Berlin is going to be the stage for a number of major conventions and other events in 2017. Particularly well represented are gatherings related to medicine and the healthcare industry, such as the World Health Summit in October, and events related to the digital world, such as re:publica, the conference all about the web coming in May. “Berlin is like no other city when it comes to offering inspiration, new ideas, and a network of many young creative types and entrepreneurs. When it comes to discussions of the world’s future and other high-level international meetings, more and more organisers are choosing Berlin,” says Heike Mahmoud, Director Conventions of the visitBerlin Berlin Convention Office.
Berlin draws major medical conventions in 2017
Berlin has some major gatherings to look forward to this year. For example, more than 10,000 participants are expected for the meeting of the “International Society on Thrombosis Research” in July (isth2017.org). In October some 12,000 experts from all over the world as well as several high-profile keynote speakers will come to Berlin for the “World Congress of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy” (wpaberlin2017.com).
Digital conferences in the German capital
More than 100 researchers will meet this May at Kosmos Berlin for the “The Digital Future” conference (science-match.tagesspiegel.de/the-digital-future-may-2017). In August, the entire city will be hosting the “New I.D. Festival” (newid-berlin.com), another event addressing digitalisation and business. The latest addition: “TechCrunch Disrupt 2017” is coming in December, making its move from London to Berlin this year. Disruptive technologies are also the subject at “DTIM” (disruptive-technologies.de). The conference will investigate how digital risks can be made transparent and manageable for companies.
Unusual events: from love letters to comic books
As expected, Berlin also draws events with a little less gravitas, such as the Love Letter Convention (loveletterconvention.com) in May, when authors of romance novels and their fans will gather. For online gamers, Berlin is not only hosting “International Games Week” in April (gamesweekberlin.com), but also “Quo Vadis 2017 – create – game – business”, which will make Berlin Europe’s hot spot for game developers from around the world (qvconf.com). “German Comic Con” expects some 30,000 visitors, authors, and international stars of the comic book scene to descend on the German capital this year (germancomiccon.com). The “Music Cities Convention” this April is the largest conference of its kind and will address the relationship between urban development and music (musiccitiesconvention.com).
Number of meetings and events in Berlin on the rise
A look at the most recent statistics for 2016 show that more than 11.5 million people came to Berlin last year to participate in one of approx. 137,500 events (both +2 per cent). Berlin is a popular location for events that address issues related to the future. 16 per cent of Berlin’s events are held by the ‘medicine, science and research’ industry (up from 12 per cent in 2015). Conferences dealing with the IT, electronics and communication industries come in second place with 13 per cent.
All meetings and conventions can be searched by topic and date on the conventions calendar at convention. visitBerlin. com.
