Bits & Pretzels: A blast, including some learnings for the future of events

[German version] The three founders came up with a bold promise: "Virtual conferences suck. But no worries: We will unsuck them", that's the tune that spread from Southern Germany to the founders universe last summer. Looking at the press coverage, social media and post show reports now, after the Bits & Pretzels Networking Week finished last Friday, all that remains is to conclude: delivered as promised. There it was, this unique Bits & Pretzels feeling, only incompletly described as kind of a Bavarian Southby. Live, digital... almost irrelavant? Well, we will all be happy to meet gain in real live at #Bits21. But a lot can be learned from this week for the future of events, as can be from a couple of other, excellent events that were virtually re-invented at other places.

Relevant content is still king

The right topics and speakers are alpha and omega for each conference, relevance for the community is the currency. Competition is intense at the top, and it has not released in times of the panemic (same supply, less demand). Next to most of the local heroes, the Bits & Pretzels agenda included international top speakers such as Eric Schmidt, Stewart Butterfield, Arianna Huffington, or Dirk Novitzki, who often seemed even more personal and approachable than they might have appeared on a live stage. Moreover, the program was very diverse and clearly structured; with roughly 300 speakers, probably everyone had their favourite. I have already psoted on Monday und Wednesday; my overall highlight was a nice flow on Thursday evening (picture above) where soccer legend Oliver Kahn ("the titan") stated, quite against the startup mainstream, that he had lerned by far more from his successes than from his faults. But hey, no paragraph on content without the words "carefully curated", because that is what they really were. And of course, relevant content stays green for a while and can be used very well after the event.

Formats & facilitators matter

When it comes to formats, the leap from the pre- to the mid-Covid 19 age is even bigger. Because the real stage becomes... "live" for "TV". With three stage settings, the (!) MC Dan Ram, and a live band, Bits & Pretzels provided a lot of variety: Britta Weddeling's refreshing and witful interviews in "A View from the Top", as many appreciate on Podcast. My Muesli founder Max Wittrock in "The Story behind", who already reminded a jounalist of TV host Markus Lanz. Ratepay founder Miriam Wohlfarth in conversation with other top founders in "Meet the Leaders". Truly excellent in this quality and originality - which of course also means that it will be hard to reach for many, in particular smaller events. The mindset shift is what matters most: It is no longer primarily an event which is produced, but a video stream. And looking at the budget: It needs to look good on screen (and only there). Video is not to be mixed up with the big TV shows the older ones may remember from their parents. So, jump on the long learning curve of video producers as quick as you can to manage your cost efficiency.

Add matching features

A video live stream with great content and formats... is this it? If the community can exchange in some chat in parallel, I tend to say: for smaller events yepp, that's it: Come together at the usual date, without much effort, and exchange under the umbrella of the trusted lovebrand. Additional offerings may increase the excitement, if they fit with the core needs of the community. Master classes and workshops may apply here, or virtual product shows. At Bits & Pretzels, I found the signature element of the live event - the Oktoberfest Table Captain meetings - had a simple and good digital equivalent (albeit with less beer consumption, but more depth of content instead). Particularly refreshing was the founder's roulette: random 3 minute video chats, chosen among all active participants, brought moments of serendipidy to the game and gave particiüants a chance to grow their network.

Reach out to the community

While Bits & Pretzels was a terrific event again, like many others it also told a story of how to face smaller technical issues especially in the beginning. I'm not a big believer that downtime is rather a feature than a bug, but actually we get used to it at each and every event in the new normal. What remains important is to fix them quickly and communicate well. Which leads us to the marketing of the event: Sure, my inbox and timeline are full with Bits & Pretzels Content, too. Does it suck? Frankly no, on the contrary, because it was well written, often surprising and with a good fit to the situation. My highlight here were the Instagram stories, which carried the very special Bits & Pretzels feeling form the digital event to the outside world. The stories have shown a diverse and innovative community, which loves open exchange especially in times of crisis, which is open to the world and yet caring for one another.

Looking forward

Now what does all of this mean, looking forward through foggy shades, in an uncertain future? As much as we will be pleased to celebrate Bits & Pretzels 2021 on-site again, for many events it remains to be seen when they will physically open their doors for the next time. Until then, we will see many digital formats and integrated events with both on-site and online participation. So it is good to see ever more success stories from which we can learn, and adapt for the own community, event, and budget.

This collective innovation and optimization process is important for our industry, as it allows us to offer excellent platforms for exchange to our communities even in difficult times. Providing this service is a lot of work, but also a lot of fun, and it pays off sustainably. When the crisis is over, the new offerings, created with so much passion and creativity, will supplement physical formats and help even more people throughout the world to participate, online, from their screen. Digital has come to stay, also for exhibitions. The transformation of our industry is further accelerating.

Disclaimer: As Chief Strategy Officer of Messe München, I am also shareholder representative with Startup Events GmbH, the organizer of Bits & Pretzels. I am looking forward to comments and suggestions - the discussion about the future of live formats will stay with us for a while. Congratulations in any case to Andy, Bernd and Felix, as well as to Christoph, Britta and Dominik and their team on this phantastic #Bits21. Chapeau.