Page 5 - Informed 2018 Issue 2

he added. ‘We have a lot of members
and represent billions of retail turnover annually, which collectively has a real impact on national governments and on the EU as a whole.’
Meanwhile, Kardun hands over the reins with considerable satisfaction about the changes achieved under his watch.
‘I would say that I’m particularly proud of the evolution of our events, in particular the European Conference and the CEO Forum,’ Kardun said. ‘This latter event, initiated in Europe, has been copied on a global level by ICSC. In general, I think that the quality of the content, the participants and the execution of our events has gone up. We’ve made a bold decision to reduce the number of times we meet but to make those moments more pivotal.
Structural change
‘Another thing that we did is revolutionise the way member committees, working groups and national associations are structured,’ Kardun added. ‘By creating different kinds of committees, national councils can also talk to other national councils, while the European Leadership Committee brings together many of the
most relevant executives in the industry, who have influence due to their personal- ity or their position in the world of retail real estate.’ For Wilhelm, these kinds
of grassroots transformations produce profound change throughout ICSC and ultimately the industry.
‘The format of our organisation,
our regional meetings and national
Josip Kardun
conferences has been in need of an evolution and we’re now putting that in place,’ he said. ‘This enables us to garner opinion and insight throughout ICSC which is essential for the organisation’s next step. As the industry generates questions and seeks solutions, we want to be ready to ring the bell on these issues at the EU.’
Chairs old and new meet at the European CEO Forum
ICSC INFORMED | NOVEMBER 2018 | 5