KICK-OFF FOR #DCHH20
WE'RE DOING IT ANYWAY!
Magnificent. Superb. Unique. Commendable. Encouraging. And "absolutely exemplary in these Corona times": The feedback from tourism professionals, hoteliers, service providers, consultants, and scientists on the kick-off of the 10th DestinationCamp could not have been more positive. "Thank you, netzvitamine, for having the courage to go ahead with the event."
Despite the pandemic and extensive safety regulations, nearly 200 participants made their way to Hamburg on Tuesday.
As late as Monday afternoon, the program had to be adjusted to the new safety requirements of the Hanseatic city's health authority; the revised booklets for participants' lanyards only arrived 45 minutes before entry. Printing company owner Christine Schöler personally delivered them to Hamburg via ICE, stating: "We've had to reprint them four times now!"
The biggest change: On the night from Friday to Saturday, the DestinationCamp's core principle had to be "sacrificed" to the latest Corona regulations. Participants can no longer freely switch between the 18 topics offered by the 6 moderator pairs. With their first chosen session, they commit to a specific room and group, where they will engage in 3 two-hour topic blocks on Wednesday and the creative workshop on Thursday. Switching between rooms is not permitted.
PACKAGE TRIP INSTEAD OF INDIVIDUAL TOPIC SELECTION
Approximately 40 percent of participants were first-timers at DestinationCamp, while others were returning attendees, with about 10 percent having attended more than five times. The customary individual approach of previous years, where participants could choose their own topics, was replaced this year by a "package trip" due to sudden Corona regulations: One booking, one fixed program. Some attendees even found this to be a relief:
I'll choose one or two topics that are important to me and take whatever else is offered.
Due to Corona, DCHH could not celebrate its 10th anniversary as planned in April at the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. Instead, it took place from September 29 to October 1 at the Bahrenfeld harness racing track in western Hamburg. The spaciousness of the venue, including the large grandstand rooms, betting offices, and press center, allowed the organizer netzvitamine to comply with the Hanseatic city's strict Corona regulations.
FIRST TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT, THEN ADMISSION
At noon, trotters were still training in their sulkies for the upcoming derby. The betting center, grandstands, and lounges appeared chaotic. Distances were checked, tables rearranged, chairs numbered – and from 4:30 PM, temperatures were taken. The first participants received their lanyards and hygiene kits, including a mask and personal disinfectant spray, at the entrance to the harness racing track. The warm late summer sun shone on many engaged in lively conversation and joyful reunions in the outdoor area of the elongated grandstand building, until, shortly before 6 PM, Vargo's DestinationCamp jingle called everyone into the dome tent for the opening.
"Challenge accepted" is the guiding motto for DestinationCamp 2020. This theme is traditionally chosen based on the outcomes of the previous year's DestinationCamp.
None of us could have imagined how truly fitting this motto would be for the current situation,
said talk show host Bernhard Lingg, who guided the evening. Images and videos from previous years set the mood for participants under the dome of the silberstern-Arena. Safety regulations were announced, social distancing rules explained, and chairs were spaced far apart. Despite this, the atmosphere was good, though not as exuberantly euphoric as usual. However, the catering from the harness racing track, wines from Rhineland-Palatinate, beers from Hamburg's Block-Brauerei, and Inju's tart-fresh brewed drink Focus, combined with Vargo's stimulating Emotional Sounddesign, ensured a conversational and cheerful conclusion to the evening.
KEYNOTE "WE'RE DOING IT ANYWAY!"
Unusual yet fitting: This time, the keynote effectively marked the conclusion of the "official" part of the opening evening. It was delivered by Peter Kowalsky, the brewmaster from Ostheim in Franconia, near the Rhön, who co-founded Bionade GmbH with his mother, stepfather, and brother in 1995. The keynote's theme: "We're Doing It Anyway!" Peter Kowalsky:
"Challenge accepted" as the motto of DestinationCamp20 is equally fitting: We have embraced the challenge.
In a 10-year process, they invented Bionade to save the over-indebted family brewery. "In the end, we were even surprised when it finally succeeded." However, in another 5 years, they found no significant customers. Kowalsky:
We wanted to brew a healthy, as sugar-free as possible, children's soda – but no one wanted it. We wanted to become as big as Fanta with it, but we didn't know how big that was.
Then, after 15 years, when the Hamburg-based drugstore chain Budnikowsky, with its 80 branches, expressed interest and wanted to market the "children's soda" for hipsters, students, and advertisers, the family resisted for many years. Peter Kowalsky: "Then we thought: Okay, we'll sell the soda to hipsters. Eventually, they'll have children too, and then we'll sell the soda to children again. We continued to work with school classes, plant trees, support schools – and the hipsters loved that."
A BALANCED BALANCE SHEET FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 20 YEARS
20 years after the founding of Bionade GmbH, the company was no longer in the red for the first time.
Until then, I had met seven bailiffs, and they were all nice people.
In 2005, around 2 million bottles of Bionade were sold; by 2007, it was already 200 million bottles. "At that point, we were indeed as big as Fanta!" But then, in 2009, a major corporation, whose name Kowalsky does not mention, acquired the shares of a Bionade shareholder who had run into difficulties. "We were now part of a corporation and for three years found no common ground or level of understanding."
Instead of accepting the offered buyback of the Bionade shares, the corporation froze out the family in a classic squeeze-out procedure in 2012. "Within three weeks, we were out, 350 employees lost their jobs, no company car, no lavish salaries, nothing left, only hostility."
WHAT REALLY DEFINES ME?
Authentically and with dry humor, the keynote speaker reflected on what came next: personal crises, self-doubt, a search for stability, for motivation. "What is it that defines me?"
The result: INJU Natural Cell Tonics in Berlin, an alternative to conventional energy drinks, with natural organic ingredients and minimal sugar content. A climate and water-neutral beverage made from roots for modern people seeking stability and grounding.
Today, we need fewer wings and more roots.
Kowalsky's lessons from the last 25 years may sound trivial, but as the conclusion of his sincere and authentic narrative, they convinced the audience just as much as they served as an impulse for #DCHH20:
- it can take time (25 years for us)
- things always turn out differently than expected (and that's a good thing)
- sometimes you have to let go of the "old" for the "new" to emerge (We first had to separate from the brewery)
- listen to yourself and not so much to others (You know best what is right for you)
- you never know when the time is right (Innovations need the right environment)
- awareness for a topic must develop in society (People need to understand what they want and what you want)
- mistakes make it bigger than you thought (they are unforeseen opportunities)
- you only get out what you put in (always, in a relationship as well as at work)
- the culture must be right (only work with people who understand you, with whom you'd also want to have a beer)
- when you think you can't go on, a little light appears somewhere....
- whatever you can do, begin it!