“Video Killed The Radio Star…well not quite yet! Reflections on my past 13 years of radio and The McKay Interview (With apologies to The Buggles)” The AIC is de…
Michael McKay, Founder/Presenter of the McKay Interview
March 14, 2025
Hôtel Royal
Rue de Lausanne 41-43
Geneva 1201
Switzerland
Description
“Video Killed The Radio Star…well not quite yet!
Reflections on my past 13 years of radio and The McKay Interview
(With apologies to The Buggles)”
The AIC is delighted and priviledged to host our Speaker's Luncheon featuring Mr. Michael McKay, Founder/Presenter of the McKay Interview.
Michael is an independent communications and public affairs consultant, familiar across the British/Swiss/international business community, particularly in the Geneva region. He is well-known as the charismatic, former Chairman of the Geneva Chapter of the British-Swiss Chamber of Commerce (BSCC) from 2006 – 2012. His accolades include Honorary Joint-coordinator (Switzerland) of the Royal Over-Seas League and Honorary Life Member of the American International Club of Geneva.
The AIC is proud to host this event in association with the BSCC.
Michael will share his insights into some of his interviews (before, during and after recording) which have given him the greatest satisfaction, laughs and surprises, e.g.
- Adolf Ogi, former Federal Councillor and twice President of Switzerland
- Mary Robinson, former President of the Irish Republic
- Sir Jackie Stewart, Formula 1 World Racing Champion and motor racing legend
- Tan Le, a Vietnamese-born Australian telecommunications entrepreneur and co-founder of Emotiv; named the 1998 Young Australian of the Year. A Vietnamese “boat child”/refugee in the early 1980s. The only person to cry on his show.
- Professor Dr. Charles-Henry Rochat, his urologist, talking to him about men’s health
- Professor Carol Graham, Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C.; author of Happiness around the World: the Paradox of Happy Peasants and Miserable Millionaires, plus many other books and academic papers on poverty, well-being and happiness
- Sir Peter Marshall, UK Ambassador and Permanent Representative to UN Geneva in the late 1970s, and distinguished, British diplomat
(All of the above can be listened to on - McKay's Interviews)
Michael will offer some insights into what is currently happening to radio, especially English-language radio, in Switzerland. He will also share his personal sentiments about the medium of radio and nowadays, podcasts, and why he is so fond of it.
Featured Speakers
Speaker Michael McKay
Michael McKay is an independent communications and public affairs consultant, familiar across the British/Swiss/international business community, particularly in the Geneva region. He is well-known as the charismatic, former Chairman of the Geneva Chapter of the British-Swiss Chamber of Commerce (BSCC) from 2006 – 2012. During this time, he led the …
Michael McKay is an independent communications and public affairs consultant, familiar across the British/Swiss/international business community, particularly in the Geneva region.
He is well-known as the charismatic, former Chairman of the Geneva Chapter of the British-Swiss Chamber of Commerce (BSCC) from 2006 – 2012. During this time, he led the BSCC to be widely regarded as the most successful and dynamic business organisation in Anglophone, “international” Geneva.
Nowadays, he runs the events and speakers’ programme for the Geneva Chapter, whilst also acting as master of ceremonies.
Michael McKay was a Councillor of the BSCC from 1991–1993 and again from 2006 – 2012, as well as being a member of the Executive Committee for six years.
In a previous life, he had a successful, twenty-three year corporate career in the international tobacco industry. And has also been an independent businessman for over twenty-six years.
His international corporate and consulting experience goes back over fifty years. His role as an accomplished conference master of ceremonies and moderator has taken him from Geneva to as far afield as London, Rome, China, Bali, Cannes, Cyprus, Barcelona, Istanbul, Brussels, and Madrid.
Michael can be heard twice weekly hosting ‘The McKay Interview’ on World Radio Switzerland – www.worldradio.ch - a popular but serious programme with prominent people conversing on current issues; and as a podcast on Spotify, YouTube, AnchorFM and many leading platforms.
From time to time, he is a guest lecturer at universities such as Cambridge, Geneva and Fribourg as well as institutions such as NATO, the Institute of Directors and the Hayek Institut, Vienna.
Among his clients past and present are ACI Europe, HSBC, EY, ICRC, UBS, Bank Vontobel, SESAR (Single European Sky), Trafigura, EFG, JT International, The British-Swiss Chamber of Commerce, Intertrust Switzerland, Banque Kleinwort Benson, Geneva Trading & Shipping Association, the International Trade Centre at the WTO/UNCTAD, OECD, ITU, the United Kingdom Permanent Mission to the U.N Geneva, Edwards Lifesciences, UK Trade & Investment, Expedia, Nestlé, Kyoto Japan Tire Group, Ecole Hotelière de Lausanne (EHL) and others.
A graduate of Carnegie College and the University of Leeds, he is a British citizen, born in Jamaica, and has lived in Switzerland since 1984.
Michael McKay is also Honorary Joint Coordinator in Switzerland of the Royal Over-Seas League, an Honorary Life Member of the American International Club of Geneva, as well as being a member of the Diplomatic Club of Geneva and the Geneva Press Club.
Read more about Michael McKay on:
- worldradio.ch/listen-again/mckay-interview/
- mckays.ch/index.php/about-us/mckays-interviews
Or follow on Twitter & LinkedIn
Date and Time
Fri, March 14, 2025
11:45 a.m. - 2 p.m.
(GMT+0200) Europe/Zurich
Location
Hôtel Royal
Rue de Lausanne 41-43
Geneva 1201
Switzerland