Licensing New Europe 2010 - International Licensing and Merchandising Show and Conference, 11th-13th November 2010

During the two Conference days 28 lectures, presentations and panels were held by presenters like are:
Carl Lumbard, Vice President & Managing Director, 20th Century Fox Consumer Products;
Dr. Sc. Igor Matutinović, Managing Director, GfK Research Agency;
Ciaran Coyle, Managing Director, Beanstalk Group;
Francesca Ash, Total Licensing;
Christophe Macht, BRANDORA
Ira Mayer, Publisher - The licensing Letter, President - EPM Communications;
Pete Canalichio, Vice president, Licensing Brands Inc.;
Martin Brochstein, Senior Vice President LIMA, Industry Relations and Information;
Richard Gottlieb, President, Richard Gottlieb's USA Toy Experts;
Linas Liubinskas, Managing Director, Consult Consortium;
Ivana Galić, Managing Director, Croatia Film;
Oksana Anatolivna Parheta, Ukraine State Department for Intellectual Property

During three Show days 31 exhibitors like 20th Century Fox Consumer Products, KIDZ EEMC, Plus License AB, ELC - European Licensing Company, Freemantle Media, Bruno Productions, Europacorp, VIPO Land GmbH, Live … were exhibiting with total of 150 licensing properties.
… and the entire event attended 350 participants.

The conference and exhibition were extraordinary opportunities for companies, institutions and individuals from the Republic of Croatia and broader region to get a practical knowledge and experience and to conclude business arrangements with leading foreign companies experienced in this very lucrative the industry.

According to the information from exhibitors, majority of them were satisfied with the quality of meetings and the new business contacts they have achieved as it seems that certain number of a new licensing deals shall be concluded.

They have said about the Licensing New Europe 2010 Show and Conference:

Peter Schnohr, Director/COO, KIDZ EEMC: “We like the show. We can always discuss can it be bigger, smaller or something else, but for beginning we think it’s ok. We think that this was a successful first show for us and we would like to come back. To quote Carl Lumbard (VP & MD, 20th Century Fox Consumer Products) he said it was three really good days and because travelling was fairly easier he didn't mind spending those days. That was said by the European top guy for Fox License, so you can't get anything higher than that. His coming is a kind of a “green stamp” for the entire show. In the same time it is a clear sign from the Fox that they perceive this region as very important for them.”

Marty Brochstein, Senior Vice President LIMA: „I came to the show because this is a significant licensing event in this part of the word. I think that the educational aspect is particularly important for the people of the New Europe to learn and understand the Licensing business. I am glad to say that the Conference part was very comprehensive and very well structured and that it served that purpose. As addition to what I have already known I personally have learned a lot about the countries of the New Europe.”

Francesca Ash, Total Licensing: “For us it was successful. We have met lots of a new people from the region. It is very important for us that we begin to understand how does the relationships within the region are working and how this region works based on those relationships - and that is something that we didn’t understand before. We are glad to see that this year show is bigger than the last year and that it has an enormous growth potential. In needs to be promoted so that more and more people understand Licensing, and what it is about.”

The event started with the inauguration banquet on November 11th at which Mr. Charles Riotto, LIMA's president appointed company Creata Ltd. from Zagreb, Croatia as a representatives of the New Europe region, and Mr. Zeljko (William) Krnjak as the LIMA representative for the New Europe.*

The next day, November 12th, in the Hypo Expo Centre in the behalf of the LIMA, Mr. Riotto has officially opened the 2nd Licensing New Europe 2010 Show & Conference, together with the organizer Mr. Goran Krnjak, Creata Ltd. managing director. On the behalf of the city mayor of Zagreb, Mr. Milan Bandic visitors were welcomed by his deputy Mrs. Jelena Vukicevic Pavicic. And on the behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Mrs. Dubravka Vlasic Plese MSc, Director General of the Directorate for Coordination and Monitoring of Adaptation to EU Legal System, has wished everyone a successful operation and excellent businesses results with the hope that this event will contribute to the development of Croatian brands and characters and that they will find their place on a very large market of New Europe. Mrs. Dubravka Vlasic Plese characterized this initiative as a positive example of the entrepreneurship.

One of the goals of this event is in positioning Croatia as an excellence center for the acquisition of knowledge about development and trade of intellectual property for the New Europe region.

This goal was recognized by Prof. Dr. Sc. Ivo Josipovic, President of the Republic of Croatian. In his letter of support to the organizers he described this manifestation as a way for Croatia to achieve the objectives of the National strategy for development of intellectual property, and thereby creating an environment for creative and innovative development of economic activities. He considered this conference as necessary and important, as it contributes to strengthening bilateral and regional cooperation by following up with global trends and activities.