I.M. Austria will confer the IMA Award 2008 on 6/10/2009 during access 2009, Austria's largest trade fair for congresses, meetings and incentives. As in the previous year, two persons will be honoured for their extraordinary achievements in the Austrian exhibition, event and conference industry: Walter Dermuth, president of Kärntner Messen, and Christoph Berndl, editor of the magazine "Messe & Event".

Date and venue: Tuesday, 6 Oct 2009 at 10 a.m. in the conference rooms of access 2009, Hofburg Vienna.
I.M. Austria invites all members, partners, friends and anyone who might be interested to participate in the ceremony!
The entrance to the ceremony and the exhibition is free of charge. Please register beforehand on www.access-austria.at or directly at the entrance.

Access 2009 will be held on October 5 and 6 at the premises of Hofburg Vienna. I.M.Austria will exhibit with its international Meeting-point at booth no. 1 at the upper end of the staircase (Feststiege).

Award winners:

Walter Dermuth, President of Kärntner Messen Klagenfurt
In Carinthia, the name Walter Dermuth is known for competence in economy, tourism and the exhibition industry. As President of Klagenfurter Messe Betriebsgesellschaft, Mr Dermuth has since 1973 successfully strived towards expanding the exhibition business in Klagenfurt, filling it with new contents and modernizing the infrastructure. The venue, which has been built and enlarged with enthusiasm and vision, today does not have to fear competition. Its trade fairs have become international industry events renowned far beyond Austria's borders.
Although being president of Kärntner Messen means very much to him, Mr Dermuth was and is primarily hotelier, agriculturist and lumberjack. Already in younger days he took over his parents’ farm and purchased a small estate in Pörtschach which should lead to the foundation of three successful hotels – Hotel Dermuth, Parkvilla Wörth and Hotel Sonnengrund. Mr Dermuth and his wife were very much dedicated to both the management of the farm and the setup of the hotels, which are now run by their daughter. As a political person Mr Dermuth has also acted as Economic and Financial Counsellor in the city senate of Klagenfurt and was active in the cooperative system and the Chamber of Commerce Carinthia (Wirtschaftskammer Kärnten).

Christoph Berndl, Editor in Chief of the magazine "Messe & Event" passed editorial training at the publishing house Compress-Verlag. Thereafter he began to work in Bohmann-Verlag where in 2001 he took over the main responsibility for the magazine "Messe & Event". Within a very short time, he succeeded to reposition the medium as Austria's number-one magazine for fairs, event marketing and meetings. Published every two months, it provides high-quality, independent content around the exhibition, event, and convention industries. A few years ago an online multimedia presentation was added to the media family.
Not only through this main occupation, but also as a jury member of the Austrian Trade Fair Marketing Awards, Christoph Berndl has become a major player in the Austrian exhibition and event scene. The series of events “Messe & Event BRANCHENTALK live” founded by him has become one of the most popular regular industry meetings in Austria.
Mr Berndl and his team have contributed decisively to the development and professionalization of the industry. For the 25th anniversary of „Messe & Event“, Christoph Berndl will receive the IMA Award as a representative of the entire editorial staff.