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54th FEIBP Congress in St. Gallen/Switzerland
September 20-22, 2012
The 54th congress of the European Brushware Federation (FEIBP) was held from 20 to 22 September 2012 in St. Gallen, Switzerland. Overall, approximately 100 people consisting of 66 delegates, 6 first-time participants and 28 partners attended this year's annual meeting. Pierre Simler, President of the FEIBP, welcomed the delegates, who came from many European countries, such as Austria, Belgium, France, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Great Britain and guests from Algeria and the United States.
All members of National Manufacturers' Associations who are also members of the FEIBP (e.g. Germany, France, Britain, the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, etc.), and all direct members of the FEIBP were able to take part in the congress.
Ian Moss, president of the American Brush Manufacturers' Association (ABMA), invited the delegates to attend the 96th ABMA Congress, which will be held from 13 to 16 March 2013 in Miami Beach, Florida.
One of the main themes of this year's event was the impact of the "Euro crisis" on the brush industry.
The working groups Technical/Industrial Brushes (Chairman: Dr. Florestan von Boxberg) and Professional Hygiene Brushes (Chair: Philip Coward) as well as paintbrush manufacturers met in separate sessions for discussions. In keeping with tradition, some FEIBP member companies gave talks on the current market situation for raw materials: bristles, plant fibers, fine hair and synthetic fibers.
The FEIBP had invited two key note speakers to this year's event. The first was Daniele Ganser, a Swiss historian and specialist in international relations and international history from 1945 to today. He is head of the Swiss Institute for Peace and Energy and his research interests among other things are peace research, geostrategy, globalisation and human rights. He gave a lecture on "Peakoil - A scarce and coveted resource." The second key note speaker was Beat Kappeler, an economist who delivered a seminar on "Europe, - and the future."
FEIBP treasurer, Dr. Andrea Acquaderni published the FEIBP's 2012 financial report and gave a preview of the year 2013.
Daniel Strowitzki from Messe Freiburg delivered facts and figures from the international industrial trade fair "INTERBRUSH", which was held in Freiburg, Germany from 9 to 11 May 2012.
The FEIBP Innovation Award was presented for the 6th time this year. For the first time, the award, whose main aim is to stimulate companies into showing their most recent products and product developments, went to a French company - Bullier SAS, and was proudly accepted by the company’ director Henri Bullier.
To conclude the first day, the FEIBP had organized a cosy and highly enjoyable "Appenzell hut evening". The traditional gala dinner took place at the Lagerhaus restaurant located in the inner city of St. Gallen.
Jens Marcussen (Spekter Company A/S) from the Scandinavian Brushware Association showed a brief preview of the 55th FEIBP Congress, which is scheduled to take place from 14 to 16 September 2013 in Copenhagen/Denmark.
Brush Scene® already published a short review in its issue-no. 5/2012 (Sept.-October) and will report in detail about the 54th FEIBP Congress in St. Gallen in its November / December year-end issue (Issue 6/2012), and will include numerous colour photos and professional contributions from brush companies. This issue is available as part of an one year’s subscription.
