Ciao, Stefania: An era comes to an end

The beginning: When the spark ignites

“Why not?” Stefania Calcaterra said to herself in the late 1990s when Bernd A. Diederichs, an Italophile and then managing director of NürnbergMesse, sought to recruit her for the company. The two had known each other for 13 years through their involvement with Messe Frankfurt. The spark had been ignited. Alone in a small office in Milan, she threw herself headlong into the NurembergMesse adventure in 1999. She was supported by Marcello Raille, who was then head of the Italian foreign representative office in Munich.
With a mixture of curiosity and enthusiasm, as well as a keen sense for markets, the meticulous worker set to work, began to understand NürnbergMesse better and better, and grew into her tasks of acquiring and supporting customers for the exhibition centers in Nuremberg and worldwide. Even back then, it became clear that Italy was the “numero uno” in NürnbergMesse's ranking of international exhibitor nations at the Nuremberg exhibition center.

First decade: The bond grows stronger

True to her motto, “Once you start working at trade fairs, you stay,” Calcaterra, a trade fair professional, got off to a flying start. She became an indispensable link between the export-oriented Italian market and the NürnbergMesse Group, acting as a contact person for all matters concerning Italian customers who wanted to participate in trade fairs as exhibitors and guests.
As if that weren't enough work, she also represented the Spielwarenmesse toy fair from the beginning of her involvement with NürnbergMesse until her departure. Calcaterra always found balance in her busy workday through her passion for golf and her love of Italian food. There is said to be no good restaurant in Milan that she does not know.
Then came 2008 – a year that will remain special to her in many ways. On the one hand, there was the launch of her “fiera favorita” CHILLVENTA: “Renowned Italian exhibitors occupied around 6,900 square meters at the premiere of the trade fair, a great success and reward for a year and a half of work,” says Calcaterra.  On the other hand, there was the retirement of her long-time companion and mentor Marcello Raille: “I owe a lot of my experience to him.” When the decision to establish a NürnbergMesse subsidiary in Italy was made almost simultaneously, Stefania Calcaterra did not have to think twice: “I'm in.” In 2009, she became the founding managing director and thus the face of NürnbergMesse in Italy.