Guest Events & Business Development sector under new management

Five questions for Thomas Grunewald

1. Until recently, you were project manager at Messe Friedrichshafen. How do you like your new role as head of Guest Events & Business Development?

So far, I really like it. My job as a project manager over the last 12 years was good fun and I believe gave me some useful experiences for my new role. Supervising existing guest events and looking for new trade fair themes is quite a challenging task, for sure; but it is also exciting. The key here is open-minded thinking and stretching your horizon. I relish the idea of getting to know new sectors.


2. Messe Friedrichshafen uses the slogan “simply different”... What exactly does this mean?

Focused on the customer, focused on the sector. Uncomplicated, friendly and full of emotions – i.e. “simply different“. The new slogan of Messe Friedrichshafen is a charming understatement, but it points exactly to how we operate in the market and what we understand business to be.
The conditions found here in Friedrichshafen provide an optimal setting for successful trade fairs and events. Its central European location in one of the strongest economic regions in Europe, the new fair grounds, the international airport in Friedrichshafen close by, the right infrastructural requirements – all these are hard facts that a successful trade fair venue these days needs to provide. But soft factors are now catching up in importance. And that’s where we score in Friedrichshafen. Trade fair business at Lake Constance is rather unconventional. We are service providers with individual strategies and creative concepts.
Our concentrated focus on prime service in combination with our location in one of the most scenic settings Europe has to offer makes for a special, relaxed ambience which even our guest event organisers appreciate.


3. What do you want to offer your customers?

It is important to me – indeed, to all of us at Messe Friedrichshafen – that our customers and partners like it here in Friedrichshafen as a trade fair venue and that they are as successful as they hope to be with their trade fair. Priorities for me are high service quality, fairness and loyalty in dealing with each other.


4. Do you have any specific goals yet?

Yes, of course. We want to draw trade fairs and events that suit our venue and ensure long-term success for both us and our partners. I think a good mix of public exhibitions and trade fairs, concerts and special interest events are the basis for our work over the next few months.


5. What are the advantages as a guest organiser at Messe Friedrichshafen?

We are very successful here in Friedrichshafen at holding trade fairs and events full of emotion. The special ambience in this region around Lake Constance is reflected in the success of our portfolio. That guest organisers are successful here and as a result want to come back is seen in many examples. Leading European trade fairs such as the FAKUMA, but also such other events as company functions, congresses and TV productions including “Wetten dass…?“ have come to the right place here. We make sure that the general parameters and the service for any event are right and that organisers are completely happy from start to finish.