Manuel Mataré to hand over operational management to Sabine Geldermann
 
Starting next year, Manuel Mataré, Director of the drupa and digi:media trade fairs, will gradually withdraw from the operational management and hand over the projects to his successor Sabine Geldermann to ensure continuity. This transition phase will run until the end of the second quarter of 2013, after which Manuel Mataré will support the drupa and digi:media teams in a consulting capacity. "As hard as this step is for me, I have to slow down for health reasons," said Manuel Mataré. "I am convinced that this solution is in the best interest of all parties involved and will ensure continued successful development of drupa and digi:media."
 
Manuel Mataré has been working with Messe Düsseldorf as Project Director and Division Director for 25 years. Since 1994 he has been in charge of drupa and further developed the internationalization of the trade fair. During his time, drupa was also re-positioned as the leading international trade fair for print media, publishing and converting with a new corporate design featuring the pixel logo.

By appointing Sabine Geldermann as the new drupa and digi:media Director, Messe Düsseldorf placed priority in key exhibition and sector competence. She served as a Project Director in charge of the leading European trade fair for advertising materials (PSI) as well as the International Franchise Fair of Blenheim International (Germany), a globally operating British exhibition organizer. She experienced both the merger of Blenheim International with Miller Freeman in 1996 as well as the take-over by Reed Exhibitions, the world's largest privately owned exhibition organizer. As PSI Director she has been a member of the extended board of Reed Exhibitions Germany since 2000 and has contributed to the positive development of new exhibition topics. In 2000 she was responsible for viscom (International Trade Fair for Visual Communication, Technology and Design) and PRO SiGN (International Trade Fair for Advertising Technology and Digital Printing). Since 2009 she has been a member of Division Management at the German Engineering Association VDI (with nearly 150,000 members) where she is responsible for distribution and marketing as well as the recruitment of strategic partners. "I very much look forward to this new professional challenge and am confident that my excellent network in the technical-scientific world in conjunction with my international trade fair experience are the ideal basis for this," stated Sabine Geldermann.
 
For further information about drupa or digi:media, contact Messe Düsseldorf North America, 150 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 2920, Chicago, IL 60601. Telephone: (312) 781-5180; Fax: (312) 781-5188; E-mail: [email protected]; Visit our web site http://www.mdna.com; Subscribe to our blog at http://blog.mdna.com; Follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/Printing_MDNA