- When the new CEBIT kicks off at the Hannover Exhibition Center on 11 June 2018, the whole town will turn into “CEBIT City”.
“Together with numerous partners, we’ll be bringing the CEBIT atmosphere and mood, as well as its key themes directly to the city. CEBIT and Hannover are an inseparable duo,” said Oliver Frese, Member of the Deutsche Messe Managing Board on Monday in Hannover. And Stefan Schostok, Lord Mayor of the City of Hannover, added: “The new summer scheduling of the fair makes it much easier to integrate our city into the event. Hannover is going to have a great opportunity to show its best side to visitors from around the globe.”
“We’ve been receiving fantastic support from all local parties involved,” said Frese. “With the radical restructuring of CEBIT, it was clear from the start that Hannover as a whole was going to play a stronger role.” Mayor Schostok seconded this sentiment, commenting: “With CEBIT, we have the world’s leading platform for digitization and innovation right on our doorstep – we plan to take advantage of that opportunity. Apart from the municipal government and Hannover regional authority, the following companies and organizations are supporting our efforts: the City Association, the German Hotel and Restaurant Association (DEHOGA), Hannover Airport, the üstra local mass transit authority, German Railways (DB) – operator of the central railway station, the taxi association Hallo Taxi 3811, Mousse T. hannoverimpuls, Heise Verlag Publishers, Yeebase Verlag Publishers (T3n), the Hannover Marketing and Tourism Company (HMTG), Radio Hannover, Unesco City of Music, event it, Sennheiser and Digital Hannover. These players are backed up by further representatives from local businesses as well as the city’s artistic and cultural community – all of whom are involved in helping us develop new ideas or are otherwise actively supporting the new CEBIT.”
“We’ve gathered all the various players together at one table and had numerous discussions to develop new ideas for joint projects,” explained Frese. “Together we’ve created a program for Hannover, in Hannover and with Hannover.”
He added that the special d!campus program taking place at the heart of the new CEBIT was also designed with an eye to Hannover. “Our evening ticket for CEBIT and the lively nighttime program there is intended to open up CEBIT for new visitor groups,” said Frese. The so-called “Fireside Ticket” is valid starting at 5:00 p.m., giving small business owners and craftspeople two hours of time to visit CEBIT displays and presentations. Then, at 7 p.m. – from Tuesday to Thursday – the d!campus site surrounding the giant Expo canopy will feature live music, DJs, digital happenings and a lounge-type atmosphere. “Anyone who wants to experience the new CEBIT and the new social attitude towards innovation and digitization is more than welcome at the d! campus,” said Frese, adding that Jan Delay, Digitalism and the Giant Rooks were just some of the bands that had already been hired for the d!campus. “Others will be added to create a nightly festival atmosphere. We’re looking forward to celebrating CEBIT at our d!campus together with Hannover as a whole,” said Frese. (Tickets cost 15 euros in advance on cebit.de and 20 euros at the gates.)
CEBIT will also be highly visible in downtown Hannover, teaming up for instance with the City Association to open the Digital Street Cafe on the centrally located Kröpcke Square on weekend before CEBIT. The cafe will be a place for visitors to follow CEBIT stage proceedings on video screens or simply relax and chat. And the local newspaper, HAZ, will be staging a daily “CEBIT HAZ Talk” covering digitization themes especially relevant to life in Hannover. The City Association and Deutsche Messe will also be sponsoring a shop window competition – the “Digital Window” – for local retailers. And the crowning highlight will come on Friday, the last day of CEBIT: a live concert with a surprise band directly on Kröpcke Square. “We want to stage the grand finale to the new CEBIT right in the heart of Hannover,” said Frese.
Hannover’s Lord Mayor Schostok explained that the city of Hannover would be participating in the new CEBIT more intensively than ever. “All of us can only benefit from close collaboration here,” he said. Schostok continued that this close collaboration would be launched well before CEBIT, with Deutsche Messe staging its main press event – the CEBIT Preview with 120 media representatives from Germany and abroad – during the run-up to the fair on 15 May for the first time at Hannover City Hall. “There is no better way to underscore this new spirit of cooperation,” he said.
But the city will also be taking advantage of the opportunities offered by CEBIT. hannoverimpuls, the economic development agency of the state capital and region, will be appearing at CEBIT all week long with a trade fair stand in Hall 27. The cooperation with “UNESCO City of Music” and the “Digital Sounds” label will also be expanded for the new CEBIT. On 15 June a workshop on “Music and Virtual Reality” will be offered. In addition to local companies, experts from the Japanese UNESCO partner city of Hamamatsu will also be taking part. The night before, people will be partying at the CEBIT Club Night downtown, with UNESCO City of Music and Rote Salon laying down tracks all night long for CEBIT guests and demonstrating the successful fusion of digitization and music culture.
And finally, there are plans to work together in marketing campaigns. “We’re pooling our resources for our advertising in Hannover and throughout Europe,” reported Schostok. “HMTG and Deutsche Messe will be beating the drums for the new CEBIT in June across Europe,” he added.
CEBIT 2018 :
At CEBIT 2018, everything is geared to generating business, leads and bright ideas. With its exhibitor displays, expert conferences and prime networking opportunities, CEBIT is a triple-punch event covering everything essential to the digitization of business, government and society. The innovations on display in the d!conomy section of the show give IT professionals and decision-makers from the realms of business, trade and the public sector the tools they need to streamline and futureproof their operations by leveraging digitization to the fullest. The event’s d!tec showcase puts the spotlight on developers and startups and their disruptive business models, as well as on research institutes giving us a glimpse of tomorrow’s game-changing technologies. The d!talk conference program features visionaries, lateral thinkers, creatives and experts from around the globe. The d!campus is the beating heart of CEBIT – the place where everyone gets together for relaxed networking, street food and live music. CEBIT presents the digital transformation in a totally new way, while retaining its core focus on business, leads and more leads. The first day of CEBIT 2018 – Monday, 11 June – is reserved for conference attendees and journalists, with the exhibition opening on Tuesday, 12 June. The exhibition halls will be open Tuesday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., with the d!campus staying open till 11 p.m. on those days. Opening hours on Friday are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. CEBIT Events Worldwide give Deutsche Messe’s customers even more ways of reaching their international clientele, e.g. in dynamic markets such as China, Australia, Thailand and Spain.
