There is to be a change in the Head of Communications at the German Printing and Media Industries Federation (BVDM). Silke Leicht-Sobbe, Press and Public Relations Officer at the BVDM since 2022, will succeed Bettina Knape, who is leaving the BVDM at her own request after twelve years, from 1 April 2025.
As Press Officer and Head of Communications at the BVDM, Silke Leicht-Sobbe is responsible for association communications for the print and media industry throughout Germany. The communications expert has more than twenty years of professional experience in associations and public institutions – from the Berlin Municipal Employers’ Association to the AOK and the Senate Department of the Interior in Berlin. She has worked as a press and public relations officer at BVDM in Bettina Knape’s team since 2022.
Wolfgang Poppen, President of the BVDM, is delighted with the appointment from within the organisation. He would also like to thank Bettina Knape: ‘Over the past twelve years, Bettina Knape has been instrumental in raising the public profile of the print and media industry and its products. She has reorganised the public image of the BVDM and the print and media associations, press relations and political communication and supported the entire industry with professional industry marketing. With the handover of the baton to Silke Leicht-Sobbe, this valuable work will be continued by an industry expert. She also brings a wealth of experience in association communication and political communication, so that an experienced expert in communication and lobbying will continue the communication.’
BVDM
The Bundesverband Druck und Medien e. V. (bvdm) is the umbrella organisation of the German printing industry. As an employers’ organisation, political business association and technical trade association, it represents the positions and objectives of the printing industry vis-à-vis politicians, administration, trade unions and the supplier industry. The bvdm is supported by eight regional associations. Internationally, it is organised through its membership of Intergraf and FESPA. The printing industry currently comprises around 6,300 predominantly small and medium-sized companies with more than 99,000 employees subject to social security contributions.
