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As a publicly-listed company, NORMA Group is legally required to hold a meeting of its shareholders – an Annual General Meeting (AGM) – at least once a year. While this had previously been held with the shareholders physically in attendance, the format was, like so many other things, turned upside down last year by the Corona pandemic.
This year’s AGM was therefore held for the second time as a purely virtual AGM, meaning that the organization of the event was subject to a number of changes:
Instead of an exhibition stand where colleagues could present NORMA Group’s products to the shareholders, a streaming service provider was needed to transmit a live webcast. Instead of colleagues coordinating the registration of shareholders as they arrived, a new online tool for shareholders had to be set up.
For the Annual General Meetings with shareholders physically on site, all that had to be done was to equip a stage with table microphones and create seating for the audience. For the virtual AGM, on the other hand, a 14-meter-long and three-meter-high stage rear panel was printed and set up, several cameras installed and a lighting truss erected.
A total of 15 people worked nearly an entire day on May 19 to build a setting to rival professional television studios. You can see part of the setup and a brief tour of the “studio” on our Instagram channel .
No one involved would have expected that a strictly online event could be so complex in terms of organization and implementation. As a result, everyone concerned is looking forward to the next AGM, which will most likely be held in person again, and NORMA Group will be able to welcome its shareholders at the German National Library.
The big surprise then came shortly before the dress rehearsal: a World War II bomb was discovered in the immediate vicinity of the German National Library (DNB), the location for the streaming of the AGM 2021. It quickly became clear that the DNB site was within the evacuation radius of the Frankfurt police and the fire department, and the evacuation of the site began shortly after the unexploded bomb was found. Due to the bomb’s damaged detonator and an associated higher risk, the controlled detonation had to take place that same evening.
You can read more about the discovery of the bomb and the controlled detonation on the local Hessenschau website.
After a few tense hours, during which a replacement location and a back-up video and sound set had to be organized virtually overnight, the all-clear was given – to the great relief of everyone involved. The detonation went according to plan and without any damage, so that the restricted area could be reopened during the night of May 19 to 20.
This meant that the NORMA Group Annual General Meeting 2021 was able to take place as scheduled in the specially constructed “NORMA Studio”. The Chairman of the meeting and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of NORMA Group, Günter Hauptmann, conducted the agenda. Dr. Michael Schneider, CEO of NORMA Group, reported on the business and strategy of NORMA Group. The announcement of the shareholders’ voting results was then a pleasing conclusion: All items on the agenda were approved by a clear majority.
The speech and presentation from Dr. Michael Schneider as well as the voting results can be found on NORMA Group’s Investor Relations website.
