Meet the faces behind ICCA's famous First Time Attendee programme! ICCA places huge importance on giving First Time Attendees (New-Bees) at the ICCA Congress a very warm welcome. Each year, just before the ICCA Congress begins, new attendees are invited to join a specialised session that aims to prepare them for success. Jam-packed full of helpful advice that is delivered from member to member, the programme has been delivered to over 3,000 delegates since it initially began and is designed with care to help them network, do business, learn, and maximise the benefits of attending their first ICCA Congress.

At the centre of the entire programme are the people we couldn’t do it without: our mentors, an amazing group of ICCA members and #ICCAFriends who are Congress veterans and want to help support and steer our New-Bees as they join the ICCA Family.

Diana Frederiksen

Diana Frederiksen is a Business Development Manager at Stockholmsmässan Congress & Exhibition Center in Sweden. Stockholmsmässan is one of Scandinavia’s largest venues with over 70 000sqm exhibition space and 76 meeting rooms. Diana first joined the company on the exhibition side, working on-site with exhibitors, stand constructors and the productions teams in building and planning for exhibitions. Since 2017, she works in the congresses & guest events department, managing the international events market which focuses on associations and corporate events from planners in the UK, US and Central Europe. Since 2018, she has been based in London, UK on behalf of Stockholmsmässan.

She has attended the ICCA Forum For Young Professionals in 2018 and is currently a founding member of the ICCA Future Leaders Council term 2021-2023. In 2020, she was appointed one of the PCMA 20intheirTwenties Future Leaders and Diana has also been a part of industry mentorship programmes such as FastForward15, which targets mentorship for women in events specifically.

Diana studied Economics and English at university, has lived in Libya, Hong Kong and The Philippines, has a 5th Dan in Tae Kwon Do and is a passionate (albeit not very good) karaoke singer. Ironically, she is also afraid of bees – but looks forward to meeting her hive in Paris this year!

Thank you Diana, for being a mentor to our New-Bees! Are you interested in helping our New-Bees to settle in? Please email Ksenija.p@iccaworld.org to find out how you can become a mentor.

Let’s get social by using the following hashtags: #ICCANewBee #ICCAMentorBee #LetsGetBuzzing #ICCA2021