The February meeting was held on February 24th (rather than the usual week before) due to the "Fasching" holidays.
Now that German Reunification is celebrating its 20th Anniversary, it is a good time to take a look back and consider the transition over the past two decades. AAUPW was pleased to welcome Colinne S. Bartel from AC Innovation GmbH to speak about German reunification from an East German perspective based on her experience building a cable company in Sachsen from 1993-1998.
Colinne's aim is to get people to look at history from a different perspective, mixing an academic view with personal experiences. No finger pointing but rather, "consider this..." looking at both the positives and the negatives. She will take a look at some of the factors that made reunification difficult, not only from a financial perspective but also psychological.Her company at that time, Kabelmedia, was the fastest growing telecommunications company in Germany in 1995. They acquired 29 companies combined from both East and West Germany in 24 months and it was the first continental European cable IPO. Colinne was responsible for the operational budget of the company.Colinne now owns her own company, AC Innovations, an international investment company that assists small to medium sized companies with expansion and marketing between German-speaking Europe and the US.