Our Story

Each journey starts with a small step.

What began in 1966 in a 25m² former bird shop in Baden has long since taken wing and left country borders far behind: starting small, we have grown up to be the largest local PCO, and are presently active all across Europe.
 
In the past decades, a lot has happened – here, some of our milestones:
 

  • In 1966, Rudolf Kadanka founds his business in a former bird shop, initially with himself and one other person as only staff
  • 1977: Annette Jirasek joins the company and for many years, heads the Mondial Congress & Events department. She is still active in the company, managing and developing the department.
  • In the same year, the Austrian Society for Gynaecology and Obstetrics (OeGGG) and Mondial begin their cooperation, which continues to this day. For this particular event, 430 punch cards are manually embossed for the participants.
  • 1979: The first large-scale international congress with support from Mondial takes place: 3800 participants convene in September at Vienna’s Imperial Palace for the congress of the International Diabetes Federation. More than 1200 abstracts are submitted and manually processed by Mondial.
  • 2006: Mondial continues to grow! From now on, it is represented in Barcelona.
  • In 2007, Mondial supports the European Congress of Cardiology (ESC) with 30000 participants, the largest congress of its kind ever to take place in Vienna. “This Congress was an overwhelming success on every level, entirely dependent on team effort, personal involvement, and true partnership. We are proud to have shared this achievement with you.” Isabel Bardinet, Ben Hainsworth, Linda Oliverau from the ESC Congress Division”
  • In the same year, Gregor Kadanka takes over as Managing Director of the Mondial Group. The family-owned business is now managed in second generation.
  • …and Gloria Casanova becomes the Mondial contact in Barcelona.
  • In 2008, the first international Core PCO contract is signed with the European Society for Trauma and Emergency Surgery (ESTES).
  • 2011: Stefan Walter takes over as Managing Director of Mondial Congress & Events. Annette Jirasek supports him as Senior Consultant.
  • In 2012, Mondial is awarded the Austrian Eco-Label for Green Meetings and Events. This enables Mondial to certify as well as organise Green Meetings.
  • 2014: For the fourth time in a row, Mondial makes sure the 17.000 delegates of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes sleep tight at their preferred hotel in Vienna.
  • 2015: Mondial concludes various new Core PCO contracts, with United European Gastroenterology and the Confederation of European Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, among others. The record year is concluded by a record congress: Europerio8 in London attracts 9.700 participants.
  • 2016: Together with employees and clients, Mondial celebrates its 50 year anniversary.
  • 2018: Stefan Walter becomes sole head of department