The award and virtues of this year’s recipient were presented by Mark Challinor of the INMA European Board of Directors in front of about 200 news-media executives who gathered in Liverpool at an annual European INMA/OPA conference.

The ceremony was held at the FC Liverpool’s famous Anfield Stadium where delegates had a gala dinner. (Mr. Bonsart is well known among friends as a great football fan.)

Olivier Bonsart is currently a directeur delegue at SIPA/Ouest-France in charge of strategy of this largest regional newspaper publisher in France.

He alse heads the Committee on Sales of the French Regional Newspapers Association (SPQR).

He started his career at Ouest-France in 1981 several years after he graduated from Ecole des hautes Etudes commerciales (HEC) in Paris.

Beata Palis of the Convention Bureau of the Municipality of Kraków was present at this years INMA/OPA conference in Liverpool and invited about 200 attendees to visit her city and Malopolska region in Poland.

Kraków’s event is scheduled to September 29 – October 1, 2010. During the prestigious three-day hundreds of media people from all over Europe will gather at the capital of Malopolska to participate in lectures, debates and workshops on the latest challenges and trends in the media, as well as to exchange ideas, opinions with colleagues from other countries.

Successful bid to host this conference was carried out just by the Convention Bureau, supported by the Mayor of Kraków, Marshal of Voivodship Malopolska and editors of news media headquartered in Kraków: newspapers Dziennik Polski, Gazeta Krakowska, local edition of Gazeta Wyborcza, internet portal Interia.pl and radio station RMF FM.

Ms. Palis promoted at Liverpool her city and the region as a dream place for international meetings: the town has not only the rich history, charming architecture and hospitable residents, but also a convenient network of direct flights, European class conference venues, accommodation and catering.

At an exhibition accompanying the Liverpool conference, the participants might see 15 more reasons to visit this town, learn what must-sights during a short 3-day visit and why you should stay there longer. Editors and publishers had also an opportunity to taste the specialties of traditional cuisine, including delicious honey from hives in Malopolska.

Liverpool: Rachel Armstrong of Dainik Jagran and Alison Fennah of European Interactive Advertising Association learn more about Kraków from Beata Palis, its convention bureau manager

Ms. Palis met also lord mayor of Liverpool Mike Storey — whose efforts helped to establish there a modern BT Convention Center — and Carol O’Reilly, a manager of Convention Bureau in Liverpool. They were talking about Liverpool’s experience with the use of the center to promote the city.

BT Convention Center in Liverpool was opened in April 2008. In the first year it hosted more than 200 events attended by 71 thousand delegates. The Center has a total of 18 rooms. The largest auditorium can accommodate 1350 persons.

Similar center is being constructed in Krakow at the moment and it is scheduled to be open by 2013. The city and the region are hoping that the center will attract thousands of visitors from home and abroad, who fill up the local hotels, restaurants, pubs, visit museums, theaters and an opera, and at least some of them will stay longer to see the Tatra Mountains, the salt mines in Wieliczka or pay a memorable visit to the former Nazi camp — now museum Auschwitz.

Watch video about Kraków’s mysteries and attractions: