Easy Fairs with new managing director

Hieber thus takes over the position from Peter A. Cologna, who left the company on May 31, 2013. Siegbert Hieber has been with Easy Fairs for a total of three and a half years. In January 2010, he had taken over as managing director for Germany and Austria. He already has over twelve years of trade fair experience. He started at Messe München in the IT sector via his diploma thesis on the subject of sales strategies for Central Eastern European countries: "Via a short stay abroad, I then ended up at GHM Gesellschaft für Handwerksmessen, with the aim of doing craft-oriented trade fairs." At GHM Gesellschaft für Handwerksmessen, Hieber had already been in charge of various trade fairs as a project officer and moved to the international craft trade fair. At the international craft fair, Hieber had spent four years as project manager for the entire international craft fair, for whose development and implementation he was responsible.

According to the press release, the current decision pursues several goals at once. Siegbert Hieber explains: "We are now active in 16 countries in Europe. Easy Fairs was founded in 2004 in Belgium, where our headquarters are still located. We now organize between 80 and 90 trade fairs a year throughout Europe. The next steps are: Which trade show themes fit us best, how can we further develop these trade show themes, how can we make them even more interesting for our trade visitors, and how do we have to design the trade shows to be absolutely future-proof."

Preserve Swiss identity

For Siegbert Hieber, the decision to bring all three countries together under one management has a common denominator: "Here, we don't just have German as an official language. I think it is crucial that we have our own identity here and that we also do trade shows tailored to the Swiss market. From that point of view, the office here in Muttenz and also the trade fair teams will remain on site, because we also need the competence in the country. The idea is, where can we coordinate better, where can we also communicate exhibitors back and forth between the two countries more efficiently. The crucial point is communication. For me, it is important that we retain the Swiss characteristics. After all, we also organize Austria from Munich. You can't adapt that 1:1 and it's similar with Switzerland. We want to keep the Swiss and all the positive things and continue to expand the trade show portfolio together."