Der Kommunikationskongress 2014 liegt schon wieder hinter uns. Wie immer ein absolutes Highlight der Branche! Zumindest aus unserer eigenen deutschen Perspektive. Aber wie sieht ein PR-Profi aus dem Ausland das? Lesen Sie hier die Eindrücke von Chris Barron aus London. Chris arbeitet für unseren Partner PR Newswire und ist dort Sales Manager (D.A.CH. and Mediterranen Regions). Seine Aufgabe ist es, den bei uns ansässigen Firmen eine Verbreitung von Unternehmensinformationen in UK, USA und rund um den Erdball schmackhaft zu machen. news aktuell und PR Newswire arbeiten mittlerweile seit mehr als zehn Jahren Hand in Hand, wenn es globale Kommunikation und Reichweite geht.
Lesen Sie hier, wie Chris Barron den Kommunikationkongress 2014 erlebt hat (Thanks a lot, Chris!):
Chris Barron, PR Newswire
“Donnerstag, 25. September : It’s 8.30am and I’ve just arrived at the BCC Conference centre in Berlin for Tag 1 of the Kommunikationskongress 2014, Germany’s premier event for the PR and Communications Industry.
This event really attracts the “who’s who” of the German PR and Communication world, (here comes my first observation) which appears to be clearly BOOMING!
I was greeted at the main entrance by na’s Flora Holder, where I was pleasantly surprised to be handed a rather nice, free na / PRN branded bag. On entering the main hall, I was immediately struck by the creative, vibrant, exciting, energetic 2,000+ PR and Communications professionals who were in attendance. Looking around, I soon noticed that almost every other person was also sporting the same na / PRN bag. A good investment from both our marketing teams!
The building was teeming with bright-eyed, super stylish and highly intelligent individuals including Heads of Communications, Vice Presidents, CEOs, PR Officers and Marketing Managers from across the country. When I say “super stylish” I mean chic like only the Germans can do it! Lots of über cool expensive glasses (in a variety of several different shapes and sizes), colourful scarves, patterned suit jackets, crisp-ironed shirts and not a single tie in sight!
Saskia Fröhlich (news aktuell) mit von PR Newswire gesponserten Kongresstaschen. Mehr als 600 Teilnehmer sicherten sich ein Exemplar.
I made my way to the news aktuell coffee bar where I said hello to 20+ colleagues who were all equally as bright-eyed and ready for action. Having said that, when I think back, perhaps they were all far too close to that coffee bar which would certainly explain their eagerness and energy!
I greeted the executive management team: Frank Stadthoewer and Edith Stier-Thompson. I said hello to Marcus Heumann (na’s head of distribution services) and Jens Peterson (na’s head of communication) and congratulated him and his team for an event well executed.
I sat down (with my first coffee of the day) glanced at the 2-day programme, which consisted of a dizzying 12 different presentations and workshops all running simultaneously at any given time throughout the day. There were over 150 speakers from PR Agencies to corporates; and NGOs to the media. Every possible facet of the communication sphere was covered during these many presentations and keynotes, addressing all questions and all topics.
So much to cover, so many questions, so much to learn!
The broad range of sessions included:
- Journalism Vs PR
- Crisis Communication
- Brand Journalism Vs Content Marketing
- Internal Communication
- Sustainability Communications
- Agenda Setting
- CEO Positioning
- Social Media
- Digital Storytelling
The list was endless………there was even a keynote from endurance athlete Joey Kelly who has ran over 50 marathons. His presentation was titled: “An die Grenze und darüber hinaus – Wie Wille & Körper das Unmögliche meistern”. It seems that the German communications community are prepared for almost every eventuality!
Here comes my second observation: all of these presentations, sessions, keynotes, workshops and networking receptions are designed for the most part to help the community continue to improve and learn from each other.
Knapp 2.500 Portionen Kaffee hat news aktuell an die Kongressteilnehmer ausgeschenkt.
I spent the two days networking and conversing with a mixture of existing customers, new prospective customers, old faces I haven’t seen for quite some time and those I met for the very first time. I exchanged business cards, listened to their challenges and learned about exciting upcoming projects and did my best to advise and offer guidance.
When I look at the PR and Communication landscape in the USA and compare that with here in Europe or more specifically in Germany you would likely think that in Europe we are two years or more behind our counterparts in America especially when we see the leaps and bounds they are making in ‘new media’ and ‘content marketing’.
On the surface we (in Europe) seem fairly behind.
However, from what I have seen, heard and experienced over the last two days in Berlin, the community is thriving, quietly learning, constantly testing, pushing boundaries and driving themselves forward!
It seems that several (possibly stereotypical) German philosophies are also central to the communications community: highly efficient, carefully thought through, results driven and not forgetting……….. über stylish
![:)]()
Besuchen Sie die Homepage von PR Newswire!
This year marks two very special milestones for PR Newswire and our partner news aktuell: 2014 is the 25th anniversary of news aktuell and at the same time PRN and NA celebrate 10 years of our strategic partnership together.
We look forward to the next 10 years working together and I look forward to visiting the next Kommunikationskongress in Berlin!”
