IBA European Regional Forum annual retreat

Annalise Papa
Ganado, Valletta
ampapa@ganado.com

Over the course of 16–18 May this year, the IBA European Regional Forum Officers, Council Members and Advisory Board Members held their annual retreat in sunny Santorini under the hospitality of gracious host and colleague Panagiotis Drakopoulos and Drakopoulos law firm who ensured that the event, dubbed ‘THE BIG RETREAT’, went off without a hitch.

In the tranquility of the Tomato Industrial Museum, the group held their working sessions with an agenda full to the brim. Co-Chairs, Massimo Calderan and Anna Dabrowska, welcomed everyone and gave a rundown of the plan for the group as the work kicked off. New and old faces re-introduced themselves as we dove into the latest developments for our group. This being the new guidelines created to enable each band of the group to appropriately assimilate their role whilst also enabling the officers to ensure work is carried out within the necessary timeframes and that membership remains diverse and cohesive. The guidelines were positively welcomed.

As the day progressed, the senior officers introduced and moderated each of the sessions with the advisory board also easing discussion forward with its guiding hand. It was great to hear the views of our Council Members, in particular our newest ones, as to what they would like to contribute to the forum but also what they expect from it and what they feel its thousands of members appreciate. Break-out sessions were held to brainstorm the various conferences organised by the ERF, namely: Fashion and Luxury Law; Automative and Mobility Services; and Start-Ups. Different break out groups also focused on how to improve and carry on the valuable work of the various working parties namely Diversity and Inclusion, Wellbeing, Next Gen, ESG (environmental, social, governance) and Communications. Creativity and collaboration were flowing with many new thoughts and ideas being taken on for the future. The plenary group also considered the current sub-regional composition of the groups within the forum and how they can best collaborate in service to the ERF’s thousands of members and their firms.

Discussion continued during the social events which allowed us to delve deeper not only into how we can best support the Forum to work but also to catch up on our practice areas, client needs and expectations and, for those of us who have collaborated for many years, our personal passions.

It was a very productive time with the help of positive attitudes and sunny weather. Perhaps the most notable item to end this too-brief resume of the experience is the fact that the the retreat was certified by the Gold Standard Impact Registry^[1] as a sustainable event with a zero-carbon footprint, a first for retreats of its kind.