Kellen Europe Hosts Executive Lunch on ‘Key Success Factors for European Trade Associations’

November 16th, 2011 (BRUSSELS, BELGIUM) – Association Management Company Kellen Europe hosted an Executive Lunch yesterday in Brussels on ‘Key Success Factors for European Trade Associations'. The event brought together over 70 association executives, consultants and corporate representatives to hear the presentation on “Key Success Factors for European Trade Associations”. They also benefited from the opportunity to exchange best practices with panel speakers, which included Judith Hardt, Secretary General at FESE, the Federation of European Stock Exchanges, Brian Ager, Director General of the European Round Table of Industrialists and Dick Toet, Director Public Affairs Europe at Unilever.

Mark Dober, Senior Director at Brussels’ based Executive Search Firm Ellwood & Atfield set the stage for an interesting debate with a summary presentation of the report E&A published this year on ‘Key Success Factors for European Trade Associations’.  “Based on the research we have done for the report, we have found the following 4 factors to be crucial for the effectiveness and success of a EU Trade Association; value for membership, effective leadership, proactive public affairs and integrated communications” said Dober. 

The presentation was followed by a short speech from each of the panelists in which they gave their views on what they consider to be key factors that make an association effective. Judith Hardt, Secretary General of FESE, the Federation of European Stock Exchanges stated that ‘The most important factor for an association to be successful is reputation. A solid and credible reputation however is difficult to earn and easy to lose. There are 3 main factors in building a good reputation: ethical behaviour, strong technical expertise and knowledge of the industry and the ability to drive change in a constructive way’ she said.

Maria Teresa Scardigli, Vice President of Kellen Europe concluded by pointing out that “Reports such as the ‘Key success factors for EU Trade Associations’ report from Ellwood and Atfield are essential for the association’s business. The Report stimulated debate in the association community and create platforms such as this Executive Lunch to network among peers and to learn from experts in the field, both on a corporate and an association level.” Mrs. Scardigli continued: “We were extremely pleased with the number of association executives represented here today. It proves that there is a need for knowledge sharing in the association community. Kellen Europe is pleased to continue its role as a pioneer in organizing these informative networking events in Brussels and will continue to do so.”

This Executive Lunch was organized by Kellen Europe in cooperation with Ellwood and Atfield, and sponsored by Visit Brussels, the Brussels Convention Bureau.

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.