Petra Cullmann and Bernd Jablonowski Appointed as Heads of Operative Business Division for Messe Düsseldorf GmbH
- Published: May 27, 2020
At its meeting on May 29, the Finance and HR Committee of Messe Düsseldorf GmbH, chaired by its Chairman, Lord Mayor Thomas Geisel, appointed Petra Cullmann and Bernd Jablonowski as heads of the Operative Business Division. Both will take up their new duties on July 1, 2020. Cullmann is the first woman to be promoted to the trade fair company’s Board of Managing Directors.
“We are delighted that the Supervisory Board followed our recommendation to appoint Petra Cullmann and Bernd Jablonowski as heads of the Operative Business Division. “Their many years of trade fair expertise in Germany and abroad, their outstanding knowledge of the industry in Messe Düsseldorf's portfolios and their leadership experience make them ideal candidates to position our company for the future,” said Werner M. Dornscheidt, president & CEO of Messe Düsseldorf. Together with Michael Degen, Head of Division and Power of Attorney Domestic Trade Fairs, Clemens Hauser, head of division and power of attorney technology, and Dr. Christian Plenge, head of division and power of attorney digital strategies and communication, Petra Cullmann and Bernd Jablonowski will join the Messe Düsseldorf Board of Managing Directors as heads of division and power of attorney. Lord Mayor Thomas Geisel added: “With Petra Cullmann and Bernd Jablonowski, Messe Düsseldorf trade has an internationally experienced operational team for the upcoming challenges in the trade fair business.”
Cullmann has been with Messe Düsseldorf for almost 30 years. She started her career as a trainee in January 1991. After working in the Protocol Department for four years she joined Messe Düsseldorf Asia in Singapore as corporate PR and protocol manager/foreign representation in 1996. From 1999 to 2000 she was responsible as the head of the sports marketing department in cooperation with Deutsche Sport Marketing for the organization of the “Deutsches Haus” at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney/Australia. In 2001 she returned to Düsseldorf where she built up the partner and guest events division, which she managed for 16 years. In 2007 she also took over the management of the K trade fair as a director before assuming responsibility for the Global Portfolio Plastics & Rubber as the Global Portfolio Director in 2015. In her new position Cullmann will report to Erhard Wienkamp, managing director operative Trade Fair Business,
This year Jablonowski celebrates his 25th year with Messe Düsseldorf. In 1995 he started as a sales manager at Nowea International. From 1999 to 2004 he was in Russia: first as a head of the Moscow subsidiary, Nowea International and then of Messe Düsseldorf starting in 2002. At the same time, he also served as the first managing director of Messe Düsseldorf Moscow from 2002 to 2004. In 2004 he returned to Düsseldorf. Until 2008 he worked as a project director and then as the director of interpack until 2015. Since 2015 he has been responsible for the Global Portfolio Packaging & Processing as the Global Portfolio Director. In his new position Bernd Jablonowski will report to the new president and CEO of Messe Düsseldorf, Wolfram N. Diener.
