Hi Listeners!!   Today we are being entertained by Tanja Schramm.   She has worked for over 30 years in the events business in a variety of countries and now runs Meet Germany, which has the largest network of event professionals in the German Speaking world…   But that is not enough! This year she is spreading her wings and planning to expand Meet Germany to become Meet Europe!! (Am I allowed to say the Germans are coming? However no cause for immediate alarm - Switzerland is her first target!)   Add to that her recently announced co-operation with the IMEX and you can see she has certainly been very busy so far this year.   Make sure you stay listening to the end as Tanja drops a great value bomb when she shares with me her Top 5 tips for New Venues in Berlin and for David Bowie fans she also talks to me about her experiences working in the recording studios he made famous in Berlin - Oh yes, we can all be heroes – just for one day!   But first we talk about the meetings Meet Germany and Meet Europe are planning this year and how they have gone digital and whether that is working out.  They were certainly a highlight of my year back when proper events were still allowed – a great place to meet and network with peers so let’s hope they can come back in that form as soon as possible  ( Don’t forget – nothing can replace Face to Face!!)   There is also some serious reminiscing going on as we both realized that we used to work very close to one another in two competing venues…..even though our paths did not cross til much later.   Enjoy!   PS if you want to get details from her Top 5 venues drop me a note at  [email protected]   Links: https://meet-germany.network/en/   Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanja-schramm-meet-germany/   Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   A Podcast Company - is the leading podcast production company for brands, organizations, institutions, individuals, and entrepreneurs. Our team sets you up with the right equipment, training, and guidance to ensure you sound amazing. - https://www.apodcastcompany.com and www.podcastsyndicator.com  

Hi Listeners!!   Today is a true tail of two cities!!   First off is Jason Scott as he explains to me the difference between WFH and WFA (and what actually the G I G economy means!).   Are you an Urban Creator? Now, or in the future, this is definitely something for you!   We talk about the pros and cons of remote working and the social, legal and productivity aspects involved – as well as its impact on work-life balance   Jason muses on the following questions in his own unique style:   Is it a format that is here to stay? Where are the pitfalls and what are the advantages? Does it help or hinder with the recruitment of talent? Are internal communication and team building neglected – feeling disconnected? Are “working from anywhere” mutually exclusive with working in the office or does it enhance it?   He goes on to introduce his own latest GIG, the creation of a software platform called Kopus (www.kopus.com) which allows you to convert any space into a co-working space – that means anything from a convention center to a local café or coffee shop – which also helps them produce an extra source of revenue by making use of an existing asset.   So here is hoping that you too can soon book a small co-working space in your favourite venue!!   In the second half we “seamlessly” move back to Berlin and talk to Sebastian from Novotel Tiergarten, Berlin about his innovative office space idea, whereby rooms are rented out for up to 10 hours a day to offer a private work-space away from home schooling kids, frustrated spouses and partners to work or just to find a little solace!   Hear how this went when my wife suggested this as a cunning plan to find some “us time” on valentines day!!   Enjoy!   Links: Jason Allen Scott: www.kopus.com   Sebastian Loefl:  www.linkedin.com/in/sebastian-loelf-806ba990/   Mark Felstead www.weloveourheart.com   Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   A Podcast Company - is the leading podcast production company for brands, organizations, institutions, individuals, and entrepreneurs. Our team sets you up with the right equipment, training, and guidance to ensure you sound amazing. - https://www.apodcastcompany.com and www.podcastsyndicator.com  

Show Notes – Kay Soelve Richter episode 8   Wow Listeners!!    Today we are talking to one of Germany’s Breakfast TV celebrities!   Kay Soelve Richter is a woman I often share my morning coffee with ( don’t let the wife know!) as she comes into our kitchen …. as the News Anchor for ZDF breakfast TV – Germany’s equivalent of the BBC!   Kay is an absolute bundle of energy and floods my headphones with her passion and energy and you are in for a treat!   Hear how she has made the transition from TV to being a top presenter at live events, as well as being a super coach for people presenting on stage or in front of the camera.   What is more, she generously shares with us her Top 3 Tips for presenting to a large audience – live or on screen – and boy, she hits the nail on the head!! So do listen out for that!   Listen in too, to find out how ( and why) she made the jump from TV to live events and of course today how she is in demand for Gala Dinners (ahh remember those?) as well as of course hybrid and virtual events.   Finally, although she sees the pandemic as an opportunity, we both agree that ultimately “nothing can replace face to face!”   This is a high-octane ride together with Kay so fasten your seatbelts!!   If you like what you hear from Kay, there is a lot more to be learnt from her new book “Executive Presence – How to present to audiences when it really has to count!”   So now, not only is she in my kitchen in the mornings, she is also by my bedside at night!  I am sooooo in trouble!!   Links: Kay Solve Richter Kay-soelve-richter.de   Mark Felstead www.weloveourheart.com     Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   A Podcast Company - is the leading podcast production company for brands, organizations, institutions, individuals, and entrepreneurs. Our team sets you up with the right equipment, training, and guidance to ensure you sound amazing. - https://www.apodcastcompany.com and www.podcastsyndicator.com  

This week we are talking to Sebastian Loefl from the Novotel Tiergaten Berlin together with Jason Scott from London about ways to generate new revenue sources in hotels, cafes, restaurants and venue spaces.   Sebastian and his hotel have introduced something called Office@theHotel, where people for a very modest fee can book a room to work in for the day to get away from the home office environment and have complete peace and quiet!!     Many of you right now whether living in flat-shares, with family or partners, will appreciate currently the value of undisturbed peace and quiet!! (Business or Private!)   I share some rather intimate details too, though I should stress Office@thehotel is for business use only!!   We also take a view on the situation right now with Berlin’s Hoteliers and make some predictions about life for the hotel returning back to …. whatever the expression currently in vogue is!   Then we switch to London (the wonders of modern technology!) and talk to Jason Scott about his new project, Kopus, which follows very much in this vein of providing a booking app for spaces of all kinds to be offered as a co-working spaces and not only provide badly needed revenue sources right now for our beleaguered colleagues but also can increase customer engagement for a range of additional services to be offered (all COVID Conform of course).  It can turn any space into a flexible working space to generate revenue from an an on-demand community.     So enjoy!!   Links:   Novotel Tiergarten, Sebastian Loelf Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastian-loelf-806ba990/   Jason Allan Scott & Kopus:  www.kopus.com   Mark Felstead: [email protected]   Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   A Podcast Company - is the leading podcast production company for brands, organizations, institutions, individuals, and entrepreneurs. Our team sets you up with the right equipment, training, and guidance to ensure you sound amazing. - https://www.apodcastcompany.com and www.podcastsyndicator.com    

Today BAB is taking a trip outside the confines of Berlin (well virtually anyway) and talking to one of the “Masters” of the virtual meetings world, Matthijs Otto from Network Tables in Amsterdam.   We first met in London way back in the day and I was immensely impressed by the idea of Network Tables which at the time was a way to get people sitting and talking together at events who actually wanted to meet and had things in common.   An individual attendee at a sales conference, for example, would host a table and people would register to sit at that table, meaning the host had some control over his or her table and the guest would later feel obliged to attend knowing they had a place reserved for them.   Network Tables has won many awards for increasing attendee participation and engagement at events of all kinds. In fact, the original drive for the idea was to serve the exhibition community by allowing meetings to be established between parties who had real interests so that exhibitors were not just randomly talking to passers-by and visitors did not feel overwhelmed by the large trade fairs.    Things have moved on a lot since then and even as far back as 2017 Network Tables were hosting virtual events for upwards of 20,000 participants!! This meant they were well placed to when the pandemic caused a shift last year to virtual and hybrid events – and indeed they were able to count themselves amongst the winners in 2020 with strong revenue growth (I know – makes you want to cry!)   Matthijs lives in Amsterdam and in fact many years ago he was the first person to show me his WeWork office and explain their co-working concept. Little did I know then I was also going to be part of the Berlin WeWork community for a few years myself!  Ahh Bless, those were the days.   Links: https://www.networktables.com [email protected]   Mark Felstead: [email protected]   Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   A Podcast Company - is the leading podcast production company for brands, organizations, institutions, individuals, and entrepreneurs. Our team sets you up with the right equipment, training, and guidance to ensure you sound amazing. - https://www.apodcastcompany.com and www.podcastsyndicator.com  

This week we talk to Tim Nievelstein about his work as an Event-Director and his part at digital and hybrid events these times.   Tim has an interesting background as he came to events from TV broadcasting.  In fact he used to be part of the production team for a certain Stefan Raab – Germany’s premiere late night TV talk show hosts and one of the most popular figures in the country. (You can compare him to someone like James Corden with all the singing and a lot more physical challenges!!)   Not many people know that but Stefan Raab broadcast for 16 years first weekly and later Mon to Thur without missing a show!!   So listen to hear what took Tim away from one of TVs most successful shows and into the world of Director of live events. How less is often more and what he means by “Spider in the Web!?”   Tim comes to Berlin this week for a digital version of The “Grüne Woche” (Literally green week) – one of the big three trade fairs in Berlin in the year, though sadly only virtual this year.   Here how Tim uses his hard-earned expertise to raise the production game for digital events and drag us kicking and screaming into 2021!   Links: Tim Nievelstein www.tim-nievelstein.de   Mark Felstead: [email protected]   Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   A Podcast Company - is the leading podcast production company for brands, organizations, institutions, individuals, and entrepreneurs. Our team sets you up with the right equipment, training, and guidance to ensure you sound amazing. - https://www.apodcastcompany.com and www.podcastsyndicator.com  

Welcome our Christmas messages of hope from Berlin and the Merry Crowd that first brought Berlin's Sleeping Beauties to life!!   We do our best to take a positive spin on what has been a disastrous year for Berlin and its event industry, there is no other way to say it!!   Let our Berlin Beauties from Event Venues, Event Agencies and the city’s Convention Bureau spread some hope and cheer into your festivities as we draw to the end of this chapter and look forward with full hearts and optimism to 2021!!   Merry Christmas and a very happy and healthy New Year from all of us in Berlin!!   We shall be back with new Gusto in 2021 and a big thank you to AXICA, Mash Media and all our listeners for allowing me to bring these episodes to you!!   Subscribe   Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   A Podcast Company -  is the leading podcast production company for brands, organizations, institutions, individuals, and entrepreneurs. Our team sets you up with the right equipment, training, and guidance to ensure you sound amazing. - https://www.apodcastcompany.com and www.podcastsyndicator.com

Value Bombs   In another packed episode we learn today:  

• In the case of a “Worst Case” scenario e.g. a fire hazard, act of terrorism of a "Super Spreader" attending an event, who is actually liable for the considerable damages that may be caused?

• The importance of having a documented “Risk Assessment” and “Hygiene Concept” for every event – or rather the consequences you risk when you don’t!

• The importance of having a qualified “Hygiene Marshal” on-site.

• That not all hand disinfectants are the same…

• About new career opportunities appearing in the events branch!

  In this week’s Episode we talk to one of Germany’s leading experts in the field of Hygiene Management for Event Organisers  and Event Venues.   Olaf Jastrob has spent over 30 years in the industry and is today one of the most sought after consultant and trainers on the subject of health and safety for events.   He talks with me today about the importance of having a water-tight hygiene concept and risk-analysis for every event and the possible consequences of having a so-called “Super Spreader” event, something that will become increasingly important when we recommence events after COVID.   We also look at the important question of who is actually liable between the various parties involved in the organizing and carrying out of events. Olaf makes it very clear that should a “worst case” or disaster scenario take place during an event, the consequent financial and legal penalties can be huge.    Also we learn about some of the proper measures venues, hotels and restaurants can take to help neutralize COVID and how important having someone in the role of Hygienic Marshal will be in the future to check and police events for “COVID Conformality” and the training courses available for this - which could  become a real career chance with the events job industry being currently under a squeeze, to say the least.    Subscribe   Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   A Podcast Company -  is the leading podcast production company for brands, organizations, institutions, individuals, and entrepreneurs. Our team sets you up with the right equipment, training, and guidance to ensure you sound amazing. - https://www.apodcastcompany.com and www.podcastsyndicator.com

Berlin’s Awakening Beauties meets Studio 104, leading bespoke uniform designer for luxury and premium hospitality brands, to hear some good news stories and to give inspiration for those who are struggling with our beloved events industry currently!!   Firstly, Ian shares with us some of his “Magic Moments” from Berlin and talks about Gehry’s “Best Thing I’ve Ever Done” architecture, drawing his own comparisons to the times he has spent in the city.   Meanwhile his partner Jane, who launched her company Studio 104 ten years ago, talks about her story and the challenges she faced as a young woman launching her own business and what it takes to succeed – empowering stuff!   Studio 104 is not only designing bespoke uniforms for some of the top luxury hotels around the world, but it is expanding rapidly!   Both go to portray how a career in the events business can act as a launch pad onto other pastures green!   Finally, she and her partner share with us some great advice for those wanting to set up their own business and how to make it a success! So stick around til the end of the podcast!   For film buffs there are even some tenuous links between Mod fashion, Quadrophenia and Bell Boys!!   Subscribe   Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   A Podcast Company -  is the leading podcast production company for brands, organizations, institutions, individuals, and entrepreneurs. Our team sets you up with the right equipment, training, and guidance to ensure you sound amazing. - https://www.apodcastcompany.com and www.podcastsyndicator.com

BAB Episode 2 – Peter Antoni   This week’s special guest is none other than one of the true Godfathers of Berlin’s Event industry - Peter Antoni!!   Peter has been one of the major players in the business in Berlin since its fledgling beginnings as an international destination of note way back in 1989 with the coming down of the wall.  You can say he is living proof of being in the right place at the right time!!   Peter has had the fortune to follow his own destiny, which has seen him involved in many great projects in the city and beyond over the years, from being one of the first to bring cruise ship tours to the city to the dizzying heights of the MTV Awards.   As a confirmed Anglophile he has a special relationship with the UK, and through his years at the head of Conference and Touring he has also been mentor to many of today’s personalities in our city’s events landscape.   Let’s hear together:   The prognosis for the future of events in the city   How those working in the backroom have been further thrown into the shadows of our industry through lockdown.   How Berlin and Germany are taking to the streets to protest to the government to help tackle this lack of funding -Code Red Alert!   Hear how I am still getting my words muddled up!!   And    How the MICE industry needs to speak with one voice … (hopefully stronger than mine right now!)   How Berlin now finally has its new airport BER and the first impressions thereof  (and we wave a fond farewell to TEGEL)   How Peter has – after 18 months of sabbatical – now helps to steer the metamorphosis for the agency Time Change to a successful full-service communications agency, complete with tech tools for registration, virtual events and hybrid meetings.   Finally, how fate and the universe has drawn us together in the most unlikely settings!!   Subscribe   Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   A Podcast Company -  is the leading podcast production company for brands, organizations, institutions, individuals, and entrepreneurs. Our team sets you up with the right equipment, training, and guidance to ensure you sound amazing. - https://www.apodcastcompany.com and www.podcastsyndicator.com