SPEAKING/CONFERENCES
“Chris Igwe has accompanied Reed Midem over the past 7 years, first as Master of Ceremony for the Digital Summit (by invitation only) in Cannes (3 years) and then for Mapic conferences (8,400 participants from 78 countries) in Cannes and Shanghai.
Chris has a unique ability to make the speakers feel at ease and also engage successfully with the audience. I have seen a lot of speakers and moderators over many years, and I do not know of anyone more skilled than Chris.
He is a great speaker, very relaxed, knowledgeable and informative, and always capable of improvising when things do not go according to plan. He has always been someone that I can trust completely to get the job done, working well with my team before and during the event.”
Nathalie DEPETRO, MAPIC Director, All International MAPIC Shows, Paris, France
I had the pleasure to appear on one of Chris' many panels as a subject matter expert. Not only does his style on stage relax his panellists, he also is able to speak comfortably and coherently on a number of professional topics. He invests a lot of time getting to know his panellists, the new subject matters in question, but also ensures those around him understand clearly. what is expected of them. A real pro!
Michael Stanier, Managing Partner, REBO SOLUTIONS, Germany
‘Chris Igwe is an excellent Master of Ceremony. I discovered his skills at the MAPIC trade show in 2015. I asked him if I could benefit from his experience to moderate my International and European Conference for the Outlet Sector, a task I had always carried out myself. I was lucky to secure Chris Igwe for the 2018 conference.
Chris Igwe accomplished the rôle perfectly, managing the speakers both on and off the stage, managing the time, and handling brilliantly the Q&A and transitions between the speakers and the debates. His ability to speak French and English fluently, his amazingly style on stage, and his deep knowledge of the global retail market, and his availability to chat to the attendees during the breaks, were precious and contributed to the success of the event.
All these skills and abilities were unanimously acknowledged by the attendees, who encouraged me to secure Chris Igwe for the next conference, in 2018, which I hope he will accept, as I would not now give this rôle to anyone else in my network.’
Caroline Lamy, CEO, Magdus, European Observatory for Outlets and Director of CL Consulting.
“Chris Igwe is an exceptionally engaging speaker on all topics related to retail and facilitates conferences with respect to individual participants’ strengths and allowing for varying styles of presentations. Chris seemingly effortlessly knits together the presentations to make the overall effect interesting and informative. I have never seen a Master of Ceremonies so effectively and humorously speed the program along, often dealing with speakers of various languages, and yet manage a professional and smooth outcome.
Chris is an expert in all things retail and yet manages to express the facts and his experience in such an engaging manner that he never comes across as speaking down to the audience.
Not only does Chris have an immense network of contacts within the retail industry, he has truly earned knowledge and expertise.”
Lisa Wagner, Principal, The Outlet Resource Group, Chicago, USA
“I had the amazing opportunity and good fortune to sit on a panel session led by Chris who looked at the Baltic’s retail market products through the eyes of an international expert. He shared a straightforward independent view reflecting the main areas for improvement. That kind of presentation brought the best take-away value for the conference audience”.
Rida Kalvaitienė, Head of Asset and Property Management in Baltics, Vilnius, Lithuania
“The first time I got to know Chris Igwe was during my Mapic visit in 2016. I was deeply impressed by his way of chairing the meeting as he always had a very comprehensive and in-depth summary after long speeches from guests and yet was always able to lead the sessions in a very good way by asking insightful and forward-thinking questions to the guests and the audience. I know of only one person who had abundant retail knowledge and such a rich ability capable of moderating on stage his experience and could steer the meeting so well.
Chris Igwe is more like a mentor to me than a business partner. As a Chinese brand, we got great help from Chris on strategy for international business growth. I have been lucky enough to know him as he is so generous in sharing his knowledge with me and his wisdom on work and life have made me mentally grow better and stronger.
Stephanie Jin, GM (CEO) for International Business, 361 Degree Sport Company (One of China’s Leading Sports Brand)
“You were a magnificent host, co-chairman ad overall significant force in putting together the ICSC/MAPIC conference. For this the shopping center industry in Europe is indebted to you. Many, many thanks for your hard work and dedication. We truly appreciate you.”
Rudolph E Milian, Senior Vice President of Education and Professional Development Services, ICSC, New York, USA
“Many thanks for your participation in the session on Retail Without Frontiers. As always, you were truly brilliant, precise and clear and your participation contributed to the success of the session. From the feedback I received, the session was very much appreciated by the delegates, and you may have noticed that nobody left the room until the end, which is a very good sign!”
Charles Joye, Past President ICSC Europe, and Chairman, Retail Development Services, Geneva, Switzerland
“When the International Council Of Shopping Centers conference closes today in Monte Carlo, more delegates will have spoken more words in more sessions than at any of the previous 26 conferences! Anyone who has attended past conferences will have memories of dozing off….those days ended this week, thanks to Chris Igwe.”
Christine Eade, Special Reporter, Property Week, London, UK