D – Frank Jansen is the new Chairman of the German Promotional Products Association, GWW. At the elections held during an Extraordinary General Assembly in Wiesbaden on June 20, 2023 a clear majority of the 125 members voted for the team “Fit for the future together”. In addition to Jansen (Niederegger), the board members of the GWW include forthwith Elke Bobek (Promodoro), Ralf Hesse (Twin Beratung & Beteiligung), Ralf Uwe Schneider (Listawood) and Dirk Winterhoff (Winterhoff Werbung). Their opponents, the “GWW List” team, who backed the former Chairman Steven Baumgaertner, received 79 votes. There were also two abstentions and four “no” votes. According to the articles of association a majority of the present members who are entitled to vote is sufficient to enforce the decision, in this case that was 110 votes. The GWW itself has around 450 members (Status as of February 2023).
With immediate effect Ralf Uwe Schneider, Ralf Hesse, Elke Bobek, Dirk Winterhoff and the Chairman Frank Jansen (f.t.l.) are the new board members of the GWW.
The new elections became necessary after four of the five persons elected onto the GWW board in September – including the top candidates of the newly formed executive board teams, i.e. Jansen and Baumgaertner – had stepped down. At the meeting, the provisional Chairman, Ronald Eckert (Döbler), expressed the hope that after the new elections the association will return to the order of the day so that it is possible to jointly shape the future of the industry. Eckert himself backed Baumgaertner’s team “GWW List” in the elections together with his fellow board members Tobias Köckert (Mahlwerck), Judith Fröhlich (Senator/Kahla) and Petra Lassahn (PSI).
The Extraordinary General Assembly was held in a hotel in Wiesbaden on June 20, 2023.
Baumgaertner took the opportunity to apologise to all of the members for the consequences that his resignation had brought about. From today’s perspective, his resignation had not been correct. Each of the election candidates then had a brief chance to present themselves. In the subsequent question round several detailed queries were discussed, however concrete topics were hardly addressed. Under the direction of the lawyer Kai Koschorreck, the vote by secret ballot was executed in an orderly manner. Jansen “humbly” accepted the vote, as did the other members of the “Fit for the future together” team. After announcing the result of the elections, the meeting was brought to a close with a thank you speech by the provisional board members, Eckert and Köckert.
// Dr. Mischa Delbrouck
Photos: Mischa Delbrouck, © WA Media
