Happy Birthday, Response Room

And we think it’s fair to say: 2021 was another special year. However, despite all the challenges brought on by the pandemic, this past year has also highlighted the creativity, innovative strength and purpose of the business events community. So let’s take a minute to reflect on what’s happened so far and what we’ve got planned for the future.

Response Room was launched as part of PCMA’s Convening Leaders 2021 and we could not have been happier with the feedback we’ve received since. It has helped us grow and make improvements along the way. Nonetheless, we also know that simply providing a platform isn’t enough. We need to walk the talk and fill the platform with life – a strong community, inspiring content and exciting discussions.

This cannot be done single-handedly, though. With the help of the Response Room community and our platform partners, we’ve launched 18 innovation challenges and published 17 blog articles. These have resulted in 78 ideas and 149 comments. While these may look like decent numbers, it’s really about what they represent: Meaningful, solution-driven and innovative discussions about the future of business events!

Most babies will start walking between the ages of 8 and 18 months and their curiosity continues to grow. And we think it’s fair to say that the same applies to the Response Room. We’ve learned a lot in the past year, but are even more excited about what the future holds. We’re trying new things, are extending our reach and are growing every day. Here is what’s happening on the platform already and what we’ve got planned for 2022.

The GCB kicked off the Response Room’s birthday party with its very first innovation week. These past five days have been filled with pieces on the latest research results, inspiring approaches within and outside of the event space and information on the German Convention Bureau’s different projects on the topic of innovation.

As part of the birthday celebrations, we’ve also published a new blog article on the importance of innovation for business events as well as four new innovation challenges. Here they are:

Last year we’ve asked you about your most memorable and favorite event experiences – and we received many great submissions! And now for round 2: We think it’s time for some shout outs! We’d love to hear from you about who has inspired you lately, who you’re thankful for and why they’re particularly deserving of a shout out - within or oustide of the meetings industry.

The events industry is facing enormous changes - a wide range of influencing factors are reshaping the ecosystem of business events. But what influencing factors are we talking about exactly? And how are they going to affect business events? That's what we're trying to find out with your help! This innovation challenge serves as a library of important studies that influence decisions in the business event space. And most importantly: The library is open to the entire community!

In this German language challenge, our friends at elevatr are asking you: what hospitality innovation topics you would like to see addressed on the platform and in the industry. What’s missing in the German hospitality sector? How can and must hospitality players cooperate? And in which fields must the hospitality sector come up with new solutions? This ideation phase is the starting point for follow-up challenges.

… that’s the topic of the GCB’s Digital and Innovation Day 2022! The event will take place on January 25th and 26th. The event will be in German and has already started with a survey on the status quo of digital marketing in the MICE sector.

And of course, we’ve got a lot more planned this year! There are new challenges and blog pieces waiting to be published, we’re planning our first face-to-face workshops and are looking for ways to grow and improve the platform. All this is and continues to be possible because of you. Thanks for being a valuable member of the Response Room!