P’CONCEPT JOINS MCI FAMILY IN BERLIN, GERMANY

My team and I are thrilled about the new opportunities and growth potential the merger with MCI will provide. Together with the already existing Pharma Team, our goal is to further develop our live-communication business in the fields of corporate meetings, incentives and DMC-services. Our existing clients will be served with continuous quality and will benefit from the business network and the large global community MCI provides.

p’concept staff and operations will be fully integrated in to MCI Berlin offices, which are managed by Gunda Stickan (Managing Director). As Director of the strengthened Corporate Division, I will drive the Pharma-, Event- and Live-Communication business. The p’concept team will move into MCI Berlin’s Markgrafenstrasse offices end of September 2007.

Following the 2005 merger with the highly established PCO-company Congress Partner GmbH in Berlin, MCI, Europe’s leading company in the meetings industry, is continuing its expansion in Germany with the acquisition of p’concept Berlin, headquartered in Berlin, Germany. Together with the former Congress Partner they will operate as MCI Berlin Office.

p’concept Berlin (“The agency for congress & event management”), was founded in 1991. Initially planned as a Destination Management Company (DMC) for Berlin, it rapidly became a partner for local corporate clients throughout Germany. It then gradually grew to become a pan-European actor. p’concept Berlin has a particular expertise with clients in the banking and financial sector and has a strong client base from the US market. p’concept’s clients include, amongst others, DZ Bank, Vodafone Foundation, McKinsey, Morgan Stanley, Bloomsbury Publishing, Bausch & Lomb, Berlin Tourism Marketing, General Motors Bank and American Chamber of Commerce in Germany.

Polo Looser, responsible for MCI Central Europe, mentions: “With the experienced talents of p’concept joining our MCI Berlin office, we now have a solid base for further growth. This step strengthens our position and our client base”.

About p’concept Berlin
p’concept Berlin was founded in 1991. It uses the slogan “powered by personality” throughout its operations. p’concept Berlin has a particular expertise with clients in the banking and financial sector and a has a strong client base from the US market The company counts 6 employees and reported a turnover of € 1.9 Million for 2006. For more information, please visit the company’s website http://www.pconcept.com/

About MCI
Founded in 1987 and with offices in Barcelona, Belfast, Berlin, Brussels, Dubai, Dublin, Geneva, Gothenburg, Lyon, Madrid, Paris, Petersfield/London, Prague, Shanghai, Singapore, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Vienna and Zurich, MCI is the foremost global Association, Communication and Event Management company. Thought-leaders in building community around brands, products and services for companies and institutions, MCI holds a strategic alliance with SmithBucklin for a Global Partnership. MCI currently employs more than 615 talents and its turnover by year-end 2006, was €118M. For more information, please visit http://www.mci-group.com/.

Murphy's Law for Meeting Suppliers: Continued from Friday, June 8

A happy ending after all for the hedgehog!

It ended well after all. That's what we get paid for. No more busses broke down and the client was very happy with the services performed.
My conclusion:

It shows that you still need to be behind everything and everybody to make things seem to go flawless. This is why our philosophy when working with groups is just like the fairytale of the hare and the hedgehog of the brothers Grimm.
Problem solved

Ich bin ein Berliner, JFK 1963 in Berlin, NOW back in town

JFK has left an ever lasting positive impression on the Berliners of yesterday and today. When he visited the divided city of Berlin in 1963 only a few months before he was assassinated his statement "Ich bin ein Berliner" left the city reassured that he would not give in to the Soviet pressure of that time.

Even though the lectern from behind which he addressed the thousands of people still exists today at the Schöneberg City Hall, nothing of value did commemorate that visit until this year.
The Kennedys is a neat small little museum directly at Pariser Platz opposite the Brandenburg Gate and perfectly designed to spend 30 min. to one hour on the trail of JFK, his family and of course his visit to Berlin in 1963.