ECC "Thinking major events in a networked way"

Peter Hanke

City Councillor Peter Hanke was born in Vienna on 28 March 1964. He studied business administration at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration before joining Wien Holding in 1993. From 2001 he worked as an authorised signatory, and in 2002 Mr. Hanke was appointed as one of two managing directors of Wien Holding. He was responsible for the business areas "Culture and Event Management" and "Logistics & Mobility".

Since May 2018, he has been Executive City Councillor and Provincial Councillor and has been responsible for the areas of finance, business, labour, international affairs and the Vienna Municipal Utilities (Wiener Stadtwerke) as well as the fire department and disaster protection since the Progress Coalition took office in November 2020. Peter Hanke is also President of the Vienna Tourist Board "WienTourismus" as well as President of the Vienna Business Agency.

Moreover, Mr. Hanke is engaged in the humanitarian field. He is a member of the extended provincial board of the Vienna Children's Friends organisation (Kinderfreunde Wien) and a board member of the "Business and Integration" association. He is also a member of the expert committee for congress promotion at Vienna Tourism (Wien Tourismus) and a member of the Board of Trustees of FK Austria Wien. Mr. Hanke has also been Vice President of the Austrian Association of Public Business and Social Economy since 2006. In 2015, he was awarded the Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria.

Michael Baci

Michael Baci has been working in the rescue service since 2003 and has been Chief Inspection Officer with the Vienna Professional Rescue Service since 2014. He studied health management and, in addition to his function as head of operations, also works as an event expert for the medical service. With his expertise, he designs rescue service concepts that meet the daily challenges. In addition to urban events in very confined spaces, Mr. Baci also has experience in the alpine area.

Džana Berkovac

Džana Berkovac ist Journalistin mit langjähriger Berufserfahrung. Derzeit arbeitet sie als Fachmitarbeiterin für Öffentlichkeitsarbeit im Verkehrsministerium des Kantons Sarajevo. Während ihrer Karriere hat sie bei einer Clipping-Agentur Medienberichterstattungen verfolgt und analysiert, bevor sie sich ab 2017 vollständig auf die Öffentlichkeitsarbeit konzentrierte. Ihr Aufgabengebiet umfasst das Verfassen von Pressemitteilungen, die Verbesserung der Medienkommunikation und die Organisation von Pressekonferenzen. Sie ist erfahren in der Erstellung von Inhalten für soziale Medien und nimmt aktiv an Projekten, Konferenzen und Seminaren in verschiedenen Bereichen teil. Zudem ist sie Mitglied von Arbeitsgruppen mit Vertreter*innen internationaler Organisationen, die Aktivitäten, Projekte oder Veranstaltungen im Kanton Sarajevo durchführen.

Cornelia Blum

Cornelia Blum has been Head of Communications at the University of Vienna since 2018. She has also been Managing Director of the Alumni Association since 2022 and in this function she is expanding the network of graduates and strengthening the connection with the University. With 10,000 employees, the University of Vienna is one of the largest employers in Vienna and also one of the largest educational institutions in the German-speaking area. Students and employees are an international community with cooperation partners all over the world.

Tomasz Bojanowski

Tomasz Bojanowski has been Deputy Municipal Commander of the State Police in Krakow since February 2023. His academic roots lie at the Pedagogical University in Krakow, where he studied political and social sciences, and at the Police Academy in Szczytno. Bojanowski started his career in the police in May 2000 and has been closely associated with Krakow and the Criminal Investigation Department ever since. In September 2015, he took over as Head of the Criminal Investigation Department of Police Station 7 in Krakow. Between 2016 and 2019, he held the position of Deputy Commander of Police Stations 5 and 6. He then headed Police Station 1 in Krakow as Commander from 2019 to 2023.

Dženan Brkanić

Dženan Brkanić has been Head of the Civil Defence Authority of the Canton of Sarajevo since 2021. He graduated from the Faculty of Political Sciences in 2006, specialising in defence and security. He worked for the B.I.G.A. agency as head of the physical and technical sector until 2009 and subsequently at the Institute for Fire and Explosion Protection as a coordinator at the institute level. After that, he was head of the sales team at the insurance company "Triglav" until 2019.

Momchil Budinov

Momchil Budinov, born on 11 November 1976, is the Director of the "Security" Directorate at Sofia Municipality. He completed his higher education at the University of National and World Economy, earning a master's degree in 2003. Prior to his current role, he worked in the Ministry of Interior's Security Police Department until 2023. For his demonstrated professionalism and determination in achieving high results, he was awarded the honorary badge of the Ministry of Interior III degree by the Minister of Interior. In December 2023, he was appointed as the Director of the "Security" Directorate at Sofia Municipality.

Klement Čepon

Klement Čepon, M.A., has been heading the Department for International Relations and Protocol in the Office of the Mayor of the City of Ljubljana since 2016. Since then, he oversaw the preparation of many mass events organized by the city of Ljubljana. Among the most important events were the opening ceremony during the time when Ljubljana held the title of Green Capital of Europe 2016, the organization of the annual general assembly of EUROCITIES in 2017 and the organization of the Velo city 2022. In addition to the aforementioned, his department organizes many other events every year, albeit somewhat smaller in scope, but nevertheless extremely high-quality in terms of content.

Marijana Đurić

Ms. Đurić was born in Belgrade in 1976 and is a graduate economist by profession. She has worked for the Belgrade City Council since 11 years, most recently as Deputy Head of the City Council Department for Defence Affairs, Crisis Situations and Coordination. Prior to this, she worked in the private sector for 13 years. Together with her colleagues, she is involved in the organisation and coordination of several hundred events in Belgrade. She is also actively involved in the preparation of documents in the field of crisis situations and contracts. Moreover, she is also a licensed official for public procurement procedures.

Michael Domkar

Michael Domkar has been working as a consultant and project manager in the fields of security management and event organisation for 35 years. He is specialised in the preparation of security and crisis management concepts as well as the organisation of events in public spaces. As security coordinator in Vienna, he was responsible for the Donauinselfest, the UEFA European Championships Fan Arena Rathausplatz, the European Beach Volleyball Championships and World Championships, the Vienna Security Festival and Vienna Pride. Since 2004, he has been project manager in charge of the organisation and security management of the Vienna New Year's Eve Trail.

Richard Förster

Richard Förster is a technician, lawyer, certified coach and moderator and has been working for the City of Vienna for more than three decades in various areas of responsibility (public authority functions, organisational adaptation, outsourcing projects, general administrative agendas of the administration). He has been involved with major events since the 2008 European Football Championships (EURO 2008), where he was responsible for coordinating the cooperation between the technical departments and authorities. He also coordinated the use of public space at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 (ESC 2015). For some years now, his work has focussed on current major events in public spaces (Vienna City Marathon, Wings for Life Run, cycle races) and topics with special appeal (150 years of the Vienna State Opera, marathon under two hours INEOS 1:59 Challenge). The aim is to reconcile the correct official procedure with the ideas of the organisers and the internal and external stakeholders.

Matthias Friedrich

Matthias Friedrich has been Managing Director of the agency Pro Event Team für Wien GmbH since 2019. In his role, he and the agency he manages are responsible for organising the Danube Island Festival. The Danube Island Festival is taking place for the 41st time this year and is the largest open-air festival in Europe with free admission.

Dominik Fritz

Dominik Fritz joined the Vienna Fire Department/Fire Station City Hall in 2009. In the beginnings he was part of the main crew. Besides the work he graduated from the engineering evening class to fit the requirements for the officers school within the Vienna Fire Department. He additionally has been active as a paramedic for an ambulance organisation. He collected valuable experiences during a lot of major events like the Donauinselfest and many of about 2.000 events per year inside the Vienna City Hall and on the Townhall square.

Roman Hahslinger

Mr. Hahslinger has been working for the Austrian Federal Railways ÖBB since 2017. He has been Head of ÖBB Group Security since 2018, and in his prior position he had been press spokesman at the Vienna Provincial Police Directorate. He is an independent PR consultant at "AuftrittSicher" and an academic lecturer at the technical colleges Campus Wien, Wiener Neustadt and Krems.

Michael Holzgruber

Michael Holzgruber has been a law enforcement officer in Vienna since 1991, including 20 years as a police officer holding management functions in various districts of Vienna and focussing on police operations planning at hotspots in public spaces. He completed a Master's degree in "Strategic Security Management" parallel to his work. In his function as municipal police commander in the Viennese district of Floridsdorf, he has also been the police operations commander at the Danube Island Festival for four years, where more than 600 law enforcement officers in ten operational sections ensure the safety of the event as well as its visitors on each day of operation.

Dietmar Klose

Dr. Dietmar Klose is Head of the Municipal Department 36 (MA36 – Commercial Engineering, Fire Police and Events). In its capacity as an authority, the MA 36 carries out all procedures related to event law in Vienna, including for numerous major events, such as the Danube Island Festival, the Vienna City Marathon and the New Year's Eve Trail. In doing so, it cooperates with many other organisations in Vienna.

Anita Končar

Anita Končar is a graduate journalist with extensive experience in media and culture. She manages public relations, preparse responses to journalistic inquiries, issues press releases, and organizes media conferences. Additionally, she is also part of a team that organizes events of special interest for the City of Zagreb, such as welcoming athletes and organizing New Year's Eve celebrations.

Wolfgang Konrad

Wolfgang Konrad is a former top runner and renowned sports organiser from Austria. He participated in the 1980 Olympic Games and came fifth at the 1982 European Championships in the 3,000 metre steeplechase. As organiser of the Vienna City Marathon between 1989 and 2024, he led the event to international fame. Mr. Konrad has been honoured several times for his achievements. After four decades in sports organisation and managing more than 150 events, Mr. Konrad retired at the beginning of 2024. He lives in Lower Austria, is married and the father of two sons. 

Martin Kralovič

Martin Kralovič works as a Security Advisor to the Mayor of Bratislava and also serves as the city's Night Mayor, focusing on enhancing safety and vibrancy during nighttime hours. His position is based also on the close cooperation with Municipal Police of Bratislava, especially regarding the strategic coordination and planning. Martin Kralovič is a crowd safety expert and dedicated public servant based in Bratislava, Slovakia. His academic background includes a degree in Crowd Safety Management from Buckinghamshire New University and advanced studies in Crowded Places and Public Safety Management at Coventry University. He is passionate about public safety, crowd management, and fostering a thriving and safe community in Bratislava. His previous experience includes serving as State Secretary at the Ministry of Interior under the technocratic government of Prime Minister Ľudovít Ódor. For many years, he has been playing a pivotal role in organizing many high-profile events, such as the visit of Pope Francis to Slovakia, and ensuring safety at major festivals and concerts – including Pohoda Festival, Rock for People, Rammstein or Depeche Mode concerts, and many others.

Peter Kroiss

Peter Kroiss has been an operations officer with the Vienna Fire Department since 2009 and head of the water service, diving service and flood protection in the capital city since 2014. Also since 2014, he has been responsible for the overall operational management of the firefighters deployed at the Danube Island Festival, the largest open-air festival in the world. Since 2022, he has also been in charge of the "Water Defence & Diving Service" department at the Austrian Federal Fire Department Association, the umbrella organisation of all fire departments in Austria.

Wolfgang Müller

Wolfgang Müller is Head of the Organisation and Security Division in the Chief Executive Office of the City of Vienna and also Deputy Municipal Director. During the European Football Championships in 2008, the refugee crisis in 2015 and the coronavirus pandemic, he acted as crisis manager and head of operations for the City of Vienna. He was holding the same position during the management of refugees from Ukraine in 2022/23 as well as in the area of energy supply security. For him, good communication and cooperation are important factors for the successful management of crises. The networking between all operational structures of the city is a matter of personal importance to him.

Marc Olefs

Marc Olefs holds a university degree in meteorology and geophysics and has been Head of the Department for Climate Impact Research at Geosphere Austria - Federal Institute for Geology, Geophysics, Climatology and Meteorology in Vienna since 2018. He is a recognised expert in the field of mountain climatology and global climate change as well as Secretary General of the Austrian Meteorological Society (ÖGM). His work includes numerous scientific publications, lectures and media appearances as well as expertise on various advisory boards and expert committees (such as the Vienna Climate Council and the Smart Climate City Wien Board).

Oliver Ortner

Oliver Ortner has been an editor and journalist at the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) since 1987. Since April 2021, he has been editor-in-chief at the ORF Vienna regional studio, where he and his team are responsible for regional reporting on Radio Wien, on television with the daily news programme "Wien heute" and online at wien.orf.at, as well as the broadcaster's social media channels. Prior to this position, he was also responsible for the ORF's most important news programme, Zeit im Bild 1. He looks back on many years of experience in the field of domestic political and chronicle reporting.

Anita Paic

As head of the "B2B Management" department at the Vienna Tourist Board, which also includes the Vienna Convention Bureau, I am responsible for the international positioning of Vienna as a travel and meeting destination in the B2B segment. Prior to this exciting role, I held several management positions within the Vienna Visitor Economy as well as the international tourism industry – among others at FMTG Falkensteiner Michaeler Tourism Group, Sacher Hotels and Marriott International, but also at Vereinigte Bühnen Wien.
At the same time, continuous further education has always been important to me. For example, I completed an Executive Master of Business Administration at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration and a Master's degree in Business and Organisational Psychology at the Danube University Krems. Thanks to my experience and networking in the Viennese and international visitor economy – and together with my B2B management team - my goal is to further expand Vienna's successful positioning.

Jörg Michael Rock

Joerg Michael Rock is head of the Supervision Police in the Senate Department for the Interior and Sport in the City of Berlin. He is a Police Officer and a Manager of Public Safety. For over 40 years he has practical, academic and leading experience in Police Operations, Fighting against Crime, Urban Security, Crime and Terrorist prevention and the Protection of Public Spaces. He played a leading role in major events such as FIFA World Cup 2006, IAAF World Championship in Athletics 2009, UEFA EURO 2024 and many other large events like concerts, street festivals or parades in Berlin.

Gerald Schimpf

Gerald Schimpf is Head of Strategic Communications at the Vienna Fire Department. In the emergency services, he works as an incident commander for major events or as a press and information officer. In addition to media relations, he is also responsible for the Vienna Fire Brigade's international relations. From September 2020 to May 2021, he headed the Covid-19 crisis unit of the Ministry of Health. He is also involved in the Austrian Federal Fire Service Association (ÖBFV) and the International Fire Service Association (CTIF). He has many years of experience in the areas of (crisis) communication and events.

Erwin Scheidl

Mr. Scheidl studied at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, specialising in cultural engineering and water management. From 1984 – 2021, he worked at the Municipality of the City of Vienna and Wiener Linien in the area of underground railway construction. From 2007, he has been in a senior position in the "Planning, Construction and Project Management" Department; later, he held a position in "Civil Engineering and Major Project Management". He has been a member of the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund since 1984 and as well as Chairman of ASB "Floridsdorf-Donaustadt" since 2000. Mr. Scheidl has been an employee at the Danube Island Festival since 40 years. He has been Head of Operations for the rescue service at the Danube Island Festival for more than 30 years.

Martin Schipany

Martin Schipany has been head of the communications department of the City of Vienna since 2019. Under his leadership, a new brand strategy was introduced for the city, the insourcing of editorial services to the city's editorial department was promoted, the Vienna Media Discourse Study was introduced as a planning basis for campaigns and the range of digital media was extended. As regards the field of crisis communication, he was involved in the 2015 refugee crisis, the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 terrorist attack in Vienna, the Ukrainian refugee crisis, as well as the energy crisis resulting from the Russian war of aggression. Mr. Schipany studied political science and completed a postgraduate course in "International Media Innovation Management" among others in Vienna, Berlin, Madrid and New York from 2013 to 2015.

Bernhard Schwarz

Bernhard Schwarz has been working for the Vienna Rescue Service since 2008 and has been part of the emergency management team at the Vienna Danube Island Festival, the world's largest free-entry music festival, since 2016. He has also worked as an operations manager at numerous major events. As Regional Deputy Head of Operations and Head of the Samariterbund Security Competence Centre, his responsibilities include event security, crisis and disaster management. Professional planning and preparation as well as networking with relevant players from other emergency organisations is an absolute necessity for ensuring security.

Thomas Vezensky

Mr. Vezensky joined the Vienna Police in 1994 and has worked in the criminal investigation service in various departments since 2003.
He has also been active on an international level in the field of radicalisation and extremism since 2012. In 2017, he switched to the LSE (formerly known as LVT).
He is also responsible for analysis, risk management and prevention. His current area of work includes prevention, training and network support.

Petra Vítková

Petra Vítková has been working in public administration for 21 years in the Security Department of the Municipality of the Capital City of Prague. She currently works as a crisis communication administrator in the crisis unit of the City of Prague and is responsible for the administration of users of the Ikos mobile app. In addition, she is also responsible for the administration of the security portal bezpecnost.praha.eu. The purpose of this portal is to inform the public and also provides non-public information for emergency workers.

Ivana Vukasovic

Ivana Vukasovic has been working for Wiener Linien since 2009 and is responsible for the strategic planning and management of safety-related operational measures. In close coordination with authorities, such as the Vienna Police Department and MD-OS, she and her team are involved in preparing operational and disaster plans and act as the first point of contact at events and demonstrations. In her function as deputy rail operations manager in accordance with Article 21 General Railway Act, she is responsible for the safety and order of Wiener Linien's operations.

Herbert Wagner

Herbert Wagner has proven himself over more than two decades as an expert in emergency, risk and crisis management as well as event security. After 18 years in the police force, he founded a security company in 2000, with which he became the Austrian market leader in event security. As a concept developer and security operations manager, he organised major events such as the Vienna Danube Island Festival, the Nova Rock Festival, the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 and many more. At EURO 2008, he worked as Security & Safety Coordinator Official Sites. He currently runs Wagner Concept & Consult GmbH, advises companies and event organisers and continues to act as security coordinator for major events. A key aspect for him is the detailed planning and practical feasibility of security measures.

Johanna Wiesholzer

Johanna Wiesholzer has been working for Wiener Linien for 15 years and she has been Head of the Operations Management Department as well as Head of Operational Management Rail since 2021. In her function as Operations Manager in accordance with Article 21 General Railway Act, she is responsible for the safety and order of all tram and underground operations, with the focus at all times being on the safety of Wiener Linien's customers and employees with the aim of keeping public transport in Vienna running in all situations.

Stefan Zarić

Mr. Zaric was born in Belgrade in 1990 and is a management engineer by profession. He has been working for the Municipality of the City of Belgrade since 2015, most recently as Head of Department for the Coordination of Events and Infrastructure Works at the Municipal Department for Defence Affairs, Crisis Situations and Coordination. He is actively involved in the organisation of several hundred events in Belgrade, including events such as the Belgrade City Marathon Run, the Belgrade Beer Festival, New Year's Eve celebrations, Belgrade Music Week, Belgrade Family Days, car races, concerts, sports events and others.

Xenia Zauner

Xenia Zauner is head of the Vienna Police's Operations Department. She has worked for the Vienna Police since 1999 and has held a leading position since 2011. The responsibilities of the Operations Department include the planning and implementation of measures to deal with major events as well as the planning, coordination and management of nationwide operations. This also includes personal and property protection, such as for embassies. Other responsibilities include the explosives and hazardous materials experts, the scene awareness service, the emergency call 133 control centre and the standby unit.