Congress Locations: ideal Criteria

ROI: the Formula in Crisis?

Events: Quality Management a Must

Fiction in Reality: Luxury Hotel in Bonn

Destinations:

Cologne: a feeling

Meetings in Belgium: Spa

China: and the Dragon flies

Catering Trends in 2009:

Anything goes!

Issue 1 – March 2009

The International M.I.C.E. Magazine

The International M.I.C.E. Magazine

The International M.I.C.E. MagazineThe International Management Magazine forMeetings, Incentives, Congresses, Exhibitions

The International Management Magazine forMeetings, Incentives, Congresses, Exhibitions

The International Management Magazine forMeetings, Incentives, Congresses, Exhibitions

The International Management Magazine forMeetings, Incentives, Congresses, Exhibitions

The International Management Magazine forMeetings, Incentives, Congresses, Exhibitions

The International Management Magazine forMeetings, Incentives, Congresses, Exhibitions

The International Management Magazine forMeetings, Incentives, Congresses, Exhibitions

The International Management Magazine forMeetings, Incentives, Congresses, Exhibitions

English Version

Single Price: 9.40 €

www.events-magazine.com

We are committed to take responsibility.Our Responsible Business programme was introduced in 2001 in response to increasing demands from our guests.We take our role seriously, facilitating the preservation of the natural environment and our commitment to have all ourhotels certified with their respective regional certifications. In Germany, Radisson SAS Hotels & Resorts is the first hotelchain with almost all hotels certified to ISO 14001: 2004 standards.

on the green side.Experience meetings

Basel • Berlin • Cologne • Cottbus • Dresden • Düsseldorf • Erfurt • Fleesensee • Frankfurt • Hamburg • HannoverKarlsruhe • Leipzig • Lübeck • Lucerne • Merseburg • Wiesbaden • Neubrandenburg • Rostock • Rügen • SalzburgSt. Gallen • Stralsund • Vienna • Zurich

+49 (0)69 976 932 00meetings.radissonsas.com

96879 BRUZT Ad MICE II Events UK (204x287).indd 1 13/02/09 15:42:41

It’s a fact: a lot goes together now that was frowned upon before. Aldi and the Sey-chelles, crayfish and beer, poor corporate culture and teambuilding, having a Porsche and an eco-girlfriend, meeting hundreds of people without ever leaving one’s desk, talking in a reasonable manner and then just carrying on like before. But some things simply no longer work. Don’t worry. If you’ve survived looking at our cover picture, then you may now look forward to a positive editorial. A hymn of praise to the crisis. Yes, my dear crisis, I want to thank you. Thank you for forcing us, finally, to think seriously about all our common knee-jerk reflexes. As did a major packing company recently, when it simply cancelled a 5,000 sqm stand at the ANUGA in Cologne, also junking 2,000 room nights in the process. What happened? Well, the company sim-ply asked its key clients around the world if any of them actually intended to travel to ANUGA. In light of the crisis, not many did. And so a courageous management simply made the obvious decision. Painful for our organisers. Many would now respond: “If not now, then when?” Or: “But that really sends out the wrong signal!” What worthy people issue throughout the country sounds like a monotonous “Om mani padme hum”. Unfortunately, many industry clients have precious little interest in our distress. They simply cut the cost and return to working on other priorities. While people raved about upcoming paradigm shifts, when it comes to dealing with the consequences, hardly anyone is ready with the follow-through. But truly, does anyone really believe that systematic change will happen easily and without discom-fort? We’re talking open-heart surgery here, not a walk in the park! We will, however, survive it! Professor Buer said as much at an excellent event held recently by the Travel Industry Club in Berlin: “If we fail to do our homework now, then we will hit the wall a few years hence at such a velocity that we will have a hard time recovering from it!”This is the kind of talk that doom-mongers love and white-washers hate. Realists stay alert and make a note of it. Yes, we can’t just charge ahead and make money without asking ourselves about what it means: Ecologically, economically and socially. While this edition went to press, open-minded people in the industry attended the expert conference “Green Meetings” in Bonn to look for ideas with potential. Highly-respected scientists are making them sit up and take notice: “If climate change is man-made, then we have a lot of questions to answer about our excessive lifestyle

– and not just because of the financial crisis. Our long-held belief systems are falling apart!” The threat has now outgrown our traditional face-lifting strategies: CSR – that useful place in which anything remotely ‘respectable’ can be pigeonholed – has long since served its purpose. It’s all or nothing now, it’s the future. Many will unfor-tunately be left by the wayside. Somewhat strange, that this should happen during the Darwin Year! Exponential processes in the drama of the economic downturn are correlating with exponential processes in climate change. If we carry on as before, then our friends in Hamburg and Amsterdam may well need to strap on their floaties before the end of the century. Something else that should make our hair stand is a study revealing that eight out of ten European businesses surveyed now tend to view business trips as a waste of time and money (page 52). As should a study on the future of certain trade fair sites (page 8). Rational behaviour is overdue. And not that dramatic, if one is prepared to make the necessary modifications and not continues to live above one’s own means, blown out of all proportion. Time, then, for hon-esty, responsibility and accountability. Time to resuscitate the cardinal virtues. Thank you, dear crisis. You may well be the mother of all invention and of our future.

Hans J. Heinrich, Editor-in-chief

Anything goes and nothing works like it did before!

E DI TORI a L

WWW.BERLINERFREIHEIT.COM

NEU IN DER NEUEN MITTE DESNEUEN BERLINS:Kreieren Sie Konferenzen, Produktpräsen-tationen und Ausstellungen, aber auchCooking Classes und elegante Dinnersganz nach Ihren Vorstellungen. NehmenSie sich die Freiheit und rufen Sie uns an:030 / 92 10 46 06.

DIE NEUEGESTALTUNGS-FREIHEIT

26503_BF_teaser_1_3_RZ.INDD 1 05.02.2009 15:28:07 Uhr

Verpflichtung. Profitieren Sie von einem aufmerksamen Team, dem der Erfolg Ihrer Veranstaltung am Herzen liegt.

Kommunikation. Vertrauen Sie auf die Expertise eines IT-Experten und unserer technischen Ausstattung auf höchstem Niveau.

Komfort. Nutzen Sie unsere flexiblen Veranstaltungsräume, die individuell auf Ihre Veranstaltung angepasst werden können.

Zusammenhang. Stärken Sie den Teamgeist Ihrer Mitarbeiter durch das „Coach à la Carte“-Programm und unser

innovatives Rahmenprogramm.

Co-Meeting PullmanDie neue Art der Veranstaltungsorganisation

Dateiname: ACC0902_8_408x287_Tennis.pdf; Nettoformat:(204.00 x 287.00 mm); Datum: 11. Feb 2009 14:29:31; PDF-CMYK; L. N. Schaffrath DruckMedien

meetings.accorhotels.com

Die neue Generation von Business Hotels. www.pullmanhotels.com

lydi

e/ni

ko/s

ipa

Dateiname: ACC0902_8_408x287_Tennis.pdf; Nettoformat:(204.00 x 287.00 mm); Datum: 11. Feb 2009 14:29:36; PDF-CMYK; L. N. Schaffrath DruckMedien

6 events 1/2009

CON T E N T S 1 / 20 09

Congress WorldA sober analysis: The future of trade fair halls ............................................... 8The ideal congress destination: What does it look like? ............................... 10Delightful: How large congress centres performed ...................................... 16Winking and blinking: Matchmaking by HighTech Badges ........................... 20

PeopleVok Dams: A success story ......................................................................... 24

Bookcase ................................................................................................... 28

DestinationsCologne is a feeling! ................................................................................... 30Spa: The mother of all Spas ......................................................................... 83 China: How MICE professionals rate it ...................................................... 110Germany: Going strong ............................................................................ 115Registration Fam Trip: Spa ......................................................................... 101Registration Fam Trip: Croatia ................................................................... 122

ManagementMethodical: Planning and controlling the quality of events .......................... 46Effective: ROI against recession ................................................................... 50The future: Video Conferences to curb travel costs? .................................... 52Column: Pütz & Eichenlaub ......................................................................... 54Interview: Reverse gear or back to reason? ................................................. 56Speechless? Impossible not to communicate! .............................................. 58

Catering Trends in 2009 ........................................................................... 60

What happens in agencies? .................................................................... 67

LocationsNo fiction: A luxury hotel of the future in Bonn .......................................... 72

IdeasDrum olé: Little box with great impact ........................................................ 76

Trade FairsBrandnew: Trade fair in Slovenia ................................................................. 78Novices: The German Wildcard-winners for imex 2009 ............................... 79B+: Good grades for World of Events .......................................................... 82

HotelsDivorced: Kempinski & Heiligendamm ....................................................... 102

AssociationsFine start: MPI Dialogtag in Essen .............................................................. 120Teaming up: US associations against government decree .......................... 121

Imprint .................................................................................................... 130

Get to know Cologne – during the

”Kölner Kongress- und EventTag”on 31 March, 2009.

More from page 30!

Register now for Fam Trips to Spa (Belgium)and Croatia.

Pages 101 and 122

>

Congress WorldA sober analysis: The future of trade fair halls ............................................... 8The ideal congress destination: What does it look like? ............................... 10Delightful: How large congress centres performed ...................................... 16Winking and blinking: Matchmaking by HighTech Badges ........................... 20

PeopleVok Dams: A success story ......................................................................... 24

Bookcase ................................................................................................... 28

DestinationsCologne is a feeling! ................................................................................... 30Spa: The mother of all Spas ......................................................................... 83 China: How MICE professionals rate it ...................................................... 110Germany: Going strong ............................................................................ 115Registration Fam Trip: Spa ......................................................................... 101Registration Fam Trip: Croatia ................................................................... 122

ManagementMethodical: Planning and controlling the quality of events .......................... 46Effective: ROI against recession ................................................................... 50The future: Video Conferences to curb travel costs? .................................... 52Column: Pütz & Eichenlaub ......................................................................... 54Interview: Reverse gear or back to reason? ................................................. 56Speechless? Impossible not to communicate! .............................................. 58

Catering Trends in 2009 ........................................................................... 60

What happens in agencies? .................................................................... 67

LocationsNo fiction: A luxury hotel of the future in Bonn .......................................... 72

IdeasDrum olé: Little box with great impact ........................................................ 76

Trade FairsBrandnew: Trade fair in Slovenia ................................................................. 78Novices: The German Wildcard-winners for imex 2009 ............................... 79B+: Good grades for World of Events .......................................................... 82

HotelsDivorced: Kempinski & Heiligendamm ....................................................... 102

AssociationsFine start: MPI Dialogtag in Essen .............................................................. 120Teaming up: US associations against government decree .......................... 121

Imprint .................................................................................................... 130

Projekt24:Layout 1 27.01.2009 7:41 Uhr Seite 1

8 events 1/2009

CONgR E S S W OR LD

Event locations, according to May and Baake, have played a central role in society since ancient times. Not only the buildings but also the events themselves grew into gigantic undertakings. Examples cited by the speakers included the Coliseum in Rome and the legendary Congress of Vienna –

“the only conference ever made into a film”. Yet when one looks at the 1,500 event locations needing state subsidies in Germany, with an average booking rate of barely 44 per cent, one is forced to ask whether this doesn’t – despite a market still showing growth – in fact already represent an oversupply that is no longer financially viable.

Virtual forms of communication are on the riseAt the same time, locations are faced with actual extinction from another quarter. Virtual reality is an increasingly impor-tant part of life for many people. This is true especially in the areas of informational exchange and in entertainment – i.e. the standard areas of operation for conference and event complexes. And May and Baake reject the popular idea that personal interaction and the live experience are both irre-placeable by virtual reality – providing a way to avoid ques-tions about the utility of physical event locations. Instead, they argue, we should rather expect the virtual space to become perfected to the extent that it will eventually be barely indistinguishable from reality. Even now, one may at-tend rock concerts and conference centres in the Internet world “Second Life”.

Yet, the physical event locations need not start rehearsing their swansongs on this account. The virtual world is still very much in its infancy in terms of simulating reality. The point is rather that the event locations should be investigat-ing virtuality themselves. In the near future, this will mean much more than an interactive website and the latest com-munications technology at conferences. May and Baake postulate that: “the future will be less about the virtualisa-tion of reality and more about the realisation of virtuality.”

The more information and entertainment is being stored in virtual worlds, the more important it becomes for event lo-cations to be capable of defining themselves as a real alter-native to virtuality. They will need to interface well with the virtual world while also distinguishing themselves as some-thing else – a place of real experience. Here, May and Baake see key alliances on the horizon that could also have a part to play in questions of financing. By cooperating with vir-tual meeting-places, information providers and simulation designers such as XING, Wii, YouTube and Second Life, new areas of business could be opened up and new event for-mats developed. It might even lead to virtual events being held in real-life locations, since – as May and Baake point out – “The event location of the future is not a black box. It has a black box.” Event locations should not leave it to oth-ers to conduct this business – it is up to them to continue their own, thousand-year-long history of their trade.

Hard times for assembly halls:

The future is black!It’s certainly worth approaching the future of event locations from an external perspective. Will excessive capacity possibly lead to a string of closures, since the market simply no longer permits the refinancing of such businesses from state funds? Or even: has increased virtualisation simply made major event centres redundant? Wouldn’t it be more sensible to curtail new construction, and think about demolishing some of the existing ones? These are questions addressed by Dr. Thomas May and Frank Baake from the Karlsruhe-based corporate consulting company Symbios in their keynote to the conference on “Event Loca-tions in Times of Sustainability and Demographic Change” hosted by the german Institute of Urban affairs in Berlin. Their answer: the future is black – to an extent.

events 1/2009 9

INTERPLAN Founder Anton Kössl dies (1926 – 2009) Anton „Toni“ Kössl was one of the pioneers of the conferencing business, known and respected both nationally and international-ly. Together with some of his colleagues, he developed the career profile of the PCO at a time when the future of this area of activity was still uncertain. In 1969, he founded the INTERPLAN congress and visitor service.He managed the company – now INTERPLAN AG – actively until 2002, with the business enjoying success with its steady focus on the organisation of scientific conferences. As of today, the com-pany employs 60 permanent staff members in Munich, Hamburg and Berlin.

New Director for Business Development at Singapore’s SUNTEC

The prestigious Suntec Singa-pore International Convention & Exhibition Centre (Suntec Singapore) has appointed Arun Madhok as its Director of Busi-ness Development.

Mr. Madhok, who speaks Eng-lish, German and Hindi, will be responsible for the expansion of marketing activities, diversifica-tion strategies and new product lines. He comes from the airline and hospitality segment, where he made a name for himself with strong growth in new markets in Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa – especially during his time at British Airways. Pieter Idenburg, Suntec’s CEO, comments on the new appointment:

“He brings the experience we need now in or-der not only to stay competitive despite the crisis, but to experience further growth.”

Congress Centre planned in Opfikon (Canton Zurich) Private investors are planning the construction of a 250 million euro congress centre in the canton of Zurich be-tween now and 2012; it will have conference rooms, 300 high-standard hotel rooms and 70 luxury apartments. The project is not meant to replace the planned Zurich Kongresshaus. Investors, however, are still lacking one third of the financing at present, according to media re-ports. Despite the financial crisis, they are optimistic.

Changes in the Sales Executive at DüsseldorfCongress Beginning in March 2009, Mandy Pahl will be Director of Sales in the Business Events unit at DüsseldorfCongress Veranstaltungsgesellschaft mbH. The business adminis-tration graduate has been working as a sales manager in the unit since 2004. Her predecessor Birgit Horn is mov-ing to Messe Düsseldorf. Ms. Pahl’s duties will include responsibility for the conception, planning and realisation of all sales activities involving the portfolio of rooms at DüsseldorfCongress – recently expanded to include its newest special event location “Station Airport” at Düs-seldorf Airport. She will be assisted by a team of nine sales staff.

5,000 Finance Experts gathered in the m:con CC Rosengarten with D. Bohlen Not at all paradoxical: The crisis destroys and triggers a need for communication. Thus the global economic crisis was the focus of this year’s ‘FONDS Professional Congress 2009’ that took the stage at Mannheim on January 28th and 29th. 5,000 financial services providers, asset consultants, insurance brokers and fi-nancing consultants discussed the causes and effects of the global economic crisis, among other things.A bit unusual: Media star and bestselling author Dieter Bohlen opened the congress to great spectator interest. The top earner revealed his secrets for success in his opening address and also gave strategy tips. After all, the successful musician holds a busi-ness degree and most recently landed a bestseller with his new book Der Bohlenweg: Planieren statt sanieren.

In addition to the media star’s ‘common sense’ (we hope so any-way, why else?!), however, there were also over 190 specialised presentations by international top experts on the programme, and 208 exhibitors were on the floor at the accompanying trade fair. Among the top presenters at the two-day congress were also the German economist Otmar Issing, star fund manager Anthony Bol-ton and fund expert Eckhard Sauren as well as rally pilot Jutta Kleinschmidt.

10 events 1/2009

Ready fortake off:Station Airport.

Seit Anfang 2009 steht Ihnen im Fernbahnhof des Flughafens Düsseldorf International eine extravagante Special-

Eventlocation zur Verfügung: Station Airport. Hier finden Sie auf zwei Ebenen rund 3.900 m² Gestaltungsfläche

in futuristisch-funktionaler Architektur. Riesige Panorama-Fenster bieten Ihnen einen spektakulären Ausblick auf

die Start- und Landebahnen. Auf der weitläufigen Außenterrasse direkt über dem Startbahnkopf scheinen die

Flugzeuge zum Greifen nah. Und durch die direkte und schnelle Anbindung an Flugzeuge, Bahnen, Autos und

Busse verfügen Sie hier über eine zentrale Location, in der fantastische Veranstaltungen durchstarten können.

Wann landen Sie im Station Airport? Ihre Ansprechpartnerin: Andrea Preker, Tel. +49 (0) 2 11/ 421- 71 502.

www.stationairport.de

StationAirport_AZ-204x287.indd 1 16.02.09 17:41

CONgR E S S W OR LD

The ideal Congress Venue – what does it look like?We wanted to know whether ideas about the basic preconditions for a successful congress centre possibly differ between the centre managers and the clients and asked the president of the international association aIPC and some PCOs about this independent of each other. The first description of the ‘ideal condition’ comes from the suppliers’ side, specifically from Edgar Hirt in his position as president of the aIPC (association Internationale de Palais des Congrès) as well as area director of the Hamburg Congress Centre.

events: Which criteria does a congress centre have to fulfil to qualify for international association congress-es (mid-sized and up)?

Hirt: The international association (according to the ICCA definition) generally allots the placement of mid-sized events (from 1,500 pax) according to very specific criteria. Certain image factors do play some role here. Meaning: what impression and what char-acter do the respective city names radiate where the congress centre (CC) is located. In the case of medical congresses, the reputation of the university facilities, research institutes, faculty (in the year of the event ideally the congress president!) have significance. If the CC can offer reference events from the past, this also has a strong influence.Last but not least the CC’s functional space- and area-specific service structure satisfying requirements of utilisation as optimal and flexible as possible, is an indispensable parameter. Parallel to this expecta-tions on the organiser’s part in connection with the CC’s team are high; it should distinguish itself through professionalism, multilingualism, fast response to all questions in the initial business phase, further plan-ning, conclusion of the contract, implementation and follow-up. The organiser also expects (after final scheduling of the event) to be provided with a competent project manager who is there for them at any time, even if

the event may not be scheduled for another three years, and it’s not out of the ordinary for the CC in question to take a closer look at the annual events in other destinations to get a ‘feel’ for how the organiser ‘ticks’.

events: How does the hotel situation have to look (capacities/categories/location)?

Hirt: The hotel capacity in the requested time window should be at least 70% of the group size. The neu-tral acquisition and guarantee of room quotas free of charge before the contract with the CC is concluded, is a must. It goes without saying that an adequate range of all categories is necessary. There shouldn’t be too many hotels. (Rule of thumb: each 100 pax = one hotel).

events: What role do travel connections and local public transportation on site as well as the service in-frastructure (evening events) play in detail?

Hirt: Accessibility (above all the significance of the airport at the destination) in conjunction with flight connections, train connections, a capable tram and subway network in the city, available taxi capacity and private bus companies.

events: How important is the destination’s attractive-

‘No country in the world has more congress centres than Germany!’

Ready fortake off:Station Airport.

Seit Anfang 2009 steht Ihnen im Fernbahnhof des Flughafens Düsseldorf International eine extravagante Special-

Eventlocation zur Verfügung: Station Airport. Hier finden Sie auf zwei Ebenen rund 3.900 m² Gestaltungsfläche

in futuristisch-funktionaler Architektur. Riesige Panorama-Fenster bieten Ihnen einen spektakulären Ausblick auf

die Start- und Landebahnen. Auf der weitläufigen Außenterrasse direkt über dem Startbahnkopf scheinen die

Flugzeuge zum Greifen nah. Und durch die direkte und schnelle Anbindung an Flugzeuge, Bahnen, Autos und

Busse verfügen Sie hier über eine zentrale Location, in der fantastische Veranstaltungen durchstarten können.

Wann landen Sie im Station Airport? Ihre Ansprechpartnerin: Andrea Preker, Tel. +49 (0) 2 11/ 421- 71 502.

www.stationairport.de

StationAirport_AZ-204x287.indd 1 16.02.09 17:41

12 events 1/2009

CONgR E S S W OR LD

events: Which criteria does a congress centre have to fulfil to qualify for international association con-gresses (mid-sized and up)?

Kerkhoff: Depending on an international association congress’s structure, size and need for detail, what would be optimal is a modern congress centre, tech-nologically up-to-date regarding my space and surface needs, situated no more than one hour from an inter-national airport, with the required hotel infrastructure

ness / image (in association with the political & eco-nomic situation)?

Hirt: The city’s attractiveness/image plays another important role for the frame programme. Sector-spe-cific institutions (scientific, financial, political), cultural amenities and, of course, restaurants and other eater-ies plus ‘general lifestyle’ offer additional plusses.

events: What in the international competition for the congress centre is considered indispensable these days? Please also give us a short reference from your own experience: ‘centre far away’ (ICM) or close city connection, etc.

Hirt: Security issues for the event venue, risk of strikes by the transport companies, among other things, and increasing ecological features of the CC are regularly asked about. The central CC in the middle of the city has advantages and disadvantages. The short dis-tances from the hotels to the CC, from the CC to the shopping hotspots, the surrounding restaurants/bars, etc. are advantages that neutralise organisational/lo-gistical problems when equipping exhibition spaces in the organiser’s view. In the case of correspondingly high exhibitor occupancy, the organiser in some cases must factor in an additional breakdown day, which isn’t necessary at a CC out ‘in the sticks’.

events: Can one speak of aspiring congress locations or ones slowly drifting aloof – in the sense of geopo-litical and economic shifts, among other things?

Hirt: In my opinion, there are firmly established CCs that over decades have been well integrated in a national sense and there are less established, young

congress locations with a highly functional CC fresh on the market, yet do not sufficiently satisfy points 1 - 5. Internationally, Germany is in 2nd place, which of course has something to do with the number of CCs. No other country in the world has as many CCs, whether large or small. But it’s also clear that the ma-jor European organisers have recently been showing a very strong tendency towards Spain, Italy and Austria.

events: The CCH is among the older centres in Ger-many. How do you see your own situation against the backdrop of growing competitive pressure from new

‘purpose-built’ congress centres all over the world?

Hirt: The CCH is now entering its 36th year. It was opened in May 1973, four years before the ICC Berlin even. We have an impressive reference list of world congresses and international conferences to show. In the mid-1980s the desire for more exhibition space became greater and greater. With the expansion of the CCH in 2004 we were able to simultaneously offer around 10,000 square metres of exhibition space and 12,500 seats, beginning in 2006. However, there was a certain acquisition gap in the 1990s as a result of the late decision for this expansion. Other destinations such as Berlin (with their new trade fair centres), Leip-zig, Frankfurt, Munich, even Stuttgart (after releasing plans for the Neue Messe trade fair centre in the Filder area) profited from this.Today we can no longer completely catch up with this ‘delta’, but with Germany as a destination, we have a good base in the global context. And with Hamburg as a destination, this growing harbour city with the aura of a cosmopolitan metropolis, I see good op-portunities for us when it comes to successful future acquisitions.

and this is how the PCO sees it:Responses by Wolfgang Kerkhoff, Eurokongress gmbH

(in a few larger-capacity hotels rather than spread out over 50 hotels…) in the 3- to 5-star category, centrally located in the city (accompanying individuals would like to start getting to know the area on foot…) or very easy to reach by local public transportation.A central, experienced and service-oriented reference person for all matters relating to the congress centre plus a competent contact person (congress office or similar) for the destination including current material (digital as far as possible) for marketing the destina-

‘Complicated Offers and hidden Costs are a constant Irritation!’

Events_ICC_204x287_en_störer.ind1 1 05.02.2009 15:01:42

14 events 1/2009

CONgR E S S W OR LD

tion – because a congress centre sells itself WITH or as part of a destination (whose image should at least not be negative, and the city must be known internation-ally (small back-door venues or the like don’t sell in-ternationally). And the whole thing has to be at com-petitive, calculable and transparent prices – and often with correspondingly long options because, though decisions in international associations are often made well in advance, they aren’t finalised until months af-ter the offer is proposed.

events: How does the hotel situation have to look (capacities/categories/location)?

Kerkhoff: 3- to 5-star hotels with sufficient capacity either in the immediate vicinity or easily accessible (by car or local public transportation).

events: What role do travel connections and local public transportation on site as well as the service in-frastructure (evening events) play in detail?

Kerkhoff: If the CC isn’t centrally located, a good public transport connection is essential. In this regard it should also be possible to use the congress name-tag as a ticket, for example. There must likewise be a connection to hotels/CC via local public transporta-tion at the airport/train station, etc. The confusing fare schedule for public transportation in many German cities often acts more as a deterrent – especially for international guests.Framework programme/service structure: of course there must be options on site for arranging one or more appealing evening events of various formats (parties, galas) for all the participants. It’s not only the hardware – i.e. location – that has to be present, but

also the experienced and professional software – ca-terers, agencies/DMC, etc. events: How important is the destination’s attractive-ness / image (in association with the political & eco-nomic situation)?

Kerkhoff: At the moment people are rather distan-cing themselves from ‘fancy’ destinations or destina-tions with a ‘luxury/holiday’ flair in order not to give the wrong impression in times of this general ‘crisis’: i.e. the world is upside-down and they’re having a ball…’Nonetheless, a destination’s image still has to be an influential factor for many ‘hesitant’ congress partici-pants (that is, participants ‘don’t necessarily need to go to this congress’). But this can often be equated with the significance of the venue’s accessibility.

events: What in the international competition for the congress centre is considered indispensable these days?

Kerkhoff: Professional management, service- and customer-oriented employees, clear cost transparency

– and openness regarding what they can and cannot offer (or not that well/suitably).We still receive a lot of requests/offers from CCs for events that don’t at all fit with this CC or the destina-tion (size, space requirements or the like). A lot of sales departments still need to do their homework in that regard… I can only judge whether the event suits me as a CC if I know the client and his needs. Unsuitable offers end up damaging the reputation of a CC/a des-tination – ‘they don’t work professionally’…WLAN, included in the price as far as possible, net-work/server supported reception of the presentations and direct transmission to the corresponding presenta-tion rooms, room arrangement and division as flexible as possible, central exhibition area with a high visitor frequency and without forcing guests ‘around three corners and through five doors’. events: Can one speak of aspiring congress locations or ones slowly drifting aloof – in the sense of geopoliti-cal and economic shifts, among other things?

Kerkhoff: Yes. Anyone who’s not technologically up-to-date is, as a CC or destination, where not all service companies (hotels, local public transportation, city/congress office, transport, etc.) are properly coor-dinated and haven’t recognised the significance of the client/congress for the city/destination and therefore don’t cooperate. Or destinations/CCs, where service

unprofessional or ‘reluctant’ even at first contact, will be marginalised. events: What’s a recurrent irritation?

Kerkhoff: Poor maintenance/lacking renovation, com-plicated offers with additional costs that are ‘veiled’ or not clearly revealed (when I receive a professional offer in response to my detailed quote request, with clear

cost transparency and projected total costs – and don’t have to spend hours adding up some individual price lists – this is certainly a big plus for a CC, a destina-tion), changing contact persons for every area (tech-nology, rental, security, etc.) and no central coordina-tor/project manager.Lacking or often very old material (video, stills, Power-Point) for marketing the destination and therefore the congress as well.

The austrian PCO Mondial also agrees with these statements for the most part. For anna ganthaler, however, regarding the ques-tion about the destination’s attractiveness, the existence of a ‘relevant scientific community’ is also important. and we quote:‘an excellent conferencing infrastructure, a relevant local scien-tific community, accessibility and travel connections, security (economic climate, low crime rate, legal system), culture & tradi-tion, nature & landscape, and culinary provisions have emerged as significant factors in this regard.’

CCH – Congress Center Hamburg

Happy to serve you!

Phone +49 40 3569-2222info@cch.de · www.cch.de

Experience the future

• 10,000 sq.m. of exhibition space plusadditional seating for a total of 12,500 persons

• New multifunctional exhibition hall• Spectator events for up to 6,000 persons• Prize-winning, state-of-the-art audio and event technology• Optimal city-centre location adjoining trade fair grounds• ICE high-speed train station Hamburg-Dammtor on the doorstep

CCH_events_204x145_GB 1 22.01.2009 12:29:06 Uhr

16 events 1/2009

CONgR E S S W OR LD

Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH celebrates Record Turnover

The good news: It was the best year since the com-pany’s founding. Turnover for the year 2008 is at 78.3 million euros according to preliminary projection. That’s 29 percent more than the year 2006 and equals an operative yield of 9.9 million euros. A growth in turnover of 20 percent had been expected.

The downside: Write-offs, interest and the leasing rate for the Neue Messe Hamburg burden the result, lead-ing to a projected annual deficit of 12.6 million eu-ros for 2008. A balanced annual result is expected for

The ICS can be more than satisfied: 69 events (each approx. 1/3 congresses/conferences/other) brought about 72,000 visitors into the congress centre. ‘With that, our concept has fully come into its own,’ says Stefan Lohnert, director of ICS Stuttgart. ‘We have established ourselves as a top-ten location and desirable destination in the shortest time.With these good figures, our recognised good service and our well-proven team, we’re well armed against the challenges that the difficult year of 2009 is sure to bring. Yet we’re confident: bookings through 2010 are already going full steam ahead.’ www.ics-stuttgart.de

The ICS International Congress Centre Stuttgart successful in 2008 as well

2016. ‘But the effect on Hamburg is already consider-able right now,’ says Bernd Aufderheide (49), manag-ing director of Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH.

‘According to an ifo study from 2007, for every euro that the HMC yields, our exhibitors and visitors spend a further 7.60 euros in Hamburg’s stores, restaurants, hotels and taxies. In 2008 that was around 595 mil-lion euros that flowed into Hamburg companies’ tills in conjunction with trade fairs and congresses.’

A large number of European and world congresses have registered at the CCH for up to 2015. Among others, around 25,000 Lions Club members from all over the world are expected at the congress from July 5 – 9, 2013. Hamburg will only be the third European city to host a world congress since the Lion Club’s founding.

Volkswagen AG has likewise extended their coopera-tion with the CCH and booked annual general assem-blies up to 2016. According to the new HV magazine study from 2008, the CCH has moved to top place in Germany for the most-booked locations for the general assemblies of publicly traded companies in the category ‘Congress Centre’ as well as fourth place in the Top Ten general assembly locations in Germany (source: HV magazine, special edition HV Locations 2008/2009).

The CCH’s situation is unique. The CCH is just a stone’s throw away from restaurants, exclusive shops, cinemas and museums in the heart of Hamburg. The Alster, the world famous Reeperbahn and the Harbour are accessible on foot.

CEO Norbert Bargmann announced the happy news at the ICM in conjunc-

tion with the year-end press conference for 2008: ‘The International Con-

gress Centre Munich (ICM) celebrated its 10th anniversary with one of the

best results in its history: in 2008 over 170,000 visitors took part in one of 151

nationally and internationally recognised congresses and events at the ICM,

setting a new visitors record. In addition, the ICM achieved the second best

financial result in the past ten years with a turnover of more than nine million

euros, and finished 2008 well above expectation.’ The congress centre’s direct

connection to the trade fair halls, whereby capacities and competencies are

freely available at Munich’s trade fair and congress facility as only few destina-

tions can offer, are cited as being partly responsible for the success.

www.icm-muenchen.de

Everybody is happy: ICM Munich 2008 well above expectation

Website Award for success-spoilt m:con-TeamThe m:con Congress Centre Rosengarten has the best and most creative internet sites in all of Baden-Wurttemberg and is winner of the ‘Website Award Mittelstand Baden-Wurttemberg 2009’. Michel Maugé accepted the award.

‘The m:con world informs about the entire service spectrum surrounding the congress and events organisation in an impressive way,’ was the jury’s unanimous explanation. ‘A successful, thorough layout grid enables the visitor, organiser or m:con partner to easily find their way in the extensive and informative range of offers.’ The website had already received two significant awards in 2008. With this award, m:con is up for the nationwide ‘NEG Website Award 2009’ which, promoted by the Ministry for Finance and Technology, is awarded on March 4, 2009 in the framework of the CeBIT, after this edition’s press date. ‘We’re proud to be entering the competition for Baden-Wurttemberg at the CeBIT!’ said m:con marketing director Bastian Fiedler, ‘and of course are doing our utmost to bring the victory into this country and to Mannheim for the first time!’

CONgR E S S W OR LD

Congress & Messe Innsbruck: it’s looking good for 2009The 2008 business year was really quite pleasing: 630,000 visitors were counted at 460 events at the three venues of the Congress, Trade Fair and congresspark igls. The 5th Annual Meeting of the German, Austrian and Swiss Societies for Tho-racic and Cardiovascular Surgery was the largest of the 170 congresses and the Innsbruck Autumn Trade Fair the event that attracted the most visitors: 125,000. With 103 events, the congresspark igls again had good chances in the competi-tion. 200 bookings have already been made for 2009, 90 of them are congresses and seminars. The European Laboratory Medicine Congress planned for June will be the largest that Innsbruck has ever seen. 3,500 participants are expected and will completely fill the accommodations in Innsbruck and the surrounding area to capacity. The Interalpin - the international trade fair for Alpine technologies on April 22 - 24 that takes place every 2 years - will again draw an estimated 18,000 trade visitors from all continents to the Messe Innsbruck. ‘Of course the economic crisis isn’t going to stop for us either. But we’re going against it with heightened sales and promotional measures and are confident of achieving the planned turnover tar-gets for 2009,’ says CEO Georg Lamp with a positive attitude. www.come-innsbruck.at /www.congresspark-igls.at

Never mind the Recession: Hofburg going strong in Vienna You can count on them: They’re visitors who can be depended on to come back, the ap-proximately 60,000 delegates from 56 countries who turn up at the Hofburg as a standing venue in conjunction with numerous OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) conferences; representatives of the Viennese ministries appear with equal regularity. Many of the events booked for 2009 are of a medical character, their participation numbers between 400 and 1,200 people; in April around 3,000 delegates will meet at the confer-ence of a multinational company in the Hofburg. More than 1,000 automobile experts come to the International Viennese Motor Symposium in May – and there’s also reason to celebrate: As an international conference and events centre, the Hofburg is about to enter its 50th year, the Vienna Convention Bureau its 40th year, and so in April there will be a collective appearance at a symposium for PCOs entitled: The Meeting Industry in 2020. ‘Altogether we have bookings for over 20 larger congresses and conferences, two-thirds of those of an international character,’ says Renate Danler, the Hofburg’s managing director.

In addition to Austria, most of the conference organisers come from Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, France and the USA. More than 60 percent of the turnover generated by the Hofburg can be attributed to conferences and congresses. www.hofburg.com

Wo sich kluge Köpfe treffen, werden oft bahnbrechendeIdeen geboren. Und manchmal sind es nur relativ klei-ne Dinge, die den Ausschlag für eine große Idee geben:eine inspirierende Atmosphäre, die perfekte Präsentations-technik, eine kühne Architektur, aufmerksamer Serviceund Gastfreundlichkeit, die zum Wohlfühlen einladen.Und genau das finden Sie im darmstadtium wissenschaft|kongresse.

Seien Sie willkommen!

Das darmstadtium wissenschaft|kongresse –Treffpunkt für die Macher der Märkte von morgen

KLEINE DINGEGROSSE WIRKUNG

www.darmstadtium.de

TTOPOPOPVENVENVENVENUUEEFORFORFORFORGREENGREENGREENGREENGREENGREENMMEEEEEETTINGINGINGINGSS

Foto

:pho

toca

se.co

m

20 events 1/2009

CONgR E S S W OR LD

With interactive badges on the Spot me! principle, net-working opportunities at events can be dramatically improved, especially at conferences. The new product

When there is a Spark between Conference Participants:

Flashing badges for the same interestsContents and networking are becoming more important all the time at events. So perhaps we shouldn’t worry quite so much about whether there is enough caviar on the canapé or what brand of champagne is available, but concentrate a bit more intensively on the content aspects. Connections between the people at the event play an ever greater role in this.

BadgetoMatch is embedded in a corporate strategy of the supplier Converve, which sees networking at events as the purpose of its business. BadgetoMatch is cheaper and easier to use than Spot me! because it has clearly fewer functions.

How does BadgetoMatch work? First of all the events organiser makes the decision in principle to use this module, and then develops the plan for using it in conjunction with Converve.A normal online registration is the basic requirement. Here the participant can enter the information needed for successful matching with another person – for in-stance, the area he works in, what type of contacts he is looking for, why he is taking part, et cetera. This can all be defined in advance totally freely.The badge is issued on the basis of these details. All the information is contained on the front on the print-

CongressCentrum Pforzheim takes over Directorship of the Congress AllianzThe Congress Allianz has been around for four years and is a conglomeration of ten German congress centres from Rostock, Hannover, Munster, Bochum, Kassel, Weimar, Aachen, Mainz, Pforzheim and Friedrichshafen. The members have committed to guaranteeing the conference and congress clients the greatest possible transparency with the desired services, a unified high standard of quality and service and to constantly improve through training. In addition to this, there are the collective marketing and sales-boosting meas-ures such as road shows and trade fair appearances.The annual change of directorship will be made shortly at the work-ing session at the CongressCentrum Pforzheim. The previous chair, Dr. Ursula Paschke, managing director of the Halle Münsterland, passed the ‘baton’ to the managing director of the CCP, Günter Ihlenfeld, who has now taken over the directorship for one year, effective January 1, 2009.

events 1/2009 21

Rheingoldhalle,Kurfürstliches Schloß,Frankfurter Hof –

3 Top-Locationsin der besten LageEuropas!

Congress Centrum Mainz GmbHRheinstraße 66 . D 55116 MainzFon 06131.2420 . Fax 06131.242100www.ccmainz.de

Die Vielfalt

aller Möglichkeiten

strahlendpräsentiert

events_Laufsteg_67x287.indd 1 21.01.2009 17:52:08 Uhr

ed barcode of the name label, and when the label is attached to the plastic mount the information is linked up with the electronic carrier via a separate piece of equipment.Now the participant can transmit unobtrusively, and as soon as a person with a similar profile within a radius of about ten metres comes close to him, they both light up in the same colour and recognise that they are potentially capable of pairing up! We are both hand surgeons, one from Wyoming and one from Sicily, and one has experience of the procedural technique that the other is looking for. While the “pairing” is going on, no rivals can join in the communications, as the badges recognize that they are only a short distance away from the pair in conversation and switch into off mode. BadgetoMatch is so intelligent that you can protect yourself against sensory overload by using your online registration to specify in advance the desired percentage of matches and limit such matches accordingly so as to avoid to-tal chaos. Thus for example you could programme a contact signal only with a 90 per cent match rather than 68 per cent. The event organizer can affect the ratio at any time.

Of course it is generally very important that the conference participant does not become an electronic hostage, and can determine at any time when his badge is to be in on or off mode – entirely according to his personal gusto and true to the slogan: Anything is possible, but nothing is compulsory!

What does this useful pleasure cost?

Taking 1,000 participants as an example, around ten euros per badge. Marc Kessels from Converve says: “Two canapés and one cold drink less, and al-ready the conference has a decisive increase in cost-effectiveness!” Converve is also exhibiting at IMEX 2009 in Frankfurt and has already been highly suc-cessful at EIBTM. The Intermedia Congress has already worked with it and a number of other major events are undergoing preparation. The application opportunities of course extend far beyond the meeting industry depending on the coding and programming. You can watch a video presentation about this intelligent “marriage broker” on the website www.converve.de.

22 events 1/2009

CONgR E S S W OR LD

Both entrance and service facilities will receive sig-nificant upgrades in terms of numerous counter units, larger cloakrooms and additional catering areas. At the same time, the new construction work will be used to make energy savings. Both of the office and conference buildings flanking „Eingang Mitte“ will be given a double facade, enabling them to contribute to energy savings and CO2 reductions. The overall cost for the construction work amounts to around 40 million euros and completion is planned for autumn 2010.The CCN (CongressCenter Nürnberg) consists of four building complexes: CCN Mitte, CCN Frankenhalle,

New “Eingang Mitte“ for CongressCenter Nürnberg

The ”Eingang Mitte“ grants access to the CCN Mitte. The Mitte area itself is part of the original layout of the trade fair site. Over 25 million visitors, exhibitors and con-ference attendees have passed through the ”Eingang Mitte“ in the last 34 years and made use of the available services on offer. In order to equip this area to meet the needs of the next 30 years in terms of design and function, plans are under-way to deck the entire entrance with a structure some 8000 sqm in size, reaching as far as the metro station forecourt.

CCN West und CCN Ost – all connected by glazed walkways. A total of 11,000 seats are available in over 40 rooms and halls. The largest space hosts up to 5,000 guests, while the smallest has room for just 15. CCN planners have prioritised clear and simple navi-gation. The trade fair site’s ingenious colour guidance system – every level has its own colour scheme – and graduated information provision means guests find the rooms they want quickly and easily. CCN Ost was opened in 2005 and is one of Europe’s most modern conference centres. Its space could swallow 300 detached houses. Nonetheless, this 40 m-high construction, with a base measuring around

124 x 75 m, seems much more elegant than imposing. A gigantic glass roof stretches over the airy atrium at a height of 40 metres. Every year, international com-panies such as Adidas, BMW, Bosch-Rexroth or Puma, major medical conferences and associations choose the CCN as the location for their events. The largest hall in CCN Ost can hold up to 1,400 visi-tors. The fact that the entire hall is, like all rooms in CCN Ost, lit by daylight, is unusual for a conference auditorium of this size. It also offers concert hall acous-tics and permanent simultaneous translation booths. Coloured sliding transparent walls at the front of the windows can give the hall lighting a different atmos-phere as desired. All conference rooms are equipped with the very latest media technology, and the sharp as a pin audio systems carry as far as the bathroom facilities.

About the NürnbergMesse Group

NürnbergMesse is one of the 20 largest trade fair companies in the world and is among the top 10 in Europe. A GDG (Association of German Major Trade

Fairs) member, the Group is placed seventh in Ger-many, behind the trade fair companies of Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Hanover, Munich, Berlin and Cologne, but well in front of Stuttgart, Essen, Leipzig and Hamburg. Its portfolio comprises over 100 international expert trade fairs and congresses, hosted both in Nuremberg and worldwide. Every year, over 27,000 exhibitors (overseas percentage: 37%), 895,000 expert visitors (overseas percentage: 20%) and 395,000 consumers attend events hosted by the NürnbergMesse Group, its partners and guest organisers. The Group currently employs 285 staff and moderate expansion is planned.

184x133_ing tr.fh11 17/2/09 15:33 P gina 1

24 events 1/2009

Success Story Number 2:

Vok Dams. A one-off!

P EOP LE

The man is ageless. But he can’t be. a four-hour conversation with Vok Dams is a journey through time, taking in the more than 40 years of the history of the entire event business. This is not a story about a successful events agency. Whereas – be warned! – the focus is not on events at all, but on “direct” communication. This is the story of a man who has rendered outstanding services to the sector for an unbelievably long time, who addresses target groups directly and – thank good-ness! - does not want to stop at all.

events 1/2009 25

“I don’t know if I will ever retire,” he says with boyish charm. That is easy to believe when he follows this by telling you how many future projects he has lined up. The successful handover to the next generation in the form of his son Colja took place ten years ago, an institute has been founded, an established book in the sector has been written, the commitments to a number of organizations have been consolidated and the agency’s international outlook, namely towards France, the USA, the Middle East and China, has been pushed forward – and yet the man is rolling his sleeves up again. Amongst other things he is a great defender of his home area, the Bergisches Land, as chairman of the marketing club there.

Youngest master of photography in Germany

“I started out as a beach photographer on Juist,” he says proudly to the now amazed interviewer. “Here I learned how to approach people. They didn’t come up to me. And I still like doing that today.” Everyone who has anything to do with him knows that this is one of his great strengths. I discover that at that time, when he wasn’t spending his time on the North Sea coasts during vacations, he completed studies for a double degree, learned his academic trade at the Düsseldorf School of Pho-tographic Engineering [Fotoingenieurschule Düsseldorf], became the youngest master photographer in Germany and worked on the side as a journalist for the Westdeutsche Zeitung. This may make him sound like a jack-of-all-trades, but it later proved to be a sound basis for a great career as well as for many young people who were able to learn from him.What belongs together comes together. After text and images, only sound was missing. When the images learned to move - in slide shows with accompanying audio, later known as modern multivi-sion – he really was in there right from the beginning. As a university teacher in Dortmund, Essen and Kassel, his subject was audiovisual communication. His technical ability was combined with didactic skills. From Volkwart Dams came the brand name Vok Dams and the classic advertising agency – founded with his wife – mainly specialised in audiovisual communication. It did not last for long and the oversized, spectacular trade fair presentations were celebrated as events 20 years before the word “event” even existed. In the 1970s the VOK DAMS Group was founded. The years that followed were eventful as with the help of the pharmaceuticals industry – which at that time was able to help itself from still attrac-tive pots of money – the whole repertoire of direct communication was developed and performed: training systems, seminars, trainer guidelines, meeting optimization plans, et cetera. The field was so wide that they worked together with the neighbouring kogag.

...and passionate educator!

Then came the major projects, corporate presentations with great celebs such as Gottschalk or Jauch in festival halls, which had originally been reserved for folk festivals. The entire events sector looked at little Wuppertal, advertising agencies painfully discovered that emotions can not be printed and companies and brands now wanted to make an “appearance”. Vok Dams did that. But he went one step further. Like a prayer wheel – and this is immensely important for the sector – he observed that live marketing is the basis of any emotional brand management, and that the uniqueness of an individual measure can and should at the same time create a long-lasting effect when it interacts with comprehensive corporate or product strategies. This is not marketing jargon; it is the only true consequence of an effective marketing mix. He provides a magnificent metaphor: “One wheel will work, but only all four wheels make a car.”So what was the most fun? I try to listen without feeling envious. Think for instance of the legen-dary introduction of the Mercedes Benz Sprinter in the form of a musical at the Frankfurt Festhalle

– whose perfectly formed design stemmed from the pen of Michael Smit, my “design mentor”. There were a number of spectacular events – you could fill pages with all the honours and awards. He doesn’t think for very long: “The teaching was fun, generations did their training here with me, then set up independently and also made a dynamic contribution to developing the sector further.”Maintaining the image of the live marketing sector and promoting it is and remains his theme. Get the washing in, the actors are coming – that was the joky way of describing the struggle for accept-

The Book

The Company

The Son

26 events 1/2009

P EOP LE

ance in the early 1980s. Today everything is events. A telenovela, a department store promotion or dinner at the Italian place round the corner. Every farmer with a barn is an events manager today. In some places agencies and meeting planners who have more in mind than creating fringe programmes for parties are still finding their positioning difficult.

Institute for live marketing – late love

“The efficiency and opportunities presented by live marketing are not yet sufficiently exploited, there is still more to them,“ thinks Mr. Dams. So at the Institute for Live Marketing, ILM, fundamental scientific research will be carried out in order to convince decision makers on the marketing floors of the necessity for integrated and networked live communication. And hopefully of the need for relevant budgets! The latter is the real bellyache of the sector. The culture of unpaid pitches has reached top form. Companies have brought agencies to their knees and smaller agencies often find themselves forced to go along with them, although they often run the risk of being eaten up by them. Excuse me, can I wear the shoes before I put a deposit down for them? Or better still: can I take the car on holiday with me before I buy it?

It is perfectly in order for groups to have 30-second TV spots produced for six-figure budgets after they have adequately remunerated several advertising agencies for their services in pitching. Naturally after all concerned have left for LA and the meeting with Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone in some attractive location. But joking aside – creative services normally command high rates across the entire economy.Vok Dams is co-founder of the Forum of Marketing Events Agencies [Forum Marketing-Eventagenturen]. This organisation’s objective is to promote professionalism, network specialists and more: “We object to the mass use of creativity free of charge,” runs the credo of the FME. Only get involved in pitches for payment! (At least that is the intention, although unfortunately you sometimes hear something different!) Not only a laudable approach, but also a survival strategy for hundreds of agencies who have to dangle their creative services – their highest commodity – as sweeteners for billion-turnover companies.

More important than any ranking: first class commitment!

“We need to mix up more dough for the cake, not make the pieces smaller,” says Mr. Dams. I say there is a great mind behind that. The book “Code Rouge” published by the Frankfurter Allgemeine – whose authors are Vok and Colja M. Dams – is not about cryptology. Code here refers instead to deciphering the laws of success for events and live marketing. Compulsory reading for people of action, and above all for clients in companies. It’s time they understood something at last: The right combination of the individual laws is the key to success when addressing a particular target group personally and emotionally. Pioneer, founder, initiator, chairman, president – it has all been written already. That is his personal thing. Yet Vok Dams has helped and still untiringly helps the sector to back the right horse. The appropriate word is “pre-cursor”: direct, in a straight line, purposeful. It is not being ranked number 1 that sums up this captain of the sector, but his first-class commitment. And so this is not another piece of Vok Dams company PR, but more in the way of a written lifetime award. Marie Fink

The Work

Alle Veranstaltungstermine sowieweitere Informationen erhalten Sie unter:Tel.: +49 721 3720-0 oderwww.messe-karlsruhe.de

KARLSRUHEMESSEN & EVENTS

2009MÄR Reinraum-Lounge/

Wasser-Lounge/Steril-Lounge/Hygienicon

17.–19.03.2009

Messe Karlsruhe

fahrrad.markt.zukunft. 21.–22.03.2009

Publikumsmesse rund umFahrrad, Fitness undTourismus

Kongresszentrum

Radio Regenbogen Award 27.03.2009

Der Medienpreis ausBaden-Württemberg

Kongresszentrum

NUFAM 27.–29.03.2009

NutzfahrzeugmesseKarlsruhe

Messe Karlsruhe

APR RESALE 22.–24.04.2009

15. Internationale Messe fürgebrauchte Maschinen undAnlagen

Messe Karlsruhe

KOMCOM SÜD 28.–29.04.2009

Die IT-Fachmesse für denPublic Sector

Messe Karlsruhe

Annett Louisan 30.04.2009

Teilzeithippe Tour 2009 Kongresszentrum

MAI INTERPART, SURFACTS,Stamping Days

05.–06.05.2009

Fachmessen für die Automobil-Zulieferindustrie, Oberflächen-technik und Stanztechnik

Messe Karlsruhe

REHAB 07. - 09.05.2009

15. Internationale Fachmessefür Rehabilitation, Pflege,Prävention und Integration

Messe Karlsruhe

Einstieg Abi 15.–16.05.2009

Messe für Ausbildung,Studium und Beruf

Messe Karlsruhe

KMK_67_287_0209.indd 1 04.02.2009 16:21:23

A new face at BeachcomberLena Kaiser joined Elisabeth Sulzen-bacher’s team at the representative office of Beachcomber Hotels in Ottobrunn near Munich in January 2009. As Manager of Marketing & PR, she succeeds Yvonne Schirm. A business administration graduate (media/communications), she spent the last three years at Aviareps Mag-num, managing the destinations of Mauritius, Las Vegas and Barbados, among others.

Farewell, Maestro: Dieter Ahrendt is RetiringAfter more than 25 years as co-founder and CEO of Intergerma, Dieter Ahrendt (*1946) will now no longer be taking an active part in the busi-ness. He transferred his responsibilities to Markus Schmidt at the begin-ning of 2009 and appointed his long-standing team member Silke Offer-mann to the company directorate.

With a Westphalian “Gutt goan” (roughly: “Keep up the good work”) Dieter Ahrendt took leave of his colleagues, business partners and cus-tomers with his customary cordiality and can now look forward to more free time to spend with his family and leisure interests. He will, however, be available to the Intergerma team and the industry in one respect: after retiring from active management of the business, Ahrendt will be taking on project-related activities as a joint partner at Intergerma. He will also continue to serve on the Supervisory Board of hotel.de AG alongside his long-time partner and managing director Peter Hoffmann.

EastWest Travel GmbH: How to Get it Across The DMC Group East-West USA Tourism Marketing was founded in 1990 by the American Helen Fischer-White, now settled in Hamburg. It will now be managed as EastWest Travel GmbH (EWT), a MICE unit of Get It Across Marketing & PR in Cologne. The owners are Get It Across founder Albert Jennings und Günter Weirich, who will also be responsible for the unit’s management.

Currently, EWT has 13 DMC partners. “Our goal is to continue to provide incentive and conference trips at a high standard, partnering preferentially with regional and local experts,” comments Albert Jennings – also an American by birth. www.eastwest.travel

This has also meant a few changes at Get It Across itself. Marcel Sprenger follows in the footsteps of Weirich as Account Executive/ Marketing for Florida Keys, Key West and Colorado Tourism. Since November 2008, Diana Carey has been the new International Marketing Manager at the Colorado Tourism Office in Denver. www.getitacross.de

28 events 1/2009

Following on the success of the first Neuromarketing Congress in 2008, April 2009 sees the return of the event, titled “Emotional Boosting” – how brains can perceive value in brands. An ambi-tious programme of talks given by speakers from research and industry forms the backbone of the Congress.

“Emotional Boosting” itself – what it is and what it can achieve – will be explained in a talk by Dr. Hans-Georg Häusel, a leading global expert in the area of marketing and brain research. Prof. Christian E. Elger (see book tip), a famous epileptologist and CEO of Life & Brain GmbH, will be presenting some rare insights into the workings of the human brain.

Registration runs until April 2, 2009: www.haufe.de/emotionalboosting or by email to: neuromarketing@haufe.de.Congress fee: 580 euros.

And a book tip for those who don’t want to wait until April‘Professionally-staged events talk to their guests using all five sens-es: they inspire participation and anchor the marketing message more firmly in the memory compared to other marketing activi-ties.’

Neuromarketing

BO OK C a S E

“Emotional Boosting”: Neuromarketing Congress 2009 at BMW Welt, Munich

The event experts Dr. Marc Domning and André Rasel from the agency kogag join forces with the neuroscientist Dr. Christian E. Elger in their book Neurokommunikation im Eventmarketing (Neu-rocommunication in Event Marketing) to demonstrate ‘how the effect of an event can be planned using neuroscience’. The book is the first to couple the latest insights into the brain with many years of experience in event marketing, enabling it to provide a different perspective on the experiential character of events. Readers can learn of the significance of current research in neuroscience for the marketing industry as real-world examples from event market-ing are analysed from the perspective of brain research.

Neurokommunikation im Eventmarketing,

173 pages (ISBN 978-3-8349-0723-3)Published by Gabler Verlag.

Price: 39.90 euros.

f.l.t.r.: André Rasel, Prof. Dr. Christian E. Elger, Dr. Marc Domning

Tageslicht verändert sich natürlich.Natürlich mit m:con Tagungslicht®Von 3.200k bis 12.000k:Tageslicht verändert sich. Und damit auch das m:con Tagungslicht®, denn durch die Erweiterung des m:congress center Rosengarten haben wiroptimale Tagungsbedingungen bei natürlichemTageslicht geschaffen. Die ideale Atmosphäre um Informationen auszutauschen, Zukunftskonzepte zu entwickeln und Visionenzu realisieren. Erleben Sie die neue Dimension des Kongress- und Tagungszentrums Rosengarten Mannheim live bei einem virtuellen Rundgang unterwww.rosengarten-mannheim.de und stellen Sie sich Ihre eigeneVeranstaltungspräsentation zusammen. Inklusive aller Fakten und Impressionen zu den Räumen, aller wichtigen Informationenzur Region und den angrenzenden Hotels.Willkommen bei dem Spezialisten für Kongress- und Veranstaltungsmanagement. Rufen Sie uns an: +49 (0)621 4106-123/-125

www.mad-kom

munikation.de

The following titles will be published by Wissenschaft & Praxis in the first half of 2009

Carol Adam, Prof. Stefan Luppold

Event-Marketing in Customer Relationship ManagementKundenbindung durch den Einsatz von Marketing-Events

2009, approx. 120 pp., approx. €28.00ISBN 978-3-89673-501-0(Trade fair, congress and event management)How do I create customer loyalty? Strong competition and increasing product inter-changeability weakens the impact of clas-sical strategies for customer loyalty. This book provides an analytical approach to the use and efficiency of marketing events. Long-lasting loyalty can be created by the targeted use of customer events. This cre-ates a long-term business relationship that is more resilient than the forced loyalties created by – interchangeable – economic, contractual or technical methods. By ex-tending what are now standardised cus-tomer loyalty activities, marketing events can also serve to create a USP that will equip a company and its brands and/or products with unique competitive differen-tiators. This book also covers event market-ing tools, with an eye on their efficiency and the different between these and alter-native communication tools.

Helen Kugler, Johann W. Wagner

Destination Management und Public EventsEvents als Tool zur Positionierung von Destinationen

2009, approx. 120 pp., approx. €28.00ISBN 978-3-89673-502-7(Trade fair, congress and event management)In the age of the “Experience Economy” – something that is a key driver for our serv-ice environment – public events are also being more commonly used as a commu-nications instrument at tourist destinations. The direct experience of a destination, coupled with emotional elements, creates trust, quality and long-lasting loyalty.The book reveals opportunities for posi-tioning destinations via unusual events and uses the tourist destination of Lübeck/Travemünde to show how public events such as “Sand World” and “Ice World” were planned, realised and then integrat-ed as highly-effective instruments into the communications portfolio.

Florian Bernard, Prof. Stefan Luppold

Mobile Marketing für MessenIntegrierte Kommunikation im Messemarketing der Aussteller

2009, approx. 120 pp., approx. € 28.00ISBN 978-3-89673-500-3(Trade fair, congress and event management)Trade fairs are still the most significant in-strument within a company‘s communica-tions portfolio, and as such irreplaceable. Even so, both exhibitors and visitors are in-creasingly querying the investment of time and money in attending trade fairs – clear-ly an area of growing interest for trade fair marketing! Innovative multimedia services and the always-on availability of mobile devices are generally working to extend the range of communication channels. This volume dedicates itself to these new opportunities, and analyses them from the perspective of the trade fair exhibitor. The need for intelligent, easily-adjustable tools that can not only be integrated into the communication mix but also offer added value to trade fair visitors are also demon-strated through practical examples.

30 events 1/2009

What they teach at all the professional advertising schools (and Cologne has one of these too, of course!) is that a happy message quickly pops into the brain via the hypotha-lamus and provokes favourable decisions. The people of Cologne have always known this. Even the tiniest feelings of happiness in this relatively small but extremely significant area of the middle brain have an effect on the individual’s capacity for life, and of course, that is why they created their Carnival with a functional design, with a major international outlook and massive profits. 160 Carnival associations and 500 meetings during the session speak a language everyone can understand.If you ask in the tourist office what is on the menu this year apart from the three K’s (Kirche, Kunst and Karneval - church, art and Carnival) (and cheeky fellow humans also add “cro-nyism” to the list) then the answer gives you the feeling of being a real world city: Tina Turner, Lang Lang or Lionel Richie and a whole host of attractive and appealing music festivals give the Cologne folk of nearly a million a self-assured metropolitan feeling. And what’s more: Of all the cathedrals in the world, it is only this one that can be seen from space (just like the great wall of China), and even world cities like San Francisco are barely adequate for the Cologne sense of the sheer variety and craziness of homo sapiens, as Cologne will be the host for the 2010 Gay Games, the larg-

est gay/lesbian sporting event in the world. The motto “live and let live” does not thrive anywhere else the way it does in the shadow of the severe towers of the cathedral – para-doxically enough……. The people of Cologne, who are full of the joys of life, be-lieve the special climate is not just due to the Cologne Bight and the favourable weather conditions associated with it. No, since it was founded by the Romans in the year 50, Co-lonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium has stood for a city char-acterized by a majority of migrants. Its history is that of a successful trading town, based on Stapelrecht (the right to display goods for sale) and hospitality. With the exception of a small right-wing faction – and here the upright citizen of Cologne blows a strong headwind despite the bight! – all skin colours and religions are warmly welcomed. So it is here that the largest mosque in Germany is being built, 50 metres high and, of course, designed by a famous architect.

Friendly to everyone. Tolerant. Live and let live. In an environment which is so friendly to different types of people, the conference scene is booming and world groups such as Axa, Bayer or Toyota love inviting their customers to Cologne. Toyota is crazy enough (and that is a compliment!)

“Wer nit kütt, bliev do”. The Cologne soul seems to be so simple, and yet the philosophy behind this saying in the local dialect really packs a punch! The person who doesn’t turn up, who stays behind, will miss something important and is a total idiot anyway. The birthplace of events, the place where the FME event awards have been presented for years, is, of course, Cologne. It is well known that the Carnival is the mother of all events. The

original. The fundamental idea. This is where people come together to share their passion for great pleasure with other passion seekers – including their passion for a city! Not necessarily a catwalk beauty in terms of its urban development, but somehow all the same a real scorcher full of body, soul and the joys of life and with a big heart! and with some damn attractive cor-ners!

Cologneis a feeling

E V E N T CI T y COLO gN E .

events 1/2009 31

32 events 1/2009

to organize meetings with the most kölsch (i.e. Cologne-ish) of all Cologne artists – at Nikolai Blechinger’s private home. If you ask the events agencies, then the classic city of Co-logne is right on trend – from the small and delicate perfume seminar at 4711 right through to the large and perfectly organised awards ceremony for companies in real TV studios. The original and authentic are back in demand again. Here in Cologne the real stories are told and the illusory world of luxury, which praise be to god has now gone totally out of fashion due to the economic crisis, is far away on the other side of Worringen. If you know which town in particular the people of Cologne mean by that. But every carnival-goer is different.

Big trade fairs, big songs, big feelings

So to freely quote the local band, BAP, is everything really hunky-dory, not a cloud in sight? Unfortunately it is. Interna-tional architects were once asked what the greatest sin ever built in the world was. A majority of them suggested the Co-

logne Cathedral in its ugly con-crete corset as the height of ar-chitectural tastelessness. Well, centuries later the city fathers realised this and they have designed the whole area on a rather more generous scale. But as part of the new practicality, they have unfortunately elimi-nated the much appreciated potato pancakes stand in front of the main railway station. A bitter loss for our well being. Yet the citizen of Cologne no longer gets worked up when wonderful old buildings like the main post office or entire brick-built breweries disappear forever overnight. Incidentally: the takeaway stall used by the Cologne CID in a well-known

television series called “Tatort” was originally a mock-up but has now become reality due to the great interest in it. At least that has happened, proving: “we are flexible”.

“Et bliev nix wie et wor”, which translates as: Be open to new things. The people of Cologne – well known for be-ing experts at juggling and having an entrepreneurial spirit

– are aware of this – and offer events and trade fairs which nonetheless serve all the senses excellently: Culinary delights at the largest food fairs in the world (ANUGA); established photographic, furniture and art fairs which delight interna-tional eyes, and a fabulous lit.COLOGNE to caress your ears with words. Cologne has occupied the position of a famous perfume city rich in history since time immemorial, and every

child knows that the sense of taste is very marked, as after all it is here that Schunkeln, or swaying arm-in-arm to mu-sic, was invented, that wonderful form of friction between body parts which makes chastity and intimacy possible side by side in such a good catholic way. In addition the 6th sense of the people of Cologne – the mind – is also satisfied along with the 5th season – with a whole series of events to lift the mood – such as above all the successfully established Cologne Comedy Festival.

Even Poldi gets homesick for the capital of communicationWithout any shadow of a doubt the magic word for inhab-itants and visitors alike who appreciate multiculturalism is

“feeling for life”, even though the visitors often don’t un-derstand the language. This makes no difference, because

“Kölle – dat es e Jeföhl” (or “Cologne is a feeling”). Then they burst into song and the bonds between them all are felt and celebrated with immigrants and emigrants. No oth-er city has so many songs in its mother tongue as Cologne. Anyone who is learning about events has to pass their prac-tical test.With their inexhaustible singing of hymns to their home city, the people of Cologne show themselves to be the greatest marketing experts in one respect. They all un-derstand one such song along the lines of “I want to walk back to Cologne”. It is no surprise that Lukas Podolski (a German football star nicknamed Poldi) is homesick. When he is off with the trendy types even the old car sticker from his student days is no help (Ubi bene, ibi Colonia – where it’s good, then it’s Cologne).Cologne is sheer communication. One hand washes the other and neither gets dirty. Here everyone talks to everyone and it is entirely simple, out of all of Germany – compared with the number of inhabitants – the most pubs, restaurants, bars, clubs and kiosks are to be found here. It is not unusual that there are as many as five highly desirable coffee kiosks close to any one apartment in the city, making it a round-the-clock food and drink paradise where you can recharge your batteries socially! The 6th sense was probably also developed here, as the in-habitant of Cologne is capable of combining polar opposites with one another with ease: the size of the city with comfort, Carnival and church, Tünnes and Schäl, Roman and German-ic, the 1. FC Köln football club and the Champions League. So Cologne will defy any economic crisis not only with the basic Cologne principle “Kenne mer nit – bruche mer nit, fott domit!” (or “We don’t know it, we don’t need it, away with it!”) but with an emotional and social intelligence which Konrad Adenauer presented in rational words: “We know each other, we help each other”. Visitors arriving in the city are made thoroughly familiar with the basic Cologne principle and the most attractive local dialect expressions along the glass photo walls at Cologne/Bonn airport.

E V E N T CI T y COLO gN E .

The new Sky Lounge in the Triangle

events 1/2009 33

Central: Optimal for getting to in the heart of EuropeKöln/Bonn airport: hub for numerous low-cost carriersFFM and Düsseldorf airports can be reached in less than an hour Short train trip with the Thalys to the European metropolises Brussels (2 hours) and Paris (4 hours)Central location on the Rhine, on one of the most important traf-fic intersections in Western Europe Historical: 2,000 years of history, the oldest German cityRoman heritage such as the Praetorium or the world-famous Di-onysus mosaic in the Römisch-Germanisches MuseumA large number of medieval city gates, the medieval town hall, the Kölnisches Stadtmuseum with exhibits from the middle ages to the present, evocative old town backdrop on the banks of the Rhine Today: with more than a million inhabitants, it is the fourth largest city in GermanyCultural: One of the leading cities in Europe for art and cul-ture12 Romanesque churches, more than 40 museums, such as the Römisch-Germanisches Museum, Wallraf- Richartz Museum & Fondation Corboud, Museum Ludwig, Kolumba, etc., and a new cultural centre on the Neumarkt beginning in autumn of 2009More than 120 galleries, 1,100 professional visual artists, 200 mu-sic ensembles, 170 record labels, 60 theatre and cabaret stageslit.COLOGNE, Europe’s largest international literature festival Outstanding: UNESCO world cultural heritage site Cologne CathedralGermany’s largest, and the third tallest cathedral worldwide, it is Germany’s most-visited tourist attraction, more than 750 years old, a world cultural heritage site since 1996 and according to UNESCO, the embodiment of the High Gothic cathedral in its pur-est and most perfect form, with the famous shrine to the Three MagiBusinesslike: Centre for trade fairs and conferencesKoelnmesse with approximately 70 trade fairs and exhibitions every year, 32,000 exhibitors and 2.3 million visitors from more than 200 countries.Leading trade fairs: International Furniture Fair, Anuga, Art Co-logne, photokina, 254 hotels with 26,000 beds, new central Co-logne Convention Bureau as umbrella organisation for the Co-logne conference industryEventful: Top events for all seasonsAnnually: Cologne Carnival, lit.COLOGNE, Cologne lights, Co-lognePride, c/o pop, the long nights of the cultural institutions, Cologne Christmas markets, etc.Mega-events: World Youth Day 2005, FIFA World Cup 2006, Handball World Championship and German Protestant Church

Day 2007, Final of the World CyberGames 2008, VIII. Gay Games Cologne 2010 – the largest gay and lesbian sports event in the world, ice hockey world championship 2010Open to the world: Tolerant and multicultural way of lifePeople from 181 nations and 250 different cultures live in Co-logne More than 200 foreign cultural initiatives, three state-funded cul-tural institutes, 15 partner cities in Europe alone and 23 through-out the world. With almost 70,000 students Cologne is the larg-est student city in Germany. Outstanding nightlife: German city with the greatest density of pubs, more than 3,300 gastronomical businesses. Cologne is characterised by a large gay and lesbian community: One in ten of Cologne’s inhabitants is attracted to their own sexTraditional: Carnival and Kölsch cultureThe world-renowned traditional Cologne Carnival – the “fifth season” with more than a million spectators for the procession the day before Shrove Tuesday. Kölsch, the typical top-fermented beer served by the waiter, known as the Köbes, 24 different sorts of Kölsch, local specialities such as “Halver Hahn” or “Himmel un Ääd”Modern: Trendy district and shopping milesRheinauhafen as the new modern district and innovative centre for business and culture with galleries, showrooms, trendy cafes and restaurantsSmall exclusive designer boutiques and workshops in the “Bel-gian quarter”Cologne’s Schildergasse, which was nominated in 2008 as Eu-rope’s most-frequented shopping street with more than 17,000 pedestrians an hour Worth seeing: Pulsating metropolis with unforgettable op-portunities Curios: Chocolate museum, German Sports and Olympics Mu-seum, Johann Maria Farina Fragrance Museum, 4711-house in the GlockengasseOpening of the new Odysseum Science Center in spring 2009 – a huge interactive experiential building for the whole family with more than 5,500 sqm of experimental area and great opportuni-ties for eventsCologne Zoo, the third oldest zoo in Germany with a 20,000 sqm elephant park and the young elephants Marlar, Ming Jung and Maha Kumari. Cologne’s beautiful Rhine panorama, best admired during a boat trip such as with the Köln Düsseldorfer Rheinschif-fahrt (KD). Day trips to the castles in Brühl: UNESCO world cul-tural heritage sites (since 1984) Augustusburg Castle, Falkenlust hunting lodge and the gardens in Brühl.

10 good reasons for Cologne – by the Cologne Convention Bureau

34 events 1/2009

The Event Day:10.00h: Opening of the 9th Cologne Congress and Event Day Exhibition10.00 – 16.00h:Build up your personal business network in the event and congress destination Co-

logne. Take advantage of the selection of numerous companies from the Cologne business world as they present their wide range of products and services from sec-tors such as hospitality, gastronomy, event technology, event and artists agencies, and much more. Additionally, suppliers of meeting and conference rooms as well as special event locations can be found exhib-iting at the event. And you can establish and intensify further contacts in the cosy atmosphere of the Gürzenich’s lounge area.

The accompanying programme:A Different View of Cologne(sponsored by rent-a-bike – Cologne’s bi-cycle rental company)On this sporty city tour you can cycle a roughly 15-km traffic-safe route through

Cologne together with your personal tour guide. In addition to the cathe-dral, the old city, the his-toric town hall, the Roman-esque church of St. Gereon, the Rhine Park and many more sights, you will also learn something about the history of the city’s origin from Roman times through the Middle Ages and up to the modern day. Start time: 14.30 and 15.00, duration: approx. 3 hours.

Discover Your Own Dexterity(sponsored by GLEITZEIT GmbH)The Segway Course offers you a unique op-portunity to achieve a feeling of lightness

– with no effort at all. Prove your physical skill and dexterity on the course. You can discover this new form of personal trans-port simply by shifting your body weight.

‘Casino Vinophil – Savouring at Play’(sponsored by welcome Veranstaltungs-gesellschaft mbH)

The Casino Vinophil is a newly developed wine casino offering original gourmet en-tertainment that you can engage as a styl-ish side programme in any suitable venue in Cologne. Sommeliers, rather than croupiers, lend these wine tastings a play-ful quality at three classic casino tables (roulette, black jack and poker), whose sophisticated gaming surfaces are de-signed with the subject of wine in mind. The sommeliers give participants some playful help with their know-how as well as some tips and hints, and invite them along on a journey of discovery into the world of wine. In contrast to conventional casinos, the information from these wine pros can help the players find a bit of luck. So enjoy a glass and place a lucky bet – et rien ne vas plus!

You can really get to know Cologne on March 31st!The 9th Cologne Congress and Event Day on March 31, 2009 is being organised by the new-ly founded Cologne Convention Bureau, the KölnKongress gmbH and the Cologne Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In the historic gürzenich in the middle of the city centre and a short walk from the central station, some 50 exhibitors from the Cologne events sector are going to show what they can do. a great opportunity is the possibility to view various locations with one of the shuttle services during the entire event as part of the exhibition’s supporting programme.

E V E N T CI T y COLO gN E .

The Event Day takes place at Cologne’s living-room – the Gürzenich

Stephanie Franke, Director of Cologne Convention Bureau

Get to know us!

Cologne Centred Meetings

convent ionco loGne . d e

9. Kongress- und EventTag Köln: Sie organisieren Kongresse, incentivesund events? dann treffen Sie auf ihre Partner aus der faszinierendenMeeting-Metropole am Rhein! Wir präsentieren unser Angebot am31.03.2009 im Gürzenich Köln - Rahmenprogramm inklusive! Mehrdetails und Registrierung durch das neue cologne convention Bureauunterwww.conventioncologne.de.Wir freuen uns auf Sie!

Start: 14.00hEvent Technology the Compact Way(sponsored by müllermusic Veranstaltung-stechnik GmbH)What’s behind such specialised terms as

‘moving head’, ‘proximity effect’ or ‘rear projection’? What technology is truly nec-essary for the success of my event? This practice-oriented workshop is aimed at interested individuals from the trade fair,

event and organisational sector wishing to gain some basic knowledge of event tech-nology. Practical foundations in the area of sound, light and video technology will be taught via a technology course and an

Stand no. Company 1 macevent GmbH Agentur für Live-Kommunikation 2 CDS Communication Design Studios GmbH 3+4 Take Five Hotels 5 Gir Keller 11 Bayer Gastronomie GmbH 12 Kölns Incomer Pool 13 Deutsches Sport & Olympia Museum 14 Tagungshäuser des Erzbistums Köln 21 Kölner Sportstätten GmbH 22 GlobalGuest Germany GmbH & Co. KG 23 Logotext e.K. 24 King Kamehameha Suite Köln GmbH 25 Gahrens + Battermann GmbH 31 „GO” GmbH 32 Kuchem Konferenztechnik 33 Broich Premium Catering GmbH 34 S.E.C. GmbH & Co. KG

Stand no. Company 35 Comedia GmbH 41 Premicon Line GmbH 42 Dorint An der Messe Köln 43 Industrie- und Handelskammer zu Köln 44 TKS Ticket-Service und Veranstaltungen GmbH 45 Gastronomie Service Dahmen GmbH 51 Elke Strothmann OrgaService GmbH 52 Cologne Convention Bureau 53 Beckmann Messe + Event GmbH 54 Stadthalle Opladen 55 Expocentre Köln GmbH 55 Kirberg GmbH Catering Fine Food 61 Carpe Event Productions GmbH & Co. KG 62 müllermusic Veranstaltungstechnik GmbH 63+64 KölnKongress GmbH 65 Codiplan GmbH

The 9th Congress and Event Day Exhibitors at a Glance

36 events 1/2009

introduction into the most common tech-nological components and their fields of application will be provided.

Start: 14.00h, duration 3 hoursA Peek Behind the Scenes of the World’s Wackiest Musical(sponsored by TKS Ticket-Service und Ver-anstaltungen GmbH)With the acclaimed premier of the Monty

Python SPAMALOT musical, the audience and press agreed: At SPAMALOT, you don’t just experience an outrageously fun-ny stage show but also a true fireworks display of gags, bizarre sketches and iconic flights of fancy. Take a peek in front of and behind the scenes of SPAMALOT. Learn firsthand about everything that has to do with rapid stage changes, brilliant costumes, highly involved light and stage

technology and, of course, one or two odd and amusing anecdotes from theatre life. Why? Because it’s fun!

Start: 15.00h, duration approx. 30 minutesSite inspections via VIP shuttle serviceduring the entire eventDirections at: www.koelnkongress.de or www.amiando.com/KundETagKoeln.

Come by train for €79 round tripAs the 9th Cologne Congress & Event Day’s mobility partner, the German Rail-way (Deutsche Bahn AG) can get you to Cologne in a comfortable and affordable style from anywhere in Germany, no mat-ter which station you leave from – for only €79.00 in 1st class! The tickets are valid from March 29 to April 2, 2009. The offer can be booked starting now at the hotline 01805 – 31 11 53** with the keyword: Kongress- & EventTag Köln (Cologne Con-gress & Event Day). You can register at www.amiando.com/KundETagKoeln

Members get together every four to six weeks to exchange experience, and in Cologne this is certainly anything but ‘sch-moozing’. Group speaker Andreas Schmidt, also the proprietor of GleitZeit and the Gi-vas agency, which consists almost entirely of family members, describes the coopera-tion for the good of the client as follows: ‘The requests that are forwarded to us from the Convention Bureau, for example, are immediately processed by multiple part-

ners. This way it may certainly happen that the client receives several offers and is able to compare performance capacity, prices, etc., but in any case finds the ideal partner for his particular set of needs.’ And further: ‘We just want people to come to Cologne, be treated properly here and, above all: come back!’ And it doesn’t seem like he’s just mouthing an empty CRM phrase, no, you can believe what Andreas Schmidt says!

Six Segways are at the ready to be used as transport for special Cologne experi-ences. The Cologne Tour is given by Co-logne Tourism and the Sport Arenas Tour in cooperation with Cologne’s sport are-nas: the latter especially are extremely well coordinated in Cologne-Müngersdorf and some have an international reputation. As well as Germany’s only physical education college, located in the centre of this sport cluster. The sport sightseeing tour costs

Emotional Engineering, the Cologne WayThe ‘Cologne Plus Partners’ incomer pool was founded a year and a half ago to expand Cologne tour-ism, and at a time when there was not yet any Convention Bureau. The goal was to channel re-quests and respond to them in a timely and qualified way. It is ultimately made up of recommended agencies from Cologne Tourism & Cologne Convention Bureau, seven in all. a good mix of various competencies is brought together here – CITS and Conference & Touring, for example, are heavily focused on the congress business.

Impossible to be more Cologne-ial: “Gleitzeit” Segway riders with Millowitsch’s statue

Welche Veranstaltung Sie auch planen, die Räumlichkeiten des RheinEnergieStadions bieten Ihnen genügend Raum, umIhre Ideen zu entfalten. Mit dem unvergleichlichen Ausblick ins Stadioninnere und der flexiblen Nutzung der ClubLoungeNord, der Eventloge Nord, der Zentralloge und des Stadion-Restaurants „12. Mann“ erhält Ihre Veranstaltung einen exklu-siven Rahmen. Mit Platz für 25-900 Personen macht diese außergewöhnliche Location Firmenfeste, Seminare, Tagungenund private Feiern für Sie und Ihre Gäste zu einem unvergesslichen Erlebnis.

Überzeugen Sie sich doch einfach. Kontakt über: info@koelnersportstaetten.de oder 0221 ·7 16 16 128.

SO SEHEN SIE GUT RAUS.

AZ_Sponsors_204x2847_RZ.indd 1 06.02.2009 14:49:46 Uhr

38 events 1/2009

around 50 euros per person. Of course you can also drive a TEST COURSE in park-ing areas or wherever the client happens to be with his conference – an ideal way to spend the break.

Driving a segway means cutting loose. This clears your head, says Schmidt. Anyone who would like to get to know Cologne the active way, a certain district for ex-ample, has come to the right place with Andreas Schmidt – the ‘Running Dinner’ is one example, an imaginative performance with actors and 1,000 surprises, or the

‘Dinner with almost all the senses’, a com-plex performance over the course of hours at a venue of your choice. These are events that let you easily combine pleasure and getting to know Cologne even if you’re short on time.

Small Location Stroll through CologneCologne is a city of agencies. There are many. Among others, the big Uniplan, Face to Face, Facts+Fiction, or the Wel-come GmbH from Frechen. We joined up with the Domset agency, which has re-cently carried out very attention-getting

guerrilla marketing campaigns on their own account in Cologne, and ‘befallen’ 50 potential clients in an extremely zesty way (they’re really good at that!), for a small lo-cation stroll. ‘People in Cologne are always very receptive to outlandish things, I don’t know how that would have played out in Munich or Hamburg,’ says Oliver Malat, who is responsible for creative production at Domset and was the one who came up with the ideas for the Easter Bunny at Christmas and the ‘freshness delegates’. People in Cologne do love the unconven-tional, and costume games in particular are in their genes, so to speak. That’s why the people at Domset take particular pleasure in arranging unconventional measures for breaking through reception barriers, but also costume and/or participatory events with the highest level of participant in-volvement, such as Rococo parties, 1970s parties, and whatever else the inspiration for ideas or the number of the company’s anniversary celebration may yield. Frame-

work programme tip: Domset has worked out a concept for a city rally through Co-logne based on ‘The Game’ with Michael Douglas – what’s true, what’s made up – a perfect programme to really get to under-stand: Cologne is a state of mind.

To kick off our location stroll, we learn that the Palladium and Cologne Expocen-tre will be taken off the market for three years starting in 2010. This is an interim solution provided during construction of the new Opera and Play House. The major halls that remain: Tor 2 www.diehalletor2.de, the Vulkanhalle www.vulkanhalle.de, of course the spectacular Lanxess Arena (formerly Cologne Arena) www.lanxess-arena.de, several Cologne Congress loca-tions, the Sartory www.sartory.de, the Bal-loni www.balloni.de as an offbeat variant the Halleluja Hall, an old, currently empty industrial complex with attractive architec-ture, and much more. The big film studios in Hürth just past the city limits contribute

E V E N T CI T y COLO gN E .

A potpourri of Colognian delicacies

Fantastic architecture in the new quarter “Rheinauhafen”

raum

f ü r v i s i o n e n

Träume. Ziele. Zukunft.

Ideen und Innovationen.

Visionen wollen kommuniziert werden.

Sollen überzeugen.

KölnKongress bietet Know-how

und Service, der Erfolge produziert.

KölnKongress | fon +49 2 21 . 8 21 - 2121 | www.koelnkongress.de

V l

RZ-KK_AZ_Vision-100x287-events-08:Layout 1 16.02.2009 15:43 Uhr Seite 1

some very unique aspects to Cologne’s kaleidoscope of locations. Here in the Rhine/Erft district there are also great playing fields for energy-affine companies in the form of features concerning open-pit brown coal mining. Weird and off: A junkyard (‘Odonien’) is managed as a popular off-location directly across from Cologne’s largest brothel. Nice and trashy in Ehrenfeld: the Cologne Theatre House in the Klarastrasse. www.theaterhaus-köln.de. The Designpost represents a hy-per-design multi-part location in the area around the Trade Fair Centre, www.designpost.de Then there are the Spicherenhöfe: these are a type of miniature version of the Hackeschen Höfe in Berlin and, with their surrounding galleries, are ideal for runway events of up to 200 participants. They are completely empty and are located close to the city centre near the ring roads. There is an old pawn shop in the south of the city. Always nice: Sterns Eventsalon with your own sommelière, www.sterns.tv/www.weinseminare.de, and of course the 800-square-metre ‘King Kame-hameha Suite’ that just opened at the end of last year in the new Rheinauhafen district of Cologne. Another totally new location is the Sky Event Conference Cen-tre in the Triangle Tower between the Hyatt Hotel and the Lufthansa Building, www.koelnsky.de. Also: no less than four churches can be used for events, here in the richest diocese in the world! Being familiar with Cologne, you will have determined by now just how incomplete our location stroll is. No problem: come to the Cologne Event Day on 31 March or talk with the

40 events 1/2009

pros at the Cologne Convention Bureau! But wait: in closing, here is a very personal declaration of love from the editors to a classic near the Neumarkt: the Wolken-burg – and the accompanying inner court-yard as a place of pure enjoyment – ‘just beeeeautiful’! www.wolkenburg.de

Ten Locations in One – KölnKongressThe effective occupancy rate of the event centres managed by KölnKongress was well above expectations for 2008. In addi-tion to congresses and conferences in the fields of science, medicine and technology among others, numerous major conven-tions, award ceremonies, exchanges and exhibitions took place, as well as social and cultural events. Altogether, 2,027

events (including framework events for trade fairs) were held in the rooms of KölnKongress in the year 2008, attended by 931,000 participants. With the number of events not connected with trade fairs (without framework events for trade fairs), the high level for spring was able to be maintained: a total of 1,270 events (2007: 1,275) took place, attended by 868,000 visitors (2007: 935,000).

KölnKongress is Cologne’s largest provider of event venues, with ten unusual locations in all: the Cologne Trade Fair Congress Centre, one of the most attractive and largest conference venues in North Rhine-Westphalia, ‘Cologne’s parlour’, the medi-eval Gürzenich, the Cologne Tanzbrunnen with its open-air space and the Theater am Tanzbrunnen, the Flora Cologne in the Bo-tanic Garden, the Cologne Rheinparkhal-

E V E N T CI T y COLO gN E .

Fancy dress parties and join-in events are a speciality of Domset, a Colognian agency.

len, under historic preservation status, the Rhine Ter-races and the ‘km689’ Cologne Beach Club, the Bastei, the ZooLocation and the Zeughaus (Armoury) in the Cologne City Museum. www.koelnkongress.de.

Facts and Figures about Cologne’s ‘Glorious 10’> There were 1,106 events in the Koelnmesse Con-gress Centre with a total of 244,000 visitors.> 165,000 visitors attended the 245 events that took place in the Cologne Gürzenich.> At the Cologne Tanzbrunnen 482 events were vis-ited by 470,000 visitors. > 136 events took place at Flora Cologne, attended by 46,000 visitors. > 16 events were held at the Cologne Rheinparkhallen, with 26,000 visitors. > In the small venues (Rhein Terraces, the Bastei, Zoo-Location, the Armoury, km689 Cologne Beach Club): 58 events were held, attended by 6,000 visitors.

The Cologne Rheinparkhallen have expanded the port-folio since January 2008 as the tenth location. Market-ing of the building from the 1920s, which has 18,400 square metres of floor space, total capacity for up to 12,000 people and is under historic preservation sta-tus, is planned for late 2009. For many years Bernhard Conin and his team of 35 people have stood for reli-able continuity in the congress and events sector, and most of his employees have already been involved at KölnKongress for years. The Cologne Convention Bu-reau (CCB) went to work in mid 2008 under the direc-tion of Stephanie Franke and will now also position the overall destination’s numerous facets, concentrated in the MICE segment, on the national and international arena, and all this as a brand new member of the ICCA and MPI.

Interaktives Genuß-Entertainment mit

■ Rebsorten – Roulette■ Wein – Black Jack■ Sommelier – Poker

welcome Veranstaltungsgesellschaft mbHGut Neu-HemmerichBachemer Str. 6-8D-50226 Frechen/KölnFon: 0049 (0)2234 953 22-0Fax: 0049 (0)2234 957 56-29Email: info@welcome-gmbh.de

www.welcome-gmbh.de www.casino-vinophil.de

Wir setzten Zeichen und machen Ideen Beine –mit Köpfchen!:

■ Ihr Spezialist für Köln und das Rheinland■ Incoming – Events – Kongresse – Incentivesund vieles mehr

■ regional – deutschlandweit – international

Neu

welcome Events RZ:Layout 1 12.02.2009 11:01 Uhr Seite 1

Dateiname: 28_Welcome.pdf; Nettoformat:(128.00 x 317.00 mm); Datum: 12. Feb 2009 17:35:42; PDF-CMYK; L. N. Schaffrath DruckMedien

42 events 1/2009

On what was already the fourth occasion, January 2009 saw the hosting of a spectacles trade fair for opticians from the Rhine re-gion – in a football stadium. Of course, the opticians “kept off the grass” (the preserve of Novakovic & Co.), their attention rather more focused on the 3,100 sqm Business Lounge, which provid-ed everything suitable for such an event. For the events team at Kölner Sportstätten GmbH, managed by CEO Hans Rütten, small, specialist trade fairs are now a tried-and-tested format. As are meetings, seminars and all kinds of catering or gala events: any-one capable of electrifying the entire stadium (space for approx. 50,000) with the Rolling Stones can certainly also impress Goth-aer, AXA and KPMG. The RheinEnergieStadion is the home turf for 1. FC Köln and a world-class stadium. As part of modifications made in 2003, it now has everything needed by a modern field. This includes boxes, lounges, meeting rooms and bar/restaurant outlets, all of which run around three sides of the stadium – with its vibrant red seating – like a glass ribbon, occasionally even add-ing a second storey. Increasing demand has now meant that an-other 1,000 sqm of event space and three boxes will be added to the eastern stands. Construction starts in April 2009. And as early as 2010, this area will be the scene for the major awards as part of the “Cologne Sport Night” – a public event highly suit-able for coupling to a business function. Four traditional meeting rooms with seating for 20-60 participants can be hired, plus event boxes, the lounge – with space for up to 2,800 guests on two levels – a press conference room and the 1. FC Köln Museum. An

exceptionally elegant twosome is the Clublounge Nord and its adjacent generous bar area – with many designer touches. A real retro bathtub awaits the guests in the lounge, perched between numerous photos by Cik Cajkovski and on through Hennes Weis-weiler to Wolfgang Overath. Visitors will not only want to walk through here – they have to, if they’ve hired one of the boxes! In Cologne, simply everything is designed to communicate – wher-ever you go. An especially subtle (and sneaky) kind of Colognian communication is to be found on the glass doors through which the team enters the stadium. Club players enter on the right and see their billy-goat mascot Hennes (now in his eighth incarnation!) from the front, while the guest team on the left is forced (quite deliberately) to view the goat’s behind. Although, as Bundesliga observers know, this doesn’t actually help that much.

So, how about it? Meeting in the morning, lunch in the “12th Man” (naturally) painted red-and-white, then a relaxing, 45-minute tour of the stadium. The meeting resumes – perhaps with a short talk by Christoph Daum or umpire legend Walter Eschweiler – and then, in the evening: the big party in the Clublounge Nord.The RheinEnergieStadion is the epicentre of a complex in the city district of Müngersdorf devoted entirely to sport: the cycle racing track, the riding arena and the training camp of the legendary ASV light athletics club make the football stadium into a suitable central focus for major sporting-themed activities. www.koelnersportstaetten.de

Fairs, functions, fashion shows:

Kickoff for the third half in the RheinEnergieStadion

E V E N T CI T y COLO gN E .

destination servicec ologne

Nutzen Sie den direktenDrahtzu den Incomern oder zu

www.koeln-plus-partner.de

KölnsIncomerPoolPartner für:Corporate Event, DestinationManagement,Incentive/Event, Kunst/Kultur/Sport,Messe-Service, Tagung/Kongress

v. Beust & PartnerIncentives & EventsTel.: +49 (0) 221-20 50 555grafvonbeust-sen@vbp-koeln.dewww.vonbeust-partner.de

CITS GmbHCongress Incentive Travel ServiceTel.: +49 (0) 221-91 27 46 0info@cits.dewww.cits.de

CONFERENCE& TOURINGTel.: +49 (0) 221-27 22 57 0cologne@dmcgermany.dewww.dmcgermany.de

Destination Service CologneTel.: +49 (0) 2232-15 08 15dsc@dsmarketing.dewww.dsmarketing.de

footprints events + incentivesTel.: +49 (0) 221-510 91 60team@footprintsevents.dewww.footprintsevents.de

GIVASGesellschaft für Incentives&VeranstaltungenmbHTel.: +49 (0) 221-98 93 33kontakt@givas.dewww.givas.de

welcomeVeranstaltungsgesellschaftmbHTel.: +49 (0) 2234-95 32 20info@welcome-gmbh.dewww.welcome-gmbh.de

Compared to other urban centres across Germany, Cologne certainly earns the title of “bargain city”. While also being an 8-star location – if one cheekily adds together the Dehoga and Michelin stars that adorn the flagships of the Althoff Group: Schlosshotel Lehrbach in Bergisch Gladbach and Grandhotel Schloss Bens-berg. Perfect starting-points for vintage car tours of the Bergisch countryside or helicopter trips around the Nürburgring. Hopper Hotels have a portfolio of unusual places to stay (www.hopper.de), matched by the Savoy, an art hotel with themed suites, event areas and an unusual portfolio of wellness activities. Other candidates are certainly the themed hotels in Phantasialand – Matamba (African) and Ling Bao (Chinese). The wealth of luxury hotels in Cologne will soon be increased by an artotel, planned for Cologne’s Rheinauhafen, and a five-star Steigenberger Group hotel that will open its doors very soon in the historical former railway administra-tion building on the banks of the Rhine near to the cathedral. Event planners can use Take Five to simplify their daily 1 x 1 bookings. This site bundles together all the major event hotels within this city on the Rhine.

Take Five x two plus three = thirteen

It sounds complicated, but it’s actually very easy: it all started with the “Hotelver-bund 1989” – an association of five hotels wanting to team up to promote Cologne as a congress city. As of today, the Group now boasts 13 hotels, offering a total of 3,500 rooms at quality addresses in the media and culture capital of Cologne. The room quota fits the capacity of the portfolio of event locations – max. capacity of 6,100 people – almost like Cinderella’s famous shoe. Organisers of meetings, conferences and incentives are spoilt for choice when it comes to deciding on a particular location. Although, the word “location” should certainly be taken geo-graphically: with 13 hotels mostly in varying areas, planners and clients should be able to find something suitable – whether looking in the city centre or near to the trade fair site (for example).Scouting around is child’s play: Thanks to the close cooperation between the Group members, a single Group contact guides interested parties through all of the offers provided by the members. This avoids the often time-consuming search for suitable event spaces and accommodation.Cologne’s lively cultural scene, countless cafes, bars, restaurants and attractive plac-es to shop are all within easy reach of all hotels, thanks to excellent connections to and from the whole of Europe.

Barceló Cologne City Center: First-class hotel in the city centre with 301 rooms. Conference floor for approx. 400 people, with free WLAN. Two boardrooms, five meeting suites, three standard meeting rooms, partitionable ballroom. Restaurant, bar, fitness centre, air-conditioned indoor swimming pool, sauna.

Hotels in Cologne

The chic lounge bar at the Pullman-Cologne Hotel

44 events 1/2009

1 Lindner Congress &Motorsport Hotel

2 Casino3 WARSTEINER Event-Center4 ring°arena

5 Haupttribüne /BrandWorlds6 ring°boulevard7 welcome°center8 ring°werk9 Eifeldorf Grüne Hölle

10 Dorint Hotel amNürburgring11 Boxengebäude / VIP-Lounges12 ring°racer13 Eingang Kartbahn

T + 0 (49) 2691 302 148 √ business@nuerburgring.de √ www.nuerburgring.de

DerNürburgring ist als Rennstrecke seit 1927 eine lebende Legendeund wird von seinen Anhängern ehrfurchtsvoll Grüne Hölle ge-nannt. Er ist heute einer der traditionsreichsten und gleichzeitiginnovativsten Motorsportplätze der Welt. Und eines der belieb-testen Nationalmonumente in Deutschland. Rund zwei MillionenBesucher erleben hier jedes Jahr rund 100Rennenund 200weitereVeranstaltungen. Formel 1, DTM, 24h-Rennen, Rock amRing sowieTruck- und Oldtimerrennen gehören ebenso dazu wie Fahrertrai-nings, Offroad-Touren und Touristenfahrten auf der Nordschleife.

Mit dem Projekt Nürburgring 2009 findet nun eine erweiterte Positio-nierung hin zu einem ganzjährigen Freizeit- und Businesszentrum statt,das sowohl die Bedürfnisse bestehender Kunden aus Industrie, Renn-sport und Freizeit befriedigt als auch neue Zielgruppen erschließt.

Zentraler Baustein ist der ring°boulevard mit Showrooms führenderMarken aus der Automobilindustrie. Ganzjährig nutzbare Präsentati-ons- und Eventflächen gehören ebenso dazu wie zusätzliche Übernach-tungskapazitäten im Premium-Segment in unmittelbarer Nähe zurRennstrecke, erweiterte Angebote für Firmenkunden und ein hoch-wertiges Museum mit dem schnellsten Fahrgeschäft der Welt. All diesist ein Alleinstellungsmerkmal, das nicht nur im Kerneinzugsgebiet vonzwei Autostunden ein Potenzial von rund 28 Mio. Menschen erreicht,sondern auch international die Spitzenstellung des Nürburgrings un-terstreicht.

Konzerte, Kongresse, Indoor-Sportevents – perfekteMöglichkeiten fürVeranstaltungen bieten ring°arena und WARSTEINER Event-Center.Die rund 2.000 Quadratmeter große ring°arena dient mit über 3.000festen Sitzplätzen und möglichen 2.000 Sitzen im Innenbereich alsideale Location für Publikums- und Firmenveranstaltungen aller Art.

Das WARSTEINER Event-Center mit rund 1.800 Quadratmetern be-spielbarer Fläche und einem 200 Quadratmeter großem Foyer ist miteiner Kapazität von bis zu 1.500 Besuchern perfekt für Tagungen, Kon-gresse, Messen und Abendveranstaltungen.

Eröffnung Sommer 2009.

Nürburgring 2009

Lindner Congress & Motorsport Hotel

ring°arena

1 2 3 4 56 7

89

10

1112

13

NG_2009 204 x 287:NR 2009 204 x 287 16.02.09 16:23 Seite 1

!"#$#% '(# )*+ ,"#(-'./0#$1*/!,#23/" *42 #(%#5 !"#$#% '(# )*+ ,"#(-'./0#$1*/!,#23/" *42 #(%#5 !"#$#% '(# )*+ ,"#(-'./0#$1*/!,#23/" *42 #(%#5 !"#$#% '(# )*+ ,"#(-'./0#$1*/!,#23/" *42 #(%#5'''' ,678 ,678 ,678 ,678 4%) "*++#% '(# +(./ 9:% #(%#5 )#! 5:)#!%+-#%4%) "*++#% '(# +(./ 9:% #(%#5 )#! 5:)#!%+-#%4%) "*++#% '(# +(./ 9:% #(%#5 )#! 5:)#!%+-#%4%) "*++#% '(# +(./ 9:% #(%#5 )#! 5:)#!%+-#%1:!-$#0#;4%;+5(--#" 2*+<(%(#!#%=1:!-$#0#;4%;+5(--#" 2*+<(%(#!#%=1:!-$#0#;4%;+5(--#" 2*+<(%(#!#%=1:!-$#0#;4%;+5(--#" 2*+<(%(#!#%=

,#!%# :!;*%(+(#!#% 0(!,#!%# :!;*%(+(#!#% 0(!,#!%# :!;*%(+(#!#% 0(!,#!%# :!;*%(+(#!#% 0(! )#% (%+*-< 9:% ' ,678' $#(>)#% (%+*-< 9:% ' ,678' $#(>)#% (%+*-< 9:% ' ,678' $#(>)#% (%+*-< 9:% ' ,678' $#(>? '#;0*@?A:4!#%? 6#!$4%; B C!:5:-(:%? D#++#E!:5:-(:%? 1(!5#%9#!*%+-*"-4%;#%? 9#%-+ B F%.#%-(9#+ B A*;4%;#%? C!:)4G-E!H+#%-*-(:%#%

,I FAJ FA ,5$K,I FAJ FA ,5$K,I FAJ FA ,5$K,I FAJ FA ,5$K74-:!(+(#!-#! '#;0*@?7;#%-L:"+/:9#! '-!*M# NOOP?QRRSQ TU"%A#"V WXY ZS[ NNR Y\Y OO XX1*] WXY ZS[ NNR Y\Y OO QS(%2:^;"#(-<#(-;5$/V)#000V;"#(-<#(-;5$/V)#

F% T::E#!*-(:% 5(->

Best Western Premier Hotel Regent: First-class hotel central to the Braunsfeld district, 178 rooms and suites, min. 24 sqm, very gener-ously equipped. Five versatile event rooms and ten conference rooms for a max. of 280 guests. Fitness and wellness club. Dom Hotel, a Le Méridien Hotel: Looking back on 150 years and opposite Cologne Cathedral, 124 fully-renovated rooms with plasma screens/high-speed Internet. Nine conference rooms – most with natural light – for 2-70 guests, balcony (up to 300 people) on the first floor, with a view of the Cathedral/Roncalliplatz. Dorint at Koelnmesse: Opposite the Koelnmesse fair entrance, connections to the city centre, motorway and Cologne/Bonn Airport. 313 rooms and suites, 13 versatile conference rooms (largest for max. 550 guests, can also take cars). Two restaurants, beer bar “Düx”, Vital Spa with pool, fitness and sauna area, whirlpool and solarium. Excelsior Hotel Ernst: Near the cathedral and Central Station, family-owned since 1863. 142 rooms and suites, 13 meeting and banqueting rooms. Restaurants: “taku” for Asian delicacies, “Hanse Stube” offering French cuisine. Fitness area/sauna/Turkish bath.Hotel Mondial at Cologne Cathedral: 207 rooms and six meet-ing rooms, of which three are deluxe boardrooms. Tapas Bar, Grand Habana Lounge, Cathedral Pub. Restaurant “La Brasserie”. Fine din-ing available evenings, for high-class gourmet cuisine. Wellness and fitness area free of charge. Own parking facilities.Hyatt Regency Cologne *****: Right bank of the Rhine, walk-

ing distance to Lanxess Arena and Kölnmesse. 306 rooms and suites, 15 minutes to the airport. Ballroom 585 sqm, five conference rooms with natural light, two meeting rooms, a library – and a beer garden on the banks of the Rhine. Meet-ing concierge. Wireless broadband Internet access. Catering, also external. Restaurants Glashaus and Graugans, spa with swimming pool/sauna/fitness area.InterContinental Cologne: Near to Old Town/Cologne, modern/historical building. 250 rooms and 12 suites. Meet-ing area with plenty of natural light, six conference rooms, two foyers, separate restaurant for meeting attendees, Pipin Room with 359 sqm. Restaurants Maulbeers and Faveo, Ve-cino wine salon, Overstolz historical room with open fire, Har-ry’s New York Bar. 4000 sqm Holmes Place Health Club, Spa Tonique beauty salon.Marriott Hotel Cologne: First-class hotel near the Central Station. 282 rooms, each with two Internet connections, over 400 international TV channels, suites with lounge plus bed-room, and nine executive studios, each approx. 60 sqm. Ca-thedral Suite 105 sqm, plus 30 sqm terrace on the Executive Floor, Business Centre. 825 sqm meeting space, incl. 528 sqm ballroom with gallery and foyer (approx. 500 persons), eleven smaller conference rooms for 4-16 people. Health club with sauna/fitness area/solarium. Restaurant “Fou: A different kind of brasserie”, French/Asian cuisine. Maritim Hotel Cologne: First-class hotel on the Rhine near the Old Town/Cathedral/Central Station. 454 rooms, suites and apartments. Large gala and conference room, 21 ban-queting and conference rooms for more than 2000 persons. Glass-roofed hotel area with exclusive boutiques/hairstylist/restaurants. Restaurant Bellevue on the fifth floor, with a view of the cathedral city. Wellness area with pool, sauna, Turkish bath, solarium and fitness area.Pullman Cologne: Central, with 275 rooms and suites. 15 conference and event rooms (trade fair certified) for up to 1000 people, e.g. ballroom approx. 800 sqm, salon “Belve-dere” 220 sqm. À la carte restaurant, superb George M wine bar, wellness area, underground parking.Radisson SAS Hotel Cologne ****+: Next to Kölnmesse and Lanxess Arena. 393 generous rooms (min. 29 sqm), incl. four feng shui suites, laptop safe with power supply. Eleven event rooms with natural light, approx. 250 persons and max. 340 sqm. Five rooms with access to the inner courtyard ter-race and Forum. paparazzi restaurant /lounge in the 15 me-tre-high glass Atrium. “Vitarium”, with 360 sqm of fitness/sauna/Turkish bath/chill-out areas/solarium.Renaissance Cologne Hotel: Just a few minutes by foot to the Cathedral and Old Town. 227 rooms and nine suites, comfortably styled. Nine event rooms (max. 350 people), soundproofed, WLAN security level 5W. Free-to-use Busi-ness Centre with Internet, copier, phone and fax. Restaurant, brasserie, bar with conservatory, summer terrace. Wellness area with swimming pool/whirlpool/fitness area/Turkish bath/sauna/solarium. www.takefivehotels.de

E V E N T CI T y COLO gN E .

1 Lindner Congress &Motorsport Hotel

2 Casino3 WARSTEINER Event-Center4 ring°arena

5 Haupttribüne /BrandWorlds6 ring°boulevard7 welcome°center8 ring°werk9 Eifeldorf Grüne Hölle

10 Dorint Hotel amNürburgring11 Boxengebäude / VIP-Lounges12 ring°racer13 Eingang Kartbahn

T + 0 (49) 2691 302 148 √ business@nuerburgring.de √ www.nuerburgring.de

DerNürburgring ist als Rennstrecke seit 1927 eine lebende Legendeund wird von seinen Anhängern ehrfurchtsvoll Grüne Hölle ge-nannt. Er ist heute einer der traditionsreichsten und gleichzeitiginnovativsten Motorsportplätze der Welt. Und eines der belieb-testen Nationalmonumente in Deutschland. Rund zwei MillionenBesucher erleben hier jedes Jahr rund 100Rennenund 200weitereVeranstaltungen. Formel 1, DTM, 24h-Rennen, Rock amRing sowieTruck- und Oldtimerrennen gehören ebenso dazu wie Fahrertrai-nings, Offroad-Touren und Touristenfahrten auf der Nordschleife.

Mit dem Projekt Nürburgring 2009 findet nun eine erweiterte Positio-nierung hin zu einem ganzjährigen Freizeit- und Businesszentrum statt,das sowohl die Bedürfnisse bestehender Kunden aus Industrie, Renn-sport und Freizeit befriedigt als auch neue Zielgruppen erschließt.

Zentraler Baustein ist der ring°boulevard mit Showrooms führenderMarken aus der Automobilindustrie. Ganzjährig nutzbare Präsentati-ons- und Eventflächen gehören ebenso dazu wie zusätzliche Übernach-tungskapazitäten im Premium-Segment in unmittelbarer Nähe zurRennstrecke, erweiterte Angebote für Firmenkunden und ein hoch-wertiges Museum mit dem schnellsten Fahrgeschäft der Welt. All diesist ein Alleinstellungsmerkmal, das nicht nur im Kerneinzugsgebiet vonzwei Autostunden ein Potenzial von rund 28 Mio. Menschen erreicht,sondern auch international die Spitzenstellung des Nürburgrings un-terstreicht.

Konzerte, Kongresse, Indoor-Sportevents – perfekteMöglichkeiten fürVeranstaltungen bieten ring°arena und WARSTEINER Event-Center.Die rund 2.000 Quadratmeter große ring°arena dient mit über 3.000festen Sitzplätzen und möglichen 2.000 Sitzen im Innenbereich alsideale Location für Publikums- und Firmenveranstaltungen aller Art.

Das WARSTEINER Event-Center mit rund 1.800 Quadratmetern be-spielbarer Fläche und einem 200 Quadratmeter großem Foyer ist miteiner Kapazität von bis zu 1.500 Besuchern perfekt für Tagungen, Kon-gresse, Messen und Abendveranstaltungen.

Eröffnung Sommer 2009.

Nürburgring 2009

Lindner Congress & Motorsport Hotel

ring°arena

1 2 3 4 56 7

89

10

1112

13

NG_2009 204 x 287:NR 2009 204 x 287 16.02.09 16:23 Seite 1

46 events 1/2009

M a N a gE M E N T

Quality management for events – why bother?Eventsare organised by people, for people. Mishaps are therefore an intrinsic element of any event project. For this reason in particular, namely the strength of the “human factor”, quality management for events is both important and essential.The goal of quality management (QM) is to initiate a process of continuous improvement (CIP) in recogni-tion of the maxim: “Only amateurs repeat their mis-takes! (Professionals make new ones!)” However, the philosophy behind continual improvement pro cesses is as yet atypical for the events segment. Events are gen-erally initiated “on the spur of the moment”, being planned and executed as one-offs: long-term event planning is still the exception. Under these condi-tions, quality management intended to apply across all events will naturally meet with difficulties.

The Systematic Planning and Management of Event Quality TQM, CIP, Kaizen: these quality techniques have now been part of daily business in many “old” industries – such as the car industry – for almost two decades. In the event industry, however, one generally looks for them in vain, even today, and yet, quality management for events is both sensible and necessary. Here we present the first part of an article by Dr. Hans Rück, Dean of Worms University of applied Sciences.

Fig. 1 – Quality management process for an event

Quality management is more than DIN/ISO!When they hear “quality management”, most people will think first in terms of certifications and standards. Yet this is a common misunderstanding: first and fore-most, quality management is a matter of formulation and strategy. Indeed, the initial question of the level of quality one would like to offer must first be answered. After all, “high quality” does not have a fixed value:

“no-frills” is also an option in the event business.Accordingly, the definition of process standards, the writing of handbooks and the setting-up of informa-tion systems comes not at the start but at the end of the QM workflow (Fig. 1). Those who miscast quality management as a mere certification system will omit the necessary preparatory steps and thus sidestep their responsibility to provide answers for the uncomfort-able but decisive fundamental questions!

Quality Planning

Quality Implementation

Quality Control

Quality Documentation

> Q-Strategy> Q-Principles> Q-Targets

> Q-Circle> Corporate Education> Motivation/ Incentives for employees

> Survey a/o monitoring of ·clients, · employees, · service providers

> e.g. DIN/ISO> Manuals> Info Systems (statistics etc.)> Audits> Certification

events 1/2009 47

What is “quality”, exactly?

Quality is a term that overflows with meanings. Many view quality as something objective, something static. Yet the opposite is true. Opinions about quality are always subjective. While one can measure quality ac-cording to certain criteria and express this in numbers, this process itself is nothing more than an objective expression of subjective opinions of quality.For marketing: quality is what the customer thinks it is! (In our case, the participant in the event.) At the core of the philosophy of market-oriented company management is the idea that one accepts this subjec-tive customer opinion as the starting-point for one’s own efforts.

Any opinion about quality is formed essentially by comparing an expected quality with the perceived quality. The quality of an event is thus judged by its participants in terms of their expectations: if expecta-tions are high, the perceived quality will tend to be lower than if the opposite is true. The greater the agreement between perception and expectation, the greater the satisfaction of the participants. We there-fore follow Bruhn in defining event quality as the abil-ity of an organiser to achieve an event that performs at a certain level of expectation expressed by its participants.

Quality management for services as a starting-pointIn addressing QM for events, an obvious tactic is to borrow methods from QM for services. After all, services and events have many things in common. Both are charac-terised by processes. Both involve interactiv-ity – and on both sides, organiser and par-ticipant, the “human factor” is a dominant one. In both cases, there is also inherent insecurity about quality: firstly, because the contract must be awarded before the actual provision of service can be initiated (making a “try before you buy” impossible); secondly, because participants contribute to the event as “external fac-tors” and thus affect its quality directly (by the effects of group dynamics, for example). And, finally, com-mon to both is the fact that the moment at which the customer or participant becomes involved in the service process represents the “moment of truth” for the service quality.

Accordingly, there is much to be said for applying models and instruments from service quality manage-

Fig. 2 –Gap Model, after Zeithaml/Parasuraman/Berry (1990)

ment to event QM. And there are a huge number of such models for services: starting with the concept of TQM, we have Gap Analysis, the SERVQUAL scale, the Donabedian Model, Service Blueprinting, Fre-quency Relevance Analysis, all the way up to complaints management. There are many more tools, certain-ly, than we can present here, which is why we will restrict ourselves to a number of especially striking ap-proaches.

The “Gap Model” of event qualityIf the opinion of quality is thus formed from the de-gree of agreement between the expected nature of the event and what is then experienced, then it is worth taking a look at the places where the expectations and perceptions of both organisers and participants may tend to vary. This is where the “Gap Model” can help. It defines a total of five possible gaps between what is experienced and what is expected (Fig. 2):

Gap 1 is caused by the organiser failing to estimate participant expectations accurately; gap 2 arises from the use of inappropriate quality standards (based on accurate or inaccurate estimations of participant ex-pectations); gap 3 comes from failing to observe these standards during the event; gap 4 results from flawed communication with participants (e.g. where incorrect or exaggerated expectations have been generated in relation to the event); and gap 5 – the “mother of all gaps”, so to speak – is the gap between the experi-enced and expected event quality.

Prof. Dr. Hans Rück, Dean of Worms Univer-sity of Applied Sciences, author of Part One in the events-series on quality management in the events sector

Individual Needs

Event quality as perceived by participants

Event quality as expected by participants

Communication with participants

Specs for event quality

Execution of event

Clients’ expectations as perceived by the

management

Participants

Organisers

Former ExperienceWord of mouth communication

48 events 1/2009

M a N a gE M E N T

Factors affecting the perception of quality

What components in the event as a whole are espe-cially important for the perception of the quality of the event? Here, too, we can draw on insights already made within the service industry. The famous SERV-QUAL study completed by Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Berry (1985/88) showed that people judge the quality of services according to five service dimensions:

> A “Tangibles”: External appearance of the lo-cation; all material elements (building, interior facilities, equipment), plus appearance of per-sonnel.

> “Reliability”: Capability of organisers/their staff to provide the promised service to the declared standard.

> “Responsiveness”: Capability of organisers/their staff to react to specific wishes of the customers and to fulfil these. Reaction readiness and speed of fulfilment are of central importance in affect-ing perceived reaction capabilities.

> “Assurance”: Staff competence, plus courtesy and ability to inspire trust and confidence.

> “Empathy”: Readiness and ability of staff to provide each and every participant with the care and attention necessary.

The insights from the SERVQUAL study have since been confirmed on multiple occasions and for various branches of the service industry. One may thus suspect

Fig. 3 - Registering the expectations of different target groups for an event

that they may well be applicable to events as well (al-though there is as yet no research available confirming this; this constitutes a highly promising research area for the future).

Recognising customer expectations: the key to event quality

What, then, may we conclude from the above? If opinions on quality arise from the degree of agree-ment between the service expected and the service ex-perienced, then recognising participant expectations is an essential ingredient in attaining excellent event quality – and, by implication, effective event QM. To achieve this, organisers should focus their attention on the five SERVQUAL service dimensions. A possible ap-proach to the systematic registering of participant ex-pectations is shown in Fig. 3; in this example, the vari-ous expectations are registered separately according to participant group (primary target group, secondary target group, etc.).(Fig. 3)

The second and final part of this article (appearing in the next issue), presents a selection of instruments for use in event quality management.

Dimension of Quality

Primary Target Group

Secondary Target Group

… Target Group

Reliability· Properties· Properties

Responsiveness· Properties· Properties

Assurance· Properties· Properties

Empathy· Properties· Properties

Tangibles· Properties· Properties

· Expectations· Expectations

· Expectations· Expectations

· Expectations· Expectations

· Expectations· Expectations

· Expectations· Expectations

· Expectations· Expectations

· Expectations· Expectations

· Expectations· Expectations

· Expectations· Expectations

· Expectations· Expectations

· Expectations· Expectations

· Expectations· Expectations

· Expectations· Expectations

· Expectations· Expectations

· Expectations· Expectations

Experience the IT&CMChina Advantage• Pre-Scheduled Appointments, Better ROI• Quality Buyers Guaranteed• Learning Opportunities Abound

15-17 April 2009 • ShanghaiMart Expowww.itcmchina.com

Promoting China to the Worldand the World to China

China - The NextMICE Powerhouse

Bringing winning elements to the world’s second largest economy,IT&CM China is THE platform for international and leading Chineseplayers in the MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition)industry to explore exciting business opportunities, generatenew sales leads and strengthen existing business relationship.

Let IT&CM China 2009 be the platform for you to reach theNEXT MICE powerhouse.

Exhibitors

Book your space early to avoid anydisappointment. Showcase your MICE productsand services to top buyers.

Buyers

Apply to be Hosted Buyers to enjoy privilegesincluding reimbursable round-trip air ticket andcomplimentary hotel accommodation.

Media

Register with us to obtain the latest news in theChina MICE industry as Hosted Media and enjoyhosting privileges.

Official Media

Official Hotel Supporting Hotels

Please fax completed form to TTG AsiaMedia Pte Ltd, Fax: (65) 6536 0896

YES! Please send me Exhibit as a corporate exhibitormore information. Exhibit under my state / country pavilion.I am interested to: Please direct my response to the relevant organisation

Participate in the Buyer Hosting ProgrammeParticipate in the Media Hosting ProgrammeAttend the seminar sessionsVisit the exhibition

Date:

Name:

Designation:

Company:

Address:

Country:

Tel: Fax:

Email:

International Exhibitors, Buyers and Media:TTG Asia Media Pte Ltd1 Science Park Road, #04-07 The CapricornSingapore Science Park II, Singapore 117528Tel: (65) 6395 7575 Fax: (65) 6536 0896Email: itcmchina@ttgasia.comWebsite: www.itcmchina.com

China Exhibitors, Buyers and Media:MP International (Shanghai) Pte LtdFL.11E Jinming Building, No. 8 South Zunyi RoadShanghai, 200336, ChinaTel: (86) 021 6295 9990 Fax: (86) 021 6270 6030Email: sales-sh@mpinetwork.comWebsite: www.mpinetwork.com

Organised by

Supported by

Projekt33:Layout 2 03.02.2009 10:20 Uhr Seite 1

50 events 1/2009

M a N a gE M E N T

If managers knew an event would make a profit, or that increas-ing event spend would yield far greater financial benefits, would they cut the budget? Of course not. However, many important management decisions are based on estimates and confidence in plans and budgets designed to achieve success. Management builds factories based on estimated future sales, they buy compa-nies based on estimated future performance and confidence in the ability of their staff to make the acquired company a success.So why don’t they approve your event budgets? Because they are not confident your plans and budgets will make a profit. It’s as simple as that.

The ROI Methodology is the cure

Measuring the return on investment (ROI) after the event is not the answer. ROI is history. In a recession it is too late to find out afterwards if your event made a profit. Instead, you need to apply

ROI is History – How to Survive a RecessionWhen the chips are down, budgets are cut, it is happening now, and meetings are high on the list. This is exactly the sort of knee jerk reaction companies need to avoid. at a time when competition is fierce and customer loyalty is dwindling, the customer hospitality event, the product launch or the user conference are more important than ever. Canceling team-building events, strategy seminars, sales force kickoffs, incentives and staff training courses when employees are already feeling in-secure about their futures can be hugely counter productive. The one thing you want to do in a re-cession is to keep your best staff motivated and on your side, slashing your internal events budget won’t do this.

the ROI Methodology as a planning tool, like it is supposed to be.

The ROI Methodology is a robust process that enables you to set objectives and measure results at every level. It is a powerful tool for ensuring your events achieve the highest possible ROI, as well as establishing how big your budget needs to be before diminish-ing returns set in, the point when an increase in the event budget would start to produce a smaller increase in the results.

The first step – Level 4 in the ROI Methodology – is to develop and explain the Business Impact objectives; or how your meeting or event will directly affect the organisation’s bottom line. Will the meeting increase sales and/or reduce costs? These are the only two alternatives, the only way to create profit.

Once you have established these, you need to set objectives for what delegates need to actually DO after the meeting – not just

events 1/2009 51

what they should think or feel – in order to increase sales or reduce costs. This is Level 3.

Next, you need to set objectives for what delegates need to learn at the event; what cognitive change must take place before any be-havioural change is effected. This is Level 2. Learning in this context is quite broad. You learn attitudes and values, to know other people (trust and liking) as well as information and skills. What needs to happen at Level 2 is also referred to as Education, Networking and Motivation, or Inform, Connect and Engage.

Finally, you need to set Satisfaction objectives (Level 1) – this means satisfaction with hospitality and content, the creation of a good environment for learning.

Now you have a set of multi-level objectives that logically connect one level with the next.

The Meeting Architect is the Physician

From this you can design your meeting. As a meeting planner, you design the form and content of the meeting to achieve Level 3 – Application objectives. You know what you need participants to do after the event to create the Business Impact, so how do you make them do that?

This is the job of the Meeting Architect, a person who designs form and content, finds the right venue for the learning environ-ment, plans networking activities with explicit learning objectives, ensures that the right speakers speak with excellence about the right topics and engage the audience through discussions and exercises to ensure they will not forget the message.

The Meeting Architect understands how to communicate using the five senses, he understands the impact light, sound and even food have when creating different atmospheres for networking and learning.

In good times, or if you have a proven record for designing events which deliver the highest possible ROI, you probably don’t need to present your form and content design with the budget applica-tion, but today you probably must. If you are not an experienced meeting designer, find one! Someone who has the broadest pos-sible knowledge and experience in subjects like behavioural psy-chology, sociology, education, presentation design, sound, light, group dynamics, facilitation, networking technology, webcasting, virtual meetings and more. In short, someone who knows how to create behaviour change through a meeting experience.

If you say that applying the ROI Methodology as a planning tool will take too much time and is too difficult, or if this is more than what you do for every meet-ing, then I understand why your budgets are being cut. As meet-ing and events professionals, this is exactly what we need to be do-ing for every event, large or small, in order to achieve the best pos-

sible ROI. Doing it today is a matter of survival. Without a proper set of objectives and a meeting design to achieve them, you may not get the budget, and there is no event, and maybe no longer a job.

Dr. Elling Hamso is a Meeting Management Consultant and Managing Partner of European Event ROI Institute. He writes and speaks frequently on subjects like ROI, Meeting Architec-ture, Supply Chain Management, virtual meetings and meet-ing with the Millennium generation. You may write to him on elling.hamso@eventroi.org

European Event ROI Institute is a partnership of consultants dedicated to the art and science of making meetings and events achieve the objectives of their stakeholders at the low-est possible cost. Courses in the ROI Methodology are held regularly in 16 major European cities.

Interactive seminars on ROI in German: the perfect means of getting to know the basics.There are two sessions available in Frankfurt/M. on:22 April and on 17 June 2009.The fee is 575 euros plus 19% VAT each.More information and online-registration under: www.eventroi.com

Dr. Elling Hamso, Managing Partner, European Event ROI Institute

Managers are not stupid, they are smart – that’s why they are

managers. and in times of recession they do smart things, that’s how

they keep their jobs.

52 events 1/2009

M a N a gE M E N T

Two-thirds of business travellers view a stronger com-bination of both variants as the ideal solution for everyday business. These are the results of the Eu-rope-wide study “Face to phase: the convergence of business trips and virtual meetings”, conducted by the international service provider Easynet Global Services in collaboration with the IMWF (Institute for Manage-ment and Business Research).

Overall, one in six business travellers in Europe is un-happy about his or her travel workload. Those from Germany, France, Switzerland and Spain were particu-larly interested in the idea of travelling less and meet-ing around the virtual table more often. The British,

Does videoconferencing reduce business trip costs?

Eight out of ten European companies complain that business trips waste time and therefore money. and during such trips, their experts and managers can use only 55 per cent of the time for actual work. The remaining 45 per cent is spent waiting for their flight or passing the time in hotels until the next meeting. European man-agers and specialist personnel are thus keenly interested in conducting business meetings more often via high-definition videoconferencing. This of course spells ruin for face-to-face communication!

Dutch, Italians and Belgians were, however, propor-tionally less bothered about travelling.As well as saving on travel time, 60 per cent of the experts and managerial staff surveyed also saw the chance to make significant reductions in travel costs by using videoconferencing systems. One in four com-panies estimated the potential savings at over 30 per cent. Techno-aficionados in Italy, Spain, Germany and Switzerland were especially optimistic. In these coun-tries, one in three respondents believed they could re-duce travel costs by using “telepresence” technology. Managers in the Benelux countries were, however, far less optimistic about the savings to be made via video-conferencing. In Holland, only half of the respondents

Study

events-quer_final.indd 1 30.12.2008 09:25:40

thought there would be a cost benefit (of a maximum of 20 per cent). In Belgium, 20 per cent believed there would be no cost difference at all between business trips and video conferences.Diethelm Siebuhr, Director Central Europe at Easynet Global Services, explains: “Many companies are un-aware of the fact that the service now provided by tele presence operators offers much more than a basic technical installation. Full-service providers, who can handle videoconferencing from booking right through to hardware provision, make it much easier for people to participate. When used to the fullest – and with significantly lower travelling costs – an investment in videoconferencing technology can pay for itself very quickly.”In Spain, full-service solutions are the ones most com-monly used. Here, more than a third of all companies are using telepresence technology plus a support serv-ice, or are planning to do so. At the same time, Span-ish managers also expect substantial cost savings from videoconferencing. One in four respondents estimat-ed the potential savings at over 40 per cent. Accordingly, full-service videoconferencing providers will thus continue to grow in importance. Such provid-ers take on the entire organisational side, thus reliev-ing both conference participants and the internal IT departments. Currently, managers all too often organise their vide-oconferences themselves – even with little time to spare. One in five top managers in Europe organises

the technical details on his or her own initiative – thus cancelling out any timesaving advantages gained. In Holland, one even finds four out of every ten top managers booking the virtual conferences themselves. Internal IT departments are also often stretched to provide technical support. This results in the company wasting a large proportion of the cost savings expect-ed from videoconferencing.Another important consequence of videoconferencing use is an improved work-life balance for employees. German, Italian and British respondents feel especially stressed by travelling. Half of them consider the nec-essary balance between work and private life to be endangered by frequent business trips. Dutch and Belgian respondents, however, are far more sanguine about the bad effects of travelling. Less than a third of employees surveyed complained about the ill effects of long-term business travel.The study “Face to phase: the convergence of busi-ness trips and virtual meetings” presents the results of an online panel survey that was commissioned by Easynet GmbH in collaboration with the IMWF. During October and November 2008, expert and managerial personnel were asked about the significance of busi-ness trips and the use of videoconferencing. A total of 716 managers from Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Holland, Belgium and Switzerland took part in the study. All of the surveys were carried out in the respective native language.www.easynet.com

54 events 1/2009

Didn’t we all want to stick to the economic theories and principles? Where are the gra-naries and war chests from the years when the going was good? It seems our industry has failed to follow this golden rule, is it not so, Mr. Eichenlaub?

Instead of filling the chests, shareholder accounts were enriched – or, on the agen-cy side: contracts agreed to at any price. For those still standing, the rallying cry is

“Keep the flag flying” – and prowl about for hidden budgets. Yet 9/11, Gulf wars, SARS and the dot-com bubble must surely have warned us of future events, shouldn’t they, Mr. Pütz?

In truth, the communications industry should have approached its customers much earlier, in light of what was appar-ent on the horizon. But what, then, would have been our advice? Soothsayers are rarely rewarded: we’d have been dismissed as “smart a***es” whose advice wasn’t welcome just then, my dear Eichenlaub.

First the binge and then the pangs of con-science. Let’s not speak of manager salaries and bonuses, the brazenness of banks and suddenly-destitute industry sectors – issues milked for all they’re worth by politicians in this, an election year. Where are the so-lution-oriented activities, instead of these endless discussions? And what are these bailout packages, which are not only mere background music for the crisis – like the band on the Titanic – but also procure shady competitive advantages for state-

Pütz & Eichenlaub:

How is it that a 12-Year-old Maasai can kill a Lion with a Spear?Fritz Pütz and Sven Eichenlaub are experienced events professionals who combine their competencies gleaned in many years of event and hotel management in eventcompetence + compagnie. www.eventcompetence.de

supported gamblers against honest busi-nesses, Mr. Pütz?

However, finding solutions by no means implies prising off the stars from the ho-tel facade as if to impress the “Pharma Codex”, introducing flat rates into the meeting business and then piling ever more services on top – thus continuing to work oneself to the bone. Customers are not going to be tempted by endless ex-tra “extras”. Indeed, it’s not that they will descend the “star ladder” for their stay or hunt around for bargains – they’ll just stay at home in the first place. So please, keep the prices where they are. After all, our price-performance ratio in the German hotel industry can certainly hold its own in international terms. Correct, Mr. Eichen-laub? You know, Mr. Pütz, the car industry plays the same kind of uninspiring, idiotic games in its fiddling about with car specifica-tions. As if new buyers were attracted be-cause the engine size isn’t stated on the rear or because it continues “60 years of quality”! This sham advertising is almost as bad as “beauty comes from within”. However, some industry segments seem to have avoided the worst for now, espe-cially in areas fulfilling basic needs such as beauty, nutrition and personal happiness ... The sectors that serve the primal needs of consumers have not been hit so hard by the slump in demand. And now the mar-keting gurus appear with their “penguin marketing”: “We’ll all huddle together

and keep warm”. But the external climate has changed. Despite global warming, it’s getting chilly, Mr. Pütz.

At the product level, things are being scru-tinised with icy determination. The “be-guiled buyers” have now come to their senses, and are now being forced to put the brakes on consumption for anything that’s not really necessary, Mr. Eichen-laub.

Does that mean that the market is develop-ing its own dynamic of sustainable values and virtues, such as would result in new products and qualities, Mr. Pütz?

It’s true: You don’t need any marketing for good catering or a coherent hotel concept, since the basic needs of the buyer’s market go hand-in-hand with basic needs them-selves. Ergo: we will now experience the game of supply and demand as a no-frills duel to the death, Mr. Eichenlaub!

Experts in live communication are now in demand more than ever, in order to stand up to all of these market insights, surveys and forecasts with creativity, planning and ideas in whichever form is needed. Intui-tion and emotion are not only needed, but essential. Guidance is the key, not mere re-action, Mr. Pütz.

What’s that supposed to look like? One can recognise a return to practical qualities and traditions in contemporary advertising. Will everyone follow suit, Mr. Eichenlaub?

M a N a gE M E N T

events 1/2009 55

Pütz & Eichenlaub:

How is it that a 12-Year-old Maasai can kill a Lion with a Spear?

Yes. Someone once remarked that the end of the pleasure-seeking society is marked by customers once again having an interest in real content, and rejecting emotional bag-gage that in itself has nothing to do with the product. Accordingly: car manufactur-ers should finally start building cars that are actually in demand. Products and their advertising should not target discounts and model extras, but focus on lower fuel use, technical virtues and thus “less plastic”. Something easily adopted for products of-fered by event marketers, Mr. Pütz.

Yes, give the paying public what they want, that’s the thing – and not offer the thou-sandth me-too event, Mr. Eichenlaub.

Quite so. Even the event people are not going to be able to avoid dealing with the state of company budgets. Now is precisely the right time to use appropriate tactics to achieve reorientation – in terms of both di-versification and specialisation. The guiding principle could be “I don’t have enough money to buy cheap shoes”. Internalising this is the logical conclusion to the still-current but now fading “stingy is sexy” at-titude and the “bargain-bin mentality”. In-sisting on low prices does not mean falling for cheap offers, but buying at the prod-uct’s true value, Mr. Pütz.

Now, more than ever, is the time to take to the field with a good marketing and com-munications strategy. One needs to change gear from the product level up into tradi-tional values. These have nurtured many a traditional company to greatness, and been the ingredients for success for generations: this sort of thing will continue to pay divi-dends and survive, Mr. Pütz.

And you think that the market will respect this, Mr. Eichenlaub?

Well, let’s look at the traditional brand of Volkswagen. The virtue extracted from Volkswagen’s 60 years and expressed as “it runs and runs and runs...” has now ended up as “THE car” – after a brief stopover as

“Because we love cars”. Just have a look at the German VW website. One is starting to recall the 60-year history of develop-

ment, starting once again to recollect tradi-tion, values and hard work. Even features charged with nationalistic fervour such as

“Black-Red-Gold” are wheeled out and – correctly – used positively. No production according to the principles of “faster, big-ger, further”, but, instead, returning to the primal needs of mobility – that is the key. There is nothing wrong with being on the move or taking a trip – whether by plane, train or automobile. However, the key fac-tor here is one’s approach to a moderate and sustainable use of resources, Mr. Pütz.

Apropos primal needs! What, then, were the original reasons for customers choos-ing their banks? Not the horrific profits to be made, but reasons of trust and security. How else are we to explain the increase in private sales of armoured strongboxes and safes, Mr. Eichenlaub?

Now, let’s not talk any more about the crisis, but about the normalcy of “daily business”, which all of us need to master. And a “Master” is many years as appren-tice and journeyman in the making... So, agreed, the student is willing, so the mas-ter may now return. And where are such masters and skilled marketers, who can face up to these challenging times? Simple bailout packages won’t help in surviving such times. Everything must be oriented on market potential and not on the covetous-ness of entrepreneurs, trade union bosses, politicians and lobbyists. Oh, sorry, and of course we mustn’t forget the shareholders, Mr. Pütz.

Hmm, true: all real competitive advantages would vanish if one-sided corrections were to be made. Strategies in product develop-ment, sales and marketing have all gone off in the wrong direction and must now be course-corrected. And the communications industry has spent far too long fawning in the wake of such self-appointed strategists, Mr. Eichenlaub.

The verdict thus seems to be “More cour-age and entrepreneurial spirit”. How is it, then, that a 12-year-old Maasai warrior can finish off a lion? Is it because of tes-tosterone, self-confidence? Well now, he is

trained to see that he can only kill the lion via precise knowledge of its habitat and by the primal strength of the lion itself – and not through his own prowess. Only when the predator springs and he himself acts as the bait, can he – quick as a flash – brace his spear and thus achieve victory with pre-cision, fearlessness and self-confidence, Mr. Pütz.

You need more brains, more testosterone and more self-confidence to be proactive, than you do to simply bide your time and copy everyone else, Mr. Eichenlaub. We must, then, get closer to the lions. And, preferably, straight to the decision-makers and executives, to discuss new strate-gies for success and avoid being filtered by the “anxious hierarchies”. We need to shake ourselves awake – the lion is about to pounce!

Just praying and waiting is unlikely to work any longer. Faith and hope are the sales-man’s ruin. The unleashing of lions into the Circus Maximus marked the turning point in an advanced civilisation. Where do we stand today, Mr. Pütz?

The search for the latest kick won’t safe-guard the future. What will is the recollec-tion and resuscitation of values and virtues such as decency, sincerity, conscientious-ness, honesty, loyalty and trustworthiness. Sounds simple enough. And yet, its imple-mentation will shake the foundations of all that we know and change our world for-ever, Mr. Eichenlaub!

Dare we hope for this, Mr. Pütz?

Well, only if the decent and reasonable peo-ple remain unswervingly “on track” and we avoid the trap of resuming business as usual too early. We dare not become “intoxicat-ed” with the next apparent – and certainly short-lived – upturn, Mr. Eichenlaub.

Sounds a lot like a good helping of insecu-rity and adversity, Mr. Pütz.

Yes, Mr. Eichenlaub, per aspera ad astram: through adversity to the stars. Not by tak-ing it easy.

56 events 1/2009

M a N a gE M E N T

events: Mrs. Fink, as the proprietor of a live commu-nications agency (Media Network), a project agency (e-factor) and a technology agency in Majorca, I am sure you would be able to give us an overview of the

“events agency situation”, as a kind of weather fore-caster. What’s happening at the moment?Fink: Well, firstly we are a family-run microbusiness, but we have always enjoyed looking beyond the end of our own nose. Our lightweight structure has often brought us luck in pitches and ultimately led to frame-work agreements with major groups. The country is

ruled by purchasing departments! At the moment a hefty jolt is going through Germany’s events sector. Agencies and above all jobs are dropping like bees at the end of a warm summer. I am a positive person, but I have my eyes open. It is a fact and there is nothing to compare it with.

events: But the sector has often been in hot water in the past?Fink: We were able to make up for 9/11 and the cutback in all incentives that was associated with it

Where is the journey taking us:

Reverse gear or return to reason?

quickly, because people did not want to let themselves be bullied by pseudo-political forces. That was com-pletely different in quality, a lack of budgets wasn’t the problem there.

events: So why has the partying stopped now?Fink: Partying till you drop stopped some time ago. And that is actually a good thing. Oktoberfest at tel-ecommunications trade fairs or skiing in the desert is as out-of-date as SUVs. Of course live communication has remained an important theme. It is not only scien-

tists who agree on that. Sharing the positive experi-ence of a meeting or incentive together is and remains the number one factor in motivation.

events: But not even a little bit of partying any more?Fink: Yes, of course. If a product or a member of staff rightly deserves to be honoured, then it is fine to get dressed up, have a nice meal and the appropriate en-tertainment. There will always be a natural culture of human pleasure in being together. Like christenings or Christmas, like a new Volkswagen, an innovative

events 1/2009 57

pocket tissue or the jubilee celebrations at Maggi. It encourages positive energy and releases strength. Thank God nothing will change there.

events: And what should we be doing now?Fink: Now is the time to do what the acknowledged best-selling specialist books have been telling us for years: Slow down and make things simpler. For agency owners it is now the stylish thing to act in a genuinely responsible, entrepreneurial way. And as al-ways there will only be a handful of team captains left over, the ones who have run their businesses properly. Business people are saying that the market is being tidied up. If you have been cop-ing as long as Vok Dams for instance, then you have nothing to worry about.

events: How do you react?Fink: My wealth of experience is extremely valuable: Unsound business partners, customers who are resistant to your advice and borderline wishes for celebrations by investment advice compa-nies – in 20 years I have seen it all. Even when I was a young

designer it used to bore me, but at that time my voice didn’t carry any weight. Within the last year we looked after the managers of a management consultancy company on an off-road tour, and they wanted to let their hair down in a nature conservation area in Majorca. That created a lot of trouble, as I don’t want to earn my money doing things like that.

events: What do you hear from the agencies?Fink: Most of them make an effort to sell meaningful and sustain-able events. But you don’t need to keep reinventing the wheel. The didactics have to be right, but it must also simply do everyone

involved good. However there are still events that hurt like hell. Recently a bank with a leading investment professional organised an “event dinner in the air” 50 metres up. A great thrill. I could be screaming my head off in pain.

events: Do you have better,more specific concepts?Fink: Charity campaigns yield the most. For everyone. I mean that seriously. And I am no Mother Theresa; I’m a businesswoman. When young managers equip a kindergarten with swings and seesaws and afterwards – over a beer and a hot dog – look into the eyes of the happy children, then that is a perfect event.

events: But a bit old hat, don’t you think?Fink: But people don’t do it enough, and we’ve had such good experience with it. Obama painted a shelter for the homeless the day before his inauguration! The new trends are old hat. But they are wonderfully appropriate, cost-effective and easy to create.

events: So what is a new “old” trend?Fink: I swear by circus, but naturally Cirque Nouveau. Circus has

worked for hundreds of years. True performance is always recog-nised and artists who are able to hijack the public have already won. I have just been in Paris at the famous “Festival du Cirque de Demain”. I had a look at the new acts there. They are world class. The young artists are not expensive yet, and they are delighted to get bookings. I have looked for a lot of former artists of the Cirque du Soleil and have always been able to sell them well in a new context.

events: How are incentives looking? Are they old hat too?Fink: They are actually très chic. If Hape Kerkeling can be a best-

58 events 1/2009

M a N a gE M E N T

The economic effects are, according to the report, not as grave as originally feared: In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, participa-tion is expected to rise by three percent per meeting, by nine per-cent in Canada, but will fall five percent in the USA. ‘After three very successful years, the events sector worldwide is learning to deal with a paradigm shift and the FutureWatch report reveals the extent to which such a shift is expected,’ says Bruce MacMillan, president and CEO of MPI. ‘We want to arm our 24,000 members against the hard times ahead through initiatives such as our Glo-bal Knowledge Plan and thereby promote adaptation and secure growth.’

According to FutureWatch, the sector expects budget cuts of ap-proximately six percent for events - the last report, on the other hand, predicted an increase of 22.6 percent. 17 percent of com-pany planners and 12 percent of association planners are count-ing on a smaller budget in 2009. Exception: planners of govern-ment events; they don’t foresee major changes to their budgets.

Both planners and providers agree that increased creativity and in-novation are tools that won’t only be valuable, but indispensable. They expect the sector to work more efficiently and effectively through new standards and practices. While client planners are counting on a decrease of nine percent, this is only 0.5 percent among independent planners. 11 percent of meeting profession-als believe in employing more technology for cost reduction in order to gain access to meetings and contents from a distance.

The highest ROI, however, is still attributed to face-to-face meet-ings. Planners worldwide must prove the value of the events on offer. 74 percent of the organisations that hold meetings measure their ROI primarily on the satisfaction of the participants.

FutureWatch 2009 is based on 2,740 planner responses. The complete report was released at the MPI 2009 MeetDifferent® conference in Atlanta on February 7 - 10 and at the MPI European Meetings and Events Conference in Turin, March 1 -3, 2009.

MPI Future Watch:

The Industry will master the Challenges......predicts the FutureWatch Study, carried out by MPI in cooperation with ameri-can Express: It says that the meetings industry will sharpen its focus and ra-tionalise its activities in response to the challenges to be met on the global market in 2009.

seller with his book for more than two years, why shouldn’t groups go hiking? Do you know how good that is? Sleeping in a monastery? Simply brilliant. You can’t get more teambuilding than that. It’s just as much fun in the Allgäu as it is on Etna. Just as feasible in Portugal as in Patagonia.

events: But not everyone can go hiking.Fink: No, but the principle is the same: everywhere where there is energy inside, energy can also be released. An 08/15 confer-ence room has no energy and nor does a room in a hotel chain. Our core business is with large groups. We look very carefully for accommodation which has a “history” and we insist that the par-ticipants often have to go on foot. By the way, it works well in Cannes and all along the Côte d’Azur.

events: You are a strong supporter of the “classics”? Fink: The synonyms for classic are: complete, proven, humanistic and beautiful. What more can a client want?

events: Examples?Fink: The good old town rally isn’t dead if it is done well. It has everything. New York with Segways, Paris by bike, Vienna on the

tram and Cologne ideally on foot. Then they can stop over at an artist’s studio and potter about together. Welding scrap metal sculptures with the famous Cologne artist Odo Rumpf is “awe-some” according to my clients. I take that as a compliment.

events: You can’t win any awards with the classics!Fink: What use are awards to me if I have to let my staff go? I write concepts for a few agencies in Germany, and I know how to create added value. However, I am also heavily involved in one EVA. As an irony of fate, it was a classic. We got thousands of staff members of T-Mobile to create their own company jubilee, under our guidance, across all the areas of creating a show. It went down well. There was simply a lot of energy in it.

events: What is your forecast for the future?Fink: I wish I was a good weather fairy. It’s getting pretty stormy in the market. But I think that the recession is making both clients and agencies think again. And with that come good prospects for contemporary, creative ideas and sustainable events which will make people happy.

events 1/2009 59

The all-risks-insured society is nibbling away at the escalating repair costs for the write-offs they themselves have caused. The sea is becalmed. The financial services providers and insurers are silent, while the car industry goes dumbly on its beggar’s tour – without even bothering to turn up its coat lapels for appearance’s sake. Large parts of the still-intact remainder of our economy hedge their bets and wait to see if and when it’s going to happen to them. That’s the situation. The age of care-ful drivers replaces the speed demon era, and so it has been for several months. For the communications industry, it’s a catastrophe. Yes: we know that live marketing has a future. In mature phases of company and product life cycles, it’s even the instrument of choice for building customer trust and loyalty and differentiating between val-ues. But not much of that is happening at the moment. If there is a mess to clean up, then there is not really much to talk about. Instead, homework is at the top of the agenda – and not gossiping and play-ing with the neighbour’s children. And, by God: there’s a lot that needs cleaning up! “Product cleanup is currently under-way under the cover of semantic stun grenades,” stated communications expert Sven Eichenlaub during the events round-table. “Nice if it were true,” corrected Dr. Olaf Behrend from Bielefeld Uni, “but they just keep on selling their high-risk prod-ucts. Change is being hamstrung by habit, by patterns of behaviour that have been decades in the making!” Agency expert Rosa Erdmann chipped in: “Some major financial services providers were already trying to beat a retreat during marketing events in 2007 – it should have been obvi-ous to us then!” Whoever is right: when things are cleaned up, when everything should “get better again”, then nothing will be as it was. Even the long-valid paral-lel development of event marketing boom

and agency upswing is obviously at an end. There’s a lot of DIY about, the margins are thin, and numerous well-trained event people are out on the street. Many more swell their ranks every day – and where is their new home? In the marketing and event departments of corporations! The question “Make or buy?” was never more valid. Let’s develop our provocative propo-sition further with our next quote, this one from communications trainer Michael Hasenkamp:

We liked that observation. Yes indeed, we need a new kind of communication. Hon-est and decent. We need to get on the cus-tomers’ wavelength again, ask them their opinion, get them with us. Not just “mean-ingless gobbledygook and stage-managed into the blessed repose”. Sven Eichenlaub gives a good example: “The Volksbank Group has about a thousand customers in the million-investment bracket. There is no better instrument with which to commu-nicate with them than marketing events. Particularly now. You need to go in there with solid, trustworthy strategies. It’s a huge opportunity. But the banks are much too pusillanimous at the moment!” Dr. Ziegler, combat-hardened from his time on the Board at Ogilvy & Mather and Goldp-feil added: “We, my dear bank, would very much like to develop a new Code for you. Work with you, find answers for your cus-tomers. You’ve been developing products for years without your customers! One simply needs to encourage people to take to the streets with placards on which is written: “When can we finally talk to our bank?!” Sven Eichenlaub’s team has launched a Bank Code initiative, and even registered a

matching domain name for it: www.bank-enkodex.de. A super idea. After all, many experts from the meetings industry are pre-dicting that this will have to happen, and it probably will – just like the Pharmakodex. Backing Eichenlaub is an interdisciplinary team of experts prepared to proactively initiate communication consultancy efforts and possessing all of the relevant know-how that the market needs. “It used to be the case – during more minor crises – that communications consultants and agency

bosses would sit through the night with their customers, dis-cussing ideas. Where are they today?” asks Eichenlaub, with raised eyebrows. Well, the rea-son probably is that the live communicators have meekly

accepted their briefings, wrestled for every contract, and thus been submissive reac-tionaries with stage-management skills rather than self-assured, active consult-ants. And they, like many corporate con-sultants, had an uncritical hand in (and a pay cheque from) many of the lies so stage-managed (Cargolifter, New Econo-my, etc.!). The industry now suffers from an image problem. A number of agencies are hunting desperately for new acquisi-tions hereabouts. But what, then, will they acquire? Old formats? Old lies in new bot-tles? They should be advisers, a port in the storm for their customers. There’ll come a time when they can make money again. Eichenlaub: “We need to make sure our initiative breaks through the middle man-agement barrier. Communication must get to the boss!” Correct, Mr. Eichenlaub. Ad-vice as well. “Precisely what must be kept out of the hands of the freaks who have spent so many years amusing the bonus hunters with a few pretty fireworks and clowns on stilts,” adds Rosa Erdmann. There is nothing to add to that. Crise, fais ton jeu! Hans Jürgen Heinrich

Propositions from a round-table

You cannot not communicate! Or perhaps you can?

“We’re attending the funeral of ideas and expectations, not a champagne reception for bonus hunters. But even funerals are good

business. They just have different rules!”

60 events 1/2009

C aT E RINg

They were our constant companions dur-ing childhood, offering us entertainment, comfort, and encouragement. Whether it was Robin Hood, asterix, or the indomita-ble Superman, each of us had his or her own comic book hero to identify with – a hero whose secret powers shone forth from the walls of our rooms.

About the end of extravagance and on caterers:

the nimble heroes behind the scenes at big events

in mango butter or roast porcupine?

events 1/2009 61

eroes are strong and brave. They have abilities far beyond those of mortal men. They champion

a cause with an iron will, making sheer impossibilities a reality. And they can be found in the event busi-ness, too. Caterers themselves are definitely heroes of day-to-day event operations, even if they are never in the spotlight. They work behind the scenes to make the impossible possible. It is caterers who bring live elephants to the buffet when needed, caterers who are responsible for the ambience and often for the lighting and technical equipment and decoration. As if by magic, caterers conjure creative arrangements on guest plates. And every day, they start all over again.Until just a few years ago, the term “caterer” car-ried negative associations. People often suspected a connection with tasteless, lower-quality airline-style fast food packed in plastic. But now, some caterers, like Gerd Käfer, whom the Schlemmer Atlas recently named Restaurateur of the Year for 2009, have risen to become superstars.

events went in search of answers, asking a number of German caterers about the trends, prospects for the future, and challenges that exist in the day-to-day ca-tering business..

Contributors:Jochen Gromann, DEBEOS CateringBernhard Reiser, Der Reiser GenussmanufakturHelmut Christian Stolzenhoff, Alexander Schildmeyer, Stolzenhoff PartyserviceKlaus Peter (KP) Kofler, Kofler & KompanieGeorg W. Broich, Daniela Jeansch, Broich CateringJens Dengler, Gauls CateringBjörn Bieling, Frankfurter Party- und VeranstaltungsserviceDetlef Oberrecht, Robert Meyer CateringDorothee Fedder, Daniel Fedder, Fedder Catering- und Eventservice

Catering trends: healthy, active and innovative, because......in the future, food will have to not only meet visual and taste standards, but it will have a specific function as well. Jochen Gromann of Debeos considers func-tional food the hottest trend. “In a society that has never before had such a detailed knowledge of the composition and effects of diet and nutrition, the task caterers face is clear. Food is supposed to be fun while at the same time fulfilling important dietary functions. The desire to remain vigorous and active even into ad-vanced age will become an even more important topic of focus in the future.”

62 events 1/2009

C aT E RINg

...tough economic times are always a challenge. And innovation will surely define our path out of the cri-sis. That’s why Klaus Peter Kofler believes it is time to change.

“We should pause for a moment, do an analysis and optimize our processes and turn our attention back to essentials; meaning, in our sector, the food. We need new concepts for the crisis. It’s an opportunity to re-gain some freedom from the logistical ballast that ties us down too much. We can’t just slash our prices by 30 percent so we have to modify our costs through innovations that bring greater efficiency.”...in times of steadily rising health insurance premiums, prevention has come to the table and awareness of diet and nutrition is in vogue. This trend is reflected even in the selection of locations. “Being aware of what you eat and culture go together. Never before have so many celebrations been held at museums and other cultural institutions, as these days,” says Björn Bieling....guests’ standards have risen considerably, especially with regard to fresh preparation. Helmut Christian Stolzenhoff sees show cooking as offering the per-

fect opportunity to bring all of these factors together; for food that is made by hand, individual and healthy.

“With show cooking, we can prepare everything fresh, right on site, which has a tremendous impact on the taste. Guests want to know how dishes are prepared and what is in them. The experience also plays a big role. As we at Stolzenhoff always say: “see it, hear it, experience it.”

But every caterer has his favorite trend......and the one through which that caterer wants to be identified. The handicraft and passion behind the idea should be clearly recognizable; the factors that count include more than just fun. Food is something very sensuous; smell, taste and feel all play essential roles.

“You have to experience it, like the perfect kiss,” ex-plains Bernhardt Reiser with a smile....and yet, what the majority of those we interviewed love is show cooking. Thanks to the huge boom in tel-evision cooking shows, cooking has now become suit-

events 1/2009 63

able for polite company and has even progressed to become a megatrend. According to Bieling, guests are especially happy to see this kind of cooking because it is always an event within the event, plus they are able to experience the craft of cooking as such. “This creates a special, homely atmosphere. I think cooking and everything that has to do with preparing food can be very exciting and stimulating.”

...and for Georg W. Broich, tradition is also an impor-tant aspect. “We prefer to work with nouveau Ger-man cuisine, with a slight French accent, because our head chef comes from Alsace. That makes it livelier and more innovative.”

Back to the roots: Mom’s home cooking is back in demand......because it is an interesting trend running counter to the general tendency towards globalization. Kofler is convinced of it. “In catering today, the regional back-ground of our dishes is more important than the trend towards being ‘green.’ So instead of Charleroi beef, people are ordering Franziskushuhn (regional fowl)

‘from the local area.’ People are everywhere, all around the world, 24 hours a day but what they are eating is increasingly things they identify with, meaning re-gional cuisine.”...and that’s why the longstanding Fedder family busi-ness is seeing a boom in regional dishes. “Cuisine is

moving back towards the nineteen-fifties – peo-ple want it to be rustic and simple. Maybe

that’s also because of the current crisis. Our rolls of ham, roast beef medallions, and rotisserie-grilled suckling pig are doing well,” says a pleased Dorothee Fedder, who is very familiar with recipes handed down for genera-tions.

...because traditional dishes can be interpreted in modern ways.

It’s hip again to come out in favor of national special-

ties. In the future, dishes like Himmel und Erde,

which is pureed potatoes and applesauce, cabbage rolls and sauerkraut, or German gnocchi with venison goulash, will retake center stage at all the parties....and yet that’s not enough for Bernhardt Reiser. “In Germany, we pay too little attention to our national specialties. We are obviously lacking in self-confidence. If you go to Italy, you find that national pride extends into the kitchen as well. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to find a good cook who can prepare regional specialties authentically.”

Innovative finger food is still hip...

....because it is fast and easy to prepare, but still offers great variety. And because serving finger food allows a host to easily accommodate 3,000 guests, each of whom has a different philosophy. Whether guests are vegetarians or health nuts, from those with food al-lergies to dedicated dieters: There’s something tasty for everyone....because finger food has been popular at parties for over 30 years now. And small portions are always well received, because guests want to try a little of every-thing, such as Daniel Fedder, who is now managing his parents’ family business, attests from experience.

“Anyone who has a bite to eat says, “Hey, that’s good,” and then they want more right away. And small bites are always allowed; people don’t suffer from a guilty conscience afterward.”...because to Kofler, it continues to represent an impor-tant element of the catering business. “It is elegant, you can reach a large number of guests quickly and you have a lot of room to be creative. And yet there is a clear trend pointing away from the glamorous fin-ger food, which is much too small, and toward hearty, firmer delicacies.”

Sautéed turkey strips with pineapple are passé, because the modern event guest......prefers unusual attention-seekers and high-quality bites on the plate and is happy to refresh himself with chèvre bites, savory garletts (miniature crêpes), mozzarella sticks, and “lollipop” prawns. Or to gulp down a hot shooter: flavorful little servings of soup in schnapps glasses, sipped through a pasta straw. Bern-hardt Reiser uses tricks from molecular cuisine. “We create new dishes that confuse the eye and the palate, like olive oil gummy bears – they’re extremely popular and they go quickly.”...loves lavishly decorated, stylishly staged foods. “Food shouldn’t just please the taste buds; all the senses want to be included,” says Detlef Oberrecht. So little

64 events 1/2009

C aT E RINg

interludes in the show are especially welcome, such as when an exotic-seeming Italian cook prepares the joint of prosciutto by hand, right at the buffet, while regaling guests with tales of “bella Italia” in his south-ern accent....so often in life appreciates variety and little surpris-es. That’s why Jochen Gromann sees it as a particular highlight when the dishes offered have some con-nection to the event. “Nothing has more impact on the memory than an experience that involves all the senses.”

The trend toward all things green has affected caterers......like Georg W. Broich by prompting them to think differently. “At our business, respect-ful use of resources is an integral component of our day-to-day work.” Broich Catering is committed to regional producers and is a member of the Sustainable Bonn project.

“We are now experiencing 25 percent greater demand for eco-friendly and regional prod-ucts. Public institutions and government agencies are emphasizing this factor in par-ticular.”...by sometimes being a bit of an annoyance. Bernhard Reiser thinks eco-friendly ingredi-ents aren’t always a great idea. “If I buy or-ganic bell peppers during the winter, they’re usually more flavorless than the conventional ones. Or take venison: the animals live in the forest. They’re always organic. I think there’s

still too much ignorance in this area.”...except where it never really caught on. In Gromann’s opinion, it is declining. “In many cases, people hardly even notice anymore that ‘green’ products are being used, thanks to the big discounters. What piques cus-tomers’ interest right now is the ‘hundred-mile diet’ which refers to the trend of concentrating on regional providers, especially when it comes to fish, meat, veg-etables and dairy products.”...or hasn’t affected them at all. “We only use the best meat products from our own in-house butcher’s shop anyway and we have always been health-conscious in our work. All our foods come from the local region; from eggs to oxen,” Dorothee Fedder emphasizes.

Caterers meet unusual customer requests when......the customer is from the tourism sector and sim-ply must have elephants close to the buffet. For Jörn Bieling, it was definitely an odd inquiry. “After a lot of

research, we finally found what we were looking for, in ‘Grzimeks Filmtiere.’ But the elephants did still have to be transported to Munich, to the English Garden there, and there were a lot of rules that we had to fol-low. Everything worked out great. The only complaints were from the English Garden because the elephants had eaten some of the foliage of some exotic trees.”...at the Expo 2000, roast porcupine is requested for the national day of Cameroon, though it reeks to high heaven. “We did the catering for the national day and luckily we were not responsible for the porcupine but for various other dishes. It was horrifying to work amid the odor. We didn’t even try a single bite of the foul-smelling animal,” reports Jens Dengler with a grimace....the state reception for a high-ranking government official has the whole company in an absolute tizz, as Dorothee Fedder still remembers quite pointedly. “We were escorted by helicopters from Siegburg to Rhön-dorf, where the reception for Valéry Giscard d’Estaing was taking place at the location of the German-French youth office. The entrances to the Autobahns were closed and there were security forces standing on the overpasses with machine guns. It was an impressive feeling to be so alone and yet under observation.”...they have to prepare a several-course menu at an al-titude of 2,800 meters. “The hardest part was securely transporting all of the foods to the summit. So every event guest had to help out and carry a backpack to the top. Plus, there was no electricity up there. So we cooked over an open fire. It was certainly a unique experience,” says Bernhardt Reiser....Alexander Schildmayer and his team are due to ca-ter a Jewish wedding with over 400 guests within just a few days. “Everything had to be kosher, from the location, which was blessed by a rabbi just for this event, to the silverware and even the napkins. There was no time to whine about it. We got the informa-tion we needed, down to the last detail, arranged for a butcher, who slaughters animals and prepares meat in keeping with kosher, and bought all new dishes and furniture.”

Seating variations affect communication, so......Jochen Gromann of Debeos Catering sees seating ar-rangements as moving farther and farther away from the classic round table. “Nowadays, communication lies at the heart of the event. That’s why more and more clients are deciding in favor of combinations of standing and seating. High tables with barstools, a lounge atmosphere and open catering are the signs of our times. And if clients do decide on a sit-down ar-rangement, the focus is generally on modern furnish-

Catering around the globe: The Broich catering team in India

events 1/2009 65

ings.” In these settings, guests are free to stroll around or find a seat anytime....caterers are often asked for mixed seating arrange-ments, where standing tables might serve as bridges between sit-down tables for six or eight. And yet, for anniversaries and wedding receptions, clients keep turning to the classics; round tables seating eight or ten guests. Communication across the table still works with no problem and the setting is more homelike than with standing tables....lounges are booming. “That’s because hanging out together creates a relaxed atmosphere and guests feel a bit like they are at home. But it is true that guests get tired very quickly on the soft sofas, in a semi-reclined position,” says Björn Bieling, speaking from his own experience.

And caterers are everyday heroes because......working behind the scenes at the event, they put all the different trades together perfectly, like finely tuned clockwork. Especially when it comes to events

with more than 3,000 guests, everything has to be planned in detail and tightly scheduled, right down to the minute: what kind of peppermint leaf is used as decoration with what dish, when the chicken has to be put on the grill and even the characteristics of the table linens....“there’s no such thing as ‘can’t’” – it might be a cli-ché, but to caterers, it’s real life, every day. They grant the customer’s every wish, no matter how bizarre: spherical Caprese salad with carrot foam, espresso lin-guine with melon caviar and, for dessert, rosemary ice on top of mandarin froth? Whether it’s supposed to be molecular, in the dark, underwater, or atop Mount Everest; no problem, the customer is king....the inquiries usually have a very short timeframe and a logistical chain has to be set up within just a few days. According to Alexander Schildmeyer, who has more than 40 years’ professional experience, caterers need highly developed organizational skills and sheer speed to accomplish this: “We are logisticians par ex-cellence and service providers right down to the soles of our shoes. For example, when you have more than 100 waiters, who for a start are not your own employ-

66 events 1/2009

C aT E RINg

ees, and all you have is 20 minutes for a briefing, that is indeed a huge challenge.”...the challenge today is catering just in time! Jochen Gromann of Debeos Catering sees the implementation cycles for events contracting steadily. “This demands that caterers increase our flexibility. Multi-talented skills are what is needed. Catering today is often an event in itself, taking place behind the scenes.”

And yet they’re not perfect...

Even Tarzan made a few missteps in his daredevil ad-ventures and Asterix lost the battle against the Romans in spite of the magic potion. Even heroes can’t be per-fect, especially if, like caterers, they have to wrestle with earthly problems: After all, we’re in the middle of a crisis and we have to keep cost-effectiveness in mind.In addition, event catering is home to tough price competition, which often pushes uniform quality standards aside. While some caterers rely more fre-quently on ecologically-friendly products than was the case just a few years ago, they are doing so only be-cause of increased customer demand. Many caterers showed no signs of a firm conviction in this regard.And even the much-served finger food still begs the question of whether it really makes sense. This style of eating leaves many times more dirty dishes than

conventional menus do. The majority of caterers rely on “cold finger food” because it is supposedly less re-source-intensive but unfortunately the reality is differ-ent. Imagine an event with about 1,500 guests, each of whom nibbles eight different little delicacies from just as many plates – that’s 12,000 dirty dishes. Extrap-olate in turn to the number of wash cycles required and the amount of water and electricity they consume and what we are left with is an abysmal sustainabil-ity factor. It is true that finger food is generally eaten without silverware, as its name suggests, but that in itself hardly constitutes an ecological factor. At least unsightly plastic dishes and utensils have largely been banned in recent years.Nonetheless, ecological responsibility should come to play a larger role in this sector than previously. Accord-ing to a study entitled “Innovationsfeld Event-Catering

– Wege zu einer nachhaltigen Ess- und Genusskultur” (“Event Catering as a Field for Innovation – Approach-es to a Sustainable Culture of Eating and Enjoyment”) conducted by the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, En-vironment and Energy, event caterers use sustainable factors in a targeted fashion as a competitive factor and communicate these factors to the outside world, but the future of a sustainable culture of eating and enjoyment in this field is largely dependent on how demand and responsibility take shape within society at large. “Macro-economic and regulatory conditions

and incentives that favor sustainable enterpri-ses are another prerequisite. Informa-

tive campaigns run throughout Germany, such as that organ-

ized by the German Federal Ministry of Food, Agricul-ture and Consumer Pro-tection under the title “Echt Gerecht” (literally “truly fair,” with slogans including “fair feels good,” “Bio” (“organ-ic”), “Mir zuliebe” (“do

it for me”) etc.) lead us to expect an upwards trend,”

the study concludes.G.K.Prenzel

events 1/2009 67

a gE NCIE S

Alliance between MCI and Uwin Iwin Incentives

“In this difficult economic situation there are also increased demands on company decision-makers to achieve more efficiency by promoting talents, strengthening channel systems and gaining strong commitment from customers and staff …”

– Sebastien Tondeur, CEO MCI. “…Technology and the consultancy methods used by Uwin Iwin offer the strategic advantage which is needed to implement challenging performance improve-ment programmes in the company organization”

– David Sand, CEO Uwin Iwin Incentives.

This fits, as it is precisely in the area of perform-ance improvement concepts that MCI is hoping for consolidation through this strategic alliance. Corresponding service is expected to be on of-fer in 2009 and 2010. www.mci-group.com and www.uwiniwin.co.za

Founded at the beginning of January 2009 as a full-service premium agency for sophisticated events and incentive travel, Pure Perfection is clearly taking off already. Along-side clients such as Audi, NEC, Mercedes-Benz and Sony the

“perfectionists” have now pitched and won the Lufthansa subsidiary LSG Sky Chefs. For this new client, Pure Perfec-tion are going to stage a unique customer forum in Oman at the beginning of April.

The three directors of Pure Perfection Myriam Zankl (31), Jan Rogozinski (33) and Barbara Braschoss (36) launched the com-pany because they wanted to set new standards in the sector with a particular claim to quality – via high quality events which are distinguished by their uniqueness and the clear staging of their activities. “We think through every detail, leave nothing to chance and create meaningful and impressive realms of experience for the participants in our events and incentive travel”, is how director Jan Rogozinski explains the concept.

Before they founded Pure Perfection, the three directors occupied senior functions at a Wiesbaden agency with the focus on sales support, incentives and loyalty programmes. The newcomers can already point to a confirmed sales volume of € 2.5 million for 2009. Since February 2009 the team has even been reinforced

Pure Perfection from Zero to a HundredYoung premium agency wins pitch to the Lufthansa subsidiary LSG Sky Chefs

by two new colleagues: Silvio Orro (24) as Junior Project Manager and Sabine Wirthl (42) as Project Manager for Participant Lo-gistics. They were both also employed at Quasar Incentive Travel before they moved. Note from the editor: That all looks a bit like blood-letting from the once so “proud Wiesbadeners”, and throws up the old question for FCI/Maritz/Grassroots as to whether major constructs can really carry on the success formula of smaller firms af-ter they have merged ….

Now known as ‘Congrex’: AKM Congress Service and AKM TravelAKM Congress Service and AKM Travel had already merged in 2007 with the Congrex Group; and beginning on January 1, 2009, the name has also been modified: in the future the companies will be known as Congrex and Congrex Travel. “I am very satis-fied with this step. Congrex is known as a very reliable company with worldwide operations and more than 25 years’ experience in the area of organising conferences. The fact that we are now a member of this family will give our offices in Basle and Weil am Rhein access to the immense experience of the staff of Congrex in locations all over the world, as well as to specialized technol-ogy,” says Leonhard Loew, Managing Director at AKM Congress Service Basle.

AKM Travel is also being integrated into the company. “This is a great opportunity for us and is a dream come true,” says Adrianna Spitteler, Managing Director at AKM Travel.www.akm.ch / www.akmcongress.com / www.akmtravel.ch

68 events 1/2009

a gE NCIE S

Thorsten Wilhelm, 40, who has been with the trendhouse events agency in Munich since 2005, is now joint CEO. Together with the founder Brigitte Nussbaum he is responsible for the strategic direction of the agency and the new business areas. “It’s a great feeling to be able to substantially co-man-age the development of the agency,” says Wilhelm. “Last year we achieved our highest turnover since the agency was started, and we would like to maintain that this year too.” Last year trendhouse EventMarketing, Munich handled the “Isar Brücken Fest” – the largest event in the agency’s history. More than 500,000 people attended the event, which was held in the context of the 850th birthday of the city of Munich. www.trendhouse.de

Vertical Catwalk® – at Jochen Schweizer® the models go up the wallsWith the show act Vertical Catwalk®, the new collection from fashion designer Philipp Plein was presented at the International Fashion Trade Fair for Womenswear & Accessories in Düsseldorf from an unusual perspective. Six male and female dancers from the Vertical Catwalk® team of Jo-chen Schweizer® spent just under 15 minutes on the 30 metre long catwalk which was at a 90-de-gree vertical angle. The activity had effective support from the classical-sounding music and lighting which was coordinated with the chore-ography. At the end Philipp Plein and Jochen Sch-weizer insisted on taking their turn in clamber-ing up the Vertical Catwalk®, which had already given Heidi Klum’s Germany’s Next Top Model candidates no end of trouble. Vertical Catwalk® is a further development of House Running, the more moderate version of façade climbing. www.jochen-schweizer.de.

Avantgarde on a growth course – management expansion

Vera Böttcher moves up to the man-agement of the Avantgarde Gesells-chaft für Kommunikation mbH with immediate effect – and in the future, along with agency founders Mar-tin Schnaack, Guido Emmerich and Christoph Meyden, will be heading up the group, which is represented worldwide with more than 300 staff in ten locations. The 37-year-old law-

yer has been at Avantgarde since 1999. Personnel manager San-dra Knorr has been beefing up the ranks of the agency since the beginning of the year: The 32-year-old has taken up the newly created position of Head of Human Resources, and in the future will be handling staff development, especially in respect of the progressing internationalization of Avantgarde. Founded in Munich in 1985 purely as a provider of events services, Avantgarde now works in all the communication disciplines: Events, promo-tion, sponsoring, sales & marketing support, PR, advertising and film. As well as its head office in Munich, the agency has other offices in Germa-ny (Berlin and Cologne) and abroad: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, London, Moscow, Peking, Prague and Shanghaii. www.avantgarde.de

trendhouse EventMarketing: Two at the helm

circ wins BEA in the Corporate Events-Category The BlachReport Event Award (BEA) in the 2009

“Königsdisziplin” Corporate Events goes to circ. The Wiesbaden agency impressed the jury with its con-cept for the 2008 corporate conference of E.ON En-ergie AG. According to the jury, the assessment was based on the creative aspects and target focus of the project as an instrument of marketing and corporate communication. Globalisation, climate change, shortage of resources: The world is changing at an increasing rate. The new and complex challenges demand new and innovative corporate concepts. The 2008 corporate conference of E.ON Energie AG inspired the just under 1,000 managers of the company to get involved in this change – and grapple with it unreservedly using unusual ways of thinking and strategies for solutions.

“360° - Gaining New Perspectives”: The conference motto reflected the programme – whether in intellectual dialogue with futurologists and neuroscientists, having fun with Speed Dating and Swarmtech or enjoying the culinary experiences of slow food and molecular cuisine. The service provider circ has won a number of awards and has been successfully involved in creating and staging targeted live communication measures for companies for over ten years. The Wiesbadeners occupied first place in the 2007/2008 creative rankings from Horizont and W&V. circ’s clients include global players such as adidas, E.ON, BASF and Caterpillar.

Im Prinzip: Ja!

Schon eine gute Sache, diese aufblasbaren Hilfsmittel.Handlich, mobil, robust und sofort einsatzbereit. Ebenso unserX-GLOO Event-Iglu, der erste aufblasbare Pavillon. Staudruckgefülltund ohne Gebläse, kann er im Handumdrehen von einer einzigenPerson aufgebaut werden. Ob Indoor oder Outdoor, auf Asphalt,Stein, Sand oder Schnee – das UV-beständige, wasserabweisendeX-GLOO mit seinen individuell gestaltbaren Flächen präsentiertIhre Produkte oder Dienstleistungen stets optimal – aus Prinzip.www.x-gloo.com

BRAN

DAC

TIVE

SKY 002-09 RZ Anz X-Gloo 204x145.indd 1 05.02.2009 14:13:59 Uhr

70 events 1/2009

Club Med 2

A Ship will come – and you decide, where it will go!

Others will provide professional support for your sporting activities, take you safely from the water sports hall to go water skiing, windsurfing, snorkelling or kayaking, and will take care that you come back safe and sound. Then some-one will put your hair back in place.For work, you simply go to the theatre: “Salon Pacific” is ideal for use as a plenary room for meetings of 300 peo-ple, and then perhaps into the newly designed “Magellan” restaurant. Or, when the weather is good, out onto the ter-race of the “Le Méditerranée” for lunch, with a fascinating view of seven snowy white hydraulic roller sails attached to five masts above the teak decks, with a cooling breeze on your skin. After dark your corporate colours will shine out as never before on the sails. And if you have an urge to let the water out of the pool, you can even do that. Your logo on the floor of the pool will really create an impact in the shimmering water after the floodlit pool has been refilled!

No need to worry about the horrors of seasickness: Two rear stabilisers in the form of wings which can be unfolded and

adjusted will restrain the ship even when the sea is rough. Guests with especially sensitive stomachs best keep to the middle of the ship, as here it rolls the least. And even if there is no wind, you will make progress: the Diesel engines will reliably push the ship across the waves at 15 knots an hour. The Club Med 2 has a draught of only five metres and therefore – most practically – it can sail into smaller ports provided they have the right pier. Otherwise tender boats (beachers) are the means of transport for stops in tiny ports, at transquil beaches or as a launch pad for hearty water activities.

Perhaps your school French has gotten a bit rusty (you are in France here!)? Never mind: the crew speaks English! The atmosphere and the dress code are casual and – good news!

– no tips are expected. After the obligatory evacuation drill within the first 24 hours afloat, you will be fit for all mari-time eventualities!

Naturally you can also hire the Cub Med 2 on a join-in basis.

Or at least you can if you charter it exclusively – as a MICE customer. In which case all 180 cabins (a minimum of 18 sqm and all situated on the outside) and a total of eight decks would be yours, and just you and your maximum 360 guests would be able to enjoy the all-round services of a crew of just under 200: Some of them will ensure that you are navigated safely through the blue waters of the Caribbean (winter) or Mediterranean (summer), that your cabin is shiny as a new pin, that your muscles are relaxed and that you are able to enjoy wonderful wines with sophisticated meals.

Advertisement

events 1/2009 71

Club Med Business-Team Club Méditerranée Deutschland GmbH Schwalbacher Str. 62 D-65760 Eschborn Fon: +49 (0) 6196 / 7640-300 Fax: +49 (0) 6196 / 7640-170 Email: cmb.deutschland@clubmed.comwww.clubmed.de

Advertisement

72 events 1/2009

LO C aT IONS

At an over-filled press confer-ence at the end of January, Rath and a team of experienced

“luxury hotel openers” present-ed what we can expect from the new Kameha Grand Bonn. First of all a favourite place for

“unique” individuals, as that is what the Hawaiian word Kameha means. According to Rath, the unique guest is a modern lifestyle and business hero who, along with his family, thoroughly enjoys the way-out environment which the designer

The Luxury Hotel of the Future takes Shape in BonnIn a highly idiosyncratic form and integrated as much as possible into the beauti-ful landscape of the Siebengebirge, a luxury hotel for the next generation is near-ing completion. We are presenting it under the heading of Locations, because it is more than just a hotel. The name documents its claim: Kameha grand. The long-time operator associated with it is the Luxury Hospitality & Entertainment-group, a holding company based in Zug in Switzerland. The CEO himself comes from Bonn and is named Carsten K. Rath. He is no stranger to the international hotel manage-ment scene and the smaller brothers and sisters of the new lifestyle hotel are by no means unknown either: the King Kamehameha Clubs and Suites in Frankfurt, Cologne and Majorca.

Marcel Wanders has staged here; and who will enjoy an interpretation of luxury and vastness which he has not yet found in the other places in the world which claim to offer this.

Design for tomorrow and the day after tomorrowQuality, service, design, location and sustainability without compromise will be on offer with unobtrusive ease, just as the enchanting position on one of the most romantic stretches of the Rhine quite logically

events 1/2009 73

dictates. The view extends from the “schäl Sick” to the new World Conference Center Bonn, to the ar-chitectural landmarks of the Post, Deutsche Welle and UNO, and very soon probably a fabulous new opera house. A new pier will soon enable delegates to land at the new WCC by boat. The Kameha Grand Bonn is also an unambiguous investment homage to a city which investors say is one of the most undervalued in the entire country. Bonn companies achieve an annual turnover of € 85 billion, and the university is one of the 100 best in the world. That is pretty sensational for a city with 300,000 inhabitants.

The essential facts about the hotel: The hotel, which is run on environmentally-friendly geothermal energy, is being integrated as an architectural “spear-head” in the new “Bonner Bogen” complex, where lifestyle, gastronomy and business are creating 4,000 new jobs. Maximum transparency is being achieved through the use of enormous areas of glass – windows right down to the ground are the idea. An infinity pool overlooking the Rhine, terraces overhanging the Rhine which provide convenient access to the two F&B outlets, 254 rooms of at least 34 sqm (including 62 suites), a seven-metre high lobby with open fireplace, an 18-metre high events hall for up to 2,500 guests, a large conference area with a two-storey multi-media

hall – we don’t have enough space to continue the list! More at www.kamehagrand.com

To sum up: beginning in autumn the top destination Bonn will have a top class international Grand Hotel, which – according to the wording in the press folder –

“will be in the same league as Hamburg, Munich and Berlin for international conferences and prize ceremo-nies and top class luxury presentations.” We can take that literally! Further Kameha Grand Hotels are to fol-low in Thailand, Laos (under construction), Vietnam, Majorca and Hamburg (in planning stages).

74 events 1/2009

LO C aT IONS

New ‘Berliner Freiheit’ on Potsdamer Platz Encompassing about 500 square metres, two spacious areas with individual character are available for ex-clusive event formats. The approximately 315 square metre studio was designed as a neutral white cube with space for exhibits or conferences. The neighbour-ing salon with approximately 170 square metres of floor space represents a harmonious and comfortable lounge area with a modern catering kitchen and mo-bile cooking blocks for live cooking demonstrations. Sophisticated materials such as terrazzo floors, leather wallpaper, wooden furniture and recessed lighting create an atmosphere of simple elegance. The salon and the stu-dio can be combined. Two prominent five-star hotels – the Ritz-Carlton, Berlin and the Berlin Marriott Hotel – as well as financial, political and numerous cultural institutions are located in the immediate vicinity. www.berlinerfreiheit.com

Düsseldorf’s Station Airport opened On January 15, 2009 the Station Airport, the new spe-cial event location at the Düsseldorf International Airport, officially opened. The events venue celebrated its debut in the framework of an event: the airport’s New Year’s reception. The approximately 500 guests proved to be thoroughly excited about the new location. The Station Airport is part of the Düsseldorf Airport’s long-distance train station and starting immediately of-fers around 3,900 sqm of exclusive event space for every type of event. With room for up to 1,650 people on two levels, the new location is ideally suited for conferences, receptions, exhibitions, fashion shows and the most var-ied company events. The highlight of the Station Airport is the view through the surrounding panorama window that looks directly out onto the runways of the Düsseldorf Airport. The managing director of the German Conven-tion Bureau, Lutz P. Vogt, didn’t want to miss out on this impressive view either and travelled from Frankfurt three days before the opening to view the Station Airport per-sonally. Vogt was excited about the new location as well: ‘This runway atmosphere is unique in the German events sector.’The Station Airport is being marketed by DüsseldorfCon-gress, one of the largest events companies in Europe. Hilmar Guckert, spokesperson for the management of DüsseldorfCongress: ‘We already have numerous re-quests for the Station Airport.’ www.stationairport.de.

It’s hard to imagine anything more elegant! Architect Frank O. Gehry had already ensured that the axica was turned into something very special – and that’s how the venue at the Brandenburg Gate ended up at 2nd place in the ‘Top Inter-national Purpose-Built Venue’ category. 18,000 readers of the British magazine C&IT Conference and Incentive Travel took a vote; the axica is close on the heels of the Barcelona International Con-

vention Centre (CCIB) in first place – self-confidently

leaving mighty convention & exhibition centres such as those in Hong Kong and Dubai behind...

That’s an impressive result and a nice confirmation of our work in the international events arena over the last 9 years. In the year 2009 we’re celebrating the axica’s 10th birthday in the DZ BANK building in Ber-lin, and I couldn’t wish for a better start into this year than this type of international appreciation. It fits with the fact that Berlin is internationally considered a top conference destination at the moment, which is re-flected in the city being in fifth place in this category in the reader survey,’ says Jochen A. Lohmar, managing director of the axica. The axica is regarded as Berlin’s most exclusive congress and conference centre, with room for up to 700 people. www.axica.de

Britons also think axica is cool!

events 1/2009 75

Für alle EventualitätenBei Firmenveranstaltungen stehen die Organisatoren oft vor einer Herausforderung: Es gilt, mehrere hundert Teilnehmer aus dem gesamten Bundesgebiet und dem benachbarten europäischen Ausland zu einem Veranstaltungsort zu bringen – und dies möglichst schnell, komfortabel und kostengünstig.Die Deutsche Bahn übernimmt mit der verkehrsmittelübergreifenden An- und Abreise aller Teilneh-mer einen wichtigen Teil der Organisation. Das Angebot ist individuell auf die jeweilige Veranstaltung und die Bedürfnisse der Beteiligten zugeschnitten. Dabei beinhaltet das Veranstaltungsticket die kompetente Betreuung des Kunden durch einen persönlichen Ansprechpartner der Deutschen Bahn

– „one face to the customer“ vom Anfang bis zum Ende der Veranstaltung.Eine Win-Win-Situation für alle: Unabhängig von welchem Bahnhof die Teilnehmer ihre Reise starten, der Fahrpreis ist für alle gleich. Dies erhöht die Kalkulations- und Planungssicherheit der Or-ganisatoren, aber auch die Reisenden profitieren vom attraktiven Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis und den individuellen An- und Abreisemöglichkeiten.Was viele nicht wissen: Über die Anreise zum Veranstaltungsort hinaus wird aber auch für den reibungslosen Transfer aller Teilnehmer zu den Hotels und den Veranstaltungsorten gesorgt. Hierzu setzt die Deutsche Bahn eigene Busse ein.Und selbst für exklusive Anlässe ist man bestens gerüstet: Neben einer Flotte von mehr als 1500 Carsharing-Fahrzeugen bietet der eigene Chauffeurservice den Kunden deutschlandweit über 100 geschulte Fahrer, hochklassige Fahrzeuge und individuellen Komfort.Auch aus ökologischer Sicht ist die Deutsche Bahn eine gute Wahl: Die CO2-Emissionen betra-gen auf der Schiene durchschnittlich nur ein Drittel der Werte im Straßenverkehr, im Vergleich zum Luftverkehr sind es sogar weniger als 30 Prozent. So kann jeder Veranstalter mit dem Veranstaltung-sticket einen Beitrag zum Klimaschutz leisten.

Das Veranstaltungsticketder Deutschen Bahngarantiert reibungsloseMobilität auch über dieSchiene hinaus. Verbändeund Unternehmen wieauch Messe-, Kongress- und Eventveranstalterprofitieren von attraktiven Konditionen und maßgeschneidertenMobilitätsangebotenfür ihre Veranstaltungen.

Mit dem Charterzugzum EventFür größere Gruppen können Charterzüge gebuchtwerden. Dabei lassen sichStrecke und Haltebahnhöfedes Sonderzugs sowie Catering und Entertainmentprogramm individuell festlegen

Weitere InformationenBei Interesse am Veranstaltungs-ticket der Deutschen Bahnkönnen Sie unter folgenderE-Mail-Adresse weitereInformationen und auch ein individuelles Angebot anfordern:veranstaltungen@dbbahn.com

Advertisement

76 events 1/2009

IDE a S

It only takes a few minutes even for those who are not ‘musically inclined’ to learn to play this Latin Ameri-can ‘box’. In addition to the already established white lounge Cajons, Drum Olé has also developed the en-tirely new first percussion chair in the world, which can be employed as a banquet and conference chair. The percussion chair combines in the simplest way the musicality of a percussion instrument with the classic comfort of a classic chair with four legs and a back-rest. With the percussion chair, the seats turn out to be resonating chambers and the guests transform ‘unex-pectedly’ into a harmonious percussion orchestra.

At DRUM OLÉ the focus is on active participation and the communal experience of all participants. Every event or conference participant receives a Cajon or percussion chair at the beginning of the session. The

Little Box, big Mood:

Drum Olé gets you going! at first it looks like some harmless newfangled seating arrangement when the room is filled with these drums to sit on or to be used as tables. But this is only a preliminary phase of the great metamorphosis - into Drum Olé, the interactive drumming workshop. The focus here is on the world’s smallest percussion instru-ment, the Cajon. It’s hardly any bigger than a vegetable crate yet excites with its diverse sound spectrum.

fundamentals of the world’s smallest drum are learned in just a few minutes. DRUM OLÉ quickly turns any audience into a catchy rhythm orchestra! The special part is the spirit: drumming releases incredible energy.

The Drum Olé Sequence

The participants play sitting down on the Cajon or per-cussion chair, while drumming on the drumhead with their hands. The upper part of the drumhead sounds like a snappy snare. A bass drum sound is produced by beating the middle of the drumhead with the flat of your hand. DRUM OLÉ can be implemented anywhere: from conferences to show highlights. DRUM OLÉ either runs as a 15- to 30-minute pro-gramme point in a conference, as a show concept in a 30- to 60-minute interactive stage show, or even as an

events 1/2009 77

Directors’ work samples can be browsed via the system and any-one interested can then have automatic cost estimates generated, book the appropriate filmmaker, and plan and develop the en-tire production. Spotbox ‘demystifies’ film production processes, lends transparency to the cost structure and optimises the price/performance ratio.

Philipp Hoppe and Reinhard Gedack are the people behind Spot-box, both of whom have been successful promotional film pro-ducers for many years. Philipp Hoppe: “Up to now the production of a film has posed an exceptional challenge for many agencies and companies.The planning and cost outlay, which has been im-mensely high until recently, all too often ensured that the film medium has been struck from the plan much too early. That’s a pity, since film happens to be one of the most effective media in

the age of digitalisation. This is precisely where Spotbox comes in: Professional films are made affordable for every budget by effec-tively utilising the possibilities of the internet: Spotbox clears the way to producing your own film.”

To achieve this, Spotbox connects you with a network of profes-sional filmmakers. Everyone involved in the production of a spot can post their profile on Spotbox’s website and network with their colleagues. Once a potential client has discovered a spot they like, they can plan their own production in detail using the Spot-box quote calculator and will immediately receive an automatic cost estimate. Thanks to this system, you can quickly determine whether the idea is compatible with your budget and who the right partner may be for your own production. To see what else they offer, go to www.spotbox.de

Films for Everyone? New Approach to Promotional FilmsWith its new online planning system www.spotbox.de, Spotbox gmbH in Hamburg is giving mid-sized agen-cies in particular a fast, easy and affordable way to produce their own professional films.

all-day team-building measure: participants first build their own Cajon under the direction of a professional Cajon manufacturer, then play themselves. www.drumole.de

Voices on Drum Olé

‘Drum Olé was fantastic with all 21 of our Thomas Cook events. We all had fun and our sponsors and partners were more than satisfied! I would like to thank you for all the help and patience and will cer-tainly recommend you to others!’ Thomas Cook AG‘My summary in one word: brilliant. I can’t imagine a more effective method of creating a feeling of togeth-erness. Drum Olé contributed to the substantial suc-cess of our conference and our event.’ Event director, SIEMENS AG

‘We had a very nice team event in association with our Company Away Days. The cooperation, handling and support by Drum Olé were very professional and a lot of fun. We were able to reach ALL employees with the music event – regardless of position, age – or gender…it was fun for everyone! A great event!!!’ UNILEVER Supply Chain Company

78 events 1/2009

TR a DE Fa IR S

South-Eastern Europe gathers in Ljubljana for Conventa 2009

Hospitality par excellenceThe nice snow! all washed away by torrential rain, dark grey clouds in the sky and an icy wind blowing in from the Karawanken mountain range. The nasty weather did not in the least influence the first Conventa Meetings and Incentive Show at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre in January 2009: The climate in-side was great, the small trade fair well attended, and exhibitors and visitors alike had the opportunity of two days of lively exchanges with the rapid realization that nobody would ever starve here! The never-dwindling supply of regional delicacies typified one thing clearly to all involved: Welcome to Slovenia!

More than 150 national and international Hosted Buyers from Europe and the USA met more than 80 providers from Slovenia – the initiator of the trade fair – Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia Herze-govina, Romania and Bulgaria. Numerous members of the Slovenian Convention Bureau had been actively involved in organising the trade fair under the aegis

of Director Miha Kovacic and thus contributed to its success.Planners were able to fa-miliarize themselves with the region by taking part in pre- and post-trips, for instance to the Alpine Bled, or to Portoroz and Piranan on the Slovenian coast or

Rovinj or Opatia on the Croatian coast.In order for all the organisational aspects to run well, there was a little help from a friend: Reed Exhibitions (E-/G-/B-/AIBTM etc.) provided it in the form of general

advice, familiarisation with the Mice sector and the im-plementation of the Hosted Buyer programme which has been tried and tested over the years.As a reward for the hard networking, the evening function on the first day took place in Ljubljana Castle: a fine venue high above the city, illuminated in chang-ing colours to create a memorable atmosphere and elegantly decorated inside with originally presented finger food – and with a great band! The party af-terwards in the pub “As” was even greater. On the

“morning after”, the organisers dished up an enticing breakfast at the trade fair itself for party-weary visitors.

Miha Kovacic, Director of the SCB: “If we are to seriously include the region on the list of potential new destinations for international event organizers, we

must first link together national and local Convention Bureaus in the entire region. The next task would be the placement of the region as a congress destination and marketing activities in cooperation with

the regional economy“.

Paul Kennedy from Reed Exhibitions on Conventa:

“It is a very interesting pioneering initiative. Originally it was just Slovenia, a show called

SIMEX. The Slovenians have been really clever in recognizing that they can get more business for Slovenia by aligning themselves with other destinations in the region. It won’t be easy, you

have to win over hearts and minds as well as business intellect, but this show is twice the size

of last year: much real style, the hospitality is exceptional – and we will continue to support it.”

Fotos: Tadej Bernik

from left: Shane Hannam, Miha Kovacic, Danica Ceranic, Paul Kennedy, Julia Mead

events 1/2009 79

Lutz P. Vogt, managing director of the GCB: ‘The IMEX is one of the most important meeting points in our sector. For our two Wild Card winners, participation in this trade fair means the big chance to present them-selves to a wide, international audience in the field. We’re glad to be able to make this head-start into the MICE business possible for them at our Germany stand.’ Wild Card winners have to be new to the MICE market and must offer the congress and events mar-ket a new and innovative product; it also must be their premier participation in a trade fair of our sector.

The name SwarmWorks Ltd. didn’t emerge with the Wiesbaden company’s founding in April 2008 by coin-cidence. ‘Our technology is based on the pheno menon of collective intelligence, also known as Swarm Intelli-gence. Groups, or swarms, of animals are not directed by any central control system but each individual acts independently of the group, according to simple rules. This is precisely the behaviour that we’re transferring to human organisation and in this way are able to achieve totally new developments and results,’ as Klaus Pampuch explains the new concept. In doing so, SwarmWorks creates unique group experiences: Playfully, as with ‘SwarmGaming’ for example, or as creative interaction in ‘SwarmCreating’ or simply as a survey via ‘SwarmPolling’, together the participants achieve a ‘wisdom of the many’ in a unique way and in a special atmosphere. At the IMX 2009 the young company with the GCB Wild Card will present to a lucrative and interested audience the ways in which an event can release inspiration, creativity and a moti-vational group feeling, and how information - moving away from head-on presentations – can be conveyed in an innovative way.City-Management & Tourism Chemnitz GmbH (CMT) is responsible for marketing Chemnitz tourism inside

The German IMEX Wild Card Winners have been chosen

and out. In addition to the areas of marketing and city management, as the contact for all things per-taining to a stay in Chemnitz, the tourist information team offers guest information and programme plan-ning, and acts as a lodging agency. In the conference and congress field, the CMT advises its clients based on their individual needs and ensures a ‘short path’ between congress venues, conference hotels, service providers and city officials. ‘Chemnitz is a city that has experienced a major change of appearance in recent years. While a good two decades ago grey concrete characterised the city’s image, now renowned archi-tects have created a new city centre that has received multiple awards. We’re attracting a lot of people with the city’s new urban heart and would like to bring this to a wide audience at the IMEX 2009,’ says Michel Quast, Managing Director of City-Management & Tourism Chemnitz GmbH.

Deutsche Messe Hannover with New Representatives Abroad

In the beginning of 2009, Alexander

Kühnel (45) took over management of

the Istanbul subsidiary of Hannover Fairs

Turkey (HFT).

On January 1st, Tessa Marheineke

(30) succeeded him in Hanover in the

HANNOVER MESSE’s foreign trade fairs

department.

Two companies from the meeting, incentive, congress and event sector (MICE) have managed to do it: they’re this year’s winners of the gCB german Convention Bureau e.V.’s ‘Wild Card’, and can enjoy free participation in the ‘IMEX - Incorporat-ing Meetings Made in germany’ 2009 trade fair. This is set to take place from May 26 – 28, 2009 in Hall 8 of the Messe Frankfurt. The gCB will provide City Manage-ment & Tourism Chemnitz gmbH and SwarmWorks Ltd. a space in the germany stand.

More Space for MESSE DRESDEN

Autumn: New BÖRSE DRESDEN Congress Centre ‘In a few days construction of the new congress build-ing will begin, the tendering process is over, the com-panies have been contracted,’ Dresden’s deputy mayor of economic affairs, Dirk Hilbert announced this Feb-ruary. The people of Dresden are planning to spend around five million euros on the project. As a part of the MESSE DRESDEN, the new construction, together with the renovated former Schlachthof Hotel, will be named the BÖRSE DRESDEN and together will be able to satisfy the demand for congresses up to 10,000 participants in size. In particular, large national and international congresses and conferences will be held here in future, in order to strengthen Dresden’s profile as a location for trade fairs and congresses. The first section of the construction will be finished in August of this year. There are already bookings up to the year 2011 and date requests up to 2013.

Seminar Alliance of German Trade Fairs continues to grow In addition to the Messe Leipzig, two other ‘foreigners’ have also joined up: Swiss Exhibition Group MCH and Reed Exhibitions Messe Wien. The new groups are in good company with the existing members, Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Co-logne, Munich and Nuremberg, the m+a report and AUMA.‘The growing demand for trade-fair-relevant events by the Seminar Alliance proves there’s a large need for training among the presenting industries. Last year the fifteen events on offer were very well booked right from the start,’ reports Dr. Andreas Winckler, Service Director of Messe Frankfurt GmbH and co-initiator of the Seminar Alliance. ‘Our trade fair colleagues in Aus-tria and Switzerland are also observing the growing importance of education and training. With the new seminar series already starting in spring, we will carry out Alliance training seminars among our German-speaking neighbours as well.’

The Akademie Messe Frankfurt is responsible for de-signing the content of the seminars. The goal of the Seminar Alliance is the qualification and support of ex-hibitors. www.messefrankfurt.com

events 1/2009 81

Together in Berlin: SHOWTECH 2009 and stb international

The exhibitors and visitors from the events

sector in particular profit from the positive

synergy effects of SHOWTECH, the inter-

national leading trade fair of events tech-

nology, and of stb international as the Ger-

man event industry’s trend fair, which takes

place from June 16th through 17th, 2009

on the grounds of the Messe Berlin. ‘The

convergence of SHOWTECH and stb inter-

national in Berlin, the events capital, offers

the events sector a unique opportunity to

exchange innovative ideas and know-how

for new concepts,’ says Markus Jessberger,

SHOWTECH’s new Event Director. ‘It is here

that providers of creative event services

meet event decision-makers from agen-

cies and marketing departments. Provid-

ers of event technology, event equipment

and other services present themselves at

SHOWTECH (since 2007 with EVENT3).

EVENT3 is specifically aimed at event man-

agers from agencies and companies and

is expanded by a three-day presentation

forum.

The stb marketplace, which is held five

times a year and organised by MICE AG,

is considered the German event industry’s

trend fair. A total of about 1,500 high-

performance exhibitors – from privately

operated hotels to unique event locations

– and well-known moderators, instructors

and special providers will be represented

at the stb, each accompanied by a special

theme. For visitors to the stb international

and SHOWTECH, the visit to both fairs is

included in the corresponding entry fee.

www.showtech.de / www.s-t-b.org

Ambitious: NürnbergMesse’s Growth Targets ‘By the year 2020 we want to double our turnover from the current 150 million euros to 300 million euros, based on our decisive strategic forward projection, and become one of the ten largest trade fair companies in the world,’ declares Managing Director Bernd A. Diederichs. The destination of Nuremberg is to be turned into Germany’s fifth largest trade fair and congress site, announces Dr. Markus Söder, Bavaria’s State Minister for Health and the Environment and the new Chairman of NürnbergMesse’s Supervisory Board.

For the third Time and even bigger: GIBTM in Abu DhabiFrom March 31 to April 2, 2009 providers and users from the MICE industry will again be meeting in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The confidence in the trade fair grows from year to year, as does the number of exhibitors and visi-tors to the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre ADNEC, which regards itself as the ‘most modern trade fair centre in the world’ and is proud to have been on the map of high-calibre event centres since 2007. Other GIBTM partners include Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority and Etihad Airways, Abu Dhabi’s answer to Dubai’s Emirates Airline.

As is the custom, the GIBTM is accompanied by a series of seminars, which address the most urgent topics of the day: the necessary adaptation to the pre-vailing economic climate. Erica Keogan, Education Content Manager: ‘GIBTM, together with EIBTM and our other events around the world, have earned us the reputation for always having our finger on the sector’s pulse and developing advanced training programmes in such a way that they really strike the industry’s nerve.’ In addition, GIBTM organises three events on ‘The Power of Networking @ GIBTM’, which give exhibitors, Hosted Buyers, regular visitors and sponsors the opportunity for a casual exchange during and after the trade fair. Graeme Bar-nett, GIBTM Exhibition Director, considers networking in a relaxed atmosphere indispensable.More than 250 regional and international exhibitors will meet around 2,500 Hosted Buyers from all over the world, who - as always with shows organised by Reed Exhibitions - can count on extensive support. As an event in partnership with MPI, GIBTM is integrated in the Gulf Meetings Industry Week. www.gibtm.com

82 events 1/2009

TR a DE Fa IR S

And not a trace of the crisis at the World of Events Night, held in the Kurhaus Wiesbaden on the fair’s first evening. After a jazzy, laid-back prelude provided by the quartet “Have you met Miss Jones?”, the Mayor of Wiesbaden, Helmut Müller, then took the stage to greet some 1,400 guests in the opulent Thiersch-Saal.

“The World of Events enjoys greater success and attracts more visi-tors every year. We are delighted by our exhibitors’ contributions

WOE: 433 exhibitors and over 20,000 sqm of space

A “B+” for the Trade Fair and WOE Night The organiser’s press office spoke of an attend-ance record for the eleventh World of Events – well now, what else would one expect for a trade fair? Then again, one undeniable statistic is the 4,000 online registrations made for the opening day – a truly superb figure. growth was also reg-istered in the exhibitor numbers. In the future, we will be seeking to avoid bothering our readers with official visitor statistics to trade fairs unless an audit has validated the data. For the first time, the industry association FaMa showed a com-mitted presence (2008: 160) – a figure that is really pretty respectable.

and also by the attractiveness of the trade fair site.” His audience let out a collective sigh of relief. Finally, someone had managed to avoid the ever-present “c-” word.

The clowns yell “Encore!” into the audience...Many guests were wilting after the fair and teetering around on tired legs. But once the buffet was opened, a little bit more life got back into the guests. And then: the spotlight was on the magician André Sarrasani, as he presented stage magic classics that have puzzled audiences for over 50 years. Such as hide-the-lady capers: open cage, put in pretty girl, close cage. Cover with cloth – add smoke and magical noises. Abracadabra. Remove cloth: a white tiger is sitting in the cage. He is young, handsome, and lumbers bumblingly over the smooth wooden floor. All-round elation and thunderous applause. Sarrasani knows what an audience likes. “We are so happy and thankful to have such a rare animal in our circus. There are only 250 of his kind left in the world.” Suddenly, two costumed youths take to the stage: clowns from Portugal. With colourful acrobatic rou-tines and cries of “Encore!” they soon get the audience going.

And the ice was well and truly broken by the event band “The Goodfellas”, with their heady mix of funk, soul and dance hits – transforming wallflowers into dancing queens. With “Papa was a Rolling Stone”, everyone was wide awake again and the dance floor much too small.

events 1/2009 83

The term “spa” stands for wellness, water and well-being. It is derived from the Latin “sanitas per aquam” – “health through water”. Right? Wrong! For the above is what’s known as a “folk etymology” or “backronym”. In truth, the name is derived from the eponymous Belgian bath town. British tourists were early visitors to this pearl of the ardennes and so this health “spa” became known from the 18th century – especially in the British Isles – as a term for any kind of health-giving mineral spring. Only in the second half of the 20th century was the term expanded to include “wellness” resorts and – in particular – the bathing facilities provided by hotels. Thus we are informed by Wikipedia – and this is the proper explanation.

Wallonia, Belgium

On the history trail at the matriarch of all spa townsSpa & Surroundings

84 events 1/2009

Spa even acquired the nickname “Café de l´Europe”, since the upper nobility and key figures from far and wide came here to the “land of springs” in order to exchange glasses of spa water, so to speak. Today, up to 21,000 litres

still gush forth daily from one of the most fertile of many springs in the city. And while Victor Hugo, Tsar Peter the Great, the philoso-pher Descartes and Christina of Sweden were sampling the wa-ters, games were played: in the first casino in the world, still go-ing strong today. And buildings were raised. Spa thus also neces-sarily experienced an architectural heyday: chic villas and mansions enrich the rolling landscape sur-rounding the spa town, and the neoclassical buildings housing the casino and historical springs still dominate the cityscape even today. As does the spa house it-

self, with its winter garden, Galerie Leopold II and Parc de Sept Heures – the historical point of rendezvous for the evening flânerie. Over time, the little town with the big history has remained a paradise for the

urban stroller following the fragrant trail leading to the delicacies of Wallonian cuisine to numerous bis-tros, restaurants and brasseries. However, the superla-tive bathing experience of times gone by is now not to be found in the historical baths, but in a more modern version situated on the little hill overlooking the city centre. A short trip on the cog railway takes one up into the new thermal complex, built just a few years ago with an eye to both representative size and facili-ties. Guests at the Radisson SAS Palace Hotel may even don their bathrobes and take a trip from their rooms directly to the baths!

The new baths are synonymous with something of a revival for the town. Spa’s status is growing as a day-trip destination for those attending the Formula 1 ac-tion at Francorchamps, and the town is committed to the further expansion of suitable regional facilities in the years to come. Excluding the urban centre of Brussels, Spa is unique within Wallonia in offering 350 hotel rooms in the four-star category, plus – following

In July, the old Diva rocks...Spa plays host to many smaller festivals in the summer months. And one very large one: for 15 years, Spa’s international music festival

“Francofolies” has been one of the most popular in Belgium, attrac-ting the attendance of the top echelon of French-speaking artists as well as many promising newcomers. In the main event, Belgian and French bands transform the humble town of Spa into a visual and musical paradise for five days and nights in July every year. In 2008, the highlights of some 250 concerts were Vanessa Paradis and Ste-phan Eicher. The 2009 event runs from July 17-29. www.francofolies.be

Beginning in the 18th century,

events 1/2009 85

recent investments – suitably generous and up-to-date conferencing facilities in the hotel segment. This is the main reason, in fact, why GlaxoSmithKline gathered 450 participants for a five-day conference here recent-ly. The plenary events were hosted by the historical Casino and Abbey of Stavelot, while the subject-re-lated working groups were distributed among around 40 smaller rooms provided by hotels. There are gala venues a-plenty plus a new and absolutely de rigueur event location in the centre of the town – the “Lido”. Spa can thus now offer organisers a contemporary al-ternative to the classical event locations. www.lidospa.be

Events in Spa do have their price. The region nurtures its status as an elegant, traditional country oasis and maintains its room prices at a sensible level. RevPar is therefore good – even if occupancy rates are (still) av-erage on the whole. One should expect to pay around 140 euros for a double room (single occupancy) with breakfast. For this, one may enjoy a still-fresh and well-placed lo-cation with a good deal of traditional charm. The jour-ney is best made by train: a fast connection is available from Cologne to Verviers, with just one stop in Aachen. From there, it’s only another ten minutes by bus or taxi. Motorway connections from the Treves/Saarbrücken-

Luxembourg region are good, as are those from the southern urban regions of North Rhine-Westphalia. Those that need to marshal their delegates by plane can choose between Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf and Brussels: Spa sits in a triangle between three airports, at a maximum shuttle bus distance of one to one-and-a-half hours. On the next few pages, we present you with the main attractions for the event industry in the form of professional ads, and “whisk you away” in the process for a brief tour of the German-speaking East Cantons and the Liège region.

Contact point for Spa: www.ardennebleuebusiness.be · www.spa-info.beGeneral contact for MICE queries:Hans J. KREMERMeeting & Incentive ManagerBelgien Tourismus Wallonie-Brüssel – Delegation der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft, der Französischen Gemeinschaft und der Wallonischen Regionc/o Belgische BotschaftJägerstraße 52-53 · D-10117 BERLINTel. 030/20 60 71 605 · Fax 030/20 60 71 606 mice@belgien-tourismus.de · www.meetingpointbelgium.de

Close to the German border: Belgian delicacies luring

86 events 1/2009

events 1/2009 87

And after the event?One need not prop up the hotel bar out of boredom in Wallonia. There are sport-ing activities a-plenty thanks to specialist organisers, the nearby racetrack and the outstanding surrounding countryside. And there are a great many less strenuous ac-tivities on offer.

Some of the activity ideas listed below have been developed by the team at the Dorint Spa Balmoral. Hotels in the region work with these service providers among others:

www.exploraid.comwww.adrenaline-events.comwww.bits-dmc.be

> A Scot for a day – at the Highland Games in the mediaeval ruins of Franchimont. And, naturally, with bagpipes and every-thing that goes with it.

88 events 1/2009

> SPA discovery trail – dive into the history of the town with games and tastings of regional products.> Team cooking in the chef studio “Grand Maur”, plus wine tasting with a sommelier.www.legrandmaur.com> Made in Belgium – monks will train your five senses at five stations in Stavelot.> Safety Days in Francorchamps: an all-day master-class with lunch costs approx. 240 euros per head. Fun-Days: a combination of 4x4, quads, karting and Bugxters. Up to 120 euros pp.> Exciting races on Europe’s largest karting track. www.kartingdesfagnes.com

> Treasure hunt at Castle Reinhardstein: a jigsaw of old manuscript pieces leads to the “treasure”.> Alesia: strategic communication game down in the woods, based on the principles of wire-free te-lephony, castle sieges, walking quizzes, crash in Bal-kanistan…..> Group events in the Casino in Spa.> Country events with quads, kayaks, helicopters or high-rope courses ... Or “just” well-conducted walk-ing tours around High Fens, starting at the nature reserve centre in Botrange.> BBQ parties in castle ruins or romantic forest lodges.

From Spa, drive up the hill to Stavelot, passing wonderful villas and mansions, until, after about five kilometres, a panorama opens in front of you both unique and typical for the area: the Fens of Malchamps (“Fagne de Malchamps”). Here, side-by-side with nature, is the Domaine de Berinzenne, which is not only a much-loved start and end point for walking tours through the Fens, but also provides a rather special meeting and event location itself.

The Pavillon Lilien consists of two versatile, fully-equipped meeting and event rooms plus a covered barbecue terrace and a kitchen area. Although the building is modern, it merges beautifully into the surrounding countryside and is suited equally to seminar, BBQ and catering events for up to 200 people. Make sure that you take the opportunity to view the panorama from the top platform of the lookout tower on the edge of the Domaine: especially on summer evenings, this will offer you a unique natural spectacle of light and landscape. www.berinzenne.be

Tip: A meeting and event location in the midst of Nature

© H

eikk

i

events 1/2009 89

Spa-Francorchamps’ hilly forest circuit is perhaps one of the oldest race courses in the world and, with its topography and resultant weather conditions, also one of the most dif-ficult. In the incentives area, however, things have only really gotten underway in the past few years. It wasn’t until the year 2000 that they managed to acquire a public street, al-lowing the course to finally be completely blocked off during the week and be opened up to groups all year long. This has borne exceedingly successful fruit; since 2004 the course has always been completely booked in advance from March to the middle of Novem-ber. Sleeping Beauty has awoken because the Belgian ban on tobacco advertising, which was decreed early, had alienated Formula 1 from the course, and Francorchamps had a weak infrastructure. This has changed immensely as, since May 2007, there has been a completely new start & finish complex, sufficient for the

A Wallonian Cocktailof Communication, Petrol & Adrenaline

Advertisement

Route du Circuit, 55

B-4970 Francorchamps

Tél : +32 87 29.37.00

Fax : +32 87 27.05.81

info@spa-francorchamps.be

www.spa-francorchamps.be

global standards of the F1 circus. Bernie Ecclestone is now ‘fine’ with the rough course again. It costs 12,500 euros to rent the entire course during the week and 15,000 euros over the weekend. Nonetheless, demand is 70% over ca-pacity. There are ten attractive mezzanine boxes for com-pany invites and seminars, with space for 60 guests each including an open terrace above at the old start & finish by the lower paddocks. The party gets going at L`Éau Rouge in the evening and during the day you can find plenty of amusement with mountain biking, quad bike expeditions and racetracks. ‘After-six activities’ are a perfectly accept-able ‘consolation prize’ here: Between six and eight every evening you can go on the adventure of the course even when the race course is sold out - with fast road cars driven by race car drivers from the area. It goes without saying that there’s a go-kart track here as well, a separate driving safety track next to the main course and, of course, you can happily zip through the forests of the Ardennes on some zesty quad bikes. There’s an agreement with the Stavelot abbey; groups who meet there can get to know the course in the bus for an hour during their break between 13.00 and 14.00, when the race course also ‘takes a break’.

LiègeLittle France on the Meuse

Wallonia’s most water-rich city and the home of Com-missioner Maigret creator Georges Simenon is just over half an hour away from Spa by car and the quickest way for German guests from the West and North to find French culture. In the past, Liège (Lüttich in German and Luik in Dutch/Flemish) was largely characterised by mining and iron ore smelting and still has a ‘fiery’ presence today, but more in the sense that it is an especially lively and, thanks to its wonderfully inspirational multiculturalism, also a very young city. With a population of 190,000, gastronomy – not only in the trendy Outremeuse district – and pulsing nightlife are this congress and university city’s strongest USP, not to mention a newly acquired attractiveness in the cultural sector. Liège works diligently on its city image and has now almost completed the long transition to the positive. The new train station in this provincial capital on the Meuse river has a bold 32,000 sqm roof construction made of steel and glass that immediately impresses travel-lers arriving on the high-speed Thalys train. And Calatrava

himself created it! Practical: directly across from this is a new 77-room hotel: Husa de la Couronne – though ‘only’ three stars, it is new and thoroughly stylish. An excellent conference venue is the Ramada Plaza Liège City Center (formerly the Bedford Hotel) with 150 rooms and an atmos-pheric cloister garden. But in the autumn of 2009 the city will finally get its long-desired five-star hotel and will likely develop completely new hospitality networks along with it. For larger event formats, the small trade fair centre Foire Internationale de Liège www.fil.be can be recommended, and of course the Palais des Congrès, which has room for up to 1,000 delegates in its great hall. A Holiday Inn hotel with 219 rooms is attached. www.palaisdescongresliege.be. The ideal size for meetings & events in Liège, however, is a maximum of 200 participants. You can find great sug-gestions for framework programmes under ‘Incentives’ at www.liegecongres.be. On the cultural side things are really coming along: After al-most 15 years of planning and construction, the new Grand

George Simenon, Commissioner Maigret creator

Neuer TGV-Bahnhof Calatrava

Advertisement

The new train station from the drawing board of famous architect Calatrava.

Curtius museum complex was opened in early March 2009. The 50-million-euro investment combines several old Pa-trician houses into a unique trip through time from early history through to the 20th century. The ‘Museum of Wal-lonian Life’ is also open again after being closed for four years, and gives a wonderful impression of the lifestyle of francophone Belgians. Adjacent to this: a deconsecrated church for hosting events, where impressive exhibits are of-fered during the Design Biennale that takes place every two years. www.viewallone.be. A long runner: the largest flea market for 100 kilometres around, the ‘Marché de la Batte’ takes place every Sunday along the Meuse Quays.There’s also a lot to see and to organise in the Liège re-gion. The region ‘owns’, for example, the Chateau de Jehay in the Huy province, with excellent sculpture gardens and contemporary art exhibits. This romantic moated castle is one of the most beautiful in Belgium and can be rented for events. www.chateaujehay.be.Also under ownership by the province: the Chateau Harze. www.chateau-harze.be. This treasure, built in the finest Meuse renaissance style, was remodelled into a seminar centre with 18 double rooms and five singles. The National Cheese Festival, by the way, is also held in this highly rec-

ommended all-in-one location with its watermill and bak-ery museum. Another castle in Seraing was once a crystal producer and, with its modern scenography, is well suited to a supporting programme and reception following the history of the glassblowers. Chateau du Val St.-Lambert, not dissimilar to the Abbey of Stavelot in its colour and construction. www.cristalpark.be. And finally, there are the Remouchamps Caves, where you can take the longest subterranean boat ride in the world.

Liège’s old-time pubs fas-cinated Jacques Brel in his time. Here a glance into the Maison du Peket, where the famous Liège herbal liqueur Peket can be enjoyed in all its variations. Rag dolls are hanging on the walls, the city’s original Tchantchès und Nanèsse.

New and impressive: Museum Curtius

There’s no more beautiful castle in the country: Chateau Jehay

Contact:

Liège Congrès a.s.b.l.

Esplande de l’Europe 2

B-4020 Liège

Tel. : 00 32 (0)4/343 08 38

info@liegecongres.be

www.liegecongres.be

92 events 1/2009

In the centre of Spa and within view of the baths on the hill, the hotel “L’Auberge” (unrated) stands out immediate-ly among the colourful potpourri of old buildings. Its pride and joy is the highly-recommended, down-to-earth French restaurant on the ground floor, famous for its fish speciali-ties and especially for lobster! The 18 rooms and 13 suites are simple, but spotlessly clean. For just 65 euros pp. incl. breakfast, one can enjoy a pleasantly ‘SPArtan’ Spa here: there’s even a meeting room for 15 people. The suites are located in an adjoining building, with traditional furnish-ings, lots of space and a simple – and yet highly comfort-able – flair. A fair deal at 120 euros (twin occupancy) for breakfast, pantry kitchen and complete WLAN coverage. The owners do however manage a sec-ond hostelry just a few metres away: a little house in the boutique style, which comes highly recommended. The Best Western Hotel Villa des Fleurs is a beau-tifully restored, mansion-style building. The vintage stairs and traditional log-fire lounge have a noble air, while the meet-ing room is bright and tastefully-present-

Villa des FleursSmall, compact and perfect for privatisation

Advertisement

ed, with a neatly-kept terrace leading to a private gravel car park. This is what an idyllic hide-away with four well-earned stars looks like! The 12 rooms are all different and furnished in a contemporary style. They make an excellent impression, thanks to their wood flooring and gener-ous marble baths. This successful mix of the monastic and the noble is a real insider tip for wholesale hiring. For strategic retreats, one can have a wonderful little world all to oneself for a very reasonable 137 euros per room. One may relax as one wishes on the terrace or lawns, with all of one’s catering needs well-attended to by the nearby restaurant in L’Auberge. A secure car park rounds off the intimate nature of the Villa des Fleurs perfectly.

Contact:

Villa des Fleurs

Rue Albin Body 31

Tel.: 0032 (0) 87795050

info@villadesfleurs.be

www.villadesfleurs.be

events 1/2009 93

Just a stone’s throw from the Thermenhügel and almost directly from the Radisson City Hotel, the colossal buildings of the old baths and casino decisively characterise the city’s architectural image. NB: What you’re looking at here is the great grandmother of all the casinos in the world, opened in 1763 for the pleasure of the royal and famous. Yes, even the casino in Monaco is younger by 100 years! However, the actual casino ensemble, with games both large and small, ‘only’ constitutes the bridgehead of a very diverse complex that, because of its multitude of rooms, could almost be considered a congress centre. Let’s start with the ‘Pink Room’, a domed hall on the 1st floor with eleven-metre-high ceilings and abundant natural light – a beautiful venue for festive banquets. Very pleasant, with the long built-in bar and the kitch-ens behind it. Also, the rooms are all open to outside catering. The tables, which seat six, offer room for around 160-200 guests. There is a fluid transition to the ‘Salon Bleu’

– nomen est omen – with its cubic dimensions. The old wooden floor provides a pleasant down-to-earth counterpoint to the copious stucco, in the blue and gold so typical of the period.After crossing spacious foyers, you at last arrive in the ballroom – a true concert and congress hall with wide encircling galleries, a deep full-sized stage and natural light. This provides the small spa with a sophisticated auditorium even without the long-desired congress centre that has been much discussed but to no avail. The separate entrance from the car park via a large perron and terrace is both pleasant and dramaturgically helpful. It is the very definition of imperial grandeur.The great hall is occupied 200 days a year. It is here that Miss Bel-gium was chosen, where Hamburg Mannheimer’s Belgian branch were recently with 800 people, and PROXIMUS - the list goes on and on: already the next surprise in the form of a snug Italian theatre! Com-plex technical installations are built into the structure and the full stage measures 200 square metres. A massive gallery arches over the intimate theatre boxes. The ground floor has space for 200 guests.

Celebrations & Presentationsin the World’s oldest Casino

Contact:

Casino de Spa

Rue Royale 4, B-4900 Spa

Tel.: 0032-(0)87 772052

info@casinodespa.be

www.casinodespa.be

Advertisement

94 events 1/2009

Stavelot, enchantingly located, is one of the oldest little towns in Belgium. And the Abbey at Stavelot is one of the most beautiful local attractions for event planners in Wallo-nia. The painstakingly restored 18th-century cloister complex features modern architectural elements blending in tastefully with fantastic vault-work, in which fiery-red Ferraris and shimmering blue Brabhams await visitors as part of an unexpected and unorthodox exhi-bition: the Spa-Francorchamps Racetrack Mu-seum! The racing history made at the nearby Formula 1 track can be seen here in pictures, multimedia installations and souvenirs, all sta-tioned between numerous “torpedoes” from many different decades. Friends of literature will delight in the little Apollinaire Museum. For five straight years (and that says some-thing about competence!), the Abbey’s most beautiful rooms have been let out for events under the management of Pierre Erler. Recep-tion events can be held both among the ar-chaeological remains and in the striking vault-ed gallery of the racing museum. The other rooms in the Abbey’s portfolio can be used for meeting, gala and other event formats. Adjoin-ing the racing museum is the Garden Room, an ancient columned hall with open-pore clinker

and white-chalked vaulted ceiling, and space for up to 130 dining guests. Only 20 metres further on is a large vaulted chamber left in its original state. Once a year, this room is the location for the folklore brotherhood of the Blanc Moussis and their “White Night”, a car-nival for partygoers. The Francois Prume Room is a multi-functional room offering seating (which can also be tiered) and a modern flair under a bright barrel-vaulted ceiling.

Stavelot

It leads on to an inviting terrace with an entrance to the gardens and an enchanting view of the Ardennes countryside. The Abbey’s former refectory offers an historical banqueting hall 160 sqm in size, with exceptional acoustics. This simple, dignified, museum-quality room is characterised by delicate mouldings on both walls and ceil-ing, a valuable parquet floor from the 18th century and a wood oven dating from 1709 – the room’s single fixed piece of furniture. The Salon des Artistes is recom-mended for smaller meetings: 40 sqm and 7 metres from floor to ceiling, with plenti-ful daylight and an antique wood floor. The Abbey’s room portfolio enables an event to run different elements in parallel – such as a small conference, for example, ac-companied by an exhibition, workshops, an evening reception in the racing museum and even dinner followed by a party. The Abbey catering service is competent and the informative website is designed with the needs of the event planner in mind: www.abbayedestavelot.be Tip: Stavelot is also home to the well-known team-building and outdoor service provider for Wallonia, www.adrenaline-events.com Hotel tips: ****romantic hotel Val d’Ambleve, with 24 rooms, 14 of which are entirely new, housed in a purist-style annex. In 2008, the owners invested some 2.5 million euros to excellent effect – raising living quarters, dining, wellness and meeting quality to a truly excellent standard, for just 117 euros incl. breakfast per single room! www.levaldambleve.be. Other quality hotels in Stavelot: the luxury Boutique Hotel Dufays with six rooms, and the Hotel La Maison.

the Abbey for the sophisticated Event

Advertisement

Abbaye de Stavelot

Place Saint Remacle 32

4970 Stavelot

Tel. : +32 (0)80 86 27 06

Fax : +32 (0)80 88 08 77

E. : info.tourisme@ abbayedestavelot.be

www.abbayedestavelot.be

events 1/2009 95

Explore the High Fens Flora with Your GolfbagBorn in 1930 – and still going strong! Tom Simpson, one of the main representatives of the golden age of golf architecture, designed the Royal High Fens Golf Club 18-hole championship course almost 80 years ago. Sophisticated surpris-es in the form of small irregularities always char-acterised his designs – and the Royal Fagnes Golf Club, harmoniously situated in the Ardennes for-ests of Spa’s higher Balmoral district, is no excep-tion. The club, which is open year round, is one of the most beautiful spots in Belgium, among the top 100 in Europe and, with its plantings charac-teristic of the region, never lets the golfers forget where they are: in the High Fens! Players with a minimum handicap of 36 enjoy a round of pure relaxation beneath hundred-year-old trees. The course is 6,040 metres and par 72. One-hour sam-pler courses can be organised for 25 euros per par-ticipant – but even better are complete invitational tournaments at a venue where numerous Belgian Opens have been held. The Dorint Spa Balmoral and the Radisson SAS Balmoral hotels are only five minutes away, and could thus almost be called golf hotels. The clubhouse’s historic architecture offers an elegant framework for hospitality events,

award ceremonies and subsequent dinners. The pro-shop offers an astounding selection in a peaceful wooden villa.

Contact: Royal Golf Club des Fagnes ASBL

Avenue de l`Hippodrome 1 · B-4900 Spa

Tel.: 0032 (0) 87 93030

f.delsemme@golfdespa.be

www.golfdespa.be

Royal Golf Club des Fagnes

Advertisement

96 events 1/2009

Near the golf course and nearly opposite the Dorint Spa Balmoral, one can feast one’s eyes on the charming 100-year old building housing the Radisson SAS Balmoral. 106 rooms with natural wood floors and styled in attractive earth tones have been fully renovated following bio-construction guidelines; an indoor pool and wellness area have also recently been added. From the lobby with its large open fire – perfect for casual conversation – one moves smoothly to the bar area with many “relics” of Francorchamps. Round-ing a glass-fronted reserve bottle store one reaches the restaurant foyer, and, passing the grand piano, arrives at the “open cooking” restaurant, with conservatory and ter-race. On the first floor, a professional, L-shaped meeting room catches the eye with its appealing ceiling height and the fact that it is both well equipped and partitionable (three projectors!). Plen-tiful natural light pours in through the windows onto the terrace outside. In the rooms on the ground floor, over 200 meeting attendees can work and relax here in the forest of Balmoral.

The Radisson SAS Palace Hotel opened in 2004, and is thus the newest hotel offering in Spa. It is located in the centre of town, near the baths on the hill. Connected di-rectly to the new bath facilities by a cog railway, it is thus ideal for guests looking for an opulent spa and bathing resort. From the expansive lobby, bar and restaurant area (Les Saisons de Spa), one has direct access to the AQUA meeting room, which can be divided into four sections. Its counterpart on the first floor is called TERRA and is a brand-new, first-class facility only completed in 2008. Next to the electronic display panel, a red-carpeted staircase leads up to it past the lifts, winding in front of a newly-created stone garden with tropical wood terrace for conference breaks. Here, the conference party has the pure, perfect surround-ings quite to itself. The 150 m² main room is modular and can be split many ways: thanks to clever guide rails in the ceiling and an intelligent technical system, each segment really can be used as a standalone room. Touch-screen operation, wide expanses of glass, a satellite kitchen. The seating is elegant and functional, carpets are an energetic red and the room is awash with light. Rating: perfect city hide-away for meetings in style!

Advertisement

A double presence in Spa:

Radisson SAS Balmoral,

Avenue Léopold 2, 40

B-4900 Spa

Tel.: 0032 (0) 87-792141

Info.Spa@RadissonSAS.com

www.radissonsas.com

Radisson SAS Palace Hotel,

Place Royal 39,

B-4900 Spa

Tel.: 0032 (0) 87 279 700

Info.spapalace@radissonsas.com

www.radissonsas.com

Radisson SAS Hotels

events 1/2009 97

The Dorint Spa Balmoral, which has been successfully run as a franchise operation for years by ambitious owner Nick Kleingeld, is a meeting classic with currently 99 rooms. 48 are junior suites, have recently been renovated and offer a wide view across the slightly lower lake of Warfaaz out into the gentle and mellow hilly landscape of the Ardennes. 30 designer rooms, each 40 sqm, are going to be added in summer 2009 and an addition is also being planned for the current eleven seminar rooms, of which seven have natural light and five di-rect access to the garden. This is because an elegant cubic extension is slowly taking shape and already enhances the façade, which up to now has looked a little uninspiring. Inside, as well as the already mentioned designer rooms, a divisible ultramodern plenary room for 300 meeting visitors and three larger breakout rooms are being created. A totally redesigned terrace with lounge furniture, a lounge bar and the intended restaurant extension will provide long-term improvements to the character of

the hotel. In terms of space, this location will be able to offer a widestly differentiated range of meeting options in Spa beginning in the summer of 2009. Sales manager Sophie Coumont says: “Why are we building another meeting room for 300 people when we already have such lovely rooms? Well, SPA is going to raise its profile in the meetings sector and naturally as a long-established meeting hotel we want to be right there at the front.”A major traditional advantage of the Dorint is the software – three people here are respon-sible for meetings and events alone. An ex-tensive catalogue of supporting programmes, from detective dinners to team cooking, some of which they have designed themselves, proves that over the years a real understand-ing of the needs of meetings customers has grown up here. A special tip for smaller to medium-sized meetings: the cosy beer parlour in the cellar, which offers traditional raclette evenings for up to 50 guests.

Dorint SPA Balmorallooking to the future in a new style

Dorint Spa Balmoral

Route de Balmoral 33

B-4900 Spa-Balmoral

reservations@dorintspa.be

www.dorintspa.be

Advertisement

98 events 1/2009

“Blue Ardennes” is the umbrella brand for the region, with the “blue” standing for the water, lakes, springs, streams and waterfalls in this lovely natural region. For the last ten years the Aqualis organisation in Spa has bun-dled marketing activities for the total of 28 communes in the Belgian East Cantons, and for five years it has been organizing incoming business. In doing this, Aqualis functions as a classic Convention Bureau, and can also, if needed, act as a central bookkeeper, so that from A to Z, from enquiries via budgeting right through to putting together a custom-ised programme, events planners only have to deal with one contact partner in Spa and its surroundings. They have even taken care of providing a German-speaking contact in the person of Micheline Bulpa. No charges are made for the services and the best possible prices are promised from the individual service providers. “We have had a

The defiant Metternich castle Reinhardstein occupies an extremely romantic position near Malmedy in a narrow basin with a flowing mountain torrent. Here you can go on a treasure hunt in search of old parchment fragments.

The rivers Amblêve and

Lesse are a true paradise for canoe and

kayak enthu-siasts and

also dreamy settings for “green and

perfectly slow” supporting

programmes. Professional

suppliers guarantee the

untroubled quality of the

events.

Aqualis

tremendous past and all our efforts must be directed towards revitalising it again by doing everything that is necessary,“ says director Jean Paul Marwet, adding: “We no longer have any crown jewels of course, but a lot of small gems such as authenticity, honesty, naturalness and so forth – the way I hear it these are just the things that people are looking for again in the events business too.” And apparently a lot of business people see things that way too, as many have come back to Spa recently particularly be-cause they believe in the future and resurrection of the old brand.

the Convention Bureau of the Blue Ardennes

Aqualis

Blvd. Rener, 17 · B-4900 Spa

Tel.: 0032 (0) 87 -792001

Info@aqualis.be

www.ardennebleuebusiness.be

Advertisement

events 1/2009 99

The German-speaking community in Belgium is at home in the East Cantons, and their own Minister-President lives in Eupen. And here too is the quintessential jewel of the landscape, the

“High Fens” – so it is scarcely surprising that Manfred Dahmen, the manager of the East Cantons tourist office, is a great fan of “slow tourism”. “This concept of slow tourism is a good fit with Eastern Belgium, as the accommodation businesses here are family-sized, the hospitality and talent for languages of our inhabitants are al-most legendary, the leisure offerings in the heart of nature are es-pecially good, there are hidden treasures waiting to be discovered and the wellness infrastructure is increasing all the time!” He is right, so we are recommending several attractive meeting hotels for slow enjoyment: On Lake Worriken www.worriken.com with its extensive leisure, sport and meeting facilities there is Büttgenbach, especially suited for sports-orientated groups with smaller budgets. Snugly nestling in the small spa gardens, the long-established Büttgenbacher Hof is a dignified four-star establishment with a homely and rustic at-mosphere. The pool and wellness area are brand new and make an excellent impression. The hotel is well suited for seminars of up to 20 people and for more demanding round table meetings, for which a generously sized suite has been converted. A lonely lobster and a few oysters in their tank show even on a quiet day in January that they know about the thoroughly good cooking here. www.hotelbutgenbacherhof.comJust eight kilometres away is another of the four Venn lakes, the Lac de Robertville. And here the Hotel des Bains nestles up against a small bridge over a narrow point of the lake like an idyll of sum-mer freshness. This stone gem with the lovely oases of foliage over the water has been furnished personally and tastefully, and offers an attractive room with a fireplace as a meeting room connected via a tropical wood terrace with a totally new pool and sauna wing, which has been designed in a strictly Asian style. With 14 friendly and imaginatively furnished rooms it is ideal for complete

“Slow” meetingsin the East Cantons

hire by smaller groups who want to work here for two or three days in the serene atmosphere of the lake with a strong accent on wellness. www.hoteldesbains.be The road snakes its way between mountains and valley across the model railway landscape down into the pretty little town of Malmedy. Six kilometres from the town lies another meeting hideaway in the form of the four-star hotel “Trôs Marets” with its intimate stone charm and high gastronomical standards. Here too everything was freshly renovated 18 months ago. It has eight designer-style rooms in the main building and nine in the adjoining villa. www.trosmarets.be Nowhere is far from the High Fens, which are a cross-country paradise with heights up to 700 m, and with the Botrange natural park centre of-fer a perfectly equipped hotspot for fans of nature and hiking. Further recommendable hotels in the region: In Eu-pen www.ambassador-bosten.be In St.Vith www.hotelzurpost.be/www.pip.be, where there is also an attractive 9-hole pitch and putt golf course in Vielsalm, 19 km from Malmedy, a real gem: www.contesdesalme.be

The Lake of Worriken Modern Spa extension at the Hotel des BainsContact:

East Cantons Tourist Office

Mühlenbachstr.2

B-4780 St.Vith

Tel.: 0032-(0) 80 22 76 64

Info@eastbelgium.com

www.eastbelgium.com

Advertisement

100 events 1/2009

His name is Marc Dans, and he is a portly man in his mid-50s who laughs a lot. He is a Belgian DMC veteran, a member of the inter-national DMC organisation Euromic and mem-ber of the ICCA, a friendly old cavalier of SITE & MPI who loves his country and in his private passions symbolizes what the Walloons under-stand particularly well: good food and drink! If you are organizing an event – anywhere in the whole of Belgium! – and want to get especially close to the country and its people, then you will be in very good hands with Marc Dans and his company Brussels International Travel Service.

Marc Dans wants to inspire people and give them something to take away from the event location he has found for them. So his favour-ite programmes are the ones which appeal to the senses and thus ensure that afterwards people will remember the lovely places they have seen with all their senses.

It is of great concern to Dans that, especially in the natural environment, only pro-grammes which demonstrate respect for the environment are implemented. We care about people, we care about earth, is the company claim. So there are even pro-grammes on offer from him in which the group quite literally breathes down the neck of people practising their traditional professions in nature. One whimsical example involves accompanying the ancient, environmentally-friendly forestry task of logging using carthorses. A deer stand can also end being built “on the side”. This type of event works well in the Ardennes, he says, just as cookery events do in old inns or castles. He founded the company in 1988 and now runs it jointly with his partner Igor Korn, with seven permanent staff. The spectrum of activities of BITS extends from incen-tives via conferences through to simple reservation services. His hand extends from A to Z in Belgium, from Antwerp to Zaventem, and if you believe you have found your DMC for body and belly in BITS, then you have also found a great deal more….

Brussels International Travel Service

Rue Arthur Diderich 30

B-1060 Brüssel

Tel.: 0032-(0) 2 5431010

www.bits-dmc.be

belgium@euromic.com

On the trailof country and people with all senses blazing

Advertisement

events 1/2009 101

Fam Trip to Spa & Surroundings (Belgium)from the 14th - 16th of May, 2009

Company:

Street: ZIP-Code/Town:

Phone/Fax: E-mail:

Participant: Function:

Please fax this coupon to: +49-69 – 95 52 36 22Fam Trip to Spa & Surroundings – 14th – 16th of May, 2009.I would like to participate in this inspection trip. Please send the detailed programme:

events and the organisers, Belgium Tourism Wallonia-Brussels invite you to discover one of the most charm-ing landscapes, the oldest Spa and the most famous race course in Belgium at: Spa!Experience nature and culture, the premises of large international chain hotels but also of smaller, romantic hotels, fun and suspense – and – of course – the culi-nary highlights typical to the region.Arrival: 14th of May (morning), departure: 16th of May 2009 (evening) – from and to Cologne main sta-tion.

The number of participants is limited to 12. A fee of Euro 75,-- p.p. is being levied.

Curious? If so, please fill in the form below and you will promptly receive more information together with a detailed programme. Please note, that your regis-tration does not automatically confirm participation. Belgium Tourism Wallonia-Brussels reserves the right to select the members to their group and will confirm with the final participants in due course. Deadline for registrations: 14th of April, 2009.

Registration form: Please send to: mice@belgien-tourismus.de by 23rd of March, 2009.

102 events 1/2009

HOT E L S

Minor Earthquake in the German Luxury Hotel Business:

Grand Hotel Heiligendamm without Kempinski in FutureKempinski has terminated his management contract with the grand Hotel Heiligendamm & Co Kg. Breaches of contract and overdue payment of management fees were cited as the reason. In his notice of termination, Kempinski further explained that the owner’s constant interference in daily hotel operations had impeded the task of effectively carrying out inter-national expertise in luxury hotel management and thereby managing the hotel on a finan-cially sound basis. Investments in the development of the seaside villas and a Thalasso and ayurveda centre were not made, he said, which reduced the hotel’s performance. and efforts on the part of Kempinski to reach a consensus did not lead to any acceptable results. at least, this is how Kempinski sees it.

The owners’ association, Heiligendamm GmbH & Co. KG, will op-erate the hotel on its own in future and expand the hotel’s range of services – through investments in more restaurants, sport facilities, wellness amenities and extensive cultural offerings, among other things. In December the shareholders decided on an increase in capital for this purpose. The marketing and operation of this un-rivalled luxury hotel will be done from now on via ‘Leading Hotels of the World’ and the ‘Selection of German Luxury Hotels’. In the equity owners’ view, the matter looks something like this: For a long time, differences of opinion have existed between Kempinski and the hotel owners about the unsatisfactory hotel results. Con-sequently, accusations against Kempinski’s management were al-ready being voiced at the Grand Hotel Heiligendamm GmbH & Co. KG’s shareholder meeting on December 2, 2008. The board was subsequently assigned the task of revising the cooperation with Kempinski and, if necessary, ending it should results not improve. The background to this was the hotel’s unsatisfactory financial yield under the management of Kempinski AG, on whose exper-tise the investors had depended since the launch of the Grand

Hotel Heiligendamm. With their notice of termination, Kempinski has made a solution impossible in the current negotiation phase. In the view of the owners’ association, Kempinski has no grounds for termination. Which is why the management fees claimed by Kempinski met with a lack of comprehension on the part of the owners. They, on the contrary, have counter-demands in the sum of millions. The legal and financial differences can now only be re-solved in court – a fact that the Grand Hotel Heiligendamm GmbH & Co. KG greatly regrets. Over the past six years Kempinski did not succeed in achieving the promised financial success. Moreover, the marketing strategy followed by Kempinski particularly led to incomprehension among guests and shareholders, as this strat-egy is not in accord with the standard of a top-rate hotel and permanently damages its reputation.The operation of the hotel and the care of its guests will not be affected by Kempinski’s de-parture. The Grand Hotel Heiligendamm’s long-term goal is now to achieve the financial success enjoyed by other top-class owner-managed holiday hotels, such as the Hotel Bareiss, Elmau Castle, the Sonnenalp, Brenner’s Parkhotel and the Traube Tonbach.

Tagen und Wohnen unter der Sonne Spaniens im MHotel Galatzó Mallorca

Bitte nehmen Sie Platz…

M Service Center Verkauf · Külpstraße 2 · 64293 DarmstadtTelefon 0180 5 305070 (14 ct/Min Festnetz DTAG, abweichende Preise aus Mobilfunknetzen möglich)Fax 06151 905-705 · meeting.ksc@maritim.de · www.maritim.de

…soviel Sie brauchen!Was immer Sie planen – ob Seminare, Kongresse oder ein besonderes Event –

unser vielseitiges Raumangebot, verbunden mit modernster Technik und professionellem Service machenIhre Veranstaltung zum Erfolg.

Überzeugen Sie sich selbst in den M Hotels in:Berlin · Bonn · Braunlage · Bremen · Darmstadt · Dresden · Düsseldorf · Frankfurt/Main · Fulda · Gelsenkirchen · Halle · Hamburg

Hannover · Heringsdorf/Usedom · Bad Homburg · Kiel · Köln · Königswinter · Magdeburg · Mannheim · München · Nürnberg · Bad Salzuflen · Bad SassendorfSchmallenberg · Stuttgart · Timmendorfer Strand · Titisee-Neustadt · Travemünde · Ulm · Bad Wildungen · Würzburg · Ägypten · Malta

Mauritius · Peking (Sommer 2009) · Riga/Lettland · Spanien · Türkei

Image 4c 184 133 HV events 01.09:Image 4c 184 133 HV events 01.09 21.01.2009 15:26 Uhr Seite 1

Easier Payment: Novotel Germany in Cooperation with AirPlusCustomers of Novotel – upscale mid-grade segment of the Accor Group – can look for-ward to simplified payment processes: Thanks to the collaboration with AirPlus, an interna-tional provider of payment solutions for busi-ness travel management, guests have been enjoying the advantages of the AirPlus Meet-ing Solution in all 25 Novotel hotels since the beginning of 2009. So, starting now, you have an innovative payment solution at your disposal in events management with direct connection to the hotel industry. This offer comes in response to companies’ demand for a standardised, centralised payment scheme for business trips, freely selectable booking channels, a centrally managed means of pay-ment and especially a transparent and paper-less invoicing process; all MICE services can now be securely paid for and evaluated in detail – something new for payments in the events sector.

Hungary: Price War and dramatic Decline in OccupancyA reckless fight for patronage is being waged in Hungary alongside dis-concerting numbers of overnight stays. Management heads from around the region debated this dramatic situation in January during a board meeting of the Hungarian hotel association. Although occupancy rates vary from region to region, some of the hotels are said to be 20% below the figures for January 2008; a further drop is expected for February 2009. The reason: the decline in company events. In the Balaton region at least Hévíz registered groups from Russia for the Orthodox Christmas celebration, while Zalakaros reported a significant downturn.

Hardly any advance bookings are recorded outside the cities, and if so then guests give preference to hotels with a wellness area. Hotels in the eastern region are waging a ruinous price war and a bad situation is also reported in the western part of Hungary. Imre Deák, CEO of Danubius Hotels, warns that the lack of sales can be attributed to a weak MICE market, and for this reason hotels are granting discounts to guests who would book anyway. The HAH notes that it will be extremely difficult to get these low hotel rates to pick back up after the recession.

104 events 1/2009

HOT E L S

Since December Monaco’s latest hotel acquisition, Hotel “Ni” in the district ‘La Condam-ine’, presents its 17 rooms and apartments with simple elegance in a stylish and expres-sively colourful way. Guests can admire the open view of the busy ‘Port Hercule’ yacht harbour from the spacious roof terrace. And it’s just a few steps from the morning market and many small shops. www.nihotel.com.

Brand New Design Hotel ‘Ni’ – en vogue in Monaco’s Waterfront District

New Boss at the Radisson SAS Hotel FrankfurtAfter four years in the metropolis on the river Main, General Manager Oliver Staas left the Radisson SAS Hotel Frankfurt. Since February 2009 he is the General Manager of the Park Inn Heathrow, the largest airport hotel in London, featuring 881 rooms.

Effective immediately, Andreas Stöckli of Switzerland is taking charge of the Radisson SAS Hotel; he previously worked as General Manager of the Park Inn Zurich Airport for three years. The motivated hotelier has made it his goal to expand the company’s suc-cessful position in the national and international markets and to establish it for the long term with tailor-made services at fair-market conditions. His hotel career has led him to the Suvretta House in St. Moritz, to Pedra & Cupa on Sardinia, to the Grand Roche Hotel in South Africa and Pier One Restaurant in the Bahamas, among other places.

Slow Management – Courses at Cloister Hornbach Conducting yourself well in a bal-

anced way is what participants can

learn at the Slow Management

retreats offered as of now at the

Hotel Kloster Hornbach, the ‘Bene-

diktus Workshop’ and ‘Work-Life-

Balance’. The seminars give man-

agers guidelines for contemporary

management culture, and ways to

successfully balance career and pri-

vate life. The historical ambience of

the former Benedictine monastery,

established in the southwest Pa-

latinate in the 8th century, forms a

relaxing framework for the two-day

retreats carried out by the MAICON-

SULTING management consultancy.

The ‘Benediktus Workshop’ will be

taking place for the first time on

Saturday, the 28th and Sunday, the

29th of March 2009. The manage-

ment retreat explains the ‘Rule of

St. Benedict’, composed by Abbot

St. Benedict of Nursia almost 1,400

years ago, as well as these precepts’

current relevance to the modern

business world. Additional dates for

2009 are yet to be announced.

Andreas Stöckli

No Mövenpick in Düsseldorf after allThe hotel project in Düsseldorf, still under construction, is now no longer going to be under the management of Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts. The lease agreement was dissolved due to the delayed transfer of the hotel opera-tion to the internationally active Swiss hotel group; this was scheduled for mid December 2008, with an opening in mid January 2009. ‘We greatly regret that we have to disappoint our clients, who had been very much looking forward to a new Mövenpick Hotel in Düsseldorf,’ said Ola Ivarsson, Senior Vice President of Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts Europe. ‘We will now ensure that those of our clients who had already booked can be accommodated at other hotels in Düsseldorf.’

Dieter Müller is Hotelier of the Year 2009 A hotelier from the low-budget segment has ‘snatched it up’ this year! The chairman of the board of the Motel One Group received the renowned hotel sector award on January 26th as part of a gala at the InterContinental Berlin, awarded by the General Hotel and Gastronomy Newspaper (AHGZ: Allgemeine Hotel- und Gastronomie-Zeitung). The 54-year-old Dieter Müller has been active in the hotel sector for more than 30 years; eight years ago he founded the Motel One low-budget design hotel chain with his management team. They offer affordable accommodation in first-class city-centre locations true to the motto ‘a lot of design for little money’ and, with 21 branches, are among German’s most successful budget hotel groups.

SANCTUM SOHO HOTEL – new in London Stylish, glamorous, provoking – the Sanctum Soho Hotel could hardly be described more appropriately in three words. The member of Design Hotels will open at the end of March 2009 in the heart of Londons fashionable dis-trict of Soho. Its 30 rooms have been designed following the creative ideas of owner Mark Fuller who thought up a concept especially suitable and attractive to members of the ShowBiz. A cinema, a really cool bar and a private roof garden with integrated hydro spa: the former manager of a rock band is most familiar with the needs of his clientele

– and this is how he equipped and decorated the Sanctum Soho Hotel. www.designhotels.com

106 events 1/2009

Almdorf Reiteralm in Pichl is situated on a gorgeous high plateau (at 1,200 metres) in the midst of the Dachstein-Tauern region’s fascinating mountain scenery, 10 minutes by car from the mountain town of Schladming and approximately two hours from Munich. With a direct connection to the ski slopes and hiking areas as well as a breathtaking view of the glacier-covered Dachstein massif, Almdorf Reiteralm, the Almhotel Edelweiss and the 18 holiday cabins present a great event and incentive location. The hotel has capacity for groups of 10-30 people, or even up to 120 people (depending on occupancy). What is there to ‘do’? Hüttengaudi (Alpine cabin jamboree) in your own alpine meadow, with a ‘wine barrel snow bar’, sledding, snowmobile taxi rides, active mountain events, Alpine wellness in the mountain lakes, mountain biking, hiking with snack breaks, barbecue evenings around the fire with music right in front of the Dachstein panorama, etc. For re-laxation, you have access to a sizeable wellness area with a Finnish sauna, aromatic steam sauna, infrared booth, a Kneipp cure, and a lovely rest & relaxation room. www.almdorf-reiteralm.at Reference: Defacto Marketing GmbH / ErlangenMarion.herbst@defacto-marketing.de

Almdorf Reiteralm:

Insider’s Tip for Events in the Alps

HOT E L S

Radisson SAS Resorts and Hotels change their NameRezidor, a first-class hotel brand and one of the fastest growing and most innova-tive hotel brands in the world, is chang-ing its name to Radisson Blu. This small but elegant change denotes the end of its connection to the SAS Group as a result of Rezidor’s IPO in November 2006. The name change was released in conjunction with the festive opening of the first Radis-son Blu hotel - the breathtaking Radisson Blu Hotel, Zurich Airport. Kurt Ritter, Presi-dent & CEO of Rezidor, commented: ‘We are proud to be able to hoist the Radisson Blu flag today. After many successful years with SAS, we’re now carrying on under our own power - and will bring Radisson Blu to many other destinations within the framework of our rapid growth.’ Thorsten Kirschke, Senior Vice President & COO of Radisson Blu, added that the change from SAS to Blu would continue as a soft development into the year 2010: ‘At the moment we have more than 200 hotels in operation or development. The schedule surrounding the name change was con-ceived so that everything could be done in as uncomplicated a way as possible, while a clear effect is still achieved.’

First Reval Hotel in St. PetersburgThe leading hotel chain in the Baltic, Reval

Hotels opened their first branch in Russia

this year. The four-star Sonya hotel is situ-

ated in the heart of St. Petersburg in the

immediate vicinity of the Liteiny Bridge

and the Neva River. Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s

world-famous novel Crime and Punish-

ment was the inspiration for building

the hotel. As in the book, the themes of

‘change’ and ‘transformation’ characterise

the atmosphere of the hotel and its 173

rooms. www.revalhotels.com.

The Tyrol Interalpen Hotel at Telfs on the Seefelder Plateau in the Tyrolean Oberland is desperately seeking skilled and junior employees in various areas (accountants, cooks and apprentices). Director Oliver Mathée is astounded: “Everyone is com-plaining about a lack of positions, but we are having a hard time filling our vacancies.”In the industry, the 600-bed hotel is considered a very good employer (of 250 employees) and a testimonial from the Tyrol Interalpen Hotel a much-desired trophy in young tourism industry workers’ CVs – particularly in the culinary field thanks to the luxury resort’s good culinary reputation. Christoph Zangerl, the Interalpen chef who has earned two toques, gained another Gault Millau point between 2008 and 2009, bringing it to a total of 16. Much is expected of the applicants and they must be able to adapt to the level of a five-star establishment.The Tyrol Interalpen Hotel makes use of various networks to search for employees. A collaboration with the “Stars-4-You” association – made of other top-notch businesses – supplements classic adverts and corresponding internet portals for ex-changing and promoting employees. “Anyone who wants to make a career in the hotel industry, can lay their cornerstone here!” promises Oliver Mathée, who is also active in the German Hotel Directors Association e.V. www.interalpen.com

Jobs to allot – and nobody is calling: Here!

108 events 1/2009

IMEX hasn’t become the hottest show on the globalmeetings and events landscape by chance.

Handling the winds of change in this vibrant sector isprecisely why IMEX exists. Our strategy for businessgrowth inspires the world’s leading players, whichis why, every year, record numbers of top exhibitorsand buyers attend the show.

Join them at IMEX 09, 26-28 May, live in Frankfurt.

Not to be missed: your business revitalised with freshthinking, new contacts and great deals done.

Also on the agenda: unique industry insight and careerguidance through the clever IMEX New Vision programme.As one visitor put it, “IMEX is genuinely a hot spot for newexperiences”.

The chemistry, networking, learning and profiting are now.And IMEX intelligence lets you explore your furtherpotential.

Come to IMEX 2009. Come and be inspired.

The essential worldwide exhibition for meetings and events.

Practice makes perfect.

✮ CONTACTS Tel +44 (0)1273 227311 | Fax +44 (0)1273 227312 | info@imex-frankfurt.com | www.imex-frankfurt.com

26-28 May/Frankfurt09It only gets better

IMEX quickens the pulse of the industry • Recordattendances every year since launch: 15,000 global players in

2008 including 3,500 exhibitors from over 150 countries • Year afteryear the show creates more business, greater knowledge and indispensable

motivation – driving industry growth and personal career development.

www.imex-frankfurt.comPRE-REGISTER NOW

IMEX/MagazineEvents/Feb:Layout 1 6/1/09 13:06 Page 1

Fill in below. Fax to +44 (0)1273 227312, post to IMEX,The Agora, Ellen Street, Hove BN3 3LN, UK or register online at imex-frankfurt.com

Make sure of your place. Register now. Entry free.

26-28 MayMesse Frankfurt

09

1. Nature of business01 � Association (If yes, answer question 1a and

then select activity from question 2a)02 � Corporate (select an activity from 2a)03 � Incentive House/Agency

(complete 2a & 2b)

1a. What type of association are you?85 � Professional86 � Volunteer95 � PCO organising international association

events (please list association(s) for whomyou organise events)

115 � Association Management Company(please list the association(s) for whomyou organise events)

122 � Other (please specify)

2a. Business activity(tick all that apply)

09 � Automotive10 � Electronic/Communications/Computer/IT11 � Pharmaceutical/Medical/Chemical12 � Food/Beverage/Tobacco13 � Cosmetics14 � Engineering/Building/Industrial Goods16 � Financial/Insurance/Banking/Legal116 � Travel/Tourism117 � Media/Publishing118 � Sports/Sporting Events17 � Other (please specify)

2b. Incentive House/Agency type(tick all that apply)

04 � PR, Marketing,Advertising Agency05 � Sales Promotion Agency06 � Professional Conference Organiser121 � Events & Conference Management07 � Outbound Travel Agent83 � Destination Management Company

119 � Venue Finding/Site Selection Service08 � Other (please specify)

3. Type of event organised(tick all that apply)

18 � Conference, Meeting19 � International Convention/Congress20 � Incentive Travel21 � Product Launch22 � Staff Training/Seminars/Team Building120 � Social/Special/Sports Events23 � Business Travel24 � Corporate Hospitality84 � Exhibitions25 � Other (please specify)

4. In which geographical areas are youinterested?(tick all that apply)

26 � Home Country27 � UK28 � Eastern Europe/CIS29 � USA/Canada30 � Caribbean31 � South/Central America32 � Asia Pacific33 � Middle East34 � Africa35 � Mediterranean36 � Western Europe

5. In which product areas are youinterested? (tick all that apply)

37 � Airlines38 � Car Rental39 � Conference Venues/Centres

Meeting capacity up to:96 � 200 97 � 50098 � 1000 99 � 1000+

40 � Convention & Visitor Bureaux41 � Cruise Lines42 � Destination Management Companies88 � Education Providers

43 � Event Management Specialists44 � Exhibition Centres45 � Golf Destinations/Golf Incentives46 � Ground Agents47 � Health Resort/Spa Resort48 � Hotel/Hotel Chain

Room capacity up to:100 � 100 101 � 250 102 � 500103 � 1000 104 � 1000+

49 � Luxury Train50 � Tourist Organisation

105 � National 106 � Regional107 � City

51 � Professional Conference Organisers52 � Publication54 � Service Providers55 � Technology Provider

108 � AV 109 � Online110 � Registration111 � Software

56 � Trade Association57 � Transportation Companies58 � Other (please specify)

6. Number of events per year(select one only)National 59 � 1-10 60 � 10-5061 � 50+ 123 � noneInternational 112 � 1-10 113 � 10-50114 � 50+ 124 � none

7. Average attendance at your events(select one only)National 62 � 1-50 63 � 50-25064 � 250-500 65 � 500-100094 � 1000+ 125 � noneInternational 127 � 1-50 128 � 50-250129 � 250-500 130 � 500-1000131 � 1000+ 126 � none

8. Responsibility for venue/event(tick all that apply)

66 � Final Decision

67 � Recommend68 � Research69 � Plan, Organise

9. Which of the following best describesyour position?(select one only)

70 � Chairman/CEO/MD71 � Director/Senior Manager72 � Owner/Partner73 � Account/Event Manager74 � Executive/PA75 � Secretary

10. Annual budget for events(select one only)

77 � Up to $100,00078 � $100,000 - $250,00079 � $250,000 - $500,00080 � $500,000 - $1 million81 � $1 million - $5 million82 � $5 million +89 � Not applicable

11. How did you hear about IMEX?115 � Magazine article

(please state publication)

116 � Promotional leaflet (please specify)

117 � IMEX advertisement(where did you see this ad?)

� This magazine� Other (please state)

118 � Word of mouth119 � IMEX email/press release120 � Other (please specify)

Please complete all sections. If you have any questions call +44 (0)1273 227311 or email info@imex-frankfurt.com. Personal data supplied is subject to the Data Protection Act 1998.This data may be used to supply you with information relevant to your business. IMEX 2009 is a Regent Exhibitions Ltd event.

If you do not wish to receive information about future Regent Exhibitions’ events please tick here. � If you do not wish to receive information from third party companies selected by us, please tick here. �

Email: Title: First name: Last name:

Job title: Company name: Address:

Country:

Tel Country code: Area code: Number: Mobile number:

Fax Country code: Area code: Number:

If you register by 27 April your badge will be sent to you. After 27 April you can register and collect your badge at the show

EVENTS FEBRUARY 2009

IMEX/MagazineEvents/Feb:Layout 1 6/1/09 13:07 Page 2

110 events 1/2009

DE S T IN aT ION : C HIN a

in the collective opinion of MICE professionals

Daniel Tschudy is active on behalf of the global DMC MCI in project preparation for the world exhibition in Shanghai and Dr. Hans-Jürgen gaida teaches International Event Management to Chinese students.They both have interesting insider per-spectives, which they summarise here for events.

Leaping tiger – flying dragonA report by Hans-Jürgen Gaida on his experiences in China

300 million Chinese are learning English and accord-ing to MPI, forming the largest meeting and event sec-tor association in the world; by 2015 3.2 million will be active in the hospitality sector, of which 20 per cent, in other words 640,000, will be in the events area, pri-marily involved in trade fairs and congresses!! Those are figures to make you sit up and take notice. Anyway, there are already more than 50 trade fair venues in China and a number of very high-performance con-gress centres which will increase in numbers due to a very ambitious development programme. The next and largest of these is the opening of the China Na-tional Convention Centre in Beijing which is planned for May 2009, and which will be roughly comparable in size to the ICC Berlin.Where will the event professionals come from to cover the need in future? MPI forecasts a “war for talents”. For this reason there have already been training and

further education initiatives in China for a number of years, launched by German institutions in particu-lar. The most recent ones include, for example, an Internet-based learning programme leading to quali-fications for trade fair and congress specialists who al-ready have practical experience, which was developed by the BA-Ravensburg for the Union des Foires Inter-national (UFI) and funded by the Steinbeis Foundation.However, academic training is the objective of a project established five years ago at the renowned Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade (SIFT) by Osnabrück Universi-ty of Applied Sciences with the support of the Chinese Centre in Hamburg. International Event Management Shanghai (IEMS) is a course lasting for eight semesters leading to a Bachelor’s degree which is also recognised in Germany. The first 58 successful graduates were let loose to pursue practical experience in July 2008.

For the subsequent year with 72 graduates I took over the theme Management of Venues and Event Destina-tions. The experience of working with these students who actively contributed was surprising, above all in

events 1/2009 111

in the collective opinion of MICE professionals

terms of how openly and impartially contents were discussed. Sustainability and green meetings are no-thing new, especially as in the meantime the theme of (local) policy and economics has been pursued much more intensively than is acknowledged publicly in Eu-rope. Competition, even when it is fiercely slugged out, is taken for granted and even between locations as well as destinations, in other words with the ambition of being or becoming better. The only restriction is seen as openly or latently perceptible State authority (in-cluding at a local level), which is inhibiting on the one side, but on the other side thoroughly supportive, as well.

The higher the price acceptance, the more attractive the customerVirtually bewildering and yet rooted in Chinese tradi-tion (according to which negotiating means already being halfway to business success) is the flexible way in which price differentiation is handled as a sales ar-gument. Here it is not, for instance, dumping and dis-count that play a role, but rather the thought that the higher the price acceptance, the more attractive the customer! The use of qualified destination marketing still needs further development, as up to now it is still confused with local patriotism (but who amongst us Europeans can name more than five Chinese destinations without hesitating, and also locate them geographically?). For this reason the orientation towards professional exam-ples, here mainly from Germany, is seminal. Member-ship of an international association such as the UFI or ICCA is gladly seen as a testimonial of one’s own branding, but is also viewed highly critically. A Chinese professional association, respected worldwide and which international members would aspire towards, is a vision but not unrealistic in the long term.

Leaping tiger – flying dragon is an old Chinese song. It symbolizes energy, movement, ambition to move forward, perhaps slowed down by the economic crisis, but inexorable. We should well be agog. gaida@gaidaconsult.de

China – prepared for the world?by Daniel Tschudy

Or perhaps we should really ask: Is the world prepared for China? We won’t forget the powerful images of last summer’s Olympic Games opening ceremony in a hurry (was it the same in Sydney, or in Athens?). Nor of course the mass of people available .... tens of thousands were used – visibly, as artists in the ceremonies and as sporting representatives of China (with substantial success) – and invisibly, as officials at the games, instructors, translators, policemen, tourist guides and volunteers. They all had an identical goal: to show China in the best light and show the world that China is ready, that China is modern, freed from doubt and released from the past. From the perspec-tive of the Western world we can look for the negative points, the unresolved problems in Tibet or Xingjian, the human rights issues or freedom of opinion. But in the age of globalisation one thing seems central to me: These questions are not being asked from China’s perspective! Or to put it another way: China sees itself above all and primarily as … China! As the mid- dle kingdom, with thousands of years of history, with tradition and culture, with its inde-pendence, with a world for itself. Just as America does too, and just as do we in Europe, China views the world and its de-velopments from its own perspective.

The Chinese don’t try to understand the world through the eyes of other people (nor

58 of the new genera-tion for the sector. In the centre of the picture, first row, 5th from left: Professor Helmut Schwägermann from Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences

The author: The MICE and tourism industry has been Daniel Tschudy’s home for more than 30 years, 12 of which he spent abroad (France, Japan & Canada). In 1987 he co-founded MCI in geneva and later managed Spectrum, an events, DMC and congress agency. Since 2007 he has been consultant, speaker and journalist and is a member of the advisory Board of the Intercontinental Hotel group, amongst others.Presently he works in China – in connection with the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.

112 events 1/2009

DE S T IN aT ION : C HIN a

do most of us “Westerners” either!), but to assess the world from their own perspective. It is already difficult enough: China, who are we today? What are we to-day? And what role do we play in the new world, the world of globalization, and: What role do we play in the international meetings industry?To look ahead: very soon China will be playing a major role! China will be taking on a leading role in the ex-hibition and meeting sector and the conference sector in Asia in two to three years, both as a destination, and also, quite substantially, as an (outbound) market. Add to this a great attractiveness in incentive terms

(Shanghai in particular is currently on its way to be-coming one of the prime destinations in Asia). Here the two mega-cities of Peking (17.4 million inhabit-ants at the end of 2007) and Shanghai (including mi-grant workers, they are currently talking of more than 20 million) are providing a race of their own. There are indeed more than one hundred cities in China with populations of over one million people and some of them are larger than Peking or Shanghai, but these two cities will take on leading roles in international business in our industries. Peking, just as convincingly as Barcelona in 1992, is making the best use of the infrastructure created for the Olympics. An airport which sets the standard internationally, ultramodern motorways (in addition to the older, existing ring sys-tem), hotels of prime standards and above all the Chi-na National Convention Center (CNCC), which served as a media centre during the Games. This dramatic centre, equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure (on the Olympic Green, directly next to the “Bird’s Nest” Olympic Stadium) will be opened at the end of 2009 with a plenary hall for 6,000 participants, a

banqueting hall for 3,500 guests and 24,000 sqm of exhibition space.

Peking is on its way to becoming a global playerAs the government, a large number of organisations and some insurers are based in the capital city, Peking is automatically guaranteed to become a global player as a destination in the international congress competi-tion, as well as soon becoming a source market, at least initially for conferences and exhibitions in the Asia-Pacific region. The South-Eastern Chinese city of Shanghai is not sparing with its charms either: Dozens of fantastic hotels have opened, the “new” district of Pudong almost reminds you of science fiction films, the city easily handles the “East meets West” concept and offers a similar attractiveness as a destination for corporate meetings and incentive travel to that of Hong Kong in the 1980s. And with the mandate for the 2010 World Exhibition (where more than 70 mil-lion visitors are anticipated!) it has drawn another ace. Like Spain in 1992, when Madrid became the Euro-pean Capital of Culture in the same year as the Ol-ympic Games were held in Barcelona, Shanghai too is playing this double impact marketing, benefiting from the successful Peking Games and subtly incorporat-ing these into the advertising for the Shanghai 2010 World Exhibition.The following positive key values apply for both des-tinations, Peking and Shanghai: Easy to get to (des-tination and venues), quality of the infrastructure, quality of services, safety as well as attractiveness (as new, fresh destinations). There are primarily only two factors against them: the long travel time (e.g. from Europe) and the limited foreign language knowledge of the Chinese people – including in the service sector. Hong Kong has not dropped out of the race, but – at least in Chinese eyes – has, in the meantime, be-come an outsider. I am surprised to see how much China still sees the formerly Western Hong Kong as a special case, even after 12 years, just like Macau. But while Hong Kong continues to offer a certain value for international conferences and incentives, Macau is growing fast, but regionally. Insofar as the incred-ible development of the former Portuguese enclave is concerned, the situation there is almost like Dubai or a sort of Chinese Las Vegas. So it is probably less of a destination for the European target market in general, and more for the markets of China, Japan, Russia, In-dia and Arabia. To sum up: there is something going on in China – the omens indicate storm and conquest, and the team is ready. So the question to be asked is really: Is the Western world prepared for China? © Daniel Tschudy

People in our sector who are global in their approach and thus future orientated establish a connection or a mainstay of their own in China – like VOK DAMS. Here is the China team of the Wuppertal agency, who, after Peking, have now im-mediately opened their second Chinese office in Shanghai.

events 1/2009 113

Opening times of the Winterpark 2008/2009:

January 3 – March 7: Saturday 16:00 - 20:00

December 31 – March 4: Wednesday 16.00 - 20:00

Groups by request.

Sleeping polar Style in the southern-most Ice Hotel in Scandinavia

Even unpredictable sleep-walkers have nothing to fear: Provided they stay in their sleeping bag during their night-time excursions, frostbite doesn’t stand a chance: the down-filled tube keeps sleepers warm down to an arctic -30°C. Six rooms and one suite are available for non-namby-pambies, who are free to raise their body temperature at the “King Valemon” ice bar with the right ‘spirit’ before their nocturnal ad-venture.

The Winterpark is a mysterious fairy tale kingdom (complete with ugly trolls and all), which can only be seen and visited after dark! As soon as the park closes in the evening, the hotel opens its icy doors wide for curious overnight guests. Atmospherically lit, it stands in the middle of the Winterpark directly next to the enchanted castle.

The Ice Hotel is run by the neighbouring Quality Hotel & Resort Hunderfossen (40 rooms) which consists of four proper walls and familiar materials – and whose sauna/shower, breakfast room, room with an open fireplace, restaurant and conference rooms are won-derful places for thawing out after the jangling sleep-ing experience. The roughly 400 metres to the Ice Ho-tel are snugly covered in a shuttle on runners.

Put on the woolly socks and gloves, pull your hat on and get into the sheepskin-lined sleeping bag in your bed at the hotel made of ice in the Hunderfossen Winterpark in the gudbrandsdalen, 12 km north of Lillehammer in Norway! With an average temperature inside the hotel of between -3 and -7 °C these are adequate measures for staying overnight in a transparently iridescent deep-frozen atmosphere.

Not for wimps:

Activities in soft white snow or cold hard ice are pop-ular pastimes. Guests for whom cosy rides in horse-drawn sleighs by torchlight or regular river rafting under the Northern lights have just become far too boring, there is a special kind of rubdown in the shape of “river bathing”. The provider puts it this way: “The participants are given survival suits and are then … thrown into the icy cold rapids”. Brrrrr!

How to get there: By car or rail approx. 2 hours from/to Oslo Gardermoen Airport, 20 minutes from Lille-hammer, close to the Olympic Alpine centre at Hafjell. www.NorwayConventionBureau.nowww.vinterparken.no, www.tmf-gmbh.de

16. - 18. Juni 2009 | Messe Berlin

Die Event-Plattform derVon der Veranstaltungstechnik über Event-Ausstattung bis zur Planungssoftware:Auf EVENT3 präsentieren die Anbieter das gesamte Spektrum kreativer undinnovativer Produkte für temporäre Veranstaltungen.Nutzen Sie Ihre Chancen auf dem Event-Branchentreffpunkt in Berlin!

Veranstalter:

www.event-3.deIdeeller Träger:

Parallelveranstaltung

16. - 17. Juni 2009 | www.s

-t-b.orgNEU:

Event3_204x142:Layout 1 09.02.2009 10:01 Uhr Seite 1

They brought the HannoverKongress project to life in 2006: Deut-sche Messe AG, Hannover Impuls, Hannover Marketing Gesells-chaft, HTS, Hannover Airport, DEHOGA, Hannover Congress Cen-trum, Stadt Hannover and Tourismusverband Hannover Region. It was Arlette Hagedorn who ensured its success: Under her guid-ance, Hannover was strategically advertised as a conference and meeting location. The results are evident: The total sales of events booked via HannoverKongress since the bureau was founded total € 6.5 million, which in turn has generated around 90,000 overnight stays in hotels.And there are already firm bookings for conferences for com-ing years: estimated turnover for the period from 2009 to 2014 stands at around € 6 million, with 64,000 overnight stays.

“Now that Arlette Hagedorn has successfully developed and man-aged the congress bureau for three years, we will be able to inte-grate it into HMTG,” comments Hans Nolte, CEO of HMTG. “Ms. Hagedorn put in place the conceptual design of HannoverKon-

gress and within a very short time and with limited financial resources brought a number of congresses and events to Hannover. She quickly achieved a good positioning for the Hannover region in the market, which we can now further expand. We would like to give her our special thanks for that!”

“Developing and positioning HannoverKongress was a thoroughly exciting task for me and a challenge at the same time, and I am very glad that it has gone so well! I am personally in the process of reorientating myself professionally and am sounding out some interesting offers from the tourist sector and other areas related to it,” says Arlette Hagedorn. www.hannoverkongress.de events wishes Ms. Hagedorn much success and above all recog-nition of her commitment in the future!

Bundled: HannoverKongress merges with HMTG

DE S T IN aT IONS

events 1/2009 115

A summary by the German hotel association Ho-telverband Deutschland (IHA) e. V. which last year documented the average room rates in German and European cities for 2007, came to the conclusion:

“Germany scores internationally with a very good price/performance ratio.” According to this study, the high-est room rates were those in Moscow, Geneva and Paris, and there was a clear gap between these and the first German cities.

Just as noteworthy: Hotel prices here in Germany have remained stable. This is underlined by the recently pub-lished Hotel Price Index (HPI) from the online booking portal Hotels.com: “With a price increase of only one percent compared with the previous year on an aver-age overnight price of € 101 per room per night, also in the 3rd quarter of 2008 Germany was one of the most cost-effective travel destinations in Europe,” says the summary. Thus in terms of attractiveness of prices, Germany comes in 6th place out of the 19 countries analysed. According to the HPI, the highest room rates in the summer months of 2008 were paid by guests in Norway (average € 149), Switzerland (average € 147) and Denmark (average € 144).

Germany’s strengths in the crisisIn times of crisis, people look more closely at the price/per-formance ratio. So take a look: Not only can you hold meet-ings in germany cost-effectively, but the high meeting qual-

ity and the comparatively low incidental costs of meetings make the location in the heart of Europe extremely attractive. “The excellent price/performance ratio in the various areas of business and everyday life ought to be reason enough for booking in germany,” according to Lutz P. Vogt, CEO of the gCB german Convention Bureau e.V., which markets the Federal Republic both nationally and internationally as a location for meetings, conferences, events and incentives. “However this aware-ness hasn’t yet got through to everyone. It is true that germany is seen through-out Europe as the best meeting destination and it can point to a growing number of meetings and events, as is shown by the study ‘Meeting & EventBarometer 2008’,” continues Vogt, “but when talking with customers we find now and again that we still have a high price image. This image is way out of date.”

The Hotel Price/Performance Index (HPLI index) from hotel.de is the outcome of a comparison of the price/performance ratio in 3- and 4-star hotels based on the currently around 600,000 hotel ratings by customers from all over the world who have booked via this por-tal. “Overall hotels in the German cities proved to be competitive internationally in terms of their price and performance,” summarises hotel.de. “In comparison with the midpoint of all the countries we investigated (which also included Great Britain, France, Spain, Italy, the USA and China) (= 7.42) the result for Germany came out above average with an HPLI index of 7.55. German cities thus occupy fourth place in the com-parison between countries.”

The situation continues to be strainedThe importance of values of this kind for decision mak-ers can be seen by taking a look at the current situ-ation in the conference and events sector. The area available for meetings, exhibitions and trade fairs is growing continuously worldwide. The same can be said for the hotel room density and the number of new

116 events 1/2009

DE S T IN aT IONS

jobs in the sector. So the world’s largest association in the meeting and event industry, Meeting Professionals International (MPI), concludes that the meeting and conference sector is one of the global growth markets. Nonetheless, in recent months meeting planners have become more cautious: According to MPI, between September and November 2008 a number of sector trends have crystallized as “serious”. Right at the top is the deterioration in the economic situation, followed by an increase in last-minute cancellations and declin-ing participant numbers at meetings and conferences. Although for 2009 planners predict around 9 % fewer meetings, 3 % fewer participants and a 3 % reduction in the length of each meeting, at the same time they anticipate an increase in financial costs of around two percent per event. With a budget situation which con-tinues to be strained, this means that decision makers today are looking more closely at where they organise

their meetings and what they get for their budget in terms of service.

Outstanding quality in competitive termsAs the current hotel price comparisons have shown, Germany is well placed for the crisis especially in the overnight sector. In addition, the quality of the infra-structure and service areas, as well as the reliability, professionalism, careful organisation, optimal traffic connections and excellent transport options make Germany an “excellent meeting location” in a Euro-pean comparison.

This is shown by further studies: Thus according to the current analysis by the World Economic Forum and Booz Allen Hamilton evaluating the travel and tourism location factor EU states are “the most competitive in terms of tourism”. In this context Germany is al-located a leading position alongside Switzerland and Austria. “On the basis of its excellent connections to international tourism streams, one of the most ad-vanced road and rail infrastructures in the world to-gether with sustainable environmental regulations and high safety standards, Germany is in the top group,” is the rationale. “The increased efforts of German deci-sion makers to continue to accelerate the competitive advantage of their country have made themselves felt here.” The “Country Brand Index” (CBI) 2008 which was published in November 2008 by the consultancy company FutureBrand attests to Germany’s high at-tractiveness to business travellers: In the category

“Ideal for Business” the Federal Republic ranks in 2nd place right behind the USA, and in the category “Easi-est to do Business in” in 3rd place. In the category

“Quality Products” too it achieves an excellent 3rd place. And in the category “Conferences” Germany ranks amongst the top 4 worldwide.

Three German cities in the Top Ten for quality of livingAs a leading brand internationally, Germany offers a high quality of living and excellent accommodation

– beyond congress centres and meeting hotels – at comparably cost-effective prices. Taking the points in-dividually: According to the Anholt-GfK Nation Brands Index (NBI), which was obtained for the first time dur-ing the last year by GfK Custom Research North Amer-ica jointly with Simon Anholt, Germany has the best image as a nation in terms of its commercial brand. The index is based on a survey carried out in 20 indus-trial states and developing countries in categories such

Lutz P. Vogt, GM to the German Convention Bu-reau, bundles interests of the German meetings industry. According to the result of the latest analysis there’s no need for him to worry: There are worse desti-nations to be marketed internationally than his competitive native Germany.

• Unvergessliche Erlebnisse an einzigartigen LocationsVom eigenen Fußballturnier bis hin zum exklusiven Segeltörn

• Individuelle Konzepte für Ihre VeranstaltungMit absoluter Kostentransparenz und garantierter Budgetsicherheit

• 22 Clubs in 10 LändernMit außergewöhnlichem Ambiente und Service auf höchstem Niveau

• Von 10 Zimmern bis hin zum kompletten Club4-Sterne-Komfort, harmonisch eingebettet in die Natur

WIR-GEFÜHL SEIT

Fordern Sie Ihr persönliches ROBINSON Incentives- undTagungsangebot auf unserem neuen Webportal an:

www.robinson.com/gruppen

Bei ROBINSON steigern Sie Teamgeist nachhaltig und aufvielfältige Weise.

Dateiname: 174325_TUI.eps; Nettoformat:(98.00 x 287.00 mm); Datum: 24. Feb 2009 11:29:45; PDF-CMYK; L. N. Schaffrath DruckMedien

as export, government, culture and tourism. Applied to the meeting sector this means that if you hold your meeting in Germany, you will benefit from a strong brand here too. In addition there is a degree of quality of life which can scarcely be exceeded anywhere in the world. Thus in the renowned “Quality of Living Global City Rankings” from the consultancy company Mercer Germany has three cities at once in the worldwide Top Ten for 2008 with Düsseldorf, Munich and Frankfurt.

At the same time, everyday life between Flensburg and Munich, between Aachen and Berlin is anything but expensive by international standards. Not just the hotel price/performance ratio, but this ratio as applied overall, is excellent – and this is also shown by the annual “Worldwide Cost of Living Survey”, also from Mercer. The study, in which prices for more than 200 products and services were compared, is used by mul-tinational companies and governments throughout the world as the basis for establishing the salary allow-ances for staff who are deployed abroad for shorter or longer periods. The result of these price compari-sons is a ranking of the most expensive cities world-wide, which of course can also be read the other way round, as a ranking of the lowest priced cities world-wide. When it is read this way, then the fifty major cities listed for 2008 include a total of five German metropolises – and they all rank in the top third of the table. According to this, Hamburg is the lowest-priced of these 50 cities, Düsseldorf takes fifth place, followed by Frankfurt am Main (11th place), Berlin (13th) and Munich (14th place). A city such as Leipzig is then substantially lower priced again. Incidentally, the specialists at Mercer identified Moscow as the most expensive city in the world. And Tokyo, London, Oslo, Geneva, Copenhagen or Milan are also far more expensive than the German cities named.

1 coffee: Moscow Berlin Hamburg Leipzig 6,92 € 3,50 € 2,80 € 2,05 €Rent 2-room luxury aptmt: London Amsterdam Madrid Berlin 3.333,05 € 1.550,- € 1.400,- € 1.100,-€ Music-CD: Amsterdam Rome Paris Berlin 21,99 € 19,50 € 17,99 € 16,99 €

Source: „Worldwide Cost of Living Survey“, Mercer

www.beachcomber-hotels.com

Shandrani Resort & Spa, Mauritius

Anzeige

mauritius•seychellen

sie kommen

mit einem ziel -

und verlassen uns

mit einer vision

i n c e n t i v eagenten specialmauritius & seychellenab € 58 pro person/nacht imdoppelzimmer. gültig absofort bis zum 31.10.2009

alle preise und konditionenf i n d e n s i e u n t e rwww.agents.beachcomber.de

royal palm • dinarobin • paradis • shandrani • trou aux biches • le victoriale canonnier • le mauricia • sainte anne resort seychelles

infos: tel +49 89 6 29 84 90 • fax +49 89 6 09 68 11 • e-mail: info@beachcomber.de

EventsDU09-02-09.qxp 28.01.2009 19:04 Seite 1

120 events 1/2009

a S S O CI aT IONS

The managing director of the German MPI chapter is certainly ‘paying off’. Uwe Klapka did an all-round good job with the first DialogTag, because around 120 event pros visited the congress and accompanying ex-hibition on January 15th and 16th, 2009 in order to get advanced training, establish contacts and get an overview of the latest trends in the event sector. The format certainly earned a greater response because the DialogTag was received exceedingly well as a new form of advanced education. ‘Advanced training is one of the central pillars of MPI’s work,’ as acting president of MPI, Jochen Lohman, underscores the ne-cessity for bringing greater efficiency and effectiveness to the events industry through advanced education. In addition to well-known presenters such as Anselm Bilgri, Jolly Kunjappu, Joey Kelly and Jens Karrass, a total of 13 sector-specific topics were addressed at the

MPI DialogTag in a totally new way. There was also a FutureVillage, which gave a live demonstration of the most current styles and trends in the event sector: the latest technologies, meeting formats and advanced training options were introduced. All future formats and ideas in the meeting and events industry could be found here. Rather than pure discussions, this con-ference focused on sensory experiences, innovative meeting design and new technological solutions. Rep-resentative Andrea Bangert, from sponsor and host CC Essen, was continually present and ensured that things proceeded smoothly. And the fact that the city in the Ruhr area was a good choice of location was demon-strated by the venue for the evening event: A very re-laxed and harmonious format made its way across the stage at the old Kokerei coking plant in the city’s Zollv-erein colliery - the best view: through the sumptuously glazed facades that look out onto this World Cultural Heritage site, which at night is especially atmospheric. A continuation in 2009 is greatly desired!

MPI DialogTag in Essen:

Now that was a Success!

events 1/2009 121

Something as yet unheard-of in the MICE industry! In the space of just 24 hours, eight American associations have joined forces to make an emotional and public appeal protesting against a threat to the very existence of the industry. Within five days, a position paper “Model Board Policy for Approval of Meetings, Events and Incentive/Recognition Travel” had been developed, and on Febru-ary 9th it was presented at a press conference in Washington D.C. (www.ustravel.org or www.mpiweb.org).

So, what happened? As part of the US government’s aid pro-grammes to support the ailing banking sector (Troubled Asset Re-lief Program, TARP), the Ministry of Finance published a guideline on February 4th stating that the recipients of state payments – i.e. taxpayers’ money – would be obliged to conform to strict con-ditions and limitations (www.treas.gov/press/releases/tg15.htm). Article 6 of this guideline demanded the introduction of company-wide provisions prohibiting expenditure on luxuries (“expenditures that could be viewed as excessive or luxury items”). By this, the government meant flight bookings, office equipment, building renovations and – entirely unexpected in this context – company celebrations, Christmas parties, conferences and events. Moving to allay fears, the guideline promptly excludes sales conferences, employee training and appropriate incentive events, plus other activities related to “normal” company business. Company policy must, however, be published immediately on the company’s web-site.

Now we are of course used to hearing the regular reports about the “greed” of senior company management. However, the fact that meetings and events could be viewed as a luxury – and, by implication, would have to prove that they were not “excessive or luxury items” – alarmed the MICE associations.

So, naturally, they were quick to stress the economic importance of utility, indirect ROI and job security: “Meetings and Events are the Lifeblood of Many Local Communities”. However, perhaps recognising that this formula had proved fairly ineffective so far with politicians, and also believing – correctly – that action speaks louder than words, they then presented a model spec for the pro-visions demanded by the Treasury Department based upon their best understanding and recommended its adoption.

The paper’s 10 articles formulate obligatory behavioural standards for handling meetings and events. Supplementing this is the defi-nition of 12 meeting, event and incentive types, all of which are defined unmistakably as beneficial to the company and justifiable in terms of costs. However, should expenditures exceed 75,000 USD (approx. 60,000 EUR), then a written justification of the util-ity to the company must be provided that proves compliance with the company provisions. An indicator of just how serious things are is the fact that the associations have agreed to a cap on annu-al total company expenditure on MICE activities: the sum may not exceed 15% of the marketing budget. In addition, an independ-ent audit is to be carried out to ascertain whether these activities comply with the company provisions.

The associations leave it explicitly to the discretion of other com-panies as to whether to adopt their recommendations. Of course, many more companies will be holding out their hands for federal aid as part of President Obama’s multi-billion rescue package. And in the future, not only the finance authorities will take an interest in what is in fact permissible as a business expense: in times of political correctness, many a business will prefer to play it safe and handle its live communication with kid gloves.

And what are the consequences for us? It’s a well-known fact that Atlantic weather systems also reach our shores. And we will also have many recipients of aid from federal rescue packages, who will be bound by various provisions. Enough people are living as it is on taxpayers’ money. Would it therefore not make sense for our industry to get together in good time and to negotiate, rather than awaiting an unrealistic ministerial decree?Hans-Jürgen Gaida, gaida@gaidaconsult.de

Those supporting the campaign: American Hotel and Lodging Association, Destination Marketing Association International, In-ternational Association of Exhibitions and Events, Meeting Profes-sionals International, National Business Travel Association, Profes-sional Convention Management Association, Society of Incentive Travel Executives and U.S. Travel Association with the support of Maritz Inc.

Deep depression over the AtlanticUntil now, the pros in the MICE business have used impressive arguments to – largely – assure each other about the importance and utility of meetings, congresses, trade fairs, events and incentives: planners talking to marketing and HR people, suppliers talking to planners, etc., etc. With the advent of the financial crisis, project cancellations and budget cuts, the frequency of such hocus-pocus has intensified. Overnight, however, the situation has worsened dramatically. People now no longer talk about individual success, but about the survival of the industry as a whole.

122 events 1/2009

Fa M TRIP

events Invites You on a Famtrip to Croatia10 to 15 planners will have the opportunity to get to know the meeting & incentive highlights in the Adriatic republic with us from May 10th – 15th, 2009

Sunday, May 10th Flight to Split, site inspection and overnight stay at Le Meridien Lav Split (5*)

Monday, May 11th Continue on to Dubrovnik by coach in the early afternoon/ Arrival between 18.00 and 19.00 / three nights and sightseeing schedule in Dubrovnik

Thursday, May 14th Return flight to Dubrovnik

We will notify you of the exact schedule after the participants have been selected from the registration list. Please apply no later than March 25th to:

Fax: 069 – 95 52 36 22

Note: We reservethe right to makechanges to theprogramme.Registration doesnot entitle youto participate, asparticipation in thefam trip is limitedand only effectiveafter confirmation.A cost contributionwill be charged,which has yet tobe determined.

Last name: First name:

Company: Function:

Street adress: Street/postal code:

Telephone: Email:

Registration coupon

Please fax to +49-69 – 95 52 36 22I am interested in taking part in the fam trip from 10 – 15 March 2009:

>

events 1/2009 123

e v ents BOX : E V E N T S

Airline brokerZip Code 5 Pro Sky Flüge für Gruppen Hohenstaufenring 29-37, 50674 KölnTelefon: +49-221-920 440Telefax. +49-221-920 44-22e-mail: info@pro-sky.deInternet: www.pro-sky.de

Professional Training and EducationZip Code 4 IST-Studieninstitut für Kommunikation Moskauer Str. 25, 40227 DüsseldorfTel.: +49 (0) 211-77 92 37-0 Fax: +49 (0) 211-77 92 37-27E-Mail: info@ist-komm.de Internet: www.ist-komm.de

Stages, tribunes and special constructions Zip Code 3 TS Tribünenservice GmbHTS plant, vermietet und verkauft mobile Tribünen mit und ohne DachHelmkestr. 5 B, D-30165 HannoverTel.: +49-511/35319626, Fax: +49-511/35319627info@ts-tribuenenservice.dewww.ts-tribuenenservice.de

Zip Code 9

Nüssli (Deutschland) GmbHVermietung und Verkauf von Tribünen, Bühnen,Messebau, mobilen Hallen und StadionbautenRothgrund 6, D-91154 Roth, Tel.: +49-9171-9763-0Niederlassungen auch in Berlin und Gießene-mail: roth@nussli.com, Internet: www.nussli.com

CatererZip Code 1Catering‘s Bestby InterContinentalBudapester Straße 2, 10787 BerlinTel.: 030/2602 1430, Fax: 030/2602 1421e-mail: cateringsbest_berlin@interconti.comInternet: www.cateringsbest.de

PLZ 7DEBEOS GmbHEin Unternehmen der ISS Facility ServicesWerk 086/HPC 7000Postfach 80 02 45, 70502 StuttgartTel: +49 711 17-165, Fax: +49 711 17-98800 info@debeos.de, www.debeos.de

DMCs GermanyZip Code 8WEICHLEIN TOURS + INCENTIVESIncoming, Special Interest Tours, DMCNeuhauser Straße 23, 80331 MünchenTel.: 089-85636630, Fax: 089-85636636e-mail: info@weichlein.deInternet: www.weichlein.de

TOP BAVARIA TRAVEL GmbHSchulstraße 11, 80634 MünchenTel.: 089-130009, Fax: 089-165994e-mail: info@top-bavaria.deInternet: www.top-bavaria.de

DMCs Europe AustriaAIMS International I AHR TravelYour Austria ConnectionA-1090 Wien, Mariannengasse 32Tel.: +43 1 402 77 55-0 • Fax: +43 1 402 77 31vienna@aims-international.comwww.aims-international.com

BelgiumBrussels International Travel ServiceRue Arthur Diderich 30, B-1060 BruxellesTel.: 0032-2-5431010, Fax: 0032-2-5381294e-mail: belgium@euromic.comInternet: www.brussels-international.be

AIMS International BrusselsYour Belgium ConnectionB-1831 Oude, Oude-Haachtsesteenw. 107/3Tel.: +32 2 722 82 30 • Fax: +32 2 722 82 40brussels@aims-international.comwww.aims-international.com

BulgariaAIMS International SofiaYour Bulgaria ConnectionBG-1000 WTC Affiliate, 9 Iskar StreetTel.: +359 2 811 7400 • Fax: +359 2 811 7410sofia@aims-international.comwww.aims-international.com

CroatiaDubrovnik Travel - Premium DMC of CroatiaObala Stjepana Radica 2520000 Dubrovnik, CROATIATel.: +385 20 31 35 55, Fax: +385 20 31 35 50info@dubrovniktravel.com www.dubrovniktravel.com

Czech RepublicAIMS International Prague Your Czech ConnectionCZ-182 00 Prague 8, Pomezní 7/1387Tel.: +420 284 007 340 • Fax: +420 284 007 350prague@aims-international.comwww.aims-international.com

FinlandFinland Special Tours Ltd., DMCSibeliuksenkatu 19, 04400 JärvenpääTel.: 00358-9-2790980, Fax: 00358-9-2711772e-mail: finland.spezial.tours@kolumbus.fiwww.kolumbus.fi/fstours/

FranceDESTINATION – Ihr Elsass-SpezialistIncoming – Meeting – Incentives – Events15, Boulevard d’ Anvers, F-67000 StrasbourgTel.: + 33 3 88 60 70 70, Fax: +33 3 88 61 93 32e-mail: incoming@destination-fr.com homepage: www.destination-fr.com

Ring-Tours VisionIhr deutschsprachiger DMC-Partnerfür ganz Frankreich5, Rue de Castiglione, 75001 Paris, FranceTel.: (0033)01-49277008, Fax: -49277044e-mail: incentives@ringtours.fr homepage: www.ringtours.fr

GreeceDifferent Routes Event Consulting23, Agiou Dimitriou, GR – 17455 Alimos – AthensTel.: +30-210-9 85 26 02; Fax: +30-210-9 85 25 67www.different-routes.comdvdr@different-routes.com

FREI S.S. Travel – CongressPaprigiopoulou 310561 Athens – GreeceTel.: 0030-210-3215600Fax: 0030-210 321 9296www.frei.gr, e-mail: info@frei.gr

Helden S.A. International Services Limited170 Ipsilantou Street, GR- 185 35 Piraeus/AthenTel.: +30-210-42 96 000, Fax: +30-210-41 012 86travel@helden.gr - www.helden.grRepresentative in Germany: Tourism Affairs, Eva.muminovic@tourism-affairs.com

destination management company

MU

NIC

H

Tel: +49/(0)89/24218-434Maximilianstr. 35a · 80539 Münchenmunich@my-dmc.de · www.my-dmc.de

124 events 1/2009

e v ents BOX : E V E N T S

HungaryMOTIVATION BUDAPEST REISE GMBHHattyu u. 16, H-1015 BudapestTel.: 0036-1-224-7141, Fax: 0036-1-355-8693e-mail: motiv@motivation.huHomepage: www.motivation.hu

AIMS International BudapestYour Hungary ConnectionH-1054 Budapest, Honvéd u.22.III.2Tel.: +36 1 266 2943 • Fax: +36 1 266 2946budapest@aims-international.comwww.aims-international.com

Continental TravelKálmán Imre Str. 19, H-1054 BudapestTel.: +36-1-373-0616, Fax: +36-1-373-0617continental.travel@continentaltravel.huwww.continentaltravel.hu

EVENT + INCOMING SERVICEH-1118 Budapest, Háromszék u. 28T: +361 266 2414 F: +361 266 1914tibor@event-incoming.huwww.event-incoming.huwww.budapest-event-planner.hu

IcelandDestination Iceland Ltd. (Come-2 Iceland DMC)Vatnsmyravew 10, IS-101 ReykjavikTel.: 00354-591-1020, Fax: 00354-591-1050e-mail: travel@dice.is, www.dice.is

ItalyWilliam Clementson srlIncentives - KongresseVia Statilia 4, I - 00185 RomTel.: 003906-77209079, Fax: 003906-7092506info@clementson.com, www.clementson.com

MaltaSPECIAL INTEREST TRAVEL Ltd.‚Demajo House‘, 103 Archbishop Street, VallettaTel./Fax: 00356 2552 0000 - Fax: 00356 2552 2553e-mail: jcaruana@sit.com.mt – www.sit.com.mtRepresentative in Germany: Tourism Affairs Eva Muminovic – info@sit.com.mt

ON SITE MALTAIhr deutschsprachiger MICE-PartnerKontakt: Paul Selis23, Salvu Camilleri Street, Mellieha MLH04Tel: +356-2152 4020, Fax: +356-2152 5645paulselis@onsitemalta.com, www.onsitemalta.com

MonacoAgence C.I.R. C. Calmettes147, Domaine les Michels, 13790 Peynier Tel.: 0033-4-42530364, Fax: 0033-4-42530840cirfrance@aol.com, www.cirfrance.fr

Portugal

AIMS International Lisbon Your Portugal ConnectionP-1200-203 Lisbon, Rua Garrett 61-3°Tel.: +351 21 324 50 40 • Fax: +351 21 324 50 50lisbon@aims-international.comwww.aims-international.com • www.aims.pt

team quatroIhr Partner in PortugalRua Mestre D‘Aviz 11, P-1495-014 Algés/LisboaTel: +351-21-411 1300, Fax: +351-21-411 1310e-mail: info@teamquatro.comwww.teamquatro.com

TFT - Viagens & Turismo Lda.Englisch - Deutsch - FranzösischEdifício St. Barbara, Esc. 8, Estrada daRebelva, Lte. 307-A, PT-2775-726, CarcavelosTel: +351-21-4582178, Fax: +351-21-4583143info@tftportugal.com, www.tftportugal.com

SloveniaAlbatros Bled, Congress AgencyRibenska 2, SI-4260 BledTel./Fax: 00386-45780350 / 00386-45780355info@albatros-bled.com / www.albatros-bled.com

SwitzerlandExecutive Events GmbH - the creative Swiss DMCSumpfstrasse 26CH-6301 ZugTel.: +41(0)41 747 43 66www.executive-events.ch

Grass Roots Switzerland AGWeinbergstrasse 11, CH-8001 ZürichTel.: +41 44 252 50 30 Fax.: +41 44 251 31 49E-mail: contact-ch@grg.comInternet: www.grassroots-ch.com

Kuoni Destination ManagementKuoni DMC is a global organiser of Meetings & Incentive programmes.Überlandstrasse 360CH- 8051 Zürich, SwitzerlandTel.: +41-1-325 23 46Fax: +41-1-322 41 13meetings.zrh@kuoni.ch, www.kuoni-dmc.com

SpainIBEROSERVICE INCOMING SERVICES Büros in Spanien: Alicante, Barcelona, Costa de la Luz, Costa del Sol, Lanzarote, Madrid, Mallorca, Sevilla, TeneriffaAusserhalb Spanien: Brasilien, Costa Rica,Dominikanische Republik, Kuba, Mexiko,Portugal und VenezuelaZentralbüro: Mallorcae-mail: incentives.commercial@iberoservice.comhttp://brochure.iberoservice.com

TurkeyA-LEVEL TOURISMDestination Management ServicesTaksim Cad, Sakarya Apt. No 25 D 2TR – 34437 Taksim-Beyoglu-IstanbulTel.: +90 212 235 59 50, Fax: +90 212 235 59 52ozlem.oztok@a-leveltourism.coma-level@a-leveltourism.comwww.a-leveltourism.com

IDEE Travel Services co. incentives-congress-cruises-group-fitBüyükdere Cad./ Kaya Aldogan Sok No 12/4, TR - Istanbul - ZincirlikuyuTel.: 0090(212)2123284, Fax: 0090(212)2751867e-mail: info@ideetravel.com, esra.levent@ideetravel.com, Internet: www.ideetravel.com

Unbenannt-12 1 15.05.2008 15:57:48 Uhr

events 5/2008 125

DMCs Africa NamibiaSWA Safaris (Pty) Ltd.Ihr Reiseunternehmen mit ErfahrungP.O.Box 20373, Windhoek / NamibiaTel.: +264-61-221193, Fax: +264-61-225387e-mail: swasaf@swasafaris.com.naInternet: www.swasafaris.com.na

South Africa

DMCs America Dominican RepublicTurinter, DMCLeopoldo Navarro #4, Santo DomingoTel.: 001-809-6864020Fax: 001-809-6883890e-mail: incoming@turinter.comInternet: www.turinter.com

ULTRAMAR Express DominicanaResp: H´nas. Mirabal #3, Puerto Plata. R.D.Tel.: 001-809-5869373Fax: 001-809-3208236e-mail: ultramar@codetel.net.do

MexicoKOMEX TOURS S.A.Benjamin Hill 243, Col. CondesaMEX-06140 Mexico, D.F.Tel.: 0052-55-52729913Fax: 0052-55-52720648e-mail: komex@data.net.mx

U.S.A.EastWest Travel GmbHNeumarkt 33, D-50667 KölnTel.: (+49) 221-39760600, Fax: (+49) 221-2336450e-mail: info@eastwest.travelwww.eastwest.travelTOP DMCs für USA und Kanada

DMCs AsiaAIMS International ShanghaiYour Shanghai ConnectionUniversal World Building Top 2903168-172, Yuyuan RoadShanghai, 200040, ChinaTel.: +86 21 6249 32 62, Fax: +86 21 6249 15 71shanghai@aims-international.com

Event agenciesZip Code 0FUCHS congress + incentive gmbhEinsteinstr. 4, 01069 DresdenTel.: +49-351-479300, Fax: +49-351-479 30 29Internet: www.fuchsincentive.de

Zip Code 1Global TBSIncentives – Konferenzen – EventsBlumenstrasse 49, 10243 BerlinTel.: 030-397445-0, Fax: 030-397445-14e-mail: info@globaltbs.dewww.globaltbs.de

MR CONGRESS & INCENTIVE GMBHAlt Friedrichsfelde 11, 10315 BerlinTel.: +49 30 44 35060Fax: +49 30 44 350620info@mr-congress.comwww.mr-congress.com

Red Carpet Event GmbH, Office BerlinBerolinahaus am Alexanderplatz 1 10178 Berlin Tel: 030.2325 74 - 00 Fax: 030.2325 74 - 11 E-Mail: berlin@red-carpet-event.de Internet: www.red-carpet-event.de

CPO HANSER SERVICE GmbHConference - Event - Destination Management Paulsborner Str. 44, 14193 BerlinTel.: 030-3006690, Fax: 030-3057391e-mail: berlin@cpo-hanser.deInternet: www.cpo-hanser.de

Ihre Ansprechpartnerin: Anke Rochau

Ihr deutschsprachiges DMC-Team mit Spezialisten für kreative Incentives & Veranstaltungen im südlichen AfrikaTel: +27 (0)21 415 2000Fax: +27 (0)21 421 0229anke@thatsafrica.comwww.thatsafrica.com

thatsafrica.indd 1 05.02.2009 8:12:02 Uhr

126 events 1/2009

Zip Code 2

C³ event.netCross Communication Concepts

Postfach 730607, 22126 HamburgTel.: +49 (0)40 - 645 32 333 Fax: +49 (0)40 - 644 25 695info@c3event.netwww.c3event.net

Gesellschaft für strat. Kommunikation mbHIncentives, Tagungen, Promotionnational und internationalGellertstr. 5, 22301 HamburgTel.: +49 (0)40-287866-0, Fax: +49 (0)40-287866-28info@people-events.comwww.people-events.com

Zip Code 3LENZeventsBodelschwinghstraße 5, 34119 KasselTel.: 0561-72884-0, Fax: 0561-72884-59e-mail: info@lenzevents.deInternet: www.lenzevents.de

Zip Code 4Grass Roots Germany GmbHGoltsteinstr. 28, 40211 DüsseldorfTel.: +49 (0)211-99100-0 Fax: +49(0)211-99100-600contact-de@grg.com, www.grassroots-de.com

Red Carpet Event GmbH, Office DüsseldorfNeuer Zollhof 3 40221 Düsseldorf Tel.: 0211.220 59 - 350 Fax: 0211.220 59 - 419E-Mail: duesseldorf@red-carpet-event.de Internet: www.red-carpet-event.de

PANROYAL Agentur für Absatzkommunikation GmbHEvent - Incentive - MesseBerghauser Str. 1-5, 42349 WuppertalTel.: 0202-24190, Fax: 0202-470021info@panroyal.com · www.panroyal.com

LIVE ART COMMUNICATIONSchirmerstraße 59, 40211 Düsseldorf Tel.: 0211 - 26 105 185Fax: 0211 - 26 105 117E-Mail: liveart@arcor.dewww.liveart-kommunikation.de

Zip Code 5

Zip Code 6MIT Event- und Incentive-Management GmbH Wöhlerstrasse 5, 60323 Frankfurt am MainTel.: 069-710 423 300Fax: 069-710 423 400e-mail: info@m-i-t.deInternet: www.m-i-t.de

DERCONGRESS - DERTOUR GmbH & Co. KGFrau Sandra OpperProjekt Manager DERCONGRESSEmil-von-Behring-Str. 6, D-60439 FrankfurtTel. +49 69 9588-3617, Fax +49 69 9588-3608service@dercongress.comwww.dercongress.com

Quasar Communications GmbHIncentives, Prämien, KundenbindungFriedrich-Bergius-Straße 15-17, 65203 WiesbadenTel.: 0611/18887-0, Fax: 0611/18887-20e-mail: info@q-com.de, www.quasar.de

Zip Code 7ellis EVENTS GmbH Conferences - Events - Incoming - IncentivesFrischlinstraße 25, D-72336 BalingenTel. +49 7433/999 10, Fax +49 7433/999 123info@ellis-events.comwww.ellis-events.com

V.I.T. GmbHVeranstaltungen, Incentives, TrainingsHagäckerstrasse 4, 73760 OstfildernTel.: +49-711-1327322, Fax: +49-711-1327333e-mail: info@vit-gmbh.deInternet: www.vit-gmbh.de

POG Incentive Management GmbHEchterdinger Str. 38, 70771 LeinfeldenTel.: 0711-75075-0, Fax: 0711-75075-13e-mail: info@pog.de, Internet: www.pog.de

Zip Code 8MAM Live CommunicationMarketing And More GmbHDonnersbergerstraße 22a, 80634 MünchenTel.: +49 (0)89 20 20 69-0 Fax +49 (0)89 20 20 69-69e-mail: info@m-a-m.de, Internet: www.m-a-m.de

ten & one EventagenturMeyerbeerstrasse 12, 81247 MünchenTel: 089-2554 190, Fax: 089-2554 1920info@tenandone.comwww.tenandone.com

EGM Eventgruppe GmbHEvents, Conventions, IncentivesLandsberger Straße 68, 80339 MünchenInternet: www.eventgruppe.com

REALIZE Live-Marketing GmbHAgentur für integrierte VeranstaltungenMünchner Str. 12, 82008 Unterhaching-MünchenTel.: 089/66 07 99-0, Fax: 089/66 07 99-66e-mail: info@realize-events.dewww.realize-events.de

GERMANY – FRANCE – USA – CH INA – DUBA I

Agentur für Events und Live-Marketing

info@vokdams.dewww.vokdams.de

AZ_58x20_cti 26.02.2007 11:01 Uhr Seite 1

e v ents BOX : E V E N T S

Agentur für integrierte Live-Kommunikation

Büro Bonn Kaiserstraße 3353115 Bonn

Büro BerlinHausvogteiplatz 210117 Berlin

Büro MünchenTheresienhöhe 1280339 München

Tel. 0228.91530-0 event@pleon.com www.pleon.com

Gesellschaft für Marketing und Kommunikationsdesign mbH

Hasengartenstraße 22

65189 Wiesbaden

0611. 188 75 - 0 go.advertising@go-ad.de

www.go-ad.de

NESTLE

TELEKOM

BMW

CAMPARI

FREIXENET

RUSSIAN STANDARD

RADEBERGER

DAVIDOFF CAFE

GRANINI

JENOPTIK

SIPAHH

FRESENIUS

SONY BMG

Zip Code 9NEMA Entertainment GmbHEvents - Shows - Full ServiceAlfred-Hess-Straße 18a, 99094 ErfurtTel.: 0361-226 01 46, Fax: 0361-225 19 68info@nema-entertainment.dewww.nema-entertainment.de

Event tents

Flexible DisplaysEXPO DISPLAY SERVICE GROUPFrankfurt, Zürich, Wien, Apeldoorne-mail: info@expodisplayservice.comInternet: www.expodisplayservice.com

Incentive AgenciesZip Code 0FUCHS congress + incentive gmbhEinsteinstr. 4, 01069 Dresden Tel.: 0351-479300, Fax: 0351-4793029Internet: www.fuchsincentive.de

Zip Code 1i-contravel GmbHincoming - concept - incentive – congressAm Karlsbad 15, 10785 BerlinTel.: 030-257570-0, Fax: 030-257570-70info@i-contravel.com, www.i-contravel.com

Ihr Partner an der OstseeV.I.P. Hanse Touring GmbHAm Strande 3, 18055 RostockTel.: 0381-5481210, Fax: 0381-5481211e-mail: info@vipcentive.deHomepage: www.vipcentive.de

Global TBSIncentives - Konferenzen - EventsBlumenstraße 49, 10243 BerlinTel. 030-397445-0, Fax: 030-397445-14E-Mail: info@globaltbs.dewww.globaltbs.de

Zip Code 4Grass Roots Germany GmbHGoltsteinstr. 28, 40211 DüsseldorfTel.: +49 (0)211-99100-0 Fax: +49(0)211-99100-600contact-de@grg.com, www.grassroots-de.com

Zip Code 6MIT Event- und Incentive-Management GmbH Wöhlerstrasse 5, 60323 Frankfurt am MainTel.: 069-710 423 300, Fax: 069-710 423 400e-mail: info@m-i-t.deInternet: www.m-i-t.de

Zip Code 7

POG Incentive Management GmbHEchterdinger Str. 38, 70771 LeinfeldenTel.: 0711-75075-0, Fax: 0711-75075-13e-mail: info@pog.de, Internet: www.pog.de

Zip Code 8GLOBO Incentives GmbHReisen, Kongresse & EventsViktualienmarkt 3, 80331 MünchenTel.: 089-24 20 850, Fax: 089-24 20 85 50e-mail: info@globo-incentives.deInternet: www.globo-incentives.de

MAM Live CommunicationMarketing And More GmbHDonnersbergerstraße 22a, 80634 MünchenTel.: +49 (0)89 20 20 69-0 Fax +49 (0)89 20 20 69-69e-mail: info@m-a-m.de, Internet: www.m-a-m.de

Top Bavaria Travel GmbHSchulstrasse 11, 80634 MünchenTel.: 089 / 130009, Fax: 089 / 165994e-mail: info@top-bavaria.deInternet: www.top-bavaria.de

REALIZE Live-Marketing GmbHAgentur für integrierte VeranstaltungenMünchner Str. 12, 82008 Unterhaching-MünchenFon: 089/66 07 99-0, Fax: 089/66 07 99-66e-mail: info@realize-events.dewww.realize-events.de

Croatiaalta maris d.o.o.

Incentive Travel Croatia Cindrova 6, 21312 Podstrana/Split-Croatia Tel.: +385-21 334 110, Fax: +385-21 333 109 Petra Svacica 8, 20000 Dubrovnik-CroatiaTel.: +385-20 436 517, Fax: +385-20 436 519 info@altamaris.com, www.altamaris.com

SKY 001-08 RZ Anz Eventbox 58x20.indd 1 23.10.2008 15:10:06 Uhr

events-hoch_final.indd 1 30.12.2008 09:26:34

128 events 1/2009

Tunesia

USA

Limousines RentalZip Code 6

ETS LimousinenserviceWiesenhüttenplatz 39, 60329 Frankfurt/M.Tel.: 069-271010Fax: 069-235695info@ets-frankfurt.dewww.ets-frankfurt.de

Locations for events Zip Code 1Matrix Club und Event GmbHFaszinierendes Ambiente für 50-3.000 PersonenWarschauer Platz 18, 10245 BerlinTel.: 030-29 36 999-10, Fax: 030-29 36 999-99 e-mail: alexander@matrix-berlin.dewww.matrix-berlin.de

Zip Code 6Bumb‘s Junior Finest CateringJapan Tower 25. Etage & Konferenz ZentrumTaunustor 2, D-60311 Frankfurt am MainTel.: 069-954400-0, Fax: 069-954400-90e-mail: info@bumbs-junior.dewww.bumbs-junior.de

Zip Code 7Neckar-Käpt‘n - Neckar-Personen-SchiffahrtBerta Epple GmbH & Co.KGAnlegestelle Wilhelma, 70376 StuttgartTel.: 0711-549970-60, Fax: 0711-549970-80e-mail: buchung@neckar-kaeptn.deHomepage: www.neckar-kaeptn.dePartyfloß + 4 Schiffe

Maritime eventsZip Code 8OceanEvent – Maritime Conventions, Product Launches & IncentivesSeearkaden/Zweigstraße 1,D-82319 StarnbergTel.: 08151 746 49-0, Fax: 08151 746 49-1info@oceanevent.com, www.oceanevent.com

Online eventplatformSpainEvent Planner Spain, S.L.Paseo de la Sierra, 38-20 29018 Málaga, Spain Tel.:+34 952 294 327, Fax: +34 952 292 831 clientes@eventplannerspain.com www.eventplannerspain.com

Teambuilding Zip Code 8OPEN DOOR GmbHTeambuilding and more!Schützenstr. 9, 80335 MünchenTel: 089-515 188 51; Fax: 089-515 059 11E-Mail: info@opendoor-events.dewww.opendoor-events.de

TicketingZip Code 7ReserviX GmbH – mit uns die besten Karten.Erbprinzenstr. 2a, 79098 FreiburgTel.: 0761-556529-80, Fax: 0761-556529-99info@reservix.de, www.reservix.de

Technologie for eventsZip Code 5SHOWTEC Beleuchtungs- und Beschallungs GmbHKöhlstr. 10, 50827 KölnTel.: 0221 / 53994-0Fax: 0221 / 53994-530e-mail: mail@showtec.deInternet: www.showtec.de

Advertising agenciesZip Code 8Impressum, Agentur für Kommunikation & TextWERBESTRATEGIEN FÜR IHR EVENTZweigstraße 1, D-82319 StarnbergTel.: 08151-559 1240, Fax: 08151-559 1241info@impressumonline.dewww.impressumonline.de

I

e v ents BOX : E V E N T S

SKY 001-08 RZ Anz Eventbox 58x20.indd 1 23.10.2008 15:10:06 Uhr

New York · California · Florida

Lizard IncentEventsWith offices in New York, Los Angeles & MiamiFor the US and Canada Phone: +1-212-868-2121

welcome@liz-ie.com · www.lizard-incentevents.com

Lizard_Anz_40x58_02.indd 1 17.12.2008 14:19:37 Uhr

Exhibition and Conferences

Active breaksZip Code 6DRUM CONVERSATIONTrommelshows & WorkshopsMärkerstr. 7, D - 60437 Frankfurt am MainTel.: +49-6101-558260, Fax: +49-6101-558261info@drum-conversation.com www.drum-conversation.com

Conference and meeting agenciesZip Code 3 Silver‘s business travel GmbHPrinzenstraße 3, 30159 Hannoverwww.silvers.de, info@silvers.deFon: +49 511 59 09 31 30 Kostenfreie Vermittlung vonTagungs- und SeminarhotelsVeranstaltungsorganisation

Zip Code 6Conventure - Your Personal Congress OrganizerMesse Frankfurt Venue GmbH & Co.KGLudwig-Erhard-Anlage 1, 60327 Frankfurt/Main Tel.: 069 / 75 75-54 31, Fax: 069 / 75 75-57 37 anke.wannagat@messefrankfurt.com www.conventure.messefrankfurt.com

meet & moreEberbacher Straße 19, 65375 Oestrich-WinkelTel.: 06723-9989010, Fax: 06723-5487Mobil: +49-171-686-2299e-mail: un@meet-and-more.dewww.meet-and-more.de

Zip Code 8PROSKE | group GmbH

meetings & hospitality worldwide

Oberaustr. 34, 83026 Rosenheim / Munich

Tel.: +49 (0)8031/8008-0

Fax: +49 (0)8031/8008-88

info@proskegroup.com, www.proskegroup.com

Exhibition concept, appearance and installationZip Code 2MICE MEISSNER EXPO GMBH

Schnackenburgallee 16, D-22525 Hamburg

Tel.: +49(0)40529050, Fax: +49(0)4052905118

e-mail: info@mice.de, web: www.mice.de

ISDN: +49(0)4085322274

Zip Code 8

the fair agency

agentur für messedienstleistungen

Neumarkter Str. 34, 81673 München

Tel: 089-2444 193-70, Fax: 089-2444 193-79

info@the-fair-agency.com

Web: www.the-fair-agency.com

PCOsZip Code 1CPO HANSER SERVICE GmbH

Conference - Event - Destination Management

Paulsborner Str. 44, 14193 Berlin

Tel.: 030-3006690 Fax: 030-3057391

e-mail: berlin@cpo-hanser.de

Internet: www.cpo-hanser.de

Zip Code 2

C³ event.net

Cross Communication Concepts

Postfach 730607, 22126 Hamburg

Tel.: +49 (0)40 - 645 32 333

Fax: +49 (0)40 – 644 25 695

info@c3event.net

www.c3event.net

Reisebüro Willi Simon, PCO

Hasporter Damm 9, 27749 Delmenhorst

Tel.: 04221-9660-0, Fax: 04221-9660-50

e-mail: info@congressimon.com

e v ents BOX : E X HIBI T ION a N D CON FE R E NC E S

SKY 001-08 RZ Anz Eventbox 58x20.indd 1 23.10.2008 15:10:06 Uhr

events-hoch_final.indd 2 30.12.2008 09:26:46

130 events 1/2009

Advertising and promotional items Zip Code 6MIT Event- und Incentive-Management GmbH

Wöhlerstrasse 5, 60323 Frankfurt am Main

Tel.: 069-710 423 150, Fax: 069-710 423 400

e-mail: info@m-i-t.de, Internet: www.m-i-t.de

Artists and artist agencies

Artists

Artist agenciesZip Code 8DJ PLUS - DJs & Live-Musiker

Beringstraße 17, 53115 Bonn

Tel.: 0228-8864740

www.tk-medienservice.de

Zip Code 8JOHN BARKER

CORPORATE ENTERTAINMENT

THE CORPORATE ENTERTAINMENT EXPERTS

Waldmeisterstr. 4, D-83109 Großkarolinenfeld

Tel.: 08031-50994, Fax: 08031-59211

info@johnbarker.de, www.johnbarker.de

Publishing House: Werbe- und Verlags-gesellschaft Ruppert mbH,Trakehner Straße 7–9, Bürohaus a, D-60487 Frankfurt a.M.Tel.: +49/69/95 52 36-0Fax: +49/69/95 52 36-22E-Mail: info@events-magazine.dewww.events-magazine.com

Managing Directorgerrit Klein

Editor-in-ChiefHans Jürgen Heinrich

EditorChristina Feyerke

Publishing Director/Advertising DirectorJoachim Berger

Manager Sales Central EuropeKerstin Quirin

Manager International SalesInga SchadeBirte Oberfranz

Contributing Editorsgisela Katharina Prenzel, Sven Eichenlaub, Fritz Pütz, Daniel Tschudy

Graphic Design Rainer Schmoll, 65307 Bad Schwalbach

PrintingL.N. Schaffrath DruckMedien gmbH & Co. Kg, 47608 geldern

TranslationsKern ag, Frankfurt Tilti Systems gmbH, Vienna

advertising rate list No. 37 as of 1 November, 2008

advertising Coordinators: Thomas Pfisterer, Katja Wittig

advertising Representatives:Hungary: Media & Print Kft.Tátrá u. 12/a fszt. 2., H-1136 BudapestTel.: +36/1/32 92 174 u. 32 05 410Fax: +36/1/35 93 046Middle East: Media Seen,Mr. Sunil anand, Director, Cell: +97150/6490344,Ms. Indira Mohandas, Sales Manager, Cell: +97150/3672089,3rd Floor, Moosa Habib Building, al Wahda Street,Sharjah, PO Box 5320, United arab EmiratesTel. +9716/5593711, Fax: +9716/5591226Dubai Office: Tel. +9714/3535049, Fax: +9714/3535479,E-Mail: sales@mediaseen.com, www.mediaseen.com

annual subscription fee: Euro 42,–Single copy: Euro 9,40+ postage + VaT (national)

Bank account: Frankfurter Sparkasse,account No. 320 200, BSC 500 502 01

For members with EVVC, FaMaB,VERaNSTaLTUNgSPLaNER.DE eventsis included in their membership fees

Copying, if only of excerpts, requires authorisation by the publishing house. articles mentioning names of authors do not automatically mirror the opinion of the editorial office. Unwanted editorial contributions do not entail any legal rights for the sender. Print run: 23,000 copies per issue:20,000 in german 3.000 in English

© Werbe- und Verlags-gesellschaftRuppert mbH, Frankfurt/Main

ICCa – International Congress and Con vention association

gCB – german Convention Bureau

EVVC – Europäischer Verband der Veranstaltungs-Centren e.V.

VERaNSTaLTUNgSPLaNER.DE – Vereinigung deutscher Veranstaltungs organisatoren

Membership:

IMPRINT

Zip Code 3Silver‘s business travel GmbHPrinzenstraße 3, 30159 Hannoverwww.silvers.de, info@silvers.deFon: +49 511 59 09 31 30 Kongress- und EventorganisationEinladungs- und Teilnehmermanagement

kostenfreie Hotelvermittlung

Zip Code 6Conventure - Your Personal Congress Organizer

Messe Frankfurt Venue GmbH & Co.KG

Ludwig-Erhard-Anlage 1, 60327 Frankfurt/Main

Tel.: 069 / 75 75-54 31, Fax: 069 / 75 75–57 37

anke.wannagat@messefrankfurt.com

www.conventure.messefrankfurt.com

Zip Code 7CONGREX Deutschland GmbH

Potsdamer Platz 11, 10785 Berlin

Tel: 030 2589 4629, Fax 030 2589 4100

Haupstrasse 18, 79576 Weil am Rhein

Tel.: 07621-98330, Fax: 07621-78714

weil@congrex.com / berlin@congrex.com

www.congrex.com

Zip Code 8E U R O K O N G R E S S GmbHCongress + Event + Exhibition ManagementSchleissheimerstr. 2, D - 80333 MünchenTel.: 089 / 21 09 86-0, Fax: 089 / 21 09 86 98e-mail: info@eurokongress.de

www.eurokongress.de

SloveniaAlbatros Bled, Congress Agency

Ribenska 2, SI-4260 Bled

Tel./Fax:: 00386-45780350 / 00386-45780355

info@albatros-bled.com

www.albatros-bled.com

Hire & sale of mobile event and business area solutions

www.soulkitchen.deH

SILVER-LINE – mobile Event- und Businessraum-Lösungen vonOECON Mobilraum GmbH – Zum Flugplatz 1- D-73566 BartholomäTel:. +(49) (0)7173 - 9701-0, Fax: +(49) (0)7173- 9701-11E-Mail: vertrieb@oecon.de, Homepage: www.oecon.deOECON- Verkaufsbüros: Bartholomä, Halle/Saale, München

e v ents BOX : a RT IS T S

IMPRINT

Dateiname: fatravel-eng.pdf; Nettoformat: (203.90 x 286.81 mm); Datum: 16. Jan 2009 11:23:52; PDF-CMYK-Inksave; L. N. Schaffrath Druckmedien

A meet ing of the minds

tha t a lso sa t i s f ies the senses.

I t ‘ s our p leasure.

© 2009 The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C.

Meaningful Meetings - a noval Ritz-Carlton experience to support the charity

organization you really care of. Combine your meeting with contributing to your

chosen social cause and explore the redefined elegance and impeccable perso-

nal service of a Ritz-Carlton hotel. When booking your conference at one of our

European Ritz-Carlton hotels and resorts we take care of every detail of your meeting

and support your charity activity. A part of the conference revenue will be donated

to fight hunger and poverty, or to support education and the disadvantaged youth.

For further information please contact our International Sales Office:

+49 (0)6196-496 2750.

The Ritz-Carlton, Berlin · The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai · The Ritz-Carlton, Istanbul ·

Hotel Villa Padierna, Marbella · Penha Longa Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort ·

The Ritz-Carlton Powerscourt, County Wicklow · The Ritz-Carlton, Wolfsburg