German Convention Bureau launches online innovation forum

The German Convention Bureau (GCB) launched a new online forum focused on innovation, called the “Response Room”, at PCMA Convening Leaders 2021. It was initiated with the cooperation of PCMA and the IMEX Group. The aim is to build a global community of meeting planners, organisers, suppliers, and event participants to jointly develop new solutions and innovative business models. The forum can be found at www.responseroom.io. The platform was officially launched on 14 January with a session at PCMA’s Convening Leaders 2021 in front of several thousand event professionals from all around the world. In her keynote, Catharina van Delden, CEO and co-founder of innosabi, Response Room’s software partner, emphasized the high importance of agile innovation as well as the creation of a corresponding culture within organisations. In the subsequent panel discussion, Stephen Rose, head of global communications services at Siemens AG, and Ulrike Tondorf, head of live communication & experience branding at Bayer AG, provided insights into innovative business events. Matthias Schultze, GCB Managing Director, commented: “To secure this role for the future, there is a need for rapid, interconnected and, above all, customer-focused solutions – especially considering our ever-changing world. These new solutions and innovations, however, cannot be found in closed silos, but through open, agile processes.”