• Postcode, town
• Telephone number (daytime)

Entry terms:

• Child’s age: 6 to 10 years
• Height: 110 cm -130 cm
• Availability: on the match day, 16th May 2012 from 6-10 p.m.
• The child must be accompanied by an adult
• One child may be entered per family

The children will be assigned a team and a player by the organiser. Requests made by children/adults cannot be taken into consideration. The aforementioned details will be used exclusively for the purposes of this offer. Your details will not be disclosed to third parties. The winners will be notified by phone. The organisers’ decision is final. No cash alternative will be offered for prizes and participation may not be transferred to another child/game.