21.06.2019
#WeAreLive has been launched!
Event industry Representatives developed an online resource for event organizers WeAreLive.pro
Representatives of 16 associations from 14 countries from Central-Northern Europe developed a web site for event organizers in the quarantine and post-quarantine period.
The list of topics this website is targeted at includes:
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a guideline for the preparation and organization of events with precautions against COVID-19 infection,
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a description of the situation in 14 countries of Central Northern Europe today,
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the definition and composition of the leading players in the event industry with recommendations for calculating their impact on the industry and the economy,
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an example of a survey to calculate the impact on local markets,
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relevant articles and observations on the development and survival of the industry in the post-quarantine period.
«The MICE sector is all about the encounters and cooperation. Our mission is to bring together people and to generate new opportunities and ideas. It is natural that in the moment of crisis, we join forces to bring the sector back, as it is in the nature of our community. The events industry represents a binder that unites multiple agents that boost the cultural and economic ventures. #WeAreLive is much needed initiative that communicates the value and impact of our sector on economies, societies and culture»,
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Alicja Głuszek, PHD, CEO at Front of House Fundation
"We’ve created a website that you can use to get the information collected from event associations from CEE. In a time when we can’t be together, it’s important to remember what events can accomplish. We tried to support the events industry by making a european, uniform guidelines and approaches for the EVENTS sector"
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Mary Kirillova, CEO at Baltic Event Industry Club
«Event industry is the industry which has taken the worst hits during the COVID-19 quarantine period. Our industry is easy to cancel but very difficult to open again. It will take at least weeks to get events running and all the big summer events are totally cancelled - possibility to return to business will be earliest on next summer. Event industry companies will suffer of this quarantine period for years. We need to work together to survive this crisis. Economy needs events and people need encounters».
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Kati Kuusisto, CEO at Finnish Event Association
“In addition to the social responsibility of events for the society, the economic importance of the MICE industry is also essential for the overall economy. Other sectors such as gastronomy, hotels and travel industry won’t be able to survive without business meetings and events. The International Live Events Association supports the #WeAreLive initiative”.
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Christian Seidenstuecker, President ILEA Europe, Germany
«Russian Event Marketing Association (REMA) is doing it's best to ensure that Russian event management industry comes back to normal. That involves an international dialogue with event professionals all over the world. We are happy to be a part of #WeAreLive project made up of event associations from Central-Northern Europe. We try to support our colleagues and partners through information and experience exchange. Together we work every angle to ensure that all events are safe for the participants and organizers».
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Boris Alkhimovich, REMA member
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21.05.2019
Due to Coronavirus outbreak and the situation Event industry was involved, BEIC, together with other event associations from the Northern Europe, made an Appeal to the Euro Parliament that contained data from each country, in the hope that this will support our cause as an industry to be more visible and appreciated by national governments.
01.12.2019
Great results for BEIC at BEA World Festival!
A parade of excellences shined under the spotlight of The Mall in Milan. A fitting end for the first edition of the new format of
the Live Communication Week, joined by the most influencial community of event professionals across the world.
Baltic Event Industry Club showed great results!
1st place
INCENTIVE/TEAM BUILDING
Reddy, Russia
https://beaworldfestival.com/eubea_events/kfc-sanders-top-league/
1st place
LOW BUDGET EVENT
Royal Experience, Estonia
https://beaworldfestival.com/eubea_events/omnivas-multimailbox-project/
1st place
TRADE SHOW
Jack Morton, Worldwide
https://beaworldfestival.com/eubea_events/step-into-the-new-reality/
2nd place
PRODUCT/SERVICE LAUNCH EVENT
VOK DAMS Events GmbH
https://beaworldfestival.com/eubea_events/bmw-vision-inext-world-flight/
3d place
ROADSHOW
VOK DAMS Events GmbH
https://beaworldfestival.com/eubea_events/bmw-vision-inext-world-flight/
25.11.2019
BEIC welcomes new member!
Lietuvis, one of the leading lithuanian agency became part of the BEIC family.
"EXPERIENCE. Over 14 years we have become a strong, experienced, constantly improving and dashing company
QUALIFICATION. Our team consists of experienced and ambitious professionals in their fields, providing only the highest level of service
QUALITY. Our constant objective of the creation, implementation, atmospheric design and communication
FLEXIBILITY. We appreciate humane and the warm relationship, so we hear our customers and respond sincerely and honestly, because we are focused on long-term cooperation
SLEEK TASTE. We are not indifferent to details - they create a whole"
Why do you think the initiative to create strong communication within the Baltic Sea Region is important?
We believe that it is important for event agencies to collaborate, share their knowledge and experience, rather than compete. Bringing like - minded agencies together definitely creates great power and long - lasting relationships. We are honored to have the opportunity to be a part of this community and look forward in creating projects together.
As an Event agency, how do you see your mission?
Only provide services that we can be proud of, creating a prestigious brand.
What can you tell about Event business in Lithuania? What are the trends? Is there a difference between event design in Lithuania and other countries? What makes you special?
Considering that we live in a small country, it is not that surprising that the market is quite small and there is not much places or entertainment to choose from. We are always recreating environments, seeking for new entertainment concepts. The needs and desires of the client are very different - from celebrating in the fresh air, to mansions, castles, abandoned factories, hangars, television studios and etc. So the only forever lasting trend is quality – that is what everyone seeks while booking there event.
We are always open to the craziest ideas and we do not believe in saying no. If the client wants a car to be delivered by a helicopter – we will make it happen.
What are your expectations regarding BEIC?
To grow as a company, learn from our colleagues, share our experience and engage in Baltic projects.
Do you believe the live communication industry should go global? How do you see it in your business?
Definitely. The market is growing as we speak and everything is becoming more high tech and global. So our market has to go side by side with this.
Jolanta Olekiene,
co-founder at Lietuvis
14.11.2019
BEIC meeting in Warsaw!
Poland hosts the participants of the annual BEIC meeting: professionals from event agencies of the Baltic Sea region.
BEIC members had chance to discuss the biggest challenges for event companies, specifics of European markets, data, tech solutions and many more other things.
The result of this discussion to be seen at Baltic-Nordic Event Forum 2020 (event to be launched on Nov. 27)
BEIC is a network of event professionals from the Baltic Sea region. The main goal of the organization is the development of the industry by sharing knowledge, organizing and participating in professional industry events and cooperation between members. It brings together event companies from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Germany, Norway, Poland, Russia and Sweden. More: www.beic.pro.
09.09.2019
VOK DAMS opens a new office in Tallinn!
The BEIC member VOK DAMS is opening a new office in Tallinn. VOK DAMS is one of the leading international communications agencies for events and live-marketing. At 16 locations around the world, approx. 300 experts produce brand appearances for events, trade fairs, road shows and showrooms. The agency has offices in Germany, France, Spain, China, UAE, South America and the USA.
VOK DAMS is currently looking for Tallinn based (junior) event managers for its new entity.
- What are your latest discoveries and acquisitions?
We are always on the lookout for concepts and technologies to optimize our services and solutions to clients. Over 20 years ago we launched Hybrid Events; a combination of digital communications and live events. Over time and influenced by the ever-changing demands of the market, this evolved into Live Campaigns. A concept where the experiential aspect of a multi-channel campaign is the feeder of all other channels. An early version of content generation if you will.
More recently - with clients demanding ever increasing service levels with strongly decreasing timelines - we have embraced agility as the key driver of our company culture, launching agile event management as the first agency in the live-marketing industry.
Our current trend is live+marketing automation, a new service we are offering to our clients. With live+marketing automation we created the basis for an integrated automation process by completing marketing automation with the data from events and live-marketing campaigns.
Instead of outright acquiring specialist agencies or suppliers, we prefer close co-operation with chosen entities. We apply this to new technologies and new markets. For the Tallinn office, we will closely work together with local experiential agency Royal Experience. In essence, we always look for mutual beneficial partnerships to keep the relationship level and create success for both parties.
- What role does consolidation play in your strategy?
Although our individual offices have a high level of authority and the freedom to approach the market as they see fit, we do consolidate various aspects through our Global HQ in Wuppertal, Germany to increase effectiveness and bottom-line profitability. Purchasing, IT services, group marketing and growth strategy are among the most relevant consolidation practices.
- How did you come up with the idea of opening a representative office in Tallinn?
Due to increasing business worldwide the VOK DAMS community is constantly growing. Thus, we are always looking for the best creatives, designers, event managers and production people all over the world. Through our membership
of BEIC we are dealing with inspiring topics and learned much about the Baltic States. We are impressed by the power, the enthusiasm, the international approach and the multilingualism. As an international agency with a continually growing number of multinational clients this is exactly what we are looking for in our teams all over the world. We are convinced that a VOK DAMS team in Tallinn will match the demands of our multinational clients.
- What strategic role should the Estonian office play in your company?
VOK DAMS Estonia will take on RFPs for which our existing offices have no capacity. Thus allowing us to accept more client requests. Projects won by the Tallinn team will also be produced on-site by the same team, regardless of location.
Next to that, the Estonia teams can support the VOK DAMS network with temporary staff and services where required. We are building a database of Baltic based event freelancers for that purpose.
- What seems more modern and correct to you: an aggressive strategy in the market or deliberate and minimizing risks?
Our growth strategy is nor aggressive or minimizing risks, but always purposeful and forecasting industry developments or client demands. We position ourselves ahead of the curve by developing strategies and concepts to offer solutions before clients realize they need them.
- What is your personal original image? What makes you popular in Europe?
We have been one of the leading live-marketing agencies worldwide since the 1980s. Our strong believe in the power of direct communication, combined with our relentless pursuit of impactful creative solutions and ultimate production quality is the foundation of that leadership role.
VOK DAMS’s success and popularity is predominantly a result of the quality of our staff globally. Their dedication, resourcefulness and attention to detail – no matter their role – makes clients come back to us time and time again.
- Is the Baltic “business climate” close to you?
From Boston to Beijing and from Munich to Madrid, we make it work. But yes, Estonians do have a certain business climate which is attractive to our background. Education is valued, attention is embraced to detail, communication is direct and we are experiencing a very positive vibe.
- Do you need a philosophy? (As a motivation and in the universal sense)
Our philosophy has been and always be “Creating better Results”. Where ‘creative’ stands for emotionally impactful solutions that fit our clients’ objectives. With ‘better’ representing our strive to always exceed client expectations, and ‘results’ as the driver of all we do and aim for: our clients’ results.
More information about VOK DAMS:
Interested to work for VOK DAMS in Tallinn?
VOK DAMS is recruiting Tallinn based (junior) event managers.
Your tasks will predominantly be preparing pitch proposals. Finding the right venues and suppliers, compose cost estimates and source content and / or entertainment. Next to that, you’ll be involved in the preparation and production of client projects on site. You’ll also support our offices abroad with local projects so be ready to work across different time zones and the occasional spell of jetlag.
Ideally you fit all (or most…) of these requirements:
_You have a university degree or similar vocational education.
_You have up to three years working experience (less experience is ok for the junior positions) in one of the following fields: event management, PR, (digital) advertising or (hotel / airline) hospitality.
_You have excellent communication skills in spoken and in written English. German language skills would be nice, so would be Mandarin, but fluent English is key.
_You are a natural and convincing communicator in person, on the phone and online. You know how to get stuff done and how to gather information timely and efficiently.
_You have common sense in spades and know how to set goals and achieve them within a given timeframe. “Let me call that guy and fix it” is your favorite phrase.
_You know Excel, Word and PowerPoint inside and out. Bit of basic Photoshop skills would be nice as well.
_You are willing and able to travel abroad regularly and on short notice. We will feed your pet in your absence…
_You don’t have to be home at 6pm every day and know that occasionally working on weekends can be fun.
_You are a nice person.
If this is you, please send your one page resume and a one page personal introduction to jberghuis@vokdams.de and we’ll get back to you soon.
03.08.2019
BEIC welcomes new members from Poland and Estonia
INTERVIEW
"Baltic Sea Region is very diverse and this wealth is one of our advantages, especially at events, which are the only tool of direct, H2H marketing communication"
Marta Chmielewska, Mea Group CEO
Why do you think the initiative to create strong communication within the Baltic Sea Region is important?
On the one hand, we are dealing with progressive globalization, and on the other hand, the ability to effectively use local accents, referring to the specificity of a place, culture, customs etc. is increasingly appreciated in the communication. Baltic Sea Region is very diverse and this wealth is one of our advantages, especially at events, which are the only tool of direct, H2H marketing communication.
MICE customers expect comprehensive service, and they are increasingly willing to entrust to the companies in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, instead of companies from Western Europe, the communication across Europe. Why is this happening? In my opinion, our creativity, fresh perspective as well as price competitiveness are key. We have enormous potential, experienced events specialists, know-how, and the only thing we need to do is to raise clients’ awareness about the above. Event industry activities, solidarity, speaking with one voice, etc. - strong, coherent communication is the key to our collective success.
As Event agency, how do you see your mission?
We believe that the requirement of an effective meeting is the exchange of knowledge, experience and emotions. Mea Group's mission is a comprehensive (360 degrees) events creation, which engaging all senses. The agency focuses on such events, because only in this way can you create acting on the senses meetings with the world of the product, service, brand or idea. Without getting the attention of the participants, arousing positive emotions, interacting with other participants and the brand - in our opinion there is no question of an effective event that meets the client's business and image goals.
What makes you special?
Mea Group places a very strong emphasis on industry activities, strengthening the position of marketing communication.
We attach great importance to industry standards, initiatives that promote and support highly professional, ethical behavior of all market participants. Active membership in the 'Company with Rules' program and in Polish professional organizations: Events Industry Association - Poland - SBE (in which I am the President of the Board for the second time) and Club of Event Agencies at the Association of Marketing Communication SAR (KEA SAR) is associated with work for the broadly understood event industry. We’re also happy to share knowledge: our experts - the CEO, production director, creative director - are academic lecturers and trainers. Our educational support it is also sometimes mentoring. In classes conducted by people from the Mea Group team, it’s possible to meet representatives of event agencies as well as persons responsible for events on the client's side. We are convinced that the more professional the Polish event industry is, the greater the chance for unique, brave realizations and cooperation at the European and global levels.
What you can tell about Event business in Poland? What are the trends? Is there is a difference between event design in Poland and other countries?
In Poland, for several years we can talk about returning to events: RE(VENT)ACTIVATION J. Companies have noticed how much potential - in the context of internal (employees, contractors) and external communication (clients) - have events created and implemented by professionals. Nothing can replace the direct, engaging senses meeting with the company / product / service / idea. In the era of social media, VR, AR, people miss talking, spending time together, experiencing emotions here and now. The role of an event agency is to create a unique, tailor-made event that enables effective communication of client's business goals. The event is to fit into the overall communication strategy. More and more - like Mea Group agency - offers comprehensive services, including long-term, planned activities and strategic support/consulting.
When it comes to the creation of events by agencies from the Baltic Sea Region - we could be proud of definitely a high commitment, openness to innovations, introduction of unobvious solutions.
The differentiate us experience, because on the one hand we have such mature markets as, for example, German or Swedish, and on the other, relatively "young" ones, for example Lithuanian and Polish. The maturity of the market is also reflected in the openness and courage of the clients - whether they decide to implement the event, during which the solution will be used for the first time, or the theme of the meeting will be interpreted in an unobvious way. Let's also not forget about budgets ... Usually, the farther East, the harder it is to get big budgets, but in this area you can see a positive trend. Customers understand that quality must cost, regardless of whether event’s guests will be invited to Russia or Scandinavia.
As a BEIC member what are your main goals to develop the industry?
We hope, that as a member of BEIC we will have an opportunity to support all initiatives aimed at increasing the professionalism of the European event industry, with particular emphasis on professional ethics.
We cannot wait to meet colleagues at workshops and conferences. I’m sure when we get to know each other better, we will not run out of opportunities to cooperate - we want to develop solutions thanks which clients will invite event agencies not only from their own country, but also from other states represented by BEIC members.
We believe that the closer the cooperation of members of the event industry from the Baltic Sea Region, the greater the chance to strengthen our position on the European and international arena.
INTERVIEW
"All of us in the region strive to get better, and offer services to a wider range of clients, and sometimes it is better to cooperate with other agencies to offer best services. Our interest is to strengthen our network and get connected with partners and clients outside our own country"
Orangetime Events, ESTONIA
About mission:
We want people to come together for a meaningful purpose (from the client’s point of view), no matter the country borders or nationalities. We hope they leave our events feeling better people and having a sense they are making an impact.
About Estonia:
Since the last economic crisis, there has been a boom in the births of new event agencies, but each of them still has their own style and specialization. We focus on big and strong brands, we work best over a long period of time so we can grow and change with the client and be part of their marketing strategies. Since Estonia is a small market, the agencies tend to be smaller as well. Bigger markets have bigger agencies with more in-house services to offer besides event organising. However, while we may be smaller, we are sometimes better focused and resourceful.
About BEIC:
We’d like to prove to ourselves and our whole region that often cooperation is the best policy! To build our network in the region and grow as a company.
JORVEN VIILIK, CREATIVE DIRECTOR
09.07.2019
BEIC has organized the annual meeting for the members
In July the BEIC members met again in wonderful city of Riga to discuss industry news, share the knowledge and sign few rules of how to work with each other. BEIC members have started great internal collaboration and participated in over 10 events together as partners, suppliers and local agencies. The best is yet to come! Follow us on facebook to find out more about the Club
01.06.2019
BEIC has created the first international Code of Conduct
A month ago, a first international Code of Conduct was presented at the Baltic For Events Forum.
The Code created inside the association provides recommendations for the cooperation of the event agencies with clients, contractors and partners.
After the questions and comments from the audience, the code was refined and presented in it's final version.
12.04.2019
BEIC members were invited to the Golden Wheel Award in Stockholm.
BEIC members were invited as honored guests to the Golden Wheel Award in Stockholm. The awards are given by the National Association of the Sponsorship and Event Industry in Sweden, and has more than 500 participants. This is the first official visit of the association to the capital of Sweden.
08.03.2019
BEIC and the Polish Event Association SBE signed a cooperation agreement for 2019-20
In March, BEIC was invited to present its first research on average salaries in the event industry of the Baltic region. The presentation took place within the framework of "Meetings Week Poland" in Warsaw. More than 60 industry professionals participated in the event. Also, at the end of the day, BEIC and the Polish Event Association SBE signed a cooperation agreement for 2019-20. The agreement involves the exchange of industry news, priority participation in exhibitions and seminars held under the supervision of associations, as well as mutual support.
03.04.2019
BEIC members became part of the jury of the most prestigious Finnish Evento Awards
In April, two BEIC members became part of the jury of the most prestigious Finnish Evento Awards. The awards ceremony was held in the center of Helsinki with live performance of the finalists in front of the judges. The judges gave their decisions and presented awards to the nominees at the awards ceremony. Members of BEIC participated in the Evento Awards jury for the second year in a row, thus forming a look at local events from the point of view of the regional market.
13.02.2019
BEIC has created an organizing committee for the Baltic For Events Forum.
The best event minds became a part of the committee to think about the key event for LiveCom experts. We are honored to present you those who make this event with us!
13-14.02.2019
BEIC goes to Lithuania
BEIC successfully participated in the CONVENE exhibition and educational program. Having a stand in the expo zone, our members were ready to answer any questions regarding the event industry in the Baltics, and also the code of conduct to be presented at the Baltic For Events Forum.
10-11.02.2019
BEIC goes to Poland
Thanks to the international collaboration between Baltic Event Industry Club and the Polish Event Association SBE, we organized one of our member meetings with young event experts.
Colja Dams presented his vision and talked about new event trends in Warsaw among almost 50 students from Warsaw State University.
BEIC participated in the Best of Events trade fair in Dortmund in January 2019. The exhibition presents event community services in Germany, and is probably the largest of its kind in Europe.
BEIC members had a great chance to find out more information about the German event industry and increased their knowledge about the market.
Some of us have already started to collaborate with new suppliers!
During the exhibition, BEIC visited the Vok Dams office (the BEIC event head in Germany) and had a great networking breakfast together with Colja Dams and his team.
15-16.01.2019
BEIC goes to Germany
22.10.2018
BEIC organized Event Hakathon in Vilnius
The first Event Hakathon was held in Vilnius on Thursday, October 18th. The Event Hakathon was designed to come up with and present creative ideas for offline projects to promote Vilnius. The Hackathon was visited by more than 70 experts from event agencies, as well as marketing directors of large companies and freelancers. During the day, participants listened to presentations of the leading Baltic region agencies, as well as by Michael Pool, global events director of Ericsson. After the presentations, the event participants were invited to choose between inventing a project within the city, or designed a project outside the borders of Vilnius. Participants were divided into teams in each group. The teams, in turn, came up with projects and were able to discuss them with all the agencies that visited Hackathon. As a result, eight different projects were designed to promote the city on the European market. The two best projects received free tickets to the Baltic For Events Forum: the biggest event industry forum in the Pan-Baltic Region, to be held in Tallinn in April.
19.09.2018
BEIC welcomes new Event "heads" in Russia
INTERVIEW
"Entering the Pan-Baltic Association is based on my inner desire and understanding of the necessity of event-agencies’ cooperation into some professional community for mutual collaboration, developing and exchanging of the positive experience."
Special interview with Egor Dobrogorski, General manager at Communicator Creative Events
Speaking about myself, I always concider the quality of events we held to be the primary priority of my agency’s activity. I always try to allocate the positioning of COMMUNICATOR Creative Events — not to be a boutique-agency with overpriced services, but also not to become an “Event factory” that values only flow and quantity. COMMUNICATOR is a workshop of events, where the main measure of result is excellence and quality of each event held to inspire our clients to improve themselves and realize their dreams.
That’s why I'm always interested in collaboration with my colleagues in industry because I consider this experience to be mutually beneficial and useful. We can have a positive influence on event-industry and make it more attractive and qualitative only combining our forces.
Market of events changes regularly: from fashionable tendencies and creativity to art product’s sales methods. Of course in some directions Russia is very behind the West in terms of events, but in some ways even ahead the foreign event-market. In other words, event-market grows and improves very fast, presenting new conditions and tasks, that can be solved only by the strongest, every season.
I sincerely believe in mutually beneficial cooperation between colleagues, associations members. Work in professional associations helps people to understand the life of event market and gives an opportunity to have a positive impact on development of it.
22.08.2018
VOK DAMS, one of the leading agencies in Germany has joint Baltic Event Industry Club
INTERVIEW
"I am convinced that the Baltic Sea Region is the upcoming region for the European special event / live communication business"
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Colja Dams,
VOK DAMS, Germany
Special interview with Colja Dams, CEO at VOK DAMS
Why do you think the initiative to create strong communication within the Baltic Sea Region is important?
Well, for one, I am convinced that the Baltic Sea Region is the upcoming region for the European special event / live communication business. I am sure we can further expect high growth rates here. The Baltic Sea Region is certainly a very attractive destination and location for events. However, I was struck by the special start-up-spirit, the entrepreneurship, the spirit of industriousness, of openness and curiosity. So I see it as a wonderful “breeding ground”, so to speak, of future talent and experienced “hybrid event” managers, who combine the digital with the live experience. And I am very excited to help boost this immense potential.
What are your expectations regarding BEIC?
Well, firstly I think it is vital that we join forces to position the the Baltic Sea Region in the global live communication industry. As a region with lots of prospective locations and venues, but also as an up-and-coming market. And secondly, I especially look forward to meeting new talents and interested, interesting and inspiring people. People who want to create new ventures, who want to build businesses around communication, whether they are planning to or already in the midst of establishing start-ups. I am very much looking forward to finding new talents here and establishing contacts in the region. Particularly from the digital or live industry, as I was impressed with the expertise and drive I encountered here. So I also hope to establish contacts with people who are interested in building business connections and who would like to work internationally.
Do you believe the live communication industry should go global? How do you see it in your business?
Well, the world is a global world – there is no stepping back from that. And as such markets and brands are global. So for me there is no other answer but yes, of course. The live communications industry has to become and remain global in order to succeed. And that’s what we have been experiencing in our business for the past 20 or so years. There is no turning back the clock – we are growing together in a global world.
What have you learned from Baltic For Events Forum and what do you hope to see next time?
I was absolutely fascinated by the many dedicated, remarkable people I met. From experienced designers to young people who were just starting to test the water with their own ideas in the business. And that’s exactly what I hope to continue to see a lot of: this special entrepreneurial, pioneering spirit that for me seemed to characterize the Baltic For Events Forum. People who like to think out-of-the-box, who have interesting and inspirational ideas, are, after all, what drives our business. So I hope to see (and meet) a lot of them in the future.