146: From Corporate to Convention Bureau with Christoph Tessmar

<p><strong>The Business of Meetings – Episode 146 - From Corporate to Convention Bureau with Christoph Tessmar</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Today we have the great pleasure of speaking with Christoph Tessmar, the Director of the Barcelona Convention Bureau! </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Christoph is well-known all over the world in the meetings and events industry. He has had an incredible journey, from pharmaceuticals to events to becoming the head of the Barcelona Convention Bureau. He joins us today to discuss his journey and to share many fascinating stories!</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We hope you enjoy listening to today’s inspiring conversation with Christoph Tessmar!</span></p> <p><strong>Bio:</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Christoph Tessmar was born in Heidelberg (Germany) on the 3rd of May 1964. After his education, he started his professional career (always in the pharmaceutical industry) in Boehringer Mannheim as an area manager for some countries in South America. In January 1990, he moved to Boehringer Mannheim in Barcelona, where he started with the organization of some events and congresses. In 1999, he joined Sanofi-Aventis Spain, as congress manager. He was in charge of the organization and coordination of all the events of the company (national and international congresses, product presentations, symposia, sales conventions, and booth design) nearly 500 events per year, where he worked until January 2012. Since March 2012, he has been the Director of the Barcelona Convention Bureau. Since April 2019, he has been president of the ICCA Iberian Chapter and a member of the PCMA European Advisory Board.</span></p> <p><strong>Christoph’s story</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Christoph started his career working for a pharmaceutical company in Germany while he was still studying back in 1981. In 1989, he went to Barcelona to work with an affiliate company. He liked it so much that he asked for a permanent position t