On the occasion of the launch of the Digital Pot (www.digitalerpott.de), the official opening ceremony took place on Monday in the event hall of BFZ Essen, where visitors could learn more about the background and goals of the project and establish a first contact with the companies represented on the platform.
Even before the event began, many interested guests took advantage of the time to exchange ideas with the initiators and the 11 exhibiting companies. The colorful audience from business, education and the media showed great interest in this unique project and seized the opportunity to get answers from the digital experts on all aspects of digitization. This confirmed the commitment of Kirsten Pieper (project management), Adrian Wojtynek and Camp Essen (www.camp-essen.de) with Susanne Hegemann as well as the spirit of the Digital Pot to create a platform where questions about digital topics are answered and in the same course competent providers of suitable solutions are presented.
After getting to know each other, the event was opened under the moderation of Paula Brandt (www.paula-brandt.de), who was also present as an exhibiting company, and Kirsten Pieper. This was followed by welcoming words from Jochen Fricke, deputy managing director of Essener Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft mbH Essen (www.ewg.de), and Axel Koschany, board member of Interessengemeinschaft Essener Wirtschaft e.V. (www.iew-essen.de).
Afterwards, the exhibitors were given the opportunity in a 30-second pitch to present themselves and their services in a few words to the point. After that, the first round of the so-called digital pilgrimage began, during which visitors were able to visit the companies’ stands in a targeted manner and obtain comprehensive information about products and solutions in more in-depth discussions. We also took the opportunity to present ourselves and our products, especially 9quests (www.9quest.com). The topic of virtual tours and presentations as well as digital information presentation and scavenger hunts met with great interest, so that we were able to establish numerous new contacts and can look forward to further developments with confidence.
After this first round of talks, Michael Houben, owner of Metamorphose – Büro für Marketing und Kommunikation (www.metamorphose.ruhr), presented three companies from the skilled trades and service sectors in an excellently moderated talk round, which were able to make their business processes more efficient and profitable with the help of digitization. They showed that with the right approach and a strong partner, digitization can make a decisive contribution to a company’s success. Finally, the second part of the digital pilgrimage followed with a tasty finger food buffet and the evening ended with making new contacts as well as final conversations between organizers, guests and exhibitors.
From our point of view, the Digital Pot lays a valuable foundation for promoting digitalization and strengthening the economy in the region “Ruhrgebiet”. We are pleased to be part of this great venture and hope that the future of the project will be as positive and successful as this kick-off event.
Written by Thomas Wessling on April 25, 2018