The Meeting Space - Berlin

Sarah attended The Meetings Space forum last week, which was hosted at the lovely Hilton Berlin. Continue to read to find out all about her time there…

“I took the opportunity to take the early morning flight from Manchester to Berlin to allow myself time to explore the famous city from a tourist’s perspective before joining the rest of the buyers and suppliers for the welcome dinner. The first stop on my expedition was the East Side Gallery, which is a 1,316 metres long remnant of the infamous Berlin Wall.It now has approximately 100 murals painted directly on to it. It was amazing to see so many different types of artwork.Following on from the East Side Gallery I headed to the Parliament building that is better known as the Reichstag Building. The property was built in 1894 and has gone through many restorations due to wars. The building is beautiful and full of history so is definitely worth seeing if you were to go to Berlin. I enjoyed walking around the city, admiring the local architecture and culture.

After all of my exploring I had worked up an appetite so the evening event couldn’t have come sooner. The evening consisted of a drinks reception in the luxurious lobby of the hotel followed by more networking and a dinner at an external venue called Super. It was a very quirky and fun place, there were even robots going around asking you questions! It had a great atmosphere and was the perfect venue for an informal networking reception.

The next day it was time to get down to business! - The Meetings! I had 15 appointments on day 1, each lasting 20 minutes, which was the perfect time to exchange information, ask questions and view a full presentation of each venue. I thought that the format worked very well as it was so well organised. I learnt so much and met so many different people from so many destinations. After the meetings we were given a guided tour of Berlin. I picked the tour to see the Brandenburg Gate and the War Memorial, which are both very famous sightseeing destinations. It was fascinating to see these landmarks and learn more about the history behind them. Whilst on the tour I also found out more about the history of Berlin, which is very extensive and interesting! On the way back to the hotel, we made a quick stop at 030 EventLoft, which is a flexible events space that can be used for all types of events, from drinks receptions, conferences or Christmas parties.

After the tour we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the evening dinner! At 8:30pm we headed to Ewerk, which is a quirky event space in a modernized power plant - the dining area was decorated like a rain forest with different colour lighting and large plants. There were also sounds being played in the background that made you feel like you were in a forest - it was rather spectacular!On arrival we were greeted by drag queens -which was a good talking point for the drinks reception where buyers and suppliers mingled! We moved through and found our seats ready for our delicious3 course dinner. In between the main and the dessert we were treated to a performance by very talented belly dancers! Once the desserts were finished the dancing began! There was a live band, which played all the best songs to dance to! Overall the evening was a great success and very fun!

The next morning I started with a large coffee to prepare myself for day 2 –I met with 10 hotels and suppliers covering a wide range of destinations and venues, each meeting again lasting 20 minutes. I found all my meetings very worthwhile and have so many new venues I can’t wait to recommend to our clients and hopefully send business to!

Once the meetings had finished it was time for the farewell lunch and to say goodbye to everyone I had met before heading to the airport to fly home!

Overall I had an amazing time and would definitely love to attend another Meetings Space! I found the meetings interesting and informative, the tour was fascinating and I loved the opportunity to see and learn more about Berlin and finally the networking and dinner aspects were fabulous and made it very easy to meet the other suppliers and buyers who were also attending the forum.”