A profitable congress: Neuland at the PM Forum 2016

“An orchestra conductor, a handball coach, a psychotherapist and a man with a mohawk go to Nuremberg…” – what sounds like the introduction to a complicated and long joke nevertheless led about 1,000 interested professionals to the 33rd International Project Management Forum . which took place in mid-October 2016. This was not only due to the four top-class keynote speakers*, but also to the diverse and stimulating supporting program of this event: In many specialist presentations and forums and in even more discussions in between, the one question kept coming up again and again: how to successfully start a project and bring it to fruition in the digital age – and it was about the many possible paths to get there.

It was hardly surprising that we were also represented at this congress with a small but very well-attended booth. For however digital and technology-driven our times may be, it is becoming increasingly important that people interact and communicate directly with one another. It's not just about having the latest and fastest software, but sometimes simply about presenting everyone involved in a compelling way. At our booth and at a dedicated themed table in the foyer, visitors could see for themselves that we have precisely the necessary tools for this. Birgit Schilling and Dominik Parson provided information on the topic of visualization – which was particularly fitting since the communication consultants had given a presentation the previous day: Martin Haussmann demonstrated that drawings – for example, of the subsequent congress – can have a completely different and significantly more lasting impact than the usual written reports.

A small highlight for us was the so-called "blue hour" at the end of the first day of the forum: At precisely 7:00 p.m., we drew the winners of the raffle we had organized at the Neuland booth. The conference attendees had diligently thrown their business cards into our "raffle drum"—hardly surprising, since the prizes included a FlipChart Urban , a FlipCart EuroFlip® , and a Novario® moderator's bag. (And as consolation for those who didn't win there: They will be receiving a small token of appreciation soon.)

For us, it was a tiring but above all very stimulating few days: we had great conversations and met many new and interesting people. The organizers of the congress did an excellent job managing this project. (How could it be otherwise?)

*Oh yes, by the way, the four prominent keynote speakers were: Martin Hoffmann (Director of the Berlin Philharmonic); Dr. Manfred Lütz (psychiatrist, psychotherapist and bestselling author); Dagur Sigurdsson (coach of the national handball team); Sascha Lobo (blogger, author and internet expert)