Blogger: Paul Woodward, UFI Managing Director
We have been working over the summer, putting finishing touches to the programme for the 82nd UFI Congress which, as I hope you all know by now, takes place in Milan on 4 – 7 November.
During the Congress, we will be celebrating our 90th birthday in our original hometown, though the focus will be mainly on the future. You come to the Congress for a variety of reasons, but primarily with an eye on a better and more international future for your business. We hope that our renowned mix of high-level keynote speakers, inspiring UFI working groups and, perhaps most importantly, the chance to meet informally with your peers from throughout the world, will give you what you need to achieve your goals.
There are a number of innovations in the programme this year, and perhaps the most important of these is the integration of the Special Interest Groups (SIG) into the main Congress programme. These have proven popular since they were introduced by Eric Everard when he was UFI President in 2011. However, as they took place very early in the Congress week, many of you were unable to attend. So, these sessions will now take place firmly at the heart of the programme, giving you a chance to tailor the UFI Congress exactly to your interests.
Based on topics that you tell us are important to you, we have also expanded the range of SIG meetings on offer to eight. They will now cover family business, large venues, China, North America, InterExpo/government affairs, sustainable development, best practices and education. In this issue of UFI Info, you can see more detailed descriptions of these meetings, as well as the UFI team members who will be coordinating them. Your biggest challenge, I expect, will be working out which to go to!
We really do want these Special Interest Groups to be member-led activities and several of you have already stepped up to help develop an agenda for the discussions. More ideas are welcome! These are intended to be really interactive sessions where a group of you sharing a common interest can discuss what’s on your mind in a quite informal environment. We will be listening hard to what you think about how this works in Milan.
Check www.ufi.org/milan2015 for more information and keep an eye on #ufimilan on Twitter for regular updates.
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