Board of Directors

Chair IFEA Europe:

Allan Xenius Grige -Founder CACC Copenhagen Arts & Culture Consult, Denmark
consultant, and cultural innovator Allan Xenius Grige has more than 24 years' experience in the international performing arts and cultural management industry.

He spent 10 years in international sales, marketing, tour management, community service, and event development for the multicultural, educational performance group "Up with People" in North America and Europe. He also served 3 years as the organisation's European Communications and Admissions Director. He was marketing co-ordinator for the DR National Symphony Orchestra and Choir during Copenhagen's year as EU Cultural Capital 1996.

Prior to founding CACC in 2006, he spent 3 years as General Manager of the DR Copenhagen Concert Hall in its pre-launch phase, developing operations for Denmark's new national concert hall designed by Jean Nouvel and operated in the framework of DR Danish Broadcasting Corporation. He is also a member of the International Society for the Performing Arts, American Club in Copenhagen, and Danish Marketing Forum.

Treasurer IFEA Europe:

Colm Croffy - Chairman of the Association of Irish Festivals & Events (AOIFE), Ireland
During his time with the Republic of Ireland's Mary From Dungloe Festival, Croffy became instrumental in linking the festival with a committee from the Ballyclare Festival in Northern Ireland as part of the program for peace and reconciliation in this country. When he became Executive of the AOIFE, he expanded this highly successful linkage concept to cover all festivals in Northern Ireland with the border counties of the Republic of Ireland.

Under Croffy's leadership, the AOIFE has grown to more than 360 festivals. He has helped the festival sector and with it the people of Ireland through the Community Festivals Networking Programme. The program, devised by Croffy in conjunction with the charity Hospitality Ireland, is aimed at using tourism as a global industry to promote peace and understanding between the people of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Secretary IFEA Europe:

Phillip Long - CTCC - Leeds Metropolitan University, England
Dr Philip Long is Principal Research Fellow and Assistant Director at the Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change, Leeds Metropolitan University.

He is a Council of Management member of the Tourism Management Institute, the professional body for destination managers in the UK. He leads on research and professional development programmes for these associations.

His research interests include the relationships between festivals, cultural events and tourism, with particular attention to diaspora community and sub-cultural festivals and their tourism dimensions. A second area of interest centres on social exclusion and tourism. In contrast, he also has an interest in the relationships between royalty and tourism. A third area concerns connections between tourism and the media. Partnerships and collaboration in tourism development is Phil's fourth main area of research interest.

Directors:

Maria Anderberg - Talarforum i Skandinavien AB, Sweden
Project leader and producer in arts and culture within theatre, community arts, cultural institutions and multi-national companies with more than 20 years of experience.

Maria has worked as a musician and journalist, in Sweden and international, and has for many years been a consultant and cultural policy advisor for both the cultural sector and the industry. Since 2005 she works at Talarforum i Skandinavien AB, Sweden, with competence exchange between arts and business and as a speaker- and artist booking consultant. Her education is grounded firmly in agriculture and leadership.

William Culver Dodds - Director of Harrogate International Festival, UK

 

 

 

 
Steven Wood Schmader, CFEE, President & CEO IFEA World

Jacco van Mierlo, NHTV Expertise Center Event Management, Netherlands

Sif Gunnarsdottir, Reykjavik Winter Festival, Iceland

Sif Gunnarsdóttir has recently taken the post as director of Visit Reykjavik, but had worked at the office since it's start in 2002 as events manager. Visit Reykjavik is both a destination marketing office for the City of Reykjavik as well as a festival office being responsible for festivals such as Culture Night, Winter Lights Festival, Festival of the Sea and others.

Sif studied danish at the University of Iceland. After receiving her B.A. she worked as journalist for two years at the Icelandic State Radio after which she finished a masters degree in Cultural Studies at the University in Odense in Denmark. Sif has written about films both for radio and newspapers and has been on the jury of the Nordic Film Price since 2002.

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