Expert Contributors

Nikki Walker, VP, Global Association Management & Consulting, MCI Group

Nikki Walker has more than thirty years’ experience growing and developing associations around the world. As the Global Vice President of Association Management & Consulting for the MCI Group, she is responsible for defining and implementing the services MCI provides to associations. Prior to her promotion as Global Vice President in 2009, Nikki served as Managing Director of the MCI Brussels office heading a team of some 100 association, communications and event management professionals from 21 countries speaking 23 languages. To further support MCI’s clients’ growth into emerging markets, she moved her global HQ presence to Dubai at the end of 2011. fastbymci.com

Colm Clarke, Partner, Exempla Consulting

Colm is a partner at Brussels-based association and event consultancy Exempla. He has over 15 years’ experience in management services, business events and association management, including leading staff teams and facilitating strategy development for volunteer leadership groups.  Driving change whilst building consensus is central to his work, which usually involves developing vision into organisational structures, educational content, and communications. Curious, and at ease with complexity, Colm combines creative spark with analytical rigour. Always seeking elegant solutions which like the best guitar riffs, appear deceptively simple until we try to replicate them.

Annalisa Ponchia, director of International congress development, AIM Group International

Annalisa Ponchia has deep roots in the industry and has organized conferences and events around the world for the corporate sector, government and associations for the last 30 years. As CEO of the European Society for Organ Transplantation (ESOT) for more than 12 years, she has worked closely with the society to develop its strategic vision, including partnership projects with the pharmaceutical industry, fundraising activities, and marketing and communication. In 2019 she was highly commended as Executive Director of the year at the Associations Awards. www.aimgroupinternational.com

Jane Cunningham, Director of Community Engagement for BestCities Global Alliance

Jane is Director of Community Engagement for BestCities Global Alliance and Global Ambassador for the Joint Industry Meeting Council (JMIC), promoting the positive impact of business events. She has a passion for facilitating engagement between associations and destination stakeholders to promote the positive societal impact that conferences have on a destination. She is also an active member of the International Association of Facilitators where she has just embarked on a six-month mentorship programme and is part of the marketing team to promote the Global Congress in Stockholm. www.bestcities.net #talkswithjane

William Thomson, Gallus Events

William has almost twenty years' experience in dealing with every aspect of an event. William has been carrying out event consultancy for almost ten years. A published author of Successful Events For Not For Profit Organisations, William has been a leading voice in the event industry for many years. He has an impressive list of past clients including some of the largest membership bodies in Europe. William has also worked with the world’s biggest event company Reed Exhibitions and one of the UK’s largest events companies The Concerto Group. Along with his experience William also looks to the future. As a Meeting Designer and past Curator of Europe’s first Event Technology event William works at the cutting edge of events. William has a vast knowledge of the events business and can be seen speaking on various aspects of events across the world. www.gallusevents.co.uk

Ori Lahav, VP Client & Operations Kenes Group

Ori Lahav is Vice President Client & Operations at Kenes Group, the professional congress organiser and association management company. He is also President of IAPCO, the International Association of Professional Congress Organisers.  Ori joined Kenes Group in 2013 and brought 15 years of marketing experience in various fields and companies, ranging from the automotive sector to telecoms. At Kenes Group he is overlooking the core teams responsible for the design, management, and smooth execution of all international clients, conferences and events. He has been recognised for two consecutive years by event professionals as one of Eventex Top 100 Most Influential People in the industry.

Laure Norger – Acting Head of Division – Association Management, K.I.T. Group GmbH

Laure joined K.I.T. Group in 2014 after 9 years’ experience in working for non-profit organisations. After gaining practical experience in a wide array of areas including mental health, human rights and ecological issues, she moved to Geneva to gain a master’s degree in Sustainable Development from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. She then went on to work for a Berlin-based NGO, supporting them with research, communications, and event planning for 4 years. Since joining K.I.T. Group she has helped build and grow the reach of her clients - primarily medical professional associations – by developing membership and communication strategies tailored to their needs. She has also supported clients with in-depth reviews of their governance framework and mechanisms. She’s been an active member of K.I.T. Group’s Sustainability Taskforce since 2016.

Sharon Ashton, events director, EURORDIS-Rare Diseases Europe

Sharon is a creative, accomplished and exacting event management professional whose passion is to design and deliver interactive events that motivate and connect participants and provide platforms for genuine exchange and learning. While delivering events that advocate for better lives for people living with a rare disease, Sharon also strengthens this community by solidifying trust and maintaining credibility. Moreover, Sharon fosters long-term and mutually beneficial relations with key strategic volunteers and wider stakeholder groups to further their respective goals.

The arc of her career spans conferences, capacity-building workshops, symposia, weddings, award ceremonies and fundraising gala dinners of all sizes in Europe, North America and beyond. Whether as a self-employed business owner, a director, or as part of a team, Sharon is a collaborator who stays focused and poised. Her passion for detail – not only in creating an overall strategic framework but also the finer intricacies of the event experience – is unrelenting. Sharon has experience delivering online, hybrid and in-person events with measurable deliverables and proven return on investment. She recently completed a certification programme in online meetings from the Meeting Design Institute.

Ursula Aring

Ursula Aring is an independent consultant in public, government and regulatory affairs. Since 2001, she has worked across the energy, energy management, construction and healthcare sectors in both private and public enterprise.

She designs and executes campaigns to represent business interests to market, media, political and regulatory audiences at national, regional and global levels. A British and Swiss national, Ursula Aring holds a degree from The University of Leeds and further education from the Zurich Universities of Applied Sciences ZHAW and HWZ.