New Executive Board at Spielwarenmesse eG: Florian Hess, Jens Pflüger and Christian Ulrich start on 1 July

NUREMBERG, Germany, July 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The transition is seamless. Following the departure of Executive Board Members Ernst Kick (CEO) and Dr. Hans-Juergen Richter on 30 June, the new three-strong team comprising Florian Hess, Jens Pflüger and Christian Ulrich (Spokesperson) are taking over the helm of Spielwarenmesse eG on 1 July. All three Executive Board Members have gathered many years' experience at the company, having been involved in important decision-making processes along the way. Looking to the future, they intend to continue building and expanding the events organised by Spielwarenmesse eG – especially the world-leading Spielwarenmesse. They also plan to venture down new avenues as they rise to current challenges and equip the company for the future demands placed on organisers and service providers in the exhibition business.

Spielwarenmesse eG is now led by a three-member Executive Board (from left): Florian Hess, Christian Ulrich (Spokesperson) and Jens Pflüger take up the reins on 1 July.

Florian Hess, Jens Pflüger and Christian Ulrich are already familiar with their remits. Besides working as a team in steering the fortunes of the cooperative, its subsidiaries, and interests, they also have clearly defined individual responsibilities. In his role as Executive Board Member Fair Management, Florian Hess oversees trade fair organisation and marketing. He also looks after the network of representatives, the World of Toys international trade fair programme, and legal matters. Florian Hess joined Spielwarenmesse eG in 2016 as Director Fair Management where he was in charge of exhibitor activities across all trade-fair projects and their further development. After graduating in business administration, he gained extensive experience overseeing various strategy and change management projects abroad. He also organised a leading international exhibition for capital goods and was Managing Director of Hess Consulting GmbH – a service provider for trade fairs such as the Spielwarenmesse.

The remit of Finance, Human Resources & IT falls to Executive Board Member Jens Pflüger. He also looks after the members of the cooperative, digitalisation and contract management. The IT and business management graduate began his career as head of IT and organisation with Göhler Tank- und Industrieanlangen. In the year 2000, he joined the Spielwarenmesse, making him the longest serving team member at the headquarters in Nuremberg. In his role as Director IT & Finance, he was already in charge of managing and developing the areas of finance, accounting, control management and IT. Jens Pflüger is also CEO of SeG Beteiligungs GmbH.

Christian Ulrich is Executive Board Member Marketing & PR as well as Board Spokesperson. He is responsible for marketing, corporate communication as well as press and public relations. He also oversees the development of new business opportunities. A graduate in business administration, he launched his career as a consultant for the agency group Serviceplan. This was followed by a period with Fischer Group, initially as advertising manager and finally as head of international marketing. He joined Spielwarenmesse eG in 2007 as Director Marketing and was in charge of brand leadership, global marketing for all trade fairs and events, and the creation of the special shows. In addition, Christian Ulrich is Managing Director of the agency "Die roten Reiter", a subsidiary of Spielwarenmesse eG.

Even though the pandemic has thrown up a whole host of new challenges, all three members of the executive board see the company's potential as an important business hub connecting global industry networks. "We have made excellent progress in developing innovative concepts that embrace the accelerated introduction of digitalisation whilst at the same time focusing on the unique and indispensable experience of a physical trade fair. We will continue to build on the more than 70 years of success enjoyed by Spielwarenmesse eG and to live up to the future requirements and expectations of all trade-fair participants," states Christian Ulrich.

Spielwarenmesse eG

Spielwarenmesse eG is the fair organizer and marketing services provider for the toy sector and other consumer goods markets. The Nuremberg company organizes the world-leading Spielwarenmesse^®in Nuremberg, Kids India in Mumbai and Insights-X in Nuremberg. The range of services provided by the cooperative also includes industry campaigns and the international fair programme, World of Toys by Spielwarenmesse eG, which enables manufacturers to exhibit at pavilions featured at trade fairs in Asia, Russia and the USA. Spielwarenmesse eG operates a worldwide network of representatives in over 90 countries. It also has several subsidiaries, including Spielwarenmesse Shanghai Co., Ltd., responsible for the People's Republic of China and Spielwarenmesse India Pvt. Ltd., covering the Indian market. The cooperative holds a majority stake in the Russian exhibition company Grand Expo, which organizes Kids Russia in Moscow. Die roten Reiter GmbH subsidiary with headquarters in Nuremberg works as communication agency for the consumer and capital goods industry. The complete company profile of Spielwarenmesse eG can be seen on the Internet at www.spielwarenmesse-eg.com.