The Italian Society is delighted to invite you to a unique panel discussion with two leading entrepreneurs, Sir Rocco Forte and Riccardo Zacconi. In conversation with Fabio Cavalera of Corriere della Sera, the speakers will discuss their current and previous professional experiences, their links with Italy and the long-term future of their companies and wider industries. The discussion, which will be in English, will be followed by a drinks reception with Italian canapés in the foyer. The event is generously sponsored by i2i – Italians to Italians.
Great Hall – King’s College London. Strand. London WC2R 2LS – View Map
Speakers:
SIR ROCCO FORTE is the Chairman of Rocco Forte Hotels, a luxury hotel company he founded in 1996. The group comprises ten multi-award winning properties, including Brown’s Hotel in London and Hotel de Russie in Rome. It has recently launched its eleventh property in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. A veteran of the hospitality industry, Sir Rocco joined Forte Plc in 1969, becoming CEO in 1983 and Chairman in 1992, when he succeeded his father, the late Lord Charles Forte. During his time at Forte, Sir Rocco had responsibility for more than 800 hotels, 1,000 restaurants and almost 100,000 employees around the world. Forte Plc, however, was sold in 1996 following a hostile take-over bid and has since been broken up. Sir Rocco was knighted in 1994 for services to the UK tourism industry and received the Gran Croce dell’Ordine al Merito della Republicca Italiana for his entrepreneurial merits in 2005. He has served as President of the British Hospitality Association and as member of the Executive Committee of the World Travel & Tourism Council. A keen sportsman, Sir Rocco has represented Britain in several editions of the World Triathlon Championships.
RICCARDO ZACCONI is one of the founders of King Digital Entertainment. He has served as the company’s CEO since 2003. King is a leading interactive entertainment company and is the pioneer of the mobile games app Candy Crush Saga. With over 20 years of experience in strategic management, consulting and e-commerce, Mr Zacconi brings exceptional knowledge and expertise to both the social and casual gaming domains. Previously, Mr Zacconi served as vice president of European Sales and Marketing at uDate.com Ltd and was involved in driving market penetration and partnerships until the company was acquired by InterActive Corporation in 2002. Before that, he was managing director for Spray Network GmbH an online portal based in Hamburg. In this role, Mr Zacconi demonstrated his understanding for developing solid company strategy, intelligent plans for sustainable growth and strategic partnerships, which supported the successful sale of Spray Network to Lycos for $764 million. In addition, Mr Zacconi has been an entrepreneur-in-residence at Benchmark Capital Partners, a Qualified Case Leader at The Boston Consulting Group, Inc. and a consultant at LEK Consulting LLP. He holds a BA in Economics from LUISS University.
Chair:
FABIO CAVALERA is the London Correspondent of the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. He has been in this position since 2007. Mr Cavalera joined Corriere della Sera in 1978. Between 2004 and 2007, he was the paper’s foreign correspondent in Beijing, China. Prior to that, he was political correspondent and, subsequently, editor-in-chief in Milan and Rome.