Ulrike von Arnold, Deputy Director of the Vienna Tourist Board’s Vienna Convention Bureau (VCB), has been appointed 2nd Vice President of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) with immediate effect.
This makes the VCB the first member in the association’s history to date to be given the opportunity of serving on the Board of Directors for a second time. The VCB “pioneer” in this group of experts was VCB Director Christian Mutschlechner.
At this year’s annual meeting of the ICCA in Antalya from November 1 thru’ 5, the association elected a new president: Nina Freysen-Pretorius, founder and CEO of the professional congress organizer (PCO) The Conference Company, South Africa. This is the first time that someone from the African continent has held this position.
The newly elected president reorganized her Management and Finance Committee, proposing Juan José Garcia, Sales & Marketing Director of the Spanish PCO Barcelo Congresos, as 1st Vice President and Treasurer, Ulrike von Arnold, CMP, as 2nd Vice President, and David Palomo, Deputy Director of the Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau, as 3rd Vice President. Her nominations were unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of the ICCA. The Management and Finance Committee will be completed by Arnaldo Nardone, Managing Director of FIEXPO, the convention trade show in Uruguay, and previous president of the association.
Nina Freysen-Pretorius explained her choice of Ulrike von Arnold as follows: “Not only is she a long-standing member of the ICCA, she also has a clear understanding of the expectations of ICCA members in the short and medium term. Her passion, her commitment and her previous service on ICCA board convince me that she will occupy this office for the benefit of the ICCA, its members, and for the industry as a whole.”
In reacting to her election, which once again admits the VCB to the top management echelon of the ICCA, Ulrike von Arnold said: “This recognition is a source of great delight to me. For 19 years now, I have had the opportunity of participating in the success of the Vienna Convention Bureau, and it is with great enthusiasm that I will use my experience of the worldwide congress industry in this ICCA position too.”
The VCB was first represented in the ICCA by its Director, Christian Mutschlechner. The journey which he began there in 1997 took him from member of the Board of Directors to three terms as 1st Vice President, and finally to the Presidency (2002–2006). He occupied both the last two offices for the maximum terms permissible under ICCA statutes.
