New Austrian Honorary Consul Inaugurated

On September 24, 2014, Eva-Johanna Kammel was officially inaugurated as the Austrian Honorary Consul in Seattle. Mrs. Kammel, who was educated at the University of Vienna, works as a Mathematics Instructor at Cascadia Community College in Bothell, WA. She is very active with the Austrian Club of Washington and has served as a member of the Viennese Ball Committee since 2012. In her function as Honorary Consul, Mrs. Kammel will serve the states of Washington, Idaho and Montana. You can visit the website of the Honorary Consulate under http://www.austrianconsulateseattle.org.

For a full list of all Austrian Honorary Consulates please visit:
https://austriainusa.squarespace.com/honoraryconsulates/

Visit | Austrian Federal Minister of Justice in D.C.

From September 28 - October 1, 2014, the Austrian Federal Minister of Justice, Dr. Wolfgang Brandstetter, visited Washington D.C. to participate in a conference on the topic of “Global Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse Online“ at the Ronald Reagan Building. During his visit to the U.S. capital city, Federal Minister Brandstetter also met with U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, and the Israeli Minister of Justice, Tzipi Livni. His trip also included visits to the Catholic University of America and Capitol Hill.

Austrian Parliamentary Delegation in Washington, D.C.

From September 17-20, 2014, delegations from altogether 24 countries including 19 EU member states visited Washington, D.C. to participate in the "Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum" at the U.S. Congress. The conference served as a platform for dialogue and aimed to foster mutual understanding between the U.S. and the rest of the world following the revelations of Edward Snowden. The Austrian delegation included Mag. Andreas Schieder (SPÖ), Dr. Reinhold Lopatka (ÖVP), Dr. Andreas Karlsböck (FPÖ), Dr. Peter Pilz (Grünen), Dr. Jessi Lintl (Team Stronach), and Mag. Christoph Vavrik (NEOS).

Visit of Austrian Federal Minister of Agriculture Andrä Rupprechter

From September 21 to September 22, 2014, Austria's Federal Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, Andrä Rupprechter,  came to Washington, D.C. to meet with representatives of the U.S. agricultural sector. On his trip, the minister went to see various organizations including the Organic Trade Association (OTA), the International Dairy Foods Association, and the American Farm Bureau Association, and met with Under Secretary of Agriculture, Michael T. Scuse, and Ambassador Darci Vetter, Chief Negotiator for Agriculture in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Following his trip to D.C., the minister traveled to New York City to participate in the UN Climate Summit 2014.

Austrian Decoration Awarded

On September 10, 2014, Ambassador Manz conferred the Decoration of Merit in Gold to the Republic of Austria upon Nicholas "Nick" Coward, who, for the past 10 years, has supported and advised the Commercial Section of the Austrian Embassy in matters concerning U.S. trade compliance including U.S. sanctions against Russia and Iran. In his function as chair of the Global Trade and Commerce Practice of Baker & McKenzie, he often makes the elegant office space available for events organized by the Embassy's Commercial Section. The laudation was given by Joshua Bolten, former Chief of Staff under President George W. Bush.

Film Screening | Ars Electronica Short Films

On October 1, 2014, the Austrian Cultural Forum in Washington, D.C. screened a selection of award winning short films of last year's Ars Electronica Animation Festival. The array of films ranged from abstract and experimental works to traditional narrative cinema. Since 1979, the annual ARS ELECTRONICA festival for art, technology and society serves as an inter-disciplinary platform and forum of discussion for international experts from the arts and sciences with a broad audience of highly diverse backgrounds and interests. The program usually features symposia, exhibitions, performances, interventions and concerts, each successive biennial production more multifaceted than the one before. The theme of the 2013 festival was "TOTAL RECALL – The Evolution of Memory."

Exhibit | Martin Karplus in New York

Thursday, September 25, 2014 – Friday, November 28, 2014 | Austrian Cultural Forum New York

On Wednesday, September 24, 2014, Federal President of Austria, Dr. Heinz Fischer, opened the photo exhibition by Martin Karplus at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York City. Karplus, a renowned chemist, professor emeritus at Harvard University and Nobel laureate, spent the last fifty years consumed by his passion for documenting humanity in thousands of intimate photographs. Born in Vienna, Karplus fled the Austrian capital city in 1938 to settle in the United States. Last year, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry. President Fischer personally approached Karplus to show his exquisite exhibit at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York and subsequently at the Austrian Cultural Forum in Washington, D.C. Next year, Martin Karplus plans to go back to visit Vienna and receive his honorary doctorate at the University of Vienna. The exhibition will travel to the Austrian Cultural Forum in Washington, D.C., in January 2015, and to the University of Vienna in May 2015 to mark the occasion of its 650th anniversary.

Conference | Austria Connect 2014

From September 18 - 19, 2014, Austria Connect, the annual conference for executives of Austrian subsidiaries in the U.S. and Canada, took place in Boston, MA. The renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston served as the prestigious conference location for this year's event entitled "Blueprints for the Future." MIT's think tank and its long-term approach to revitalizing the manufacturing sector in North America was presented by top experts. Leading economists gave an outlook on the business environment as well as forecasts concerning the U.S. and Canadian economic situations. Around 100 executives from both sides of the Atlantic attended the conference, making it the prime networking event of the year of Advantage Austria.