In early September, at our first formal Supervisory Committee (SC) meeting with the Management after the Sarajevo Conference, Markus Blank informed us of his decision to stand down as Managing Director. While we all deeply regretted this news, we could also fully appreciate Markus’ reasons: a growing family and, at the same time, greater responsibilities in his full-time job at the Gesäuse National Park.
Markus and Thorsten proposed that Helena Vičič could succeed Markus as the new Managing Director. Helena is currently IE’s Office Manager and perfectly familiar with IE’s business, as well as being well-known and well-liked among the membership. We all agreed that Helena would be an ideal candidate. Helena subsequently confirmed her readiness to take on the responsibility of Director and legal representative for the association.
Markus will continue to serve until the end of 2019. Helena’s official appointment will take place at our next formal SC meeting in December, so that the change can take effect on 1 January 2020. At present, Helena is getting familiar with her new responsibilities to assure a smooth transition by the turn of the year.
We want to express our gratefulness to both; Markus for all he has done and is still doing for Interpret Europe, and Helena for her willingness to step in, embracing a big task.