How Do You Turn a Conference Into a Festival, Marc Thiele?

I often get asked “What is the secret to a successful event?” and surely you first have to define what “success” means in this context. Mostly, when asking me, the asking person means the fact that past attendees speak about my event as a friendly event with a special atmosphere that is way more than a usual conference. That surely is a huge compliment for me and what I do, but honestly, the actual answer would be “I don’t know”.

I can only look back at what I did and try to find the things that make it feel different and which people are talking about, when they say this. It is my nature to welcome people and see myself as their host, wanting them to have a great time while they are at my event for those two or more days.

With 20+ years of running events, I certainly have an idea, what people refer to and I want to focus on and refine those bits each and every time I host an event.

In his Podcast, Christoph Luchs and I speak about those parameters and the history of how I came to do what I do. If you understand German, head over to his website and listen to the podcast episode titled “Wie verwandelst Du eine Konferenz in ein Festival, Marc Thiele?”

Thanks for the lovely conversation, Christoph.