We are excited to announce that Gregor Bischkopf has joined the association as the incoming Executive Director, taking over from Uta Goretzky in full by the end of the year.We are excited to welcome Gregor on board to continue the IFES legacy as an integral part of our association. We asked him a few questions to get to know him better.
Gregor, as the incoming Executive Director as IFES, tell us a bit about your career so far and how you ended up at IFES?
Well, it was only a question of time before I got here to IFES, because I’m a trade show enthusiast. I got into the trade show industry actually in my first holidays whilst still a business administration student. I started working on stands as a host, in the kitchen, as a promoter at various shows like CeBIT, Hannover Fair, etc.
But I quickly moved on after finishing my degree to companies like Köln Messe, UBM Canon, Hive, and finally REED, or RX as it’s known today. I’ve held positions in sales, I’ve done portfolio management, and last, but not least, I’ve been in business development.
What do you believe your particular skillset brings to the mix at IFES?
One of my future bosses always called me “the jack of all trades”, which for me means I can do a lot of things and can quickly adapt to certain challenges. One part of my skill set is sales, which means I am able to listen to make sure that the people that I work with are getting the best solution that I can provide for them, based on their needs.
Secondly, I love networking. That’s what I learned in the last 20 years. It’s of utmost importance to bring people together and ideally work together collaboratively to achieve the best solutions possible.
My last 10 years were spent in business development. There I had to adapt to various industries and challenges very quickly in order to make quick and pragmatic decisions that are very well thought through. So, I think that enables me to help all at IFES very well in terms of driving the Federation into a prosperous future.
What is your leadership approach and your hopes for the future at IFES?
I really believe that a leader is only as good as the team behind him. Whilst this is a well-known phrase, I have experienced in my own life that this is how I work, and this is how I work best. First, I want to facilitate every team member to speak up and be willing to speak up. Secondly, I want to make sure that every voice is heard, and lastly, I want to ensure that every voice counts. Yes, in the end there will be one final decision, made by one person, but it will be made taking into consideration what has been heard from the team.
So, for IFES this means that I want to work with all of you together to find good solutions for the future of IFES. One of the biggest challenges for all of us and the trade show industry is that of sustainability. That is something that I hope that we, as a team, can work on together, successfully!
What is your outlook on life?
Always keep smiling! My personal experience has been that during the inevitable ups and downs in life, it is important to remain positive and believe that there will always be an up after a down.
What would you like to say to our IFES members?
Everybody I have spoken to so far at IFES has mentioned to me the great networking and collaboration within IFES. It is like a big group of trusted friends. That is certainly of enormous value to me. Always please keep in mind that I want to work WITH, and FOR you, because in the end, WE make it happen.
