By Jovan Krstevski
Sylvie Ritter, the Managing Director of Baselworld decides to step down from her position at the MCH Group after being in the office for 26 years. Succeeding her is one Michel Loris-Melikoff who has until now held the position of Director of MCH Beaulieu Lausanne SA.
“After 26 years with the MCH Group – 15 of which were as Managing Director of Baselworld – it’s time for me to start something new and take on new challenges”, the very words of Sylvie Ritter on her resignation.
Sylvie Ritter has led and guided Baselworld with passion and expertise. She made it to the industry’s flagship event. In gratitude of her services are the members of the “Comité Consultatif” who will certainly miss her strategic positioning of the show in a manner commensurate with the market and for the always excellent organization of Baselworld in operational terms.
François Thiébaud, President of the Swiss Exhibitors’ Committee mentioned that “Sylvie Ritter has made her mark on Baselworld for decades and has been the most important personal contact for the exhibitors at Baselworld.” Eric Bertrand, President of the Baselworld Exhibitors’ Committee also said that “we have always appreciated her exceptional commitment and her excellent knowledge of the industry.”
One CEO René Kamm stresses that the departure of Sylvie Ritter from the MCH group is greatly regretted for “she has shaped and directed Baselworld with great passion and professionalism. We very much regret her departure and I would like to thank her on behalf of the entire MCH Group for her extraordinary commitment during her many years of activity within our company.”
As for the soon to be managing director, Michel Loris-Melikoff joined the MCH Group three years ago as Director of MCH Beaulieu Lausanne SA. On 1 July 2018, the transfer of management will be realized. “We are pleased to have found a very competent successor in Michel Loris-Melikoff,” René Kamm’s words.
The 53-year-old lawyer Michel Loris-Melikoff started his career in private banking before entering the event industry 20 years ago. He has the experience to boot. His experiences include 6 years as President of the Zurich Street Parade where he took over the management of an event agency that drew up and implemented concepts for national and international events staged by international sports associations, public entities and private companies. He also took over as Managing Director of the “St. Jakobshalle” in Basel.
Within the MCH Group, Michel Loris-Melikoff achieved significant progresses in Lausanne and the smooth handover of the running of Beaulieu Lausanne to the Fondation de Beaulieu is now assured.
Good things ahead for the Baselworld team as the soon to be managing director stated that, “we will be expanding the Baselworld team and further developing the event to continue along the path of quality enhancement and to meet the challenges of the future. We will also be setting new accents so as to position Baselworld as the leading marketing and communication platform for the industry. We are tackling this task with a large number of new ideas and with valuable inputs from exhibitors, visitors and the media.”
For us horology fans, we can only expect new concepts for the watch and precious stone sectors and more innovations in the fields of catering, hospitality and events so as to meet the requirements of exhibitors and visitors to an even better extent. The Baselworld 2019 will be open the whole day for the media representatives. I like the combination of old and new since the “Baselworld Daily News”, will be in printed form again but the digital information and communication offerings launched in 2018 will also be intensified and supplemented by new services for exhibitors, visitors and the media.
