Kenes to Launch Global Pound Conference Series

Geneva, Switzerland, December 20, 2015 – Kenes Group, a leading Professional Conference Organiser (PCO) and Association Management Company (AMC) is pleased to announce its recent partnership with International Mediation Institute (IMI), a non-profit public interest initiative based in the Netherlands that drives transparency and high competency standards into mediation practice across all fields. As part of the agreement, Kenes will supervise and coordinate a series of international IMI-hosted events, entitled Global Pound Conference (GPC) Series 2016-17. Over 26 countries worldwide have already committed to holding a GPC event, with more being added. The launch will take place at a two-day conference in Singapore, 17-18 March, 2016 with the last event scheduled for London in July 2017.

An important milestone win for Kenes, partnering with IMI to supervise the GPC Series is a prime example of Kenes’ unique ability to initiate, develop and fundamentally build a meeting from the ground up. Kenes formulated a detailed strategic plan that included the meeting concept, objectives, target audience and more importantly, translating the GPC Series into a viable conference brand. All promotional and marketing activities, including real-time action and tasks, will be facilitated by Kenes and GPC stakeholders. Dan Rivlin, Kenes CEO, is an esteemed member of the GPC’s Central Organising Group (COG) Executive Committee. Appointed by the Board of IMI, the Committee is responsible for leading, supporting and overseeing the implementation of the GPC Series.

The GPC Series will convene all stakeholders in dispute resolution – commercial parties, chambers of commerce, business executives, entrepreneurs, lawyers, academics, judges, arbitrators, mediators, policy makers, government officials, and others – at conferences around the world. The Series will cover all forms of dispute resolution, as well as possible ways of combining them, and what choices disputants have today for resolving disputes. It will also look at how to provide access to appropriate justice systems for the future.

“The meetings will provoke debate on existing tools and techniques, stimulate new ideas and generate actionable data on what dispute resolution users actually need and want,” commented Michael McIlwrath, GPC Executive Committee Chair and Global Chief Litigation Counsel, GE Oil & Gas Division. “We are truly excited to be on board with Kenes for these milestone events. The GPC is primed and ready to be promoted and appreciated on a global scale, usher in new delegates and new supporters. It is Kenes’ longstanding reputation and experience in initiating and growing meetings such as ours that we are confident the entire series will yield overwhelming success,” he added.

Comments Dan Rivlin, Kenes CEO, “We could not be prouder of our distinguished new client, IMI and the opportunity to support a vital global meeting series such as the GPC and how these events play a pivotal role in all of our futures. The GPC Series is in keeping with Kenes’ commitment to helping shape the community and the world in which we live by gathering together industry experts, researchers and key stakeholders. This is indeed an opportunity for Kenes to substantially increase the GPC brand, recognize its unique offering and to promote and share it around the globe.”

For more information and conference registration, visit www.globalpoundconference.org

About IMI
Headquartered in the Netherlands, International Mediation Institute (IMI) is a non-profit public interest initiative to drive transparency and high competency standards into mediation practice across all fields, worldwide. IMI is the only organization in the world to transcend local jurisdictions to develop global, professional standards for experienced mediators, advocates and others involved in collaborative dispute resolution and negotiation processes. IMI also convenes stakeholders, promotes understanding and disseminates skills, all in a non-service provider capacity. Promoting a better, less adversarial access to justice, IMI programs and standards add value to the quality and transparency of conflict management, thereby facilitating consistent, credible, and ultimately more satisfactory outcomes to those who desire it most – the users. For more information, visit the website at:

About GPC
The Global Pound Conference (GPC) is a seminal event that led to the birth of modern dispute resolution systems was the Pound Conference in St Paul, MN, USA in April 1976. Named in honour of Roscoe Pound, the reforming Dean of Harvard Law School in the 1920s and 30s, the theme of the original Pound Conference was: Agenda for 2000AD – The Need for Systematic Anticipation. Professor Frank E.A. Sander of Harvard Law School proposed that alternative forms of dispute resolution should be used to reduce reliance on conventional litigation, and overcome reluctance to use other dispute resolution options. The 1976 Pound Conferences is credited with having sparked many changes in the US justice system in the decades that followed, including the creation of the “multi-door courthouse” to provide more procedural choices to disputants. The Global Pound Conference Series aims to build a global conversation around developing dispute resolution techniques in the tradition of the original Pound Conference. Visit www.globalpoundconference.org.

For more information, contact:

Magdalina Atanassova

Marketing Communications Manager

Email. matanassova(at)kenes(dot)com