Anne-Marie Baezner has received the 2026 JMIC Unity Award, one of the meetings and events industry’s most respected recognitions, following nearly two decades of leadership across France’s exhibition and business events sector.
The award was announced by the Joint Meetings Industry Council, widely known as JMIC. Baezner currently serves as CEO of the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Venues division within the GL events Group and also directs both the Lyon Motor Show and the Salon du Randonneur.
The recognition reflects a career built around collaboration, long-term partnerships, and industry advocacy rather than individual visibility. Across the European meetings sector, Baezner has developed a reputation for bringing together businesses, public institutions, tourism bodies, and industry organisations around shared goals.
At the centre of Baezner’s leadership philosophy is the French phrase “faire ensemble,” which translates to “doing it together.” The phrase has become closely associated with her management style and her approach to industry development.
That approach became particularly visible through the creation of “Lyon Events,” a joint commercial identity designed to unite several venues across Lyon under one destination brand. The initiative aimed to strengthen Lyon’s international position in the highly competitive business events market, where cities increasingly compete for large congresses, exhibitions, and corporate gatherings.
Rather than promoting individual venues separately, the strategy focused on presenting the city as a connected ecosystem capable of hosting international-scale events.
Baezner also helped launch “Welcome by Only Lyon,” a collaborative hospitality programme developed alongside tourism authorities and local stakeholders. The project focused on improving how international delegates and visitors experience major events in the city, from arrival through to accommodation and local engagement.
In an industry where destinations often compete aggressively against each other, these kinds of partnership-driven models have become increasingly important. Cities that can coordinate transport, hospitality, venues, tourism services, and local government tend to perform more strongly in attracting global conferences and trade exhibitions.
Beyond commercial growth, Baezner has also been recognised for pushing social responsibility initiatives inside sectors that have traditionally focused more heavily on revenue and infrastructure.
Her work has included programmes connected to youth inclusion and professional reintegration, as well as advocacy around gender equality in the automotive and mobility industries.
She has been actively involved with WAVE – WoMen and Vehicles in Europe, an organisation promoting greater gender representation across automotive and transport professions. Those industries have historically struggled with leadership diversity, particularly at senior executive levels.
Anne-Marie Baezner’s influence also extended into European industry advocacy during one of the sector’s most unstable periods.
Between 2018 and 2023, she served as Board Member and Vice-President for Communications at EMECA. During the COVID-19 pandemic, exhibition centres and large-scale business events faced prolonged shutdowns, travel restrictions, and severe financial pressure across Europe.
Industry organisations such as EMECA became central voices in lobbying for support, reopening frameworks, and clearer communication between governments and the events sector.
Baezner played a visible role in strengthening communication efforts during that period, helping maintain industry coordination while venues across Europe navigated uncertainty over restrictions, recovery timelines, and operational survival.
According to James Rees, Baezner represents the core values behind the Unity Award.
He said her career demonstrates how collaboration, generosity, and long-term thinking help strengthen the global meetings industry. He also pointed to her ability to connect organisations, communities, and stakeholders across different parts of the sector.
The recognition adds to several honours Baezner has already received in recent years. In 2023, WAVE named her “Woman of the Year,” while the Argus Awards recognised her as “Person of the Year.”
Together, those recognitions reflect a broader shift taking place across the international events industry. Leadership is increasingly being measured not only by venue expansion or commercial performance, but also by collaboration, resilience, inclusion, and the ability to build sustainable industry networks.
The Joint Meetings Industry Council Unity Award is designed to recognise individuals who contribute to the collective strength of the meetings and events industry.
Unlike awards focused purely on business growth, the honour places emphasis on cooperation, industry advancement, advocacy, and community impact.
That distinction has become more significant in recent years as the global events sector continues rebuilding after the pandemic era. Many industry leaders now argue that long-term resilience depends less on competition alone and more on partnerships between cities, venues, tourism agencies, and event organisers.
Baezner’s career reflects that shift. Much of her work has centred on building systems where multiple organisations benefit collectively rather than operating in isolation.
For Lyon, the recognition further strengthens the city’s profile as one of France’s major business events destinations. For the wider industry, it highlights a growing preference for leadership models built on collaboration instead of visibility-driven executive branding.
