(openPR) - EFMC 2009 - THE European Facility Management Conference
16th and 17th June 2009, Okura Hotel, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Duesseldorf/Amsterdam, May 2009. The facility management (FM) industry can benefit from times of crisis, but has to be prepared. At the "European Facility Management Conference 2009" (EFMC) on 16th and 17th June in Amsterdam, more than 50 top speakers from Europe and abroad will allude to strategies, profitability and sustainability of FM (www.efmc2009.com). "The current international economic crisis has underpinned the fact that 'the only thing certain about the future is change'. This is certainly true for the business and profession of FM," says Per Anker Jensen, Professor at the Technical University of Denmark and Chairman of the EFMC 2009 Research Symposium Organising Committee. "We need to consider the possible futures for our field and take the necessary steps to improve and survive. The time is right to join forces and develop a joint research and action agenda for the FM profession. EFMC 2009 is a unique opportunity to be a part of and influence the creation of a common FM future."

FM faces challenges
"The current economic situation is a big challenge for facility management," declares Dr. Ab G. Reitsma, Senior Lecturer at Hanze University Groningen (NL). "In that perspective, organisations need much more FM professionals who act as leaders instead of managers who try to control and only do cost cutting. Inspiration, trust, creativity, innovation and keep on learning from each other are critical factors. With regard to the latter, EFMC should stay the platform for knowledge creation and circulation, also and especially when FM business is under pressure." Ilfryn Price, Professor at the Facilities Management Graduate Centre of Sheffield Hallam University (UK), addresses both chances and demands: "For me the key challenge for FM remains that of evidencing its contribution to particular businesses in specific, business relevant language."

Outsourcing, workplace trends and FM future research
"One world, different problems - joint efforts, sustainable solutions" is the motto of EFMC 2009. Keynote speeches will be delivered by Slovenian Cultural Ambassador Miha Pogacnik, concert violinist and entrepreneur, and by Rob Creemers, Dutch industry trend watcher. Creemers will go into the development of FM, considering global and European challenges. Magnus Kuchler, Partner at Ernst & Young in Sweden, will host the "FM debate of the year" addressing the issue of outsourcing. In order to underline the collaboration of economy and science, the Business Conference and the parallel Research Symposium will be networked. Process and risk management, service performance, usability, spatial layout and the EFMC Action Agenda 2015 will be some of the topics of the Research Symposium.

Exchange between practitioners, scientists and students
The EFMC is hosted by the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) and the European Facility Management Network (EuroFM). This year's event will be supported by more than 30 national FM associations - in particular Facility Management Nederland (FMN) and IFMA-Holland - and more than 40 research and educational organizations. Leading FM service providers such as Echelon, Planon and the International Facility Alliance will be exhibitors at EFMC 2009. The social programme will comprise a welcome reception, a student poster session and a gala dinner on the occasion of the European FM Award Ceremony. The four award categories are: partners across borders, European FM of the year, European FM researcher of the year and European FM student of the year. "EFMC offers a unique meeting platform between professionals, academics and students to change the state of the art in FM and establish proactive networking," Thomas Madritsch, Professor at Kufstein University of Applied Sciences (Austria), points out. Information on the event programme is available on the internet at: www.efmc2009.com.

Contact:
Carsten M. Stammen
Press Officer
IBC Euroforum GmbH (Informa Group)
Prinzenallee 3
D-40549 Duesseldorf
Phone: +49 (0) 211 / 96 86-3390
Email: carsten.stammen@informa.com

This announcement is originally distributed by Hugin.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement