AGN’s 15th World Congress took place this year on 26-28 September at the Tivoli Lisboa hotel in Lisbon, Portugal and 158 delegates and companions from 43 different countries attended the event. 

The Congress began on Sunday, 26 September with a city tour of Lisbon.  Attendees gathered for a stroll through the streets of the city and headed up to St George’s castle to enjoy drinks whilst enjoying magnificent 360 degree views of Lisbon and its surroundings, which was followed by lunch in the Moorish castle.  The group then continued on a walking tour through the district of Alfama and went on a bus tour to view other highlights of the city such as the Tower of Christ, the 25 of April Bridge, the tower of Belém and the Jeronimus Monastery.

A welcome cocktail then officially opened the Congress at the Palacete of the Tivoli Lisboa hotel to give delegates a chance to meet and greet old and new friends.

The technical sessions started on Monday 27 September with a welcome from the Chair, Jim Carulas, which was followed by a presentation by Mr. Afonso Diz, partner of the local Portuguese member firm Auditum Associates who also welcomed delegates to Portugal and introduced them to the country.  Delegates were then given a picture of the current economic and political status of Lisbon by Mr. Angelo Correia, who is an ex Minister of home affairs in Portugal and currently Chairman and Board member for numerous public and private entities.

Mr. John Timperley, award winning business consultant and managing director of The Results Consultancy, then gave delegates some food for thought at his presentation ’Rainmaking – how to build business’.  During his presentation he demonstrated how certain behaviour can be key to success (a delegate succeeded in halving a wooden plank using his suggested approach!)

In the mean time, companions went on a tour to Mafra where they visited the Mafra palace and its Royal Convent which was followed by a visit to the small medieval village of Óbidos.

During Monday evening, attendees enjoyed a wine tasting session at the Sky bar of the Tivoli Lisboa hotel and then continued on to various restaurants as part of the traditional Dine Around. 

The technical sessions on Tuesday, 28 September, were opened by the Chair presenting his report of the past year to delegates, which was followed by a brief report by regional Chairs and representatives to keep delegates up to date with what activities had taken place this year in each AGN region.

Mr Jeroen van Meerten, of the International Bureau for Fiscal Documentation (IBFD), addressed delegates to give an overview of the IBFD website and what benefits it brings to subscribers.  

Nick Blake, CEO of AGN International then lead the Annual General Meeting.  He presented the last years’ audited financial statements and three Directors; Francois Martin (Caderas Martin, France), Randy Redwitz (Robert R. Redwitz, USA) and Jim Carulas (Meaden& Moore, USA) were re-elected for a further term to serve on the International Board of Directors.

The remainder of the day included an interactive technical session with Ms. Clare Willis, who is a regular speaker at conferences and client events, and who has contributed a number of articles to professional journals on impact, presenting and pitching.  Her session titled ‘How to get the message across’, looked at communication and analysed what should be taken into consideration when trying to persuade someone and how this can be applied in business situations.  The session allowed delegates to work together and assess each other on these topics.  

The Chair then closed the conference and announced that next year’s World Congress will be held in Istanbul.  After a short video about this city, the AGN flag was handed over to a representative from Bilgili Bagimsiz Denetim VE YMM (BBD),  the member firm in Istanbul, Turkey to mark the announcement.

Companions spent Tuesday at the Green Mountains of Sintra where they visited the UNESCO World Heritage site, the Regaleira Palace and then continued on for short visit to the seaside resort Cascais.

The Congress was concluded with a gala dinner at the 17th century Count of Obidos Palace (also known as the Red Cross Palace) where they enjoyed a drink on the terrace overlooking the Tagus River at sunset. Attendees then dined in a traditional Portuguese ballroom, with its walls lined with Portuguese tiles and enjoyed a sumptuous meal and to top off the Portuguese experience they even had the opportunity to listen to a medley of Fado before they danced late into the night.