“Tell me, Reinhard!” – Insights from 25 years of event work

Part 1: Everything is in flow!

POMMEREL Live-Marketing celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2022. And since our Managing Director Reinhard Pommerel likes to tell good stories, we asked him: “Tell me, Reinhard, what insights do you actually take away from 25 years of event work?”

The first thing that comes to Reinhard’s mind is a quote from the ancient Greek Heraclitus: everything flows!

“I think few industries have changed as much in the last 25 years as the event industry. Event marketing in today’s sense didn’t even exist 25 years ago. Back then, we were often disparagingly referred to as ‘stool-pullers’ and ‘party-makers’. At the beginning of the millennium, the industry began to become more and more professional. For example, the profession of event manager has only existed since 2001. Since I myself entered event management as a career changer from the hotel business, the further development of our industry and the promotion of young talent have always been very important to me. Since 2004, we have been training continuously and are also committed to the development of our profession together with the Institute of Studies and the Federal Association of the Event Industry fwd:.

With the professionalisation, the sector then also developed very strongly in terms of content. We started to write more and more strategic concepts that made the goals and economic benefits of an event clear to the clients. Today, event marketing and live communication are often already natural components of corporate communication. Although there is still room for improvement. But one should not forget that many large companies only started with strategic event marketing around the turn of the millennium. We grew into this together and were thus able to help shape and implement formative moments for our clients.

Of course, megatrends like digitalisation and sustainability are also changing event work a lot. The speed of innovation in these areas is phenomenal. We have only just begun to recognise the potential of digital and virtual technology – as is currently being discussed with reference to the Metaverse – for the organisation and the experiential character of a live event. There are great opportunities for us here, also for new business models. This phase is especially exciting for the new generation in our industry. I am sure that in the coming years the young professionals from the generation of digital natives will shape the event business in a very positive and exciting way. I am very much looking forward to that!”