Meet the Team

Arturo has more than 30 years of experience in the development of Business Exhibitions (B2B) and World Forums in Mexico, USA and the UK, developing Marketing, Public Relations and Communication strategies in different industrial sectors such as: energy, plastic, metalworking, wind energy, telecommunications, IT, security, education, restaurants, and others.

Arturo holds the CoEXPO Event Organization Certification endorsed by AMPROFEC.

He currently works as Global Business Development & Regional Manager – Americas for FESPA developing world-class events for the Latin American region.

Frank Tueckmantel,  Ambassador of Face-To-Face Marketing, spent his entire career in the print industry. In his last role at EFI, before leaving the company in 2019, he served as the VP of Corporate Marketing. In this role he and his team oversaw all worldwide face-to-face marketing activities, like trade show and customer events activities. Prior to joining EFI in 1999, Frank spent six years at Minolta Germany and their international color marketing group in Langenhagen Germany.

Dag Knepr, a known figure in the Croatian printing industry, was born into the trade, gaining early experience through his father’s ownership of the largest screen printing plant in Croatia. With expertise in outdoor media, special effects, and commercial printing, Dag has cultivated a successful career in this dynamic field.

In 2008, he became President of the Croatian Screen Printers Association, which was rebranded as FESPA Hrvatska in 2019, a position he still holds. His dedication to the industry extends internationally, having served as the FESPA Association Strategy Committee Chairman, Association Finance Committee representative, and more recently, as a representative on the FESPA Projects Committee.

Fluent in English and German, Dag has recently begun learning Chinese to expand his communication skills. His proficiency in Adobe tools and database software building underscores his technical expertise in the ever-evolving printing landscape.

Since 2021, Dag has been the Head of Sales for Graphics at Radin d.o.o., one of the largest print-related companies in the region. This role keeps him deeply engaged with the latest developments in the printing industry.

Minna is a native of Finland and was educated in Finland, she spent a year in New Hampshire (U.S) as an exchange student during high school. She is a widow with 3 children and has 2 grandchildren. They lived as a family in São Paulo, Brazil and in Dallas in the US for 6 years. 

Her career has included marketing wines and scotch whisky which she thoroughly enjoyed. Minna has been part of FESPA Finland for the last 12 years as a part-time Executive Director and loves her FESPA members. In the past, she managed a webshop including purchasing for a KHL Hockey team for a few years through her own business as well.  

For the past 3 years she has spent her evenings studying to become a carpenter and she will soon be fully qualified. During the weekends and holidays she spends her time renovating an old villa in the archipelago. She also enjoys partaking in yoga, pilates, aqua gymnastics, walking, hiking, gardening and cross-country skiing. 

Minna describes herself as positive minded, resourceful, social and energetic. She has good organisational and communicational skills and thorougly enjoys working independently. She always ready for her next project!

Coming from a Thai-Chinese family where her grandparents moved to Thailand just before the war, printing is easily one of the top choices when it comes to starting a business. Grace’s grandfather owns a printing house specialising in packaging, which then sparked an idea for her parents to set up their own business distributing stamping foils.

She spent 4 precious years at the University of Edinburgh where she made meaningful connections and had the best time. Scotland has a special place in her heart and given the chance, she would jump back to visit the Highlands in a heartbeat.

Returning to Bangkok, Grace now manages the company her parents founded in 1987, distributing many printing consumables in all industries. She is working constantly to find new products and innovation to bring to her home market in Thailand.

She was urged by her father to join TINPA (Thai Innovative Printing Trade Association) which led to her joining FESPA and meeting many new friends. The thing she values most about FESPA is that the work is meaningful and being part of a community brings her so much joy. She is truly ecstatic to be part of the FESPA foundation team!

Dylelan has been serving the Signage & Commercial Print Industries in Southern Africa for the last 27 years. 

Practical Publishing SA hosts exhibitions in Southern Africa into the Signage. Wide Format Print, Commercial Print, Label, Packaging and Marketing Industries along with publishing news in print, online and an app for these industries in Africa. Their association with FESPA Started in 2014 with the first FESPA Africa. 

Before FESPA, Dyelan started Practical Publishing in 2000 and published a magazine for the Industry in Southern Africa. It grew from there to include online publishing with www.signafrica.com in 2005 and their expo journey in the same year. 

Studied Computer Programming after school in Port Elizabeth, after which he was then involved with a Screen Print and Neon Manufacturing companies before he started in the publishing arena in 1998.

Practical Publishing SA look forward to supporting the FESPA Foundation Activities in their region with all the printed collateral and support from exhibitors at the expos they host.

Niels Rask is the CEO and owner of NS System, a leading Danish company specializing in branded textiles and logo printing on workwear, sportswear, corporate wear, and merchandise textiles. He took over the company from his father in 2011, continuing the family legacy that began in 1965.

Both Niels and NS System emphasize environmental responsibility, automation, and digitalization. Environmental responsibility and climate considerations are at the heart of his commitment to responsible production. Every step, from material selection to the printing process, is designed with the goal of minimizing environmental impact in mind. To Niels, it is not just about delivering products; it is about establishing a partnership with customers based on trust, transparency, and responsibility.

Additionally, he has focused on integrating robots and digital workflows into production, enhancing both efficiency and product quality while minimizing employees’ heavy lifting.

“My father made his first print in 1965. The concept is still the same – finding the solution that suits our customers’ needs and delivering the best quality, of course. In short, our business is based on a solid understanding of that,” says Niels Rask.

Paulo is the Director of Communications of the Portuguese Printers Association (APIGRAF) and he is also a lawyer, novel writer, and musician. 

Since 2006 he has represented APIGRAF in FESPA and is a member of the Projects Committee and one of the organisers of the Southern European Print Congress. 

With over 26 years working with various companies, he has an extensive knowledge of the industry and has been a legal adviser for labor, commercial and business law. 

Paulo is thoroughly passionate about Judo, and he still participates regularly in veterans’ competitions.

Garcia Started in the freight forwarding industry in 1989, and in 1992, joined the world of exhibitions and events. Garcia’s first involvement with FESPA events started in 1997, where he managed the logistics for the SPA UK pavilion. Outside of DSV, Garcia is a board member for the International Exhibition Logistics Association.

Shireen is a Director of AD Communications, the leading specialist international communications agency for the print, visual communications and packaging sectors.

She has a 30-year track record of delivering strategic communications support to an array of prominent brands in these sectors. AD Communications has been FESPA’s chosen international communications partner since 2005, working side by side with the FESPA leadership team to build the brand internationally, promote the global event and product portfolio, and support awareness of FESPA’s comprehensive range of activities to support speciality print businesses to succeed and grow.

Reflecting this long-standing partnership, the AD Communications team is pleased to use its expertise in integrated communications to maximise awareness and understanding of the FESPA Foundation’s work. AD Communications is supporting FESPA Foundation on a ‘pro bono’ basis 

Steve Thobela started his career as a typographer (Compositor, bromide, and film stripping) at the Pretoria News where he served his three-year apprenticeship. During this period, he was elected as the Regional Chairman of the Media Workers Association of South Africa (Mwasa). He is a highly experienced and professional printer having worked in the print production departments of the Pretoria News, Perskor, the Sowetan, and The Newspaper Printing Company before becoming Operations Manager of Independent Newspapers Cape.  

He served as the Founding General Manager of one the three of Mr Mandela’s official Charity organisations, The Mandela Rhodes Foundation (Mandela Rhodes Scholarship) based in Cape Town for four and half years. Thereafter he joined the University of South Africa (UNISA) as Director: Print Production on the 01 of January 2009. 

Following his tenure at Unisa he served as the CEO of Printing SA (also known as PIFSA) which is an Industry body that oversees the functioning of the Printing, Packaging, and Signage industries in South Africa. In this role, he travelled to many countries attending and presenting at international conferences and exhibitions.  

As of 01 April 2021, he served as Novus Holdings Group Executive: Africa Business Development and recent past, Novus Print- Executive: South (Managing Director of the Montague Garden Plant and Head of the Coastal Printing Plants). Of recent, he served as the Chief Operations Officer of Lebone Litho Printers and as Head of the Uniprint Global Business Unit. 

Steve holds the following qualifications: High School (Matric) Certificate; National (N3) Certificate in Printing; Diploma in Christian Ministries; Program for Business and Management Certificate from Wits University; Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) Degree, Master of Business Administration (MBA) Degree from Regenesys Business School, Master of Bible Studies from Saint Louis Seminary. He also attended several business-related short courses like King IV Board Governance; Pension Funds and Medical Insurance training. 

Among other senior management roles, he served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Spectramed Medical Aid and led its merger with Resolution Health to form Health Squared Medical Scheme. Subsequently, he was elected as Chairman of the new Scheme. He also served as a board member of the Printing Industry Pension and Provident Funds for Satu members and their various Committees including Investment and Administration. He also served as a board member of the FP&M Seta and Packaging SA. He is currently a board member of a Section 12VC Company B4i which owns Kyknet a channel on DSTV and a shareholder in FlySafair .