F ID I 7 0T H A NNI VERSARY FIDI CELEBRATES 70 YEARS OF SUPPORT, COLLABORATION AND FRIENDSHIP Founded in 1950 with the goal of strengthening the international relationships between movers, FIDI has grown from modest beginnings to become the leading international association for the global moving industry. Seventy years on, as the business faces its biggest challenge to date, we look at FIDIs evolution and why its core values of international cooperation and friendship remain intact and essential today F Ive met some of the most amazing people at the FIDI Conference and thats what keeps us coming back, the people 58 FF297 JunJul20 pp58-67 70th.indd 58 IDIs story begins on a summers day in Switzerland in 1950 when the moving industry associations from six European countries met with the goal of formalising their fledgling network and developing links with moving services in other countries. The delegates wanted to support each other more closely, develop their members businesses and celebrate the spirit of international collaboration and friendship. The idea took off and, in 1952, in Knokke, Belgium, FIDI held its very first conference for 131 delegates from 15 countries. The conference was to become one of the foundations of FIDI, bringing together industry people from CEOs, owners and middle management to corporate clients and RMCs for a mix of formal presentations, informal events and networking. It has become a permanent fixture on the international moving industry calendar. FIDIs headquarters were established in Brussels two years later, with Mrs J. Mouling taking on the role as FIDIs first manager. GLOBAL REACH For the next two decades, FIDI broadened its reach to become a truly global association, as businesses joined from around the world. In 1969, it elected its first non-European president, John Newbold of Merchants Transfer & Storage Co, Washington DC; in March 1970, it held its conference in Boca Raton, Florida, the first time the event had been held outside Europe. With strong international roots established, FIDI began to evolve into the broad organisation we know today during the late 1980s and 90s. Initiatives on aspects of the business, including training, standardisation and engaging young movers, were launched to give Affiliates the essential tools they needed for a constantly changing world marking FIDI as the leading association of the global mobility industry. In 1987-88, the organisation created the FIDI Institute, the foundation of todays FIDI Academy. It ran its first FIDI Institute seminar which would become the Essentials in International Moving (EiM) for 25 students in Brussels in 1988, naming delegate Paul Wielens as its first top student. Further programmes, including seminars covering management, management of overseas businesses and forwarding, launched in 1995, 1996 and 1998, respectively. The FIDI Institute became the FIDI Academy, following a rebranding in 2000, and it took on its first permanent training manager. As this arm of FIDI gained traction and demand grew from Affiliates, it launched its webinar programme in 2003, its Managers in Moving (MiM) seminars for managers and leaders in 2009, and its e-learning programme in 2014. Today, the Academy offers training that covers every element of the moving process to help Affiliates develop their people and, as a result, their businesses. FIDIs 35 Club was launched in 1990 by Jim WW W. F I D I FOC U S . OR G 01/06/2020 15:26