Hannover, Germany. Dynamic women in the wood processing and woodworking industry are definitely out there, even if they’re not always visible. Currently the ratio of females involved in the German wood and furniture industry is less than 20%, while in other countries, the figures are only slightly better. We can do more!
During the LIGNA trade fair from 27 to 31 May 2019 in Hannover, Germany, Deutsche Messe is inviting women to attend the “WOW – Women of Woodworking” event. This meeting will be held on Thursday, 30 May, from 11 a.m. to 12 noon at the Cosmopolitan Restaurant located on the LIGNA showgrounds (at the Hannover Exhibition Center).
WOW stands for “WOW – Women of Woodworking” and consists of a consciously casual meeting by women, for women who are active in the wood and furniture industry. The goal of this parallel event held side-by-side at LIGNA is to encourage women to share their experiences and broaden their perspective by taking part in a wider network, and in so doing help promote diversity in the industry.
Christina Elsenbroek, CMP Marketing Coordinator at Stiles Machinery Inc. based in Greater Grand Rapids, Michigan was the initiator of the first WOW meeting, which took place in April 2017 at the Stiles Executive Briefing Conference in Detroit, Michigan. In the course of subsequent meetings and trade fairs in the U.S., the group has more than doubled in size. Women working in the woodworking trades, the furniture and supplier industry, management, the subcontracting business, as distributors or in the media came together to share their experiences and ideas, to exchange challenges, solutions and resources and network with each other.
Now the LIGNA organizers are picking up on this momentum and inviting women from the wood processing and woodworking industry to attend WOW@LIGNA 2019 in Hannover. The event will be moderated by Stephanie Wagner, Project Director of International Trade Fairs at Deutsche Messe.
Registrations are now being taken at wow@ligna.de.
LIGNA
LIGNA is the World's Leading Trade Fair for Woodworking and Wood Processing Plant, Machinery and Tools. It covers the entire value chain, from forestry technology and wood-based panel production through surface technology to machines and plant for the furniture industry and woodworking trades. LIGNA is staged every two years in Hannover, in 2019 from 27 to 31 May. The key topics at this year’s fair are “Integrated Woodworking – Customized Solutions”, “Smart Surface Technology” and “Access to Resources and Technology”. Further events within the scope of LIGNA Shows Worldwide include the MEM Industrial in Mexico City and the LIGNA Conference in China. Further information is available at www.ligna.de.
Deutsche Messe AG
As one of the world’s foremost organizers of capital goods trade fairs, Deutsche Messe (Hannover, Germany) stages a rich array of events at venues in Germany and around the globe. With 2017 revenue of 356 million euros, Deutsche Messe ranks among Germany’s top five tradeshow producers. The company’s portfolio features such world-class events as (in alphabetical order): didacta (education), DOMOTEX (carpets and other floor coverings), HANNOVER MESSE (industrial technology), INTERSCHUTZ (fire prevention, disaster relief and safety & security), LABVOLUTION (lab technology) and LIGNA (woodworking and wood processing tools, equipment and machinery). Deutsche Messe also stages trade fairs at other German venues, for example parts2clean (industrial parts cleaning) and SurfaceTechnology (surface treatment). The company also regularly hosts a number of internationally renowned events by third parties, among which are AGRITECHNICA (agricultural machinery) and EuroTier (animal production), both of which are staged by the German Agricultural Society (DLG), EMO (machine tools; staged by the German Machine Tool Builders’ Association, VDW), EuroBLECH (sheet metal working; staged by MackBrooks) and IAA Commercial Vehicles (transport, logistics and mobility; staged by the German Association of the Automotive Industry, VDA). Deutsche Messe’s portfolio also includes trade fairs in Australia, Canada, China, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey and the USA. Among the sectors addressed at these overseas events are Automotive, ICT & Digital Business, Manufacturing & Processing Industries, Energy & Logistics and Metal Processing. With more than1,200 employees and a network of 58 sales partners, Deutsche Messe is present in more than100 countries.
