Events-Magazine-02-2009-en

A trade adheres to a mode: The Pharmaceutical Code of ConductGood advice: Ten tips for events with tight budgetsWorld of Events: The apparent death of a brand

Destinations:

Korea: Simply heavenly!

Ireland: Zest for life!

Eyes wide open: About meetings, events & incentives of the future

Issue 2– May 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







English Version

Single Price: 9,40 €

www.events-magazine.com

Generation Y:

BERLINER FREIHEIT / Berliner Freiheit 2 / 10785 Berlin / [email protected] / www.BerlinerFreiheit.coM

NEU IN DER NEUEN MITTE DES NEUEN BERLINS:Die beste Adresse, die beste Performance aus edlen Materialien und mar-kanter Design-handschrift mit den besten optionen für ihre event-Konzepte.nehmen Sie sich die Freiheit und rufen Sie uns an: 030 / 92 10 46 06.

tom

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26940_BF_teaser_1_1_events.INDD 1 22.04.2009 11:44:52 Uhr

Scenes from a marriage: W and N don’t get along any more. These things

happen and it’s not the end of the world. Up until now, N has taken good

care of the single child for over ten years. It’s actually her child, anyway, since

she brought it into the marriage. The biological father of the child died young.

Now, after endless acrimony, N wants to move out of the shared apartment,

which by the way, W has let go to rack and ruin for years, so much so that

there’s genuine concern about the child’s health. It seems obvious that N will

take the child in order to give it a good future. She doesn’t want anything

from W. She just wants a clean slate; she only wants W to let her go in peace.

“Stop!” shouts W: “If you leave now, I’ll take your child away!” Well, W doesn’t

have much else to cling to and such a well-reared child is something one can

be rightly proud of. At first, N is completely speechless. But, faster than the

police admit, W grabs the child and barricades the door. N requests a prelimi-

nary injunction and W has to let the child go again. But W finds a sympathetic

judge who thinks it’s entirely possible that W might have a right to half a child,

on account of the years spent together and so on. To everyone’s shock and

despite all attempts to mediate by M, the brother-in-law from the far side of

the river, the two eventually tear apart the hopeful child. The story sounds a lot

like Bertolt Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle, doesn’t it? It only ended differently

because all comparisons and allegories are imperfect. The closest relatives, the

child’s sad playmates and schoolmates and even the local press representatives

now want to help N raise a new child. After all, she doesn’t have much left and

has to think of her old-age pension. W has gotten over it quickly and adopted

a vain, tarted up brat whom he now brings out in public. Only nobody really

likes her! And can you trust her at all? Well, it just goes to show where stub-

born dogmatism, vanity and the inability to let go can lead. It’s a hell of a world,

that world of events!

Best regards and a sly wink,

Hans J. Heinrich

Editor in chief

The children are always the ones who suffer!

E dI TOrI A l

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Wellness

fürs Business

Gruppen_Incentive_67x287.indd 1 17.04.2009 13:29:19 Uhr

This editorial refers to our article “Gunsmoke” starting on page 154.

4 events 2/2009

COn T E n T S 2 / 20 09

ManagementFresh figures on the events & incentives industry ........................................... 6ROI at Annual Meetings ................................................................................ 7Compliance: VIP invitation entails redundancy ............................................... 9More on the Pharmaceutical Code of Conduct............................................ 12Leading article: What does Generation Y expect of meetings, events & incentives? ................................................................... 17Part II: Quality management for events ....................................................... 26Drum Sessions as dramaturgical tools ......................................................... 29

Destination ReportsRepublic of Ireland and Northern Ireland ..................................................... 31Korea.......................................................................................................... 69Heart and soul in Berlin ............................................................................. 139

Feedbackstb in Mainz: Three questions to the organizers........................................... 47Overestimated: Large-scale sporting events like the Euro 08 ........................ 54 It’s tough in the Gulf: Welcome to reality ................................................... 56China’s Meetings Industry still toddling along .............................................. 58Well done Cologne: The ‘Kölner Kongress- & Eventtag’ .............................. 60Humorous impressions: A fam trip to Finnish Lapland ................................. 62EVVC Annual Meeting: new faces ............................................................... 65

What happens in agencies? .................................................................... 85

IdeasNightball: Close your eyes – and go! ........................................................... 91Sleeping in the rain free of charge .............................................................. 92Ten tips for events with a low budget .......................................................... 93Scents doing the trick ................................................................................. 94

HotelsA success story: Dr. Monika Gommolla, Maritim Hotels ............................... 96Participation welcome: IMEX raffle by Dolce Hotels plus six partners ........... 99Accor ensures standardized booking conditions ........................................ 102People ...................................................................................................... 104

LocationsCertified: Color Line ships ......................................................................... 111Bambi goes to Babelsberg ......................................................................... 112New Penthouse Location in Berlin ............................................................. 114

Destination NewsBest places for party folks ......................................................................... 131Record year in Styria ................................................................................. 133Tegernsee network now boasts 60 partners .............................................. 136Online competitions for World Football Championship in South Africa .......................................................................................... 138

Get to know Special Locations in the Metropolitan Region of Rhein-Neckar:

starting on page 164!

Congress WorldFive Austrian centres forge alliance ........................................................... 146Fantastic figures from Karlsruhe ................................................................ 148Interplan reinforces its management ......................................................... 149Congress in Linz: Blood is a special juice... ................................................. 152

AssociationsAlmost there: Successful lobbying by EVVC ............................................... 153Newsflash ................................................................................................. 154

EducationBackground information on the 8th Stuttgarter Wissensforum .................. 156GCB offers a wide array of seminars during IMEX ..................................... 158

Preview: Trade fairs & Events New and dignified: Event locations exhibiting in Heidelberg on the 4th of July .................................................................... 164Hannover HIGH: four days and three nights by the banks of the River Leine ..................................................................... 166Conga-Award 2009: Useful info and a coupon for your votePreview on IMEX 2009!. ........................................................................ 168The World of Events is dead! Long live…??? ............................................. 170

CSRGreen Meetings in Bonn – the first step is made ....................................... 174Newsflash ................................................................................................. 177

Imprint .................................................................................................... 186

Sleep well.Live well.

Addingcolourto life

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■ Köln-Belfortstrasse

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■ Mainz

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6 events 2/2009

M A n A GE M E n T

The international companies, suppliers, conferencing and event managers sur-veyed forecast an estimated nine percent reduction in the number of events held this year, compared with 2008, with budg-ets for meetings and events being cut by six percent. They also expect to see tangi-ble changes evident in both the planning and content of events. Three out of four respondents stated that they now measure the derived benefit of events systematically. This process often involves calculating the benefit per euro committed – using deals concluded as a benchmark, for example. Since the number of events in 2009 is like-ly to decrease, those surveyed predict that service buyers will benefit from improved negotiating terms when dealing with sup-pliers such as hotels. They are expecting a broadening of concessions and discounts, even extending to free services – perhaps involving the transfer from airport to ho-tel or meal arrangements. “As a provider of professional event services, we warmly welcome these trends,” comments Ralph

Knoblauch, Manager American Express Corporate Groups & Events for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. “We forecast that companies’ increased cost sensitivity will result in an increased reliance on spe-cialised service providers for the planning and execution of events. This will not only reduce company expenditure but will also bring gains in transparency and efficiency. At the same time, events now have in-creased expectations in terms of flexibility, innovation and value messaging. All indi-cations therefore point towards a shake-up in the areas of both event planning and content.”

Meetings going “green”The study reveals how soft factors such as social and ecological responsibility will come to play a greater role in conferencing and events in the long term. Some com-panies choose their event locations based on the availability of ecologically-viable transport to the venue – such as the use of public transport, for example. Other com-

panies donate a certain sum per attendee to charitable organisations. “While appro-priate strategies in these areas are not yet make-or-break factors, we are neverthe-less noticing an increased focus on these issues,” explains Knoblauch.

Time for flexibility and innovation Another direct result of more restrictive budgeting is the development of more flexible event management contracts. Both buyers and suppliers are increas-ingly tending towards the inclusion of exit clauses in their terms and conditions of business. This gives them more room to manoeuvre if meetings are cancelled. Plan-ners are expected to maintain a set of flex-ible and innovative solutions appropriate for any kind of event. Related to this is the fact that even though they may be hosting fewer events, companies nonetheless wish to set a higher standard of quality for each event held.

Field representatives made up the larg-est core target group for incentive travel (51.6% of all companies), followed by commercial partners (39.1%), custom-ers (32.0%) and commercial sales staff

(26.6%). In utilising incentive travel, the management staff surveyed aim to achieve highly specific goals: for 46.9% of re-spondents, the main goal is the achieve-ment of set sales targets or an increase in

customer loyalty. Four out of ten compa-nies (39.1%) use the instrument to reward exceptional performance. Over two-thirds (68.0%) of companies surveyed employ the services of an incen-

2,700 event planners can’t be wrong

Incentive travel:Programme quality trumps destination

The “Future Watch 2009” report, jointly commissioned by American Express and MPI, surveyed 2,740 event profes-sionals. The result: in 2009, the event industry will be defined by the topics of cost-cutting, values, flexibility and innovation. On the one hand, events will be assessed far more critically in terms of economic criteria and the actual results achieved. On the other hand, in times of global insecurity, events will have an increasing role to play in the transmission and promotion of values. There is also a noticeable trend toward increased flexibility and innovative solutions.

Incentive travel is a much-loved marketing instrument and has already been utilised by over three-quarters of com-panies responding to a survey from Quasar Communications: 78.8% of these companies regard such strategies as

“important” or “very important”. The trend monitor, conducted in February 2009 by the Wiesbaden-based agency group, focused on the methods used by companies in applying incentive travel as an instrument and future deve-lopments in this segment.

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8 events 2/2009

M A n A GE M E n T

With the AGM Monitor by BrandControl, managers now have an instrument on hand that can measure the success of the GM on a scientific basis and permit opti-misation of future activities. By 14 days after the meeting, the analysed company will have available a report with a profile of strengths and weaknesses.

“With the AGM Monitor’s help, commu-nications directors can view the results of their work as quickly as possible using in-formative key figures,” explains BrandCon-trol business executive Dr. Harald Jossé. “In addition, the chairperson will be more ac-cepting of our institute’s objective analyses than of assessments from one’s own ranks. That heightens the value of the services

of all accountable employees, which can greatly increase their motivation.“

The AGM Monitor works in six steps. After a briefing, BrandControl analyses the prep-arations for the annual general meeting: Are the core messages – e.g. in invitations or the business report – being communi-cated clearly? Does the company’s presen-tation match its desired image? One week before and one week after the GM, the institute will survey a representative group of 100 shareholders, ten professional ana-lysts and ten professional journalists about these core messages and their opinions on the company image, among other things. In addition, it evaluates the response to the GM in the ten most important, influential

business media. The concluding analysis report displays strengths and weakness in the preparation, execution, and assess-ment of the meeting.

With the Communication Information Sys-tem (CIS), BrandControl has developed an instrument that measures and links the ef-fects of corporate communication, public relations, and brand communication simul-taneously with an integrative approach. With CIS, the institute won the PR Report Award 2007 in the category of “Best eval-uated campaign / Corporate communica-tion.” www.brandcontrol.com

tive/event agency when organising incen-tive travel. Here, too, they have specific requirements that the agency employed needs to meet: the majority of businesses prioritise creativity in programme design (71.9%), plus excellent service orienta-tion and responsiveness on the part of the agency (67.2%). In addition, most of those surveyed also expect local agency support, booking expertise for flights and hotels and know-how in the area of participant management.

Travel destinations within Europe are seen as especially attractive for incentive trips by two-thirds of respondents (64.2%). For three out of four companies (76.9%), incentive trips last between two and four days, while the average per-person ex-

penditure for an incentive trip lies between 1,000 and 3,000 EUR for 69.5% of the companies surveyed.

Holger J. Bub, Managing Director of Qua-sar Communications: “Our trend monitor reveals the key role played by incentive trips as part of a company’s general mar-keting strategy. Over half of the companies surveyed believe that the methods used to realise an incentive trip will be more im-portant than the destination in the future. This fact shows us that Quasar is orien-tated perfectly on the market by adopting the strategy of a full-service provider in the incentive travel sector.”

The Accentiv’ Quasar Trend Monitor is based on an online survey of around

4,200 marketing decision-makers from Quasar Communications’ own customer portfolio and is carried out at regular in-tervals. The complete survey results for

“Accentiv’ Quasar Trend Monitor February 2009: Incentive Travel” can be ordered as a white paper from Holger J. Bub at Qua-sar Communications -- telephone 0611 / 188 87-15 or email [email protected] - or downloaded from www.quasar.de. The results include data on travel time, aver-age expenditure committed per person, the programme elements used, how cash-equivalent benefits are handled (or how taxation is applied) and estimates of future developments in the market.

New analytical instrument for annual general meetingsThe Frankfurter Institut für Markencontrolling BrandControl GmbH brings a new assessment tool to the market: the Annual General Meeting Monitor (AGM Monitor) measures the success of the annual general meeting of listed com-panies. With this new controlling instrument, created by a neutral institution, organisers can document the success of their activities from corporate communications and investor relations: what is the response of the business me-dia to the meeting? What core messages were transmitted to the shareholders and how believable were they? How are analysts evaluating the event? The AGM Monitor is the first ad-hoc evaluation that provides information about the success of a general meeting with an independent and scientific basis.

events 2/2009 9

Final stop Schalke: football invitation costs a man his jobThe following account, reprinted with the permission of the Koblenzer rhein-Zeitung, highlights how important it is for our industry to finally secure legal certainty in many grey areas. One annoyance is the sometimes overly strict, often very changeable tax treatment of incentives, famtrips, etc., especially in Germany. Besides this national com-petitive disadvantage, the labour law aspects are also increasingly becoming a sword of damocles, whose weight, length and sharpness no one really seems to know. Providers are sticking their heads in the sand and the invitee is the one who has to dig them out in the end. Compliance is important and corruption a morally reprehensible crime. But in Germany in particular, one has to be careful not to be holier than the Pope and throw the baby out with the bathwater. It’s high time to seriously engage with the topic in the industry, otherwise unsettled corporate clients will react with general abstinence and many dearly bought customer retention tools will go for nothing. The signs are multiplying. now, the account ad verbum:

A momentous visit to a German Football League match: the personnel director of a company near Bad Kreuznach lost his posi-tion after 18 years at the firm because he accepted an invitation to the business area of the Schalke stadium. The higher labour court has come to an explosive verdict in matters of customer care. Although the company should not have dismissed him without notice, the judges did not object to proper dismissal without a prior warn-ing.

The court calls into question a practice that includes VIP areas not only at sport-ing events. “The best business deals are concluded in an extraordinary atmosphere

- at a fascinating football game,” says Ein-tracht Frankfurt’s advertisement for the Business Club of the in Frankfurter City

Forest. In a study conducted by the sports law marketer Sportfive involving 469 are-na marketing decision-makers who were guests or hosts at VIP events, 92 percent stated that customer care or customer re-tention was a very important or important facet, while more than 80 percent named the development of new business and sales promotion.

The impression of potential availability is apparently enoughWhat was marketed to companies an “un-forgettable experience with great chances of success” was for the judges a violation of corruption law. The personnel director, who was also responsible for hiring tem-porary workers, was invited by a tempo-

rary employment agency with multiple domestic branches. For the management, it is the “purpose of such an engagement to offer the possibility of cooperation at a single event, to thereby stand out from the mass of providers and have a good time together.” The man was even given a lift. He did not inform his company of the trip. But an executive manager below the business management level still must do so, according to the judges (ref.: 9 Sa 572/08). He destroyed the trust necessary for continued employment. The gift, val-ued at 250 euros, was not of little value. It could create an impression that the recipi-ent could be bribed. Whether or not the recipient allows himself to be influenced doesn’t matter, according to the court: merely the appearance that a leading em-ployee does not consider only the interests

10 events 2/2009

M A n A GE M E n T

Festivals, theatre, musicals, sports events, club events, parties and shows – more than 127 million admission tickets were sold in Germany in 2007. According to a study by the consumer research company GfK, this enabled the events sector to achieve sales of around € 3.8 billion. Up till now the classic advance sales outlets have still en-joyed around 43 percent of this business.

But this is set to change. With its online ticketshop software, the Dutch company Ticketscript offers every event organiser a simple and cost-effective plug and play ticketshop for selling e-tickets via their own website.The company has been active in the Neth-erlands since the end of 2006. More than

600 organisations have sold more than a million tickets to date with the help of the very easy to use software. “Once people discover how they can open their own ticketshop on their website with just a few clicks of the mouse, they remain with us as customers on our system for all their future events,” comments the founder and CEO of the company Frans Jonker. The core of the user-friendly software is the so-called dashboard. Using this, the event organiser can call up statistical data about the status of advance ticket sales at any time and can also build up direct contact with his cus-tomer base, via email, for instance.

As well as the fact that it keeps potential customers on their website, a strong ar-

gument for organisers to use the Ticket-script software is the cost savings. Online selling via Ticketscript is completely free of charge for the organiser. The whole sys-tem is supported by a small fee on top of the ticket price, which is lower in any event than classic advance ticket sales. Dispatch processing and other organisational costs no longer apply either, as the end custom-er prints their e-ticket out themselves.

“We are meeting with great interest for our offering amongst German events or-ganisers,” says Jonker delightedly. The UBC-Tigers from Hannover, the second federal basket ball league, the Hot Jazz Club in Münster, the Club Transmediale 09 Festival in Berlin and the venerable Circus Universal Renz already handle their ticket sales either completely, or in combination with classic advance sales outlets, using the new system.

Additional information is available at: www.ticketscript.com

of his employer when making decisions is not acceptable.

Marco Klewenhagen, executive editor-in-chief of “Sponsors,” calls the decision

“unworldly.” The magazine is the profes-sional paper of the sports business industry, already plagued by “noticeable uncertain-ty” due to the penal aspect, says Klewen-hagen. Insecurity exists even after the ac-quittal of the former EnBW manager Utz Claasen for sending World Championship invitations to politicians, because there are no clear guidelines for the judicial position on criminal corruption. Klewenhagen: “It’s noticeable in certain cases because spon-sors are withdrawing.” In the Sportfive study, 59 percent of the VIP hosts admitted

that discussion of the legal situation has an effect on their VIP programmes – and not only for sports.

Uncertainty can backfire against the policy, says Klewenhagen: “It endangers fund-ing for stadiums.” In the German Football League, 80 percent of the spectator rev-enues come from 20 percent of the seats. Accordingly, Mainz 05 wants to increase the number of boxes from 11 to 30 in their new stadium. “We need this in order to remain competitive,” says marketing di-rector Dag Heydecker. Conversations on the highest level touched on the policy response to the “grey zone” of VIP seats, says Heydecker. However, he also says:

“The topic has been discussed since there

have been boxes. I don’t think there’s any reason for concern.” When sponsors in-vestigate an engagement, it’s usually be-cause of the economic crisis.

For the dismissed personnel manager’s company, the visit to the match became a belated away victory: the manager was already going to be sacked for making 14 private telephone calls. For the judges, however, that was not the reason for dis-missal.

This article by Lars Wienand appeared in the Koblenzer Rhein-Zeitung on 16.04.2009. We are grateful for the per-mission to reprint it.

Classic ticket sales on the way out?Ticketscript, the dutch market leader in online ticketshop software with European ambitions, enters the German market.

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StationAirport_AZ-204x287.indd 1 16.02.09 17:41

12 events 2/2009

M A n A GE M E n T

In order to improve conduct within the industry, 40 companies founded the association “Freiwillige Selbst-kontrolle für die Arzneimittelindustrie e.V.” (FSA) in 2004. The aim was to promote a more ethical ap-proach to the way in which the pharmaceutical indus-try interacts with members of the medical profession and to ensure that the field is level for all competitors. Their efforts have not been without success. The legal decision in the so-called “Spreewald affair” in 2008

Pharmaceutical events and the German FSA Code of Conduct

When doctors travel at the expense of pharmaceutical companies...

...nothing is like it used to be. According to the definition in the Brockhaus dictionary; “To bribe is to promise or supply gifts to a government-appointed official in order to persuade this person to commit an act that is prohibited.” Here the poor old civil servant is being treated as the whipping boy for something that has become wide-spread in other professions. It has long been suspected that certain of the ques-tionable marketing and sales techniques employed by the pharmaceutical industry (particularly the provision of continuing education courses for physicians) were primarily being used to suborn, to entice rather than instruct. Exclusive trips, stays in luxury hotels and tickets to top-class golf events tended to be high on the agenda.

set an example. In order to promote a new product, Novartis had invited physicians and their families to come and enjoy a relaxed boat trip followed by a BBQ- evening. The local medical council decided that the event could be classified as educational although, as it turned out, the ‘educational’ part of the weekend consisted of little more than a short presentation. No-vartis was fined € 50,000. And membership of the FSA has since grown to 80.

Once upon a time...

On the initiative of the German Association of Event Organis-ers (Vereinigung Deutscher Veranstaltungsorganisatoren), a course entitled “Pharmaceutical Code of Conduct – more than just empty rules” was held on 17 February in Frankfurt. The event was initiated because of an academic dissertation which involved an extensive survey of awareness of the FSA Code among agency personnel. The result of the survey: igno-rance is widespread and urgent steps need to be taken. “This course represents the start of a process that will ensure that pharmaceutical event agencies have the knowledge they need to be perceived as competent business partners in the future,” specifies Gerhard Bleile, Chairman of the Association, who has worked for the pharmaceutical industry for more than 40 years. Bleile censures the unwillingness of the sector to take this as-pect seriously and suggests that certification could represent a way forward: “Once upon a time, everything that was possible was permissible, but now only what is permissible is possible. If agencies fail to follow the Code, the company they are working for will get the blame. And that is the best way to lose custom-ers…for ever after!”

Avoid even the slightest hint of bribery...

According to Dr. Peter Dieners, who spoke in detail of the legal aspects during the workshop, it is now no longer acceptable to invite physicians to attend events that do not conform to the Code. The German Pharmaceutical Code stipulates that phy-sicians may not be given gratuities or inducements in view of ethical and healthcare policy-related considerations. Physicians must remain independent in the interests of their patients. Of course, the continuing education of physicians is desirable, but this must not discredit a whole profession.

“Continuing medical education must always be specialisation-relevant: a dermatologist would be out of place at a congress for cardiologists. Problems can arise as soon as there is even the slightest hint of bribery,” Dieners warned. As a legal consult-ant, he has long been interested in compliance management in healthcare and has written a detailed Ratgeber1 on the subject, required reading for anyone who needs to be familiar with this complex field. It should be borne in mind that the German Code alone contains 29 articles, and there are similar codes of con-duct in other countries.

The matter becomes even more complex if a Danish company invites German and Spanish physicians to attend a congress in Italy. In this case four different codes of conduct would need to be consulted. Although the various European codes are, on the whole, very similar, country-specific niceties need to be tak-en into account. A major problem in Dieners’ view is the fact that many agencies are unaware of the potential consequences of their often inadvertent infractions. A violation of the Code of Conduct is now treated as a breach of the German law on

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90247 Events 98x287 16.04.2009 10:34 Uhr Seite 1

14 events 2/2009

M A n A GE M E n T

events discussed constructive implementation of the Code with Gerhard Bleile

events: Mr Bleile, what benefits has the introduction of the FSA Code had?Bleile: If I may be provocative, I think it has under-mined the attitude that only greed is good; it has brought greater transparency and means that it no longer easy to try to offer inducements to physicians.

events: What effect do you think the Code has had on the quality of medical events?Bleile: The Code has met with wide-scale resistance and is still a contentious issue. But the fun factor in medical events has been pushed much more into the background since its introduction in 2004. The trans-fer of knowledge is now almost exclusively the focus. That’s the way it should be.

events: What has changed from the point of view of the agencies? Bleile: Basically nothing. The losers are the agen-cies who specialised in the provision of incentives for physicians. Today’s agencies need to be well versed in the requirements to ensure that an event conforms adequately to the Code. Clients want binding and le-gally accurate advice and event planning. Any mistakes made in this sensitive area are inexcusable and also tend to be expensive.

More informationDr. Peter Dieners Handbuch Compliance im Gesundheitswesen, 3.AuflageVerlag C.H Beck, ISBN 978-3-406-58458-9

Contact details for Gerhard Bleile: [email protected] www.fs-arzneimittelindustrie.dewww.efpia.org (Europäischer Verband der Pharmazeutischen Industrie)(European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations)

Gerhard Bleile, Chairman of the German Association of Events Organisers

health care advertising (HWG, Art. 7) and of the law on unfair competition (UWG, Art. 39).

Ignorance of the law is no defence

Wolfgang Ostrowitzki, Head of Congress Services at Bayer Vital, believes that event managers have tended not to give the Code the consideration it deserves. Ap-propriate liability clauses are now incorporated in con-tractual agreements, and this means that if an event

turns out to be in violation of the Code of Conduct, it is the organising agency that will bear the brunt.

“In the past, event agencies had little interest in the subject, but now I receive several enquiries daily from them. Although they claim to take the matter seriously, there is little more than hot air behind it all,” claims an irritated Ostrowitzki. Because every violation is now just what the press has been waiting for, he points out that “prevention is better than compulsion.”

events: What should agencies do now to ensure that they remain competitive? Bleile: I would urge everyone to ensure as a priority to be well informed in this area. Agencies that are not able to demonstrate sufficient familiarity with these complex codes will increasingly find themselves not being asked to organise events by pharmaceuti-cal companies. There is a deterrent factor because the consequences of errors can be so catastrophic. But this is avoidable if training and certification systems are in-troduced.

events: What would be required to obtain this certi-fication?Bleile: Well, that’s currently our major concern and we are working on the problem. There is currently no cer-tification system in this sector whatsoever anywhere in Germany. I am currently putting together a concept in cooperation with leading experts, and hope that it will be possible to launch appropriate courses later this year.

events: Where can agencies find appropriate subject-specific help?Bleile: I always recommend Dr. Peter Dieners ‘Hand-buch Compliance im Gesundheitswesen’. It will not be possible to institute an official advice centre, as the enquiries tend to be too individual and always require a consideration of the specific situation. However, an-yone with concrete queries relating to events is wel-come to contact me for advice.

events: Who has the right to report violations of the Code?Bleile: Anyone. As soon as there is a justified reason for believing the Code has been violated. All that one has to do is contact the FSA in Berlin. There have even been physicians who have reported breaches of the Code to the FSA.

Gisela Katharina Prenzel

204x287_events.indd 1 09.04.2009 9:08:15 Uhr

M A n A GE M E n T

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Good is whatever you consider to be good. In view of the fact that ever more simi-lar products are coming onto the market, it is the way that these are perceived by consumers that is increasingly determin-ing whether a company succeeds or goes under. This means that greater emphasis needs to be placed on promoting the brand.

“This is where event communication comes into its own: our involtainment® strategy helps make a brand that little bit more dis-tinctive in an increasingly difficult environ-ment. In times like these, it is essential now

New book on event communicationread how to create emotional responses to a brand by means of appropriate event marketing techniques in the new publication

“Eventkommunikation” which is now available.

more than ever for a brand to dynamically involve the target group in communication, so that it actively spends part of its time in perceiving and experiencing the char-acteristic brand content and information. It is only then that promotional measures can be really effective,” claims Markus Schaumlöffel, CEO of proteco and a co-author of the book. Schaumlöffel describes how brand perception, brand commitment and brand loyalty – in other words, posi-tive emotions and quantifiable results – can be achieved in his contribution “Marken

erleben: Signalisation, Emotion, Interak-tion und Information im Eventmarketing” [Experiencing brands: signalisation, emo-tion, interaction and information in event marketing] in the recently published book

“Eventkommunikation”.Schaumlöffel shows how to plan and suc-cessfully implement emotionally charged brand-related events. Actual examples are cited to illustrate the theoretical delibera-tions. Studies of projects implemented for Toyota, SPAR (Switzerland), the German Bundeswehr and Continental AG and in-terviews with those involved illustrate the modus operandi behind successful large scale events. Strategic event communication in the Ger-man Sparkassen Financial Group is de-scribed by the book’s editor, Ralph Dann-häuser. The Head of Event Communication of the publishing arm of the Financial Group, the Deutscher Sparkassenverlag, provides a behind–the-scenes look at the creation of major projects and recurrent promotional activities. RA Dr. Ralf Kitzberger and Sami Sokkar discuss further facets of event communi-cation. Sokkar describes the theoretical background to event communication and stresses the importance of defining goals properly and monitoring efficacy. Kitzberg-er supplies detailed information on aspects such as liability and dealing with the press through to copyright, contract law and competition law.

The book:”Eventkommunikation – Expertener-fahrung in Theorie, Recht und Praxis“ Ralph Dannhäuser (Hrsg.), Dr. Ralf Kitz-berger, Markus Schaumlöffel, Sami SokkarTo order, go to: www.proteco.de/involtainment/buch

events 2/2009 17

What does „Generation Y“ want from Conferences andIncentive programmes?

By rob davidson, Westminster University, london

All businesses must adapt their products and services to meet the changing needs of their customers, and the conference and incentive travel industry is no excep-tion. It must constantly evolve in order to ensure that the business events it offers effectively meet the needs and aspirations of each new generation of participants.

Conferences and incentive trips play a key role in fos-tering communication between members of the same profession or the same organisation and achieving greater business results. Most of the end-users of such events, those who invest their time in participating in conferences and incentive programmes, are men and women in some form of employment. For them, such business events can play a key role in their careers, as important sources of information, motivation and net-working opportunities.

Today, for the first time in history, there are four gen-erations in the global professional and managerial workforce :> The Traditionalists, born between 1925 and 1942. Most, but by no means all of these, have retired or entered semi-retirement.> The Baby Boomers, born between 1943 and 1960. The oldest of these have begun retiring from employ-ment.> Generation X, born between 1961 and 1976. Many of these are already established in management positions.> Generation Y, born between 1977 and 1995. These form the latest cohort to enter the global workforce.

M A n A GE M E n T

This article examines the particular characteristics of Generation Y and investigates the ways in which con-ferences and incentive programmes can be designed in such a way that they appeal to this youngest, but fastest-growing, segment of employees. The recom-mendations will be of interest to all intermediaries and suppliers in the conference and incentive travel industry, including convention bureaux and other des-tination marketing organisations; destination manage-ment companies; professional conference organisers; incentive travel houses, venues and speakers.

Defining Generation Y?

Authors focusing on the most recent generation to en-ter professional employment use a variety of terms to describe this cohort. While most refer to ‘Generation Y’, alternative phrases include: Generation Next, Echo Boomers, Digital Natives, the Millennium Generation or Millennials. There is also some variety of opinion among authors as to the exact years of birth which de-fine Generation Y, with some commentators put the qualifying date as early as 1976 and others defining it as beginning in 1980.

For the purposes of this study, we will use Hira’s (1) span of birthdates of 1977-1995, as this is the most widely accepted. We will refer collectively to the co-hort under consideration as ‘Generation Y’, and the term ‘Y-er’ will be used to denote an individual mem-ber of Generation Y.

A thorough understanding of the values, tastes and preferences of the youngest generations of employ-ees is vital to the success of any industry targeting them with its products and services. In many ways, today’s twenty- and thirty-somethings differ consid-erably from previous generations of employees. And they are gradually accounting for a greater percent-age of the workforce. 2008 is a critical year for the inter-generational balance of power. This year, for the first time Generations X and Y collectively will be able to out-vote Baby Boomers. As these two generations are increasingly represented in business, the media, and public life, their values, attitudes and lifestyles are gradually replacing those of the previous generations.

The salient characteristics of Generation Y may be summed up in one author’s (2) description of them as the ‘most coddled, well-informed, open-minded to diversity, technically-enriched generation’. The par-ents of Y-ers are widely portrayed as having nurtured their offspring with a programme of activities since they were toddlers and as continuing their hands-on involvement well into their children’s early adulthood. However, many authors are at pains to point out that despite this parental cosseting, most Y-ers may be characterised as being independent and confident in outlook. Neither does the indulgence of Y-ers’ parents appear to have produced a generation particularly characterised by selfishness. Indeed, the majority of commentators list tolerance, concern with equality and fairness and a deep-seated social consciousness as major attributes for this generation.

Electronical devices are “extra limbs”There is widespread agreement among commenta-tors that, having been encouraged, since birth, to feel special by their parents and the media, Y-ers tend to have high expectations of themselves and are tena-cious and questioning, as well as highly vocal and

18 events 2/2009

„The most coddled, well-informed, open-minded to diversity,

technically-enriched generation”

20 events 2/2009

M A n A GE M E n T

full of energy and innovative drive. Many specialists in inter-generation differences focus on the fact that members of Generation Y have, above all, high ex-pectations that life should be fun and therefore place higher priority on their personal life and leisure time, than previous generations ever did.

Nevertheless, there is little evidence to suggest that, as a whole, this generation shows signs of being hedon-istic or indolent. On the contrary, Y-ers tend to dem-onstrate a deep-seated desire for ongoing education, which they regard as the key to success in professional life. Some commentators have described them as ‘life-long learners’, for whom education and training is per-ceived as the norm rather than the exception.

Predictably, Generation Y’s acquaintance and aptitude with technology in all of its forms, from an early age, considerably sets it apart from previous generations. It has been said that Y-ers regard electronic devices as ‘extra limbs’, and one source (3) encapsulates them as ‘a multimedia generation learning to juggle many more ideas simultaneously than their parents did’. This is the first demographic to grow up with the inter-net and it is clear that they view the Web as a 2-way communications tool. Their high level of technological skills and their preference for instant communication and social networking tools have made Generation Y into efficient multi-taskers. But persistent exposure to high-tech tools is also cited by several commentators as a contributory factor behind the phenomenon that Generation Y appears to desire everything on demand anytime, anyplace, with a pronounced tendency to-wards the need for instant gratification and markedly shorter attention spans than previous generations.

What are the key differences?

Although there has been comparatively little research carried out into the attitudes of Generation Y towards their participation in conferences and incentive travel,

BABY BOOMERS GENERATIONEN X & Y

Structure Flexibility

Worker as instrument Worker as a human resource

Work as labour intensive Work as knowledge intensive

Hierarchical structures Participatory structures

Education completed Lifelong learning

much can be deduced from what is already known from investigations into their experience of educa-tion and working life in general. Table 1 summarises the key differences in these respects, between Baby Boomers and subsequent generations.

These differences mean that the needs and expecta-tions of Generation Y in particular, regarding partici-pation in conferences and incentive trips, are in many ways very distinct from those of previous generations. The rest of this article reviews those differences and suggests ways of creating business events that will ap-peal to this latest cohort of employees.

Effective ways of communicating information about conferences and incentive programmes to Generation Y.

Y-ers respond to communication that understands their uniqueness, their particular way of receiving and processing information. The use of too many words in marketing messages is a guaranteed turn-off for Gen-eration Y. The key to effective communication with Y-ers is to use as few words and as many strong images as possible. Generational marketing expert Ann A. Fishman believes that this age group think differently: they think in text-messaging format – short, very short, efficient copy is required. Another commentator emphasizes the use of images: ‘Generation Y depends on visual learning. All their lives, they were raised on graphics, games, the Internet and online games. This is a generation whose marketing has been pictorial and graphic … to attract them, you need to be dynamic in your use of graphics and pic-tures’.

Adapted from Ramsborg and Tinnish

Ignorance by him? Or wrong approach by them?

22 events 2/2009

M A n A GE M E n T

Effective use of technology

This generation expect more – and better – use of technology in every aspect of conference and incen-tive planning. They expect all information about the event to be online – in an attractive, easy-to use for-mat. They are highly unimpressed by clunking, com-plex, poorly-designed websites. Fishman advises meet-ings planners who have any doubts about how their conference websites shape up for younger generation attendees to have their own employees in that age-group analyze those websites and adapt them to Gen-eration Y.

Incentive programme ‘teasers’ can be sent to younger participants using their preferred means of communi-cation: the mobile telephone. Indeed, according to US commentators Ramsborg and Tinnish: ‘The full capa-bilities of technology must be exploited before, during, and after a meeting. Blogs, mobile phones, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, podcasts, virtual meeting envi-ronments, RSS feeds, videos, widgets, mashups, wikis, moblogs, and social networking sites … Learners who use these technologies every day expect technology to be seamlessly interwoven into learning situations, i.e., meetings’.

More involvement at the design stageGen Y is an interactive generation that is used to be-ing consulted for feedback on almost everything that affects them, from their level of satisfaction with their educational courses to their experiences of the prod-ucts they use. As a result, they are used to interact-ing with service providers of all kinds. Conference and incentive travel planners targeting this age group are advised to involve them, from the earliest stage, in the design of the programme, choice of activities, and even the selection of speakers, so that they feel a sense of ‘ownership’ of these events. Fishman sug-gests that … ‘the meeting planner can ask early reg-istrants if they have special concerns [they can just email them to you] which will enable you to see if the meeting will meet the younger audience’s needs or if the meeting needs to be tweaked a little. Taking that extra step … can make a big difference’ .

More attention given to Corporate Social Responsibility and environ-mental issuesAt EIBTM in 2007, Andy Besent of the InterContinent-al Hotels Group identified a greater concern for CSR

and the need to have some interaction with the lo-cal community at the conference/incentive destination as two of the most distinguishing characteristics of Generation Y as participants in such events. Arguably, much of the impetus towards ‘greener’ meetings and incentive trips is being driven by this youngest genera-tion of participants, who are far less tolerant of waste and the negative impacts of such events on the natu-ral environment. They also appear to care more about the human environment, and are uneasy about the apparent elitist aspect of many business events, par-ticularly when these take place in destinations marked by widespread poverty and disadvantage. Progressive conference and incentive planners respond to these concerns by giving their participants the opportunity to take time out to interact with the local community during the event and to ‘give something back’ – by, for example, raising funds for a local charity or playing football with the local children.

Such activities hold great appeal for Y-ers, who regard them as an ethically-sound antidote to the conspicu-ous consumption and elitism that can characterise business events.

More effective use of speakers

It is often said that Y-ers’ short attention spans make them a difficult audience, at any conference. But all of the psychological research indicates that for delegates of any age, attention levels drop dramatically after the first 20 minutes of any presentation. The drive towards shorter, more interactive sessions will intensify as Y-ers account for an increasingly large proportion of par-ticipants in business events. Generation Y participants expect interaction, in real time, with each other and with speakers, through having the opportunity, for ex-ample, to text-message their questions to a big screen during sessions.

Having grown up with computers at home and an abundance of TV channels, multi-tasking Y-ers expect, and thrive on, constant change and stimulation. What do they expect from speakers?

Fishman believes that they want:> Substantive information that can help them advance in their current jobs or become better prepared when they move on. Motivational speakers don’t motivate them.> Information they cannot get off the Internet or from a book. They don’t like to waste their time. > To hear from speakers who are in a position of pow-er. They want to know how the game is played.

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> PowerPoint to be used correctly:- PP slides only when necessary- No ‘laundry list’ of multiple points the speaker is about to make

- Few words on each slides

Above all, speakers need to deliver their material in a way that combines education and information with entertainment – edutainment and infotainment are what Y-ers expect from all of their experiences. As Ramsborg and Tinnish put it:

‘The adult learners of today expect “infotainment,” the delivery of information in an entertaining format. Even the most serious programming on television, the news, is created now with graphics, music, lighting, and spe-cial effects. Sports arenas now have giant television screens to show instant replays and powerful sound systems for commentary and music. There aren’t many places that people go where they are not treated to a

“show” - and meetings are no exception’.

Conclusion

The continuing success of the conference and incen-tive travel industry depends upon achieving a firm un-

derstanding of Generation Y’s needs from meetings and incentive programmes and communicating with Y-ers on their terms. If such events do not adapt to meet the needs of this generation, Y-ers will vote with their feet and stay away from association conferences and refuse to participate in incentive programmes that do not motivate them. The future of face-to-face busi-ness events – and the businesses and destinations that depend on them – rests on all stakeholders achieving an accurate understanding of how conferences and incentives must be designed and run in such a way that they hold a significant appeal for Generation Y participants – while, at the same time, not alienating any of the members of older generations in the work-force.

SourcesHira, N. A., Attracting the twentysomething worker, (15. Mai 2007), abgerufen am 13. Januar 2008 unter http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_ar-chive/2007/05/28/100033934/Bryan, The New Workforce –Introduction (1. Februar 2007), abgerufen am 13. Januar 2008 unter http://cm-sreport.com/generation_next_4Doing it Their Way (26. April 2005), abgerufen am 13. Januar 2008 unter http://www.smh.com.au/news/Busi-ness/Doing-it-their-way/2005/04/25/1114281505124.htmlLockyer, S., Operators motivate Generation Y with responsibility, rewards, Nation’s Restaurant News (19. September 2005), abgerufen am 21. November 2007 unter http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_km2929/is_200301/ai_n6937791Ramsborg G and Tinnish S, How Adults Learn, Teil 1, aus: Convene magazine (PCMA), Januar 2008.Lynch, B M , Planning for the new demographic, aus: Meetings & Conventions magazine, Januar 2006. http://www.mcmag.com/on-the-cover.aspx?articleid=49490Ramsborg G and Tinnish S, How Adults Learn, Teil 2, aus: Convene magazine (PCMA), Februar 2008.Fishman A, Where generations meet: how to adapt your meetings to younger generations, unter: http://vnutravel.typepad.com/migurus/ann_fishman

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26 events 2/2009

M A n A GE M E n T

Event Quality Management (Part 2)

How to systematically plan and monitor the quality of your events

* For the purpose of this article, we are assum-ing that ‘marketing events’ are all events instigated by a com-pany for the purpose of achieving its marketing and communication objectives. The terms

‘event’ and ‘marketing event’ here represent the same concept.

In the first part of this article (published in issue 01/2009), we considered the basic requirements for a quality management (QM) system for marketing events*. In the second and final part, we provide an overview of selected instruments that can be used for the quality management of marketing events.

Event processes in the focus

Events are processes that involve interaction between the company implementing the event and the event guests. The form that this interaction takes determines the extent of satisfaction of the participants and their perception of the quality of the event. Any point of personal contact between guests and event personnel is thus, quite literally, the ‘moment of truth’ as far as the quality management of events is concerned.

We have decided to profile a selection of tools that can be used for the quality management of the event process – of the so-called ‘main event’. This is not to say that quality management is redundant when it comes to the aspects of ‘pre-event’ and ‘post-event’ – our intention is merely to stress the special significance of the event process for the purposes of evaluation of event quality.

Contact point analysis

From the point of view of a company, it is important that all impressions gained by participants during a marketing event provide a coherent image of the way the company would like to portray itself, its brands and its products. This means that it is essential that guests are provided, at all contact points, with a con-sistent concept of the quality of the event which con-forms to the image that the company wishes to impart.For this reason, contact point analysis is a particularly useful instrument in event quality management. As the name implies, it involves a systematic review of all points of interaction during an event – the external points of contact between guests and contact person-nel but also the internal points of contact between

contact personnel and the back office functions re-sponsible for the provision of input et cetera to the contact points.

The first step is to prepare a blueprint. This takes the form of a flowchart showing the event processes as a sequence of contact points (see the hypothetical ex-ample of a congress reception in Fig. 1). The processes that occur at each contact point are classified by level according to their proximity to the guests, and these levels are separated by lines:

> The line of external interaction separates the activi-ties of the guests from those of the event contact per-sonnel.> The line of visibility separates the activities that are visible for the guests from those that remain invisible to them.> The line of internal interaction separates the activi-ties of the contact personnel from those of supportive processes.

Drawing up a blueprint (Fig. 1) is of considerable ad-vantage in the quality management of events: the event process is registered from the point of view of the guests and its structure is made transparent to all involved. All external and internal points of contact are identified and the ways these interact with each other is revealed. This makes it possible to find the cause of quality problems in retrospect and even to avoid them in advance by, for example, modifying processes to cut down on potential sources of glitches or redistrib-uting personnel and technical facilities to avoid likely bottlenecks. Blueprints are also excellent for process simulation when it is necessary to prepare personnel and train them in new behaviour techniques.

(Fig. 1) Blueprint of a congress reception (hypothetical)

Critical incident technique

The critical incident technique (CIT) was originally developed in connection with the quality management of service proc-esses but can be applied directly – similar to many of the models and instruments used in the quality management of services – to the processes of live com-munication. It is based on the blueprint-ing technique.

‘Critical incidents’ are those contact situ-ations perceived to be especially satisfac-tory or unsatisfactory by event guests. In order to be able to identify such quality-critical situations, selected subjects are asked to reconstruct the event in their minds using a provided blueprint. As a rule, they are asked the following ques-tions:

1. Can you remember any incident that you as a participant at our event found to be particularly satisfactory or unsatisfactory?

2. Can you explain why?3. What specific circumstances were the

background to this incident?4. What was the response of the service

personnel involved? What did they say? How did they react?

5. Why do you feel that this was a par-ticularly satisfactory or unsatisfactory incident?

CIT thus makes it possible to recognise the particularly quality-critical contact situations. However, this does not make it apparent which of any identified prob-lems should take precedence when it comes to remedial measures – critical incidents that occur only very rarely are not necessarily problems that need to be considered first. In order to prioritise problems, the frequency with which they occur also needs to be assessed. This is exactly what the next instrument we will outline does.

Frequency relevance analysisFrequency relevance analysis of problems (FRAP) can be used to determine the se-quence in which quality problems need to be eliminated. Urgency is defined on the basis of the frequency of problem occurrence (problem frequency) and the extent of the negative effect it has on event guests (problem relevance). Both are established by means of a survey of guests, usually in the following form:

> Did the problem in question occur?> How annoying did you find it?> How did you react/did you wish to react?

The results of the survey are entered in a frequency relevance diagram. In the

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28 events 2/2009

M A n A GE M E n T

catering-related example shown in Fig. 2, the long wait until drinks are served is the problem that needs to be eliminated most urgently because this problem is particularly relevant and occurs very frequently. On the other hand, although guests are extremely annoyed if their food is cold when it arrives, this is only an in-frequent problem and so does need not to be tackled immediately.

Using FRAP, management can recognise what prob-lems at what contact points need to be dealt with first. By indicating how quality-enhancing measures should be prioritised, FRAP makes an important contribution

towards the systematic quality man-agement of events.

Active complaint managementActive complaint management is also of paramount importance in the event sector: dissatisfied event guests do not usually make complaints (unless they are actually encouraged to do so), but will waste no time in telling as many outsiders as possible of their negative experiences and thus function not as advocates of the brand being promot-ed, but as its denigrators.

Hence, it is apparent that passive complaint manage-ment (waiting until guests make complaints on their own initiative) is inadequate. If guests have complaints, they must be actively persuaded to make them; in oth-er words, they must be contacted and invited to report any negative experiences they may have had.Encouraging people to make complaints in this way has many advantages: if guests are dissatisfied, they

will at least have the satisfaction of knowing that their complaints have been registered: this will tend to pre-vent them reporting elsewhere on their negative expe-riences. Moreover, information on (concealed) sources of quality problems may be brought to light and it is not infrequently the case that useful suggestions for improvements are obtained – gratis!

Conclusions and outlook

Quality management is an essential prerequisite for ensuring that events are both effective and cost-effi-cient – and is thus clearly a discipline with a future! There is no lack of reliable and useful instruments that can be used for this purpose, as it is hoped that this overview will have shown. Finally, we want to encour-age you to use them!

(Fig. 2) Catering situation frequency relevance analysis (adapted from Meffert/Bruhn, Dienstleistungs-marketing, 6th edition. 2009, p. 209 ff.)

Dr. Hans Rück, Dean of Uni of Applied Sciences, Worms

low Problem frequency high

low

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An event should take participants on a journey that offers highs and lows that everyone can identify with. Elements like surprise and fascination, excitement and resolution, dynamics and recovery, mysticism and rea-son must be mixed, but with an underlying logic and plausibility. Everyone recognises this when they talk about a good film – these parameters should be re-

Drum Cafe helps with event dramaturgy

membered during event planning. Drum Cafe Events takes participants on such a journey, starting with ab-solute scepticism about all those drums and how this is supposed to work. Expected patterns are bypassed when this question is answered in the first few min-utes entirely non-verbally and yet with complete suc-cess. The participants remain the focus and experience

dramaturgy always involves theme, character and structure. That applies just as well to M.I.C.E. events as to theatre or film. Interesting-ly, there are few stated dramaturgs on the German market and the field is diversifying to include event direction, script consult-ing, and many other functions. The issue of good dramaturgy is essential. It’s like cooking – while no salt means no flavour, it’s easy to add too much. A dramaturgical structure in which each high-light follows another leaves the participants just as unsatisfied as nothing. The same thing happens if the theme is missing or the char-acters are poorly chosen.

M A n A GE M E n T

how a previously unimagined result can be achieved together using the vehicle of drum music. The expe-rience itself fosters motivation and excitement about their own abilities and teamwork. Once this is under-stood, the important question of when this message should be sent arises.

> At the beginning of the event, to spark initial energy and continuously add new contributions to it. > In the middle of the general event, when facts are communicated and the participants should connect with them emotionally. > At the end, to ensure that the showdown sums up the day in a motivating way. > Or a combination

From Nelson Mandela’s birthday to the national football team

The timing requires good intuition and an awareness of what other ingredients went into the recipe of the day. Experience with thousands of general events and Drum Cafe Events with their own micro-dramaturgy can play a major part in this. Drum Cafe Events has worked with more than two million participants world-wide. Thanks to this experience, support in planning the overall dramaturgy is a basic component of Drum Cafe services – if the customer desires it.

Whatever else is said about dramaturgy: asking your-self what you want to achieve with your dramaturgy is the first step in recognising its importance. And that makes the foundation of a successful event.

Drum Cafe is the pioneer and world-wide market lead-er in interactive drumming events. Every participant receives their own drum and becomes part of an in-toxicating community experience. From team training in a conference room with 20 participants to fusion in the airport hangar with thousands of participants and drums, from company events to public galas on Nelson Mandela’s birthday to motivation events for the German national football team in preparation for the European Championship 2008. The experience is unforgettable. www.drumcafe.de

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

The Celtic Tiger loses its roarTuesday, 7 April 2009 – a day that Ireland will not so quickly forget. Throughout the republic, the nation sat spellbound in front of their radios and TV sets as the Minister for Finance, Brian lenihan, delivered his budget speech. This was a budget that had been anticipated with some trepidation and turned out to be just as painful as feared. In order to shore up Ireland’s shaky economy, the Irish government had decided to dig deeply into the pockets of its citizens.

Announced were increases in taxes and duties and reductions in benefits. People earning more than the threshold rates of €15,028, €75,036 and €174,980, for ex-ample, will now have to pay 2%, 4% and 6% additional income levy annually. The health levy has been doubled to 4% or 5% depending on income (tax payers in other countries may consider them moderate). Child benefits are to be reduced, wage in-creases have been put on hold and govern-ment expenditure cut. Lenihan said he was aware that this would lead to falling stand-ards of living but emphasised that “Ireland will continue to have one of the lowest tax wedges within the OECD”. The new meas-ures will come into effect on 1 May 2009. Tasks that now need to be tackled are the stabilisation of the banking system, stimu-lation of the ailing business sector, restora-tion of the country’s competitiveness and of the confidence in its economy.

Once the Minister for Finance had finished, it was the turn of the Opposition to re-spond. They happily used the opportunity to eloquently savage the Government for its mishandling of the economy, listing in detail the various misdemeanours it had perpetrated over the years. Under this bar-rage, the man chided so vehemently visibly

shrivelled into his seat, head slumped be-tween his shoulders.

The global financial crisis has claimed yet another victim and also private bankrupt-cies have become inevitable. During the boom years, many an Irishman speculated on the property market (partly in state-sponsored schemes), took on multiple mortgages and lost vast fortunes before even owning them. The value of once high-priced real estate has collapsed and the current oversupply of property means lack of interest in renting, much less buy-ing. Projects are no longer getting off the drawing board and upfront investments made are gone for good. To date, Irish property investors have been able to take advantage of ‘Section 23’, which provided tax relief on investments in residential ac-commodation, a cushion they will not be able to fall back onto in the familiar way in the future.

The Celtic Tiger may now be licking its wounds, but will sooner or later be back on its paws – just like all cats would.

Celtic Tiger is used as a metaphor when describing the period of extremely rapid economic growth that began in Ireland in the 1990s. There was a slowdown in 2001, a recovery in 2003, but the good days were definitively over by 2007. In early 2008, economists still believed that Ireland’s economy would manage to make a ‘soft landing’. However, by January 2009, the Irish Times declared in an editorial: “We have gone from the Celtic Tiger to an era of financial fear with the suddenness of a Ti-tanic-style shipwreck, thrown from comfort, even luxury, into a cold sea of uncertainty.”During the boom, Ireland was transformed from one of poorest countries in Western Europe into one of its wealthiest. Disposa-ble income soared, fuelling massive growth on the domestic market. In the best times, unemployment fell to just 4%. The new wealth was invested in improving the infra-structure; roads, tunnels, transport systems were developed and even a new monu-ment intended to symbolise Ireland’s new sky-high ambitions was built – the Spire of Dublin (the ‘Rod to God’, as dubbed by the locals). Ireland’s centuries-old tradition of emigration was suddenly turned on its head as the republic became a destination for immigrants (mainly from Poland and the Baltic States), so that by 2007, 10% of the population was foreign-born.

dE S T In AT IOnS : Ir E l A n d

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Dublin: Look out! It’s infectious!

And: quirky! The word is much in fashion and seems to have been coined with dublin in mind: the city is young and vibrant, cultural, traditional and historic, modern and unconventional. It is confident enough to be itself and to put its ec-centricities on display. It is unsurprising that the Irish word for fun and enjoyment

– ‘craic’ - has entered the English vocabulary. Consider dublin’s innumerable pubs, restaurants, cafés, bars, clubs, theatres, cinemas, concert halls, its love of fash-ion and art. You’re never far from the bright lights and excitement here – life is far too short to be spent moping in a corner. neither Ireland’s unpredictable weather nor the economic downturn have managed to put a damper on things. Prices are falling, also in hotels and restaurants: Good news for business tourism. dublin never sleeps, its zest for life is not only palpable – but is infectious!

dE S T In AT IOnS : Ir E l A n d: dU BlIn

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What exactly is hurl-ing? The game that can be described as Ireland’s national sport is taught to children at school and even to girls as ‘Camogie’. After ice hockey, it is the fastest field team game in the world. Players take a refreshing ice-cold bath prior to each match to ensure that they are in first-rate shape. The playing field and goals are identical to those in Gaelic football and both sports are fervently played in Croke Park Stadium in front of enthusiastic crowds. Want to experience a whole stadium going wild? There’s never a row or even a single seat going begging here. The excitement of nearly 82,300 spectators can be literally felt as it boils over in a scarlet bubbling caul-dron against a backdrop of eardrum-splitting noise. And everyone can then go home happy, stocked up with enough endorphins to last them until the next big game. The stadium is similarly well-filled with fran-tic fans for rock concerts, particularly if home-grown bands, like U2, are performing.This is an unforgettable experience also for groups. Croke Park Stadium offers a range of meeting facili-

ties for some seri-ous work before watching the match. More than 5000 sqm of floor space is given over to corporate hospitality; there

are 87 conference rooms (all with natural daylight), the Hogan Suite (one of eight) for up to 800 persons (theatre-style) with views of the pitch. Team building events help neophytes become acquainted with the secrets of hurling; this can be the source of considera-ble amusement as learners repeatedly take mighty but ineffective swipes (the ball must be served while in the air!). There is also an in-house museum acquainted with the secrets of hurling; www.crokepark.ie. Linked symbiotically with the stadium and just across the road is Jurys Croke Park Hotel**** www.jurysdoyle.com/crokepark, a very attractive, contemporary hotel with 232 guest rooms and suites and three conference rooms with excellent amenities that can accommo-date a maximum of 50 participants (theatre-style).Those organising events and meetings in Dub-lin will find it an ideal partner: in addition to the Convention Bureau and the Tourist Board, a

Hurling is similar to hockey. It was played by the Celts more than 2000 years ago and is thus be-

lieved to be Europe’s oldest field sport. The players use a wooden stick – the ‘hurley’ to strike the ball

or ‘sliotar’ up and down a 137 x 82 m pitch. To score a goal, which is equivalent to three points, the ball must be passed under the goal crossbar into the

net. A team of 15 players battles through two halves of 35 minutes each.

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Housing Bureau provides support by supplying in-formation on where and when facilities are avail-able in hotels, congress centres and and locations. Dublin is easily covered on foot and venues and hotels are frequently located close to each other in clusters. Careful planning will subsequently prevent logistical headaches. Here are a couple of examples:

ZentrumHotelsWestbury Hotel***** www.doylecollection.com The Westbury is part of the Doyle Collection, one of the Leading Hotels of the World. It underwent com-plete refurbishment in 2008 at a cost of € 20 million (power sockets for Europe/USA/IRL!). Luxury fabrics in decorous, muted tones and a fantastic lobby – ‘The Gallery’: here is displayed a wealth of art compiled by an art-collecting board member. This is the place to go for afternoon tea! Every one of the comfortable armchairs is occupied and the relaxed murmur of peo-ple in animated conversation fills the air. Adjacent is a meeting floor with Business Centre: all seven of the well-equipped conference rooms have natural day-light. The Wilde restaurant can be privatised for up to 100 guests. The window front of The Café Novo Brasserie bar is folded back in good weather to allow the bustling street to spill inside.

All the rage: a concentration of ‘super pubs’ in XXL size in Dawson StreetThe Brasserie Balzac at La Stampa Hotel & Spa www.lastampa.ie./balzac, the Café en Seine – opposite the Trinity Capital Hotel – www.capitalbars.com, Fire – at the Mansion House Dawson – www.mansionhouse.ie. Royal College of Physicians – www.rcpi.ie

Meetings in front of elegant mantelpieces: This venue has a series of impressive rooms that are used for the most part to accommodate the college’s own lectures and master classes in the various branches of medi-cine. But it is also possible to stage all sorts of events, such as a charity ball following a James Bond theme that occupies the whole building. Or smaller banquet dinners for 35 – 50 persons that can be held in the oldest medical library in Europe and state-of-the-art video conferences and webcasts (available online for six months): Via the Hearn Room participants from up to eight countries can be brought into contac with each other. The college’s museum exhibits Napoleon’s toothbrush, which he bequeathed to his Irish physi-cian on his deathbed, undoubtedly a most treasured possession, and a gruesome collection of saws used to amputate limbs from wounded soldiers.

Royal College of Surgeons – www.rcsi.ie/information Located on St. Stephan’s Green, the older part of this building dates back to 1810 and houses the College Hall (180 guests for dinner) with its Minstrels Gallery and the elegantly decorated Boardroom with a hand woven carpet in front of imposing fireplaces, ideal for characterful receptions (180 guests). When combined, the College Hall and Boardroom can accommodate a reception for up to 400 people. The modern section of the building contains state-of-the-art auditoriums in contemporary-style.

Other interesting locations:Trinity College – www.tcd.ie Dublin Castle – www.dublincastle.ie Guinness Store House – www.guinness-storehouse.com

Temple Bar – venue for Dublin’s nightlifeLegends Bar – www.legends.ie - Irish Night at the Arlington HotelIt is essential to book in advance for an evening in Leg-ends Bar. There isn’t a place more ‘oirish’! The menu only lists traditional dishes (such as Irish stew), there are self-service taps for a draught Guinness. The live show starts at 9.00 pm with a spirited folk group (fid-dle, guitar, button accordion) happily playing requests and encouraging customer participation. The audi-ence sings, cheers, laments, kicks up a shindig, claps and stamps along with the band, and finally applauds them to the skies. Four former members of River-dance/Lord of the Dance then perform to shrieks and skirls and jump and stamp until the vibrations knock the audience from their barstools. Dinner and show cost € 30 per person.

Trinity Capital Hotel*** www.trinitycapitalhotel.com Dramatic, audacious and divinely different


events 2/2009 35

You too? The Clarence – www.theclarence.ie A must for anyone interested in contemporary music! Fame and fortune were merely a fantasy when U2 started to frequent the hotel bar. It was pure nostal-gia that made Bono and The Edge purchase the hotel in 1992. Following a stylistically apposite restoration without unnecessary extravagancies, the Clarence still is the band’s stronghold. All 49 rooms including the penthouse suite can be block-booked (early reserva-tion is recommended). The authentically preserved Tea Room Restaurant (maximum: 100 persons) may also be exclusively hired, just like the legendary Octagon Bar and three smaller meeting rooms with views of the River Liffey.

The Docklands

Not yet complete but already has its nickname: The hypermodern Convention Centre on the Liffey, designed by the architect Kevin Roche, is to be opened

in May 2010 but is already making a splash. It has been dubbed, not without some justification, ‘The Barrel’. To provide easy access by foot or vehicle to the opposite bank of the river a new bridge is to be built to supplement those already in place. Convenient for groups staying in accommodation on the ‘other’ river bank, for example:

CCD

36 events 2/2009

The Maldron Hotel**** – www.maldronhotels.comThe hotel has 304 rooms and a health and fitness club. A new conference centre is due to open at the Maldron in spring 2009 that will provide seven daylit conference rooms for up to 120 delegates. Five other meeting rooms (2 – 50 pax) are already available; amenities are excellent: There is a 24-hour delegate package while the hotel has a dedicated meeting and event coordinator. The Vertigo Bar may be privately booked for up to 250 guests.

MV Cill Airne – Floating Restaurant, North Wall Quay – www.mvcillairne.com In its former life, the Cill Airne was a tender boat that serviced the great ocean-going liners that plied be-tween Britain and America, ferrying passengers and mail to and fro between ships and shore. That was then: now the vessel is moored permanently in the Docklands, the Restaurant (seats 64), Blue River Bistro Bar (120 guests) and White Bar (50 persons) are al-ways fully booked – at the height of Irish atmosphere. Due to its popularity, privatising the entire ship may prove difficult.

KilmainhamThe Royal Hospital Kilmainham: This oldest surviv-ing neoclassical building in Ireland was originally built as a home for veteran soldiers. It houses the Irish Mu-seum of Modern Art and provides generously propor-tioned rooms that can be used to stage gala dinners, intimate receptions, seminars, exhibitions, product launches and concerts. The former chapel now serves as an imposing conference space in which even the pulpit is yours serving as a lectern. Opposite lies a magnificent ballroom that can seat up to 500 guests for dinner. There is direct access to the cobbled central courtyard with its decorative cloisters: A perfect archi-tectural ensemble. www.rhk.ie Also worth visiting: Kilmainham Gaol. Just five minutes on foot from the Royal Hospital Kil-mainham and Heuston Station, there is an imposing glass structure awaiting new guests: the brand spank-ing new convention centre No. 1 Kilmainham. Lo-cated within easy reach of both venues is the Hilton Hotel Kilmainham****.

Dun Laoghaire/Dublin Bay – 30 minutes drive from the city centreCan’t cook? Can cook!Cooks Academy in Dun Laoghaire (pronounced ‘dun-leary’) has successfully established itself and has been recognised as one of the leading cookery schools over the past four years. The team led by Cooks Academy

founder, Tim Greenwood, reveals to pupils of all abili-ties the secrets of fine international cuisine, from spicy Thai dishes to Irish stew (50 different courses are on offer). One of the easiest pathways to success for the culinary learner is still via that good old standby – Su-shi: almost everyone likes Sushi and almost everyone can make it. Cooking demonstrations are also very popular: here urbane corporate executives discover that the purpose of that enigmatic kitchen device is to crack the shell of a lobster or learn the correct pro-cedure for removing the backbone from a fish while

leaving it unscathed. Two flat screen monitors ensure that groups of up to 25 persons have a good view of the action – monitors that could prove useful during a prior or subsequent meeting in the same room. Com-panies such as Microsoft, Google, KPMG, to name but a few, have already discovered the appetising nature of holding meetings here.Cooks Academy also provides DMC services and will put together a package on request that comprises not only instructive, entertaining interactive cookery sessions, but also participation in sailing regattas with www.sailingwest.ie, theatre visits, walking tours and accommodation, for example in the nearby Royal Ma-rine Hotel, which is, by the way, an excellent confer-ence venue. www.cooksacademy.com

Great atmosphere in the Royal Marine Hotel – www.royalmarine.ieThe original old part of the hotel incorporates broad passageways wide enough for female guests in crino-lines (who included Queen Victoria) to move about freely. The Royal Marine remained closed from 2004 to 2007 for a complete make-over that required an outlay of € 70 million! The 228 rooms are all very spa-cious and comfortably furnished, while the tasteful conference rooms gaze out over the blue Irish Sea. The largest of the salons with its gallery can accommodate theatre-style seating for up to 750 or a banquet for 400. Room Laurel’s combined with Hardys Bar make perfect space for receptions. The spa has nine treat-ment rooms and there is an enormous fitness centre!

Royal Marine Hotel

Their offices are located in a former church: www.dublinconventionbureau.com · www.visitdublin.com


tel: 353 (0) 21 4318036mobile: 353 (0) 87 2883136email: [email protected]

C H O O S E C O R K

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Cork: A land of milk and honey

Many a story-teller of bygone times dreamt up bold tales revolving around that paradisiacal place: There, in a care-free world, fried quails would be gliding right into one’s waiting mouth, chocolate bars readily be dangling from trees and riverbeds be brimming with milk or wine. The cookery part still needs to be taken care of around here, but as for the milk and the hon-ey, Cork City and County are pretty close to the virtual original!

dE S T In AT IOnS : Ir E l A n d: COr K

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On the boil

Culinary fever seems to have taken hold of the world with the same tenacity as that of the financial crisis: there is hardly a televi-sion channel that does not broadcast at least one cookery-based programme daily involving people with more or less adequate kitchen talents. If one cannot brag about one’s own vineyard nowadays, one at least has to show off one’s ‘personal’ butcher’ or become acquainted with the family tree of the particular sea bass before buying it. A disconcerting survey reveals: People still can’t cook! To change things and get all those couch potatoes actively involved, cookery schools are taking on the challenge of turning heathens into master chefs.

Watch your fingers!It is a good idea to acquire a few basic skills required for cooking first. How to rapidly chop spring onions with one of those hellishly sharp professional knives without amputating a fingertip and how

to pull the mantel over the head of a truly unsightly octopus while retaining all of its three hearts and nine(!) brains. And then how to cut the rest into uniform rings for frying.In the middle of the idyllic countryside is one of the most pres-tigious cookery schools in Ireland, run by the Allens in Ballyma-loe: founded by mother Myriam and continued by her daughter Darina and Darina’s daughter-in-law, Rachel. Their cookery books, with their easy-to-follow instructions, are treated like Bibles by today’s Irish, and both are regular TV show presenters. The Bally-maloe Cookery School exclusively uses organic produce from its own farm, gardens and greenhouses. Meat comes from its own herds and poultry, while fish is delivered fresh from the sea in nearby Ballycotton. There is accommodation available, too.www.cookingisfun.ie

Ballymaloe House in Shanagarry is a country guest house, with conservatory, pond and plenty of character – and is second to none when it comes to charisma and its fantastic gourmet menus. Next door is Ballymaloe Shop & Café and a natural stone barn currently undergoing renovation is shortly to be opened as a con-vention centre with room for up to 400 delegates. www.ballymaloe.ie

The English Market in Cork City: a feast of organic foods!The covered market is a true gourmet’s paradise: top qual-ity products are displayed appetisingly on counters and behind glass – fish, mussels, oysters, salted and smoked fish spread out on broad, crudely made wooden tables, carefully prepared meat and poultry of all imaginable kinds, colourful fruits and vegetables,

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a vast array of different cheeses – and everything at surprisingly reasonable prices (five excellent lamb chops cost only € 4). You will discover delicacies here that you could never hope to find in any supermarket. It is an ideal hunting ground for groups look-ing for those elusive ingredients required for the next cookery lesson. Up in the gallery is the Farmgate Café, run with a firm hand by Kay Harte, who believes that first class dishes can only be prepared from first class ingredients. Her philosophy is to source products locally whenever possible to ensure that everything is

fresh when it comes into her kitchen. Signature dishes include wonderful chowder, fish direct to your table from fishing boat or the fishmonger downstairs and fragrant, freshly baked bread with excellent wines. The café is only open during the official opening times of the market. [email protected]

Venues

UCC – University College CorkThe Lewis Glucksman Gallery is a contemporary building with an open design incorporating much glass. The gallery hosts rotat-ing art exhibitions. There are also elegantly unostentatious rooms that can be hired for dinners and receptions: however, the un-treated wood floor is not red wine-proof. The cafeteria on the ground floor with seating for 120 has a completely glazed front wall that provides views over the generous terrace to the park; it can also be booked for private events. The atmosphere in the conference room on the same floor is similarly enticing.Located in the UCC is the venerable Aula Maxima which contains a valuable collection of books, so that care is needed when dining by candlelight (the Aula can accommodate

180 guests for a gala banquet). www.ucc.ie The UCC also owns a sports field that can be privately booked for team building activities.UCC, Jurys Cork Hotel and The Kingsley Hotel are not only located closely to one another but also cooperate successfully: a perfect trio. The two hotels occupy picturesque sites on the bank of the River Lee and provide idyllic views of the hills of Cork.

Porridge anyone? The Old City GaolOverhead heating provides for comfortable warmth inside the cold thick walls of this former women’s prison suitable as a venue for gala dinners, product launches and concerts: the acoustics are outstanding thanks to the height of the building. And: The gaol can be vamped up wonderfully for every special occasion. A mar-quee is available for larger events and there are four designated catering firms to choose from. www.corkcitygaol.com

Hotels in Cork City

The Jurys**** – www.doylecollection.com – stay (182 rooms), celebrate and meet in a distinctly inviting and harmonious atmos-phere: the ‘Weir Room’ – currently a bistro and breakfast room – is being developed into an exclusive meeting space.The Kingsley***** – www.KingsleyHotel.com – 131 luxury rooms and a spectacular view of the River Lee and the hills beyond from the breakfast room. There are eight conference suites and a ballroom than can seat 200 guests for dinner. Excellent technical amenities.Hayfield Manor***** – www.hayfieldmanor.ie – The five-star hotel has been run by the same family for four generations and could hardly be more delightful: this former private mansion is surrounded by an extensive, peaceful garden and exhales his-tory. However, modernity has also found its niche here and the combination of the two can only be described as very striking. Generously proportioned rooms (all with their own mini ‚putting green‘), splendid corporate facilities, the Restaurants Perrotts Gar-den Bistro and Orchid. The hotel’s wine cellar can be hired as a private venue.

Cobh

Cobh (pronounced ‘Cove’ and formerly known as Queenstown) was the last port of call of RMS Titanic before it departed for America. Cobh is said to be the second largest natural harbour in the world. It is the main base of the Irish Naval Service and the extensive former dockyard is now only used for repairs: the pharmaceutical industry has moved in where once steel and ferti-

Old City Gaol

Incentives

CorporateHospitality

Exhibitions

Business Meetings

Product Launches

Conferences

Seminars

Belfast has been welcoming visitors to the city for over 400 years.Now a dynamic meetings and incentives destination, Belfastcombines the spirit of a modern European city with famous Irishhospitality,internationalgolfcoursesandawardwinningvenues.

Tofindoutmoreaboutwhyyoushouldholdyournextmeetingorevent in Belfast visit:

www.belfastconventionbureau.comTel: +44 (0)28 9023 9026

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liser production ruled. Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis have become the major employers in the harbour area.Places here are called Passage West and Monkstown and are characterised by the tiny, colourful, picture book houses look-ing out over the bright blue sea. Only a red brick chimney is left as a reminder of the public bath houses in which the poorest of the emigrants were deloused, scrubbed clean and supplied with fresh clothes before being allowed to board a ship bound for the New World. Not all were to survive: the Lusitania was sunk by a German U-boat in 1915. Tickets for the Titanic could once be purchased from the Titanic Bar, a little yellow building which is still standing at the mouth of the River Lee, where there is also a rather ramshackle pier mounted on simple wooden piles that has a dramatic, almost 100-year-old history.

A Whale of a TimeContact Mike Hallahan and Whale of a Time if you’d like to ex-perience waterborne fun in the mouth of the River Lee, the har-bour and the numerous tributaries in the Cobh area, or even 3 miles out to sea – and in practically all weathers! Mike has four rigid inflatables that provide room for up to 50 passengers packed in wind- and weather-proof clothing and those who are willing, will be manoeuvred at top speed over the waves. Also on offer are Treasure Hunts in which participants can navigate their boats themselves, salmon fishing, dolphin watching and much more.www.whaleofatime.ie

A heavenly dram: Jameson DistilleryIt is not just the age that de-termines the price of a whis-key: after 18 years storage, almost 50% of the volume will have been lost from the cask – the so-called ‘angel’s share’. The distillery is worth adding to the itinerary and is a one-stop-shop, includ-ing the Stills Cottage which accommodates 12 persons

for dinner, an auditorium for meetings, a restaurant serving four course meals and a bar with whiskey-tasting area. Warehouse No. 8 can be booked for hosting distinctive events for up to 200 per-sons; in summer, it can be combined with the courtyard spreading out before it. www.jamesonwhiskey.com

Microcosm: Castlemartyr Hotel***** Rent-a-dog: The two Irish Setters are called Earl and Countess. Those who have not yet got round to a four-footed friend of their own are encouraged to try out a walk with them in the elegant hotel grounds. An excellent idea, particularly here, where nature and holism play the overriding – and convincing – roles.A range of relaxing activities are available within the hotel facili-ties and grounds, such as yoga, meditation, fishing, bicycle riding, carriage driving, archery, laser clay pigeon shooting and – last but not least – golf. There is an 18-hole championship golf course. Castlemartyr can also organise other activities in Cork and its sur-roundings. There are 103 beautifully decorated rooms and suites, with gigantic bathrooms and walk-in cupboards, a 24,400 sqm(!) spa, the Capel Suite, a glass atrium seating 200 guests for dinner (particularly elegant), the ‘Kiltha’ for private dining for up to 70 persons and three boardrooms. www.castlemartyrresort.ie Fota House and GardensThe quality of this location becomes even more apparent with every room one enters. Fota House, restored with considerable care and filled with artwork, is exactly the right venue for the discerning client. The building itself is extensive and there are in-numerable doors that open onto an almost endless succession of genteel rooms. For a glimpse back in time, visit the old kitchen and larder – both now museums. www.fotahouse.com

Sheraton Fota Island Hotel & SpaThe hotel boasts 131 very comfortable guest rooms (many of which have a fantastic panoramic view of the surrounding wood-lands and golf courses). The Smith Barry Suite is an impressive space with chandelier and large fireplace that can seat 240 per-sons for dinner. The terrace with water features and modelled lawn is the ideal venue for grill parties and summer soirees. There are conference rooms for 8 – 60 guests. The entire hotel can be block-booked – enquiries welcome! www.starwoodhotels.com

It takes less than 30 minutes to drive between Cork and Cobh. All the attractions described are within easy reach of one an-other. Cork offers a cornucopia of incentives and conference venues and eight of the many golf courses are of world class quality. For more information, contact the Cork Convention Bureau: www.corkconventionbureau.com

Cobh

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Belfast – City on the Rise

Belfast? That Belfast? For decades, northern Ireland was the source of bad news. during the period of political unrest, the province tore itself in two and there seemed to be no foreseeable end to the acts of violence against people and property. The culmination may have been on Bloody Friday on 21 July 1972, when 22 bombs were detonated in and around Belfast, killing eleven and injuring 130. Thirty years later, the IrA issued a statement of apology. The conflict was officially ended in 1998 by the Good Friday Agreement.

Belfast has had time over the past ten years to patch up its wounds: the political climate has grown considerably more clem-ent, the economy has recovered and the city has become – almost overnight – a ‘destination’. Not just for tourists, but also for the event and incentives industry in view of 3000 guest beds and the fact that the city is served by direct flights from the USA, Canada and Europe.Business and industry have also returned to Belfast and financial service providers, electronics and IT concerns have contributed to

the economic upturn. Queen’s and Ulster universities are pow-erhouses of technological development and research. The archi-tecture in the city itself ranges from brand new to historical and thanks to the compact ground plan, Belfast can be comfortably explored on foot, an advantage also when it comes to shopping in its many boutiques and consumer temples. The new Victoria Square Mall was developed at a cost of £320 million and is one of the largest of its kind in Europe.

dE S T In AT IOnS : nOrT H E r n Ir E l A n d

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A city of quarters

Titanic Quarter: Europe’s most extensive dockland development project will give Belfast a massive boost. Sampson and Goliath, two yellow cranes that rise robustly and proudly into the skies, have been retained as mementos of the shipyards that once flour-ished here.Cathedral Quarter: All the hustle and bustle of life: the cobbled streets and lanes are lined with art galleries, restaurants, pubs, bars and night clubs. These create a cosmopolitan atmosphere in a city that has its eyes firmly on the future but does not ignore its past.Sumptuous accommodation at the centre of the hubbub – the recently opened Merchant Hotel*****. It was originally built as a bank and its guests can now watch life going on outside from within its comfortable, heritage-protected walls.Queen’s Quarter: Located in the southern part of the city, Queen’s Quarter hosts the ‘Belfast Festival at Queen’s’, the largest festival in the whole of Ireland.Gaeltacht Quarter: Another craic-loving district. Surrounding the Falls Road, this quarter is now famous for the many murals created by the population as a political outcry to the world.

Choose your venue

Would a Presbyterian church dating from 1905, complete with ecclesiastical architecture and original stained-glass windows, suit you? Then the Spires Conference and Exhibition Centre is right up your street www.spiresbelfast.co.uk Or what about an in-teractive science museum with views of the River Lagan? W5 pro-vides hospitality rooms, including a boardroom with fully glazed front wall, an auditorium and exhibition spaces.How about a boat? SS Nomadic has a somewhat grim history: it was built together with the Titanic to ferry first and second class passengers to the doomed liner.An extension has recently been added to the historic Grand Op-era House (which dates back to 1895); it now has a new ‘sister’ and in combination they make an even more flexible event venue.Intelligent meetings? Queen’s University would be the right place – founded in 1845 by no less a person than Queen Victo-ria herself. For sparkling ideas, try the former bath house, now the Ormeau Baths Gallery, where well-known artists, including Yoko Ono and Gilbert and George, have exhibited.Clifton House was originally built by the Belfast Charitable So-ciety as a base for its work for the poor. A venue with historical associations – perhaps for a conference on social issues?

The Incentive side: Up, up and away!

Those who are interested in gaining the overview are well-advised to book a flight with a tethered balloon. They can then fly in com-fort and tranquillity over the impressive Giant’s Causeway, one of the most celebrated natural attractions in Ireland. According to legend, the colossal basalt columns were put in place by the giant

Finn McCool. Following touchdown, why not play a few holes at one of the nearby championship golf courses (Royal Portrush and Royal County Down) in order to come properly back to earth? And nowhere else are the greens as green as in the Emerald Isle! Once an alert mind is not the prime requirement, it’s time for whiskey tasting at Bushmills Distillery – one of the world’s oldest licensed whiskey distilleries.

Excursions in the surrounding regionOne only needs two hours to travel around Northern Ireland in a car. You might decide visit Lisburn, where you can learn about Ireland’s linen industry and call in at Hilden Brewery to find out

did you know that rMS Titanic was constructed in Bel-fast? On completion, she was the largest ship afloat. From here she departed on her maiden voyage to America keen to accomplish the most rapid Atlantic pas-sage, ambitiously striving to win the Blue riband. Then she called at Southampton, Cherbourg and Queenstown (now Cobh) harbours to take on passengers. On 14 April 1912 at 11.40h in the evening she collided with an ice-berg and sank within 2 hours and 40 minutes. nearly 1500 of the 2200 passengers on board drowned due to an insufficient number of lifeboats.A Titanic Treasure Hunt is thus an absolute must, even though one always has the unfortunate fate of the liner before one’s eyes. It seems very unlikely that the event would have been as romantic as it is portrayed in the film with leonardo diCaprio and Kate Winslet.


Note to self... call theDublin Convention Bureau.Take everything you need to planthe perfect conference. Easy access.A warm welcome. State-of-the-artbusiness facilities. Impressive conferencevenues. World-class hotels andrestaurants.

Add a service that offers a free venuesearch. Expert advice. Help with siteinspections. Liaison with suppliers.Promotional support. Marketingassistance, innovation & creativity.What do you get? Dublin.

To find out how you can host your next event in everyone’sfavourite city, visit www.dublinconventionbureau.comemail [email protected] call us on +353 1 605 7774

Dublin Convention Bureau is a business unit of the Dublin Regional Tourism Authority Limited

DCB-NTS-204x287-v1.indd 1 23/04/2009 11:56

46 events 2/2009

How to get there: The national carrier Aer lingus provides direct flights from Berlin, düsseldorf, Frankfurt,

Hamburg and Munich to dublin, from Berlin and Munich to Cork and from Munich to Belfast. The prices are

very reasonable, although self-service is required for check-in at dublin. Food and drink are offered at a

charge onboard by a very friendly crew! www.aerlingus.com

how to make ale. Antrim on the shores of Lough Neagh, with its castle and beautiful countryside, is certainly worth a visit. Go for the really unusual, and watch demon-strations of how they used to make spades at Patterson’s Spade Mill in Newtownab-bey. In Carrickfergus you will find the UK’s oldest gasworks (now a museum) while the grave of St. Patrick, Ireland’s pa-tron saint, is located in Downpatrick (Ar-magh & Down). In Derry (formerly: Lon-donderry), the turbulent past is preserved on murals, while Derry’s blackest day, Bloody Sunday in 1972, is commemorated in the Museum of Free Derry.

HotelsHilton Belfast***** www.hilton.co.uk/belfastMerchant Hotel*****www.themerchanthotel.comBest Western Wellington Park Hotel**** www.mooneyhotelgroup.com Hastings Europa Hotel**** / Hastings Stormont Hotel**** www.hastingshotels.com Holiday Inn Belfast**** www.holidayinn.com/belfast Park Plaza Belfast**** www.parkplazabelfast.com Radisson SAS****www.belfast.radissonsas.com Ramada Belfast**** www.ramadabelfast.com

Contact:Belfast Visitor & Convention Bureauinfo@belfastconventionbureau.comwww.belfastconventionbureau.com

If you require any Ireland-related information, please contact:www.irland-incentive.de www.tourismireland.com CF


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stb Mainz as a learning venue:

You have exactly three seconds! Or: a dog is not a cat!In the supporting seminars at the Seminar- und Tagungsbörse of MICE AG one can hear prominent experts free of charge and learn something on top. And even if not all is new, at least long-buried gems of knowledge are unearthed. That some of the speakers tend to indulge in a little too much self-promotion here and there may be excused. At the Mainz stb in March, once again 1,300 interested planners were treat-ed to 250 exhibitors, nine expert speakers and some sparkling new ideas from the organisers.

Martin Limbeck

Hard selling – selling means selling

What he says is accepted immediately: amongst other things Martin Limbeck’s lecture took a striking, mas-culine and insistent approach to presenting the “DNA

of a hard seller”: He has to be optimistic so that every night he can go to sleep looking back on a positive balance to the day, he needs to have fun and enjoy what he does, must be focussed on selling, but also be able to show his emotions. He must actively model success, by subjecting himself to his own benchmark-

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ing in the interests of learning (what do other people do better?). A good salesman wants to measures up! He must have concrete goals, plan them realistically so they can be achieved within a set timescale.The successful salesman is well dressed (if you want to “get at other people’s money, you need to look like money yourself”), self-confident, motivated, always well informed and seeking closure. This takes cour-age, because after the sales discussion he has to ask the customer the all-decisive closing question – where

“closure” means “order”. “Assuming we meet your re-quirements in all respects, can we count on your firm booking?”

If you only want to advise your customers, you will force them to

buy somewhere else.If you have to live by selling, you will sell: the higher the basic salary, the harder the salesman will find things.

Summary: And yet:> The most important language for a salesman is body language (55%, voice 38%, content of what he says 7%!!)> The first impression is what counts (and he gets all of three seconds for this), because: You don’t get a second chance to make a first impres-sion.

Nothing new, but very true and worth remembering every time!

Soft selling that packs a punch

Delighting the customer: Nicole Kob-joll, Schindlerhof NürnbergIt is no surprise that a hotel as a product has to be marketed and sold differently than a car, for exam-ple. As well as price and performance, Nicole Kobjoll swears by emotions, including those of her staff, who are so satisfied with their employer that the latter re-cently took 8th place amongst the “Best Employers in Germany”. It is taken for granted at Schindlerhof that personal support is offered within the team and that the staff is involved in development processes and reward rituals. And last but not least, in terms of QM features alongside basic quality and the quality of ex-pectations and surprises, they also swear by the effect on the staff. It is no accident that guests above all re-turn due to the friendliness and efficiency of the team!

For creative sessions everyone is cloistered together in the three different areas - Dream Space, Sweat Box and the implementation area – as new concepts are thrashed out and put into practice. The “Schindlerhö-fler“ never tire. They have realised one thing above all: To remain true to their philosophy and ensure their success, they have to “keep coming up with new sur-prises”.

The road to business excellence never ends.

To illustrate the concept of authenticity – which can be translated into a whole series of areas - Nicole Kobjoll uses a figurative example: You may well hang a sign on a dog which reads “cat”, but you will never turn it into a cat. Agreed – wholeheartedly!

Dieter Lange

You can spot the winner right at the start – and the loser tooAttitude is everything: The lucky ones are the ones who can forget the things they can’t change. Dieter Lange addresses some uncomfortable facts: 40% of CEOs in the USA are out again after two years. Hired for their professional expertise and fired for their per-sonality defects. Because success means being true to yourself. But remember, success makes you unhappy too! Take Michael Schumacher during the press con-ference at the height of his career: When he realised that it couldn’t get any better, he burst into unre-strained tears. On the other hand: You can’t “arrive” in life, because “it carries on beyond the horizon”. For this reason, the journey is and remains the goal. The ones who have arrived tend to be unhappy.

If you don’t trust yourself, you can’t trust other people either.

If you can’t motivate yourself, you can’t motivate other people either.If you can’t lead yourself, you can’t

lead other people either.

Dateiname: 176489 Drum Café.pdf; Nettoformat:(98.00 x 287.00 mm); Datum: 06. Apr 2009 14:31:42; PDF-CMYK; L. N. Schaffrath DruckMedien

Essentially: If your perception is correct, then the proper next steps will happen automatically. It’s like the old motto: Self-knowledge is the first step towards improvement!We are essentially all split personalities, constantly torn between what we have to do and what we want to do, between diverging paths which generate constant discomfort: if you are always making compromises,

“both sides” will come off badly.

Dieter Lange’s absorbing explanations are hard to con-dense. Apparent was that he spoke to his audience straight from his soul for a good hour: A packed hall listened spellbound and quite a few people appeared to see themselves reflected in Lange’s explanations. His final sentence was: “… but you have all known that secretly for a long time”. Of course, everyone nodded!

One who set forth…

Gabriele Schulze stands in for Günter MainkaSupporting programmes which are out of the ordinary was to have been his theme; unfortunately he himself had to drop out of the programme due to illness – an event regretted by everyone. But Gabriele Schulze rose brilliantly to the ad hoc challenge, and with charm took the courage to moderate a pro-gramme she was not at all familiar with! And this went

“Saw your GM in two”: Ehrlich Entertainment shows how on stb

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down well with the public! Support was provided by a clowning representative of an improvisation theatre, who rapidly assumed the “identity” of each of the ten suggestions for supporting programmes from behind a screen, then by means of Karaoke (number 8 on the list) used a wealth of gestures and guffaws to break the ice between the actors and the public. Everyone certainly knew “Michaee-la-a-ha” – and the entire hall switched to “reception”. Right at the end came the three very best recommendations for supporting programmes, each entertainingly illustrated by events presenters of the appropriate genre: Wild West action with two cowboys who came to blows, puzzles with the Kryptex Code, admirably portrayed by a “mad” professor and last of all the “criminal” element com-plete with corpse. Here the interaction with the public worked especially well, as after only brief training they quickly understood at which points they were meant to shout out “Help, help!” in desperation, “Oh my God, oh my God!” or “Police! Police!” The murder victim was chased down the central aisle to the place of his death and managed to fall on the stage in al-most perfect form – right onto the pre-drawn chalk outline straight from the best detective shows. And because it was just like being at the cinema, there was ice cream for the audience.

Looked at critically: Three questions to the MICE AG

The stb marketplaces are a trade fair format which has been successful for years. Obviously this has been looked at critically every now and then, because trade fairs are in fact rather like politics, where everyone sees themselves as a bit of an expert. In particular, the retirement of Kurt Schüller and the expansion on the com-mando bridge of the organiser now operated as MICE AG by Gabriele Schulze and Günter Mainka, spurred this on. The stb needs to get in shape for the future. Changes to the tried and tested formula are irritating, but we all know that what was tried and tested yesterday can be old hat by tomorrow. Setting off across uncharted waters – some people call this the future! – always takes courage and an urge to experiment. The price that has to be paid for this in the short term is criticism from some observers, but in the ideal case the long-term reward is security for the fu-ture and new growth.

events: Ms. Schulze, Mr. Mainka: Some people are thrilled, but other observers also accuse you of having experimented too much in the stb marketplace recent-ly. What do you say to this – and could you describe successful and less successful “experiments”?

MICE AG: At the moment the background conditions are changing completely in very short periods of time. So it is no longer the biggest players who are win-ning, but rather the fastest. Questions such as: “Who is exhibiting in the stb marketplace today? Who is con-sciously and actively deciding not to stick their head in the sand?” and “Nowadays who can still actually afford to go to trade fairs on the theme of events?” call for very different answers in many cases now com-pared to a year ago.So it is not just the fact that now is the right moment for brave decisions and new concepts – it is a must. Let us summarise what we have changed at our trade fairs in the space of a year, in other words since the first stb in 2008: > Every trade fair now has its own special theme (e.g. Healthy Conferences & Green Meetings, Christmas celebrations, supporting programmes & teambuild-ing ideas). On the one hand this means they appeal to new groups of visitors. On the other hand we are giving exhibitors the opportunity of finding NEW mes-sages to fit the trade fair. They can present these mes-sages and ideas by coming up with appropriate de-signs for their exhibition stands.

EventsIncentivesActionErleben Sie einzigartige Locations &Incentiveprogramme auf dem ältestenStudiogelände Europas.

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Making Movies

Festakt

> Trade fairs have to be marketplaces for what is new – otherwise they aren’t interesting enough for visitors. And when an exhibitor places a new support-ing programme or a cool idea for a Christmas celebration in the centre of their stand statement, this gives them an opportunity for an additional statement:

“Hotel presents innovative Christmas event” – which really attracts new pro-spective clients. > We have restructured our workshop programme. Visitors can book a maxi-mum of two workshops in advance. In addition, the number of places has been limited since Essen 2008. Thus there is a maximum of 200 – 300 trade visitors in parallel in a lecture, which means that the attendance in the exhibi-tion remains much more consistent. Previously there were three or four peak periods which created the impression of visitor levels, as 700 people streamed out of the lectures and into the hall at the same time. > With the last stb marketplace in Mainz we responded to the experiences of Hamburg at short notice and – as is our style – immediately brought new concepts to life.

The Meet & Greet, the party on the evening before our trade fair, is generally constantly evolving. 60% of our exhibitors are represented at several stb mar-ketplaces, so they mustn’t be bored at the evening party but instead should already be making their first customer contacts. Just like every event organiser, we know that party guests always want to see and experience something new. The last Meet & Greet in Mainz went down especially well: Every guest was announced and presented by name using their business card. During the event we made sure that whole table groups were taken across to other ta-bles. That was active networking! It was a help to them and at the same time a concept which many of the trade visitors immediately wanted to implement themselves at their own next event. At the wish of our trade visitors, we ex-panded the mix of exhibitors. More artists, events agencies, technology sup-pliers, event locations, booking portals and other MICE services now present themselves at the stb marketplace. We moved the After Work Club into the middle of the exhibition; until Hamburg this was held in a separate hall. The new After Work Club is introduced in so-called “Party Zones”. So starting at 16.00, there was subtle music and snacks and drinks were served at five cen-tral points in the exhibition. Exhibitors and visitors met each other in a casual atmosphere so they could really keep on actively networking right up to the last minute. Surveys of exhibitors revealed that 80% found this concept to be right – even if we do still need to fine-tune the details.

Those are the major changes. They have been accompanied by numerous small improvements such as a set-up service for exhibitors, a special area for campaigns, a clearly improved, very high quality lecture programme and links to sector events such as the MICE Day in August in Düsseldorf. Overall it has to be said that “revamped” does not automatically mean that the changes have even been consciously noticed and used by all the visitors and exhibitors. We are now already planning the fifth stb marketplace with a special theme, and have noticed that it is only now that the majority of exhibi-tors are getting more intensively involved in using this theme. It takes time for every innovation to be noticed and used. And while everybody is still getting used to the current changes, we are al-ready working on the next innovations. Coming soon: Silent auctions, net-working ahead of the trade fair between visitors and exhibitors, a further education forum called MICE Horizon and a totally new, greatly improved registration tool are undergoing preparation for Berlin on 16 and 17 June this

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year. We would prefer to be criticised for being too fast, rather than for not moving with the times! After all, the events business is constantly looking for new settings and contents – so the trend trade fair for this market mustn’t stand still.

events: It is always the same with trade fairs: There are some exhibitors who are exceptionally satisfied,

and some who are less so. That is our perception from conversations with exhibitors at the stb’s? You are do-ing a lot for visitor attractiveness. Nonetheless there is a growing rumour of a lack of visitors at the stb! Is the perception true, or is it just a perception, and if so, what are you doing to counteract it?

MICE AG: Our visitor numbers and exhibitor surveys speak a clear language. Satisfaction amongst exhibi-tors is on the increase and so are visitor rates, even if to a certain extent it has proved a bit harder since the beginning of 2009 to achieve a level of 1,300 – 1,500 trade visitors. We have fewer exhibitors – although they are still using the same total area. Quality instead of quantity. The presentation of the individual exhibi-tors on a larger stand area naturally means that they can put their messages across much more clearly. The ratio of exhibitors to trade visitors has clearly improved in quality as a result of this. And to make it possible to increase trade visitor numbers further, we are imple-menting the following measures:> Precise analyses: What do trade visitors expect of the stb marketplace and what can we implement in a narrow timeframe (see the new concepts).> Markedly stronger communication in advance: As well as the usual advertising and direct marketing

campaigns, in advance of stb we also phoned more than 5,000 businesses and invited them personally to stb. > Trade visitors ought to stay for longer: In order to keep visitors at the exhibition for longer, we attract guests through the turnstile in the morning by giving travel vouchers to the first 200. To bridge the time un-til the After Work Club we have launched the Chill-Out and Party Zones.

events: You have decided to hold the first two-day stb in 2010 and at the same time have chosen Frankfurt as the location – which means giving up the traditional location of Mainz. Here too presumably there are one or two sceptics: Well, provided it works, what do you say to them and what made you take this step?

MICE AG: A good catchword. We are holding the first 2-day stb in parallel with SHOWTECH in Berlin in June this year. In the meantime a lot of exhibitors are incur-ring high costs for their stands and these will pay for themselves much better if instead of the usual 1,500 visitors, there are more than 3,000 to show its poten-tial. As we are opening the exhibitions mutually with SHOWTECH and visitors and exhibitors from all over Europe will be meeting up in Berlin, we are confident that the plan will work.

Mainz has been a very good location for the stb mar-ketplace for many years. But evaluations show that exhibitors and trade visitors prefer to meet each other in a single, large exhibition hall. We can no longer manage this in Mainz. The numbers of exhibitors and trade visitors have been developing so positively for years – to our joy – that unfortunately the current hall in Mainz has got a bit too small for us. In Frankfurt we can meet the wishes of our exhibitors and visitors and the people of Hessen are delighted. They also want to make active use of the stb marketplace to promote Hessen as a conference destination. As we have been able to welcome many trade visitors from Frankfurt to Mainz, we are confident that people from Wiesbaden and Mainz will also be attracted to Frank-furt. And our “roaming stbs” – for instance in North Rhine-Westphalia, where we actually alternate each year between Cologne, Düsseldorf, Essen and Dort-mund – also clearly show that a change of site will again ensure there is plenty of new blood at our trade fairs. This is precisely what a lot of exhibitors would like to see.

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This negative trend is troubling, as it challenges the view in the industry and in the public that such large events create a strong increase in overnight stays. Jörg Krebs, the assigned project leader of the Schweiz Tour-ismus umbrella organisation, qualifies this with the argument that a natural displacement effect was ex-pected and that many non-football tourists switched to the months of May and July/August.

The Euro ‘08 in Switzerland was overestimated!

The accuracy of this view is doubtful, as the numbers for the months of July and August were excellent mainly because of the beautiful summer weather in Switzerland at the time. This prompted many book-ings at short notice, not to avoid the EM, but to enjoy the good weather. It is more likely that travellers who wish to avoid a large sporting event don’t choose an-other travel date, but a different destination.

Benefiting from global sporting events:

The recently published accommodations statistics of Switzerland should cause some ears to perk up. Considerable losses appear in the month of June 2008 dur-ing the European Football Championship 2008: overall, the number of overnight lodgings decreased by 2.5% compared to June 2007 (-82,000 overnight lodgings) and of the four host cities, only Basel, which organised the most matches in Swit-zerland, improved by +3.7%. Zurich and Geneva registered losses of between 4 and 5%, and in Bern the decrease totalled 12.7%. Of the nations playing in Swit-zerland, the netherlands registered an increase of 41,000 overnight lodgings and romania an increase of 21,000 overnight lodgings. For Germany, which played in Austria, overnight lodgings in Switzerland decreased by 37,000.

Unfortunately, no figures are available for the MICE sector, as most private events are not reported or do not generate overnight statistics. The run-up to big sporting events (such as is taking place currently for the World Championship 2010 in South Africa) always heralds a great deal of pressure and nervousness in the industry, and everyone scrabbles for the biggest, fat-test contracts from the corporate world. The reality is usually different – there is very little to do besides clas-sic hospitality packages (which large sponsors offer on a B-2-C basis) and there were ultimately few contracts even for the EM 2008. In its concluding report, Schweiz Tourismus therefore points to the unmeasurable benefits, like a general improvement in image, especially in neighbouring countries and a long-term positive impact on decision-makers in the MICE scene and in tourism. These were the original qualitative goals:1. Presentation of Switzerland as a friendly, safe, modern and cosmopolitan country. 2. Strengthening Switzerland’s image and creat-

ing awareness and appreciation of Switzerland, its people and its products.3. Switzerland will be remembered as THE host country. Whether these goals were actually reached will prob-ably only become clear in two to three years. In the meantime, of course, other, negative events (like the banking crisis) are eating away at this image. It remains a fact, however, that these huge global events don’t automatically fill all hotel rooms, as was painfully realised recently at the Olympic Games in Beijing. And in South Africa as well, where the talk is currently about thousands of hotel rooms too few, the World Championship will not prove to be a big windfall for the hotel industry. Maybe, with a bit of luck, demand will rise in the coming years, but the case of Barcelona, which catapulted to become one of the most popular tourist and MICE destinations in Europe with its successful 1992 Olympics, won‘t be repeated so quickly. Daniel Tschudy

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The impact to the hospitality business is substantial, even though the Gulf industry sort of avoids talking openly about it. At MPI’s Gulf Conference and at GIBTM, both staged back-to-back in Abu Dhabi, the difficult matters were not on the agenda. On one hand, because in this region delicate items are not laid open to discuss

- part of traditions and the cultural heritage - and on the other hand, there is simply no (domestic) experience of how to deal with such a compact and global negative development.

Dubai hit harderDubai seems hit harder – as their soon-future is not based on gas or petrol, but was planned on creating a major global mega-city, a centre of hospitality, and a hub between East and West. Space and money was available, cheap manpower was brought in from (i.e.) neighbouring Kerala – and the ‘City of Babel’ could be built. The ten-year old elegant Burj al Arab, originally standing as symbol and icon for Dubai’s growth, now almost seems like a boutique hotel in view of what is being constructed in downtown Dubai, around the Marina and in Jumeirah. And, the true tower of Babel, the 818 meters (and 206 floors) high Burj Dubai is both inspiring and frightening.

Getting nervous

And so it happens that people get nervous and the lack of ability for direct confrontations now becomes a handicap. Before, the fabulous growth strategies were based on cheap money and cheap labour (from within the New World). Now, that should all be questioned, and seriously, and fast. But to discuss openly and

Welcome to RealityAt Abu dhabi’s meeting industry week (MPI conference and GIBTM exhibition), the trade prefers not talk openly about a crisis. For the first time in modern time, the United Arab Emirates returns back from the future. What has been a constant growth since its foundation in 1971, financed by petrodollars and motivated by visionary leaderships, has come to an abrupt stop. during the crisis 1972, the Gulf States were part of the problem, and during those in 1992 and 2002, they tried to stay away from troubles. But in autumn of 2008, the global financial crisis hit hard, particularly in the real Estate industries.

publicly failed strategies (regardless of who’s mistake it is) is diffi-cult in the Middle East. And so decisions are being turned around, plans scrapped, projects stopped, yet, without public discussions or explanations. That creates insecurity and it increases pressure.

The results can be seen, in Dubai more visual than in Abu Dhabi: unfinished apartment buildings, 80% credit for house purchases, untouched fronds on the Palm island and a brand-new Atlantis, which less than half a year after its opening as splendid luxurious premises reduces its rates substantially in order to fill the rooms. Hundreds of mass tourists, 20 minutes queuing for breakfast, a low-quality internet connection, and a lack of service attitude summands the consequences. So Dubai drives fast towards its possible destiny, to become the “Las Vegas of the Middle World”, with Macau taking that position in the East. Masses for masses - and quantity instead of quality.

Ethihad Airways a role modelAbu Dhabi acts differently and for obvious reasons still has money to flow for decades. So the capital’s development – part of its 2030 plan – runs quieter and as it seems more focused. 5 year-old Ethihad Airways now serves already 50 cities (just added Australia with direct flights) with a brand-new fleet and a quality under-standing competitive with Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways. And the highly publicised Saadiyat Island project, just offshore from Abu Dhabi with the Guggenheim and Louvre museums (both opening in 2010) and the Performing Arts Center, are a clear gesture towards culture, and thus quality.But Abu Dhabi, too, does not want to talk about a crisis publicly

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– the paroles are ‘think positive’ but the faces (of the panellists) speak a different language. For example, they plan another 5000 hotel rooms by 2010 and it is not clear how to really fill them – conference business might be the safest bet. The question is (in order not to follow for example AIG’s or UBS’s inadequate communication policies), whether the region learns to exchange and process openly about the economic developments and particularly about what is happening in the meetings indus-try. Because confidence and trust into the Gulf area is, without straight and immediate communication, not possible and would only provoke that foreign interests and investments will hush away as quickly as it came. And those tens-of-thousands soon-ready apartments and hotel rooms in the UAE will just be staying empty ... or be filled with even lower-level markets.

MPI’s answers to the ‘thirst for knowledge’ MPI is both able and willing to respond to the challenges in the Gulf States’ meetings industry: on one hand the constantly grow-ing infrastructure (convention centres, hotels, event locations, transport and fabulous airport-hubs) and on the other the need for education, fine-tuned operations and market-specific sales approach. What now seems understood is that the meetings in-

dustry is not leisure tourism and tour operating. What still needs to be brought to the trade is open communication abilities, con-frontational behaviour and the acceptance of the fact, that the Gulf States, too, are part of the ‘global whirlpool’ – it bubbles everywhere if turned on. Demonstrating its commitment to the Gulf Region’s meetings and events industry, MPI opened its Mid-dle East Office in Doha, Qatar, supported by the MICE Develop-ment Institute (QMDI) and the Qatar Foundation. The partnership with QMDI is a key tool to transfer the global industry’s expertise to the region. www.mpiweg.org.

Facts and Figures of GIBTM 2009240 exhibitors participated at the 3rd edition of GIBTM (repre-sents a growth of 7% on the previous year). New destinations have participated such as Jordan, Oman, Gulf Air, and Turkish Air. The pre-audited figures show a total visitor attendance of 1904, which includes 236 Hosted Buyers - an increase of 15% on 2008. Exhibitors increased to 768 attending personnel. In total, 6390 pre-scheduled appointments were undertaken at the event; up 23% on 2008. GIBTM will be held again in Abu Dhabi from March 29 - 31, 2010. www.gibtm.com Daniel Tschudy

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Even a basic connection between tourism, business travellers and meetings industry guests (or MICE, as it is still called throughout Asia) is only beginning to grow: there are no statistics yet – or any convention offices (or they are just being built). The industry itself packages ‘all in one’ and tries to sell anything it has as quickly as possible; often without a clear target demographic, let alone detailed marketing strate-gies. The IT&CM China in Shanghai made this clear: few exhibitors, even fewer visitors, and over all, no positive energy – although this was already the third trade fair. The presentation of the predominantly Chinese pro-viders (mostly hotels), with its well regarded 6,000 sqm (gross), ultimately focused on the three or four well-known global hotel chains, a couple of China’s main destinations (Beijing was missing, along with

Still in its infancyWhile the service infrastructure (that is, the ‘hardware,’ like airports, motorways, hotels, venues and conference centres) is taking huge strides to meet interna-tional needs, the ‘software’ side is just starting up.

China’s meeting industry:

Xian or Tibet) and a few neighbouring markets (Japan participated for the first time). From further abroad, Turkey stood out the most, making an enormous ef-fort to present itself in line with the market (own pro-gramme; brochures in Chinese and visit by the Turkish ambassador in China to the fair).

What does the IT&CM China want? It was difficult for the 150 registered foreign hosted buyers to orient themselves. The ‘Destination China’ offers were hardly representative. If all of Asia was supposed to be covered (the motto runs: China for the world, and the world for China), then the exhibi-tion was even less representative. The same question applies to the 150 registered Chinese hosted buyers: What does the fair want to show us?

The fact that the World Exposition 2010 was not pre-sented at this fair clearly shows that local awareness of the IT&CM was low as well.

Officially, the organisers may well speak of 2,000 pro-fessional visitors – that would include exhibitors, me-dia representatives, and all hosted buyers – but the wide halls were mostly empty and the sales staff at the booths outnumbered the visitors by far. This must be a disappointment for such an immense market as Shanghai, as hundreds of people from the industry alone would have had to move to the not exactly mod-ern ‘ShanghaiMall Expo’ centre. But this absence of industry representatives is not due to a poor attitude on the part of the Chinese or too little interest in train-ing and networking. It is more likely that awareness of the MICE industry branch is lacking – or at least in its infancy – and the “meetings industry” has practically no lobby in China.

This is incredible, since MPI stated in the “War for Tal-ents” report that in China alone, considerably more

than one million trained employees will be needed in the hospitality industry in the next ten years. The IT&CM China did not manage to bring more than a few industry insiders to the table at this third fair.

In 2007, there were 26 million non-Chinese visitors to China (plus 105 million with Chinese origins) – so the general demand for tourism is there. However, it will take time for the meetings industry to ripen – per-haps the September fair of Reed Travel Exhibitions, the CIBTM in Beijing (www.cibtm.com), will be fertile ground for this groundwork.

Facts

The third IT&CM China had 6,000 gross sqm of exhi-bition space leased and 211 exhibitors (according to organisers, “5%-10%” less than in the previous year) and 300 hosted buyers (half from China and half from abroad) – a rather modest showing!

Daniel Tschudy; for events

Im Prinzip: Ja!

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“… or can you offer me a reasonable alter-native to KölnKongress?” Bernhard Conin, top marketing manager of ten locations, seems to ask here.

Claudia Stern is much more than

“just” a sommelier and proprietor, she’s the “soul of the company” at VINTAGE, the first floor gourmet station in Stern’s event salon. www.sterns.tv

A contented smile at Stephanie Franke’s welcoming address on the hosted buyer evening.

“As the central Cologne Convention Bureau, we are promoting this Convention and Event Day in order to present the great potential Cologne possesses as a MICE destination to all of Germany. We want to offer industry professionals the opportunity to browse and try out the city’s diverse offers all in one place,” says the direc-tor of the Cologne Convention Bureau.

A charming ambassador of his city: Cologne’s mayor, Fritz Schramma, only one day after he announced that he would not be running again for the highest municipal office.

The Kölner Welcome GmbH set up a “wine casino” in a side room and presented their great new alternative to conventional wine-tasting at various “game tables” and with great success: Casino Vinophil www.welcome-gmbh.de

Concert legend Fritz Rau was the star guest of the hosted buyer evening and read from his book “50 Jahre Backstage.”

Early in the morning in “hats off for prayer” mode: the first visitors listen to the welcom-ing address of the upcoming exhibition day in the Kölner Gürzenich.

Josef Sommer, executive direc-tor of Köln Tourismus, in an intense conversation with Wil-helm Luxem, spokesman for the hotel association “Take Five.” www.takefivehotels.de

Uniting their forces, the citizens of Co-logne demonstrated the cathedral city’s great potential for the meetings and event market on 31 March 2009. United forces means the newly founded Cologne Con-vention Bureau, the IHK and KölnKongress. For the first time, a hosted buyer evening was organised the day before the event, so that 50 selected event planners had an opportunity for an optional early dialogue with Cologne providers. The scene was perfectly set by the hosting Take Five ho-tels – the “VINTAGE Genuss Schule” left no culinary wish unfulfilled and those who desired could join in the cooking dressed in

tasteful aprons. The Austern Bar on the ter-race, radiating with a light Mediterranean flair even at the end of March with its grill station and heating system, was down-right besieged. On this beautiful evening, the citizens of Cologne skilfully showed what gastronomic pleasures the cheerful city can offer besides “Halven Hahm, Köls-ch, and Hämmchen” – a cheese sandwich, beer, and wine. Essentially, anything!

On the following day, the main event went off without a hitch at Cologne’s great hall, the Gürzenich, with over 600 visitors and 50 exhibitors. The 9th Congress & Event

Day stood out in particular because each visitor was able to go on site inspections throughout the city individually, using a prepared shuttle service, in order to im-mediately apply what the exhibition hall presented to the litmus test. The accompa-nying general programme of the Congress and Event Day was very well received by the professional guests and was already fully booked ahead of time. It included bicycle and segway excursions, workshops, and the “Casino Vinophil,” developed by Welcome GmbH in Frechen.

Over 300 visitors inhaled the scent of Eau de Cologne

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Night is soon upon us. Just time for a quick visit to Senate Square, rich in history, with the green domes of Helsinki‘s landmark building – the Neoclassical Helsinki Cathedral – rising majestically above it. That was “Finland for Beginners”. Via aeroplane, we travel northwards – to Kittilä, about 150 km south of the Arctic Circle. Moderate temperatures as we land: mi-nus eight degrees. At the airport, each member of our party is handed ski overalls and warm boots. Fourteen pairs of boots trudge clumsily through the soft snow. Thereafter, the journey proceeds rapidly by sled: mo-torised sleds, in fact – termed “ski-doos” by those in the know. A loud roar cuts through the Lapland night, somewhere in the snowy wilderness between Kittilä

The reindeer is a fractious beast...First the city sights – Helsinki in fast-forward mode: Olympic Stadium, up onto the tower, look out over the city, onward through nattily turned-out streets, there the the-atre, here the opera, down to the harbour, diplomatic quarter just round the corner, to right the Gulf of Finland. Eva-lisa, our loquacious Finn, bombards us with historical facts the whole time. About the Vikings, the time of the russian occupation, Jean Sibe-lius and the fantastic summer months. “It’s always called the ‘land of 1,000 lakes’ – but that’s completely wrong. We have more than 180,000,” she explains – not without pride. And so begins our trip from Helsinki into the far north of Finland. Onward we go.

Finnish Lapland – Journey into another world

and Levi. Snow and birch trees, birch trees and snow, wherever one cares to look. Anyone losing their way would have to put their trust in God or a frost-proof mobile phone. After all, you’re more likely to bump into a reindeer out here than into a human being.

Time stands still in Lapland

Reijo Jääskelainen is a champion dogsled racer. After bowing out of professional racing, he now breeds both huskies and wolves – and very successfully. Some of them have even become film stars.And the tame reindeer at the gate gives every visi-tor a furry kiss – on promise of a proffered biscuit.

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To warm everyone up, the ex-racer invites us into a rustic log cabin. Fish soup is bubbling on a hot plate and giving off an appetizing aroma. „The Germans are always in a hurry, everything has to go accord-ing to plan. But here we live in harmony with na-ture. That‘s why I always collect people‘s watches before long journeys,“ he says, with an impish grin. And then, at last: on with the harness! Ten dogs pull-ing a three-person sled. A cacophony of barking breaks out. The dogs can hardly wait to show their prow-ess, and run as if they‘ve taken leave of their senses. Jääskelainen drives the leading sled, shouting incom-prehensible commands through the No-Man‘s Land. A well-trained husky can cover 200 km a day, but needs time to rest and the right sort of food. The weeklong tours – right across Lapland – are especially popular. Accommodation is either in a cottage or, optionally, in a snow cave: furnished with reindeer hide, of course.

Rudolph is a mule

Sámi reindeer breeders know almost all there is to know about snow – their language has countless words for the delicate white stuff. And they can fore-cast the weather from the character of a single snow-flake. With reindeer, that‘s a more difficult matter: they‘re entirely unpredictable. Reindeer are pigheaded

– and more stubborn than a mule. The savvy Lapland lady in traditional costume gives us advice: „Show the reindeer who‘s boss – and use force if necessary.“ The heavy rope smacks loudly against the fence. And then the wooden sled slowly picks up speed, gliding quietly through the snow-bound forest. All is still – the only sounds are the bell at the reindeer‘s throat and one‘s own heartbeat. We start slowing down, surrounded

by white nothingness: Finland for survivors. After a few minutes, the bloody-minded animal comes to a stop, starts eating snow and refuses to budge. Pa-tience is a virtue. After a torturous pause, the reindeer breeder says what’s on everyone’s mind: “Sometimes you train a reindeer for more than two years to pull a sledge. But finally you decide: You better eat it!”

Snowbusiness

Almost unique in Europe: the chance to frolic on the slopes for seven long months. In Finnish Lapland, the ski season starts in November, but the snow can still be falling as late as May. And while the rolling hills can’t compete with the Alps, the quality of the snow makes up for the lack of height. The long winter offers countless opportunities for outdoor activities. First and foremost, everything that moves on runners: husky, reindeer or motorised sleds – or just the manual kind. Those wanting to test their mettle can explore Finland ad infinitum via cross-country ski runs. Thick-skinned types don a kind of “Teletubby” diving suit before jumping into the Baltic in sub-zero temperatures to try out Arctic Diving.The very brave can try out a kind of accommodation with a stay-fresh guarantee. The “Snow Village Lainio” ice hotel, 40 minutes away from Kittilä, is the ice-cold alternative to a comfy, heated hotel suite. In the 31 double rooms, the temperatures stay astonishingly constant (from zero to minus three degrees), inde-pendently of the temperature outside. Ice is an insula-tor. Every guest receives a polar sleeping bag and a de-tailed briefing. No sleepwalking! The elaborate snow and ice construction is built from scratch every year in November – in just 13 days.

Cool bar in Snow Village ice hotel

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A sudden panoply of colour

Deep in the darkest part of the year – December to January – a natural phenomenon brightens up the nights in Lapland. Polar auroras illuminate the heav-ens in wonderful pastel colours. The “Taivaanvalkeat Northern Light Farm” (near to Levi) even offers a view-ing platform just for watching this imposing spectacle.

“We live in an Arctic environment – the winters are hard and long. But, thanks to the warm Gulf Stream, we also have other seasons – though they are short and boisterous,” explains Päivikki Palosaari, our stout-hearted hostess at “Taivaanvalkeat”. When spring comes suddenly in May, the flowers usually shoot up through the snow and, in a few days, everything is red-green-yellow-orange-purple. Summer follows im-mediately afterwards. The proximity to the Arctic Cir-

cle turns biorhythms topsy-turvy. “Up here, we have many strange kinds of plants – and all because we have 24 hours of daylight in summer. And our straw-berries taste out of this world. Fantastically sweet and juicy,” claims Palosaari. Indefatigable types can spend 24 hours playing golf, fishing, hunting, kayaking over all the lakes, wearing out their Nordic walking sticks or hiking up to the Arctic Circle.

Are the Finns quite right in the head?

Their sauna tradition is like a religion to them, and the country boasts more “sweatboxes” than churches:

over two million saunas for around 5.3 million inhabit-ants. Since the Sauna Holiday was introduced in 1986, everyone can sweat together. And the Finns can be proud of an achievement that is truly world-class: the only cable-car sauna in the world. Resembling a hang-ing packing crate with its wooden cladding, it‘s the cynosure of all eyes. The 80-100 degree sweat capsule ascends to the summit of the 718-metre-high Ylläs-Fjäll– one of the highest mountains in Lapland.

Book tip: The Sweet Poison Cook

In this book, Arto Paasilinna, Finland’s best-loved au-thor (and also a native of Kittilä) reveals a great deal about the idiosyncrasies of his fellow Finns. Not a tra-ditional crime novel, it‘s rather more a typically scur-rilous Finnish tale. Peppered with absurdities – but

eminently sensible in context. Those who know the country and its customs will meet some familiar faces.

As yet, there are no direct flights to Kittilä from Ger-many. Finnair flights leave from all major German cities to Helsinki several times a day. From there, there are hourly connecting flights.

The Munich-based “Realize” Event Academy will be delighted to help with event planning:www.realize-events.de

By G.K. Prenzel

A well-trained husky can cover 200 km a day

This year’s annual general meeting of the Europäische Verband der Veranstaltungs-zentren (European Association of Event Centres, EVV) was all about a change of guard. It was the pleasant kind of change of guard that proceeded harmoniously there at the Congress Center of Messe Frankfurt. The vice “succeeded” his presi-dent, who stepped down as scheduled af-ter two election periods and had already chosen his new comrade-in-arms – natu-rally with the AGM’s approval! Retrospec-tive and outlook: these two characters so outwardly different have had a big impact in eight shared years.

On the one hand, the charming, extro-verted Austrian August Moderer, said to be a “real giant” in managing social re-

lationships and on the other, the rather reserved Joachim König, always the loyal

“mastermind,” the intellectual backing behind the president. Joachim König is the director of the Congress Centrum of Hanover and no doubt the right man to continue the work of the CC Mainz leader and especially to monitor the desired reju-venation process. The first act on this path was the appointment of the dynamic Mat-thias Schultze as vice-president. Matthias Schultze is an executive director of a most prestigious real estate property, the World Conference Center of Bonn at the young age of 28 and gives the impression that he’s definitely “not finished yet.” events wishes the new leadership duo of the EVVC the best of luck!

A new EVVC president and a new Vice have been elected

Two always on good terms now parting: August Moderer and his successor

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Impressions from an annual general meeting

A chic set-up for the festival evening at the Gutenbergsaal in Mainz, held under the motto “Passages”

She knows the industry fromInside out and steers the highlyeffective “administrativemothership” of the EVVC witha steady hand – the branch office in Bad Homburg: Martina Engert

Martina Engert’s young team – EVVC has a knack with the next generation...

Kurt Schüller reveals some-thing about his new field of activity on the margins of the meeting: He’s work-ing on certification systems for nursing homes and assisted living and has opened a car wash for lorries “just on the side.”

Two nice pieces of evidence for good youth work: the “alumni” from the EVVC branch of-fice: Simone Klotz, now at GCB, and Jana Maria Schäfers, now at World Conference Centre Bonn.

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Another “old hand,” Johann Wagner, is trans-ferring from city marketing direc-tor to Mannheim, after successfully

“marrying” the two congress centres of Böblingen and Sindelfingen.

Lovely idea, this “bed of tulips,” says Kerstin Quirin from events...

Dr. Ursula Paschke, Halle Münster-land, is happy about her newly-creat-ed board position “CSR/sustainability.” Knut Seidel (Kassel) is taking over the marketing department from her.

Sandra Heinecke, new to the sales & marketing team of CC Mainz, in animated discussion with Günter Ihlen-feld (Pforzheim) and Dr. Thomas Karsch (Kongresspalais Stadthalle Kassel)

It’s about time that a pho-tographer got photographed: Thorsten Zimmer-mann, the asso-ciation’s favourite photographer.

How long will he stay in such a good mood? Michael Syhre, facing the difficult challenge of planning a new events fair for the people of Wies-baden as director to the Rhein-Main-Hallen.

Time to say goodbye for two AG chairpersons, a treasurer and a president!

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This year’s EVVC Awards, which are based on two structural principles, were presented at the annual general meeting gala in the Mainz Rheingoldhalle. The prizes in the “Best self-organised event” and “So-cial responsibility” categories are judged traditionally, while the Best Centre Awards are determined using a mix of customer surveys and finely differentiated Mys-tery Shopping. This “supreme discipline” is designed, carried out and assessed every year by Professor Hel-mut Schwägermann (FH Osnabrück) and a student work group.

It is almost common practice for the popular ZDF host Gundula Gause to shake the winners’ hands, and, given her almost too familiar affiliation with the EVVC, she hardly needs a cheat sheet and is capable of mak-ing spontaneous charming small talk. In the stylishly cool ambience of the Gutenberg room, enhanced with a “Bed of Tulips” in the spring spirit, the follow-ing awards were presented:

In the category “EVVC Award – Best Centre 2009” for AG I (establishments with a capacity of up to 1,200 seats with row seating in the largest room), the Max-Reger-Halle Weiden. The Lokhalle Göttingen (hats off!) scored a double: the award for AG II (establish-ments with a capacity of up to 4,000 seats with row seating in the largest room) and the prize for the best self-organised event with “Pop meets Classic”. The winner of AG III (properties with a capacity of over 4,000 seats with row seating in the largest room) was Stadthalle Rostock. The judges’ prize for the

“EVVC Award – Social Responsibility 2009” in the “So-ciety” category went to Gasteig München for the project “Gasteig Youth Academy”. Ecological points were scored in the CSR category by Westfalenhallen Dortmund for the development of the photovoltaics system in the vast hall roofing.

The best centres

win awards

Phot

o: K

im Ta

e-su

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Tourism Current figures show around 7 million tourists visiting Korea every year – with the aim being to increase this number to 10 million by 2012. The country intends to raise its profile with the help of the Korean Tour-ism Organisation’s campaign “Visit Korea 2010-2012”. One aspect of this is promoting the World Expo 2012, which will take place in the southern city of Yeosu in 2012. In early October 2008, the government set up a committee staffed by experts from the travel, hotel, media and cultural sectors: its purpose was to support a range of marketing, PR and advertising campaigns aimed at achieving greater marketing success for Ko-rea.

Economy

Phoenix from the ashes 1960: Widespread devastation from the Korean War (1950 to 1953) renders the Republic of Korea one of the poorest countries in the world. Rapid economic development follows over the next four decades. To-day, this “Asian Tiger” is one of the world’s developed industrial countries and a member of OECD (Organi-sation for Economic Co-operation and Development). Major global multinationals – or chaebol – such as Samsung, LG or Hyundai are among the world’s lead-ing corporations in the automotive industry, shipbuild-ing and information/telecommunications technologies.

Running smoothly2007: Korea achieves a gross domestic product of 970 billion USD, equating to a per-capita income of ap-proximately 20,000 USD. Heavy industry and construc-tion contribute around 37%, with service industries (incl. public services) making up approximately 57%. However, agriculture, forestry and fishing decrease to less than 4%. Thanks to strong exports (+14.1%) and solid domestic demand (+4%), the national economy continues to grow by 4.9%.

General informationOfficial name: republic of Korea (daehan-minguk)Population: approx. 48.5 millionCapital: SeoulGovernment: Semi-presidential republic

Head of state: lee Myung-bak, PresidentBusiness languages: Korean, EnglishReligions: 46% no religion, Buddhist + Christian: approx. 26%Time difference: + 9 hours (GMT)Currency: won (W) - 1 won = approx. 0.79 EuroInternational dialling code +82

Turbulent times2008: Despite the onset of increasingly difficult con-ditions, mid-year results once again reveal economic growth of just under 4%, following a strong period of business. In the second half of 2008, the global finan-cial crisis finally catches up with the Korean manufac-turing economy. Forecasts for 2009 have to be adjust-ed downwards (to approx. 2% – according to the IMF).In autumn 2008, the government put a number of strategy packets in place to secure the liquidity of the financial market and keep the wheels of industry turn-ing. Cuts to income and corporation tax – which had already been in the pipeline – are now implemented to stimulate domestic demand. Within a short space of time, the Bank of Korea lowers its key interest rate in multiple stages to 4.25%. In October 2008, a swap* agreement valued at over 30 billion USD is concluded with the US Federal Re-serve Bank. The aim is to counteract liquidity bottle-necks. (Swap = a contractual agreement between two parties to exchange cash flows.)And yet: foreign currency reserves are substantial (200 billion USD) and public debt is relatively low (32% of the 2007 GDP). These are figures that give the Korean government more than enough room to manoeuvre its national economy through an international eco-nomic crisis.Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Germany December 2008

A Korea Convention Bureau has existed since 1979 as a subdivision of the KTO – the Korea Tourism Organisation. Since then, further CVBs have opened in Seoul, Daejeon, Daegu, Busan, Jeju and Gwangju.

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Seoul has a rich cultural legacy, with historical monu-ments (two UNESCO World Heritage Sites), magisterial palaces and temples, all of which are sustained by a continual process of restoration. A total of 26 hills lie in and around the city, which is divided into 25 auton-omous “Gu”. The Han River is crossed by 27 bridges and more than 27% of urban space is green. There are

As early as the 18th century a King named Yeongjo had a concrete idea of how to improve the appearance of Cheonggyecheon river. So he simply employed an army of 200,000 workers to dredge the riverbed and to straighten its course. After the Korean War in the 1950s, the littoral deteriorated into slumland. Years later, it was simply concreted over – even covered by an urban motorway in an attempt to mas-ter skyrocketing traffic levels. As Seoul continued to grow unabated, the area trans-formed step-by-step into a hectic urban centre, buffeting its denizens with noise and environmental pollution. In 2005, the river was returned to Mother nature and now winds some 6 km through the bustling metropolis, once again forming the fo-cal point for 10 million inhabitants.

12 underground lines and 93% of the city’s population use mobile phones: some citizens never seem to sleep and, taken together, they are responsible for gener-ating 22.5% of Korea’s GDP. Seoul is one of the top 10 conferencing destinations worldwide, and relies on the expertise of 155 PCOS.

Cheonggyecheon River

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Popular excursionsTemplestay with tea ceremonySubmerge yourself in the heavenly quietude of a Bud-dhist temple in the middle of the metropolis, e.g. the Jogyesa Temple – one of 41 temples nationwide that are now open to the public! Monks initiate visitors from the four corners of the earth into their mysteri-ous rituals: Buddhism, culture, meditation – a mind-set and a philosophy. Those who are good with their hands can also participate in a number of workshops.

The Changing of the Royal GuardThis highly colourful spectacle takes place several times a day at Deoksu Palace and Gyeongbok Palace. The traditional changing of the guard – “imported” from the Joseon Dynasty – is a lovely greeting from the traditional past to our bustling modernity.

56 km from Seoul: the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) – the place where North and South Korea meetThe DMZ boundary line, established at the end of the Korean War in 1953 on the 38th parallel, is 248 km long and 4 km wide. It is monitored by the Military Armistice Commission (MAC), based at Panmunjeom, and staffed by representatives of both sides. At its cen-tre lies the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) – the offi-

cial border separating the two countries. Former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun took a step towards reconciliation in October 2007, crossing the border on foot to attend a political summit in Pyongyang and meet with the North Korean head of state, Kim Jong-Il. The North Korean flag flutters above the Propaganda Village of Gijeong-dong on the tallest flagpole in the world: weighing 270 kg and measuring 35 m x 28 m, it’s also the largest ever made. In 1953, 12,773 pris-oners of war crossed the “Freedom Bridge” from the North to the South. Through a tunnel 73 m deep and 1,635 m long, around 10,000 soldiers and 30,000 ci-vilians struck out for a better life in the safety of the South.A little railway line takes seven minutes to reach a lower platform – just 170 m away from the DMZ. Peo-ple with heart problems, claustrophobia or asthma are advised against using it.

The Changing of the Royal Guard

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A taste of Korea

A fiery customer! It‘s hot as hell and is swarming with lactobacilli. Yuk? Not at all! Tongbaechu Kimchi, the all-purpose food consisting of fer-mented Chinese cabbage, – is rich in vitamins A, B and C, a pro-phylactic against yeast infections in the body and – according to recent studies – can even prevent cancer cells from forming. High-fibre and low in fat, the vegetable is good for cleansing cures or diets and thus can even make you beautiful! There are supposed to be around 200 kinds available, made from a vari-ety of ingredients – from fresh to three years in storage ... pre-served in the traditional brown ceramic flagons: onggi. The clay jars are air-permeable, filter poisonous toxins out and are said to absorb the revitalising chi. The jars stand outside in orderly rows sorted according to size or are buried carefully – depend-ing on their contents.

Nature‘s bounty for South Korea – from North Korea Tricholoma matsutake grows in the Chilbosan National Park in North Korea. September is the month for harvesting the mush-room: around 200 tonnes are collected every year by compara-tively well-paid North Korean workers, employed directly by the government. The highly-prized delicacy counts as one of the most important sources of foreign revenue for North Korea – Japan and South Korea in particular will pay over 500 EUR per kilo for it!

Stag tea is healthy!The gamekeeper and antler harvester Sasha Tcherepanov chooses 60 Caspian red deer from a herd of 500. For stags liv-ing in the Russian region of Sauzar, the onset of June means just one thing: their antlers will soon be gone! This animal headgear brings traders the greatest profits when still „fresh“ – covered in velvet and with a good blood supply. South Korean dealers pay several hundred dollars for a set of antlers like this: shaved into tissue-thin slices, it is mixed into tea in the belief that it has health-giving properties.

Taekwondo – A martial art for body and soulThe philosophy that informs taekwondo may well be of greater import and substance than that powerful kick to an opponent‘s midriff: respect for one‘s parents (elders), loyalty, spiritedness and mental training.

Convention Centres in Seoul:COEX: in the World Trade Center complex. Finished in 1988, ex-tended and re-opened in 2000. 225,000 sqm over eight levels. With an auditorium, congress hall, large ballroom, 30 meeting rooms and four additional exhibition halls from 1,639 to 10,368 sqm, plus the 428 sqm ASEM Hall. www.coex.co.kraT Center: 8,047 sqm of exhibition space, conference rooms from 58 to 548 sqm. www.atcenter.co.kr Sejong University Convention Center: 2,700 sqm, 3,200 per-son capacity for a single event, a range of meeting rooms seating between 40 and 200 persons, and 82 guest rooms.www.sejong.ac.kr 63 Building Convention Center: for max. 1,500 persons (thea-tre). www.63.co.kr

HotelsIn General, the hotels are very well equipped technologically and offer a huge range of diverse event possibilities – occasionally in XXL format. Hardly surprising, since one needs a lot of space for private functions in Korea, too – like for gargantuan weddings.COEX Intercontinental Seoul (653 rooms): Varied list of event rooms – the largest is the Harmony Ballroom at 10,108 sqm! State-of-the-art technology, first-class communications systems and services in the Business Centre and guest rooms. www.seoul.intercontinental.com Grand Hilton Seoul (396 rooms): set against the background of Mount Baengnyeonsan. Low-key meeting, seminar, major con-ference or extravagant ball – the hotel can rise to meet any chal-lenge! Convention Center: 1,536 sqm, Grand Ballroom: 837 sqm. www.grandhiltonseoul.com Grand Hyatt Seoul (601 rooms): Enjoys the reputation of being Korea’s leading business hotel and is known as Seoul’s classiest venue for meetings and conferences. Largest event space:Grand Ballroom 1,213 sqm. www.seoul.grand.hyatt.com Grand Intercontinental Seoul (535 rooms): Grand Ballroom with a capacity for 1,800 people, two other ballrooms, 14 meet-ing rooms. Off-site catering possible in COEX for conferences and banquets. www.seoul.intercontinental.com Imperial Palace Hotel (395 rooms): Hotel with a European flair, elegant and cultured with the slogan “The Best of Everything”. Largest rooms “Dubhe” and “Selena”, with space for 800 and 650 people respectively. www.imperialpalace.co.kr JW Marriott Seoul (497 rooms): Hotel for sporty types with an indoor jogging track, scuba diving pool, climbing wall, fitness and spa areas, etc. Grand Ballroom for 1,000 people.Lotte Hotel Seoul (1,354 rooms): Enough accommodation for a whole village. Plenty of space in many event rooms for 40-1,500 people. www.lottehotel.com Mayfield Hotel (202 rooms): Will probably suit European tastes in terms of atmosphere and size. Conferences in the region of 100-500 guests. www.mayfield.co.kr The Lexington Hotel (234 rooms): Traditional, elegant and pleasantly sized hotel in the European style. Meeting rooms suit-able for 10-200 people. www.thelexington.co.kr

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And we do mean large: five multifunctional halls totalling 53,541 sqm, 22 meeting rooms, a Grand Ballroom... All of it space that will truly be needed for the next mammoth conference in June 2009: for Herbalife APAC & China Extravaganzas, no less than 25,000 international dealers will be attending, participating in two mega-conferences and a huge VIP themed party.

Herbalife not only decided on KINTEX as a venue because of its available capacities, but also because of this heady cocktail: ac-tive support by local government authorities, excellent transport infrastructure and the fact that the Congress Centre is handily close to Korea‘s largest water park, the Urban Entertainment Cen-tre (UEC), the Demarcation Line and the metropolitan region of Seoul. Located within a 30 to 50 minutes-drive a wide selection of 70 hotels of all categories are strategically affiliated with KINTEX allowing better room rates, free shuttle service and other comple-mentary services for participants and visitors.

KINTEX organises a complete conference package for custom-ers, helped by DMC partners and local authorities: a committee staffed by urban and tourism organisations supports marketing strategies for MICE customers via PR/promotions and branding for the event, using shared press channels, newsletters and even free ad placement services.

Around 4.6 million visitors – 100,000 from abroad – come to KIN-TEX every year, attending around 90 trade fairs and events, plus 400 conferences and meetings. The complex will be extended by another 54,000 sqm, an auditorium seating 6,000 and by more than 20 meeting rooms. Completion expected in September 2011.

And another superlative: in 2016, the Rotary Club will be hosting a conference – with 50,000 attendees! www.kintex.com

Goyang: KINTEX – Korea‘s largest MICE Venue for mega conferences

KINTEX Expansion Plan

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Gwangju, surrounded by mountains in the southwest of Korea, was the scene for the summit of Nobel Peace Prize winners in 2006. Among other things, the conference com-memorated the meeting of former president Kim Dae-jung with Kim Jong-il in North Korean Pyongyang, which led to the so-called North-South Joint Declaration. In the year 2000, Kim Dae-jung received the Nobel Peace Prize for this achievement.

Gwangju benefited greatly from Korea’s economic growth and experienced an upturn due to development projects like e.g. the Gwangju Hi-tech Industrial Complex. However, it sees itself rather as a city of art: Namjonghwa (Chi-nese painting) and Pansori (Korean singing) supposedly originated here, and the Biennale, a festival of arts and culture lasting three months, forges an international reputation for this city populated by so many artists! During the Kimchi Festival in Gwangju World Cup Stadium, visitors can help themselves to a world of several hundred kinds of pickled cabbage; production is demonstrated in workshops. The International Music Festival is also well at-tended.

Convention CentersKimdaejung Convention Center: 10,800 sqm of exhibition space, with all the latest technology. Congress hall for 1,500 peo-ple (theatre) and a multitude of space. www.kdjcenter.or.kr

Sori Arts Center of Jeollabuk-do: interdisciplinary cultural cen-tre with three theatres, exhibition hall, congress hall, amphithea-tre (7,000 persons) and the 4,410 sqm “Nori-madang”. Stages starting at 69 sqm, simultaneous translation into six languages (251 listener booths). www.sori21.co.kr

HotelsHotel Tirol***** (114 rooms): alpine resort-style with a view of Mount Deokyusan (National Park). 14 meeting rooms named

“Stubaital”, “Wilder Kaiser” or “Edelweiß”. www.mujuresort.com Prado Hotel (93 rooms): Banqueting facilities for 90-240 people.Shin Yang Park Hotel (87 rooms): Receptions for up to 800, meetings for 14-120 persons. www.shinyangparkhotel.com Core Hotel (111 rooms): five rooms for 40-500 attendees (thea-tre). www.corehotel.co.kr Jeonju Core Rivera Hotela (165 rooms): Jeonju, a Mecca for art: two rooms with 7,400 sqm and 1,575 sqm. www.hotel-rivera.co.kr Damyang Resort (42 rooms): Idyllic location, with spa and pool. Banqueting hall: 438 sqm, seminar room: 167.8 sqm. www.damyangspa.com

www.gwangjucvb.or.kr

KDJ Convention Center

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Haenyo - The nixies of JejuAlready 59, she has never been squeamish. Her face, tanned into a friendly mask by wind, weather and salt water has many fine lines -- especially around her eyes. Her small, compact body is sheathed in a padded black Neoprene suit and she has large rubber flippers on her delicate feet. She sets the brittle diving goggles over her eyes, puts on her underwater gloves and – in the company of some other women – dives down into the icy sea. She has been doing this since she was six – al-though then she was only allowed to harvest seaweed. By 14, she was taking valuable shellfish from greater depths. Her mother offered up her most closely guard-ed hunting grounds, training her to be always on her guard against the dangers lurking underwater. Soon

she was making four dives a day – even today she still manages two. As the decades passed, her body changed to meet ever-increasing demands: her lung capacity is hugely enlarged and even her spleen serves as an additional oxygen reservoir.

The lungs contract when diving – just as is being ob-served in whales and seals. This forces red blood cells into the circulatory system and permits longer dives of about 90 seconds at a depth of around 20 metres. The rib cage, pressed together underwater, expands again immediately on reaching the surface and oxy-gen streams into the lungs from the blood. Loss of consciousness is not unusual, which is why diving is done in groups.

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Korean Air: Portrait Executive Chef: flying ultralight!

Charles Muther is Swiss by birth and yes, he does know how to fry Röschti! He is simply an inveterate globetrotter, a chef to hotels and resorts in Stockholm, Dubai, Hong Kong, Beijing, Taipei and Manila who now draws on a wealth of gastronomic experience for his own creations: a little something from each cuisine, know-how implemented and continual improvement to the end product. Under his aegis, culinary trends for Korean Air on-board meals are further developed with the addition of tastes from the Western palate. A development team of young Korean chefs works with him in an almost frenzied research for ever-more novel and subtle creations.

Muther’s philosophy requires food to do more than just taste good – the texture is also crucial. It should be healthy, light and generate long-lasting memories – after it has first impressed one’s initially stunned tastebuds. Bibimbap – a Korean national dish served in complex fashion on a host of tiny dishes – is part of the standard menu at Korean Air: in 1998, it received the International Flight Catering Association’s Mercury Award.Charles Muther creates menus for 34 (!) airlines, producing 50,000 meals per day on average from 20,000 different daily menus.

Who needs Dr. Ruth? Between folklore and teddy bear mu-seum: the “Love Land” theme park stretches over an area equal to two football pitches, placing on view some extremely inter-esting and often impressively large exhibits and sculptures in astonishingly flexible positions. Jeju – a favourite destination for honeymooners – thus combines educational elements with a rather delicate walk in the park. www.jejuloveland.com

She works fast, hacking shellfish from the stony sea-floor with a sharp blade, lobbing thorny sea urchins carefully into her fish trap, held secure by a block of polystyrene bobbing about on the surface. She gath-ers obscenely expensive abalones – a delicacy now barely affordable in Asian restaurants – while not let-ting herself be disturbed by the grim, frowny-faced squids floating about. She also finishes off the odd fat fish or two with an expert cast of her razor-sharp spear.

She surfaces with a stitch in her side - and with blood-curdling, alien sounds rasping and whistling from her burning lungs: what‘s known as sumbisori is caused by exhalations after long-suppressed breathing. Other Haenyo surfacing at the same time join in, creating in

alien cacophony an almost inhuman chorus of sighs. Like sirens. The sirens of Jeju, whom the ocean swal-lows on 15 particular days in a month, calculated ac-cording to the lunar calendar. Traditionally, Haenyo are matriarchs and providers for their families. As a result, their status in the Asian world is unique. Since 1950, their numbers have halved to the present figure of ap-prox. 6,000.

She has frequent headaches, bad hearing and suffers from neuralgia and she is the oldest diver in her vil-lage. Her daughter also dives. But her granddaughter dreams of a career in the big city.

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A superb geographic location and a moderate climate may be the reasons why Busan has slowly but surely been transforming itself into a prized location for filming, and why Korean productions are achieving international recognition. The technical term for this is

„hallyu“ – The Wave. Even off the set of the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), one can visit the various film locations freely and compare hand sizes on the „Walk of Fame“ on PIFF Square. Funded jointly by the Ministry for Culture, Sport & Tourism and the City of Busan, PIFF will take place in October 2009 for the 14th time, singling out the best from around 300 entries from 60 countries. The organisers are expecting a tidal wave of interna-tional interest amounting to some 200,000 film fans, for whom no less than 37 „screening venues“ will be available in Haeundae and Nampo-Dong.

The five floors of the Museum of Art will be the venue for the Busan Biennale – a festival for contemporary art. Those wishing to dive into Busan’s cultural history can visit the Busan Museum, which offers over 25,000 exhibits from prehistoric to modern times. The importance of culture and education for the citizens of Busan is shown by this curious fact: during journeys on the under-ground, passengers may borrow books freely from what must be the world’s only Underground Library.And Busan‘s suitability as a city for conferences and trade fairs is shown by the excellent infrastructure of event locations. The Shinsegae UEC (Urban Entertainment Center) near BEXCO is a world all of its own: as well as a department store, it also plays host to a „Spa Land“, an ice rink and the 543-room Haeundae Centrum Hotel.

Convention CentersBexco Busan Exhibition & Conference Centre: nine conven-tion and multipurpose halls from 104 to 2,082 sqm (Grand Ball-room), five trade fair halls – 1 x 8,836 sqm, 4 x 4,418 sqm. Exterior space: 13,223 sqm. Further expansions are planned until 2012: an extra 20,000 sqm and a new auditorium with 4,000 seats. www.bexco.co.kr/eng CECO (Changwon Exhibition & Convention Center): two con-ference halls, each with space for 3,000 attendees (theatre), three smaller rooms for 130-300 guests (reception), infrared simultane-ous translation system for six languages, first-class technical facili-ties. Two 3,913 sqm exhibition halls, exterior space: 2,800 sqm.www.ceco.co.kr APEC House: 400 sqm conference hall and 350 sqm banqueting hall with a sea view.Busan Cultural Center: Arts and cultural centre. Large confer-ence hall: 1,874 sqm, exhibition space 1 x 1,296, 1 x 756 sqm.www.bsculture.go.kr

HotelsSamsung Heavy Industries Geoje Hotel***** (80 rooms): Near to the SHI shipyard, elegant and luxuriously-appointed hotel, comfortably-sized and to central European tastes. One meeting room for up to 250 persons (theatre), four seminar rooms for 8-10 persons. www.sghotel.co.kr The Westin Chosun Busan (290 rooms): five minutes from BEX-CO. Five rooms from 58 to 746 sqm. www.echosunhotel.com Busan Marriott Hotel (356 rooms): Large selection of rooms and halls from 44 to 539 sqm. www.busanmarriott.co.kr Haeundae Grand Hotel (321 rooms): Smallest room 40 persons (banqueting), largest 660 persons (classroom). www.grandhotel.co.kr Hotel Nongshim (242 rooms): Owns its own “Hurshimchung” hot springs, five rooms from 102 to 1,182 sqm. www.hotelnongshim.com Commodore Hotel Busan (314 rooms): Asian style, with a pa-goda roof and a view out over Busan harbour. Four event rooms in sizes ranging from 103 to 705 sqm.www.commodore.co.kr

The Busan Convention and Visitors Bureau (BCVB) provides de-tailed advice plus major discounts of up to 60% for hotels, venues or transportation.Getting there: Gimhae International Airport is a one hour flight from Seoul. Rail/bus: as with most cities in South Korea, Busan has excellent express and intercity bus connections with almost all cities in the country. The KZX high-speed train completes the 409 km-long stretch to Seoul in a brisk 160 minutes.www.busancvb.org

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Expo 2012

Turn the Ocean of crisis into an ocean of hope!„Yeosu“ means „beautiful water“. And beautiful it shall stay! The city of 320,000 souls is just over an hour‘s flight from Seoul, has 915 km of coastline and is surrounded by 317 islets. The inhabitants of the southern coast earn their livelihoods from the purity of the ocean and widespread tidelands, enjoying the rich resources of the sea as they always have done.With its slogan „The Living Ocean and Coast – Diver-sity of Resources and Sustainable Activities“, Yeosu is setting up Expo 2012 to be CO2-free. All of the en-ergy needed comes from renewable sources such as wind and solar power. Experimental models using ma-rine bio energy as well as tidal energy will be proposed.

„Our focus on the retention of natural resources and the sustainable development of this Korean region was the key reason for deciding on Yeosu for 2012,“ comments the former Director of the Korean Tourist Organisation in Frankfurt, Mr. Pyung-Sup Shin. Yeosu successfully fought off bids from Tangiers and Wro-claw in Poland.

Phot

o: K

im Ta

e-su

Yeosu is a successful Asian industrial city with oil refin-eries, shipyards and the second-largest container port in Korea. As part of preparations for the Expo, the city has taken the next step towards an innovative ocean economy termed „Blue ECOpolis“ – a new generation of maritime science, industry and technology.www.expo2012.or.kr

Delegates from the committee for the 2012 Expo travelled 3.67 million km around the planet to promote their exhibition. For 255 countries, they required 13,104 hours and covered distances equal to 91.65 circumnavigations of the globe.

100 countries will be exhibiting over 1.74 million sqm of exhibition space, visited by an expected 7.5 million people over a period of 93 days. The Expo should generate 12.3 trillion won – and 79,000 new jobs!

Ways to get to Korea:Korean Air: www.koreanair.com, Asiana: www.flyasiana.com and Lufthansa fly direct to Seoul’s Incheon Airport. Passengers with longer stopovers are offered a range of tran-sit tours, so as to spend their time usefully until their next flight. Bookings to be made at the Transit Tour desks. National flight times are short: Korea is small! High-speed trains roll from Seoul to all major cities. The bus-network is well-developed.This report can only represent a fraction of what Korea has on offer.

General information at: www.visitkorea.or.kr www.koreaconvention.orgFrankfurt office: Korea Tourism Organization Baseler Str. 35 - 37 / 60329 Frankfurt am Main Phone: 49-69-23 32 26 / Fax: 49-69-25 35 19 Email: [email protected]

Source for facts & figures on Convention Centres and Hotels: Meeting Planner’s Guide, KTO

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New to the association Forum Marketing Eventagenturen (Forum Marketing Event Agencies) are the agencies McCann Momentum from Frankfurt and Domset from Cologne. This brings the network of spe-cialists in live communications to 45 members.

Both agencies have been eyeing the FME for a long time and have now de-cided on membership for similar reasons: McCann executive Ralf Specht sees the benefits of membership in active networking with colleagues and better industry representation on topics like “sophisticated” pitch culture, recogni-tion of the service capabilities of event agencies, representation of industry interests and utilisation and security of legal knowledge.

Dominik Deubner, executive of Domset, is glad that, starting now, he’s linked to other agencies through the FME who are on the same wavelength as him on the subject of live communications. “The association represents our mu-tual interests and creates a podium for valuable exchange among ourselves. Not least, the FME membership encourages confidence and security in our (existing and potential) customers – in regard to our creative and service ca-pacities, but also in regard to the reliability and professionalism of the general project development.”

Two new members in the FME

Dominik Deubner, CEO of Domset

The Munich agency MAM – Marketing And More GmbH, on the market for 16 years and currently in fifth place among the best German creative agen-cies according to W&V rankings, is expanding its portfolio with the starting signal for the new business unit MAM Pharma Communication.

The offer encompasses full service in the pharmacy and health sector. This includes the organisation and execution of national and international congresses, confer-ences, incentive trips, trade fair appearances, and product introductions.

Unit leader Katharina Hanowski feels at home on the international stage of the pharmaceutical industry. Her abilities are based on years of cooperation with well-known major pharmaceutical companies at congresses and meetings of all kinds around the world. The pharma expert and her team carry out a customer-specific needs assessment, the planning of the event programme, and all other services for creative and code-compliant communication.

Exclusive rates for airline companies and best price guarantees from hotel partner-ships make MAM an ideal partner. The synergetic connection to other business units of the MAM agency allows targeted marketing strategies and industry-orient-ed events management to be realised under one roof. www.m-a-m.de

MAM begins cooperation with pharmaceutical industry

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...but are really only doing in institutional form what many events agencies do: working together with complementary competencies on an individual project basis.

Kogag, Totems Communication GmbH and media artist Andree Verleger have entered into a creative partnership. Under the name “Düsseldorfer Pakt,” the group is aiming to combine the complementary abilities of the three specialists for live communication and to work together on selected projects. In this form, it’s the first group to bring together leading members of the disciplines of architecture / space communications (Totems), mul-timedia staging (Andree Verleger) and live communications (kogag). The three are now delivering perfectly tailored ideas, while leaving the inde-pendence of the project partners untouched. The Totems agency, with lo-cations in Stuttgart, Amsterdam, and recently in Düsseldorf, is one of the

top names in innovative space communications. Their outstanding work includes the German Pavilion at the Expo 2008 in Zaragoza: the design received a number of awards.

Andree Verleger was responsible for broad areas of media production for the opening celebrations of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, where he created impressive images. Verleger also boasts experience in the field of live communication

– he worked for a long time as a freelance event creative director. As one of the leading agencies in the conception and im-plementation of creative live communications in the fields of events, promotions, and incentives, kogag completes the Pact. According to the partners, early discussions with interested companies show that the idea is now bearing the first fruits. “It looks as if exciting tasks lie before us,” say the three Pakt founders with a positive outlook.

MCI: push for expansion undeterredThe MCI Group has opened its 34th office world-wide, the third in China (after Shanghai 2006 and Hong Kong 2008). MCI already has substantial business in Beijing. In July of this year, for example, 3,000 delegates of the so-called ‘Million Dollar Round Table’ of an association in the life insurance and financial services field, and in June 2010, the one-week World Congress of Cardiologists, where no less than 20,000 participants are expected. Furthermore, MCI is the official ‘service partner’ of the World Exhibition 2010 in Shanghai.

On photo, from left to right:Frankie Gao, general manager, MCI China (headquarters in Shanghai, Roger Tondeur, president of MCI Group, Suvi Saxeen, general manager, MCI Beijing, Robin Lokerman, president, MCI Asia-Pacific (headquarters in Singapore)

They call it the “Düsseldorfer Pakt”...

VOK DAMS certified for the 10th time

VOK DAMS was certified in 1999 as the first

events agency and has signalled process

reliability to its customers for over a decade

since then. The certification team of TÜV

CERT, under the leadership of head auditor

André Maschke of TÜV Rheinland attests:

“With this high level of quality, they’re situ-

ated at the very top and are already meeting

the requirements of the reworked DIN EN

ISO 9001: 2008 standards,” says André

Maschke, “I’m always fascinated that they

don’t view their QM system as an annoying

necessity, but actively use it for their employ-

ees’ qualification and make it part of the

living business culture.”

AF_TORRE_BELEM_210x297.indd 1 3/6/09 5:33 PM

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Through an alliance with the Accentiv’ Network of Accor Serv-ices, Maritz wants to provide its multinational customers in Europe with solutions and services in the areas of motivation, qualifica-tion, liaisons, authentication, events and reward systems, since it now has access to specialist service providers from the Accentiv’ Network in Germany, Great Britain, France, and Spain. In Ger-many, Accentiv’ includes Quasar Communications, the agency for sales and relationship marketing.

Holger J. Bub, business executive of Accentiv’ and Quasar Com-munications: “We’re happy that Maritz has entrusted Accentiv’ with services for its customers in Europe. Maritz customers will benefit from our experience in local markets and so successfully implement programmes outside the USA and Canada. In return, our customers have an attractive option for expanding their pro-grammes in the USA and Canada with the help of an industry market leader like Maritz.”

Steve Maritz: “The Accentiv’ incentive marketing network of Ac-cor Services has an excellent reputation as a high-quality provider of marketing and incentive services and solutions in Europe. Our customers are used to this kind of service at Maritz and, thanks to the agreement concluded, we are in a position to continue of-fering them this level of service in Europe as well through a full service provider of the accustomed quality.”

Kogag is enjoying two excellent incentive allocations

The Solinger kogag reports that it has been commissioned by TOTAL Deutschland with the implementation of a five-day incentive programme for 115 participants in Lisbon in June. The 50 top-selling petrol station part-ners with escorts, as well as directors, regional, marketing and sales managers of TOTAL will be in attendance.

For the seventh time now, kogag has been awarded the development and implementa-tion contract for an incentive event of the bu-siness unit Automotive Aftermarket of Robert Bosch GmbH. 180 participants from all of Eu-rope will travel to Budapest in May.

ADC Nails for the “events” category were awardedThe Art Directors Club awarded another batch of “nails” at the end of April. These include awards for exemplary events accord-ing to the ADC jury’s definition. The following prizes were given: Silver went to the Hornbach Baumärkte for “The House of Exhibi-tion” HEIMAT, Berlin, and to Airbus A380 “First Delivery to the Emirates,” Kontrapunkt Agentur für Kommunikation GmbH, and finally to Sony Ericsson Walkman® Mobile Telephones “FanWalk 2008”, Serviceplan.Bronze went to taz, the tageszeitung “Thank you for your sub-scription” taz Verlags- und VertriebsGmbH, to ELIA “Hot cars don’t need hot girls”, Scholz & Friends, to ThyssenKrupp “Idea Park 2008”, Milla und Partner Agentur & Ateliers, and to Mer-cedes-Benz GLK “The :place”, Jung von Matt AG/Jung von Matt/relations GmbH.Additional awards went to Rodenstock for “Larger than life,” THE EVENT COMPANY/THE COMPANIES, the Blaue Nacht Nuremberg

“Into the Blue,” phocus brand contact GmbH & Co. KG, the Ol-ympic Games 2008 in Beijing for the tai chi section of the open-ing celebration, congaz düsseldorf visual media company GmbH and the Humba Aktion “11,000 Belly Dancers,” realised by facts+fiction GmbH.

Accor Services takes over marketing and incentive services for Maritz customers in Europe

ART LIFE arranges Euro-training for E-ClassStagg & friends is the head agency and the event service provider ART LIFE once again responsible for set organisation for the Euro-training for the new E-Class. The event loca-tion for Mercedes Benz international sales training is the Balearic island of Mallorca.

The centre of this year’s product presentations and workshops is the Robinson Club Cala Serena and the Star Resort Hotel Blau Porto Pedro. Both facilities were transformed into training centres especially for this for a period of three months. Based on planning by stagg & friends, a Düsseldorf-based creative agency for marketing events, ART LIFE carried out all construction of the event architecture. This includes stage construction and decoration for the vehicle presentation and the evening event, outfitting of themed booths and crea-tion of exhibition systems.

mrtr_hcb_204x145_nemet_sajto.indd 1 10.3.2009 10:13:14

Some honesty at last: munich one live communications reacts to the effects of the world-wide recession with tar-get crisis management.

Due to the low level of orders and cau-tious forecasts for the coming months, the Munich events specialist has temporar-ily implemented countermeasures for cost reduction and improvements in efficiency:

“We’re handling the currently depressed market situation by slimming down as much as possible for the coming months, managing the crisis and fortifying this with a transparent communications policy both internally and externally. Since the end of last year, we have been lowering the cost structure of the agency. During this process, we had to say farewell to three

employees for economic reasons, which we regret very much,” says Michael Brohn, executive of munich one live communica-tions, in explanation of the measures in-troduced. In the past year of 2008, munich one live communications was able to connect prof-itably to the excellent business years of 2006/2007, successfully expand existing customer connections and win new cus-tomers in the premium segment. For the first time in its almost four-year success story, munich one is now switching to con-solidation: “Currently – and the times are far beyond any verbal dressing up – incom-ing orders are depressed and the savings policy in regard to the communications budget and the associated budget for the

entire year of 2009 is expected to remain in place,” explains Martin Stenzel, manag-ing partner of munich one live communi-cations, of the current outlook. With dedication and strength of purpose, munich one wants to use the crisis as an opportunity and successfully structure the agency for the future. As a result, the business portfolio will be strategically ex-panded by the divisions of sponsoring and sports marketing under the leadership of Andreas Merkel and current projects will be prepared and executed according to the usual premium standards.

Refreshing: munich one speaks plainly

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For the first time, upstairs stages & motivates for Linde Material Handling GmbH

...and invited the sales team of its 27 retailers in Ger-many to the Annual Kick-Off Event at Fulda in Feb-

ruary 2009 under the motto “Passion 4RED.” The team of the event agency ‘upstairs’ ensured that the event went smoothly.” The well-attended multimedia kick-off event enjoyed an envi-ronment full of light displays that accompanied the participants

throughout the day on their journey through various rooms.

The participants, divided into seven groups, were steered by a cleverly devised light guidance system to the individual presentations and workshops during the course of the day. Various mobilisation concepts in the individual workshop areas supported the topics to be discussed and ensured a high level of attentive-ness. Emil Schneider, director of German marketing for Linde Material Handling GmbH: “The quality of the event was rated very positively by the participants.

The value of the Linde brand was communicated com-petently and in an innovative environment.

Cooperation with the upstairs event team was very pleasant and professional from the first day onwards. All 350 participants actively joined in the event’s final show. A lot of fiddling created a machine sized ca. 40 x 15 metres, based on drafts of the Swedish scientist Christopher Polhem (1661 - 1751). A joint effort by the retailers themselves put together two of the seven new Linde hand pallet trucks and high-lift trucks. The core team of the agency upstairs Event & Congress Agentur assumed responsibility at this event not only for the concept, but also for the product presenta-tion, the show and conference technology on a total of three stages, the stage construction, the selection of all partners and actors and the smooth execution on site.

For the Retailers‘ Annual Kick-Off Event 2009 of Linde Material Hand-ling GmbH, the company chose for the first time upstairs Event & Congress Agentur GmbH.

Recommended reading: Handbuch zum EventrechtFunke/Müller

Practical: Missing authorisations, lapsed organiser duties or violated provisions can be expensive for both organisers and con-sultants. It’s necessary to have something like this practical guide, by practitioners for practi-tioners and with examples, in order to plan and execute events successfully and with all legal requirements. Graphics, check lists, and temples

Newly added subject areas> Photography and video rights> Non-smoker protection> Passenger transport> Poker events> Compliance

Well-researched: All relevant areas of law are discussed in detail:

> Choice of legal form, contract law, incentive and travel contracts > Trade law, duty to report and duty to obtain a permit> Possibility of authorisation, liability and insurance law> Labour, copyright, competition and media law> Environmental law, tax law> Social security for artists

The following contracts are examined:> Naming right contract > Trade fair participation contract> Preferred partner contract> Cooperation contract> Media partnership

The following laws are included: > German Telemedia Act, MoMiG

> German Environmental Damages Act, AGG.

Competent: Both authors are practition-ers with many years of professional experi-ence: Barrister Elmar Funke specialises in event, competition, and media law. Bar-rister Günter Müller focuses on tax and corporate law in addition to event law. Ex-cerpts in the online library: www.otto-schmidt.deor order: Funke/Müller: Handbuch zum Eventrecht by barristers Elmar Funke and Günter Müller. 3rd edition 2009,approx. 650 pages, lexicon format,large issue ca. 130,- €. ISBN 978-3-504-40095-8.Issued in March 2009.

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In nightball, the player has only one objec-tive: to score a goal. It isn’t easy, because the only method of orientation is music. Seeing is impossible. Players wear blind-folds and a nightball helmet. If they do suc-ceed, it’s a triumph of the strategy worked out during the game and problem-solving, trust-based cooperation with a team. In nightball, team and player achieve their very best. What they get in return is the feeling of having accomplished something impossible together.

A highlight of the events programme

Nightball is booked by agencies and com-panies for their events and regularly proves to be the highlight of the programme. Nightball sparks excitement not only in the players, but in the spectators as well - an excitement that lasts long after the game. This excitement arises from the euphoria of shared experience and a connection to the game, but also from the fun had all around, providing positive discussion material and lasting motivation for the players and spec-

Nightball – top marks for success and fun

It’s a completely unique concept, scientifically supported and distinguished with the Trainer Prize for creativity. As an event, nightball offers all participants an unu-sual and memorable experience with a lot of fun. nightball is now celebrating its 15th anniversary.

tators. At least, that’s the experience of the companies who have booked nightball in past years. Sportscheck in Munich, for ex-ample, was among the first to organise the

“blind date with team spirit.” Since then, nightball has celebrated its 15th anniver-sary and can point to a long list of satisfied customers, including the Audi Academy, the Accor hotel chain, Hypovereinsbank, Otto-Versand and many others.

Playful dynamics

Visual stimuli are blocked out and the par-ticipants act authentically within a group.

“The great success of nightball is mainly due to all the participants acting on the same pre-conditions,” says “inventor” An-dré Lange. “Every game brings out what’s personal and authentic in the players. That highlights the growth potential of each individual and the overall group and can be playfully expanded on.” The players from this event take home important re-alisations for their workday with the team.

“The ‘aha’ effect was huge,” say partici-pants, describing their experiences.

Positive effects scientifically supported

The lasting effect on the teams in scientifi-cally documented. In a study by the Univer-sity of Freiburg, even three hours of short training demonstrated a clear increase in team identification which, according to the experts, is not least due to engage-ment with the lesson contents. The train-ing module’s high level of fun also receives top marks. Lange: “We all know that noth-ing brings together a group like the shared experience of having fun. Nightball re-ceived the Trainer Prize for creativity as ear-ly as 2001. Nightball is suitable for teams from six to 500 people and can be played in seminar rooms or conference rooms in hotels domestically and abroad - including with multi-lingual groups. Depending on group size, the participants are instructed and guided by one or more trainers. The fees for the training, organised at a high technological level, run to 199 Euros per person.www.lange-erfolg.de/nightball.php

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“We are trying to offer our guests innovative holiday concepts. Thanks to new tools in weather risk man-agement, we have discovered an opportunity of ben-efiting from the reputation of Wallis as the sunniest canton in Switzerland”, says Ferienart owner Beat An-thamatten. As a pioneer in his sector, Beat Anthamat-ten is the first hotelier in the canton to make use of the potential of weather derivatives from CelsiusPro as additional benefits for his guests. CelsiusPro offers companies in a variety of sectors, such as events, energy and transport, the opportunity of insuring themselves against losses caused by the weather. Beat Anthmatten’s many years of experience in the tourism industry and the expertise of CelsiusPro in managing weather risks have enabled a concept that not only offers holiday visitors an attractive op-tion, but also insures hotels against losses of income due to the weather. events has already reported on the weather derivatives from Celsius Pro several issues ago. www.celsius.pro

“The cooperation between Ferienart and CelsiusPro is creating new opportunities for the hotel indus-try, which is why together with the Ecole Hotellerie Lausanne we are carrying out a study of the possibili-ties of using weather derivatives as an attractive in-strument for risk management and marketing in the European hotel industry”, explains Mark Rüegg, CEO of CelsiusPro.

If it rains, you sleep free of charge!

The new fine weather guarantee concept at the Ferienart resort & Spa Hotel in Saas-Fee ensures that guests are in a sunny holiday mood. The fine weather guar-antee is being offered to all hotel guests who book at least three days between June and October. If it should rain for more than two days during their visit, their overnight stay for every further rainy day will be offered free of charge. A rainy day is defined as a day on which the weather station in Saas-Fee measures more than 5 mm of rainfall in one day.

CelsiusPro

The Swiss company CelsiusPro AG specialises in struc-turing and selling individual weather certificates. The CelsiusPro AG weather certificates are based on data provided by national weather stations which extend from Oslo to Seville. Since it was founded, CelsiusPro AG has worked together with the established multina-tional reinsurance group Swiss Re. www.celsiuspro.com

Ferienart

The 5-star Resort & Spa Hotel Ferienart offers 81 rooms, suites and family apartments, five restaurants and a modern wellness and spa area with a fitness centre. As well as the weather safeguard, the hotel also offers its guests a CO2 certificate for the duration of their stay. Due to its unique offering and the numerous awards it has won, the establishment is also one of the most renowned hotels in Switzerland. www.ferienart.ch

The full service events agency Roadtrack AG (www.roadtrack.de) is also making a meaningful contribution to the crisis and has created 10 command-ments for using your budget sensibly. Well, it isn’t all new and most of it ought to be taken for granted by clever planners anyway, but it won’t hurt to summarise it again. In the ideal case, the “crisis” will flush the clever ones to the top. And they are the ones who have actually always done it right.

1. Clearly define the objective of the eventWhat is the aim of the event? Cultivating contacts or providing information? Do you want to offer your guests a particular show, or is the focus on spending some pleasant time together? Having a clear focus helps you to decide where to invest – and where you can simply make savings.2. Set your timeframe intelligentlySet your event up so that the guests do not have to stay overnight, and ideally can also use economical means of transport to get there and get home again. Open-ended events with a get-together at the bar often take the drinks bill way over the top.3. Just one highlight instead of manyNot just the boy band, but the famous magician and the television newsreader as well? Avoid having too many programme items on the basis that “less is more”. One care-fully chosen highlight often leaves a greater impression than an entire parade.4. Select locations sensiblySpecial locations can be a highlight in themselves, and can often make it superfluous to book expensive artists or lavish decorations. It is fine to find a less expensive location if, for instance, you are booking star guests or a Michelin starred chef for your event.Tip: Cinemas are perfect for many events and also have the right atmosphere.5. Scale technology sensiblyLighting, sound, pictures, stage – you should think carefully about which technology on which scale you really need, and what you can do without. It isn’t the specially produced speaker’s desk with the three-dimensional company logo that creates an impression, but rather the lecture itself. There is potential for savings here!6. Catering which is satisfying and looks goodExquisite finger food certainly looks good, but sometimes it isn’t very satisfying and is also usually very expensive. Serve something substantial instead and use finger food simply as an accent. This will save you up to 80 %.7. Keep an eye on the cost of drinksBe wary of letting guests help themselves at the bar, especially when expensive wines or cocktails are involved. A well-compiled selection will meet most people’s wishes and protect you from higher bills.8. Giveaways: Better creative than expensiveReplace “more amazing, more expensive, more sophisticated” with fun and original ideas that are also more cost-effective. A fun photo session at the end of the event involving all the guests may well be remembered longer than an expensive giveaway such as a Swiss knife. Tip: Have a brainstorming session involving the entire department.9. Reduce setup and dismantling timesSkilled planning and logistics can greatly reduce the setup times for events. This can often save the costly and unproductive day spent dismantling too.10. Don’t forget the human componentsAbove all your guests want to feel good. Give them the opportunity for this and con-centrate on building in the appropriate components. A personal greeting on the way in, the right person to talk to during the meal … aspects such as these are often more important than external appearances.

Tips for events on small budgets

THE CRETANINCENTIVE

Kalimera Kriti overlooking theblue Aegean Sea located nearthe fishing village of Sissi andsurrounded by colourful gardenson the northeast coast of Crete.High-Tech meeting facilitiescombine with a five star beachresort to provide the perfectmeeting and incentive retreat.

• Auditorium for 450 personsproviding high-tech facilities

• Additional meeting roomsfor 10 – 360 persons

• Natural cave for unforgettableevents

• Beach parties & theme dinners• Choice of restaurants & bars• 415 luxury guestrooms at themain building, bungalows andsuites

• Sandy beaches, 2 pools, grassareas for teambuilding activities

• Sports (Gym, Squash,Tennis,Soccer,Watersports, etc)

72400 Sissi, CreteTel +30 28410 69000Fax +30 28410 [email protected]

KK English meeting AW.indd 1 6/5/09 09:57:36

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Now Flash Art, a company specialising in event ef-fects (pyro, laser, and water technology), is making waves in fragrance marketing as well. In April, the new fragrance concept with the “CON SCENT” scent machines was presented for the first time at Prolight & Sound in Frankfurt. According to trade director Den-gra Ju, the response was surprisingly positive: “Peo-ple sought out and found our booth by following the pleasant vanilla scent. Everyone who came by our booth couldn’t help but turn their head. In America, one would say it was an absolute head turner.”

The scent machines offer a wide spectrum of uses, both in events and in retail trade - such as for super-markets or car dealerships. The various models cover rooms from 200 to 150,000 cubic metres. Their mobil-ity and fully automated control via timers or infrared sensors ensures that management is simple. “Scent marketing is still a young field in Germany and poten-tial customers first have to be made aware of this top-ic,” says Dengra Ju. After a music, light, and projection DJ, there will also be a scent DJ in the future who or-chestrates a balanced olfactory atmosphere. And if the event motto is “Jungle Book,” the “D-DJ” can create the smells of lianas, crocodiles, snakes, and Mowgli.

Scents have to be “cracked”...

Scent machines can be used to remove unpleasant smells, to promote sales, or to provide a memorable background for an event. At this time, more than 80 scents – from apple pie to cedar wood – are available. All aromatic substances have been medically tested and declared harmless. Almost any scent can be pre-pared upon request (within a certain preparatory pe-

Fragrances turn heads – including at eventsdroll news items are always popular. The latest of these: “researchers want to rec-reate Pharaoh perfume,” found on Spiegel.de. no joke. Serious scientists from Bonn have discovered a vial next to Hatshepsut’s mummy whose dried remains of liquid drops will now be broken down into their components. The goal is to resurrect the scent of the Egyptian ruler. The Pharaohs were well aware of the beneficial effects of fragrances. If they are light and pleasant, they can heighten sensation. A nasty cloud of scent, however, can ruin an entire evening. And the nose, of course, de-cides whether we like someone or can’t stand their smell.

riod). The scientists of Bonn would no doubt be happy to help with the odour of the Pharaoh. “Fragrances have a secret power over our emotions. Good smells awaken feelings that the intellect can no longer con-trol,” says Dengra Ju.

But fragrances must work subconsciously and cannot seem intrusive. That’s why scents must be used with restraint. Other companies have no doubt attempted scent marketing before, but the polished technology of the “CON SCENT” machines is brand-new. In con-ventional fragrance facilities, the aroma substance is heated, which usually distorts the fragrance and leads to an unpleasant, smelly cloud. “Our machines carry out the vaporisation by means of an ultrasound. It “cracks” the scent particles, breaking them into tiny pieces. This allows an even distribution throughout the air, which is considerably less obtrusive and more effective,” Dengra Ju emphasises.

Currently, the machines are still available at entry-level trade fair prices and come to between 135 and 3,150 euros. Those who don’t wish to make a purchase can also rent one by the day or week. Contact: www.flashart.com

G.K.Prenzel

events 2/2009 95

Advertisement

The Club Med resort was reopened in April 2009 after being renovated and remodelled by the interior designer Didier Gomez. The resort provides for total well-being, thanks to its numer-ous relaxation and lounge areas. The 372 rooms and suites are divided between three hotels linked by means of glassed-in walkways: the eight-floor ‘La Tour’ with elevator opposite the swimming pool, the ‘Pyramide’ with its four-storey main building and two-storey wing near the tennis courts and the six-floor ‘Golf’ close to the golf club house. After sporting activities such as archery, volleyball, fitness training, salsa dance courses, high sea fishing or a breezy sail on the ocean, the visitor can unwind in pool, Turkish bath or a beautifully refurbished wellness centre.

Restaurants: Da Balaia provides a buffet with international cuisine; the Vasco da Gama is re-nowned for its culinary expertise (and even offers a late midday meal for golfers).Organisers of meetings and other events will find a series of facilities available at attractive pric-es: ‘Evora’, for example, that can accommodate 40 guests, costs € 240/day, while the ‘Algarve’ for 180 participants is priced at € 640/day (both with theatre-style seating).

The Club Med resort Da Balaia is only a 45 minutes drive from Faro airport.

Please contact (in Germany):Club Med Business-TeamClub Méditerranée Deutschland GmbHSchwalbacher Str. 62, D-65760 EschbornFon: +49 (0) 6196 / 7640-300Fax: +49 (0) 6196 / 7640-170Email: [email protected]

Portugal: CLUB MED DA BALAIA****

Away from it all in the AlgarveThe resort extends over 52 acres and is filled with the spicy scents of olive trees and the heady aromas of eucalyptus and pine. From the plateau located high on the craggy coast, there is a breathtaking view far out over the Atlantic. All this is rounded out by a magnificent sandy beach with a staircase providing easy access – the guarantee for a relaxing stay.

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“Meeting and living under one roof.” Well, it’s really a very simple principle and very accessible logic. Somehow effortless – we think. And yet, it’s one of the most suc-cessful ideas a German hotelier has ever had. developed at a time when confer-ences and overnight stays didn’t go together at all, it’s genius – and the basis for one of Germany’s largest congress- and holiday hotel empires, which has already taken root overseas and even arrived at the Great Wall of China. She’s sitting across from me now at the Maritim Cologne – the grande dame of the most famous hotel chain in Germany – the chairperson of the supervisory board of Maritim Hotels. First, I have to say that she’s disarmingly friendly and pleasantly unpretentious. later, I find out how dedicated and passionate she is.

Dr. Monika Gommolla – Success by example.

Success story 3:

One of the few photos existing of Dr. Gommolla

events 2/2009 97

As a child, I dreamed of how fantastic it would be if my father were the head of our little Edeka shop. I wanted to help sell gummy bears. But he was “only” a teach-er. Hotel manager – what an even better dream! For Dr. Monika Gommolla, it be-came a reality. Today, she’s the head of the entire chain with a responsibility that could hardly be greater: 49 hotels, 37 of them in Germany and 12 abroad, with over 9,400 employees and a sales volume of 436.1 million euros in 2008. And I shouldn’t for-get the sales increase of 46 million euros compared to the previous year.

She’s clever, very clever. She completes law school with a doctorate. But the ap-ple doesn’t fall far from the tree. It’s not the law, but entrepreneurial thinking and dealing that will shape her life, as it did her father’s. His career is highly impres-sive. Her parents came from eastern Ger-many; her father was a peat-cutter. But his passion was for the precision of machine

construction and he became partner in a firm for woodworking machines.

Her father invented the particle boardBoring? No, he invented the particle board and was one of the few people in the 50’s who travelled throughout the entire world, as far as the depths of India, for his busi-ness. The hotel stays were not the only valuable experience gained for later. The inventive man managed to leap into archi-tecture, which was only logical in view of the residential construction required after the war. As the third man in an architec-ture firm, he built houses until the market was almost sated. To keep his employees on the payroll, he began to build hotels. It makes sense, but it’s actually a huge idea. In 1969, a luxury hotel was built outside a major city – unusual at the time: the See-hotel Maritim at Timmendorfer Strand. Ac-

tually, the community wanted a congress centre, but Hans-Joachim Gommolla con-vinced the mayor to build a hotel with a large conference centre. The idea was re-ally something. But now, the entire year is high season. The Maritim name resonates. And the company’s next steps are just as deliberate and powerful as the strokes of a long-distance swimmer. In the following years, many large hotels in medium-sized cities were built; at the end of the 80’s, the outstanding buildings of the very large Maritim hotels in major cities followed. Bonn is entered into the Guinness Book of Records and the building erected in 2007 at the Düsseldorf airport – the largest conference hotel in NRW – was welcomed by the meetings industry with lots of bookings. Naturally, all the premises and interior fittings were developed and completed by the company’s architecture office. The knowledge gained and the cost savings benefit both the company and, ul-timately, the guests.

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Interior design: “We stand out!” I dare to breathe a word of criticism and comment that the interior design of Mar-itim Hotels is rather stubbornly conserva-tive. I blush even as I’m speaking, because my synapses are whispering that Sheraton has already changed owners four times and Accor’s position is also wobbling a bit. And what do marketing students learn in their first semester? Positioning comes be-fore marketing. “We stand out,” is all she says. I have to smile. She’s absolutely right! With Maritim, what you see is what you get. Everywhere.

The positioning is unambiguous. Especially when it comes to the inner life. Dr. Gom-molla is always on the road in the family business. She is a living example of busi-ness culture. She’s an accessible leader who trusts her numerous employees of many years. “Customers sense that. You don’t go to the Maritim, you go to Mr. Huber,” she says. Appreciation of the busi-ness goes both ways. And every year, Dr. Gommolla thanks not only her employees, but also many loyal customers with inven-tive invitations. No one is surprised if she, for example, goes for a stroll with the home secretary of the Emirates through the weekly market of her home town of Bad Salzuflen. Expansion is her issue. However: “We don’t have to,” she says. Healthy growth and prudent, step-by-step development are her credo. She considers fast returns unreliable. That much is obvious. It took eight years to move from the idea of a ho-tel to the execution. But then the idea is solid and Maritim’s profit is undisputable.

“You get what you give!”

It’s not necessary to ask about her private life. It’s apparent that there can hardly

be one. But what does she do for fun? She says her life couldn’t be better. She’s grateful that she meets interesting people every day and has interesting experiences.

“You get what you give. When I’m sitting on Mauritius under the starry sky during a dinner with business partners, I get the feeling that I’m getting my reward. I really enjoy that.”

“Where to now?” I ask her in times of a true economic crisis in the world-wide ho-tel industry. She says that Germany may be able to weather the crisis better than other countries. The economic downtown in Germany consists of (last quarter 2008) ca. 6.8%, in contrast to Spain with 25%. “But even well-known economic experts can’t make reliable predictions,” she reckons.

So Maritim is bravely continuing to invest in existing branches and furthering ex-pansion abroad. Among other things, the Maritim-affiliated HMS International Hotel GmbH has signed a second management contract for a hotel in Anting near Shang-hai. The new five-star Maritim Hotel Hui-zun is currently under construction and is scheduled to open at the beginning of May 2010 at the Expo-Shanghai. The company is well-situated thanks to a series of sales and marketing measures and is expecting stable sales in 2009 in comparison to 2008.

It’s about time to lower the hotel tax!Despite her optimism about her own busi-ness, Dr. Gommolla is seriously concerned about her industry colleagues. She says a reduced hotel tax is necessary. “Some ho-teliers are up to their ears; anyone located, for example, in Berchtesgaden or on an East Frisian island has been hit hard, since neighbouring Austria or Holland can make much more affordable offers.” She vehe-mently demands equal treatment. Equal

treatment, she emphasises, not assistance like for the automobile industry. “In gen-eral,” she says, “small- and medium-sized businesses – the backbone of the Germany economy – offer millions more jobs than the automobile industry.”

There’s a little hope. Sarkozy has inter-vened on behalf of gastronomy in France; the pressure on Ms. Merkel is growing as well. “We’re working hard on strengthen-ing small- and medium-sized businesses in the hotel and gastronomy sector,” she says. I think that’s good for Germany.

Even better is her latest idea: the patient hotel. As one of the first hotel chains in Germany, the Maritim hotel company is committed to developing an innovative product line. The accommodation should benefit stationary patients as well as am-bulatory ones during recovery. It pays off

– health insurance is covering it! Members are, of course, welcome and potential guests. The university clinic of Schleswig-Holstein is a partner in this project. And one must ask oneself, why didn’t anyone ever think of it before? “We worried at the concept alone for two and a half years, but now the contracts in Lübeck have been signed,” says Dr. Gommolla, not without pride.

To the bay of Lübeck, then. Aha. There, the success story began 40 years ago. Her birthday is on 26 April, and what other possibility is there, Dr. Gommolla extends an invitation to all Maritim Hotels on the

“Open Day.” Thanks very much. And best wishes from thousands of satisfied confer-ence planners. Cordially!Marie Fink

events 2/2009 99

Anzeige

Whoever stops by the events booth at the fair or al-ready has an appointment planned here should not forget to get “points.” events is one of four media partners supporting the Dolce group in its fair promo-tion “collect and win.” The international meeting spe-cialist in the hospitality industry will set IMEX visitors on an obstacle course with prospects of a European weekend getaway: requirements include a participant card, issued by a Dolce hostess at Booth F 615 or by the partners.

At IMEX 2009, dolce Hotels and resorts presents its six European destinations to-gether with selected media and convention offices. Fair visitors and hosted buyers can collect points on a dolce obstacle course and win weekend getaways to exclu-sive conference resorts in Germany, France, Spain and Belgium.

‘Collect and win’ with Dolce Hotels

According to the company motto, “meet with in-spiration,” the card invites you to find three out of nine potential stations, be inspired and collect points. Xavier Louyot, Director PR & Marketing Dolce Europe:

“A successful meeting starts with a good discussion. That’s why we’ve chosen the network of our partners: the leading German media of the MICE industry and the convention offices of Dolce locations in Europe offer participants a persuasive incentive by means of varied and specialist information.” The cardholder de-

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cides individually which of the available booths to visit, based on what interests them.

The cards are to be handed over at the Dolce booth af-ter completion of the course. On 26 and 27 May 2009, the lottery drawing for prizes will take place here at 16.00h. The first prize: a luxury weekend for six peo-ple at the new conference destination Dolce Munich,

opening in April 2010 in the north of the Bavarian state capital. Other prizes include weekends for 2 peo-ple at Dolce Chantilly near Paris, Dolce Frégate Pro-vence near Marseille, Dolce Sitges near Barcelona, the Belgian Design Resort & Conference Hotel Dolce La Hulpe Brussels and Dolce Bad Nauheim near Frankfurt.

Dolce “collect and win” partners:events magazine, Booth G 010Tagungswirtschaft, Booth B 700CIM, Booth G250Convention International, Booth G 308German Convention Office, Booth F 100Congress Office Munich, G 120Maison de la France, Booth D 200Sitges Convention Bureau, Booth Tourspain E 400OPT Wallonie et Bruxelles, Booth E 120

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 business growth inspires the world’s leading players, which is why, every year, record numbers of top exhibitors and 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 | [email protected] | 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

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“Accor is setting new standards in the busi-ness travel market with the innovative con-cept of ‘Advanced Meeting Conditions’,” says Daniela Schade, vice president of sales & distribution. “We make it possible not only for our business customers to plan

conferences and budgets quickly, simply and transparently, but present ourselves

– especially in times of difficult economic conditions – as a strong partner who of-fers security and confidence.”

The right ideas for every business conferenceWith its broad brand portfolio from bud-get to luxury hotels, Accor satisfies diverse

budgets and needs. The dense German national hotel network guarantees a high degree of flexibility in the selection of a suitable conference hotel.

The economy brand Ibis offers features in the area of business travel. The new hour-ly-based conference flat rate combines maximum flexibility with excellent service for the price. Further individual services can be booked in addition to the confer-ence room as the main service. With the Ibis conference offer, Accor is reacting to the current savings trend and its impact on budget and economy accommoda-tions. “Accor’s roots lie in budget and economy accommodations. We are world-wide market leaders in this field and have a broad product portfolio available. Given the trend towards budget and economy brands, we have positive expectations for the future,” says Daniela Schade.

Cooperation with AirPlus Meeting Solution ensures modern procurementThe AirPlus Meeting Solution offers an in-novative billing solution: conference book-ings without a deposit, a standardised, centralised bill, free choice of booking methods, a centrally controlled method of payment, and above all, a transparent

and paper-free billing process. Accor’s con-ference hotels guarantee transparency of data and costs – an important factor for corporate financial planning that increases confidence in the hotel partner. The Novo-tel hotels in Germany will offer the AirPlus Meeting Solution starting at the end of 2008. Sofitel, Pullman, and Mercure were connected in the 1st quarter of 2009.

Accor: The quarterly report was shaped by the crisisAccor is reporting an 8.7 percent decline in sales in the hotel sector for the first quarter of 2009 on a comparable basis. In the 1st quarter of 2009, the hotel branch generated 1,182 million euros in sales, registering a stated decline of 7.8 percent in comparison to the same period in 2008. The figure includes the sale of objects (share -2.4%), the developmental policy of the group (opening of 5,110 hotel rooms and full consolidation of Orbis: 32 million euros, which contributed to the quarterly sales by an additional 4.2 percent), and ex-change rate factors, which decreased the sales of the reporting period further by 0.9 percent. In most European countries (espe-cially Germany, Spain, and Belgium), the 2008 Easter holidays fell during the month of March, while in 2009 they took place in April. This delay contributed to the hotel

Accor is the first hotel chain to offer business customers standard booking con-ditions for its 170 conference hotels in Germany. The Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, novotel, Mercure, Suitehotel, all seasons and Ibis brands now have standard con-ference packages nationwide which offer full service at a fixed price that business customers can rely on – as well as standard cancellation and deposit conditions.

Standard booking conditions in 170 German conference hotels

Accor:

sector sales volume with 0.9 percentage points. Since 2008 was a leap year, how-ever, the 2009 quarterly sales dropped by 1.0 percentage points.

Luxury- and medium-class hotels lose more In the 1st quarter of 2009, the reported decline in sales in the luxury- and medium-class hotel sector amounted to 9.2 percent. Overall, medium-class hotels suffered less than luxury hotels. This conclusion is con-firmed by France, where the medium-class (RevPAR -10.1 percent) was more robust than the luxury-class (RevPAR -13.4 per-cent). Additionally, Paris was harder hit (RevPAR -14.7 percent) than the other parts of the country (RevPAR -6.6 percent). In Germany, the comparable decline in sales came to 1.9 percent. Adjusted for the delayed Easter holidays, it amounted to 8.1

percent. In Great Britain, the decrease is higher in the counties (RevPAR -16.5 per-cent) than in London, where the RevPAR sank by 7.0 percent.

The economy segment was characterised by a volatility of the RevPAR double that of the GDP changes. Values of four- to six-times were measured in the luxury- and medium-class. As the GDP is strongly en-trenched in most European countries, the reported sales of economy hotels sank by 7.7 percent in the 1st quarter of 2009. In Germany, comparable sales decreased by 5.0 percent, for Ibis and Etap Hotel by 4.6 percent. In Great Britain, the sales decline in London was higher (RevPAR -15.1 per-cent) than in the other parts of the country (RevPAR -11.5 percent). Other European countries were off worse, for example Spain (comparable sales decline of 29.3 percent), Italy (-17.5 percent), the Nether-

lands (-10.9 percent) and Belgium (-10.5 percent). Economy hotels in the USA re-ported an 11.5 percent decline of sales on a comparable basis.

Savings are essential!

Given the increasing economic slow-down in Europe in the 1st quarter of 2009 as compared to the 4th quarter of 2008, the group has decided to limit annual refur-bishment spending for 2009 and 2010 to 315 million euros. This sum is 175 million euros less than the expenditures for 2008. Besides the already announced savings in general expenses (75 million euros in 2009 and 25 million euros in 2010), Accor is al-ready planning additional cost reductions.

CCH – Congress Center Hamburg

Happy to serve you!

Phone +49 40 [email protected] · www.cch.de

Experience the future

• 10,000 sq.m. of exhibition space plus additional 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

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Stefan Fischer has been Director of Sales and Marketing at the inter-national conference hotel Dolce Bad Nauheim since 1 April 2009. The 36-year-old executive already has three years’ experience as Director International Sales at the four-star hotel. He is also well versed in the international sector, having worked for prestigious hotel organisa-tions such as Hilton Hotels Worldwide (Sales Manager MICE and Key Account Manager for Southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group (Regional Sales Manager Groups and Incentives).Fischer has been happily settled at Dolce for the past 5½ years:

“Most of my colleagues have also been employed by the group for many years and radiate a high level of identification with the product. This is something that our congress and holiday guests appreciate.”

New Marketing Director at Dolce Bad Nauheim

In the person of Wolfgang M. Neumann, an established top hotelier succeeds Stefan Schörg huber at the helm of the Arabella Hospitality GmbH & Co. KG. Neumann has also been appointed to the board of Schörghuber Stiftung & Co. Holding KG with responsibil-ity for the group’s Hotel Sector. He thus joins Christian Böll (Marketing and Sales) and Dr. Christoph Scherk (Commercial Management) to constitute the management trio running the company in which the Schörghuber Group has combined its hotel and tourism interests.

After training at the prestigious Institute for Tourism and Hotel Management of the Kleßheim Tourism School in Salzburg, Wolfgang M. Neumann began his career in 1984 working for the Hilton group of hotels. After initial management experience in New York (1984 - 1989), London (1989 – 1992 and 1995 – 1996) and Brussels (1992 – 1995), Neumann was appointed General Manager of the Hilton Paris. In 1998, he moved to Frankfurt as opening General Manager, before becoming Vice President of Hilton Western and Northern Europe in 1999. After assuming further transnational management responsibilities as Senior Vice President of Hilton Nordic in Stockholm (2001 – 2003) and President of Hilton United Kingdom and Ireland in London (2003 – 2005), Neumann was promoted President of

Hilton Europe. In this post, he was responsible for 90 hotels in 25 European countries employing more than 20,000 personnel.

“With his more than 25 years of experience of working in the top echelon of the international hotel sector, we consider Wolfgang M. Neumann to be the right person to lead our group with its high profile hotels into a successful future – despite the current economic difficulties. Moreover, he will continue to preserve the concept of hospitality originally formulated by Stefan Schörghuber,” asserts Dr. Klaus N. Naeve with conviction.

With the appointment of Wolfgang M. Neumann, the designated Chief Executive of the Schörghuber group and company head Alexandra Schörg-huber have now put together the future management quartet for Schörg-huber Stiftung & Co. Holding KG. In addition to Dr. Naeve and Neumann, this will include Hans-Peter Hoh, who will be responsible for the Beverages division and Dr. Jürgen Büllesbach, who will head up the integrated Con-struction and Property division of the Schörghuber group.

The Schörghuber groupThe four corporate divisions of the group – Hotel, Air-craft Leasing, Beverages and Construction and Prop-erty – employ some 6,300 personnel throughout the world. www.schoerghuber-unternehmensgruppe.de. All the hotel and tourism interests of the group are merged within the Arabella Hospitality Group. It is the majority shareholder (51%) in a joint venture with Starwood Hotels & Resorts (49%) – the Arabel-laStarwood Hotels & Resorts GmbH – and principal shareholder (49.8%) in Design Hotels AG, one of the most successful international marketing platforms for lifestyle-orientated luxury hotels. In addition, it holds an interest (40%) in the tour operator aovo Touristik AG and offers golf-related activities and other services.

Wolfgang M. Neumann to head up Arabella Hospitality Group

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A second Area Director of Sales has recently been appointed at Park Inn: Martina Wendel. Working in tandem with Danuta Krawczyk, who has been responsible since December 2008 for the Park Inn hotels in Bochum, Dortmund, Düsseldorf/Kaarst, Hanover, Kamen/Unna and Cologne, her mandate with immediate effect will be the Cologne-based event hotel group’s houses in Bielefeld, Düsseldorf-South, Hamburg, Mainz and Mannheim. Martina Wendel holds a degree in hotel management, has experience in working abroad and was lately Director of Sales at the Hotel Crowne Plaza in Heidelberg.

Everyone familiar with the events scene in Hamburg is quite certain: “There’s never been a hall like this in Hamburg before.” They’re talking about the Carl-Hagenbeck-Saal.Even from the outside, the dimensions of the 250 square metre room with its own terrace are apparent: five metre high lattice windows cover three sides of the seven metre high hall and over the glass walls floats a

two-storey pagoda roof with an additional row of windows between the roofs.

Magnetised walls – stage-ready technologyThe four additional event rooms, which can be used individually or combined as a 120 square metre hall, are also full of in-novations. In order to avoid setting up par-titions, for example, the interior designer had the walls covered with a metal film. Presentation and training documents can then be attached directly to the wall with magnets without leaving behind marks. Digital surround sound equipment ensures great acoustics. Lighting technology that is usually only used in theatres is currently being installed for the illumination and presentation of people or products. RGB (red-green-blue) light ensures perfect illu-mination for varying needs, since fashion presentations, for example, require neu-tral light with a higher proportion of blue, while for groceries, warmer lighting with a higher proportion of red is more suitable. www.lindner.de

The restructured marketing sector at Best Western Hotels Deutschland GmbH has now gained female reinforcements - Elke Born and Yvonne Hentschel. As Marketing Director for Tourism, Elke Born will be responsible for brand development in the tourism programme division, while Yvonne Hentschel has been appointed Director of the Business Travel Marketing department.

The qualified tourism administrator Elke Born (47) held various management posts with Stei-genberger Hotels AG in Frankfurt am Main from 1994, and was lastly responsible for the marketing and sales activities of the European holiday hotels of the group as Marketing and Sales Director.

Best Western was able to find someone to occupy the post of Marketing Director Business Travel from among its own ranks: Yvonne Hentschel (32) has been working for Best Western Hotels Deutschland since 2002. Her most recent appointments were Key Account Manager, which involved dealing with corporate customers in the southern region of Germany and Sales Director Corporate Market.

Martina Wendel responsible for five Park Inn hotels

First zoo-themed hotel in Hamburg

Best Western extends its marketing arm

Elke BornYvonne Hentschel

The first zoo-themed hotel in the world was opened in Hamburg directly next

to the zoo and tropical aquarium. The Lindner Park-Hotel Hagenbeck accommo-

dates 158 rooms on five floors. The roughly 30 million euro building is designed

in the colonial-exotic style. The interior design of the various floors is inspired

by the continents of Africa and Asia. The top floor, housing the suites and fit-

ness area, reflects themes of the Arctic world.

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It’s easy to linger in Gräflicher Park, where Friedrich Hölderlin found inspiration during his walks. The first-class hotel “Gräflicher Park hotel & Spa,” not far from Paderborn, has always been a meeting point for people and opinions, situations and sentiments. The well-balanced combination of a hotel with 135 stylish rooms, 13 representative conference and/or banquet rooms for up to 500 people, the elegant “Caspar’s Restaurant”, the cosy local “Pferdestall” and the au-thentic GARTEN SPA with a medical spa (all within the 65 hectare Gräflicher Park, distinguished several times) is an attraction meeting high demands on the con-ference and events market. The facilities offer ample room for meetings, contacts and gatherings, shorter: for dialogue in the park. There are two new compre-hensive programmes available.

Off-road expeditions provide thrills and build team spirit. Only a few kilometres from the hotel, tucked away in the beautiful hilly landscape of the region, is the drive resort “Bilster Berg.” The unique topogra-phy of the area is ideal as an obstacle course for ex-citing off-road expeditions. Appropriate vehicles are

Two new programmes in Bad Driburg

Dialogue in the Park:

available for incentive groups and the participants are instructed by professionals before they test the chal-lenging terrain.

Fencing fosters competition, accuracy, strategy, deft-ness, stamina, concentration, timing, and teamwork. That makes fencing ideal for management training. During training with two-time Olympic champion for fencing, Dr. Arndt Schmitt, and his team, guests of the

“Gräflicher Park Hotel & Spa” can discover the draw of one of the oldest martial arts in the world. Partici-pants are provided with complete fencing equipment. www.graeflicher-park.de

Cologne’s InterConti one of the best againCologne’s InterContinental took 11th place in the list of the best German business hotels and is thus the city’s only establishment to make it into the Top 25. The hotel has improved its previ-ous ranking of 20th (2008) by an astonishing nine places. Top-ping the leader board is Berlin’s Ritz Carlton, followed by the Taschenbergpalais in Dresden and Düsseldorf’s Breidenbacher Hof. Experts assess the German hotels according to the catego-ries of location, business orientation, service, comfort, cuisine and value for money – a new category added just this year. With three other hotels ranked in the Top 25, InterContinental Ho-tels & Resorts has thus also been voted the top hotel chain in Germany. The chain’s hotels in Berlin, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt occupy places 7, 8 and 18.

Background: This year, the business magazine “€uro” once again assembled its jury of five renowned hoteliers, tasked with identifying the best business hotels in the country. The results have just been published

Treff Hotel opening in Münster in autumnWith the Treff Hotel Münster City Centre, a hotel belonging to the Hospitality Alliance AG (RAMADA and Treff Hotels Group) is opening its doors in autumn for the first time in the Westphalian metropolis. The four-star prop-erty is located in the new Stubengasse centre and is thus in a prominent position between the main railway station and the historic old town.

130 comfortable double rooms with flat screens await guests, along with eight 50 square metre suites, each with its own roof terrace. The restaurant seats 140 and a spe-cial note has been created with the attractive glass roof. Adjoining the restaurant is a large terrace. Two conference rooms offer capacity for up to 120 people.

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In September 2007, 22 executives of the Steigenberger Hotel Group began their studies for the Executive MBA in Tourism Management at the Steigenberger Acade-my in Bad Reichenhall in parallel with their full-time employment. Now they have all received their diplomas.

The part-time 18-month course was of-fered by the Steigenberger Academy in Bad Reichenhall, in cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences HTW Chur/Switzerland and the Europäisches Institut für Hotelmanagement (European Insti-tute for Hotel Management) in Heilbronn. Nearly two dozen directors of Steigen-berger and InterCityHotels and from Stei-

genberger Group Headquarters took part. During their last year the exam candidates for the Executive MBA wrote their final dissertations, which they successfully pre-sented in February to representatives of the Hochschule, the Heilbronn Institute and the Steigenberger Hotel Group. The formal diploma ceremony was held on 3 April 2009. To recognise the efforts they had put in alongside their daily profession-al lives, the hotel company held a recep-tion and gala dinner at the Steigenberger Frankfurter Hof in honour of the Executive MBA participants. André Witschi, Chair-man of the Steigenberger Hotel Group, emphasised the high level of commitment shown by the staff to their company and

praised the excellent study results achieved by the class of 2009. The Executive MBA course through the Steigenberger Academy is the only one of its kind in Germany to enable executives in the hotel sector to follow a master’s course without having completed a uni-versity course beforehand. The master’s course, taken in parallel with working full-time, provides targeted consolidation of the knowledge of senior staff and prepares them for the challenges posed by the ho-tel and tourism industry today. It employs a practical approach to providing the theo-ries and management tools needed for in-tegrated management of hotel businesses and similar establishments.

Consistent and comprehensive promotion of service quality in tourism is the goal of the quality offensive “ServiceQualität Deutschland,” kicked off by the regional tourist associations and regional govern-ments. As one of the leading hotel chains, Dorint Hotels & Resorts is now participating in this initiative. “Quality is the alpha and omega when it comes to turning guests into regulars” says E. Ulrich Schweitzer, regional director of operations of Dorint Hotels & Resorts. “That’s why we consider it a matter of course to support the qual-

ity offensive and carry out the training.” The federal certification will supersede the previous internal Dorint Quality Index (DOQX). By the end of the year, all 29 Ger-man Dorint Hotels & Resorts will have ap-plied for certification in order to complete step 1 of the quality offensive. About 120 quality coaches are being trained for this purpose. These are employees of the in-dividual branches assigned with getting other employees into the service mindset. Goal: to exceed guests’ expectations. The training sessions will treat topics such as

complaint management, for example. In addition, quality problems in the hotels will be recognised and rectified. “Participa-tion in the quality offensive will force us to regularly scrutinise our work and engage the views of guests,” explains Schweitzer. This will motivate employees and guaran-tee continuous further development. And:

“We’re already looking forward to seeing the Q-Logo at all entrances to Dorint Ho-tels & Resorts in 2010!”

Steigenberger directors gain MBA in Tourism Management

Dorint takes part in a quality offensive

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The chairperson of the Hoteldirektoren-vereinigung (Association of Hotel Direc-tors) addressed the political world in an open letter. Subject: the constantly post-poned discussion of a reduced value-add-ed tax rate. “Does the problem lie with a lack of unity that makes the industry seem weak in the face of challenges and pub-lic perception?” asks Alexander Aisenbrey. And more: “The organisations have to pull together – and they’ve made a good start. The Hoteldirektorenvereinigung Deutsch-land e.V. (German Association of Hotel Directors) is in contact with the DEHOGA and the IHA; the FBMA and the HSMA also see a good foundation for group action and unity. DEHOGA and IHA are already in agreement on the sensitive issues. When will the politicians take us seriously? When will our industry get relief and not just new or increased costs – such as GEMA, VG Wort, VG Medien, broadcasting fees, tourism fees, visitor’s tax – that we are sub-

ject to for our guests’ sakes? And there’s another tax problem that isn’t even being broached. Hotels buy goods at 7% and at the moment when they’ve passed through the kitchen, they’re taxed at 19%. Who pays for the difference? The hotel sector has it easier abroad. Politicians, who usu-ally love to talk about distortion of compe-tition, remain blind in this respect.”

City hotels struggle against the crisis

After sales expectations muted by the fi-nancial crisis, the executives organised in the Hoteldirektorenvereinigung Deutsch-land e.V. are slowly breathing a sigh of relief. 55 percent of those surveyed said that they’re expecting a stable or even improved business profit in 2009. The members of the HDV represent about 350 branches with more than 40,000 rooms, about 20,000 employees, and estimated

annual sales of more than two billion euros.

However, 45 percent of those surveyed disagreed with the industry’s cautious op-timism, expecting an even lower profit in 2009 than in the previous year, with losses in revenue between 10 and 30 percent. Interest in new ways out of the crisis is correspondingly high. It’s difficult to imple-ment cost-saving measures that will be un-noticed by hotel guests. The spotlight is on energy costs and inventory management. Savings in the personnel department, in-cluding dismissals, are also under con-sideration. The system of overtime hours, reduced hours and vacant positions that can’t be filled is an additional consequence of the crisis. Many hotel directors, however, see investment as a remedy against the crisis. Hoteliers especially want to spend money for service, equipment, and facili-ties once again in 2009.

Higher value-added tax in German hotels remains a persistent nuisance

The InterContinental Hotels Group, the world’s largest hotel business in terms of room numbers, is testing an online system for effective hotel environmental manage-ment. Initial trials with the “Green En-gage*” planning tool have achieved some truly outstanding results, indicating poten-tial savings of up to 25% in the area of en-ergy consumption alone. If the online sys-tem were to be used by all 4,000 hotels in the Group, then savings of well over 200 million USD could be achieved. The sys-tem – developed in-house by the company

– is available for all seven IHG brands, in-cluding InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn. In testing since late January 2009, a planned mid-year rollout will see the system become available to all owners and managers of the Group’s 4,000 hotels worldwide.

Individual hotels and resorts enter their data using the “Green Engage” software.The system compares similar establish-ments worldwide and then outputs a range of suitable strategies aimed at re-ducing waste and the consumption of wa-ter and energy.

Guests prioritising environmental commitment

The initiative recognises the increasing preference expressed by hotel guests for accommodation in establishments that manage the environment responsibly. Complementing decision-making crite-ria such as location, price or outstanding amenities, the cost to the environment also plays a decisive in hotel bookings.

Areas in which the IHG hotels can take action:> Logging: own energy and water con-sumption, waste levels and CO2 emissions.All hotels can compare themselves to other hotels and set ambitious yet attainable goals for reducing their own figures.> Control: the area where hotels have the greatest influence on the environment. Possible strategies here range from lagging the hot-system, introducing recycling pro-grams and switching to organic detergents to bestowing “Green Champion” awards on individual employees.> Reporting: on progress made – not only internally but also to the hotel’s guests and business clientele.

* “Green Engage” - patent pending

InterConti Group launches “Green Engage”

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Bakker and Pütz at Hospitality Consulting GmbHThe consulting and hotel management company Hospitality Consulting (HC) is on course to take pole position in the market for hotel consulting to mid-size and chain hoteliers within Germany. Irene Bakker (40) and Fritz Pütz (50) now join the Group’s corporate management, headed by company founder Haakon Herbst (44).

The two newcomers in briefA native of Amsterdam, Irene Bakker took on the management of the ramada Schlosshotel Goldschmieding on graduating from hotel management college. After positions at renaissance, Marriott and the Carlson Group, the AachenMünchener insurance group then appointed her Pre-Opening Manager and Hotel director for the Grandhotel Schloss Bensberg. drawing on broad-based experience as an hotelier, she has managed the HC-owned budget design “hotel friends” brand since 2003 (Cologne, düsseldorf, Hückelhoven and Bendorf), as well as “diesayn Burg” in Sayn, near Koblenz.

“networker” Fritz Pütz has recently held positions in the international hotel sector as VP Global Sales at dorint AG (and Accor, post-integration) and VP Sales & Marketing for the northern, Cen-tral & Eastern Europe division of the InterContinental Hotels Group. He has been a freelance con-sultant to the hotel and event sector since 2005, recently supplemented by his role as partner to eventcompetence+compagnie, with whom he developed and continues to manage products for the business hotel sector.

Herbst will continue to direct the com-pany’s business and product development, and manage its corporate communications policy. Irene Bakker, who can look back on six years managing the operational needs of HC’s own establishments, now takes on the management of Operations & Finance. An HC joint partner since March 1, 2009, Fritz Pütz will contribute his sales, pricing and distribution expertise in the interna-tional corporate hotel sector. After 16 years’ consultancy experience in renovation, turnaround management and project development, the future portfolio will be rounded off with interim manage-ment and sales consultancy. HC will thus become a full-service provider for the ho-tel sector, offering a portfolio that includes sales & marketing, distribution, product, hotel leasing/management, insolvency con sultancy, hotel design/architecture and utilities management. The only exceptions will be the areas of legal and taxation. The Group can draw on a pool of 20 consult-ants from its total workforce of 100, and

maintains offices in Bendorf, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf and Cologne.

HC’s consultancy expertise is sourced from a wealth of experience in the strategic, technological and structural issues within distribution, operational know-how and a high degree of networking within both agency and client markets. With access to associations such as HSMA, VDR, Ver-anstaltungsplaner and the Travel Industry Club, consultants have a powerful net-work and knowledge base to draw on.

Just three types of hotel in the future?

“Bad times are good times for good peo-ple”: after 200 consultancy projects – in-cluding support for 50 hotel openings and the establishment of its own hotel chain

– this is the catchphrase Haakon Herbst uses to justify his decision to invest in the growth of the Group under the current dif-ficult economic conditions.

When one considers the 3,000 hotel in-solvencies in the last two years and the 20,000 hotels in Germany of which only 3,500 thousand belong to a brand, a magic bullet for branding is certainly in great de-mand. HC promotes a middle course, since sophisticated product policies can also work to push branding. The HC manage-ment team believes in the long-term sur-vival of just three kinds of hotel: budget hotels, fulfilling the basic need of a place to sleep; strong branded hotels in the 3-5 star category, thanks to their management and sales expertise; and niche hotels with precise target audience appeal.

Hospitality Consulting is one of the top corporate consultancy firms in the hotel industry. With the launch of its own „ho-tel friends“ hotel in Düsseldorf (2002), HC pioneered the idea of budget design hotels with themed accommodation. Ad-ditional hotels in the chain opened in Co-logne (2003), Hückelhoven (2007) and in Bendorf near Koblenz (2008) – the latter being the first budget conferencing ho-tel. The “hotel friends” chain showcases know-how in product planning and target audience appeal, applied to both manag-ers and guests. HC offers no ready-made products: each project starts from scratch.

During the next 12 months, the budget de-sign “hotel friends” hotel brand, launched in 2002, will welcome another six hotels, including a hotel near Heidelberg, a busi-ness boutique hotel in Darmstadt and a divers’ hotel in Siegburg. www.hospitalityconsulting.de

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Certificates of the business travel associa-tion VDR are considered quality grades in the hotel and events industries. M/S Color Magic and M/S Color Fantasy are now the first conference facilities at sea certified according to the detailed VDR catalogue of criteria as “certified conference ships” and thereby demonstrably up to the high quality standards of professional event or-ganisers.

The president of the VDR, Michael Kirn-berger, praises the conference ships of Color Line on the route between Kiel and Oslo as a good alternative to conferences on land: “Ideas soar in inspiring surround-ings – working on results and promoting

team spirit become a unique conference experience. Event decision-makers are al-ways on the look-out for innovative events venues with high quality standards like this.”

Modern technology

The flexibly combinable rooms on board are suitable for small meetings and large congresses. Up to 860 guests can stay in the 1,600 square metre separate confer-ence areas on Deck 12. The largest room, the auditorium, holds 330 people. Proper technology in all areas, even WLAN in-ternet at sea, is a given. All devices are available without extra charges and the

atmosphere on board Color Line makes every event an unusual experience. The guests can make use of the cruise’s entire spectrum of offers as a framework pro-gramme: show and entertainment, health and fitness facilities, a wide variety of food options in eight restaurants and the option of various excursions to Oslo. Events on board Color Line are on offer for a pack-age price starting at 269 Euros per partici-pant. That includes the sea voyage from/to Kiel, two overnight stays in the category booked, two breakfast buffets, a light lunch, two Scandinavian gourmet buffets and conference rooms including techno-logy, soft drinks, coffee and fresh fruit dur-ing the conference.

The norwegian ship-owning company is setting new standards for conference, meetings, and events at sea with its regularly scheduled cruises. On 27 March 2009, the two ships, M/S Color Magic and M/S Color Fantasy, running between Kiel and Oslo, were the first ships distinguished by the Vdr Verband deutsches reisemanagement e.V. (Association of German Travel Management) with the title of “certified conference ships.” The two cruise liners have highly modern, separate conference sections that offer room for events and congresses with up to 330 participants.

Color Line distinguished as “Certified Conference Ship”

New standard for conferences at sea:

lO C AT IOnS

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17 live bands performed at the live broad-cast of the “Bundesvision Song Contest” at the Metropolis Hall®. The 2,000 guests present were impressed by the huge LED walls and the outstanding light and sound technology. The heart of the studio is a round stage 13 metres in diameter. The necessary equipment was brought in on 25 articulate lorries, creating a logistical tour de force for Holger Rennert, director of technology for the company Brainpool. He praised the technical conditions of the Metropolis Hall®: “There are fixed sites for outside broadcast vans and the cable runs to the cameras are short.” The electricity supplier is also “excellent,” thanks to two independent transformers with 2000 am-peres each. Great conditions for a media event of this magnitude. But the hall in Potsdam Babelsberg has other assets ...

In March, only four weeks later, Hubert Burda Media, the state of Brandenburg

and the city of Potsdam announced the news: “Germany’s most important media award, BAMBI, will be conferred on 26 No-vember 2009 and in 2010 as well at Pots-dam’s new Metropolis Hall® in the Film-park Babelsberg.” BAMBI manager Patricia Riekel is happy about the new location:

“German society and history, European tradition and international glamour come together in Potsdam. World stars regularly work at the Babelsberg film studios and bring Hollywood style to Brandenburg. Potsdam represents the successful cultural growth of Germany like no other place, es-pecially on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall and German unification.

The new, TV-suited multifunctional studio was opened in October 2008 with direct connections to the Filmpark Babelsberg. The multifunctional nature of the hall has been preserved. Party conventions, con-certs, gala events, presentations and con-

gresses for up to 3,000 participants have already been booked.

After the first trade fairs at the Metropo-lis Hall®, Enrico Schulze, Messe Potsdam GmbH, said: “The hall definitely took us forward by a large step – as Messe Pots-dam, we now have a professional venue. And this great new location is sparking ex-hibitors’ interest in presenting themselves in Potsdam. At our first four fairs, 530 exhibits presented themselves to almost 30,000 visitors.”

With over 4,000 square metres of space, the hall can host events for up to 5,000 guests. The architecture of the Metropolis Hall® is based on that of the film studios of the Wilhelminian style. The name of the hall recalls the film, “Metropolis,” Fritz Lang’s monumental science-fiction film, shot at Babelsberger Studio in 1927. www.metropolis-halle.de

Glamour & Tradition – Made in Babelsberg!The Metropolis Hall®, at the heritage site Potsdam Babelsberg, has become a sought-after location for large events in the first six months since its opening. For trade fairs, congresses, and above all, glamorous media events: after Stefan raab’s “Bundes-vision Song Contest,” the BAMBI awards have booked the next two years in the newly built hall.

Glamour & Tradition – Made in Babelsberg!

T A G E N I M G R Ü N E N

INSPIRA Steigenberger Hotel Der [email protected] • www.inspira-sonnenhof.deTel. 08247 / 959595 • D-86825 Bad Wörishofen

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externe Abendveranstaltungen• Weltbekannte Sehenswürdigkeiten in nächster

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Das Steigenberger Hotel Der Sonnenhof liegt 75 km westlich vonMünchen und ist bequem mit dem Auto über die A 96 München /Lindau zu erreichen. Direkte Flugverbindungen aus Hamburg, Berlin,Köln / Bonn zum 35 km entfernten Allgäu Airport Memmingen.

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Simple elegance, breathtaking panoramas, first-class realisation – all elements united by KARLSSON, high

above the rooftops of the Gendarmenmarkt. An impressively mod-ern and sophisticated atmosphere greets visitors, who can en-joy a unique view of Berlin’s historical landmarks such as the Konzerthaus or the German and French

Cathedrals. Situated on the 6th floor of the Wissen-schaftsForum, the U-shaped venue’s choice of fixtures and fittings, materials and furnishings are all to a very high standard. With 400 m² of available space plus its own bar, smokers’ lounge and cloakroom facilities, it offers an infrastructure to match any event.

Corporate branding can be realised via projector and flat screen TV, while the lighting system offers illumi-nation right across the colour spectrum. Rounding out the package is a professionally-rigged sound system. Two lifts situated in the building lobby take guests di-rectly to the penthouse. Capacities: 450 (party), 400 (reception), 160 (dinner), 80 (theatre-style seating).www.karlsson-berlin.de

Eloi Courcoux is the name of the new director of business solutions at the Disneyland Resort Paris. He is the successor of Carlo Olejniczak, who was promoted to vice-president of sales and marketing.

In this role, Eloi Courcoux will lead the team responsible for all MICE events at the Disneyland Resort’s hotels and theme parks. Courcoux has worked for Disneyland for nine years in various ca-pacities. Previously, he was responsible for marketing of L’Oreal, Paris in Madrid – obviously a man who knows what corporations like! Eloi Courcoux has a Master’s Degree in Marketing Studies & Strategy from the Paris Institute of Political Studies and a MBA from Lausanne.

Berlin’s new 400 sqm penthouse event venue

Brand new: Lufthansa Training & Conference Center in Seeheim

New director of business solutions for Disneyland Resort Paris

Barely two years after the old building was demolished and following an investment of roughly 100 million Euros, the LH Training & Conference Center opened its doors in February 2009 – as one of Germany‘s most modern conference centres. The 9,120 square metre area boasts a conference hotel with 483 rooms, conference rooms up to 600 square metres and comprehensive catering with lounges and large outside terraces. The main beneficiar-ies of the elegant venue are about 109,000 Lufthansa staff from more than 150 nations gathering here for training, seminars, meetings and networking. And the complex is environmentally friendly as well: constructed according to the low-energy concept, a rainwater reser-voir, optimal thermal insulation and a geothermal plant ensure environmentally friendly preservation of resources. www.lh-seeheim.de

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* Average recommendation of hotels for party travellers

dE S T In AT IOn n E W S

A mixture of beach relaxation and tourist nightlife seems to have won a good rating for Ibiza and the third-placed S’Arenal. A comparison on the level of countries shows that hotels in Spanish holiday resorts seem especially suited for party tourists. In contrast, in Berlin the urban club scene and the rich selection of centrally-located and inexpensive hotels guaranteed a high ranking.

All these factors – a good mixture of sand, sun and city – were equally esteemed and ensured that hotels from Miami, Barcelona and Los Angeles also found their way onto the list of recommendations. Other well-known holiday spots like Bodrum and Lloret de Mar, London and New York just missed the top. Sum-marised by country, that means first place for Spain, followed by Greece, Germany, the USA and Turkey.

As for the romance factor, Spain is clearly in the lead. S’Arenal, Ibiza and Barcelona nab the first, second and fifth spots. Miami took third place and Bodrum fourth place. Berlin is the first city from Germany, somewhat lower in eighth place for romance and meeting people, followed by Frankfurt (17th), Cologne (19th), Düssel-dorf (36th) and Munich (68th).

In order to determine the best 20 party locations and the best romance factor, Citysam.de surveyed more than 5,000 customers who booked a hotel over the site. After their trips, they could rate on a scale of zero to 100 percent how suitable their hotel was for party tourists or for romance. Hotels on Ibiza and in Berlin received the greatest number of points – they were recommended for party trips with an average of 84%. S’Arenal received a recommendation score of 83 per-cent for romance. The results include evaluations by

What’s the best place to “let your hair down” after the conference? Citysam.de has the answer: Ibiza is still the best choice of travel destination for party people, along with the capital city of Berlin. For everyone who wants to party during their next short or long holiday, the hotel and travel portal has investigated the “Top 20 Party locations.”

Ibiza and Berlin have the best hotels for party people

Rank City Recommendation*

1 Ibiza (Spain) 84%

2 Berlin (Germany) 84%

3 S’Arenal / Playa de Palma (Spain) 83%

4 Miami / Miami Beach (USA) 78%

5 Bodrum (Turkey) 76%

6 london (U.K.) 76%

7 lloret de Mar (Spain) 76%

8 new York City (USA) 75%

9 Barcelona (Spain) 75%

10 Santorin (Greece) 75%

11 los Angeles (USA) 75%

12 Mykonos (Greece) 75%

13 rimini (Italy) 75%

14 Frankfurt (Germany) 74%

15 las Vegas (USA) 74%

16 Manchester (U.K.) 74%

17 Amsterdam (netherlands) 73%

18 Paris (France) 73%

19 Wien (Austria) 73%

20 Zürich (Schwitzerland) 72%

singles, families and other groups in equal numbers - this ensures that the result is not skewed by, for exam-ple, only young party people going to Ibiza while many types of guests visit Munich.

An overview of the “Citysam Top 20 Party Locations”


The Hungarian hotel industry currently finds itself in a difficult position – as do its neighbours. City hotels, mainly in Buda-pest, are recording a serious slump in the business travel sector since October 2008: the domestic demand is far lower here than at the leisure hotels in the countryside. These country, spa and wellness hotels did surprisingly well until February 2009 but, compared to the previous year, their turn-

overs have since also dropped along with a decreasing occupancy rate. The mini-upturn over Easter was only cold comfort and the harbingers for July are medium to poor again. A highly positive aspect in this turbulent economic situation is the focus on secur-ing jobs: very few hotels part with their employees!Instead, they concentrate on cutting costs wherever possible and on providing even better service to their customers in order to ride out these hard times together with their team.

A gratifying signal on the part of the new government also provides great relief: postponement of the planned taxation of the “holiday checks”, which would amount to 24-25% and 40-45% of the

total and the domestic turnovers respec-tively in many Hungarian provincial hotels. The sector hopes that it will be spared such drastic action in the coming year as well! The Budapest city hotel business is launch-ing a major campaign under the motto

“Summer Adventure Budapest” to boost the summer business: the weakened For-int is also opportune here – to the Euro-land guest, it has doubled in value! The Hungarian tourism authorities are also in-creasing their efforts in the source markets with the promotion of a sensational price/performance ratio. Looking at the direct neighbours, the effect is already evident: visitors from Slovakia are increasingly elat-ed about the buying power of their Euro and there is no sales slump on the Austrian horizon either.

Hotel business in Hungary:

No longer a rhapsody – but not the blues either!

events-quer_final.indd 2 30.12.2008 09:26:00

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With average increases in their turnover of ten percent in conference and convention tourism, the members of the “Steiermark Convention” were more than sat-isfied when they took stock of last year. There was also a slight increase in January and February 2009.

“Conference and convention tourism is a very impor-tant pillar of tourism in Styria. I am delighted that the last financial year went so well and that the bookings situation is also currently looking good,” says “Steier-mark Tourismus” boss Georg Bliem. He is bound to be pleased, as on average convention tourists leave more money in the province and also invigorate the mid-season periods. The Steiermark Convention num-bers 43 members, namely: 26 convention hotels, six conference centres, four events locations, two events agencies, three Regional Convention Bureaus and two excursion destinations. Over the last year the ARGE booked 200 enquiries via the free information point of the Steiermark Convention alone. This was in addition to the enquiries which came in directly to the member businesses.

Conference calendar 2009 – Hotel sector: Good bookings despite tight budgetsThe conference calendar is well filled throughout Styria. Graz, Leoben, Schladming, Bad Radkersburg (where the new congress centre is set to open in May!)

– they are all reporting conferences with more than a

thousand partici-pants (see informa-tion box). Hence the convention hotels are essentially well booked for 2009. But: “Customers’ budgets don’t leave much room to ma-noeuvre. A sound price/performance ratio with good quality ensures that customers will come back again,” explains Andrea Sajben, Manager of the Steiermark Convention. The Steiermark Convention has been handling national and international marketing for the Styrian conference, conventions and seminar specialists for five years – with its quality logo “Steirisch tagen” or “meet in Sty-ria”. According to Sajben, around 200 direct booking enquiries came via the Steiermark Convention, while a large number of customers approached the business-es directly. The success of the joint appearance con-tinues: the Steiermark Convention consortium under the umbrella of the Steiermark Convention has been extended for another three years.

Styrian Conference and Convention Tourism:

What will happen after the peak year 2008?

Graz roboCup 2.000 participants June

Graz Investment convention 1.000 participants April

Graz Austrian librarians’ Convention 1.000 participants September

Graz 40th General Medicine Congress 1.000 participants november

leoben Conference of Cities 800 participants May

Gynaecology Congress 200 participants October

Schladming Volksbanken Winter Games 1.500 participants March

UniCredit group SkiMeeting 4.000 participants March

Oompah music congress – Mid Europe 3.500 participants July

Geodesy congress 1.000 participants October

Bad radkersburg ÖGATAP Congress (Öster. Gesellschaft für angewandte Tiefenpsychologie und allg.

Psychotherapie – Austrian Association for Applied depth Psychology and General Psychotherapy)

500 participants September

Conference and convention calendar Styria – Highlights for 2009

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Example of a group trip to the Beachcomber Hotel Le Mauricia. Price 998 €/person incl. flight!

Friday: The participants can work until the afternoon, as the joint departure from Germany only takes off from Frankfurt in the evening. The comfortable night flight can fly directly from Frank-furt with Air Mauritius, for example. The time difference is only two hours.

Incentive trips with Beachcomber-Hotels

Saturday: After arrival on Mauritius in the morning, a transfer journey leads through the interior of the country past sugar cane fields, colourful temples, blooming avenues and lovely towns di-rectly to the Beachcomber Hotel Le Mauricia where you will be greeted by live Mauritian music. The beautiful hotel directly next to the bay of Grand Baie is known for its friendly and trendy at-mosphere. The first day: Relax on the hotel beach, try out one of countless free sporting activities, or go on a trip to Grand Baie with its many small bars, bistros, boutiques, and animated night-life. From here, hotel guests can easily reach shopping and enter-tainment locations on foot. Sunday: Today, the guests learn more about Mauritian culture and traditions while touring the island in Jeeps far beyond the tourist paths. Stops are planned, for example, for a demonstration of rum production, a sega dance class or a card game tournament with locals. In the evening: Relaxed pirate dinner with feet in the sand and diverse delicacies at tables under the palms. Monday: Take a boat through turquoise-blue water to the dream isle of Ile des Deux Cocos! Due to its beautiful location in the middle of a marine reserve, several of the best snorkelling sites are found here, complete with corals and colourful tropical fish. Champagne, snorkelling, swimming, sun-bathing or a walk through the rich vegetation of the island and a sumptuous BBQ directly on the beach! Back at Le Mauricia, the lessons of the day can be translated into action on a Mauritian evening and the trip can end perfectly: after typical dishes, dance to sega music until the torches burn down...Tuesday: Return journey to the airport and back home. Arrival in the evening.

Example of a group trip to the Beachcomber Hotels Shandrani and Dinarobin. Price upon request

Wednesday: Arrival as in Example 1Thursday: Welcome with flowers at the airport. On the way to the hotel: a champagne breakfast in complete seclusion in one of the sugar cane-fields. Anyone who prefers more pomp can order a police escort for the drive to the hotel – available to anyone on Mauritius. And so, the guest will be brought to the first lodgings, shielded like a president – the Beachcomber Shandrani Resort & Spa, the first five-star all-inclusive hotel on Mauritius. After check-

An incentive experience with character awaits all island lovers in the Beachcomber Hotels in Mauritius and the Seychelles. Customised programmes are on offer especially for group and incentive trips. Combinations of different Beachcomber locations with their own incentive department are also possible. This kind of trip is often more affordable than a corresponding of-fer within Europe

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events 2/2009 119

in: how about tai chi, a pleasant beauty treatment or an anti-jetlag massage at the spa? Friday: After a dream breakfast, go directly from the hotel beach to the Pirogue Regatta in traditional fishing boats. The sails can be printed with the company logo if desired or arranged according to individual wishes. Then enjoy some relaxation with classic tila-pia fishing. Successful fishers can make use of their catches that very evening: at a barbecue on the beach, the light of the fire will slowly fade into the evening. Saturday: Mini Cabrio Rally: After a morning tea tasting, con-tinue on to the production of your own perfume. Then the path leads to the “Escale Creole,” the traditional Creole cuisine and culture. The next stop is a rum tasting at our own display distillery, followed by arrival at the second Beachcomber Hotel of the trip - the Dinarobin Hotel, an all-suite hotel directly at the foot of the Le Morne mountain. A sundowner awaits in the Carbanon Bar with

‘chill out’ music and a lounge atmosphere. Then: a top-class evening – the Fisher-

man’s Evening at the restaurant La Ra-vanne. Boats bring the guests to

the restaurant in the dark and a group of sega

dancers sways on

the torch-lit harbour entrance to atmospheric Mauritian tones. Sunday: An early catamaran tour for dolphins or - depending on the season – whale watching. And in the meantime: snorkel-ling by the reef! Board music and lobster BBQs on deck. In the afternoon: depending on preference, either an underwater stroll on the seafloor, a drive on an underwater scooter or a submarine expedition. Charity tombola. In the evening, visit a private island in the lagoon before the Beachcomber Hotel Paradis. At low tide, a night-time torch-lit stroll to the island is possible. If raindrops do fall unexpectedly, however, a transparent marquee is available. The group spends the last hours sega dancing and feasting on seafood until the closing fireworks illuminate the night sky. Monday: A helicopter journey with a singular view rounds off the impressions and brings the group to their home-bound plane as quickly as possible. Arrival in the evening.

Beachcomber HotelsDianastr. 4, 85221 OttobrunnTel: +49 (0)89 / 629 84 90Fax: +49 (0)89 / 609 68 11Your contact for complete presentations: Christian Ast [email protected]

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A new addition is the Hotel zur Post in Kreuth. This 4-star tra-ditional hotel with its Bavarian-style cosiness is the ideal setting for price-conscious cus-tomers, from small meeting groups to company conventions of 100 people. Guests

who prefer exclusive family hotels will find an ideal offering in the Hotel Garni Westerhof in Tegernsee. Located high above the lake, this attractive private ho-tel offers its guests a spectacular view and a setting

It is gratifying to see how well the association of event professionals in the Tegern-see valley has grown. Since the Tagungserlebnis Tegernsee was founded in 2007, 60 companies have joined it to look after the well-being of business travellers in the Tegernsee valley.

Tegernsee network continues to grow

which is perfectly in tune with small but excellently formed meetings. For guests who are seeking more in the way of peace and isolation, such as an executive level conclave, the Suttenhütte in Rottach-Egern is vir-tually ideal. It can be reached easily by car but is still far from the crowd in the middle of the Tegernsee moun-tains. 11 rooms and perfectly harmonised supporting programmes for refugees from civilisation!

Healthy conventions are the buzzword at the moment, and here too Tegernsee as a convention venue has found the ideal partner in TerraSana Life AG – for-ward-looking health activities customised to individual needs are specially developed for convention partici-pants and provide added value for every event.

Hotel Zur Post in Kreuth

Quite chic now: Hotel Bayern.

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Hotel Bayern reopened after conversion

The fact that quality and tradition are the formulas which bear fruit in the Tegernsee valley is demonstrat-ed by the new offerings from the two 4 and 5 star hotels, the *****Park-Hotel Egerner Höfe in Rottach-Egern and the ****Hotel Bayern in Tegernsee. With their ultra-high quality convention centres they show what the state of the art currently looks like in the Tegernsee valley. High above the lake reigns the SuperiorHotel Bayern with its famous Sengerschloss. This establishment is deemed to be a real hot spot amongst business and wellbeing hotels outside the Bavarian regional capital. With its new convention centre, where a quite unu-sual art project has been implemented by a Munich gallery, newly designed rooms and the new NaturSpa, it now offers better facilities and plenty of room for a staff or customer event. Room for up to 200 people is available for events on two floors. A variety of loca-tions, all air-conditioned and fitted with ultramodern technology and high speed DSL and LAN, ranging in size from 30m² to 124m², can be flexibly enlarged or reduced.

If you are looking not so much for small team building rooms or an exclusive company convention, but more

for space for a major congress or banquet, then the Wandelhalle in Bad Wiessee offers a generously sized events area with capacity for up to 600 people. The professionally managed network Tagungserlebnis Tegernsee offers its services free of charge to interest-ed business customers to create customised individual offerings for seminar and convention visits to the Te-gernsee, and also provides suggestions for the perfect setting in the surrounding area. The network presents itself all year round at trade fairs such as the ITB in Berlin or IMEX in Frankfurt, as well as at national semi-nar and convention exchanges. The lively Tegernsee team have even been nominated for the Conga Award 2009! www.tagungserlebnis-tegernsee.de

Idyllic setting: The Suttenhütte

122 events 2/2009


With a bit of luck, visit the World Cup in South AfricaIn order to really get enthusiasm going for the World Cup, South African Tourism has now unveiled a major campaign enjoying substantial support from celebrities. With some team spirit you can become a member of a huge fan community and win a trip to the FIFA World Cup 2010, as well as other great prizes!What do Desmond Tutu, Mario Adorf, Johann Lafer and Veroni-ca Ferres have in common? They are all avowed South Africa fans and part of the campaign which has just been launched by South African Tourism. Numerous celebrities from society, showbiz and sports have already posted their statement about the dream country on the Cape on www.dein-suedafrika.de and are receiving strong support from other lovers of South Africa.Likeminded people still have until the end of May 2010 to join the South Africa team at www.dein-suedafrika.de and tell the world what they particularly love about the country and its people. Simply register, upload a photo and write a short note about South Africa. In the end a huge photo mosaic will be cre-ated showing the many lovers of South Africa and numerous VIPs! As well as lots of great prizes every month, there will also be a prize draw amongst everyone taking part with the chance to win a holiday, including a visit to a World Cup match!

New Director of Tourism for Indian Tourist OfficeThe Indian Tourist Office has appointed a new Director to man-age its European business. As Director of Tourism for the next three years, M.N. Javed will be managing the Tourist Office in Frankfurt plus the associated twelve offices in the European Union, CIS countries and Israel. Anil Oraw will continue to pro-vide support in his role as Associate Director.

The 56-year-old tourism manager can draw on many years of experience in the tourism business, and the European market will be one very familiar to him from his time as Director of the Indian Tourist Office in Madrid (1989-1993). As Director for South America (1999-2002), he was responsible for tour-ism promotion throughout South America. M.N. Javed is also a recognized expert on the Indian market, not only managing several regional tourist offices but also holding senior positions in the Ministry of Tourism. Recently, as Deputy Director General, he was responsible for the entire Indian hotel sector.

As India’s long-standing representative at the WTO, M.N. Javed has also made a name for himself on the international stage. Key players in the tourism industry have honoured his achievements in the service of Indian tourism on multiple occasions, with the “Award of Excellence” in 2004, 2005 and 2008 and, in 2007, the recognition of “an outstanding 25-year partnership” by India’s national hotel and catering association.

Morocco’s tongue-in-cheek campaignMorocco strikes just the right note with a nice anti-crisis cam-paign. Since April 1, 2009, visitors to www.moroccotherapy.com can have their everyday illnesses diagnosed by Professor Karam, who then suggests appropriate treatment. After a few introductory words from the friendly Professor Ka-ram and after answering a number of questions, users must then await the professor’s diagnosis. To understand the nature of their afflictions more clearly, these illnesses are illustrated with videos in which patients relate their experiences ... and the successes of Professor Karam’s remedies.Regardless of the outcome of the diagnosis, the ever-smiling Professor Karam always has the right therapy up his sleeve: only a visit to Morocco can hope to help – a sporting holiday for lethargitis, whereas acute furiosis responds best to a well-ness holiday and thalasso treatments or long walks and relaxa-tion in the Moroccan countryside.

One thing is clear: Morocco, with its culture and natural beau-ty, is a wonder drug for everyday ailments! After the English, French and Spanish language versions of the website racked up 30,000 visitors in the very first week, the German version is now online at www.marokkotherapie.de.

events 2/2009 123

“I have left my suitcase in Berlin”...Participants in conferences and conventions, incentives and events from around the world prize Berlin’s excellent hotels, rich palette of meeting opportunities and ease of travel. The capital occupies the second spot in the International Congress & Conven-tion Association’s city rankings. Cultural diversity has positively exploded since re-unification, but cultural freedom and its untameable bursts of creativity existed prior to this, when Berlin was still surrounded by a high wall with a crown of barbed wire.

124 events 2/2009

A central station like a crystal palace. Once, the Lehrter City Railway Station stood here and, not far away up Invalidenstraße, the blue neon tubes of the U-shaped Hamburger Bahnhof draws astonished stares; today, it is a museum and a venue with a lovely courtyard and a Sarah Wiener restaurant in the side wing.

dE S T In AT IOnS : BE r lIn

Ambitious fashion designers assiduously developed then-unknown labels in hidden courtyards and paint-ers painted wonderful pictures in shabby attics with clammy fingers. A frugal subculture lived life by its own rules and, then as now, celebrated the ‘Berlin-er Schnauze’ – the Berliners’ famously sharp tongue. Berlin has always been authentic and cheeky and has never bowed to intimidation. Today, it’s also new, high class, culinary, cosmopolitan - presentable and interna-tionally in demand! It has a heart, a soul and a charm that a single word could hardly describe.

Statistics: for orientation – and for delight!In 2001, the BCO initialised a congress statistics pro-gramme as a pilot project. It has since delivered in-formative facts and figures about the development of the meetings and congress situation in Berlin. The data is evaluated semi-annually and serves as a guide-line for future planning.

The results for 2008 are excellent: 8.15 million visitors were drawn to Berlin (2007: 7,970,000), 20 percent of them from abroad, and 104,600 events took place (2007: 101,200). Positive development of connections by land and air made travel easier. Further expansion of international flight connections like non-stop flights

from the USA on Delta Airlines/Continental and from Qatar on Qatar Airways bring international business tourism to Berlin by the fastest routes – soon via a brand-new airport.

Berlin Brandenburg International (BBI) – Project running according to planThe new airport Berlin Brandenburg International BBI will be located at the site of the current Berlin-Schönefeld airport and will eventually not only replace Schönefeld, but also Tegel airport. The legendary Tem-pelhof Airport was already closed at the end of Octo-ber 2008 (see events 5/2008). The opening of BBI is scheduled for 2011. The impressive glass Central Railway Station, lo-cated in the neighbourhood of the Reichstag and the Chancellery, welcomes predominantly national visitors. After the BBI goes into operation, airport shuttles will connect the city to the new airport with departures every 20 minutes.

Outstanding range of accommodations...... at very good prices. Berlin definitely scores points in this regard, since participants in meetings and conven-

BERLINMAKESyour heart beat faster!Ihr professioneller Partner für Meetings,Conventions und Incentives in Berlin

www.berlin-convention-office.de

Berlin Convention Officeberlin tourismus Marketing GmbhPhone +49 -30 -26 39 183E-mail [email protected]

126 events 2/2009


tions particularly value this feature: they booked 4.7 million overnight lodgings in 2008 in response – that’s five percent more than in the previous year. Hotels of international groups are already benefiting from Ber-lin’s potential or planning new openings in the near fu-ture: the Spanish Silken group with a four-star design hotel near the Ku’Damm in the autumn of 2009 and the Scandic group with premises at Potsdamer Platz at the beginning of 2010.

The 161 conference hotels already in existence con-stitute approx. 53 percent of the potential space for events: in 2008, 87,600 events were held here (+3%) and a total of 4.8 million participants were served (+2%). For organisers, Berlin’s wide range of venues is particularly appealing: behind 135 historical, designed, or eccentric walls, 14,500 gatherings (+5%) took place with 2.5 million participants (+2%).

The city’s six convention centres and halls hosted about 2,500 events with 850,000 participants in the year 2008, e.g. at the Estrel Berlin – Europe’s largest convention, entertainment, and hotel complex, at the axica conference and convention centre at Pariser Platz or at the ICC.

Business is booming at the ICC Berlin

The demand is high, the booking situation for 2009 excellent and the outlook is promising. Additional conference facilities at the Berlin exhibition centre at the Palais am Funkturm are increasingly being used for meetings of all kinds. Bookings by convention organis-ers extend to the year 2016! In 2008, a total of 623 meetings and shows with over 280,000 participants took place. Compared to the previous record year of 2005, sales in 2008 doubled at 20 million Euros. World-wide recognition makes the commercial suc-cess in the convention field plain: for the fifth time in a row, the ICC was distinguished with the World Travel Award, the “Oscar of the travel industry,” as a “leading conference & convention centre.” Around 167,000 tourist industry professionals from agencies, hotels, airlines, tourism centres and other tourist in-stitutions from all continents participated in the vote.

Medical conventions at the ICC

Berlin owes its top position as an international conven-tion destination to them in particular. Noted organis-ers of medical conventions have increasingly settled on the ICC Berlin for the future as well:> The joint orthopaedics and trauma surgery conven-tion will bring more than 10,000 specialists to the city on the Spree by 2015

> The “Medicine + Health” convention with approx. 7,500 participants will take place once a year until 2012 > The German Association for Psychiatry, Psychother-apy, and Neurology (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Psychi-atrie, Psychotherapie, und Nervenheilkunde, DGPPN) will holds its annual meetings with 8,000 participants in Berlin until 2011> The German Cancer Association (Deutsche Kreb-gesellschaft) will gather for a convention and cancer action day in even years until 2012 with 15,000 par-ticipants > In even years between 2008 and 2016, up to 6,000 medical professionals from practice and research fields will meet at the convention of the Deutsche Gesell-schaft für Chirurgie (German Association for Surgery)

Curfew? Far from it!

Native Berliners, immigrants, temporary inhabitants and visitors alike mix in countless elegant, quirky or rustic restaurants and pubs (like the always packed

“Ständige Vertretung” near Bahnhof Friedrichstraße, dignified ones like the ‘Vau,’ high-class comfort ones like Lutter and Wegner at the Gendarmenmarkt... and many more), clubs or bars with original names like Bar jeder Vernunft (Beyond All Reason), WunderBar (Won-derful), or Bar Celona. Life is everywhere. The Berlin events calendar has 1,500 listings daily and 175 muse-

ums, over 130 stages in operas and playhouses, thea-tres, ensembles and seven large symphonic orchestras provide more variety than most people can soak in. In February 2009, the Dali Museum at Potsdamer Platz was opened for lovers of primarily surrealist art, and before that, the temporary Kunsthalle Berlin at the Schlossplatz, which will be a venue for contemporary art for two years and offers space for events for up to 1,000 guests. In October, the New Museum will open on the Museumsinsel. Based upon the ‘Long Night of Museums,’ successful for many years now, the ‘Long Night of Opera and Theatre’ was offered for the first time in April, while 50 Berlin stages introduced them-selves in half-hour presentations.

128 events 2/2009


For energetic athletes, white steeds or rock musicians: the O

2 arena at Ost-

bahnhof Station

It cost 150 million euros – the new arena was or-ganised as a joint project of the Anschutz Enter-tainment Group from the USA and the Munich telecommunications cor-poration O2. With room for up to 17,000 visitors, 59 entertainment suites and a total area of 60,000 square metres, the O2 arena is the venue for sporting, music and entertain-ment events. Highlights in 2009: the performance of the Spanish Riding School (14-16 May) and the MTV Europe Music Awards on 5 November.

Berlin Tickers

> In March, the BCO came up with a special idea for a road show in Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich: 31 hotel representatives introduced ‘their’ venue in Berlin. What was original about it? The venues were presented three-dimensionally on easels in the form of painted pictures – and commented on by the respec-tive sponsor. > The list is rather odd: Berlin was ranked 4th of the Top 44 destinations selected by the New York Times –

after Beirut, Washington DC and the Galapagos Islands!> On the anniversary of the fall of the Wall (9 November), guests of Westin Grand can have a go at a piece of wall: it will specially be brought to Friedrichstraße for this purpose. > Funkhaus Berlin now a venue: Treugast 105 GmbH has been market-ing the Treptow-Köpen-ick broadcasting centre as a venue since March 09.

> And another new venue: Karlsson (on the roof): a penthouse with a view of the German and French Cathedrals at the Gendarmenmarkt offers 450 square metres for up to 450 guests. > ICC celebrates its 30-year anniversary: Since April 1979, 17,777 convention and exhibition events have taken place there with about 11.1 million participants! > Air Berlin won the European Business Award for the category of ‘Customer Focus.’

Berlin Convention OfficeThe Berlin Convention Office (BCO) of Berlin Tour-ist Marketing provides support for the organisa-tion of conventions, conferences, and incentives. Interested parties are briefed in detail about Ber-lin as a convention and conference metropolis, as well as about culinary and cultural highlights. In addition, customers profit from an extensive net-work of contacts and free procurement and book-ing of hotel contingents. The BCO as a member of the ICCA and the UIA – Union of International Associations – has ac-cess to current statistics from both organisations about the world-wide conference and convention market.

Berlin Convention OfficeAm Karlsbad 1110785 Berlinwww.berlin-convention-office.de www.meeting-place-berlin.com Phone: +49 (0)30 26 39 183

axica. EXPECT THE

UNEXPECTEDaxica - die spektakuläre Location für Ihre Events. Entdecken Sie dasaußergewöhnliche Ambiente für besondere Veranstaltungen - mitten in Berlin.Rufen Sie uns an +49/30/20241-662.Oder schreiben Sie uns: [email protected] | www.axica.de

Berlin, Berlin, we’re going to Berlin!The capital attracts visitors again with ‘Meeting Place Berlin 2009’ From 2 to 6 July 2009, the city on the Spree will host about 100 national and international decision-makers from the meetings and incentives industry: for the fifth time, the Berlin Convention Office (BCO) of the BTM, BTM-Partnerhotels e.V. and Preferred Agencies are jointly issuing invitations for an exchange on a com-munications platform previously received positively by providers and users alike. This year, too, hosted buyers from associations, companies and agencies will get to know the quality of the capital as a conference and convention site in detail during a multi-day workshop. Divided into groups, they will complete the following schedule in rotation:

> “Meet Professionals Day“: Here, local providers like five-star hotels, venues or gastronomy businesses meet with participants on a fixed schedule (pre-sche-duled appointments); that is, the service provider ap-proaches the participants.

> “Meet Facilities Day”: A field study is presented here: hosted buyers will learn how extensive Berlin’s range of event spaces is on a tour of sites straight across the events scene. > “Meet Berlin Day”: A day to let the charm of the ‘capital with a heart’ win you over: the programme consists of art, culture and pure Berlin. An unforgett-able experience could become the highlight of the day: the visit to the Classic Open Air Festival at the Gendarmenmarkt, one of the most beautiful squares in Berlin. The trip is affordable: the 1st class events ticket of Deutsche Bahn costs only 49 Euros round-trip.

Information on Meeting Place Berlin 2009:www.meeting-place-berlin.com

CF

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Another intention is to create awareness of the special expertise of the five centres: these are their high level of professional competence, personal support and con-sulting services, rapid and uncomplicated project implementation and an attractive palette of other services. Each of the cen-tres has a success story to tell. Thanks to its spectacular location directly on the lake, Bregenz has even managed to impress the makers of the latest James Bond film. Linz has stage-managed many a dramatic event among the timeless contemporary archi-tecture of its Design Center. As far as Inns-bruck is concerned, its great advantage is its natural surroundings, Salzburg is the

arena for success and Graz combines one of the most beautiful cityscapes in Europe with an impressive benchmark of a con-gress centre. All five have the capacity to meet the most stringent requirements. On the other hand, they are still of a manage-able size, so that pathways remain short and all contacts are with real human be-ings. To this must be added the imposing architecture and the range of attractions in the environment outside the congress centres themselves which give each of the locations an individual quality.The members of the 5Star Congress Group Austria will be marketing themselves jointly in the future. A new homepage

and newsletter have been launched and intensive PR activities, events and telemar-keting campaigns are planned. “We are convinced that this will generate greater awareness of our services than if each of us were to undertake promotional meas-ures independently,” says confident Project Manager Helga Grinzinger.

The 5Star Group on the netwww.5starcongressgroup.comBregenz: www.festspielhausbregenz.atGraz: www.mcg.atInnsbruck: www.come-innsbruck.atLinz: www.design-center.atSalzburg: www.salzburgcongress.at

The 5Star Group at the Vienna Chamber Opera: Heinz Kammerlander, Barbara Schwaiger (both Salzburg), Helga Ginzinger, Gerhard Stübe (both Bregenz), Ralph Kerschbaumer (Innsbruck), Heidrun de Jong, Thomas Ziegler (both Linz), Claudia Kranjec (Graz), Sabine Peternel (Innsbruck), Elisabeth Hansa (Graz).

Five centres combine to form a new constellation in Austria’s congress firmament

“Take five” is the maxim here, as congress centres in Austria have also resolved to join together in an alliance. The objectives are to enhance their external profiles and to reduce outgoings. Bregenz, Graz, Innsbruck, linz and Salz-burg have unanimously made the decision to unite and promote themselves in the future under the title ‘5Star Con-gress Group Austria’. The combo had its official debut at the Vienna Chamber Opera in the presence of their existing clientele, congress and event organisers and the hope is that new customers will soon come flocking to their doors.

COnGr E S S W Or ld

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Andrea Bisping, new chairperson of the Munich ICCA CommitteeAndrea Bisping, director of the International Congress Center Munich (ICM), was appointed as the new chair-person of the Munich ICCA Committee (MIC), the suc-cessful merger of the Munich congress economy, on 1 April 2009. As the successor of Peter Trautmann, who led the committee until the end of 2008 as business execu-tive of Flughafen München GmbH, Andrea Bisping wants to push organised tourist marketing for Munich further and successfully advance internationalisation of the con-gress market. The election of Andrea Bisping as chairperson of the Mu-nich ICCA Committee underlines the long-standing close cooperation of players at the congress and conference site Munich and was welcomed by all MIC members. Predecessor Peter Trautmann: “I’m very happy that An-drea Bisping will advance the interests of the congress industry in Munich as leader of the International Con-gress Center Munich with feminine charm and great pro-fessionalism. In her short time at the ICM, she built ex-tensive relationships with the industry with great success and contributed to the extremely successful realisation of the famous cardiology congress in 2008. As chairper-son of the Munich ICCA Committee, Andrea Bisping will strengthen Munich’s position as a top international desti-nation, especially in the current difficult market environ-ment and contribute to Munich’s profile in all branches of the congress industry.” The Munich members of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) – world-wide umbrella or-ganisation of the congress and events industry – joined the Munich ICCA Committee (MIC) in order to guarantee professional congress and event management on a local level (information at www.icca-muc.de or www.icm-muenchen.de ).

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“We can announce that we are booked out from January to May 2010,” beams Britta Wirtz, company spokesperson for Karlsruher Messe- und Kongress-GmbH (KMK), commenting on the move of the suc-cessful “Faszination Modellbau” fair to KMK from 2010. The move marks the success of KMK manage-ment in attracting a third major public fair to Karlsruhe as a fair site, following on from “Echtdampf Hallen-treffen” (“Real Steam Enthusiasts”) and “Faszination Motorrad” (“Amazing Bikes”). “The site is perfectly qualified to offer ‘Faszination’ in Karlsruhe the best starting conditions,” comments Messe Sinsheim GmbH, organisers of “Faszination Modellbau”. “The airport is located next to the fair site, there’s plenty of set-up room and it’s not far from our previous suc-cessful site at Sinsheim. And in Karlsruhe, we have a major new catchment area for visitors.” The company is optimistic for the future of “Faszination Modellbau Karlsruhe”. The re-location of “Faszination Motor-rad” und “Echtdampf-Hallentreffen” from Sinsheim to Karlsruhe had already been announced in Janu-ary. By then, Karlsruher Messe- und Kongress GmbH and Messe Sinsheim GmbH had already concluded a comprehensive partnership agreement. This collabora-

Karlsruhe’s trade fair and conferencing on the right track

“Faszination Modellbau” (“Fascination Model-Making”) draws in the crowds at Karlsruhe – third major new public themed fair for 2010 ensures full book-ings for Karlsruhe fair’s first half-year

tion will see Karlsruhe hosting these two annual public fairs, which draw 500 exhibitors and around 60,000 visitors, from 2010 onwards. Ernst Pfister, Baden-Württemberg’s Minister for the Economy, sees the ex-ecutive decision made by the two trade fair companies as “underlining the fact that Baden-Württemberg is a trade fair centre with a spirit of cooperation rather than confrontation.” The re-location of “Faszination Modellbau” marks the continuation of this strategic partnership. Then again, even KMK’s own develop-ments have kept it in the headlines during 2010’s first trade fair quarter: art KARLSRUHE drew a record number of over 40,000 visitors while achieving top marks in terms of number of exhibitors (212) – who also achieved record rates of turnover. “No sign of the crisis” was the comment of industry insiders, and art KARLSRUHE has now established itself as one of the two leading German art fairs. NUFAM, the commercial vehicles fair for the South West, also bucked all the trends in late March by reporting record attendance from the first day – as did RESALE.

Karlsruhe’s conferencing business can also report posi-tive news. One example is the partnership with “KIT” (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology), which ensured that the “International Conference on Magnetism (ICM)”, the largest and most significant international gath-ering in the area of magnetism, will be held in Karl-sruhe’s Conference Centre – following Rome (2003) and Kyoto (2008). The one-week conference expects to draw over 1,500 physicists, chemists and materi-als scientists from all over the world. It’s appropriate here to mention that the City of Karlsruhe broke new ground with accommodation in 2008, totting up around 850,000 overnight stays. Prior to completion of the trade fair site and investment in the Confer-ence Centre in the city centre (2003), the number had barely reached 600,000. 30% growth in five years: Karlsruhe is booming – to everyone’s benefit.

Charming and indefatigable as Karlsruhe’s ambassador at the ITB: Regina Halmich

Now the second-largest art fair in Germany: the art Karlsruhe

Messe Erfurt AG | Gothaer Straße 34 | 99094 ErfurtTelefon 0361 400-1320 oder -1330 | Fax 0361 400-1111

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INTERPLAN continues on its successful course and expands management

As part of its continuing expansion, INTERPLAN AG is strengthening its corporate management. Effective March 1, 2009, long-standing staff members Marion Metzner and Ursula Lau-Thurner now hold senior man-agement positions. “This was an essential move – not only in response to the corporate growth seen in recent years, but also to ensure we continue to provide personal, first-class support for all of our congresses,” comments INTERPLAN Managing Director Dr. Markus Preußner.

The Munich head office has also made some additions to its personnel. Hotel buying will now be centralised under the management of Heike Störmer, who recently

worked for Maritim in Stuttgart. Marketing & Sales is also under-going expansion, and welcomes Sylvie Lohr to the team. After many years as an event manager at the Hanns Seidel Foundation, Ms. Lohr was most recently employed at CMP-WEKA.

Despite the difficult economic climate, IN-TERPLAN is happy to report a workforce of 60 permanent mem-bers of staff and a process of continual growth. “We have now been able to expand our core cus-tomer business to 70% and we are thus very optimistic about the future,” states Man-aging Director Bruno Lichtinger.

Marion Metzner

Ursula Lau-Thurner

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The Dutch “Oranje” shirts from the football arena now face some competition, since increasing numbers of companies, associations and parties have discov-ered a brand-new colour in recent times: the colour orange! It began in 2004, when the Ukrainian opposi-tion chose to wear the colour orange as a symbol of their resistance against the vote-rigging practised by the government of the time. You no doubt remem-ber the “Orange Revolution”. Following this, many western parties also adopted the new colour – one of them being the German CDU. Increasingly, orange has also become the colour of choice for companies and associations. And the event industry is no excep-tion to this trend. Recently, for example, both the Wiesbaden Congress Alliance and Duisburg’s Merca-torhalle settled on orange as their corporate colour. DüsseldorfCongress Veranstaltungsgesellschaft has pioneered this trend colour in the conferencing and event industry.

A bold move – 14 years ago

Founded in early 1995 as a subsidiary of Messe Düs-seldorf and the City itself, the company decided on

the colour orange right from the start – al-though it was unusual for the time. In so doing, DüsseldorfCongress associated it-self with the Messe’s own colour scheme, since the parent company also used orange in its corporate communication. Hilmar Guckert, company spokesperson for Düs-seldorfCongress, has had no regrets about the choice he made 14 years ago: “As the chic colour of the 1970s, orange stands for flamboyance, daring, strength and crea-tivity. The colour is a symbol for optimism and joie de vivre, and is often associated with dynamism, energy and having a good time.”

In Guckert’s opinion, it is exactly these associations that should be awakened in visitors to events hosted in the various locations owned by DüsseldorfCongress.

“Congresses and conferences should be sources of new ideas and get the industry moving. Concerts and sporting events should evoke pleasure, high spirits and excitement. We decided on the colour orange so that we could also bring these messages across in our ad-vertising.”

Hilmar Guckert is extremely happy to see that orange has now become the new trend colour in European business and politics: “As a result, we have now be-come a trendsetter in our industry: a nice side-effect of our choice of colour, which we of course could not have predicted 14 years ago.”

To further intensify the positive effect of its corporate colour, DüsseldorfCongress will no longer be restrict-ing the use of orange to its advertising, but will also be employing it as a design colour – in the modernisa-tion work currently in progress at the CCD (Congress Center Düsseldorf), for example. According to plan-ning, the information desks and furniture will soon be sporting the colour orange.

Going Orange:

DüsseldorfCongress remains “Colour Trendsetter”

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Congress in Linz:

Blood is a very special juice...

Decisions about venues usually also have something to do with the thematic synergies on site. Austria is the third-largest consumer of blood in Europe, after

Greece and Den-mark. Dr. Hans Gombotz, chief of anaesthes io logy and intensive care operations at AKH Linz, has been an advocate of blood-saving measures in hospitals for years and can produce numerous interna-tional studies that show that non-

indexed blood transfusions have clear side effects for patients – up to an increased risk of infection and higher rates of heart attacks.The effects on the health

From 16 - 17 April 2009, the 10th Annual nata Congress took place at the dESIGn CEnTEr lInZ with some 400 participants. The topics covered at the nATA congress included blood transfusion and blood products. The attraction of this congress shows that the city of linz is becoming ever more interesting to international con-gress organisers.

care system – from a financial perspective as well – are therefore of great import.Internationally recognised experts from the fields of anaesthesiology, intensive care, surgery, haematology and transfusion medicine addressed this problem dur-ing the NATA congress.

The conference site:With easy access via the Airport Linz and a multi-faceted programme in connection with the European Capital of Culture year, the Design Center Linz proved to be an ideal conference site.The timeless modern architecture of the Design Center offers much space for ideas. Above all, the glass roof that creates an atmosphere of natural light is unique. The some 10,000 sqm of space accommodates 22 rooms of varying sizes (32 - 4,300 sqm). The light, sunny ambience stimulates communication and the first-class conference technology contributes as well.

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A S S O CI AT IOnS

For the first time in the history, the events industry had the opportunity to introduce itself to the tourism com-mission of the German Bundestag and present its po-litical positions. At its presentation on 25 March 2009, the Europäische Verband der Veranstaltungs-Centren e.V. (European Association of Event Centres, EVVC) was received with great interest and found many will-ing ears. Marlene Mortler MdB (CSU), chairperson of the commission, greeted the visitors and the exchange of opinions with these words: “We should support our events industry so that it can maintain its leading position in Europe and continue to guarantee about one million local jobs in Germany.” Now we’re getting somewhere!August Moderer (currently still president of EVVC and executive of the Congress Centrum Mainz) and Joachim König (vice-president of EVVC and director of the Hannover Congress Centrum), with support from Dr. Hubert Koch (EVVC Berlin bureau), presented the almost 20-person board with important figures and facts about the industry and the association, to con-clude by formulating four concrete policy topics and requests:

1. Support for the industry in the develop-ment of a standard job description for “event manager” with mandatory entry qualifica-tions, a standard curriculum, and a manda-tory length of training. 2. Support for marketing Germany as a congress and event destination abroad e.g. through participation of industry representa-tives in the chancellor’s and ministers’ travels abroad. 3. Political incentives to improve the funding status of event centres. The EVVC here sug-gests e.g. a congress tax – it would unburden tax payers, as it would be levied from partici-pants only. At the same time, it would reduce the need for subsidies.

Successful EVVC push into the Bundestag The consistently maintained commitment to active lobbying in political Berlin has borne fruit. And again, it was the EVVC who not only boasted, but carried through.

4. Support for the development of a transi-tion to flexible working hours (relaxing of the 10-hour rule) for cost-neutral, competitive op-timisation of quality and service, naturally with complete compliance with laws protect-ing minors.

In the following three question and answer sessions, the members of parliament particularly addressed the economic status of the industry and asked about the significance of indirect returns on events and possi-ble over-capacities as well as the cooperation of the EVVC with other associations, especially the Deut-sche Zentrale für Tourismis (German National Tourist Board, DZT) and the Bundesverband der Deutschen Tourismuswirtschaft (Federal Association of the Ger-man Tourism Industry, BTW). The importance to the industry’s future of training and continued education was also discussed intensively. EVVC’s spokespeople received signals of support from all parliamentary groups in this regard. The desire to jointly present Ger-many as an event location in order to bear up against strong world-wide competitive pressures also found much support.

“For the first time, we were able to present the idea of the congress tax before a political committee,” August Moderer said, drawing a positive conclusion.

“The members of the tourism board appreciated our attempt to find alternative financing models for our branches.” For Joachim König, vice-president of the association, the board members’ suggestion of organising a parlia-mentary evening in Berlin in the new election period, since many EVVC topics also interest members of oth-er boards, was a positive conclusion and a transition to lobbying work in the coming years. “Naturally, we will act on this idea,” says König in a personal comment.

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The European Meetings and Events Con-ference 2009 in Turin of the international association MPI was a pan-European meet-ing of the elite with 467 participants from 36 nations. 35 training modules were of-fered during the three-day event in beau-tiful Turin - the focus was on challenges and opportunities in the meetings industry in both operative and strategic respects. MPI CEO Bruce MacMillan announced the introduction of the new online platform www.MeetingIndustryCrisisCenter.org and the first figures from EventView 2009, an investigation jointly carried out by the MPI Foundation, the Event Marketing Institute (EMI) and George P. Johnson. In further

news, the foundation of a Polish MPI chap-ter was announced. The new regional as-sociation already has almost 40 members and is under the leadership of Krzyszstof Celuch, a senior project manager at the Polish Convention Bureau. Sue Potton of George P. Johnson: “I’ve vis-ited many MPI conferences in recent years

– in both North America and Europe. But the calibre of the contributors and the lev-el of content were higher than ever in Tu-rin! Key political and economic topics that affect our industry were openly discussed and the conference offered exciting op-portunities for meaningful dialogue with a wide spectrum of market participants.”

Heather Phelps of the Canadian Tourism Commission saw it this way: “In view of so much dramatic change in the industry, there were many opportunities here to understand the deeper connection. The networking sessions brought me a good exchange of experiences with meeting planners from Great Britain and Europe (she said it like that!!) and valuable new contacts.”

The big European MPI conference at the sunny Costa del Sol will take place next year in Malaga from 28 February.

The members of the Verband Deutsches Reisemanagement e.V. (Association of German Travel Management, VDR), the German business travel association, elect-ed a new chair at the 35th VDR annual general meeting on 2 April 2009 in Co-logne. The new president is Dirk Gerdom, head of global travel management for SAP AG in Walldorf. He has been a member of the executive committee since 2003. Ralph Rettig, senior manager of corporate travel management of the ZF Group of ZF Friedrichshafen AG in Friedrichshafen, was re-elected as vice-president. He has

been a member of the executive commit-tee since 1997. Bernd Ruttloff, director of procurement indirect material & services of Hochtief AG in Essen, member of the committee since 1994, was confirmed as treasurer in office. Carsten Czub, corpo-rate travel / fleet coordinator of the GEA Group AG in Bochum, VDR member since 1997, was newly elected to the committee. Daniela Schade, vice president of sales & distribution for Accor Deutschland SMARD GmbH in Munich (committee member since 2000) sits on the committee as rep-resentative of the suppliers, as does Volker

Huber, senior vice president of global sales & solutions for Lufthansa AirPlus Service-karten GmbH in Neu-Isenburg (committee member since 2004).

The period in office of the volunteer execu-tive committee consists of three years. The seventh member of the committee is Hans-Ingo Biehl, chief executive of VDR e.V. and executive of VDR-Service GmbH. Michael Kirnberger, VDR president since 1994, was unanimously elected as an honorary mem-ber and honourary president by the other members.

From left to right: Volker Huber, Bernd Ruttloff, Daniela Schade, Carsten Czub, Ralph Rettig (vice-president), Dirk Gerdom (president) and Hans-Ingo Biehl (HGF)

Dirk Gerdom is the new VDR president

460 proud participants at MPI’s EMEC in Turin

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Zu zweit ist es am schönsten!Die Kongresshalle Böblingen und die Stadthalle Sindelfingen sind das Congress Center Böblingen /Sindelfingen.

Congress Center Böblingen /Sindelfingen GmbH, Schillerstraße 23, 71065 SindelfingenFon: +49 7031-4911-0, Fax: +49 7031-4911-999, [email protected], www.cc-bs.com

Zu Dir oder zu mir?

A DeGefest regional confer-ence provided the occasion for a discussion of market-ing ideas. Professor Stefan Luppold (Merkur Internationale Fachhochschule Karlsruhe) provided insight into the economic trends of the 40’s as evidenced by feeding and consumer frenzies, the leisure time craze, post-materialism and the lifestyle trend of the 90’s through to the current polarisation between basic consumption and luxury consumption at the Darmstadtium Science and Congress Centre of Darmstadt. Luppold led into a forecast of future trends and offered strategies to meet the chal-lenges to the events industry in the future. “Base the economy on experience,” is his credo: the product is not the focus, but instead the customer’s benefit - which must be communicated better than in the past.

But it isn’t sufficient to state the benefits. Authenticity is also needed, that is the capacity to demonstrate benefits for the long-term. If you are interested in Professor Luppold’s presentation, please contact the branch office by mail ([email protected]) or telephone (0800-2288227).

SITE International Conference 2010 in Cape Town

Dave Frandsen, executive manager of the International Marketing & Cape Town Con-vention Bureau, is looking forward to the conference, taking place on African soil for the first time in December 2010. “We see our destina-tion as one of the best in the world for incentives and are happy to be able to show Cape Town and the western Cape region to incentive managers.” According to SITE CEO Brenda Anderson, Cape Town was chosen for its diversity growth and focus on the future.

From “Fresswelle” (feeding frenzy) to authenticity

140 events 2/2009

E dUC AT IOn

Mr. Kulhavy, on 2 October 2009, you will be organis-ing the 8th Stuttgart Wissensforum, which has devel-oped into the largest continuing education event in the German-speaking region. How would you charac-terise the changes in continuing education in the last few years?

As Europe grows ever closer together, the significance

Don’t skimp on continuing education! Initiative leads to success: that’s the way it was, the way it is and the way it will al-ways be. Without adopting a proactive strategy, it’s impossible to achieve change or improvement. Gerd Kulhavy is Managing director of the Top 100 speakers’ agen-cy Speakers Excellence and organiser of the top education events in the industry. We asked him how companies can succeed in achieving valuable momentum for change processes, given only modest time and investment budgets.

of personnel as a company resource is becoming ever more important. Particularly in times of economic cri-sis, senior managers are needed who are prepared to tackle “education” head-on. Yet many companies make the fatal mistake of reducing (or even cancel-ling) their training, coaching and continuing education budgets in times of economic difficulty. But this is an entirely inappropriate knee-jerk reaction. Continuing education is not “nice to have”: it is a critical factor for the success of a business.

What advice on continuing education planning would you give to decision-makers in the car or chemicals industries, for example, where a considerable slump in sales volume has already made itself noticeable? Would you not be sympathetic to the argument that personnel development staff are now being forced to make budget cuts?

As I’ve already said: budget cuts send out the wrong signal. For every stated goal and every budget, there is a range of strategies available to support staff and the success of the company. We at Speakers Excellence have long since been catering to this varied range of needs. We give clients the chance to book speakers, trainers and coaches from a huge variety of skill ar-eas, while our team helps companies in both planning and realising continuing education strategies. The aim is to plan more effectively, think through ideas more carefully, motivate the workforce to educate itself and demonstrate continuity. And of course, the selection of trainers and consultants plays a decisive role, need-ing to be matched precisely to the requirements.

How do you go about arranging your large-scale events? Do your clients’ continuing education needs make a major contribution?

events 2/2009 141

Definitely, yes. Our education events make it especially easy for companies to gain access to modules from the realms of training and continuing education. This year, we are organising our Wissensforum events in Stuttgart, Rosenheim, Zurich, Rostock, Passau, Co-logne and Vienna. In addition, we also organising

“Knowledge Academies” at seminar and meeting fairs in Hamburg, Mainz, Berlin, Düsseldorf and Munich. And we are also co-organising other well-respected congresses, such as the 13th Swiss “Success Forum” and Swiss Marketing Day, as well as the International Alpensymposium – one of the top events in Europe. As you can see: we go to where the companies are. Since we are present throughout the entire German-speaking region, it’s a simple matter to book staff into our events and let them benefit from valuable ideas for the workplace and their personal lives.

What is the format you use for these events? What do attendees take away from the event?

Our Wissensforum events feature 6-8 speakers, drawn from our Top 100 list of presenters. This means we have the best of the best from the areas of Personality & Success, Communication & Motivation, Marketing & Sales, Management & Leadership and Health & Fitness. The days are packed with the concentrated secrets of success from outstanding experts in their fields. Each Wissensforum also features a small “Fair”, where our exhibitors can present their services and products in the field of continuing education. We also prioritise the subject of networking. Personnel development staff and decision-makers have the chance to view multiple speakers in one day, and then get in touch with them to discuss their future planning. In recent years, our Wissensforum events have developed into regular industry get-togethers – not to be missed by anybody who has promising ideas for the continuing education sector.

Your event in Stuttgart – the “original”, so to speak – is planned to be even bigger and better this year. It’s been paired up with a full-blown trade fair, to make the event even more attractive. Can you give us some more details?

Nearly 3,000 attendees in 2008, more than 40 ex-hibitors, 55 partners and sponsors, a new attendance record and the best Wissensforum program we ever had have all convinced us that we are on the right track with our plans for this year’s Wissensforum. The 8th Stuttgart Wissensforum will take place as part of a new trade fair, “Motivation”: a specialist trade fair for

motivation, incentives and professional incentive sys-tems. The fair will be held from October 1-2, 2009 in the Hans-Martin-Schleyer-Halle. The Wissensforum it-self will take place on the second day of the fair in the adjoining Porsche-Arena. Together with experts from spring Messe Management GmbH, who organise

“Zukunft Personal” and other well-respected personnel trade fairs, we will be offering a solid programme of speakers and exhibitors. The topics will be training and continuing education, incentive systems in sales and marketing and customer relationship management and incentives. Leading experts will also be appearing at the trade fair itself. We are offering two free-to-attend forums with a practical focus, featuring expert speakers offering best practice talks aimed at joining up the theory and the practice. In addition, we have also signed up a number of star keynote speakers.

Can you already name a few names for the Stuttgart Wissensforum and “Motivation”?

For the Wissensforum, speakers will include Nikolaus B. Enkelmann, Thorsten Havener, Slatco Sterzenbach, Urs Meier, Klaus-J. Fink, Dominik Neidhard, Dieter Lange, Stefan Spies and Günter Mainka: a total of eight top speakers and one top presenter. As trade fair keynote speakers, we have so far acquired the self-motivation expert Dr. Stefan Frädrich, the trainer Daniela A. Ben Said, the sales pro Ady Hagmaier, Alex-ander Christiani, Antony Fedrigotti and Susanne Klein-henz. Our work on further programme highlights is currently in full swing.

Nikolaus Enkelmann, the epitome of a management trainer

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Under the title “Small budget, large effect – exciting catering concepts in times of tight budgets, too”, on Tuesday 26 May from 09.30 to 10.30 Georg W. Broich will explain what it all comes down to in choosing the setting for an event. In doing this he will grant insights behind the scenes at Broich Premium Catering

– which won the 2005 “Caterer of the Year” award. The portfolio of the family firm, which was founded back in 1891, includes event lo-cations in places such as Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Köln and the Nürburgring, as well as Europe-wide catering for events for 50 to 5,000 people. “I am delighted to be able to

present my ideas at the leading MICE trade fair and thus perhaps be able to bring even more creativity to the German catering offerings”, says Georg W. Broich. On the second day of the IMEX trade fair, 27 May, from 16.00 to 17.00 Colja Dams will be focusing on “Trends in events: the impact of current trends on live marketing”. As well as general social trends and their influence on corporate communication, the speaker will also be explaining the effects on the events sector and demonstrating concrete routes to solutions by means of numerous examples. The lecture

Great GCB-seminars at IMEXEvery year in May the GCB ties up an attractive education package at IMEX. 15 seminars free of charge in German and one lecture in English are on the intellectual menu in 2009. The CEO of the GCB, lutz P. Vogt, is proud of the programme: “We have been successful in attracting top-class speak-ers from a wide variety of sectors and can thus offer visitors to IMEX a unique range of education offerings on current themes from the conven-tion and business travel sector.” We are going to give you a few examples in detail and at the end of this feature an overview of the full programme.

Colja M. Dams, CEO of VOK DAMS Gruppe

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will shed light on themes such as ecology and live marketing, the significance of the individual on the internet or leisure time as the “sacred cow” of con-sumers. Colja M. Dams is Managing Shareholder of the VOK DAMS GROUP, the agency for events and live marketing, which specializes in direct, experi-ential and results-oriented marketing communica-tion. In addition to its head office in Wuppertal, the agency also runs branches in Hamburg, Munich and Frankfurt plus subsidiaries in France, the USA, Chi-na and Dubai. “As one of the leading live market-ing agencies, we look after clients with well known brands both in Germany and abroad. I am looking forward to sharing these experiences with the semi-nar participants”, says Dams.

The workshop “Insurance solutions for events – How can I ensure the financial success of an event? Suggestions on minimising and transfer-ring liability”, on Wednesday 27 May from 09.30 to 10.30, will show how the events organiser can avoid or reduce risks and thus protect himself against loss of earnings due to claims for compensation. An ad-ditional focus will be on the successful commercial implementation of the event, even if unforeseen prob-lems crop up. The speaker, Thomas John Meyer, Man-aging Shareholder of the company Von Rauchhaupt & Senftleben GmbH, will also present insurance prod-ucts covering liability or event cancellation insurance.

“Our company motto is: Making risks calculable means using opportunities”, says the speaker Thomas John Meyer. “Through the workshop at IMEX I am hoping to improve the opportunities for successful confer-ences and conventions”.

On Thursday 28 May from 15.00 to 16.00 the events and culture manager Melanie Botzki will shed light on the theme “Project management for events – from the initial idea to the successful event”. In a short lecture the speaker will provide a practice-oriented overview of all aspects of planning an event, start-ing with the proper organisation via the dramaturgy and setting. Other topics cover the various planning phases and concepts suitable for the respective tar-get groups. Melanie Botzki has been an independent events and culture manager in Hannover since 2004 with her company botzki konzept, and she is also a member of the Board of Directors of the EISFABRIK e.V. cultural centre in the state capital. “A successful event is a complex interplay between objectives, creativity, logistics, players and of course improvisation. I would like to give newcomers to events planning help they can take away with them to master this interplay”, is how Melanie Botzki describes her aim.

“’Travelling smarter’ – Priorities for effective trav-el management during the financial crisis” is the theme of the workshop by Martina Eggler on Thursday 28 May from 09.30 to 10.30. As Vice President Strate-gic Sales & Account Management, Marketing Central & Eastern Europe at Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Martina Eggler has detailed knowledge of the business travel segment. On the assumption that this year all compa-nies will be focussing on the costs of business travel, the seminar tackles questions such as: Which levers should be applied in 2009 in order to control travel costs better and optimize them further, particularly in this unstable economic environment? Alongside direct travel costs, what are the other starting points for opti-mising corporate travel programmes? How important

is a travel policy, especially right now? How does the economic situation affect the planning of meetings and events? “Now in particular, the emphasis should be on the value of an effectively managed corporate travel programme– business travel planners need to make use of this opportunity”, says Martina Eggler.

Special highlight: the seminar with Joey KellyThe GCB seminars at IMEX cover not only events plan-ning, but also themes involving marketing, creativ-ity and motivation. So, on Wednesday 27 May from 09.30 to 10.30 Joey Kelly is giving a talk on his sport-ing successes: “You have to set yourself a goal, and then you simply have to start”. The folk musician has also made a name for himself as an extreme sports-

Joey Kelly, musician and extreme sportsman

Georg W. Broich, Caterer of the Year 2005

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man. Within the space of just one year he completed eight Iron Man contests as the leading triathlete in the world. In addition, he also completed, amongst other things, 34 marathons, 20 ultra-marathons, several 24-hour bike marathons and extreme courses, achieving excellent rankings. By participating, Joey Kelly also

supported donation marathons amongst the general public. The musician and extreme sportsman Joey Kel-ly is convinced that “When you really want something, there are no limits. Everyone who realises this experi-ences an incredible boost to their motivation – and this can certainly also be used in the MICE sector”.

Date, time, room, level (B = Beginners, A = Advanced)

Title, speaker

Tuesday 26 May, 09.30 – 10.30,logos room, B

CSr in marketing – with creativity and innovationsSpeaker: Kristin Vorbohle, CSr nEWS GmbH

Tuesday 26 May, 09.30 – 10.30,Esprit room, B/A

Small budget, large effect – exciting catering concepts in times of tight budgets, tooSpeaker: Georg W. Broich, Broich Premium Catering

Tuesday 26 May, 09.30 – 10.30,Genius room, B

Challenges and strategies for efficient representation of interests in election year 2009Speaker: dr. Hans Bellstedt, hbpa – Hans Bellstedt Public Affairs

Tuesday 26 May, 16.00 – 17.00,dialog room, B

Boom factor 50plus - Marketing in times of demographic changeSpeaker: Andreas reidl, A.GE - Agentur für Generationen-Marketing

Tuesday 26 May, 16.00 – 17.00,logos room, B/A

Climate-friendly events as a win-win strategy Speaker: rainer lucas, Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie GmbH

Tuesday 26 May, 16.00 – 17.00,Genius room, B

World light athletics championships 2009 – Opportunities and risks for the leading professional association at a mega eventSpeaker: Frank Kowalski, deutscher leichtathletik-Verband e.V.

Wednesday 27 May, 09.30 – 10.30,logos room, A

Insurance solutions for events – How can I ensure the financial success of an event? Suggestions on minimising and transferring liability Speaker: Thomas John Meyer, Von rauchhaupt und Senftleben GmbH

Wednesday 27 May, 09.30 – 10.30,Esprit room, B/A

“no limits – You have to set yourself a goal, and then you simply have to start”Speaker: Joey Kelly

Wednesday 27 May, 16.00 – 17.00,Seminar room, B

Trends in events: the impact of current trends on live marketingSpeaker: Colja dams, VOK dAMS GrUPPE

Wednesday 27 May, 16.00 – 17.00,logos room, B

Medical events – implementing events in accordance with the pharmaceuticals codeSpeaker: Petra Kimmig, Sanofi Aventis deutschland GmbH

Thursday 28 May, 09.30 – 10.30,logos room, B

Creativity – getting to the top with innovation Speaker: Joachim Böttcher, Gesellschaft für Kreativität

Thursday 28 May, 09.30 – 10.30,Genius room, B/A

“Travelling smarter” - Priorities for effective travel management during the financial crisis Speaker: Martina Eggler, Carlson Wagonlit Travel

Thursday 28 May, 08.45 – 10.00,Esprit room, B/A

Why most conferences are boringSpeaker: richard John, rJA (GB) ltd.

- English Seminar -

Thursday 28 May, 15.00 – 16.00,Seminar room, B

Project management for events – from the first idea to the successful eventSpeaker: Melanie Botzki, botzki konzept

Thursday 28 May, 15.00 – 16.00,logos room, B

Corporate Social responsibility – Sustainability in travel managementSpeaker: Torsten Kriedt, Verband deutsches reisemanagement e.V. / Vdr Akademie

Thursday 28 May, 15.00 – 16.00,Esprit room

Active travel cost management – Increasing transparency and securitySpeaker: Michael Fürer, lufthansa Airplus Servicekarten GmbH

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146 events 2/2009

P r E V IE W: Tr A dE FA Ir S & E V E n T S

Technical directors of entertainment venues, trade fair sites, conference and congress centres and arenas will find a unique range of products and services on offer. Through its EVENT3 platform, SHOWTECH will this year again be providing event managers from agencies and companies with ideas and know-how for implementing original concepts. For the first time, SHOWTECH and stb international will held in parallel over two days (16/17 June) while the op-portunity will also be used to present the Conga-Award for the first time in Berlin. Interesting synergies are likely to emerge.SHOWTECH has been providing a promi-nent gathering place for the event industry in the form of EVENT3 since 2007. Those with staging technology for hire, event venue and event service providers can meet here with event managers from agencies and companies. In an accompa-nying three-day Lecture Forum, specialists will be providing insight into award-win-ning projects and outlining the details of the technology, planning and creation of successful events: the subjects will range

Some 350 exhibitors will be presenting stage and light technology, event safety and sound and media technology equipment at the international trade show that is to be held 16 – 18 June in Berlin. Fixed installation and event service providers will also be offering and showcasing their skills.

First time: SHOWTECH 2009 and stb join

from technical equipment through tempo-rary structures, personnel and catering to safety aspects.The experts attending this year’s EVENT3 Forum will be demonstrating that public viewing events involve more than simply installing a daylight-viable LED wall and that risk management is also an impor-tant factor in conjunction with open-air concerts. What are the current trends in the event sector? How do you optimally bring the creative and technological sides together? A total of 22 speakers will be providing answers to questions like these and discussing issues currently relevant to the event industry.

Action stage safety: from rigging to noise control management

SHOWTECH 2009 will be placing particular emphasis on all aspects of safety at events. This subject will also form part of the programme at the EVENT3 Forum on the third day of the trade show. Live demon-strations of the new safety action stage in

Hall 3 will be rounding off the events on all three days. Throughout each trade show day experts will also be revealing how to avoid oversights in event safety and outlin-ing the safe practice guidelines that need to be applied.

Programme of the DTHG congress

SHOWTECH will be accompanied by a con-gress organised by the German Theatre Technology Association (Deutsche Theater-technische Gesellschaft; DTHG), the ideal SHOWTECH sponsor. The focus of this year’s programme is 21st century stage technology. The lecture and discussion events planned to coincide with the trade show will deal, among other things, with the innovations in lighting and set design, the new requirements for theatre work-shops and the potential and limitations of sound technology. www.showtech.de

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First time: SHOWTECH 2009 and stb join

An event in an old-timer museum, a meeting in a world-famous palace – or just leasing an entire football stadium? Maybe the next party should take place at the movies? “Everything except the ordinary” might well be the catchphrase describing the trend for selecting event locations. And the “LOCATIONS” events have a lot to offer in terms of extraordinary event venues. In 2008, around 600 registered experts from the mar-keting and event sector attended the event, which showcased the wealth of unusual event spaces avail-able in the Rhine-Main region. Notable among the ex-hibitors were event venues with a particularly impres-sive style, atmosphere, unusual historical background or high-profile location. The Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan region is a dynamic economic area, characterised by its wealth of com-panies, agencies, associations and institutions. It also possesses a comprehensive portfolio of highly-diverse locations, which make this region extraordinarily at-tractive for event planners.

Many brand-new insider tips

The exhibitors who have already registered for the LOCATIONS Rhein-Neckar event reflect the variety shown by the diversity of the event venues. Exhibi-tors who have already confirmed their participation

include Mannheim’s Rosengarten and Capitol, the Dorint Kongresshotel and Maritim (also Mannheim), the Mannheim-based John Deere Forum, the Kessel-haus/Turbinenhalle in Worms, the Hockenheim Ring, Schwetzingen’s Alte Wollfabrik, the Portland Forum from Leimen near Heidelberg, Halle 02 and the Eu-ropäische Hof (also Heidelberg), as well as a number of other attractive event venues and service providers from across the entire Rhine-Neckar region. Many of these exhibitors are real “insider tips”: they are not at-tending other promotional events and wish to be dis-covered first by visitors to LOCATIONS Rhein-Neckar.With representatives from palaces in Mann heim, Bruchsal, Schwetzingen and Heidelberg, there are some true “pearls” in attendance at this event. The Automuseum Dr. Carl Benz in Ladenburg offers a venue with rooms where Carl Benz himself performed his pioneering work in car construction. The evocative rooms of the former construction hall now offer the opportunity for hosting stylish events flanked by cars from yesteryear. In contrast to the historical event lo-cations, more modern venues are also available – such as the new Rhein-Neckar-Arena, home to the German football league club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. The sta-dium is also exhibiting at LOCATIONS Rhein-Neckar.Also exhibiting is the Hockenheim Ring – a Formula 1 circuit well loved by motorsport fans throughout the world and an outstanding location where one

Everything except the ordinary! New trade fair in HeidelbergAfter last year’s successful premiere in Mainz, attended by 600 guests, lOCATIOnS rhein-neckar will be hosting another “lOCATIOnS” event in Heidelberg – and thus the rhine-neckar metropolitan region – on June 4, 2009.

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can keep up-to-date on the latest developments in automotive technology as they thunder around the racetrack. Appropriately enough, the event is not tak-ing place in a drab trade fair or exhibition hall, but in

the Heidelberg Convention Centre – and thus a place overflowing with Art Nouveau atmosphere. The Hei-delberg Convention Centre fuses traditional architec-ture and modern technology. As an HCCE member (in

common with Mannheim’s Rosengarten), it is the equal of Vienna’s Imperial Palace or London’s Central Hall Westminster.

... plus a well-organised lecture programmeComplementing the exhibition is a lecture programme that visitors can attend from 10:30 to 16:50 to find out more about event venues in the Rhine-Neckar Metropol-itan region. Distinguished speakers and recognised ex-perts from the region will be presenting talks on current topics such as catering, event staging and liability issues, as well as discussing trends and responding to questions from the audience. Speakers confirmed for the event include m:con Managing Director Michel Maugé from Mannheim, GCB’s Deputy Managing Director Anke Pru-ust, Vera Cornelius, Managing Director of Heidelberg Marketing GmbH, Professor Dr. Rück and Jörn Huber, Managing Director of pro-event live-communication GmbH. The lecture programme will be chaired by MPI’s MD Uwe Klapka.Key target audiences represented by visitors include decision-makers from the areas of senior management, marketing, sales, event management, corporate secre-tariats, event agencies and associations – all looking to host events in the Rhine-Neckar region and therefore searching for a suitable event venue. The organiser of the “LOCATIONS” events will be the Wiesbaden-based SINN! – Agency for Event Manage-ment, Event Design and Production. Agency MD is Michael Sinn, who worked as Marketing, Sales & Plan-ning Manager for Rhein-Main-Hallen in Wiesbaden and Mainz Congress Centre from 2000-2007 – and as Dep-uty Managing Director in both companies. Since August 2007, the SINN! agency has been active in the area of event management, organising expert congresses, pub-lic trade fairs and events with accompanying supplemen-tary programmes. For LOCATIONS Rhein-Neckar, two strong local partners have been brought on board in the form of the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region Conven-tion Bureau and Heidelberg Marketing GmbH. As an in-dustry publication, events will be providing professional media support services to the LOCATIONS programme.

Further information about the “LOCATIONS” events can be found at www.locations-rhein-neckar and www.locations-rhein-main.de.

Readers of events may register free of charge at www.locations-rhein-neckar.de/events

150 events 2/2009

From June 4-7, 2009, HannoverKongress, the central and indepen dent point of contact for congresses and events in Hannover, will be in-viting potential customers from the MICE sector to Hannover HIGH 2009 (Hannover Information & Greater Hospitality). Over three days, the best agencies, venues, caterers, hotels, congress centres and other service providers will be presenting their wares to the guests and in-troducing the great diversity of Hannover’s services portfolio.

Hannover HIGH 2009 is inviting decision-makers, industry experts and interested attendees from across Germany to make the trip to this metropolis on the River Leine – promoting not only the city’s service providers but also the city itself as the ideal des-tination for business tourism. Not only boasting a perfectly-appointed infrastructure – bestowing on Hannover its Europe-wide USP of the “city of short distances” – the city is also bursting at the seams with short-stay accommodation and event venues.

On this long June weekend, guests will experience interactive dialogue in the form of workshops, seasoned with all sorts of goodies and entertainments (firework competition in the Herrenhausen Gardens). Further details (program, target audience, sponsors and partners, etc.) are available at www.hannover-high.de.

Direct link to registration form: www.hannover-high.de/anmeldung (Registration closes May 15th, 2009)

Three times in a row, because it was so good: Hannover HIGH 2009

Deferred: American MICE Fair AIBTM in Baltimore

During the AIME taking place in Melbourne, Reed Travel Ex-hibitions (RTE) announced that the AIBTM – Americas Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exhi-bition – planned for June 2010 will be postponed until 2011 or 2012. The reasons lie with the current global economic situation in general and not primarily with the development of the meetings industry itself, Paul Kennedy em-phasised.

‘We decided on a postponement until 2011 or 2012 because of the macroeconomic climate,’ he said. ‘We’ll be happy to work on the exhibition in Baltimore at a later time. I’m certain that the meetings industry is healthy – as is our portfolio – but now would be a bad time for an investment of this size.’

New: Lake Constance industry meeting in FriedrichshafenIn 2009, Lake Constance will enjoy a very special industry meeting. On 13 July 2009, H&B Hotel Professionals will organise a Lake Constance industry meeting on the MS Graf Zeppelin for the first time. Starting at 17:30h, the ship leaves Friedrichshafen as a “moving network platform.”

In cooperation with event.Friedrichshafen, about 60 selected representatives of German and Austrian business tourist operations are expecting about 140 event planners. Pro-secco and Flying Buffet offer ideal opportunities for contact and discussion about service offers, programmes and meeting capacities in a relaxed atmosphere.

“The idea is great,” says Susanne Heil of H&B Hotel Professionals, who has been organis-ing such boating events for five years, “because it offers event planners interaction with top companies from the three- to five-star range with varying capacities in a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere.” Entrance is free for personally invited customers. Companions pay a sum of 20 euros at registration, which is donated to the “Antenne Bayern hilft” foundation. This foundation supports people and families who require emergency help through no fault of their own. An overview of the exhibitors is available at www.hotel-professionals.com


Dateiname: 173958 Maistra.pdf; Nettoformat:(204.00 x 287.00 mm); Datum: 06. Apr 2009 14:28:05; PDF-CMYK; L. N. Schaffrath DruckMedien

The Conga Award

The Conga Award is not granted by a jury, but by event organisers in Germany in a two-stage voting process.In the first stage, several hundred experts, includ-ing media specialists, particularly experienced event organisers, and MICE opinion leaders, are surveyed about their top tens, their favourites in 10 categories. The results are listed on your ballot on the next page. In the second stage, all of the vent organisers choose the best providers, who are then honoured with the Conga Award.

The Conga Award 2009 On the evening of 16 June 2009, the third annual Conga Award winners will be an-nounced in ten categories. At the same time, the industry’s best will be rewarded in front of 400 guests during a gala evening at the stb international and SHOW-TECH in the Marshall-Haus (also known as the ZdF Fernsehgarten) on the grounds of the Messe Berlin. This year, comedian Martin Quilitz and STUdIOeins moderator Christiane Stein (Ard) will host the evening. Everyone who has enjoyed this ec-lectic and interdisciplinary industry meeting in past years will already be looking forward to a dramatic and atmospheric event.

Get an impression of last year’s event through the pic-tures and information at www.conga-award.de ...

... and now it’s time to vote!

Industry prizes that are awarded not by a jury, but by “customers,” need as many voters are possible. Please participate and fill in the following ballot – presented exclusively to events readers.

Voting is also possible at the IMEX in Frankfurt and by e-mail. Join in – choose 10 of your top favourites by crossing one box per category. If you don’t have a preference in one category, just leave it blank.

Voting is a point of honour – and worth it. It works like this: check one favourite per box (you can also leave boxes entirely blank), write your contact data on the coupon, tear off the sheet, and send it by fax to 069-955236 22. The last day for submissions is 29 May 2009. Thank you for participating!

International DestinationsSalzburgDubaiBarcelonaAmsterdamEdinburghCape TownStockholmStrasbourgPrague Mallorca

National DestinationsBerlinHamburgMunichCologneLeipzigDüsseldorfStuttgart EssenDresdenTegernsee

Convention HotelsEstrel, BerlinSchloss Rheinfels, St.GoarYachthafenresidenz Hohe DüneHotel Concorde, BerlinBio-Seehotel ZeulenrodaSchindlerhof Nürnberg

WestLB Akademie Schloss KrickenbeckParkhotel BremenGrand Elysee HamburgHistorisches Herrenkrug Parkhotel

Convention CentresMesse KölnCCH, HamburgCongress Center Messe HannoverCCM, MainzICS, StuttgartCongress Center Messe FrankfurtICC BerlinICM, MünchenCongress Center DüsseldorfCongress Center Messe Leipzig

Event Venues/Event LocationsZeche Zollverein, EssenEuropapark, RustPhantasialand, BrühlAlte Oper, FrankfurtKai 10, HamburgE-Werk, BerlinAdagio, BerlinDa Capo, Leipzig

Tanzbrunnen, KölnWasserwerk, Berlin

Event TechnologyLightcompanyGahrens & BattermannBrähler ICS KonferenztechnikLichtwerkTeam TechnikShowtech GmbHPCSrent4eventscreenvisionstennagels

Exhibition & Event ServicesTRUST Prom, MunichStorz GmbH, EsslingenAlles Klar GmbHAnzug AlexBitsteps GmbHSmavicon GmbHKirberg Catering GmbHFairnetBPE Events & Services GmbH, KempenVOM:FAIR

Speakers & ModeratorsProf. Dr. Lothar SeiwertJörg LöhrKlaus J. Fink

Sabine AsgodomBernhard WolffNina RugeHermann SchererNikolaus B. EnkelmannFrank M. ScheelenAlexander Christiani

Instructors & TrainersAndreas BuhrSlatco SterzenbachOliver GeisselhartSanjay SauldiePeter SawtschenkoAntony FedrigottiMonika MatschnigSabine HübnerMartin BetschartMartin Limbeck

EntertainmentEhrlich EntertainmentCirque BouffonImprotheater PaternosterRhythm, Drum & DanceThorsten StrotmannWaldemar Müllermusic4friends/GoodfellasLadies Swing QuartetJunge JungeMeet the Beatles

Participants are entered into a raffle for the following prizes: 1st Prize: 1 Berlin weekend including flight within Germany and two overnight stays2nd Prize: 1 overnight stay and two tickets to the awards gala (value of ticket: 390 Euros)3rd Prize: 2 tickets to the awards gala

Fax this coupon to 069-955236 22

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Name: ..................................................................................................

Company: .............................................................................................

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154 events 2/2009

“The World of Events” (WoE) in the Rhein-Main Hallen Wiesbaden (RMH) has long been recognised as “the” leading fair of the events industry. At its 11th incar-nation in January 2009, it broke its own record with 430 exhibiting companies and about 8,500 visitors.

“Hessen’s capital city will remain a meeting place for innovations from all event services in the future,” em-phasises Holger Syhre, executive director of the Rhein-Main Hallen Operating Company – “though under different aus-pices.” Until now, the World of Events has been jointly run by Corporate Commu-nications GmbH and the Rhein-Main Hallen Operating Company.

“The partnership with CC has unfortunately fallen apart,” comments Syhre on the fruitlessly concluded contract negotiations with Corporate Communica-tions. “At the World of Events 2010, scheduled for 20 and 21 January 2010, we will have a very expe-rienced new exhibition partner at our side,” Syhre announced. The text goes on. Syhre unabashedly ad-vertises with a past that doesn’t really belong to him

– and meanwhile, the partner is already out of the bag: it’s Messe Frankfurt. Cut. Shortly thereafter, the Rhein-Main Hallen were prohibited by a tem-porary provision to lay claim to the “World of Events” trademark for

High noon: It was Friday, the 20 March 2009 at around noon, when rhein-Main Hal-len executive director Holger Syhre set off a small bomb and sent e-mails through-out the country with the following intro:

Gunsmoke

“New ideas, new concepts, new venue – our leading fair is reinventing itself,” Vok Dams, CEO of the “VOK DAMS: ILM Institute for Live Marketing” in Wuppertal

says happily. “After eleven years in Wiesbaden and successful development and expansion into one of

the most important industry fairs, Dortmund as a new location offers the opportunity for a reorientation and

further dynamic development to become the most important event fair in Europe.” VOK DAMS


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their planned exhibition. Sender: Bea Nöhre of Corporate Communications GmbH, legitimate owner of the trade-mark rights, who now announced that on 20 and 21 January, the World of Events would take place at the Messe Westfalenhallen Dortmund. Which quickly won her another temporary provision from the Rhein-Main Hallen disputing the organiser’s sole owner-ship of the trademarks in a still pending legal altercation. The first casualty was clearly the World of Events trademark. The trade-mark’s value evaporated in a heartbeat and an entire industry felt itself on uncertain footing. Two event exhibitions in 2010? With two new names on the same date? It sounded like a duel to the death. What had happened?

Dortmund offers good conditions for new developmentNow, the Rhein-Main Hallen executive director – and it must be said, the local politics in the background – claimed, based on legal actions still to be clarified, shares of the trademark rights to WOE

for himself and additionally wanted to bind the organiser Corporate Com-munications GmbH to the site of Wies-baden for several years. This despite the fact that there was considerable argument in the Wiesbadener Kurier about upcoming renovations to the RMH, or even imminent demolition in the next few years, and in this article, RMH authorities even addressed “di-

lapidation” in individual areas.

In addition to this, according to the organiser’s statements, more and more exhibitors and visitors were complaining about poor parking opportunities, completely unsatisfactory assembly and dis-assembly logistics, too little outside space, and general conditions affecting the boundaries of possibility. The almost classic RMH drama was recurring: if a fair launched in Wiesbaden has reached a certain size, it moves away so that growth won’t be hindered by the limited structural situation.

It’s happened before. Circumstances that highlight how atypical the Rhein-Main Hallen actually are as an exhibition centre. But,

“With the move to Dortmund, the events fair is getting a jump start we’ve been waiting on two years now,” says Alexander Oster-

maier, leader of business communications at Neumann&Müller Veranstaltungstechnik.

“For the exhibitors, the generous space allot-ted means that they can present their range of services much better - and that makes the

whole fair more attractive to visitors. A good decision!”

156 events 2/2009

limited by a close personal relationship with former executive director Thomas Krohne, who went into retirement in the previous year, organiser Bea Nöhre gladly turned a blind eye to a few de-ficiencies. Due to countless small argu-ments, the organiser was far from an even remotely close relationship with new executive director, Holger Syhre. And now she was supposed to share the trademark and bind herself to a house and person with whom she no longer got along? It was a strong and logical decision to build a new fair on proper fair grounds. Dort-mund, Capital of Culture 2010, offers first-class conditions for a new beginning under a new trademark: Best of Events. You hardly have to adjust: from WOE to BOE! The honorary advisory board and important key exhibitors clearly emboldened Bea Nöhre to take this step. By the editorial deadline, over 1,600 sqm of exhibi-tion space were already booked; the honorary advisory board and the first industry magazine “wie eine Eins” were already stand-

ing behind the organiser. We, like the magazine “event partner,” will risk a prognosis and see the future in Dort-mund!

And Wiesbaden?

That’s not to say that Wiesbaden is not a good location for meetings and events and even smaller forms of ex-hibitions. Just not for an events fair of the magnitude in question. Now, the “Universe of Events” is being de-terminedly launched from the Rhein-

Main Hallen with an organiser established by Messe Frankfurt (It’s clear which way the wind is blowing!). On a crash course to the exact same date. With the subtitle “The World is not enough,” underlined with hubris and/or chutzpah. This unrelenting game will go badly for one of the opponents. Come to your own con-clusions about the state of affairs on the two homepages: www.universeofevents.de · www.boe-messe.de. Read another

“Opinion” on the subject in the editorial.

On 26, 27 and 28 May, Frankfurt will again be under IMEX’s star. In 2008, IMEX was the first trade fair to generate its local energy needs from hydraulic power and switched to biodegradable and recyclable materials for the 21,000 tickets and fair passes – in the

previous years, plastic badge holders and fasteners had been used. By using 100 percent recyclable material coated with a polymer made of lactic acid, a huge amount of plastic equal to the weight of five average people could be saved.

The first independent ecological audit of IMEX, car-ried out by “The Carbon Consultancy,” confirms the success achieved by the trade fair in this area: despite greater numbers of participants, CO2 emissions per participant were lowered by 6.3 percent in compari-son to the previous year. In addition, reductions were achieved by fewer hosted buyers arriving by airplane, the modes of transportation of IMEX employees, and waste accumulation.

Even more environmentally friendly in 2009IMEX will be the first fair to introduce ribbons of plant silk and provide badges of organic materials reclaimed from grain crop waste. Furthermore, bio-operational transfer buses will be used, surplus food

IMEX 2009 has the environment in mind

“No more WoE!? First we thought: What?? Then: why not? Every change also contains the opportunity for improvement. And Wiesbaden had come up against its limits. And Dortmund is a European Capital of Culture 2010. And

besides: Bea Nöhre is the mother of all events fair organisers. So the question of whether or

not to go didn’t even come up. SOUL KITCHEN turns a proud 15 years old

in 2010. That should make for a huge party together with the new exhibition idea! We’re

looking forward to 2010 in Dortmund! Stefan Köhl, SOUL KITCHEN


will be reused by local providers and bags and printed materials will be made of environmentally friendly materials. In 2009, there will again be a “Corporate Responsibility Centre,” held together with the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) for the benefit of visitors and exhibitors. The agenda includes informa-tion about useful resources and suggestions for event planners who want to improve their social and envi-ronmental efforts. “Green” workshops will be offered at the Corporate Responsibility Stand for the first time. Tamara Kennedy, executive director of the Green Meeting Industry Council, and Fiona Pelham, founding member of Positive Impact, will hold two daily semi-nars with tips about the most recent industry stand-ards. During the IMEX Green Awards in cooperation with GMIC, prizes for successful environmentalism in the categories of Green Meetings, Green Supplier, Green Exhibitor and Commitment to the Community will be awarded. Global studies on environmental top-ics are free for download at: (www.imex-frankfurt.com/dataexchange.html).

Meetings under the microscope: ten new workshopsFor now, ”Meetings Under the Microscope” will con-sist of ten free workshops where participants can gain a quick insight into tested case studies of event plan-ning and evaluation and an introduction to the basics of social science and the role it plays in events. Work-shops will address topics such as meetings content and whole audience engagement; managing emo-tional states and the psychology of learning; meetings environments plus communications and preparation management. Presentations by expert like Maarten Vanneste, author of the book “Meeting Architec-ture, A Manifesto,” Holger Scholz, IAF-certified train-ing director, and Jon Bradshaw, personnel consultant and founder of Equinox Motivation are expected. All participants will receive a “Meeting Under the Micro-scope” diploma packet with free didactic material, case studies, and an electronic handbook at the end. The workshops will take place at the IMEX Professional Development and Innovation Pavilion.

This year, IMEX is going strong with more than 70 educational events. The GCB German Convention Bu-reau and the IMEX fair are also promoting the German seminars under the new brand name GCB Seminar Days “Innovision – Learning More Effective Meetings & Events.”

Information:

Malta Tourism Authority, Auberge d’Italie,

Merchants Street, Valletta VLT 1170, Malta,

Tel. +356-22 915 206, E-Mail: [email protected]

www.visitmalta.com/business-travel

Visit us at IMEX, on stand D120.

Discover Malta for Meetings & Incentives! This EU-member state offers

all the elements required by event organizers: easy access in less than 3 hours’

flight time from major European gateways. With an area of only 316 km2, short

transfer times are simple to achieve. The Island’s 7000-year history is reflected

in the numerous historical venues. The Islands’ four conference centres and

fifteen 5-star conference hotels total some 3,500 rooms, in which to host

delegates. The combination of the professionalism of our local service providers

and our renown Maltese hospitality guarantees the success of your events!

Discover the heart of the Mediterranean

158 events 2/2009

C S r

In Bonn, the standards for CSR in the German meetings industry are being developed!

from l. to r.: Mayor Horst Naaß, Dr. Markus Große Ophoff, Prof. Helmut Schwägermann, Dr. Winfrid Häser, Matthias Schultze,Prof. Michael-Thaddäus Schreiber, August Moderer and Dr. Andreas Rechkemmer.

events 2/2009 159

On 3 and 4 March 2009, the WCC Bonn distinguished itself once again as a 1A venue in the field of sustainable event culture as organiser of the first “Green Meetings Germany” conference. Matthias Schulze of the WCC had the idea - not quite: others had had it as well. But he deserves the credit for being the first to get PS underway! There were interdisciplinary presentations and discussions about how to develop and implant consistent recommendations for CSr standards in the German events industry. That is, alongside all the excellent reasons even in a best case scenario in terms of considerations highly relevant to business, and especially the goal of supporting Germany as an internationally competitive location for the long-term and of further expanding its pioneering role in this field. Germany is well on its way. “Put the message!” was the word. Those in the know cried, “We need symbols!” and emphasised that attitudes have to change now and one shouldn’t dawdle until it comes to a serious discussion of “rationing frequent flyer miles per human life.”

160 events 2/2009

The Imex shows how it’s done! The Imex in Frankfurt was mentioned as a good example of ecological-economical sincerity: 87% of the total waste is recycled and overall, waste was reduced by 34% in 2008 compared to the previ-ous year. 40 tonnes of paper alone were recycled into 91,000 copies of the FAZ, so that one can justifiably claim that rubbish educates! 32 tonnes of paper changed into shoeboxes and and and! From a semantic point of view at least, Edgar Hirt’s (CC Hamburg) comment earned its applause: perhaps it should be considered whether those hosted buyers who don’t travel by environmentally friendly means should pay a sort of “green fee.”

Flanking a relaxed evening event were two no less relaxed and yet highly inspiring half days filled with memorable presentations and workshops. The 250 participants in the former Chamber of the German Bundestag (could there be a more striking location for such an event?) included many familiar faces from various branches of the meetings industry. The list of speakers also merited all honours. All this, even though the opening event was only launched very shortly ahead of time!

Respectable players in Bonn

> Dr. Andreas Rechkemmer, executive director of the United Nations University held a talk about the global climate protection programme and innovative solutions for the public and private sector > Dr. Markus Große Ophoff, professional director of the Zentrum für Umweltkommunikation (Centre for Environmental Communication) of the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt gave a passionate and highly competent presentation about strategies for sustain-ability in Germany and their implementation in the events industry> Sustainability and Climate Protection at Deutsche Post World Net was the presentation topic of Dr. Win-fried Häser, vice-president of environmental strategy and policy of the concern. > The subsequent workshops on various topics were

led by Joachim König, then still vice-president of EVVC, Marco Böttger, chairperson of ISPEX Aktiengesells-chaft, Dr. Große Ophoff, Dannie Quilitzsch, CSR con-sultant, Peter Westenberger, director of sustainability and environmental information of Deutsche Bahn AG, Jan-Ole Jacobs, environmental concepts for Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Dr. Thaddäus Schreiber of the Euro-päische Institut für TagungsWirtschaft (European Institute for the Conference Industry), Tilmann Flaig, executive director of Tourismus & Congress GmbH Bonn-Region/Rhein-Sieg/Ahrweiler, and Gerrit Jessen, executive director of the MCI Berlin Office.

On the following day, the speakers included Guy Big-wood, director of the Green Meeting Industry Council, Elisabeth Steingrübner of the German Federal Envi-ronment Agency, EVVC President August Moderer (“Somebody has to hold the throttle, and that’s going to be us!”) and Prof. Helmut Schwägermann of the Fachhochschule Osnabrück, who formulated possible goals for the next conference in 2010 in closing. The next conference should include concrete implementa-ble decisions, perhaps even certification standards and finally, the “oath” that could mean the end of the as of now, still relatively non-binding statements. But perhaps nothing will go as quickly as desired, since in the meantime, an additional workshop has taken place under the direction of the EVVC on the margins of the EVVC annual general meeting, which even saw development of a rough schedule through the end of 2011.

First, the appraisal of the status quo “Sustainability Days” should be concluded by the autumn of 2009, followed up by a survey of members of the EVVC to-gether with ISPEX. The current data on the energy industry, waste management, material consumption and catering will be requested. The German Con-vention Bureau is preparing an overview of current standards - including international ones - and defining the expanded value-added chain of Green Meetings with help from MCI. The next workshop of the AG is planned for the end of June in order to adopt a concrete project description and a final schedule. The

ICS Internationales Congresscenter Stuttgartim Herzen von Europas Innovationsregion Nr.1

www.ics-stuttgart.de

Dateiname: 176501_Messe Stuttgart.pdf; Nettoformat:(100.00 x 287.00 mm); Datum: 08. Apr 2009 08:21:18; PDF-CMYK; L. N. Schaffrath DruckMedien

project is complicated, the organised beginning worthy of praise, and the time is ripe:

80% of buyers are taking environmental concerns into account...... when organising an event. Recent polls that should be taken seriously show this. So Professor Schwägermann is not without justification for speaking of the necessity of action and the next generation’s corresponding de-mands. It’s very important that the enquiry covers not only demands, but values the corresponding efforts of dedicated and progressive suppliers even for priority contract placement! Suppliers who want to aggressively market their CSR commitments should not delay in con-sulting CSR or Green Meetings agents, since it’s the only way to ensure an effective performance. Effective per-formance in CSR matters always means the three pillar model of sustain ability: ecology, corporate responsibility, an economy. That sustainable business can and should bring very concrete commercial advantages is clear from a number of examples presented. According to these, it’s usually the invisible things that make the “big points” – the combined heating and power station in the cellar is more effective than the huge, impressive solar array on the exhibition roof.

Monika Zimmermann of ICLEI made some interesting contributions. ICLEI is a world-wide association of mu-nicipalities that advocate sustainability and maintain their own environmental bureau in Bonn. ICLEI conferences almost always include a lump sum for environmental compensation.

Though that could get so expensive for the CO2 foot-prints of international conferences as to be impracticable, since it can drive up participant fees by over 100 Euros. Reassuringly, it seems unlikely that the EU will implement any mandatory legal measures in the near future. Better standards and good leaders are far more helpful in mov-ing things forward. Environmental hysteria is something nobody needs in the current situation. Responsible action on all fronts is. August Moderer rightfully warned - and as a dedicated advocate he is very trustworthy: “Our in-dustry is an energy glutton and affects masses of people.” We are very sensitive to this and know that we can’t af-ford to charge ahead and play the golden boy in every respect - that would’ve been fine for the most enthusias-tic do-gooders only. As a rule: practical policies are more valuable here than recommendations and much, much better than laws. That’s why the Bonn Initiative, oper-ated as an example by the EVVC, deserves full attention and support. events will report further.

162 events 2/2009

C S r

How do you run a congress centre without emissions and waste? In re-sponse to the market trend, the Esto-ril Centro de Congressos ambitiously pursues this goal using a new strat-egy: the concept of environmental protection, social responsibility for the health of the public, employees, sup-pliers and partners must – wherever possible – be nurtured by avoiding or re-processing all types of pollution and providing environmentally-friend-ly products and services – in coopera-tion with local companies.

To this end, the Center committed itself to a series of measures published in an envi-ronmental catalogue on energy and water consumption, waste production, commu-nal participation and the implementation of an integrated environmental and social policy. Green Globe awarded the ECC the bronze Benchmark Status – in the first cer-tification phase.

A campaign launched by the ECC in De-cember 2008 comprises five innovative

services, offering customers the option of enhancing the quality of their events in ac-cordance with environmental guidelines and CSR objectives. The five new services are: CSR-, safe- and wellness programmes, Green events and Carbon-Zero events – answering to the environmental demands and needs in the meetings and incentives market; in this way, events should increase in effectiveness and attract more partici-pants.

With the slogan “Reduce your footprint and survive” and the umbrella-brand “B Green the only option”, ECC is dedicating also its 2009 campaign to the responsibil-ity for greener meetings – subsequently receiving an invitation to the GMIC 2009 (Green Meetings Industry Council) in Pittsburgh/USA to inform the participants about the ECC’s sustainability strategy and certification process.

“Utilizing the quality benchmarking and certification systems delivered by Green Globe, Estoril is well positioned to be a leader in green meetings and a focal point

of sustainable practices for their world class destination,” stated Bradley Cox, chief operating officer of Green Globe In-ternational.

As a CSR project, the ECC supports Africa in the distribution of iStraw, a simple water purification system which customers can support through sponsorship.

> www.estorilcongresscenter.com

Green GlobeThe Green Globe brand and programme date back to the UN summit meeting in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, where 182 heads of state signed Agenda 21 for the promo-tion of sustainability – this was applied mainly in the travel and tourism sector. It is now increasingly also expanding into other business areas where responsible handling of the environment is gaining in importance. The Green Globe brand is a response to climate change and a symbol for growing environmental awareness; its standards are accepted in some 50 coun-tries.

Do you know what LOHAS are? How can you lower costs, save the environment and win new customers all at the same time? The answer to the question lies in sustainability. Admittedly, both consumers and companies need to be well-informed and well-advised. The newly-founded Think Thank for Sustainability will bridge this gap. In an individual analysis tailored to the customer, the trend and futurology researchers Ingrid Schick and Anja Kirig demonstrate the potential for sustainability within a company. Communications professional Steffen Ball develops strategic PR measures based on the analysis in order to effectively reach new markets.

As a company and communications consulting agency, the Think Thank for Sustainability is developing per-sonal and profitable ideas: “Sustainability is proving to be a recession-resistant strategy. Sustainably functioning branches of the economy are demonstrably profitable and promise revenues even during the crisis,” explains Ball. The experts see the greatest customer potential in so-called LOHAS. This group of consumers maintains a “lifestyle of health and sustainability”, a lifestyle oriented to health and sustainability that brings together consumption and responsibility. In contrast to earlier environmentalists, they have no dogma or ideology. The LOHAS are a well-informed, critical customer group with modern networking. “Companies that have recognised the potential of LOHAS can secure future markets and long-term customer connections,” Kirig says confidently. More information on the Think Tank for Sustainability on the Internet at www.lohas-pr.de.

New: Think Tank for Sustainability

Estoril Congress Center:

Persuasive sustainability!

events 2/2009 163

CroatiaDubrovnik Travel DMCObala S. Radica 25, 20 000 Dubrovnik, Croatia Tel. +385.20.313.555, Fax +385.20.313.550 [email protected], www.dubrovniktravel.com. German representa-tive: Rene van der Veen, Tel. +49 172 2545728

RINA TRAVEL Ihr DMC Partner in KroatienJarun 22, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia Tel.: +385 (0)1 38 65 715, Fax: +385 (0)1 38 65 717 [email protected], www.rinatravel.com

Czech RepublicAIMS International Prague Your Czech ConnectionCZ-182 00 Prague 8, Pomezní 7/1387Tel.: +420 284 007 340 • Fax: +420 284 007 [email protected]

FinlandFinland Special Tours Ltd., DMCSibeliuksenkatu 19, 04400 JärvenpääTel.: 00358-9-2790980, Fax: 00358-9-2711772e-mail: [email protected]/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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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 [email protected]

FREI S.S. Travel – CongressPaprigiopoulou 310561 Athens – GreeceTel.: 0030-210-3215600Fax: 0030-210 321 9296www.frei.gr, e-mail: [email protected]

DMCs GermanyZip Code 8WEICHLEIN TOURS + INCENTIVESIncoming, Special Interest Tours, DMCNeuhauser Straße 23, 80331 MünchenTel.: 089-85636630, Fax: 089-85636636e-mail: [email protected]: www.weichlein.de

TOP BAVARIA TRAVEL GmbHSchulstraße 11, 80634 MünchenTel.: 089-130009, Fax: 089-165994e-mail: [email protected]: 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 [email protected]

BaltikumTravel MICELettland - Estland - Litauen Kreuzbergstr. 7 g, 40489 Düsseldorf www.travel-mice.com, e-mail: [email protected]

BelgiumBrussels International Travel ServiceRue Arthur Diderich 30, B-1060 BruxellesTel.: 0032-2-5431010, Fax: 0032-2-5381294e-mail: [email protected]: 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 [email protected]

BulgariaAIMS International SofiaYour Bulgaria ConnectionBG-1000 WTC Affiliate, 9 Iskar StreetTel.: +359 2 811 7400 • Fax: +359 2 811 [email protected]

Airline brokerZip Code 5 Pro Sky Flüge für Gruppen Hohenstaufenring 29-37, 50674 KölnTelefon: +49-221-920 440Telefax. +49-221-920 44-22e-mail: [email protected]: 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: [email protected] 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/[email protected]

PLZ 9

NÜSSLI (Deutschland) GmbH Temporäre Bauten für Events und ExhibitionsRothgrund 6, D-91154 Roth Tel.: 09171-9763-0, Fax: 09171-9763-50 Nikolaus-Otto-Straße 13, D-14974 Ludwigsfelde Tel.: 03378-2005-0, Fax: 03378-2005-55 Oberlachweg 9, D-35394 Gießen Tel.: 0641-944-663-0, Fax: 0641-944-663-50 e-mail: [email protected], [email protected]@nussli.com, Internet: nussli.com

CatererZip Code 1Catering‘s Bestby InterContinentalBudapester Straße 2, 10787 BerlinTel.: 030/2602 1430, Fax: 030/2602 1421e-mail: [email protected]: www.cateringsbest.de

Zip Code 7DEBEOS GmbHEin Unternehmen der ISS Facility ServicesWerk 086/HPC 7000Postfach 80 02 45, 70502 StuttgartTel: +49 711 17-165, Fax: +49 711 17-98800 [email protected], www.debeos.de

destination management company

MU

NIC

H

Tel: +49/(0)89/24218-434Maximilianstr. 35a · 80539 Mü[email protected] · www.my-dmc.de

e v ents BOX : E V E n T S

164 events 2/2009

Helden S.A. International Services Limited170 Ipsilantou Street, GR- 185 35 Piraeus/AthenTel.: +30-210-42 96 000, Fax: +30-210-41 012 [email protected] - www.helden.grRepresentative in Germany: Tourism Affairs, [email protected]

HungaryMOTIVATION BUDAPEST REISE GMBHHattyu u. 16, H-1015 BudapestTel.: 0036-1-224-7141, Fax: 0036-1-355-8693e-mail: [email protected]: www.motivation.hu

AIMS International BudapestYour Hungary ConnectionH-1054 Budapest, Honvéd u.22.III.2Tel.: +36 1 266 2943 • Fax: +36 1 266 [email protected]

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: [email protected], www.dice.is

ItalyWilliam Clementson srlIncentives - KongresseVia Statilia 4, I - 00185 RomTel.: 003906-77209079, Fax: [email protected], www.clementson.com

MaltaSPECIAL INTEREST TRAVEL Ltd.‚Demajo House‘, 103 Archbishop Street, VallettaTel./Fax: 00356 2552 0000 - Fax: 00356 2552 2553e-mail: [email protected] – www.sit.com.mtRepresentative in Germany: Tourism Affairs Eva Muminovic – [email protected]

ON SITE MALTAIhr deutschsprachiger MICE-PartnerKontakt: Paul Selis23, Salvu Camilleri Street, Mellieha MLH04Tel: +356-2152 4020, Fax: +356-2152 [email protected], www.onsitemalta.com

MonacoAgence C.I.R. C. Calmettes147, Domaine les Michels, 13790 Peynier Tel.: 0033-4-42530364, Fax: [email protected], 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 [email protected] • 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: [email protected]

TFT - Viagens & Turismo Lda.Englisch - Deutsch - FranzösischEdifício St. Barbara, Esc. 8, Estrada daRebelva, Lte. 307-A, PT-2775-726, CarcavelosTel: +351-21-4582178, Fax: [email protected], www.tftportugal.com

SloveniaAlbatros Bled, Congress AgencyRibenska 2, SI-4260 BledTel./Fax: 00386-45780350 / [email protected]/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: [email protected]: 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 [email protected], 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: [email protected]://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 [email protected]@a-leveltourism.comwww.a-leveltourism.com

IDEE Travel Services co.incentives-congress-cruises-group-fitKore Sehiitleri cad. Mehmet Gonenc sk. No 6 D:9-11, TR – 34394 Istanbul - ZincirlikuyuTel.: 0090(212)2123284, Fax: 0090(212)2751867e-mail: [email protected],[email protected],Internet: www.ideetravel.com

Unbenannt-12 1 15.05.2008 15:57:48 Uhr


events 2/2009 165

DMCs Africa NamibiaSWA Safaris (Pty) Ltd.Ihr Reiseunternehmen mit ErfahrungP.O.Box 20373, Windhoek / NamibiaTel.: +264-61-221193, Fax: +264-61-225387e-mail: [email protected]: www.swasafaris.com.na

South Africa

DMCs America Dominican RepublicTurinter, DMCLeopoldo Navarro #4, Santo DomingoTel.: 001-809-6864020Fax: 001-809-6883890e-mail: [email protected]: www.turinter.com

ULTRAMAR Express DominicanaResp: H´nas. Mirabal #3, Puerto Plata. R.D.Tel.: 001-809-5869373Fax: 001-809-3208236e-mail: [email protected]

MexicoKOMEX TOURS S.A.Benjamin Hill 243, Col. CondesaMEX-06140 Mexico, D.F.Tel.: 0052-55-52729913Fax: 0052-55-52720648e-mail: [email protected]

U.S.A.EastWest Travel GmbHNeumarkt 33, D-50667 KölnTel.: (+49) 221-39760600, Fax: (+49) 221-2336450e-mail: [email protected] DMCs für USA und Kanada

DMCs AsiaAIMS International ShanghaiYour Shanghai ConnectionUniversal World Building Top 2903, 168-172, Yuyuan RoadShanghai, 200040, ChinaTel.: +86 21 6249 32 62, Fax: +86 21 6249 15 [email protected]

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: [email protected]

MR CONGRESS & INCENTIVE GMBHAlt Friedrichsfelde 11, 10315 BerlinTel.: +49 30 44 35060Fax: +49 30 44 [email protected]

Red Carpet Event GmbH, Office BerlinBerolinahaus am Alexanderplatz 1 10178 Berlin Tel: 030.2325 74 - 00 Fax: 030.2325 74 - 11 E-Mail: [email protected] Internet: www.red-carpet-event.de

CPO HANSER SERVICE GmbHConference - Event - Destination Management Paulsborner Str. 44, 14193 BerlinTel.: 030-3006690, Fax: 030-3057391e-mail: [email protected]: 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 [email protected]

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166 events 2/2009

Zip Code 2

C³ event.netCross Communication Concepts

Postfach 730607, 22126 HamburgTel.: +49 (0)40 - 645 32 333 Fax: +49 (0)40 - 644 25 [email protected]

Gesellschaft für strat. Kommunikation mbHIncentives, Tagungen, Promotionnational und internationalGellertstr. 5, 22301 HamburgTel.: +49 (0)40-287866-0, Fax: +49 (0)[email protected]

Zip Code 3LENZeventsBodelschwinghstraße 5, 34119 KasselTel.: 0561-72884-0, Fax: 0561-72884-59e-mail: [email protected]: www.lenzevents.de

Zip Code 4Grass Roots Germany GmbHPrinzenallee 15, D-40549 DüsseldorfTel.: +49 (0) 211 99100-210Fax: +49 (0) 211 [email protected], 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: [email protected] Internet: www.red-carpet-event.de

PANROYAL Agentur für Absatzkommunikation GmbHEvent - Incentive - MesseBerghauser Str. 1-5, 42349 WuppertalTel.: 0202-24190, Fax: [email protected] · www.panroyal.com

LIVE ART COMMUNICATIONSchirmerstraße 59, 40211 Düsseldorf Tel.: 0211 - 26 105 185Fax: 0211 - 26 105 117E-Mail: [email protected]

Zip Code 5

Zip Code 6

DERCONGRESS - DERTOUR GmbH & Co. KGFrau Sandra OpperProjekt Manager DERCONGRESSEmil-von-Behring-Str. 6, D-60439 FrankfurtTel. +49 69 9588-3617, Fax +49 69 [email protected]

Quasar Communications GmbHIncentives, Prämien, KundenbindungFriedrich-Bergius-Straße 15-17, 65203 WiesbadenTel.: 0611/18887-0, Fax: 0611/18887-20e-mail: [email protected], www.quasar.de

Zip Code 7ellis EVENTS GmbH Conferences - Events - Incoming - IncentivesFrischlinstraße 25, D-72336 BalingenTel. +49 7433/999 10, Fax +49 7433/999 [email protected]

V.I.T. GmbHVeranstaltungen, Incentives, TrainingsHagäckerstrasse 4, 73760 OstfildernTel.: +49-711-1327322, Fax: +49-711-1327333e-mail: [email protected]: www.vit-gmbh.de

POG Incentive Management GmbHEchterdinger Str. 38, 70771 LeinfeldenTel.: 0711-75075-0, Fax: 0711-75075-13e-mail: [email protected], 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: [email protected], Internet: www.m-a-m.de

ten & one EventagenturMeyerbeerstrasse 12, 81247 MünchenTel: 089-2554 190, Fax: 089-2554 [email protected]

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: [email protected]

GERMANY – FRANCE – USA – CH INA – DUBA I

Agentur für Events und Live-Marketing

[email protected]

AZ_58x20_cti 26.02.2007 11:01 Uhr Seite 1


Agentur für integrierte Live-Kommunikation

Büro Bonn Kaiserstraße 3353115 Bonn

Büro BerlinHausvogteiplatz 210117 Berlin

Büro MünchenTheresienhöhe 1280339 München

Tel. 0228.91530-0 [email protected] www.pleon.com

Gesellschaft für Marketing und Kommunikationsdesign mbH

Hasengartenstraße 22

65189 Wiesbaden

0611. 188 75 - 0 [email protected]

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 [email protected]

Event tents

Flexible DisplaysEXPO DISPLAY SERVICE GROUPFrankfurt, Zürich, Wien, Apeldoorne-mail: [email protected]: 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: [email protected], www.i-contravel.com

Ihr Partner an der OstseeV.I.P. Hanse Touring GmbHAm Strande 3, 18055 RostockTel.: 0381-5481210, Fax: 0381-5481211e-mail: [email protected]: www.vipcentive.de

Global TBSIncentives - Konferenzen - EventsBlumenstraße 49, 10243 BerlinTel. 030-397445-0, Fax: 030-397445-14E-Mail: [email protected]

Zip Code 4Grass Roots Germany GmbHPrinzenallee 15, D-40549 DüsseldorfTel.: +49 (0) 211 99100-210Fax: +49 (0) 211 [email protected], www.grassroots-de.com

Zip Code 7

POG Incentive Management GmbHEchterdinger Str. 38, 70771 LeinfeldenTel.: 0711-75075-0, Fax: 0711-75075-13e-mail: [email protected], 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: [email protected]: 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: [email protected], Internet: www.m-a-m.de

Top Bavaria Travel GmbHSchulstrasse 11, 80634 MünchenTel.: 089 / 130009, Fax: 089 / 165994e-mail: [email protected]: 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: [email protected]

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 [email protected], www.altamaris.com

Tunesia

SKY 001-08 RZ Anz Eventbox 58x20.indd 1 23.10.2008 15:10:06 Uhr

I

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168 events 2/2009

USA

Limousines RentalZip Code 6

ETS LimousinenserviceWiesenhüttenplatz 39, 60329 Frankfurt/M.Tel.: 069-271010Fax: [email protected]

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: [email protected]

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: [email protected]

Zip Code 7Neckar-Käpt‘n - Neckar-Personen-SchiffahrtBerta Epple GmbH & Co.KGAnlegestelle Wilhelma, 70376 StuttgartTel.: 0711-549970-60, Fax: 0711-549970-80e-mail: [email protected]: 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 [email protected], 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 [email protected] 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: [email protected]

TicketingZip Code 7ReserviX GmbH – mit uns die besten Karten.Erbprinzenstr. 2a, 79098 FreiburgTel.: 0761-556529-80, Fax: [email protected], www.reservix.de

Technologie for eventsZip Code 5SHOWTEC Beleuchtungs- und Beschallungs GmbHKöhlstr. 10, 50827 KölnTel.: 0221 / 53994-0Fax: 0221 / 53994-530e-mail: [email protected]: www.showtec.de

Advertising agenciesZip Code 8Impressum, Agentur für Kommunikation & TextWERBESTRATEGIEN FÜR IHR EVENTZweigstraße 1, D-82319 StarnbergTel.: 08151-559 1240, Fax: 08151-559 [email protected]



New York · California · Florida

Lizard IncentEventsWith offices in New York, Los Angeles & MiamiFor the US and Canada Phone: +1-212-868-2121

[email protected] · www.lizard-incentevents.com

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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 [email protected] www.conventure.messefrankfurt.com

meet & moreEberbacher Straße 19, 65375 Oestrich-WinkelTel.: 06723-9989010, Fax: 06723-5487Mobil: +49-171-686-2299e-mail: [email protected]

Zip Code 8PROSKE | group GmbHmeetings & hospitality worldwideOberaustr. 34, 83026 Rosenheim / MunichTel.: +49 (0)8031/8008-0 Fax: +49 (0)8031/[email protected], www.proskegroup.com

Exhibition concept, appearance and installationZip Code 2MICE MEISSNER EXPO GMBHSchnackenburgallee 16, D-22525 HamburgTel.: +49(0)40529050, Fax: +49(0)4052905118e-mail: [email protected], web: www.mice.deISDN: +49(0)4085322274

Zip Code 8

the fair agency agentur für messedienstleistungenNeumarkter Str. 34, 81673 München Tel: 089-2444 193-70, Fax: 089-2444 193-79 [email protected] Web: www.the-fair-agency.com

PCOsZip Code 1CPO HANSER SERVICE GmbHConference - Event - Destination ManagementPaulsborner Str. 44, 14193 BerlinTel.: 030-3006690 Fax: 030-3057391e-mail: [email protected]

Internet: www.cpo-hanser.de

Exhibition and Conferences

Active breaksZip Code 6DRUM CONVERSATIONTrommelshows & WorkshopsMärkerstr. 7, D - 60437 Frankfurt am MainTel.: +49-6101-558260, Fax: [email protected] www.drum-conversation.com

Druckerei und GroßbilddruckePLZ 6

Conference and meeting agenciesZip Code 3 Silver‘s business travel GmbHPrinzenstraße 3, 30159 Hannoverwww.silvers.de, [email protected]: +49 511 59 09 31 30 Kostenfreie Vermittlung vonTagungs- und SeminarhotelsVeranstaltungsorganisation

e v ents BOX : E X HIBI T IOn A n d COn FE r E nC E S


DigitaldruckOffsetdruckGroßformatdruck

Berthold Druck GmbH

Bettinastraße 77

63067 Offenbach/Main

Telefon 069-82 00 07-0

[email protected]

www.bertholddruck.de

Alles für Ihren Event oder Messeauftritt:

»» Druck und Versandder Einladungen

»» fertig konfektionierteNamensschilder

»» Teilnehmerverzeich-nisse und Buffetkarten

»» Banner und Poster

Wir produzieren alles im Haus und mit eigener Vorstufe. Sie reduzieren Ihren Aufwand erheblich und profi tieren von kurzen Lieferzeiten.

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170 events 2/2009

Hire & sale of mobile event and business area solutions

Artists and artist agencies

Artists

Artist agenciesZip Code 8DJ ‚n‘ Artists- 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

[email protected], 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: [email protected]

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, daniel Tschudy, Marie Fink

Graphic Design rainer Schmoll, 65307 Bad Schwalbach

Printingl.n. Schaffrath druckMedien GmbH & Co. KG, 47608 Geldern

TranslationsTilti 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: [email protected], 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:

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Zip Code 2

C³ event.netCross Communication Concepts

Postfach 730607, 22126 HamburgTel.: +49 (0)40 - 645 32 333 Fax: +49 (0)40 – 644 25 [email protected]

congress & travel Willi Simon GmbHmeetings - incentives - congresses - eventsHasporter Damm 9, 27749 DelmenhorstTel.: 04221-9660-0, Fax: 04221-9660-50e-mail: [email protected]

Zip Code 3Silver‘s business travel GmbHPrinzenstraße 3, 30159 Hannoverwww.silvers.de, [email protected]: +49 511 59 09 31 30 Kongress- und EventorganisationEinladungs- und Teilnehmermanagementkostenfreie Hotelvermittlung

Zip Code 6Conventure - Your Personal Congress OrganizerMesse Frankfurt Venue GmbH & Co.KGLudwig-Erhard-Anlage 1, 60327 Frankfurt/MainTel.: 069 / 75 75-54 31, Fax: 069 / 75 75–57 37anke.wannagat@messefrankfurt.comwww.conventure.messefrankfurt.com

Zip Code 7CONGREX Deutschland GmbHPotsdamer Platz 11, 10785 BerlinTel: 030 2589 4629, Fax 030 2589 4100Haupstrasse 18, 79576 Weil am RheinTel.: 07621-98330, Fax: [email protected] / [email protected]

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: [email protected] www.eurokongress.de

SloveniaAlbatros Bled, Congress AgencyRibenska 2, SI-4260 BledTel./Fax:: 00386-45780350 / [email protected]

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: [email protected], Homepage: www.oecon.deOECON- Verkaufsbüros: Bartholomä, Halle/Saale, München

e v ents BOX : A rT IS T S

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Six promises – and the successof your event will grow

Discover the essence of Events by Marriott – the unique sum of six simplepromises that reflect our understanding of your needs as an event planner:

• PROMPT – detailed offers by return tailored mail• PERFECT – a guarantee of 100 % individuality and thoroughness• PRESENT – professional support at all times• PRECISE – transparent rates, everything included• PRIZED – bonus programmes that are really worth it• PRESERVING – green ideas to protect the planet

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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 Blu 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 00radissonblu.co.uk/meetings

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