The International Exhibition Logistics Association has (IELA) has, at its 2021 IELA General Assembly, re-elected one member and elected three new members to its Board of Management. The association also re-elected Greg Keh and Ravinder Sethi as Members of the Committee.
The three new faces on the Board will serve a two-year term and Sandi Trotter, business development director TWI Canada, was the re-elected Board member.
The new members are: Sudhir Dhavan, CEO, R.E. Rogers India, David Palomo, project manager, Suomen Messulogistiikka Oy, Finland and Bas Wiendels, director, Valverde B.V., Netherlands.
The four elected members join the Board members who still have a year remaining for on their mandates:
- Guido Fornelli, managing director - Expotrans S.p.A., Italy
- Matthias Dornscheidt, vice-president Global Fairs & Exhibitions - Schenker Deutschland AG, Germany
- Alexandra Erdmann, CEO - Swiss Expo Logistics Ltd., Switzerland
- Daniel Mithran, director - JIM Project & Expo Logistics (M) Sdn.Bhd, Malaysia
- Jacqui Nel, director - EF-GSM South Africa
- Christoph Rauch, managing director - BTG Messe-Spedition GmbH, Germany
IELA chairman Guido Fornelli said, following the elections:
“I’m honoured to be the chairman of our Association and look forward to starting work with the newly elected Board. It is amazing to see that distance didn’t dampen, but even increased, our enthusiasm for involvement and participation in IELA life during the last months.
“Let’s hope we can step into a ‘New Now’ next year and resume the work we love and which we handle so successfully.
“I can assure you that myself, the IELA Board and the Secretariat are impatient to continue with project development and to deliver the value we all need to overcome the pandemic with new ideas, new tools and new platforms for the new era.”
The 36th IELA Congress sessions, which took place online from 29 June - 1 July 2021, followed the themes of the association's ‘Back to business programme’, and took the perspective of ‘A beginner’s mind’, with on-demand access to all sessions and additional content material extended to 31 July.
Elizabeth Niehaus, IELA executive officer explained that the main theme was chosen because of the need to shift the ‘old’ perspective and identify new territories with curiosity. “In this spirit,” she said, “the online format gives our members areas and topics to explore to gain insights, obtain foresight and learn how to adjust course and reshape our future.”
IELA chairperson Guido added: “A Beginner’s Mind is the only state of mind we need in order to face the New Now. This means that we have to adapt and be more efficient.” The Congress, he said, would “accompany all IELA members in building new outlooks, new paths to re-invent ourselves, thus harnessing new business opportunities”.
The Congress registered 348 delegates from 48 countries over the three day and included regional talks with constructive conversations focussing on the 2020-2021 lessons learned, the pandemic impact on SME’s as the main exhibitor profile but also as the world engine for economic recovery and the common need for connected foresight in the event and exhibition industry.
The IELA Awards were held during the 36th Congress and the following were elected ‘FACES of IELA’ in recognition of their work for the industry:
- Sudhir Dhavan - R.E. Rogers, India
- Bernhard Gilke & Thomas Ernst - DB Schenker, Germany
- Mike Weeks - LaRouxnelle, South Africa.
