Appointments
Moving up and moving on …
A flavour of some key appointments being made in recent weeks
ongress Messe
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Innsbruck( CMI) is facing an abrupt change in leadership with CEO Christian Mayerhofer stepping down for personal reasons. He has managed the operations of Tyrol’ s leading events company since 2013.
The shareholders of CMI – the City of Innsbruck, the State of Tyrol, the Tyrolean Chamber of Commerce, and the Innsbruck and its Holiday Villages Tourism Association – have announced a search for a new CEO and appointed the two authorised signatories – Astrid Kirchbichler, head of finance and HR, and Hansjörg Stern, Exhibition Center operations manager, as interim management.
Better Stands has appointed Roger Lehner as project manager from 1 May 2026.
Lehner joins from IMEX Group, where he served as senior operations and sustainability executive. His previous roles include positions at the World Wildlife Fund( WWF) and Alternative Bank Switzerland.
In his new role, Lehner will drive growth for Better Stands internationally. His focus will include bringing new members into the initiative, strengthening engagement with existing participants, developing new partnerships, and supporting the broader visibility and adoption of Better Stands across the global exhibition landscape. He will also contribute to the ongoing development of the digital platform and represent
Roger Lehner
Zachary Watson
Linda Ritchie
Better Stands in industry conversations and at key events.
PRA, US business events and destination management company, has hired Zachary Watson as director of sales, trade shows. He brings more than two decades of experience driving strategy, enterprise partnerships and large-scale B2B event growth. Watson will work under Danielle Cirami-Gillis, senior vice-president, strategic partnerships.
Watson has built a reputation for launching new vertical markets and, most recently, led the service provider market at Informa Markets New Hope
Network, overseeing key strategic relationships across a portfolio serving the natural, organic and conscious consumer packaged goods industry. The NEC in Birmingham, UK, has announced that its venue general manager, Linda Ritchie, will retire on the 30 June after 26 years of service. Ritchie was appointed venue general manager ten years ago and has since overseen an extensive portfolio of world-class events, including many of the NEC’ s flagship shows like Spring Fair, Autumn Fair, Motorcycle Live, IMHX and the Motorhome and Caravan Show. She has also overseen major venue developments, including the transformation of the Piazza.
Premagic, the AI-powered event technology platform used by organisers in Asia, the UK, and Europe, has announced the appointment of Adam Parry as strategic advisor.
Parry, co-founder of Event Tech Live and the Event Technology Awards in the UK, said:“ I’ ve been around event technology for a long time, and I know the difference between a product that’ s built to solve a real problem and one that’ s built to chase a trend. Premagic is the former.”
Informa has appointed David Lynn as chief executive of inD, its Dubaibased partnership with Dubai World Trade Centre( DWTC).
Lynn was previously president and chief executive of ViacomCBS Networks International, a billiondollar revenue business with 5,000 colleagues across 180 markets. There, he led major digital transformations, including the launch of streaming platforms such as Paramount + and PlutoTV across 20 countries. He also oversaw the successful integration of Network 10, a leading Australian network, Telefe, Argentina’ s main broadcaster and Channel Five, the UK’ s fifth terrestrial TV channel. EW www. exhibitionworld. co. uk Issue 3 2026 39