During its recent annual convention, the members of Italy’s national association of conference and events companies (Federcongressi&eventi) elected a new president and board directors. Gabriella Gentile (pictured) becomes the new association president. The election took place during the association’s 13th national convention, held in Treviso on 25-26 March. Gentile succeeds Alessandra Albarelli, who served two consecutive presidential mandates. Gentile is an expert in destination marketing and management with 20 years’ experience at Bologna’s Palazzo dei Congressi conference centre. In 2001, she created Meeting Consultants, a planning and consulting company for start-up, promotion and marketing, communication, training and organisation activities in the conference sector. She has also been involved in designing educational training courses and lectures on the management of cultural events at the University of Bologna. Since 2009, Gentile has been head of the Learning Centre at Federcongressi&eventi, an association in which she has also held the post of vice-president. In addition, she has been a member of the Executive Council of IAPCO, the International Association of Professional Congress Organisers and the Italian chapter of MPI, in which she has also held the position of president. “The goal I have set myself in my mandate is to strengthen among institutions both the sector’s identity and Federcongressi&eventi’s role as a proactive point of reference in planning actions to support the entire sector, Gentile said. “In such a period of rapid and unpredictable change in social and economic scenarios, we need to stimulate innovation in members, boosting not only the association’s training offer but also its networking activities, and give them an opportunity to exchange best practices also at international level”. The new Executive Committee: As well as the president, the association’s members also elected four executive directors (one for each member category) for the three-year period 2022-2025:
- Destinations and venues category: Carlotta Ferrari (Destination Florence CVB)
- Conferences and events organisation category: Nicola Testai (OIC Group)
- Services and consultancy category: Luca Legnani (Papillon Milano 1990)
- CME Provider category: Matteo Bruno Calveri (Summeet)
The remaining four members of the Executive Committee were elected without representation duties: Stefania De Toni (Fiera Padova-Padova Hall), Paola Padovani (Triumph International), Guido Petronici (PR Factory) and Gaia Santoro (AIM Group International). As past president, Alessandra Albarelli is also a member of the Executive Committee. The new EC will elect the vice-president from among its members at its first meeting.
