November 30th, 2012 (BRUSSELS, BELGIUM) – Association management and consulting company Kellen Europe hosted an Executive Lunch in Brussels on „‟The value of Trade Association Membership: Matching the needs and expectations of trade associations and corporations”. The event brought together over 60 association executives and corporate representatives for presentations and a panel debate with Guy Thiran, Director General of Eurometaux; Dick Toet, Vice President External Affairs at Unilever; and Philip Springuel, Communications Manager at EUFIC, the European Food Information Council.

Panelist Dick Toet discussed the value of being member of multiple trade associations for a large corporation like Unilever, how to assess and meet a members‟ expectations and how to remain relevant as an association, especially in uncertain economic times. Philip Springuel explained the relevance of his organization as it focuses on food science and communication with a wide variety of stakeholders.

Guy Thiran stated: “As a trade association, you need to be representative of your entire industry, both from the viewpoint of the SMEs as well as from the multinational corporations. A consolidated policy message is key in order to effectively communicate your message towards policy makers. As an association you need to bring timely relevance and added value to the debate and build alliances with stakeholders across industries, in particular within your own sector's value chain, in order to be effective. The perception your interlocutors have of your organization and the frequency of their requests for information on the industry you are representing is a measurement of your organization‟s effectiveness.” He concluded: “For the association, good governance and communication as well as transparency are essential to allow you to understand and anticipate your members‟ expectations.”

This Executive Lunch was organized by Kellen Europe and sponsored by Visit Brussels, the Brussels Convention Bureau.

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About Kellen Europe

Kellen Europe provides association management, strategic advice, communications, government affairs, benchmarking studies, internet services and other professional advice to associations and corporations worldwide. Over the last 20 years, Kellen Europe has gathered considerable expertise that enables the company to rapidly anticipate the needs of emerging or existing associations and to provide tailored organizational solutions. For more information, please visit www.kelleneurope.com

Kellen Europe is the European base of the Kellen Company, which has offices in Atlanta, Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, New York, Singapore and Washington D.C. and Global alliance partners, among others in China, India, Japan, Middle East and Singapore