Elected with a clear majority: This is the new Association Board of the German GWW

On June 20, an extraordinary general meeting of the German Gesamtverband Werbeartikel-Wirtschaft e. V. (GWW) was held at Nassauer Hof in Wiesbaden, Germany. The focus was on the election of the new board, after four of five board members had resigned in the spring. For the first time, there was a block election between two teams. The 219 members present or represented were entitled to vote.

With 125 votes in favor, the “Together fit for the future” team (Frank Jansen, Elke Bobek, Ralf Hesse, Ralf Uwe Schneider, Dirk Winterhoff) secured the required majority. The “Growing together” team (Steven Baumgaertner, Judith Fröhlich, Petra Lassahn, Ronald Eckert, Tobias Köckert) received 79 votes in favor. 10 members abstained from voting.

Frank Jansen as chairman will lead the fate of the GWW, together with Elke Bobek, Ralf Hesse, Ralf Uwe Schneider and Dirk Winterhoff. The election was preceded by a lively discussion with numerous questions from the plenary towards the candidates of the respective teams. The newly elected board attaches great importance to the term “Togetherness” – within the team and above all also with regard to the entire association and its members.

The quintet had already clearly formulated this approach in its election program: “We stand for more togetherness, an open, fair and honest exchange and unconditional transparency. Every member has a voice that deserves to be heard.” This was reiterated by the five members of the Executive Board. They do not see themselves as the sole decision-makers, but rather as executors of the members’ will. The newly elected chairman of the GWW, Frank Jansen, emphasized in a first statement that he accepted the election with humility. It was now a matter of tackling the challenges. The new board does not want to and will not take much time. Already in few days the team will take up the work engaged.

You can read a detailed report on the election of the new GWW board in the July issue of the PSI Journal.

Picture: The newly elected GWW board (from left): Ralf Uwe Schneider, Ralf Hesse, Elke Bobek, Dirk Winterhoff, Frank Jansen.