Isabel Bardinet started her career in the meetings industry in 1988 when she entered SOCFI, a French PCO company, where she organized national, international and governmental congresses, presented many international bids and learnt association management. In 2002 she took over as Executive Sales Director at the Palais des Congrès in Paris and actively participated in the creation and development of the “Leading Venues of Paris”.

In 2005, she joined the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) to become the Congress Division Director. The ESC organises over 12 congresses a year, including the largest medical congress in Europe and biggest cardiovascular disease congress in the world with over 35,000 participants. In 2009 Isabel became CEO of the ESC which currently gathers 7 sub-specialty associations, 15 working groups, 57 national cardiac societies and 6 councils in addition to the main cardiology association, with just over 100,000 members in over 90 countries.

Isabel Bardinet was president of the AC Forum (association of associations) from 2010 to 2012, creating the association management chapter. Ms Bardinet received the 2015 Professional Convention Management Association Chairman’s Award, for her creative involvement of the community in advancing the ESC’s mission at ESC Congress 2015, in London UK, the 2017 JMIC Power & Profile Award and the 2019 ‘Lifelong Achievement‘ award from IBTM. She has been named one of the 25 most influential people in the meetings industry.