News from Geneva

Season s Greetings

Our very best wishes for a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year!

The staff of the IPLOCA Secretariat and the Board of Directors would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the work of the Association during this past year.

We are grateful to you for your expertise, the time you have shared with us, and, of course, greatly appreciate your friendships! In 2025, we are excited to continue supporting our members as the industry transitions to new energy resources.

Welcoming our new Convention Manager – Isabelle Bourzeix

Isabelle Bourzeix joined IPLOCA as Convention Manager in October 2024, bringing with her over two decades of experience in event and administrative management.

Prior to IPLOCA, Isabelle held positions with international organisations in the medical and scientific sectors, including FDI World Dental Federation and Kenes Group, one of the world’s leading professional congress organisers and association management companies, where she developed a keen understanding of business-oriented conventions. As the manager of IPLOCA’s Annual Convention, she is responsible for contract negotiations with suppliers, programme definition, sponsorships and on-site management of the programme. Isabelle is a French citizen, who speaks fluent English and some German. She loves music, traveling and cooking. We wish Isabelle all the best in her new role!

Caroline Green - Time to say goodbye

After nearly 20 years at IPLOCA, I will be putting away my Convention Manager badge and handing over my duties to Isabelle Bourzeix at the end of the year.

My eligibility to join the exclusive ‘Swiss retirees club’ seems to have crept up on me. It feels like only yesterday when Luc Henriod interviewed me for the position of Office Manager to help set up the IPLOCA Secretariat in Geneva, after the decision had been made to move the office from the University of Ghent in Belgium to Switzerland in 2005. Over the years I have seen colleagues come and go: Liz Spalding, Caroline Caravellas, Jackie Tempel, Guy Henley, Emma Hachfeld, Sarah Junod, Pieter Schoonenberg, Luc Henriod, Juan Arzuaga, and many board members, as well as John Phillips, the driving force of the Association for many years.

When working on the convention programme I had the opportunity to visit some extraordinary places to organise events including: Palazzo Pisani Moretta and Scuola Grande San Giovanni Evangelista in Venice in 2010. The Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square, as well as the Terracotta Warriors in China. The historic Opéra Garnier and the Musée des Arts Forains in Paris for IPLOCA’s 50 th Anniversary, where Caterpillar hosted an unforgettable party amid antique fairground machinery.

Tower Bridge and the Guildhall in London. I witnessed the emergency evacuation of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. during the President’s Dinner in 2013, dense smog that affected the tour programme during the Singapore Convention in 2015, and the earthquake that hit Mexico City in 2017, just days before the start of the Convention.

The pipeline industry is truly unique, and I wish you all a smooth energy transition into the future of pipeline construction. As for me I look forward to having more time to spend with my husband Jon, my family and friends.

Caroline