FCC's 2011 Executive Convention highlights slogan "We're doing it together"
FCC held its Annual Executive Convention in Madrid on 12 April under the slogan "We're doing it together." Close to 350 group executives participated. The Convention began the day before with an informal welcome dinner, attended by core shareholder and first vice-chairwoman Esther Koplowitz, and director Esther Alcocer.
The goal of the Convention is to inform on the company's main objectives and challenges and to motivate managers and, through them, all FCC employees. The event began with a presentation by the Chairman and CEO, Baldomero Falcones, who spoke about the objectives of the convention, such as strengthening executives' commitment to sharing a common culture while respecting diversity at all times. Mr Falcones spoke about FCC's current situation and its goals and plans for the next 18 months. He highlighted the strength of FCC's shareholder base, executives and employees as the Group's most important assets for weathering the difficult period ahead, although he remained confident that "the worst of the crisis is over."
Managers were also protagonists of the event. FCC Services Chairman, José Luis de la Torre, took the floor to discuss the principal goals of his business area, and then invited Agustín García Gila, Tomás Nuñez, Fernando Moreno, Aurelio Blasco and Carlos Barón to comment.
Next the General Manager of Proactiva, Ramón Rebuelta, spoke about "Latin America as a potential growth market for FCC Services"; he was followed by Managing Director of Alpine-Energie Österreich, Gerard Hofer, who delivered a witty introduction in excellent Spanish and then proceeded to discuss (in English) his vision of Construction and Energy as complementary businesses.
José Mayor Oreja, recently back from Israel, analysed FCC Construction's business and invited members of his team to comment, including Avelino Acero, Jordi Piera, Javier Lázaro, Alejandro Tuya, Pedro Gómez-Prad, José Luis Álvarez Poyatos and Santiago Ruiz.
Before lunch, Corporate Marketing and Brand Manager, Juan Pablo Merino, presented the results of a survey taken earlier among the attendees. The almost 300 responses revealed that executives identify most with the principle of integrity and with an orientation towards results as the most important area for increasing the Group's competitiveness. On a lighter note, the survey also showed that the majority believed FC Barcelona would win the Champions League and Sebastian Vettel with beat Fernando Alonso in the Formula One World Championship.
The afternoon portion of the Convention began with presentations from the General Manager of FCC Energy, Eduardo González, and his Head of Development, Alejandro Seco. The next speaker was Chairman of Cementos Portland, Dieter Kiefer, followed by José Ignacio Elorrieta, Corporate Director of the Environment, Innovation, Sustainability and Knowledge Management, and Francisco Zunzunegui, Corporate Director of Industrial Operations. The Chairmen of subsidiaries Globavía, Juan Béjar, and Realia, Ignacio Bayón, then took the floor. The following general managers spoke on the topic of "Strategic horizontal projects": Antonio Gómez Ciria, from Administration and IT; Víctor Pastor, from Finance; Francisco Martín Monteagudo, from Human Resources; Miguel Hernanz, from Internal Audits, and Felipe García, general secretary and member of the Board of Directors.
This was followed by a presentation by General Manager of Corporate Communication and Responsibility, José Manuel Velasco, entitled "Principles and attitudes: the FCC brand"; he concluded by showing FCC's new corporate video in Spanish and English, which was received with applause.
Lastly, Baldomero Falcones gave the closing address, commenting that it was an honour to direct a company whose hallmarks are integrity, "doing things right", and a commitment to efficiency. He expressed his confidence that the Group would exit the crisis in a stronger position, "primarily because of the ability of its professionals."
Photos of directors annual convention 2011
Executives Convention 2011 video.wmv
Baldomero Falcones presentation
José Luis de la Torre presentation
Agustín García Gila presentation
José Luis Álvarez Poyatos presentation
Eduardo González y Alejandro Seco presentation
José Ignacio Elorrieta presentation
Francisco Zunzunegui presentation
Antonio Gómez Ciria presentation
Francisco Martín Monteagudo presentation
Felipe B. García y Miguel Hernanz presentation
José Manuel Velasco presentation