NGL Grantees
Eventprofs:
The Next Generation
lobal association for the
exhibition industry UFI
will ask the question,
‘Does the future of the
exhibition industry lie in an H2H
approach (Human 2 Human)?’ at
its Annual Congress in Bangkok in
November. The question forms part
of a session devoted to the 2019 Next
Generation Leadership (NGL) Grant
recipients.
This year the programme, generously
supported by Freeman EMEA, will see
five finalists take to the stage in Bangkok.
Delegates will get insights into the
next generation’s perspective of the
customer journey and some important
touchpoints for the tradeshow visitor
of the future.
UFI notes that gone are the days when
companies just marketed to whoever
would listen. Successful businesses now
put people in the centre of their strategy
and focus on increasingly personalised
experience for customers.
UFI’s Programme Manager Angela
Herberholz has been responsible
for the NGL Grant project since its
inauguration in 2016. Together with
her colleague Eleonora Robuschi,
Programmes and Project Coordinator,
they work closely with the grant
winners. They commented: “Delegates
are in for a special treat in Bangkok.
We are very much looking forward to
seeing the hard work they put into this
project come to life”.
UFI President Craig Newman adds:
“We found it extremely challenging
to select just five individuals. So much
energy had gone into every application.
I strongly encourage anyone who
wasn’t accepted to re-apply next year.”
Applications were received from 18
countries, representing all UFI regional
chapters (the Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin
America and Middle East/Africa).
Grant winners investigate the future
of exhibitions, working closely with
the team at UFI HQ in Paris. Their first
workshop took place alongside the UFI
European Conference in Birmingham
(UK) in mid-May 2019.
After Bangkok the young grant
winners will continue their grant
programme through an executive
mentoring programme. Their mentors
are C-level professionals from the
exhibition industry.
UFI Managing Director and CEO, Kai
Hattendorf. adds: “Thanks to the NGL
Grant, we enable young professionals
to meet with experienced mentors,
pushing the boundaries to drive new
positive change in the industry. I would
like to thank all those involved.”
“We believe that the future success
and relevancy of our industry relies
on nurturing the talent of tomorrow,”
said Chris Preston, MD, Freeman.
“We are proud to support the NGL
Grant and congratulate the exhibition
professionals being recognised in this
year’s programme.”
The five
NGL Grant
finalists are:
• Carolin von
Tippelskirch,
Protocol and
Corporate
Events,
Deutsche Messe
AG (Germany)
• Cinzia Zanin,
Research and
Development,
Fondazione
Fiera Milano
(Italy)
• Fuad Musafir,
Business
Development
Manager
Exhibition
and Live
Events, Oman
Convention
and Exhibition
Centre (Oman)
• Katie
Thompson,
Senior Content
and Project
Manager,
The Design
Group, Global
Exhibitions
Informa (USA)
• Laura Do-
campo, Head of
Digital Trans-
formation, Fira
de Barcelona
(Spain)
26
Issue 5 2019
EW hears
from NGL
Grantees, Katie
Thompson and
Cinzia Zanin:
Take us through the application
process for the grant. How did you
hear about it and what motivated
you to apply? How did that
application process work and did
you enjoy the experience?
KT: One of my colleagues sent me
the application and suggested I apply.
I have always had a lot of ideas on
improving and/or changing things
within the exhibitions industry and I
thought it would be good practice to
put my thoughts on paper. The essay
was the difficult part in the sense of
keeping it to two pages of short and
concise thoughts. The video was the
fun part of being creative and letting
my personality come through!
CZ: I dreamed about the NGL Grant
since the first edition. I remember
when in 2016 UFI posted about it
on Facebook, I immediately read all
the information and thought it was
a beautiful programme. One year
before, I helped organise the 82nd
UFI Congress in Milan and on the last
day I promised myself that I would be
back, as a delegate or as a speaker.
The NGL Grant was the perfect
chance to maintain that promise.
Unfortunately, at the time I was
only an intern so I had to wait in
order to apply but it was worth
the wait. I enjoyed the application
process, especially writing the paper.
It gave me the chance to organise
my thoughts about an issue that is
crucial for exhibition industry: talent
retention.
Tell us about your impressions
at the workshop in Birmingham
during the European Conference
in May.
w w w.exhibitionworld.co.uk