Strategy, exchange and elections define successful industry gathering
On April 3-4, members of the association for lift technology, VFA-Interlift e.V., gathered for their annual Members’ Meeting in Nuremberg, Germany. The well-attended event featured a balanced mix of formal association matters, intensive technical exchange and an attractive supporting program in the Franconian metropolis.
Diverse Program Over Two Days
The kick-off on April 3 was dedicated to networking and technical exchange. Following an optional tour of the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre, the Standards Working Group met. A coffee break offered further opportunities for discussion before an official welcome introduced the informal part. A joint tour through Nuremberg and the subsequent dinner at the historic Heilig-Geist-Spital formed the social highlight of the day. A nightcap in the bar area of the Scandic Nuremberg concluded the evening.
Formal Session With Direction-Setting Topics
On April 4, after registration, the event began with an inspiring lecture by Mahsa Amoudadashi on the topic: “How Enthusiasm Becomes Quality.” The general meeting then began. In addition to the formalities, the agenda included the reports of the chairman (Achim Hütter) and the treasurer (Stephan Rohr), including the annual financial statement for 2024, the budget for 2025 and the auditor’s report.
Personnel matters were a comprehensive agenda item in which numerous changes in the Hamburg office were announced: Next to Volker Lenzner, the long-standing overall coordinator of the VFA Academy, Anja Smieja — who was also entrusted with coordinating the academy for many years — was honored and bid farewell.
On September 1, 2024, Peipei Wang took up her position as the association’s standards officer. Since October 1, Christella Herzog has been responsible for the organization of the office.
Dr. Tobias Brendel took over the professional coordination of the academy from Volker Lenzner at the turn of the year. Ms. Kristin Hemker will succeed Anja Smieja on June 1.
The association thanked the exiting colleagues for their dedicated work and wished the new employees a successful start.
After the discharge of the board, strategic topics such as membership development and the increase in contributions were discussed.
Other important items included reports and outlooks on Training and Further Education (Andreas Hönnige), Trade Fairs with a Focus on interlift ‘25 and VFA Joint Stands (Michael Gubisch, Michael Löffler), Standards and Directives (Hütter, Wang, Franz Watzke), Digitalization (Wang) and Press and Public Relations (Tobias Döhring).
Board Elections Successfully Conducted
A central point of the meeting was the regular election of the board, which set the course for the future leadership of the association. The election was conducted by Dr. Tobias Brendel.
The following were elected:
- Chairman: Hütter
- Deputy Chairman: Michael Gubisch
- Treasurer: Dr. Stephan Rohr
- Assessors:
- Ulrich Brumm
- Tim Ebeling
- Andreas Hönnige
- Hans Martin Lutz
- Peter Zeitler
Rudolf Ramseier did not stand for re-election, as he sees the Cobianchi company well represented on the board with the change of Rohr to his company.
Brumm, managing partner of Orba Lift, made himself available as a successor and was elected to the board as a new assessor.
Finally, the date and location of the next general meeting were announced. This will take place on April 17, 2026, in Berlin, Germany
The VFA general meeting 2025 in Nuremberg once again provided an important platform for information, discussion and strategic decision-making. The program successfully promoted personal exchange and underlined the importance of the event as a key date in the elevator industry’s calendar.
With a newly elected board and increased staffing levels in the business office and academy, the association is now well equipped to confidently face future challenges.
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