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JUBILEE YEAR GETS GOING

03.05.2005

Meeting Europe Spring 2005

MPl Germany started its 10th anniversary year with a splendid event in Hamburg. Frank Seifert reports:
Our jubilee year, which Starts officially in June in Cologne, kicked off January 14-16 in Hamburg. Thirty-three members and guests, induding Titta Rosvall from MPI European head office, attended and stayed in the new 'Art and Tech' hotel Le Royal Meridien where the meeting was also held. We thank the hotel, which was judged by the delegates as outstanding, for its generous support and sponsorship.
The event started with an exclusive dinner in the one Michelin star-rated restaurant, which set the tone for all that followed. The next morning began with an overview, "EU east-ward enlargement - chances for east and west", by Dr Katherine Nölling of the highly reputed consulting Company Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. Ekkehart Dieterle, con-sultant and link-man trainer at several German broadcasting stations, then gave us some useful hints on how to interest the broadcasting media in a meeting.
Our President Gerrit Jessen reported on planned activities for the rest of this year, starting with the chapter's general meeting on April 18, the day before IMEX begins in Frankfurt. There will be no traditional MPI Germany IMEX breakfast this time. Instead, the chapter invites all MPI members to an anniversary reception on the MPI stand, at 16.30 on April 20.


In collaboration with MPI, international meeting planners in Europe and the USA will be invited to attend this new event in Germany. Berlin Tourismus Marketing GmbH (BTM) has created Meeting Place Berlin as a business forum for meeting professionals, both planners and suppliers, and to give visitors the opportunity to discover Berlin as a dynamic, international city. It will take place June 29 to July 5 this year, and participants will be asked to express their special interests in advance in order to offer them tailor-made programmes. Meeting Place Berlin will be implemented for BTM by Berlin professional congress and marketing agency pcma gmbh, run by Till Runte, MPI Germany's VP Education. In collaboration with MPI, they are inviting international planners in Europe and the USA engaged in outgoing business to attend the event as hosted buyers.
The programme is being organised in cooperation with Berlin agencies which specialise in the more unusual aspects of the city. "Doors will be opened which normally stay closed," promises BTM's CEO Hanns Peter Nerger. "The participants of Meeting Place Berlin will experience the city in a different way." The general structure will be:
•Meet Professionals Day: a workshop with 20 fixed appointments with local suppliers.
•Meet Facilities Day: inspection visit of Berlin's Conference locations.
•Meet Berlin Day: the scene, art, culture, architecture, "multiculti", fashion and more. There will also be an exclusive dinner for buyers. See www.meeting-place-berlin.com for more Information.

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