Experienced successor as master of ceremonies
Anne Heikkinen Sandberg is to be KI’s new master of ceremonies. She has been accompanying retiring master of ceremonies Ylva Blomberg since 5 December and with ten years’ experience from the corresponding office at Stockholm University, she looks forward to administering and promoting KI’s ceremonies.
Anne Heikkinen Sandberg was recruited from Stockholm University, where she was master of ceremonies for just over ten years. Before that, she was an administrator at the university president’s office, project manager for conferences and meetings, and web editor.
"There’s a great deal to do as master of ceremonies, with many large projects involving lots of people, schedules and checklists. It’s a details paradise, details and logistics. It’s reassuring for me to have such long experience to lean on in my new role at KI."
Anne Heikkinen Sandberg is looking forward to putting her experiences into practice.
"I know the craft of arranging academic ceremonies and I have the strong support of my professional colleagues, ceremony coordinators Karin Björklund-Jonsson and Maria Lancella, who will be responsible for continuity and helping me get to know people until I’ve settled into the role and familiarised myself with the organisation. I also know we’ll get a lot of valuable help from all the student ushers."
It’s all about the details
Anne Heikkinen Sandberg says that getting all the details into place requires collaboration and that each piece of the puzzle is equally important to the whole picture:
"What we do together in our team and in various projects means a lot to everyone who takes part in the ceremonies. If any one of us behind the scenes botches the details it can be disturbing for the participants on one of the biggest days of their lives."
KI’s academic ceremonies play a key part in promoting KI’s image in Sweden and around the world.
"They showcase our research, pay homage to knowledge and give KI an opportunity to acknowledge all our talented researchers and others who contribute to important scientific achievements. They also show that KI is a modern university that rests squarely on a firm foundation of history and tradition, and in so doing help to enhance KI’s appeal as a place of study for future students."
Promoting the ceremonies
As Anne Heikkinen Sandberg sees it, the role also involves increasing awareness of KI’s academic ceremonies.
“It’s important for me to curate what Ylva Blomberg and her colleagues have built up. I also want to help spread awareness of KI’s academic ceremonies and am interested in how they are promoted, which is something I’m looking forward to developing internal collaboration on.”
Anne Heikkinen Sandberg, KI's new master of ceremonies
Describe yourself: A positive, solution-focused and pragmatic project manager. Thorough and structured and keen to cooperate.
Home: A house in Älvsjö.
Family: Husband Martin, traffic and infrastructure strategist; children Ida, a psychology student, and Felix, a craftsman.
Interests: I want to learn to sail with my husband. I work out sometimes and like pottering around the garden.