The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) holds education events in a lot of cities. This year alone, ACTE will hold senior-level business travel networking and education events in 30 cities around the world. Over the last 30 months, 52 cities have seen ACTE events fall within their municipalities. So, it would seem that when it comes time to choose where to hold their Global Education Conference each year in Europe, the process would be relatively simple. ACTE has seen a lot of venues in a lot of cities; surely one would work for its conference.
But here’s the interesting thing – of the last eight conferences held in Europe, only half had ever previously hosted an ACTE event. And of those four, only two had seen more than one. So, selecting a location is not as easy as it may first appear.
A lot goes in to selecting the perfect location for an event slated to host more than 800 people representing more than 25 countries, beginning with finding the perfect space. And those 800 people mean the Global Education Conference falls within a very narrow frame of being not quite large enough for a convention centre but too large for the average European hotel meeting space.
For 2010, a few options presented themselves in various business hubs throughout the continent, meaning that the second step would be moving past the space and examining the peripheral qualities that separate one city from the next, such as accessibility and transportation volume, along with secondary venues for off-site events. But, more than anything, what ACTE looks for is experience – and it was that expertise that drove ACTE to select Berlin as its 2010 Global Education Conference host.
One of Europe’s most exciting cities, and widely acknowledged as an international trendsetter, the vibrant lifestyle of the German capital embraces art, culture, history, architecture, academia and science. Major corporations from around the world establish the city as their European headquarters, alongside some of Europe’s brightest start-ups in technology, communications, multimedia, music, and science – all of which pull from the strong, well-educated workforce.
But more than just being a great city, Berlin is also a great events city.
In 2009 Berlin saw more than 100,000 events, drawing 8.3m visitors (17 percent of them from abroad, flying in on one of Berlin’s 2,100 weekly flights, connected to more than 130 destinations). Five million room nights were logged in Berlin by convention-goers in 2009, many of them at one of the city’s 166 meeting hotels, which represented 53 percent of all event space providers, hosting 91,000 events.
One of those venues was the Intercontinental Berlin – ACTE’s 2010 conference hotel. A part of Berlin’s skyline for nearly half a century, the hotel is located just a few minutes from everything Berlin has to offer – including the Memorial Church and the Reichstag. Its meeting space offers a smooth and simple layout that will not just make it easy for ACTE to run the event, but provide for a more enriching conference experience for attendees – the key to any successful event. For ACTE it will offer professional, experienced staff and all the amenities necessary to run an innovative and exciting event.
But a successful event requires more than just finding space in a city like Berlin: it is essential to find a local partner that will provide the knowledge necessary to be successful in its host city.
The right place, the right people
In Berlin, ACTE found that partner in the Berlin Convention Office (BCO), which offers professional support for the organisation of conventions, meetings and incentives throughout the city. Its wide network of contacts and committed staff provide the expertise needed for an organisation from outside the city to be successful. The BCO is a champion of continuously enhancing the city’s offerings, which include the new Berlin Brandenburg International Airport, scheduled to open in 2011; the new main railway station in Berlin-Hauptbahnhof; the recently-opened O2 World, one of the world’s most technologically advanced major sports and entertainment venues; and numerous international hotel properties scheduled to open in the coming years.
Since choosing Berlin the BCO has offered its support and network to ACTE staff as they prepare for their October event, from off-site reception suggestions to basic know-how of the German meetings industry – and the laws, taxes, and procedures that accompany it.
The 2010 ACTE Global Education Conference in Berlin (3-5 October) will celebrate 20 years of ACTE advancing the European business travel industry, and it is hard to imagine a better city to do that in than Berlin. A major hub of business and industry, many of ACTE’s partners and sponsors have a large presence in the city – making it easy for them to participate. Many of ACTE’s attendees will be able easily to access the city, saving money on transportation and accommodation. And, most importantly, the history and culture that runs through the city will lend to an experience as unique and enriched as the city itself.
ACTE opens the conference on an event unique to Berlin and renowned worldwide – Unity Day. Celebrating the country’s reunification in 1990, the national day of Germany is an event that promotes peace, understanding, and bringing people together. ACTE could not have asked for a better day to kick off its conference, an event that year after year brings hundreds of people from dozens of countries together to work in harmony to promote even further cultural interactions through business travel.
Featuring keynote presentations from industry and business experts, education sessions that will focus on the issues impacting the future of global business travel, and networking opportunities with the industry’s leaders, the 2010 ACTE Global Education Conference is an event not to be missed in a city that should be on every traveller’s shortlist.
Historically, selecting a location for ACTE conferences has never been easy, but in Berlin, ACTE found a city that provides the space, the accessibility, the heart and the partners necessary to do just that – be easy.
