PARIS — UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry has announced the new slate of officers for its 2020-2023 Board of Directors — more than a quarter of which now are women.
The board, which represents UFI chapters from around the world, will develop UFI policy and prepare proposals on topics that affect international trade fairs. UFI members then vote on the proposals at the annual General Assembly — next scheduled for November 10 — and the board is in charge of implementing the decisions taken by the General Assembly.
“I wish to congratulate all elected and re-elected board members. This year, we have seen a record number of industry leaders standing for these elections. It stresses the role UFI is playing in supporting and representing the exhibition industry globally,” said Mary Larkin, UFI President and President of Diversified Communications USA. “I am also very pleased to see more diversity at the UFI Board level — 28% of the UFI Board is now made up of women. Just seven women were part of the UFI Board in 2017, so we have more than doubled the female representation. I am very happy that I was able to move the needle there during my year as UFI President.”
Congratulations to the new slate of UFI Board Members:
- Saif Mohamed Al-Midfa, Expo Centre Sharjah (UAE)
- Ahmed Al Obaidli, Qatar National Tourism Council (Qatar)
- Said Salim Al-Shanfari, Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre (Oman)
- Xabier Basañez, Bilbao Exhibition Centre (Spain)
- Carina Bauer, IMEX Group (UK)
- Sergey Bednov, EXPOCENTRE AO (Russian Federation)
- David Boon, Brussels Expo Group (Belgium)
- Gerald Böse, Koelnmesse GmbH (Germany)
- Sébastien Brunet, GL events (France)
- Panittha Buri, BITEC (Thailand)
- Benjamin Chau Kai-leung, Hong Kong Trade Development Council (Hong Kong)
- Diane Chen, Shenyang New World EXPO (China)
- Lisa Aixin Chen, Donghao Lansheng (Group) Co., Ltd. (China)
- Geoff Dickinson, dmg events (UAE)
- Klaus Dittrich, Messe München GmbH (Germany)
- Séverine Dubarry-Bardon, Comexposium (France)
- Michael Duck, Informa Markets Asia (Hong Kong)
- Roland Fleck, NürnbergMesse GmbH (Germany)
- Lisa Hannant, Clarion Events Ltd. (UK)
- Hugh Jones, Reed Exhibitions (UK)
- Carin Kindbom, Svenska Mässan Stiftelse (Sweden)
- Taro Komiya, Japan Management Association (Japan)
- Ned Krause, E.J. Krause & Associates, Inc. (USA)
- Michael Kruppe, SNIEC (China)
- Mary Larkin, Diversified Communications USA (USA)
- Wolfgang Marzin, Messe Frankfurt GmbH (Germany)
- Benson Lau Wai Meng, Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (Macau)
- Trixie LohMirmand, Dubai World Trade Centre (UAE)
- Eduardo Lopez-Puertas, IFEMA (Spain)
- Juan Pablo Maglier, La Rural, Predio Ferial de Buenos Aires (Argentina)
- Giovanni Mantovani, Veronafiere SpA (Italy)
- Daria Ostrovskaya, RusJewellerExpert (Russian Federation)
- Enrico Pazzali, Fondazione Fiera Milano (Italy)
- Matt Pearce, Talk2 Media & Events (Australia)
- Valerii Pekar, Euroindex Ltd. (Ukraine)
- Corrado Peraboni, Italian Exhibition Group SpA (Italy)
- Pietro Piccinetti, Fiera Roma Srl (Italy)
- Kyriakos Pozrikidis, TIF-HELEXPO (Greece)
- Birgit Rieder, MCH Group AG (Switzerland)
- Maria João Rocha de Matos, Lisboa Feiras Congressos e Eventos (Portugal)
- Constanti Serrallonga, Fira de Barcelona (Spain)
- Mark Shashoua, Hyve Group PLC (UK)
- Lori Silva, Emerald Expositions (USA)
- Xueli (Shirly) Song, Chongqing International Expo Center Co., Ltd (China)
- Georgy Surkov, RESTEC Exhibition Company (Russian Federation)
- Saleem Khan Tanoli, FAKT Exhibitions Pvt. Ltd. (Pakistan)
- Dina Tomšić, Zagreb Fair Ltd (Croatia)
- Sergey Voronkov, ExpoForum International Ltd. (Russian Federation)
- Simon Wang, TAITRA (Taipei)
- Erhard Wienkamp, Messe Düsseldorf GmbH (Germany)
Related. UFI Offers New Benefit to Members: The Exhibition Think Tank Club
Previously elected to the UFI Board as the Chairs of the Regional Chapters:
- Asia-Pacific: David Zhong (VNU Exhibitions Asia, China)
- Europe: Andreas Gruchow (Deutsche Messe AG, Germany)
- Latin America: José Navarro Meneses (TARSUS MÉXICO)
- Middle East/Africa: Albert Aoun (IFP Group, Lebanon)
Elected to the Board as the Chair and Vice-Chair of the UFI Associations Committee:
- Chair: Chris Skeith, AEO (UK)
- Vice-Chair: Jörn Holtmeier, AUMA (Germany)
Already elected in their roles as the UFI Presidential Trio:
- Anbu Varathan, Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association and Bangalore International Exhibition Centre, Bangalore (President 2020 – 2021)
- Monica Lee-Müller, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong, Incoming President
- Mary Larkin, Diversified Communications USA, Outgoing President
Reach Mary Larkin at (207) 842-5542 or MLarkin@divcom.com.
