I could not help staying away from the business events in my newest and temporal location, Berlin. I was happy to follow the unfolding of one of Citywire‘s global events programme last Friday. BerlinX 2018 was an extra especial edition as the organisers celebrated the 10th anniversary of their flagship pan-European fund selector event, bringing together top fund analysts and professional investors from all the major financial centres.
Event design: The investment world through Poker, Flamingos & AI
Through a meetings-based design the conference foster exchange and provide a unique networking playground for asset management. During the three-day event in the German capital, the main takeaways gravitated around the worlds of espionage, geopolitics, psychology, AI and common themes like …. poker.
Poker: probability and philanthropy a keynote by the poker champion, astrophysicist and the only female speaker Liv Boeree, a definite fun and insightful session exploring the skills top card players need and how these cross over with the leading lights in the investment world.
Forward-thinking brand activism
“What becomes scarce becomes attractive” that was for me one of the most powerful statements -quote- by Herman Konings. As an event professional it led me to reflect on the relative small number of women speakers in business events across industries, and while I was capturing social reactions media reactions I stumbled upon a participant who did not hesitate to tweet about it. It’s statistically impossible for any conference’s lineup to be random, and audiences want diversity, specially millennials (like me) that are more attuned to inclusion than previous generation, wether in the boardroom, the executive ranks, or in the speakers lineup.
On a different note, I was very pleased to find out Citywire’s CSR commitment, introducing higher standards for event material suppliers that are kinder to the environment, an example are the Sprout pencils that can be planted upside down and come in a range of seeds.
Venue: A living legend
Staying loyal to the event series’ brand the conference took place at a five-stars property, the Hotel Adlon Kempinski located in the heart of the vibrant city of Berlin.
The only luxury hotel in Berlin with two ballrooms and a variety of meeting and function spaces that offered participants an unmatched view of the Brandenburg Gate.
