SAB Annual Meeting 2021

A meeting in a relaxed atmosphere

On September 22nd, the 28th Annual Meeting of the SAB took place again in the HWZ Hochschule für Wirtschaft Zürich on Lagerstrasse 5. A manageable number of 10 visitors from 7 member companies appeared, all of whom were happy to meet each other again in person.

SAB currently has 17 members. After Hans-Peter Siffert / weinwelt left, we are happy about our new member Yannick Andrea GmbH, picture archive + photography, who unfortunately had to miss the AGM due to a scheduling conflict, as well as our cashier Felix Brunner / ImagePoint.

President Stephan Werder conducted the issues. He informed about the activities in the 2020 financial year, which was characterized by the corona restrictions. The annual meeting was held in writing and concluded online by the Board. All Board meetings were also held online. At least the well-attended workshop “Photography and copyright” on the changes in the revised Copyright Act could be held in October, with Christoph Schütz, head of the working group on photo protection (Arbeitsgruppe Lichtbildschutz).
The 2021 edition of the brochure “SAB Price Recommendations” was adapted by the Board and was published in July 2021.

Stephan Werder then brought up the situation in the image industry, which has not gotten any easier. As a member of the CEPIC Committee – currently as interim treasurer – he continued to report on the reorganization of the European industry association, which had become necessary due to Brexit and is still in full swing.

An important point this time was the elections. Hans-Jörg Hegner / Keystone-SDA had submitted his resignation from the Board, which he had been a member of for 10 years, 3 of them as vice president. Alexandra Mächler / Keystone-SDA stood for election as his successor. She has worked at Keystone for 21 years, is responsible for working with partner agencies and has a deep knowledge of the image industry. As expected, she was unanimously elected with applause and welcomed with great joy.
The re-election of the other Board members Stephan Werder / Dukas, Felix Brunner / ImagePoint, Wilfried Haferland / alpineSTOCK and Ursula Baumann / Secretariat was also unanimous. And Alexander Dietz / Dietz + Dietz and Gabriel Ammon / Aura remain in office as auditors with their deputy Michael Gysel / freshfocus.

The annual accounts were once again pleasing and were accepted in accordance with the auditors’ recommendation. The budget 2021 was approved with an increased item. The annual fee is still CHF 300.00.
For 2 years, SAB has been offering its members free legal advice of 30 minutes per year. Wilfried Haferland, the contact person, reported on how this service was used.
In a relaxed atmosphere, there was then a lively, constructive exchange of ideas on the annual program, communication and outlook in the plenary session.

At the end, the President thanked the outgoing Vice-President Hans-Jörg Hegner for his valued, valuable work on the Board, named him an SAB honorary member with a certificate and presented him with a gift.

The group then let the positive afternoon in the in-house bistro “pò di più” end happily with lively discussions.

Main picture: Board table without cashier Felix Brunner
Reportage: Emanuel Ammon / AURA