//podcastplus.net/feed/berlins-awakening-beauties~b89b1824 Welcome to Berlin Awakening Beauties podcast, the leading podcast for event organisers. Each week we invite industry guests from Berlin on to the show to discuss a range of topics from venues and meetings to events and destination management. Our host is Mark Felstead, your man in Berlin. Subscribe so that you never miss an episode. This show is made by A Podcast Company Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:18:16 +0000 https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/berlinssleepingbeauties/BSB-S3-009.mp3?dest-id=2010380 Ladies and Gentlemen!   Take you seats and buckle up for a whirlwind tour around the world of events with the amazing Björn Kempe!!   Björn has over 20 years’ experience representing and brokering  major trade fair organisations in Asia – whether Singapore, Shanghai, Bangkok or Hong Kong.. he has seen them all!!   Now that Björn is back in Berlin a big shout out goes to Mash Media’s own Paul Colson who brought the two of us together and resulted in this value packed podcast so listen up!!   Björn spends time with me to not only wax lyrical about Berlin, but also to offer some incisive answers to the following questions:   Q: How has the pandemic acted like a wildfire in the events industry and are we now seeing the sprouting of new green shoots?   Q: To continue the polemic, after a forced break from just fighting fires in many cases, where is the good ship HMS Events Industry navigating towards?   Q: How will your newly released book “The Future of the Events... Mon, 25 Oct 2021 13:57:58 +0000 https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/berlinssleepingbeauties/BSB-S3-009.mp3?dest-id=2010380 https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/berlinssleepingbeauties/BSB-S3-008.mp3?dest-id=2010380 Today we talk to someone who has over 15 years event experience in Berlin, who I consider to be something of a legend – even though we have amazingly never met before!!   Stuart, like me, is a great fan of Berlin and all it has to offer for major events.     Also like me he arrived to Berlin from London, even at around the same time, and have benefitted enormously from this vibrant and family friendly city.   Listen in as Stuart explains how he is creating new business around the enabling that new technology has brought and how he puts a very positive spin on the future!!   He brings his experience form working in one of Europe’s leading PR agency to the events industry will a view to really working on ROI and increasing the shelf life of events.  He also embraces warmly the idea of collaboration with other event agencies to help them add value to their clients.   Next Convention has been modest in promoting itself but organizes something like 1,500 events a year and focusses ... Tue, 12 Oct 2021 03:00:00 +0000 https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/berlinssleepingbeauties/BSB-S3-008.mp3?dest-id=2010380 https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/berlinssleepingbeauties/BSB-S3-007.mp3?dest-id=2010380 BABs Episode 7 Merryn Scholz, K.I.T. Group : BERLIN LOVES YOU! In this episode we return to the core values of BABs and talk to the fabulous Merryn Scholz, General Manager of K.I.T. Group in Berlin – one of Europe’s largest PCOs – about the role she recently played in organizing the “Freedom Dinner” for 3,000 guests on the recently closed Berlin Tegel airfield, as well as talking a little about how congress business is now developing looking to 2022 as confidence in events starts to return. Listen in and learn how Merryn and her team, supported by Messe Berlin and their event suppliers, were asked to play a game of pure brinkmanship whilst organizing the dinner.  They were up against very tight deadlines, but could not even be sure until the last minute how many guests they were actually allowed to invite!! (which, as most of you know, is pretty crucial to being able to organize the event properly!) Learn too as how Merryn and her team were faced with the challenge of implementing an outdoo... Mon, 13 Sep 2021 04:04:10 +0000 https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/berlinssleepingbeauties/BSB-S3-007.mp3?dest-id=2010380 https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/berlinssleepingbeauties/BSB-S3-006.mp3?dest-id=2010380 Wow listeners! Do we have an amazing treat for you today… Thanks to the infinite charm and wide-reaching network (and somewhat sordid past!) of your host Mark Felstead, we are talking today to Jacquie Hughes – mother of 5 and for the last 2 weeks the most celebrated mother in the UK!! The video of her and her family cheering on Tom Dean to his first Olympic Gold in Tokyo went viral and has now over 20M views!!   Jacquie talks to me about the chaos and joy of the moment of Tom’s success and the back story that led up to her new found, but immensely deserved, media fame.   Listen too to the end as the man himself, Tom Dean, also makes a little cameo appearance to speak about his mother.   Jacquie is no stranger to media and TV having already a great track record herself as TV producer and journalist but nothing could quite prepare her (and Tom) for the media storm around Tom’s performances in Tokyo.   Imagine her frustration after years of devotion and dedication to Tom and his sib... Wed, 18 Aug 2021 03:00:00 +0000 https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/berlinssleepingbeauties/BSB-S3-006.mp3?dest-id=2010380 https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/berlinssleepingbeauties/BSB-S3-005.mp3?dest-id=2010380 What a treat we have listeners!! An absolute highlight!!  Today we are talking to Christina Aue who is the Managing Director of none other than Berlin’s TV Tower – one of the true icons of the city!   It is not only a tremendous tourist attraction—whether with its 360° views of the city either from 203m up on the viewing platform or from its fabulous revolving restaurant 207m in the sky—but also a unique event location and, increasingly, a unique stage to promote the cultural and artistic diversity of the city.   Christine is no stranger to historic monuments, having previously run the Cecilienhof Palace in Potsdam, famous as the place where the allies met at the end WWII to negotiate the future of a war-torn Germany, and hosting the G7 conferences as well as her Majesty the Queen herself!   But she is also extremely aware of the historical and cultural role the TV Tower of Berlin has played in the city’s development over the last decades and over her 145 years here she has overse... Tue, 03 Aug 2021 03:00:00 +0000 https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/berlinssleepingbeauties/BSB-S3-005.mp3?dest-id=2010380 https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/berlinssleepingbeauties/BSB-S3-004.mp3?dest-id=2010380 A slightly longer episode this time as Mark takes the opportunity to jump on shank’s pony and visit some of his favourite Berlin hotels and venues to get a VoxPox first hand report of how great it is that Berlin is now opening up, guests can once again check into hotels, cafes and restaurants are open and events can once again take place – so stick around for the second half of the episode to get some real feel good feeling!   But first we talk to Christian Lehnert, one of Berlin’s most experienced event planners with a strong palmares of exclusive automotive events over the last 2 decades and who now very much concentrates on what exactly it means to make an event sustainable.   We look closely together at all aspects of the supply and command chain to see where concrete measures can be implemented.   He shares with us some real gems about how to plan events in the most sustainable way and how to avoid some of the common mistakes being made.   He explains that what is definitely n... Thu, 08 Jul 2021 03:00:00 +0000 https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/berlinssleepingbeauties/BSB-S3-004.mp3?dest-id=2010380 https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/berlinssleepingbeauties/BSB-S3-003_-_Bernard_Wolf.mp3?dest-id=2010380 Today we talk to Bernard Wolf, the creator and presenter of the very popular  “Ideenfrühstück “ (ideas breakfast) which has been a regular series of great ideas to start your day with some creative input.   But Bernard has much more to offer than just that.   He moved from being a magician and entertainer to stand-up comedy and from there to the slightly better behaved audiences of corporate events!   He now, like many of us, spends most of his presenting time online as a professional and at the end of the podcast he shares his personal Top 5 Tips for presenting online so stick around!   He is also the master of the visual gag (OK so this is a podcast!) and talks about the relevance of imaging and how to fool your brain’s own perception. His party trick is talking backwards and even eating a banana backwards! Unfortunately it is not possible to show it in the podcast!   We then take a conversational wander through the different ‘hoods of Berlin and their appropriate dress... Tue, 01 Jun 2021 03:00:00 +0000 https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/berlinssleepingbeauties/BSB-S3-003_-_Bernard_Wolf.mp3?dest-id=2010380 https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/berlinssleepingbeauties/BSB-S3-002_-_Diversity.mp3?dest-id=2010380 Talking about diversity with a very diverse group of people!   Today to celebrate World Diversity Day on May 18 th we have a special podcast with three of the Berlin’s leading supporters of diversity and all its glorious colours.     This is certainly one of the most powerful episodes so far, as although the image of diversity is seemingly bright for Berlin, there is a dark cloud threatening the rainbow so listen up!   My three guests are Irene Wolters from the AXICA, Gregor Blach CEO from We-Do communication agency and Philip Ibrahim, MD of The Student Hotel Berlin.   Brief introductions:  Irene dreams of travelling the world but has found her home in Berlin, Gregor is a Frankfurter (with a mix of rusty Scottish!) whose heart is now in Berlin and Philip a Berliner who represents the second most ethnic group in the city – the Swabians!!   Gregor has also been voted one of the top 100 “out” CEO executives in Germany and Philip was one of the co-founders back as long ago a... Wed, 12 May 2021 21:27:45 +0000 https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/berlinssleepingbeauties/BSB-S3-002_-_Diversity.mp3?dest-id=2010380 https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/berlinssleepingbeauties/BAB-S3-001_-_Sustainability.mp3?dest-id=2010380 As Analena Baerbrock from the Green Party leads the polls at the moment as a candidate to be the next German chancellor in the upcoming September elections, now is an excellent time to talk to two of the city’s leading exponents in sustainability for events.   Enter Alex Beck from the AXICA and Luisa Mentz from the Berlin Convention Bureau in this lively discussion about the current innovation in sustainability.   They both share a common goal – their passion for sustainability in the city and the hosting of sustainable events.   Listen up as Luisa from Berlin Convention Bureau shares her vision of Berlin as one of the world’s leading sustainable cities in the next 10 years.   “Sustainability is the New Normal for events” – but then she queries where do you start and where do you stop?!   Luisa talks in excited terms about the new platform for planners which encourages sustainable events and also the newly announced congress funds which purport to support events hosted i... Fri, 07 May 2021 03:00:00 +0000 https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/berlinssleepingbeauties/BAB-S3-001_-_Sustainability.mp3?dest-id=2010380 https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/berlinssleepingbeauties/BSB-S2-011.mp3?dest-id=2010380 Berlin, the final frontier This is the podcast of the digital agency Futurehain Their 10 year mission: To explore digital event formats To seek out new ideas and innovations To boldly go where no agency has gone before!!   (Apologies to Captain James T. Kirk)   Guys! This episode is about to reach parts of your mind other podcasts simply fail to reach. I am talking to two of the smartest guys in the event industry as we take quantum leaps in our discussion from the falling of the Berlin Wall to the Mars Explorer and back again for tea!!   Futurehain is an agency dedicated to creating and structuring events, whether digital or physical, that bring together the top scientific minds and themes to the creative maelstrom that is Berlin.   Listen in as they raise the intellectual bar, putting Berlin as the “Wild West” of the start-up scene.  We look at the three columns of innovation: Explorer, Pioneer and Settler and its relevance to the Berlin as a hub of innovation. Hear th... Wed, 21 Apr 2021 02:41:46 +0000 https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/berlinssleepingbeauties/BSB-S2-011.mp3?dest-id=2010380