Kellen Europe Hosts EuroConference 2016

Over 90 association and corporate executives gathered at EuroConference 2016 today in Brussels, to discuss best practices for associations. The event, which took place for the 16th time in a row this year, was hosted by the Brussels office of Kellen, the premier association management company on a global level. EuroConference is the leading annual forum for association discussion in Brussels. “The EuroConference is an excellent opportunity to learn from experts in all aspects of Association Management, to meet with peers and exchange views on relevant topics for trade associations in Europe”, said Alain D’haese, Secretary General of FEA, the European Aerosol Federation and a regular attendee of the EuroConference. This year’s EuroConference opened with a plenary session on ‘The European Commission’s Circular Economy’. During his opening speech, Hugo Schally, Head of Unit of the Directorate General Environment pointed out the main areas of action and priority sectors of the package. Mr. Schally’s presentation was followed by a panel discussion including Virginia Janssens, Managing Director of EUROPEN, the European Organization for Packaging & the Environment, Juliette Jacques, deputy Managing Director of Starch Europe, representing the European Bio-Economy Alliance and Carsten Dannöhl, Caterpillar’s EU Government Affairs Manager. The second plenary session dealt with the topic of ‘Strategic Alliances’. Alfons Westgeest, Kellen’s Managing Director in Brussels presented the white paper Kellen recently developed on the topic and led the discussion following his speech. Panelists were Jernej Vernik from Eurometaux, Louis Vareille, Global Public Affairs Director of Danone, Adeline Farrelly, FEVE’s Secretary General (the European Container Glass Federation), Andreas Galanakis from AmCham EU and Adriana Nosewicz from Kellen. The 2016 EuroConference was concluded by Peter Rush, Kellen’s CEO and Chairman who shared his views on the global association landscape and pointed out what strategic choices can influence success or failure for a EU, global or US association when considering cooperation across continents.