Keynote Speakers
Mr. Gerd Otto-Rieke
Father of Ideas / Moderator - Spoonbill Nest
Date: 8th - 9th December 2019
Gerd Otto-Rieke grew up in Northern Germany and California. After majoring in economics at Hamburg University he worked for the Federal Press Office in Bonn. Between 1980 and 2000 he was editor-in-chief of various business travel publications. Since 2001 he is editor-in-chief of the yearbook “Contemporary Business Travel Management” and the text book series “Travel Management Aktuell". In 2005 he was co-founder of the Safety and Security Committee of VDR The German Business Travel Association which he co-chaired until 2013. He has mentored the ITB Berlin congress Business Travel Days 2005-2017 and co-initiated 2010 the ITB Berlin congress eTravel World.
Mr. Simon Reuter
Futurist Globetrotter - Spoonbill Nest
Talk topic: Not all those who wander are lost - How to turn your passions into a career
Date: 8th December at 15:00
In a world of increasing competitiveness, a gap-free CV seems like the ultimate precondition for a successful career. Simon has a different idea: After years of extensive travels on five continents and versatile studies at different universities, he now is a tourism manager, copywriter, English teacher, marketing expert, tour guide, project developer, and musician. Growing up in rural Germany, Simon has lived, studied, and worked in Cape Town, Berlin, Valparaíso, and Elbasan, and he has turned more than one of his many passions into a professional career. An ultimate defender of gap years as a source of inspiration and life-long learning, Simon believes in the power of detours and aimless exploration.
Ms. Kirsi Hyvaerinen
Eternal Enabler - Spoonbill Nest
Talk topic: Sustainability & Tourism - Why Me, What Now?
Date: 9th December at 13:00
Kirsi Hyvaerinen has worked in the intersection of destinations, associations, NGOs, small and medium-sized businesses, international development agencies, local and national governments since the mid-90s, supporting their joint development from master planning to operational excellence, as well as market access of new nature-based tourism products (e.g. “Wilderness Hiking and Biking Montenegro”, “Peaks of the Balkans”, “Via Dinarica”, wildlife conservation tourism, community-based tourism). As consultant and facilitator, she focuses on sustainable tourism, capacity building, organizational change, product diversification in emerging and developed destinations, branding and marketing. “You help businesses and places keep their promises” described one of her clients.
Prior to founding PRÁTTO Consulting in Montenegro 2013, Kirsi worked as B2B marketer for Latin American destinations and SME (1995-1998), further as a regional DMO director in the Black Forest, supporting new rural, active and cultural tourism development. In her role as a senior advisor (2006 – 2013) to the National Tourism Organisation of Montenegro, she worked closely with the ministry, NTO management, and team, linking with hundreds of national and international stakeholders and partners. In her former position as a specialist of Travel, Leisure and Tourism at KPMG Consulting (later BearingPoint) Kirsi worked 2001-2008 with a diverse range of clients, from leading travel technology providers to emerging destinations. Today, she is co-founder and partner of ITB Advisory, as well as chapter leader of the Travel Massive Montenegro network. Since 2018, she serves on the Management Board of the Global Ecotourism Network.
In education and research, Kirsi is a regular guest lecturer at European universities specializing in sustainable development, tourism management, and marketing. Under her project management since 2003, the VDR Business Travel Report Germany delivers representative facts and trends on occupational mobility. Of Finnish origin, Kirsi loves the great outdoors and its protection is close to her heart. She holds a degree in Business Administration (Tourism Management and Marketing) from Heilbronn University, Germany. Since 2006, her ”basecamp” is in the mountains of Montenegro.
Mr. Vladimir Vulic
Chief Disrupter - Spoonbill Nest
Talk topic: Navigating changes in today's world
Date: 9th December at 15:40
Digital transformation strategist working with organizations both large and small on navigating the challenges and opportunities presented by the digital age.
He has done work for clients such as UNDP Montenegro, Government of Montenegro, Social Innovation Laboratory Zagreb, Publik (for Alkaloid Skopje), Regional School of Public Administration (ReSPA)… He has an extensive experience in delivering training programs for clients including The Coca-Cola Company (Serbian Operations), Roche, Trebjesa Brewery Nikšić (a Molson Coors Company), Crnogorski Telekom (member of Deutsche Telekom Group), Erste Bank Serbia, S-Leasing Serbia, UniCredit Bank Banja Luka, Delhaize Serbia, British Embassy Belgrade, UNICEF Youth Innovation Laboratory Montenegro, GRAWE insurance, Triglav Insurance, Direct Media Montenegro, and British Council Montenegro.
Co-founder of Digitalizuj.Me, a non-governmental organization helping citizens and organizations in Montenegro to understand and realize exciting new opportunities for social change and business in the digital environment. Program Director of Spark.me conference, one of the most carefully curated tech/business conferences in Southeast Europe organized annually since 2013. Recognised as “Project Manager of the Year” by the Association of Montenegrin Managers.
Has 12 years of experience teaching Strategic Management at the University of Montenegro. Keynote speaker in 20 countries across 4 continents, from Peru to Taiwan. Three-time TEDx speaker, including a talk at TEDxZagreb in front of 1,000+ attendees.
Mr. Nikola Jovanović
Keynote Speaker
Talk topic: Entrepreneurship
Date: 9th December at 10:15
Nikola has 20 years of experience in all three sectors, mostly in Human Resources, Communication and IT. He is an accredited Human Synergistics (humansynergistics.com) consultant for personal, team and organizational development and accredited Hofstede Methodology (geert-hofstede.com) consultant for organizational culture.
In the last 5 years, he is also an active researcher of Human Resources practices in global corporations. His work includes several important HR research projects covering 100+ companies globally, on topics such are Talent Management, Leadership & Management Development, connections between Business and People strategies, Corporate Universities, E-learning, Organizational Culture etc.
One of Nikola’s biggest passions is learning. After several years of doing his best to adapt to the system and graduate, he decided to drop out of university and keep learning what he actually likes and feels it's good for him. He believes that was the best decision ever and that he learned more about business from his startup fail than he would ever learn in school. He often writes about all these topics on his blog (www.peckopivo.com) and Linkedin (www.linkedin.com/in/peckopivo). Nikola is a 2 times TEDx speaker. In his first TEDx speech, he spoke about social entrepreneurship and in his second one about formal education system reforms.
Ms. Sanja Gardasevic
Keynote Speaker
Talk topic: "A booming industry, Digital Marketing can be your entry into the world of tech and the future of work that is dynamic, flexible and filled with growth opportunities"
Date: 9th December at 16:20
Sanja Gardasevic is the CEO of Alicorn, a full-service digital marketing agency based in Montenegro. She is a Project Manager at Digitalizuj.me, a digital community trying to help citizens of Montenegro to understand and realize exciting new opportunities the digital world offers, and part of the organizing team at Spark.me, one of the biggest tech/business conferences in Southeast Europe. Sanja recently graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) with an MSc in Psychology of Economic Life. She is a passionate traveler and learner, dreaming of getting a bite of seafood specialties from every national cuisine in the world.
Mr. Moritz Stückler
Keynote Speaker
Talk topic: "No need to wear pants: Computer Science is for everyone"
Date: 9th December at 10:50
Moritz is a Software Developer based in Hamburg, Germany. Computer Science didn't come naturally to him. After failing Maths and Physics in secondary school, he started a career in journalism, moved to San Francisco and worked for multiple German media outlets over the years, writing mostly about Technology, Startups and New Work. Frustrated with the media business, he decided to take the plunge and get a degree in Computer Science. He is now a passionate advocate for Computer Science and Open Source and wants to help getting more people with diverse and non-linear backgrounds into this exciting and rewarding field of work.
Ms. Cate Murden
Keynote Speaker
Talk topic: "Building Resilience in a 21st Century World"
Date: 8th December at 16:15
Cate is the Founder of PUSH, a leading wellbeing and performance company that helps companies be more human. Cate was signed off with stress after a 15-year long career in media. She had a choice: go back to the safe corporate world, or take the chance to make a genuine difference to the industry she had known and loved. She chose the latter and created PUSH. The rest, as they say, is history! PUSH proudly works with the likes of Sainsbury’s Argos, Havas Media, Wieden+Kennedy, Daily Mail Group, Wavemaker and Spotify.
Mr. Georgios Weller
Keynote Speaker
Talk topic: "Your future is disruptive – let’s make the change!"
Date: 9th December at 11:30
Digital transformation consultant from Germany, with Greek roots. Georgios has worked together with governmental institutions as well as with some of the biggest companies, creating sustainable digital innovations and pushing business forward into the transformational age. Starting as a web developer, he than studied economics and computer science and is the founder of Evolvet – a digital agency, focused on digital transformation, with divisions for marketing, design and technology. Travelling much around different countries for business, but also collecting experiences in culture, people and cooking.
Mr. Elvis Kotherja
Game changer - Spoonbill Nest
Talk topic: "Boost the public vocational and training schools/centers in Elbasan/Albania!"
Date: 8th & 9th December
Elvis Kotherja age 38 is General Manager of Elite Travel Group.
He is in charge of entire group business development on all structure cycle, in addition, he is actively dealing with international affairs for inbound tourism activities in Albania and southeast Europe and during all his experience attended many International fairs, conferences, workshops based on the Travel and Tourism developments.
His company has been appointed as a ground handle management office from many International brands, mostly from Western Europe, Asia, Australia, and USA.
His contribution is constant in the social and economic life of the country, and Elite Travel Group has become the first company in Albania (Travelife partner). Training and education for young talents through Elite Academy is part of ETG (Corporate Social Responsibility), focused on the social and economic aspect of sustainability.
Elvis Kotherja has a degree in Business Administration (Marketing) and works in the travel industry since 1999.
Ms. Valbona Lleshi
Talent Management - Spoonbill Nest
Talk topic: "Necessities in Albania’s Education System"
Date: 8th December at 14:45
Valbona is Head of HR& Customer Service in Elite Travel Group. After 13 years of experience as a jurist in public administration she moved to Human Resources. Recruiting is evolving — and so are its defining skill sets. As jobs become more creative, recruiting will become a defining differentiation—and business leaders will take notice. Offering clear career paths is critical to employee happiness, and therefore retention, there is where talent mobility comes in. Talented people shouldn’t miss out on opportunities just because they don’t have strong connections. It’s up to us to reach outside our networks and help close the gap.
Ms. Andrea Naegele
Keynote Speaker
Talk topic: "Guest Service: a valuable & sustainable ingredient to long-lasting success in Tourism"
Date: 9th December at 13:40
Andrea studied Hotel & Tourism Management in Switzerland and worked in luxury hotels and Travel Agencies in the Mediterranean area for several years. Following the call of the Ocean Andrea has now over 25 years’ experience in the Cruise Industry working onboard luxury Cruise Ships operating worldwide – mainly in the position as Cruise Director&Owner’s Onboard Representative.
Because of her profound knowledge and international experience she has been asked to work as a Consultant and Trainer for well-known Cruise Companies since 2010. Andrea is fluent in 7 languages and specialized in Management Trainings & Coaching with high-class expertise in Leadership, Service Minds, Self-Awareness & Mindfulness sessions.
Apart from collaborating with shipping companies Andrea also works for private enterprises of the medical and commercial sector, individual Managers and free-lance project-leading personnel.
Andrea also works as Trainer in collaboration with Progress International and is the co-owner of CENTRO ILIOS DENIA.
Ms. Ana Muça
Speaker
Talk Topic: ''If you think education is expensive, look at how much ignorance will cost you''
Date 08th December
Ana studied ''Economics and Law'' in Elbasan and then continued her postgraduate studies in ''Finance and Banking''.
Currently, Ana is Director at the Commissioner for Protection from Discrimination in the Finance and Human Resources Sector. She has more than 7 years of experience in the field of Finance and Human Resources, mainly in the Tourism sector. Ana also has considerable years of teaching experience at the University of Elbasan, in Private Schools, various training's in the field of Tourism, social corporations, business development, and management training, legal and financial aspects of businesses.
Has a great contribution to the Elite Travel Group Company in Training's and in the process of becoming the first company ''Travelife Partner''. Since 2014 she is a member of the Presidency of the Accounting Council of Albania, branch of Elbasan.
Ana also has experience in Local Government policy-making on numerous Projects undertaken and is currently Vice President of the Elbasaan City Council.
Mrs. Carmen Schrodt
Keynote Speaker
Talk topic: Startup! Youth, it’s your turn!
Date: 8th December at 17:15
Carmen Schrodt is a change driver with more than 25 years of leadership experience in marketing and product management, digitization and business transformation projects in large companies like Deutsche Bahn, ITS, KUONI, AVIS.
Holder of an MBA Degree from Kellogg`s & WHU Business Schools and a Degree in Business Administration in Tourism, she first helped start-up KUONI Fernreisenin marketing/sales then facilitated Lufthansa and P&O Ferry marketing as an account manager. For German DB passenger rail Carmen then developed tourism product lines, headed large scale business transformation projects implementing revenue management, CRM, marketing automation, lean Customer Service and managed the DB Loyalty Programme with over 5 Mio members.
While serving AVIS as head of marketing she experienced how hard turn around can be and teamed up with her European peers to set up a group-wide CRM. AsDB Systel Scopemanager for mobile solutions she was a catalyst for DB Group enterprise and consumer Apps.
In 2015, after earning an additional degree in online marketing and one in adventure-based group counsellingCarmendecided it was time to live her dreams and founded ACTIVIGO, an outdoor activity group tour operator and team-building event provider. She develops it as slow pace since she also successfully consulted 10Start-Ups and successfully works as a freelance business consultant and project manager for digitization, business transformation, tenders and multichannel marketing for travel &tourism and IT industry large to small Enterprises such as DB Regio, Ameropa, LPsolutions.
Occasionally she shares her project management know-how in online-trainings and ventures into adventure-based team trainings. Carmen was speaker on 2 CRM conferences and keeps her knowledge up to date with regular visits of marketing, tourism & travel conferences and fairs and continuously broadens her mind with vocational education, e.g. design thinking, agile leadership, social media marketing.
Lover of social giving back, Carmen serves as treasurer in a sports association, inspires kids for preschool sport and ladies for functional fitness.
Carmen lives in the lovely short break region Hochtaunus, north of Frankfurt, together with her 2 sons, aged 16 and 18 and her husband. She is also often found in Montenegro, kiting and hiking and lately in Albania, which she first visited in 2018. Carmen is fond of outdoor sports, including ski touring, mountain biking and travelling.
Mrs. Adriana Kotherja
Speaker
Talk topic: Introduction Elite Academy & Spoonbill Nest
Date: 8th December at 14:30
Adriana Dodbiba Kotherja is the Head of Purchase and Contracting Department in Elite Travel Group and passionate Trainee of Elite Travel Academy, which is helping, training and motivating plenty of teenagers to achieve success. Before devoting full-time work in ETG, Adriana served as a Finance Officer and Human resources in ADP and Credit and Loan Officer in Opportunity Albania.
Adriana has a long CV immediate after she graduates the Faculty of Economics including more than 20 training, qualifications inside and outside Albania, which includes Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility, London, Paris, Barcelona Destination Courses, Train the Trainers International. Adriana thinks that with hard work and passion for what you are doing is the key to your goals.