Leading members from the national associations which make up the European Federation of the Associations of PCOs have elected Prague-based PCO Ivo Miksa as President for the next two years.
His election, along with a dynamic new Board and a multi-pronged action plan were approved unanimously by the EFAPCO Board just hours before the doors opened for IMEX 2014 in Frankfurt.
The 48-year-old Ivo Miksa becomes the first EFAPCO President to be based in Central and Eastern Europe, following a decade when the Presidency was held by leading industry personalities in Spain and Greece, Belgium and most recently by Luisa Ahrens Teixeira from APECATE in Portugal.
A graduate from the Czech Technical University, Ivo has been a partner with GUARANT International in Prague since 1992 and he is currently a Board member with Prague Convention Bureau.
His career highlights have included annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group; the 115th Session of the International Olympic Committee (with 1,500 delegates); the 12th United European Gastroenterology Week (with 9,500) and the 2008 WPA World Psychiatry Congress (6,500 delegates).
“I’m pleased with the support offered to me by my Board colleagues and look forward to forging ahead with a whole series of initiatives which can now be built on the last couple of years devoted to consolidation.
“Belgium’s Sam van de Kerckhof, the man responsible for the creation and co-ordination of the Federation’s far-reaching industry, educational and professional research programmes has joined our team as Vice President, alongside the current second VP, Piotr Wilczek from Poland.”
Sissi Lignou, from HAPCO, our Greek member association, stays on as Secretary General and Norbert Bomba from SAPCO in Slovakia was elected Treasurer.
The Federation’s administrative HQ will remain in Brussels under the painstaking watch of Honorary EFAPCO President, Nicola Le Brun.
Added Miksa: “Our Federation must prove itself to be increasingly invaluable to all professionals working in the field of congress organisation, by supporting service and educational standards and their development, taking account of all the special differences within national markets and in meeting the expectations of European and international clients and their delegates. We must also continue to promote our needs and aspirations to EU governments and the European Commission. With this in mind we need to prove we are united and speak with one voice.
“As a European federation we celebrate the tremendous variety Europe offers to us – and meetings planners worldwide – as the ultimate destination for all forms of business events.
“And we need to encourage all countries, both within the EU and in other parts of Europe to unite their professionals in embracing quality, educational and ethical standards by encouraging the formation of national associations and creating opportunities for knowledge exchange on national, corporate and individual levels.”
