In the saddle and at the oars: two doing good

When Anke Seltmann sits on her horse, she comes to rest. She has switched off her mobile phone. All that matters now is the interaction with her gelding, Lex Luther. A quick impulse on the leg or a slight shift of weight is enough to set the dressage horse in motion. "That is the beauty of equestrianism. You have to be completely with the horse. It doesn't make any sense otherwise," explains the Messe Düsseldorf employee.

However, such moments of silence and concentration are the exception when the 48-year-old is at work at the Byfang 1953 riding club. As the first chairwoman of Essen's largest equestrian club, she is primarily responsible for organizational tasks. Together with other club members, she plans riding courses, tournaments, the goose ride at carnival, the Easter ride, the Christmas party and many other activities. Anke Seltmann is also responsible for the club's communication – i.e. marketing, public relations and sponsorship acquisition. She posts news from club life on Facebook, Instagram and the club website. She answers inquiries from the 300 or so members on an almost daily basis.

This voluntary work therefore requires strong communication and organizational skills – and this is exactly where Anke Seltmann, Senior Project Manager at Messe Düsseldorf, is an absolute professional. In her job, she is jointly responsible for the realization of two of the world's leading trade fairs: A+A and glasstec. Her tasks include the supervision and further development of special shows and hall planning. In addition, she is the contact person for her colleagues in all matters relating to SAP software. A job with a lot of responsibility and team spirit.

These are exactly the values that the native of Mülheim lives by at the Byfang Riding Club – especially for the 80 young members. "In equestrian sports, children learn something for life. They have to act as leaders, take responsibility for their horse and guide it, even if the 500-kilogram animal is much stronger," says the club chairwoman. 

Messe Düsseldorf expressly welcomes the voluntary commitment of Anke Seltmann and many other colleagues: "As a trade fair, we bring people and ideas together to create value. We are committed to ensuring that Düsseldorf and North Rhine-Westphalia offer social cohesion and are worth living in. Our employees also contribute to this by volunteering in their free time. We think this is great and support it out of conviction," says Marius Berlemann, COO of Messe Düsseldorf.

Recently, around 20 colleagues applied to receive a donation from Messe Düsseldorf for the organization for which they work on a voluntary basis. Anke Seltmann is one of the four winners of the raffle: she will receive 500 euros for the club fund of the Byfang Riding Club. "Donations like this help us a lot," she says gratefully. "As a non-profit organization, we are not allowed to make a profit or build up large reserves.

Carsten Ross was also pleased to receive a donation of 500 euros for his club. The 50-year-old works in purchasing at Messe Düsseldorf. Whatever the design department and stand builders need for the next event: He finds the right manufacturers. In his spare time, the native of Cologne is a board member of the rowing club RTHC Bayer Leverkusen e.V. He is responsible for press and public relations work, sponsor acquisition and other communications tasks, and made sure that the donation was used to pay two lease payments for the training single sculls of Olympic athlete Julius Christ.

It is not always easy to juggle a job and a demanding volunteer position. But thanks to the good working conditions at Messe Düsseldorf, Carsten Ross manages this balancing act. "It is great that Messe Düsseldorf is very accommodating and allows many employees to work from home on a regular basis. I work from home up to two days a week. This saves me travel time to the office, which I can then devote to my volunteer work.

On the days he works at the Düsseldorf trade fair, Carsten Ross uses the commute to and from the fair to make the odd phone call for his club. When it comes to rowing, he prefers the early hours of the morning. "I'm often on the Rhine in my rowing boat at 5 in the morning. There are hardly any freight or pleasure boats on the water then. I take a deep breath and enjoy the silence and nature.

Carsten Ross used to be a very successful marathon rower. Today, he practices his sport without medal ambitions, as a balance and for the community experience in the rowing team. "I think it's important for people to come into contact with each other and be active together. My colleagues at Messe Düsseldorf have the same attitude. We want to do something good for our home region and for the people here. That's why I get a lot of understanding for my voluntary work.