There’s another one Silvio Viale in the city. Not the volcanic city councilor. The other: Silvio Viale, president of the association Turin the City of Books owner of the Salone del Libro brand for five years, and CEO of Eventi3, the company that organizes the Salone on a technical-commercial level.
This Silvio Viale, unlike his namesake with a long political history, escapes notoriety. Like Santa Claus, he appears for one week, that of the Show, and for the rest of the year you don’t hear about him anymore. Unless the Salon runs into one of the usual storms that endemically afflict him: in which case he reappears and throws oil on the stormy sea, mediator between opposing factions.
But in the latest edition of the Salone Viale found himself, like it or not, occupying some of the visibility space previously dominated by the explosive personality of Nicola Lagioia. And for the newspapers, inclined to simplify, he has become the “President of the Book Fair” tout court.
«Protagonism has nothing to do with it, ever – Viale defends himself -. My role cannot be compared to that of a president like Picchioni was. He was a politician, so sometimes he had to and wanted to provoke, to address a debate, to give direction. We are only interested in making sure the Show is done well. Then, within the event, it is up to others to represent themselves and feel represented: we simply give them the stage. If I, or my partners, appear every now and then, we do it because it is necessary, even if only to support the logic of communication.”
A life as a midfielder…
«Yes, but we’re fine with that. If I think about how much the Salone gives to Turin, about what it means for the city and for the country, well, these satisfactions are enough for me. I don’t need to show my face.”
This time, however, it’s your turn, dear Viale. Let’s talk about her. She is 46 years old, studied engineering at the Polytechnic …
«But I didn’t finish, I took 24 exams then I started working: with my partners we were part of a university association with which we organized the first events and starting from there, little by little, we created our business… ».
In the meantime, however, she risked becoming a journalist. Sins of youth…
«Well, no big deal, I didn’t even get a publicist’s card: I was enrolled at Poli and in the meantime I wrote for Piemonte Sportivo, and then for Eco del Chisone, also about sport. I had, and still have, a great passion for sport. Just think, I worked as an amateur football coach for years: I was coaching Saluzzo when the Salone commitment arrived, and I had to stop. Sin. But I no longer had enough time.”
It’s the price you pay with certain professions: little space for private life.
«One must give oneself some rules: My partners and I have organized ourselves on this: we deal with emergencies immediately, at any time. For the rest we try to put reasonable limits. Even today I don’t give up sport, every day I try to do a bit of training. And then I take care of my children, I have three of them, still young, two are in Modena and my life is divided between Turin and Modena… And I’m sorry that the profession in certain “hot” periods doesn’t allow me to be close to them as I would like.”
Let’s go back to his beginnings. The first important experience in organizing events came with the Olympics.
«We started with the logistics of Atrium…».
The two “giandujotti” in Piazza Solferino…
“Already. Then, during the Games, I followed the Sponsor Village, again for logistics, and the management of volunteers also at the Medal Plaza. In those years we had opened, with Piero Crocenzi and Barbara Carena, our company Eventi3, and in 2007 we became the technical office of the Salone del Libro and Più Libri Più Liberi in Rome. Our journey into the publishing world begins there.”
A path that risks ending badly in 2017: the Salone Foundation collapses and you and the other suppliers find yourself holding the bag for a mountain of unpaid credits.
“It was necessary to find a solution.”
This is how the Torino Città del Libro association was born: to purchase the Salone’s trademark. Around 400 thousand euros were needed. The banking foundations gave them to you.
«Over the years, a team spirit had been created among those who worked at the Salon. We were a close-knit group. And we weren’t happy with the Salone continuing to exist without us. A dialogue has opened with the institutions, and the foundations have decided to support our project.”
It happened in 2019. After five years, how do you judge that choice?
«Well, the community must evaluate. It seems to me that today the Show has a much healthier situation, it has consolidated, and the attention given to us by Frankfurt, with whom we talk, confirms that the one in Turin is now a European event. We are satisfied, there is no shortage of problems but they are resolved and in any case now if they arrive, they come from outside, not from inside…”.
You follow the management part of the Fair, the cultural part is entrusted to the Circolo dei Lettori and the Culture Foundation. How is your relationship?
“Let’s work together. Cultural contents cannot ignore technical and commercial aspects, and vice versa. It is not possible to think of a clear division of tasks. It’s all integrated.”
I have the impression that the mix between public and private works better today than in the “old” Salon: the role of private individuals, your role, as owners of the brand is less subordinated to the not always adamantine will of politics.
«I don’t think that the success of the Salon depends on concepts like “public” or “private”: it depends on how you do it, and the people you do it with. Everyone who works at the Salone – public and private employees, both technical and cultural – knows how such a complex project should be managed, which works precisely because this team knows what it’s doing. The Salon belongs to everyone, it is an event for the community, for the entire city. I can’t handle it as if it were my own little treasure. Nobody can. We are organizers, we try to do what the Book Fair needs. The good of the event is our true treasure.”
Final question, to the former sports journalist. In football, does the success of a team depend on the coach, the players or the president? That is: is the success of the Show due to the director, the staff or the president?
«It’s always a team game. Annalena Benini was very good at integrating with the team, being part of it, working with everyone and making herself available to everyone.”
