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Of all the projects and labels we started, the Bar Convent Berlin has proved to be one of the most important and influential. And probably most successful as well. It comes right after Mixology magazine.
Last year we decided to gather our reader community in one place for the first time. We had been asked again and again to organize an event, where the bar industry could meet up, do networking and exchange knowledge. We had been visiting the British and the Dutch barshow for years and had always invited our readers to join in. The result: the Germans were the second largest visitor group at the London barshow in 2007. It was obvious that we had to organize an event here in our home country as well. We didn´t want to copy the same style of event though. We didn´t want our event to be too industry focussed.
Our readers are used to a lot of authenticity. Most of them know us by name. Many of them we even have worked with, when we were still shaking behind the bar counters of GSA land. Our magazine, Mixology, is more than a trade magazine. It´s a community magazine!
We found a location close to our office that is usually the place for theater plays: the Glashaus. It has a huge stage right in the center of the building. This was the perfect location, as we wanted to make the program, the cocktail demonstrations, the bar talks, the central element of our event.
When we were discussing a name for our event, we didn´t want it to sound like an industry exhibition. It had to resemble the meeting and networking character. Gatherings here in Germany are sometims called "Konvent" or "Convent". E.g. the meetings, where the church officials choose their principals and bishops are called convent. As we consider the bar a holy and mystic place, we didn´t see this as a danger. ;-) We decided on that phrase, although it is a synonym for "monastery" in English as well.
And as Berlin is the city where most of our subscribers live, as it is the city with most inhabitants in GSA land, and as it is the place where we live and publish our magazine, the final name was born: Bar Convent Berlin (BCB).
We were overwhelmed after we had shut the doors of the Glashaus after two event days in October 2007: 1068 visitors from 15 countries had been at our first event! If you want to have a look at last years BCB, visit last years website and download the program: http://www.barconvent.com/2007/index.html
Link:
www.barconvent.com
Helmut Adam
Helmut Adam ist Herausgeber von Mixology, Magazin für Barkultur, trinkt gerne Negronis, Tequila und den einen oder anderen Gin & Tonic. Bevor er sich zum Bar Manager an der Mixology Bar aufschwang, arbeitete er als Bartender in Zürich, Wien, Berlin und London.
