Philippe took over the office immediately and was delighted to receive the vote of confidence.  "It is a tremendous honour to become president of our prestigious institution and to serve our profession. I would like to thank all of you for your confidence and count on you and the new council members to continue improving the professionalism of our industry. In these challenging times where the meetings sector requires the attention of all stakeholders, IAPCO has an important role to play as a Quality driven association. With the implementation of our Quality programme, we can now go a step further and continue with education, commitment to produce events and meetings that are environmentally and socially responsible, branding and other involvement for the development of our members. My goal, says Philippe, is to prepare the members to be ready and get adapted to the changes. Let's lead to change by leading the trend!" he said..

Patrizia Semprebene Buongiorno steps down as President to take up the post of Chairman of the Committee of Ethics, yet a further endorsement of IAPCO's Quality Programme.