Associations World Congress & Expo

Paul Welander has been Senior Advisor to the CEO at Volvo Car Group since January 1, 2018. Mr. Welander served as an Senior Vice President of Vehicle Line Management at Volvo Car Corporation since October 6, 2016. Mr. Welander has had several roles in Volvo Cars Executive Management as a Senior Vice President being responsible for the following areas since 2005. Quality & Customer Satisfaction 2005-2010 and 2012-2016, Research & Development 2010-2012, Human Resources 2013-2016 and Product Strategy & Vehicle Line Management 2015-2016.
Mr Welander was borned in Bankeryd, Sweden 1958. Made his military service in Eksjö and Södertälje 1978-1979 at ING 2 and ING 1 (engineering troops). Thereafter he moved to Gothenburg to study at Chalmers University of Technology and he took his Master of Science exam in Mechanical Engineering 1983. From 1983 he has been working at Volvo Cars in Sweden and USA. Mr Welander is married with three children.
 

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LinkedIn: paul-welander-a855168/

Laura Sprechmann is Acting CEO for Nobel Media AB, the entity within the Nobel Foundation that spreads knowledge about and raises interest in the Nobel Prize-awarded achievements to a global audience, through digital media and international events. 

Previously, Laura has worked as a Senior Consultant within strategic communication at one of the leading communication agencies in the Nordics, JKL (part of MSL Group/Publicis). 

Prior to that, she has worked within the media industry as journalist (print as well as for a radio series about Latin America for BBC World Radio), Content Manager for e-learning company K-World, as well as Media Analyst at consultancy Mediavision and Head of Format Development at Meter Film & Television in Stockholm. 

Laura holds an MBA in International Management from the University of London and a BA in Communications. 

Tamlynne has more than 17 years of experience in the conference and association industry, both locally and internationally, having worked on some of South Africa’s largest conferences and campaigns. She has a degree in psychology from the University of the Witwatersrand, where she received an award for the top psychology student while studying part-time. Through her studies, she developed a keen interest in neuropsychology and the impact that the brain has on consumer behaviour. She is the founder and chief ideas officer of idna (pronounced idea-NA) a strategic marketing agency specializing in association brand building and event and conference management.  Her background in psychology gives her a deep understanding of the human mind and how it impacts the decisions we make. She believes that associations have a unique opportunity to inspire change and influence policy and combines her knowledge of psychology, marketing and sociology to create touchpoints that are truly unforgettable.

Christian Blomstrand is professor emeritus in Neurology, at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg. Earlier chief of clinical Neurodepartments at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital and for some decades scientist first within basic  Neurobiology, later within Clinical Neuroscience with focus on stroke.

Sarah was appointed CARA ED in 2013 after more than a decade as a research administrator. With the support of the CARA board and many other great volunteers, Sarah has brought many new programs and initiatives to CARA and looks forward to another year of increased services to our members. A Certified Association Executive, Sarah previously worked in various progressive roles at McMaster University, Associated Medical Services, University Health Network and Hamilton Health Sciences. Sarah co-authored the reference e-book  The A-Z Guide to Research Contract Review, its companion the Research Contracts Study Guide and  Steer Your Career: A Research Administrator's Manual for Mapping Success  which are in use at 450 institutions globally. Sarah received national and international recognition for her contributions to research administration and is a faculty member in the Research Administration Certificate at Mohawk College.

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LinkedIn: sarah-lampson-54159530/?originalSubdomain=uk

Monica Fontana was born in the United States in 1965; she moved to Europe in 1970 and grew up in Parma. In 1991, while writing her university thesis, she started working for the ERA-EDTA, a charity based in England and Wales with more than 11,000 members, two medical journals, a guideline body and various working groups. As the person in charge of the membership office, Monica supported a registry, fellowship initiatives, research programmes, educational courses and organized the second largest annual nephrology Congress worldwide. From 1995 until 2016, working from home, she added many other tasks to her main duties: the bylaws, advisor to the President (and Council), advertising and public relations. Since 2015, Monica has been the Executive Manager of the ERA-EDTA and the CEO of a limited company owned by ERA-EDTA that organizes medical events, thus managing all the international operative staff of the association.

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LinkedIn: monica-fontana-65316995/?originalSubdomain=it
Twitter: @monicafontana13

No bio provided

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Twitter: @https://twitter.com/sarahgoddardins?lang=en

Dr. ir. Jeroen Knol is Managing Director of the European Federation of Food Science and Technology (EFFoST) and Editor in Chief of the online SME magazine Taste of Science. EFFoST is a non-profit organization that connects food science and food technology organizations in Europe and stimulates collaboration between universities, knowledge institutes and companies. Jeroen Knol received his PhD degree in Food Science at Wageningen University, the Netherlands. Prior to EFFoST, he worked for Wageningen Food & Biobased Research successively as product developer, business development manager and senior scientist in food design and structuring. He has coordinated different multi-disciplinary projects (national, EU and international) on food reformulation, sustainable foods, novel processing technologies and product development. With his knowledge about food and the food chain, he helps organizations find solutions for a more sustainable and healthy food supply.

Nika is Head of Events for World Association of Girls Guides and Girl Scouts, a membership organisation with 150 national Member Organisations with 10 million members and 1.5 million volunteers. She has 15+ years of experience in managing events, starting as a volunteers with Forum for European Journalism students during her student years. She changed camp and worked for a high end hotel group as the Sales and Event Manager for number of years, before coming back to the “buyer” side in 2016, when she started her current role.

Rodney Cox is the Events Director for the International Gas Union (IGU).  Founded in 1931 the IGU represents more than 90% of the global gas market through it National Association membership. Rodney has over 20 years’ event management experience, across five continents; this includes trade exhibitions, conferences and consumer shows – mostly on behalf of industry associations. He previously served as Vice President of the Exhibition and Event Association of Australia (EEAA) and twice headed the Best Show Team winners at the EEAA Awards of Excellence, for the 16th International Conference and Exhibition on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG 15 Algeria in 2010) and 26th World Gas Conference (WGC 2015 in France). For more than fifteen years Rodney has lectured at undergraduate and postgraduate levels at the University of Technology, Sydney.
 

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LinkedIn: rodneycoxeventinnovator/?originalSubdomain=au

Director Projects and Events at Nobel Media AB, with responsibility as Director Projects and Events. Lena has headed the International Events for Nobel Media for six years, delivering Nobel Prize Dialogue formats and series in India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Chile etc. In Sweden the Nobel Week Dialouge in Stockholm/Gothenburg since 2012. Nobel Media’s mission is to spread knowledge about the Nobel Prize-awarded achievements and stimulate interest in science, literature and peace in the line with Alfred Nobel’s vision and legacy – ´for the greatest benefit of humankind´. 

Prior to this Lena founded an events company in Sweden 1997, until it was acquired in 2007 by Imagination Ltd, a Global Brand Experience Agency in London.

Lena has also been engaged in large global events such as Olympic Bids (Stockholm 2004) and Whitbread round the World race (now Volvo Ocean Race). Experience from the media industry as Project Manager Partners and advertising for TV4 in Sweden. 

Lena holds exams in Marketing and economy from IHM in Sweden as well as diploma from Novare Leadership Academy.

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LinkedIn: lena-abrahamsson-lund-62085411/?originalSubdomain=se/

Holger Omlor has been working in the MICE industry for more than 15 years. He has broad experience in designing and organizing a wide variety of conferences, meetings and events. Together with the EAIE Events Team, he ensures the high quality of the EAIE Annual Conference & Exhibition as well as other EAIE meetings and events.

Drilona Shtjefni has been working in EU affairs and projects since 2014. Based in Brussels, she has previous experience in the telecom field as a Government Affairs Coordinator for GSM Association, the biggest advocacy organisation on the telecom and IT sector. Drilona has an international and energy projects-focus background, having worked not only in Belgium, for the Italian Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea, but also in Chile for Business News Americas. 
Drilona has a double master studies on International Relations and Business Management by the University di Florence, University of Zurich and University Carlos III de Madrid. Furthermore, she has successfully completed two MOOCs at the Wagenigen University & Research on Nutrition & Health and Biobased Processes and Implementation.

Lately, she has been Charing the European Biopolymer Summit 2018, EUBCE 2018 and awarded as best Young Association Executive of the Year 2018.
 

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LinkedIn: drilona-shtjefni-a7379b85/
Twitter: @DrilonaShtjefni

No bio provided

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LinkedIn: http://jiří-šindelář-b6586750/?originalSubdomain=cz

Turgut Tatlisumak is professor of neurology and stroke medicine at University of Gothenburg. He was the local organizer of European Stroke Organisation Conference in May 2018 in Gothenburg, Sweden that attracted over 4 500 participants. Dr Tatlisumak is a neurologist holding degrees in medical teaching and administration. He was founding member of ESO, among the founders of ESO Conference, long-time treasurer to ESO, and currently fellow of ESO.

Director Projects and Events at Nobel Media AB, with responsibility as Director Projects and Events. Lena has headed the International Events for Nobel Media for six years, delivering Nobel Prize Dialogue formats and series in India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Chile etc. In Sweden the Nobel Week Dialouge in Stockholm/Gothenburg since 2012. Nobel Media’s mission is to spread knowledge about the Nobel Prize-awarded achievements and stimulate interest in science, literature and peace in the line with Alfred Nobel’s vision and legacy – ´for the greatest benefit of humankind´. 

Prior to this Lena founded an events company in Sweden 1997, until it was acquired in 2007 by Imagination Ltd, a Global Brand Experience Agency in London.

Lena has also been engaged in large global events such as Olympic Bids (Stockholm 2004) and Whitbread round the World race (now Volvo Ocean Race). Experience from the media industry as Project Manager Partners and advertising for TV4 in Sweden. 

Lena holds exams in Marketing and economy from IHM in Sweden as well as diploma from Novare Leadership Academy.

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LinkedIn: lena-abrahamsson-lund-62085411/?originalSubdomain=se/

Andreas Veilstrup Andersen is the CEO and President of the Liseberg Group, running one of Scandinavia's biggest amusement park in Gothenburg, Sweden. Andreas' has a legal and financial background, and has been working in the amusement park industry since 2000, first at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark, and later as Executive Director of IAAPA's (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) European operations in Brussels, Belgium. Andreas was the Chairman of IAAPA in 2018, and currently serves on the Board as an officer.’

With over 20 years experience in servicing Associations, both as Association Management and Congress Organizer, Per Ankaer has assisted over 30 Associations in increasing the number of members and participants as well as Association development. Per Ankaer has worked all over Europe, but main focus is Scandinavia.

No bio provided

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LinkedIn: guybigwood

Christian Blomstrand is professor emeritus in Neurology, at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg. Earlier chief of clinical Neurodepartments at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital and for some decades scientist first within basic  Neurobiology, later within Clinical Neuroscience with focus on stroke.

Mary Ellen Brennan, SPHR, SHRM-SCP has 20 years' experience in human resources in professional associations and law firms.  Her areas of expertise include executive and leadership coaching, workforce planning, organizational culture, performance management, and work/life programs such as telework, recruiting, and project management.  She facilitates and leads personal and professional development training, as well as strategic planning and team-building retreats. She managed the development of AIHA's award-winning career stages project which defined the skills and experience needed by members at various stages in their careers, leading to additional opportunities for the association.  Mary Ellen has coached association members on resume writing, interviewing, and job search skills.  A graduate of the UMUC MBA program, Mary Ellen has continued her learning by obtaining certification in the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, as well as training in Lean Six Sigma, advanced facilitation skills and project management. She holds the highest level of certifications in human resource management.  

Laura leads Accountancy Europe’s communications to increase our impact on decision makers.

A lawyer by training, she gathered broad experience in global accountancy matters since 2005, including at the International Federation of Accountants, Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets, Royal Netherlands Institute of Chartered Accountants, and Dutch Association of Register Controllers. 

Andy has been Chief Executive of the BDA for over 15 years and has over 25 years’ experience of leadership in the health sector, in membership and regulatory bodies. He promotes the work of healthcare professionals nationally and internationally, representing the BDA in the UK and abroad, at Government level as well as across professions. As well as being an experienced CEO, Andy is a company director, charity trustee, lay advisor and management consultant. He has led the BDA to become an award winning association in the UK, recently winning two prestigious awards in 2018 for its social media activities. He lectures on professional ethics and governance, and regularly presents at international conferences on leadership, governance and change management.

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Twitter: @@BDAAndyBurman

Andrea joined Accountancy Europe as Senior Advisor in 2018.

Previously, she was Head of Communications at the Brussels office of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, where she managed political outreach campaigns on sustainable mobility. She has an LLM in International Economic Law and has held various communications posts in trade associations and consultancies in Brussels. She is a Canadian national and began her career in international affairs in Okayama, Japan.

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LinkedIn: andrea-campbell-093a1512/

As Senior Communications Specialist at the American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union in Brussels, Brigit is responsible for external communications, using digital communications, targeted campaigns, social media, and the production of infographics and videos to further AmCham EU's advocacy work. Brigit also works on branding, reputation management and positioning AmCham EU as a thought leader on key policy issues. Previously Brigit worked at global public relations firm FleishmanHillard, focused on delivering stakeholder outreach and communications campaigns for major clients in the energy sector. Brigit holds a Bachelor’s degree in Global Studies and French from the University of Minnesota and a Master’s degree in EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges. Brigit is a US national and speaks fluent French.

Inbar has escorted 60 associations and was involved in organizing over 170 association congresses. She is the former Managing director of Kenes UK and today she is a consultant and mentor of some of the largest Medical Associations in Europe, supporting them in reaching association’s goals for growth, profit, education and high level of service. Inbar has a strong financial and operational expertise and deep understanding of association’s challenges including regulations, legislation, compliance, financial planning and risk management.

Andrew Chamberlain is a former association Chief Executive and is now Managing Director of Consort Strategy, a consultancy firm specializing in leadership development, organisation improvement, good governance and business growth. For over 10 years he held senior leadership positions in professional associations and membership bodies across the UK. Prior to this he spent several years working on education and environmental policy at the Scottish Government in Edinburgh and in the Ministry of Education in Wellington, New Zealand. Based in Cambridge in the UK, Andrew travels internationally to provide consultancy support on association governance, leadership and management.
 

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Twitter: @consortstrategy

Simon Colboc is the founder of Mawen SPRL, a company dedicated to developing innovative investment offerings. He is a member of the consultative committee of FECIF, the European Federation of Financial Advisors and Intermediaries, grouping more than 15 national associations and direct corporate members and representing some 240,000 advisors at European level.
Simon has over 25 years’ experience in Financial Services, both as an executive (both in banking with Fortis and BNP Paribas and in insurance with Prudential Plc) and as a business consultant (with The Boston Consulting Group, DiamondCluster and CMI). He has lived in Hong Kong, London and Paris and is now based in Brussels with his wife and two grown-up children.

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LinkedIn: simon-colboc-5a287/?originalSubdomain=be

Michael Collins is a specialist providing consultancy and mentoring in data strategy and the use of marketing databases and CRM. He is a Chartered Marketer and a Fellow of the Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing and has taught database marketing and CRM at several London university business schools. 

Why listen to this speaker
With more than 30 years’ consultancy experience in providing direction on customer insight and building customer relationships he has worked with clients in most sectors especially membership organisations and charities.

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LinkedIn: micollins/?originalSubdomain=uk
Twitter: @dmcounsel

Chris is the CEO of the DMA Group, comprising the DMA, IDM and TPSL associations. He has over 35 years’ experience across advertising and marketing experience in Europe, the USA and Asia/Pacific including senior roles at agencies, brands and technology companies. 

Chris launched his career in New York with Young & Rubicam in 1982 after two years in TV production. His 12 years at Y&R included 5 years in Asia, from 1989, initially as regional account director for Dentsu Young & Rubicam (DY&R) and then as General Manager of Wunderman Hong Kong before founding the Wunderman office in Singapore in 1992. 

Chris moved to London in 1994 as European media and sourcing director for Franklin Mint and created his own on-line catalogue company (Living Heritage) in 1998. From 2000 to 2009, Chris developed Emailvision (now Smartfocus) into Europe's leading email service provider (ESP) in his dual roles of Chief Operating Officer and UK Managing Director. 

In addition to his commercial activity, Chris has taken a lead in industry issues including legislation, best practice and education. His industry roles include being Co-Chair of FEDMA, Chair of the JIC Mail board, and seats on the boards of the Advertising Association, Asbof and CAP.

Rodney Cox is the Events Director for the International Gas Union (IGU).  Founded in 1931 the IGU represents more than 90% of the global gas market through it National Association membership. Rodney has over 20 years’ event management experience, across five continents; this includes trade exhibitions, conferences and consumer shows – mostly on behalf of industry associations. He previously served as Vice President of the Exhibition and Event Association of Australia (EEAA) and twice headed the Best Show Team winners at the EEAA Awards of Excellence, for the 16th International Conference and Exhibition on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG 15 Algeria in 2010) and 26th World Gas Conference (WGC 2015 in France). For more than fifteen years Rodney has lectured at undergraduate and postgraduate levels at the University of Technology, Sydney.
 

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LinkedIn: rodneycoxeventinnovator/?originalSubdomain=au

Camilla is an award winning membership and marketing expert with over 10 years’ experience working in strategic membership and marketing roles across the sport, leisure and healthcare sectors. In her current role as Head of Membership as part of the senior management team at the British Dietetic Association (BDA), she is responsible for transforming the organisation to become member-oriented. In doing so Camilla has significantly grown annual BDA member recruitment, retention, and engagement rates, winning the MemCom Member Engagement Award 2015, and Associations Congress Best Social Media Campaign 2016.

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Twitter: @@MillyDurrant

Monica Fontana was born in the United States in 1965; she moved to Europe in 1970 and grew up in Parma. In 1991, while writing her university thesis, she started working for the ERA-EDTA, a charity based in England and Wales with more than 11,000 members, two medical journals, a guideline body and various working groups. As the person in charge of the membership office, Monica supported a registry, fellowship initiatives, research programmes, educational courses and organized the second largest annual nephrology Congress worldwide. From 1995 until 2016, working from home, she added many other tasks to her main duties: the bylaws, advisor to the President (and Council), advertising and public relations. Since 2015, Monica has been the Executive Manager of the ERA-EDTA and the CEO of a limited company owned by ERA-EDTA that organizes medical events, thus managing all the international operative staff of the association.

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LinkedIn: monica-fontana-65316995/?originalSubdomain=it
Twitter: @monicafontana13

As a UK national, I worked as a senior marketing professional (Chartered MCIM) for 15 years in the UK (with assignments across Europe and the US). I have worked with venture capitalists, not for profits and SMEs, in the technology education and training market – responsible for directing marketing strategy to implementing tactical marketing and communications plans – and everything in between.

 

In 2010 I had the work-life balance debate and decided, with my family, to make a move to the sunny idyll of the Ardèche Gorges in SE France and set up a business as a freelance marketer. Through my freelance work, I joined PWN Global to help support their community management and flesh out their communications strategy. The more I researched the gender balanced leadership debate, the more I realised that I wanted to make this client my full time job. I took on the role of Head of Global Marketing and Communications so that I could really focus on communicating to the world about the varied range of conscious and sub-conscious barriers that exist for female leaders. I am driven by knowing that I am improving the professional world for the next generation of female leaders.

After over 11 years heading up the UK promotional merchandise association – BPMA, Gordon decided to launch his own consultancy and training business with specific focus on strategy, leadership and business growth. He has also worked in a range of different senior sales and management roles within major international drinks brands, one of which was managing Whitbread a £20m customer, he was also the youngest ever regional sales manager at 25. Gordon has been an award judge for the BPMA student design competition, the Institute of Sales Management and the Institute of Promotional Marketing. He is a qualified digital marketer and has been the publishing director of Product Media magazine which grew from nothing to replace the industry magazine. He was also instrumental in the first industry trade show which now with a partner company, replaced the incumbent leader and generated significant funds for the association. He launched the first Promotional Products Week and also the UKs first online education programme for the promotional products industry. Membership revenues rose almost every year since 2007. The recession hit the industry hard. The BPMA was the smaller of the two trade associations in 2007, the other Promota is almost now non-existent. Gordon launched the BPMAs first conference in 2016 which was a huge success both in terms of engagement and profit. 

As well as running his own rewards and recognition business, he is also a key note speaker and regularly spoken at international events. He has also chaired conferences and sought excellent speakers for events.

No bio provided

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Twitter: @https://twitter.com/sarahgoddardins?lang=en

Prior to establishing E AND H in 2005, David held a number of senior operational and programme management positions in large organisations in the public and non-profit sectors including with the Cities of Liverpool and Birmingham, and for one of the UK’s largest Housing Associations.  In recent years, David has focused on working with Membership organisations to identify appropriate IT and CRM strategies, deliver successful CRM and website projects and improve procurement, supplier and contract management.  David also understands the Membership and Associations sector from a member perspective, having been a director and trustee of the Association for Project Management (APM) and is currently on the Institute of Directors’ Cumbria Branch Committee.

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LinkedIn: davidhartateandh/?originalSubdomain=uk
Twitter: @clearwayforward

Mounia is the scientific advisor and education manager of EASL (European Association for the Study of the Liver). After receiving her PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Stockholm, Sweden, Mounia pursued her post-doctoral research in Molecular Biology at the Geneva University, Switzerland. In 2010, she was recruited to the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition at the Hospital University of Geneva. In 2015, she has decided to widen her horizons by joining EASL where she is involved in the eLearning development. Her communication skills and scientific background have allowed her to implement a new strategy for content dissemination. Her role as scientific advisor consists in collaborating and advising the Marketing and Communications, Corporate Relations and Public Affairs departments as well as the governing board.

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LinkedIn: mounia-h-888ba2165/
Twitter: @https://twitter.com/heddadmasson?lang=bg

Damian is Executive Director and founder of the Association of Association Executives (formerly Associations Network), the largest information, education and networking organisation for association executives in the UK and in Europe with over 19,000 members and subscribers globally. The AAE organises the Associations Congress Series, Association CEO Summits and Association Networking Forums, and produces primary research reports, AssociationsTV, and a variety of information products for association executives.

Kevan Jones is the Executive Director of the Southern African Communications Industries Association (SACIA). He’s spent the last decade working in the not-for-profit sector across Africa and the Middle East. Kevan holds a master’s degree from Regents University London School of Psychology and Psychotherapy. He also holds CAE designations from both the American and Canadian Societies of Association Executives, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Association Management in the UK.

Lodewijk Klootwijk is chief executive of the European Golf Course Owners Association (EGCOA). This organization represents 14 national owners associations and more than 900 courses in 21 countries in Europe. The association was founded in 2004 and has three main goals: Grow the game of Golf, Represent the Golf Course owners on a European level and Professionalize the golf business.

Lodewijk is also chief executive of the Dutch Golf Course Owners Association. Lodewijk is member of the advisory council of the Golf Environment Organisation, treasurer of the Dutch Turfgrass research Foundation and member of the Education Policy Board of CMAE.

Lodewijk is passionate about the growth of the game of golf. He is dedicated to find what it takes to get and keep people into golf. In his 25 years in the industry in various roles he keeps picking up new insights. The world is changing, so is or should golf.

Dr. ir. Jeroen Knol is Managing Director of the European Federation of Food Science and Technology (EFFoST) and Editor in Chief of the online SME magazine Taste of Science. EFFoST is a non-profit organization that connects food science and food technology organizations in Europe and stimulates collaboration between universities, knowledge institutes and companies. Jeroen Knol received his PhD degree in Food Science at Wageningen University, the Netherlands. Prior to EFFoST, he worked for Wageningen Food & Biobased Research successively as product developer, business development manager and senior scientist in food design and structuring. He has coordinated different multi-disciplinary projects (national, EU and international) on food reformulation, sustainable foods, novel processing technologies and product development. With his knowledge about food and the food chain, he helps organizations find solutions for a more sustainable and healthy food supply.

Nika is Head of Events for World Association of Girls Guides and Girl Scouts, a membership organisation with 150 national Member Organisations with 10 million members and 1.5 million volunteers. She has 15+ years of experience in managing events, starting as a volunteers with Forum for European Journalism students during her student years. She changed camp and worked for a high end hotel group as the Sales and Event Manager for number of years, before coming back to the “buyer” side in 2016, when she started her current role.

Following a period of teaching analytical sciences to veterinary students and zoologists Abi embarked on a career outside of the lecture laboratory to work on national programmes such as the National Teaching and Learning Programme which required leadership at the regional level.

Abi later took responsibility for the quality of London’s learning and skills provision through the Learning and Skills Improvement Service, working with central government agencies and the regulator, Ofsted on quality improvement interventions. Over the last 6 years Abi has worked with a range of professional membership bodies and associations in a transformational capacity, providing strategic and operational direction.

Sarah was appointed CARA ED in 2013 after more than a decade as a research administrator. With the support of the CARA board and many other great volunteers, Sarah has brought many new programs and initiatives to CARA and looks forward to another year of increased services to our members. A Certified Association Executive, Sarah previously worked in various progressive roles at McMaster University, Associated Medical Services, University Health Network and Hamilton Health Sciences. Sarah co-authored the reference e-book  The A-Z Guide to Research Contract Review, its companion the Research Contracts Study Guide and  Steer Your Career: A Research Administrator's Manual for Mapping Success  which are in use at 450 institutions globally. Sarah received national and international recognition for her contributions to research administration and is a faculty member in the Research Administration Certificate at Mohawk College.

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LinkedIn: sarah-lampson-54159530/?originalSubdomain=uk

James Morgan is the founder of Event Tech Lab; a marketing and communications incubator for Event Tech Start Ups. James is a specialist in creating and implementing B2B brand strategy, content marketing and communication campaigns and business partnerships through digital and traditional mediums.

James has served as Affiliate Chair of ILEA EMEA and now sits on the ILEA international Education Council. He is a senior lecturer in Tourism and Events at the University of Westminster.

Gabrielle Mouterde is a successful and creative events manager with seven years’ experience delivering top quality events for membership organisations.
Gabrielle has delivered a wide range of events and helped to increase both revenue and engagement. She aspires to be the Karen Brady of the events world.

Miguel Neves
Chief Social Strategist at miguelseven.com

Miguel is a passionate social media advocate and experienced events professional who consults, trains and speaks on digital marketing and event technology.

Miguel has focused on online engagement for the events industry since 2009 and from 2011 to 2017 he managed the IMEX Group’s social media strategy and implementation. In 2017 he created his own micro-agency dedicated to helping other organisations be social on social media.

Miguel sits on the International Board of Directors of the Meeting Professionals International, he is a member of the Events Industry Council’s Industry Insights Committee and holds a master’s degree in Conference and Events Management from the University of Westminster.

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Twitter: @miguelseven

'Futurist' Matt O'Neill helps organisations make better decisions by understanding what’s just around the corner. He's particularly interested in the crossover between humans and technology and appreciates thoughtful, positive people who love discussing new ideas. You can find him here: http://www.futuristmatt.com/ . 

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LinkedIn: mattone/

No bio provided

Holger Omlor has been working in the MICE industry for more than 15 years. He has broad experience in designing and organizing a wide variety of conferences, meetings and events. Together with the EAIE Events Team, he ensures the high quality of the EAIE Annual Conference & Exhibition as well as other EAIE meetings and events.

Tajinder Panesor MInstP holds a first degree in Applied Biochemistry and a master’s degree in Environmental Pollution Science. Following the completion of his studies he joined IOP Events Ltd in April 1998, organising national and international technical training courses. 

He took up a role with the policy team of the Institute of Physics in March 2000, where he became Manager, Science Policy in June 2006. He was instrumental in raising both the profile and influence of the IOP’s policy work through a number of activities, including the publication of influential reports such as the Finances of University Physics Departments, and the Review of UK Nuclear Physics Research. 

In July 2014 he became the IOP’s Head of International and is responsible for international affairs, which includes capacity building in developing and emerging economies. In June 2016, alongside his international duties, he took over responsibility for the valued-based offer, recruitment and engagement, and the provision of careers and CPD resources in support of the professional development of members, as Head of Member Services. As of July 2018 he took on additional responsibility for membership administration, and professional registration and progression, and is now the IOP’s Head of Membership.

Lorraine has extensive events management experience having spent a year at the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology, nearly five years as Head of Business and Events at the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, over seven years at the Royal Aeronautical Society where she was head of the Conference and Events Department and almost three years at a corporate events management agency prior to that. Lorraine’s first major event was during the final year of a Maths and Computer Science degree at the University of York when she co-organised the 13th British Juggling Convention, a four day festival for over 1,000 people.  She started working for the Biochemical Society as Head of Conferences and Events in October 2016.
 
 

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Twitter: @LorraineMReese

Jane works with chief officers, senior teams and membership organisations/associations helping them to remain competitive and relevant, and getting the right technology to drive the organisation forward.  From a career that started in meteorology, Jane moved to IT, projects and change management, and has worked across the not-for-profit sector with a range of different organisations who were looking to change and embrace both digital and business transformation.  Jane is a specialist in helping clients find their clear way forward and developing collaborative working environments between people, organisations and suppliers

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LinkedIn: janeroyden/?originalSubdomain=uk
Twitter: @ClearWayForward

No bio provided

A qualified lawyer, Monimita joined KW Conferences soon after its inception in 1994. She is a tenured entrepreneur with varied skills across event design and architecture, logistics management, implementation of strategic initiatives for corporate and association clients. Her extensive experience of two and a half decades in the meetings industry enables her to give strategic insight on key aspects to associations on membership development, marketing and promotions, with the objective of enhancing revenues and delegate engagement.

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Twitter: @@kwconferences

John Scarrott is a Trainer and Coach working with Association professionals on their approach to influential communication in areas such as selling, speaking and presenting and networking. A former Membership Director, he has over 20-years’ experience in these areas across the business to business publishing and not for profit sectors. He is Associate Certified Coach (ACC) Credentialed with the International Coach Federation and an international speaker working with Association professionals in UK, Europe, India and Australia. You can find out more about him at johnscarrott.com 

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LinkedIn: http://john-scarrott-acc-81b793a/?originalSubdomain=uk
Twitter: @JohnDScarrott

Martin Shepherdly founded BeThere Global in 2008, to provide an efficient, reliable and high quality conference streaming and recording service at an affordable price. After many years of producing conferences, Martin knew this was something missing in the market. Since then the company has served many associations in the UK and internationally, particularly those whose purpose is to educate and inform members on a global scale.
 

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Twitter: @@bethereglobal

Drilona Shtjefni has been working in EU affairs and projects since 2014. Based in Brussels, she has previous experience in the telecom field as a Government Affairs Coordinator for GSM Association, the biggest advocacy organisation on the telecom and IT sector. Drilona has an international and energy projects-focus background, having worked not only in Belgium, for the Italian Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea, but also in Chile for Business News Americas. 
Drilona has a double master studies on International Relations and Business Management by the University di Florence, University of Zurich and University Carlos III de Madrid. Furthermore, she has successfully completed two MOOCs at the Wagenigen University & Research on Nutrition & Health and Biobased Processes and Implementation.

Lately, she has been Charing the European Biopolymer Summit 2018, EUBCE 2018 and awarded as best Young Association Executive of the Year 2018.
 

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LinkedIn: drilona-shtjefni-a7379b85/
Twitter: @DrilonaShtjefni

No bio provided

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LinkedIn: http://jiří-šindelář-b6586750/?originalSubdomain=cz

Laura Sprechmann is Acting CEO for Nobel Media AB, the entity within the Nobel Foundation that spreads knowledge about and raises interest in the Nobel Prize-awarded achievements to a global audience, through digital media and international events. 

Previously, Laura has worked as a Senior Consultant within strategic communication at one of the leading communication agencies in the Nordics, JKL (part of MSL Group/Publicis). 

Prior to that, she has worked within the media industry as journalist (print as well as for a radio series about Latin America for BBC World Radio), Content Manager for e-learning company K-World, as well as Media Analyst at consultancy Mediavision and Head of Format Development at Meter Film & Television in Stockholm. 

Laura holds an MBA in International Management from the University of London and a BA in Communications. 

Gabriela Suhoschi has helped transform SIWI’s World Water Week from an ordinary congress into a
global movement. Over the past eight years Gabriela’s expertise in international events and business
has attracted a broad new set of actors and innovators to the world’s most influential movement
transforming global water challenges and helped place World Water Week at the heart of
international water policy. Through her efforts, and those of the World Water Week community, the
conference boasts nearly 50% participation by female water professionals and 25% by professionals
under the age of 35, numbers unseen in similar conferences, yet essential to achieving a water wise
world. World Water Week isn’t just about talking the talk, it’s about walking the walk, and setting
forward an agenda for the world we want.

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LinkedIn: gabriela-suhoschi-90431417/

Lynsey Sweales is the CEO of SocialB a UK based award winning organisation which helps international clients use social media and online marketing effectively.

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Twitter: @@lynseysweales

Turgut Tatlisumak is professor of neurology and stroke medicine at University of Gothenburg. He was the local organizer of European Stroke Organisation Conference in May 2018 in Gothenburg, Sweden that attracted over 4 500 participants. Dr Tatlisumak is a neurologist holding degrees in medical teaching and administration. He was founding member of ESO, among the founders of ESO Conference, long-time treasurer to ESO, and currently fellow of ESO.

William has been managing events since 1996. After university he set up an event management company organising student graduation balls. Since then he has organised all manor of events for associations including The National Housing Federation, The Local Government Association, The Department of Environment, The British Bankers’ Association, The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and The Council of Mortgage Lenders.

Katarina is an experienced sustainability strategist at Göteborg & Co, the DMO of Gothenburg. She is leading, supporting and developing sustainability policies, strategies and activities at destination level; and meetings and events are supported with expertise. She’s been the Head of Sustainability for several international championships held in Gothenburg. Katarina is the President of GMIC Sweden (Green Meeting Industry Council) and member of several steering and advisory committees on local, regional and national level. She’s also a frequent guest lecturer at the University of Gothenburg.

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LinkedIn: katarina-thorstensson-56375626/

No bio provided

Frances has over ten years of experience working for non-profit membership organizations within the areas of STEM. She started off her career at The Biochemical Society, where she worked in various roles within the conference department, heading up a small team and driving the development of new program initiatives to serve the society’s growing membership. 
In 2014 she took on a new challenge of looking after Young Member Programs at the Society of Petroleum Engineers, where she was responsible for the development, planning and implementation of educational programmes and member engagement initiatives for students and young professionals on a global level. During her first year at SPE she successfully expanded an academic student quiz (PetroBowl) into a major international event reaching as far as North and South America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. 
After returning from maternity leave in 2017, she was promoted to Regional Activities Manager, Eastern Hemisphere, and currently manages a remote team of five regional staff members across the London, Moscow, Kuala Lumpur and Dubai offices to serve members across the regions.
Frances is very passionate about working with international members and volunteers, and tailoring regional activities to suit local needs. SPE currently has around 156,000 members in 154 countries which gives her plenty of practice with communicating across a wide range of languages and cultures.

Paul Welander has been Senior Advisor to the CEO at Volvo Car Group since January 1, 2018. Mr. Welander served as an Senior Vice President of Vehicle Line Management at Volvo Car Corporation since October 6, 2016. Mr. Welander has had several roles in Volvo Cars Executive Management as a Senior Vice President being responsible for the following areas since 2005. Quality & Customer Satisfaction 2005-2010 and 2012-2016, Research & Development 2010-2012, Human Resources 2013-2016 and Product Strategy & Vehicle Line Management 2015-2016.
Mr Welander was borned in Bankeryd, Sweden 1958. Made his military service in Eksjö and Södertälje 1978-1979 at ING 2 and ING 1 (engineering troops). Thereafter he moved to Gothenburg to study at Chalmers University of Technology and he took his Master of Science exam in Mechanical Engineering 1983. From 1983 he has been working at Volvo Cars in Sweden and USA. Mr Welander is married with three children.
 

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LinkedIn: paul-welander-a855168/

Bart (35) is manager strategy and policy at trade union De Unie and member of the board at the national trade union confederation VCP, the second biggest trade union organisation in the Netherlands. Bart has been active in the association business for 13 years. After graduating as an industrial engineer he was active in the national Dutch student union (LSVb). Since 2007 Bart has been professionally active in the national and international trade union movement in diverse roles. Bart recently finished his master thesis on service ecosystem thinking at trade unions as part of his masters study on strategy and innovation management. The study provides insights into how associations can become more member-centric and thus more competitive.

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LinkedIn: bartwillems/?originalSubdomain=nl

Tamlynne has more than 17 years of experience in the conference and association industry, both locally and internationally, having worked on some of South Africa’s largest conferences and campaigns. She has a degree in psychology from the University of the Witwatersrand, where she received an award for the top psychology student while studying part-time. Through her studies, she developed a keen interest in neuropsychology and the impact that the brain has on consumer behaviour. She is the founder and chief ideas officer of idna (pronounced idea-NA) a strategic marketing agency specializing in association brand building and event and conference management.  Her background in psychology gives her a deep understanding of the human mind and how it impacts the decisions we make. She believes that associations have a unique opportunity to inspire change and influence policy and combines her knowledge of psychology, marketing and sociology to create touchpoints that are truly unforgettable.