As ESOMAR President I would like to begin by expressing my sincerest gratitude to the ESOMAR staff who warmly and professionally welcomed us to the office, and to the Council Members who were elected or reelected, for their involvement in our Community. I am thankful to the previous Council team who worked hard with the ESOMAR team to build solid foundations in terms of internal transformation and management. I would like to express my sincere thanks specifically to Ray Poynter, President ex officio for his time, precision and experience in briefing me to ease the transition.
This first meeting was dedicated to onboarding the new team with some key and very important information. We started our meeting by a presentation on legalities brilliantly and clearly prepared and shared by Alexander Singewald, Lawyer and ESOMAR Secretary, on Council responsibilities, duties, power and limitations. Alexander brings his expertise as a Dutch lawyer as well as an important advisory role.
Then, Joaquim Bretcha, ESOMAR Director General, presented us some key facts, bringing light the most relevant industry and ESOMAR data and dates. We ended this intense day by a short introduction of each Council Member and we were joined by ESOMAR Managers for dinner.
Our second day was a more traditional Council meeting with reports from ESOMAR Managers on:
Government Affairs, Professional Standards & Intelligence Unit, led by Xabier Palacio who presented his team and the important role of this department, one of Esomar specific value added.
Rhiannon Bryant, Chief Services Officer, shared updates with Angela Canin and Nordin Ahyoud, on membership, events and Digital Transformation project.
Angela Fusaro, our new Human Resources Manager showed in her plan the willingness to bring a culture of innovation, excellence and performance into the management to elevate our practices.
The finance report including the asset portfolio dynamics was presented by Marcel Dekker who presented the YTD vs 2025 budget.
In this first Council meeting, following the Council Rules, we elected our two Vice President roles. I am lucky to be leading the EXECO with two highly experienced people from previous Council:
Corinne Moy, past Treasurer. Corinne will bring her expertise of the Financial aspect;
Tom De Ruyck, past Vice President, with extensive experience in transformation.
2025 is dedicated to some major pillars and date to drive performance and to elevate our Industry in the perspective of our ‘Member Centricity’ approach:
The revision of the Code, including key topics such as the growing use of AI, diversity and inclusion, more attention in duty of care. The General Assembly and the vote are scheduled on June 12th 2025.
The Digital Transformation project enabling more dedicated benefits and a truly member centric experience, with a pre-launch for Congress.
Our Annual Congress in Prague ‘Reimagine’ (28th September to 1st October). I invite you all to join us and to reimagine the future all together!
Our next meeting (online) is scheduled on May 23rd.
