Media Information | 14.01.2026
Mastering Collaboration for Future-Proof Business Events
ebx.lab Community Releases New White Paper with “Collaboration Keys” and Use Cases
© GCB
How can new opportunities be created through collaboration in an era of complexity and multiple crises? This question was explored by the third edition of ebx.lab, a strategic innovation workshop initiated by the GCB German Convention Bureau and run jointly with the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO. Under the headline “Collaboration is Key” the ebx.lab community of strategic decision-makers from communications, marketing, and event departments of leading companies and associations discussed collaboration as a core tool for running complex events and initiatives within the business events ecosystem. The key insights are now available in a free-to-download white paper.
Although companies and associations approach business events in many different ways, one thing is clear: the challenges they face and their need for constructive solutions often align. “Collaboration is one of the central keys to successfully navigating transformation,” says Matthias Schultze, Managing Director of the GCB. “Working across organisational boundaries provides access to diverse perspectives, resources, and expertise that are hardly ever available within a single organisation. Collective action fosters trust, accelerates learning, and boosts the ability to respond flexibly to change as an essential success factor in today’s connected and dynamic working environment.”
“Collaboration Keys” for Real-World Projects
This 2025 edition of ebx.lab built a bridge between prototypes and use cases from the business events ecosystem on the one hand, and the community’s wish to implement them on the other. To do so, the lab’s approach combined theory and practice to accelerate collective learning while driving real change within the community of marketing, communications, and event professionals from leading companies and associations.
To ensure that the exploration of collaboration is both methodologically rigorous and scientifically grounded, the GCB and the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO invited two leading experts to last year’s ebx.lab sessions: Peter Baeck, founder of the Centre for Collective Intelligence Design at the UK innovation agency Nesta, and Dr Marie Heidingsfelder, Head of the CoDesign and Transfer Strategies team at Fraunhofer IAO’s Centre for Responsible Research and Innovation (CeRRI). Their insights from years of research and practice were not only featured in several masterclasses at the in-person ebx.lab event in September 2025 in Frankfurt, but are also core elements of the “Book of Keys”. In total, these 14 methodological keys cover a wide range of approaches to successful collaboration and serve as practical guidance for everyone’s own collaborative projects.
The eight projects explored by the ebx.lab community using these keys are now summarised in the ebx.lab 2025 white paper. They are designed to serve as conversation starters and trigger practical collaboration. All stakeholders within the business events ecosystem are invited to get involved in one of these collaborative projects and take the next steps together.
The full white paper, including all collaboration keys and use cases, is available to download for free in both German and English on the ebx.lab website: www.ebxlab.de
About the ebx.lab
The ebx.lab is an initiative by the GCB German Convention Bureau, delivered in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO and supported by our international partners PCMA and IMEX. With innovation increasingly driven by collaboration, the ebx.lab serves as an independent platform for collective problem-solving and shared intelligence. It acts as a catalyst for fresh ideas and new ways of thinking.
The ebx.lab operates as an agile, creative testing ground: marketing, communications, and event professionals from a wide range of industries come together in a trusting environment to discuss strategic challenges in the business events sector and work jointly on new solutions.
The fourth edition of ebx.lab will be run in 2026. For details on dates, topics, and contact information please see www.ebxlab.de
About the GCB German Convention Bureau
The German Convention Bureau (GCB) is tasked with securing and further extending Germany’s position as an internationally leading and sustainable destination for conferences and meetings. Driving innovation in the meetings and congress sector, the GCB provides its members with premium market research data. The GCB develops target-group-specific marketing activities for international markets as well as for Germany and supports its members and partner in marketing their offering.
The GCB’s more than 160 members represent more than 450 businesses and include leading hotels, convention centres, venues, municipal marketing organisations, event agencies and service providers within the German meetings and conventions industry. As “Strategic Partners”, Deutsche Lufthansa, Deutsche Bahn and the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) support the work of the GCB. The IMEX Group is the GCB’s “Strategic Exhibition Partner”. H World International is the GCB’s „Premium Partner 2026" while darmstadtium congress centre, Frankfurt Airport Marriott Hotel - Sheraton Frankfurt Airport Hotel & Conference Center, Tourism Agency Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia Tourism support the GCB as “Partners in Focus 2026“.
For more information on Germany as a destination for business events, please see www.germany-meetings.com.
© GCB/ Patrick Kuschfeld
Dr. Martina Neunecker
- Director Communications & Strategy
- +49 69 24293025
- neunecker@gcb.de