Member Article

Hamburg: perfect blend of creativity & technological expertise

“It’s a hub of creativity, innovation and technology. Hamburg never stops evolving and that’s what makes it interesting,” Christine Klein, general manager at Innside by Melia Hamburg, explains how Hamburg’s expertise in technology and innovation was one of the reasons she chose to open the new hotel in the city.

Innside Melia Hamburg HafenCity is scheduled to open in July and is one of six new hotels due to launch in Hamburg in the second half of the year. The four star hotel’s meeting and event space places the emphasis on creativity – in addition to two conference rooms for up to 120 people, its ‘Big Idea Space’ is an informal space that can be tailored to fit the requirements of each meeting. Sofas, armchairs, brainfood and even magnetic walls to write on all form part of a space that promises to be ‘a little out of the ordinary’. The homely surroundings turn the space into less of a meeting room, more of a living room, and, when combined with its state of the art gadgets, reflects the city’s perfect blend of technology and creativity.

Strumfreie Bude Hamburg Alster, near to the city’s Alster Lake, offers planners an “urban farmloft” that promises to “fertilise the mind” and “harvest success”. Its gardening inspired space is flooded with natural light and plants and includes a rooftop room, a greenhouse kitchen, and a unique egg-shaped meeting area rimmed with porthole-inspired windows, all designed to foster creativity.

Hamburg is Germany’s third largest creative hub, driven by the city’s renowned publishing houses and advertising agencies, film and television businesses, as well as the music and digital industries. The city is well versed in hosting major national and international events in these sectors. Recent examples include the Tincon digital youth culture festival in May where around 1,000 delegates aged from 13 to 21 years gained insight into a vast range of media in reference to politics, data protection, gender and identity, code, hacking and DIY. YouTube stars and Snapchat actors were among the speakers. Germany’s second largest city also recently hosted an IBM retail hackathon focusing on developing software for the ‘shopping experience of the future’.

Hamburg Innovation Summit which took place in 2016 and is set to return in 2018. The event combines an exhibition, masterclasses, talks and workshops providing a vibrant platform for new technologies and innovations fostered by networking and collaboration between entrepreneurs, founders, policy makers, academics and economists.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Emma Ward .