ow did your career path lead into the events industry ?

Exhibitions Russia portfolio and I work with a talented team doing events across many countries .

Anna in her own words :

Turkey as well as Russia . And in 2021 I became CEO of UK , Russia , Middle East , Turkey and India .

By pure chance . Not a very exciting beginning , but it led to quite an exciting career in an industry that I had never even thought about before . I believe that this is the same for most people in this industry .

I graduated from university and was invited for a job interview in a company that organised the perfumery and cosmetics tradefair InterCHARM . They were looking for an international sales and marketing manager who would work with associations , trade bodies and individual clients to drive international participation at the show . When I started we just had a German and Polish pavilion of 300sqm and seven years later there were more than 300 exhibitors on 3,500sqm and 31 countries . That was my first job in the exhibitions industry in January 2000 .

Twenty-one years later , InterCHARM is part of the Reed

What has been your career path at Reed Exhibitions and how were you able to make an impact ?

I joined Reed Exhibitions Russia in January 2008 with the acquisition of InterCHARM and was in charge of integrating this acquisition . I was a business development director , sales and marketing director and a managing director of the business overall . We have grown a strong portfolio of solid events in Russia , each being either the No . 1 or sole event for each respective industry , and we are very proud of that .

We have developed the business through acquisitions and we did several very successful launches such as the National Airport and Civil Aviation show ( NAIS ) and Private Label event ( IPLS ). In 2019 my geographical responsibility enlarged and I became responsible for our RX businesses in Middle East and

• Before I turned 18 I had lived in Sri Lanka , Guyana and India because my father was a journalist / publisher who was posted to these countries . I had to adapt to different cultures and environments and I studied in Mexico while at University .

• I speak Russian , English , Spanish and Italian .

• I studied at Moscow State University of International Relations , Faculty of Public Relations focussing on country studies of the Iberoamerican world , and graduated with honours .

• I hold an Executive MBA in Strategic Marketing from Stockholm School of Economics , with merit .

One of your main interests has been the cosmetics market and brand and exhibition development . What have been some of your initiatives there , with InterCHARM for example ?

InterCHARM is a mature well established event that is 27 years old and is one of the top 10 beauty events across the globe . Since the perfumery and cosmetics industry has a very fast pace of change it was important to build the ethos of the show in such a way that it will not only reflect everything new that happens in the industry but will also be a trendsetter and a launch pad for interesting initiatives . It is also important for a mature event to represent the interests of different generations of professionals – newcomers and seasoned specialists – and allow them to share experiences and knowledge . Throughout the years we have grown the ‘ green valley ’ to support the eco and natural manufacturers , created an area for local indie brands and start-ups , as well as created a stream of public talks to educate the wider audience on important or controversial aspects of the beauty industry .

Tell us more about the specifics of the Russian events market . How does it differ cardinally from other developed marketplaces for exhibitions around the world ?

I wouldn ’ t say that Russian tradefair market differs massively from other geographies . There are good modern and comfortable venues . The market of organisers is fragmented like