On 28 April 2021, the Chinaforum Bayern e.V. invited representatives from business, politics, and society to celebrate the Bavarian-Chinese Spring Festival for the tenth time. Due to the pandemic, the exchange took place online for the first time on an innovative event platform. Here, guests from business, politics and society could enjoy the stage programme, discover art and culinary delights in the supporting programme and exchange ideas with each other.
At a time when events are subject to strict hygiene regulations, the question arises as to how culture can be celebrated in a fitting manner despite or precisely because of this. This year, the initiators of the Bavarian-Chinese Spring Festival, which celebrated its 10th anniversary, also asked themselves this question. But there was a quick answer in spring 2021: virtually!
The organizer Chinaforum Bayern e.V. quickly decided on the streaming platform "MeetAnyway", as this innovatively enables the participation of many people in parallel in different formats. The event was implemented and streamed from the Executive Area of the Haus der Bayerischen Wirtschaft by mbw Medienberatung der Wirtschaft GmbH.
250 guests were connected live and could follow the event, consisting of a keynote and a panel discussion, either in German or Mandarin. The traditional quiz, a live band and the popular networking afterwards also delighted the online audience in front of the screens.
Thanks to "MeetAnyway" it was possible to make parallel offers for networking in different virtual environments, like visiting the partners booth, a virtual cooking school or a concert. The Chinaforum Bayern sent a package with snacks, Chinese beer, funny cards about online etiquette, a cooking recipe (this was streamed as a video) to all invited guests before the event.
The City of Munich, the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Invest in Bavaria and the Chinese Consulate General were partners of the event. For the city, the Department of Labor and Munich oversees the partnership. Clemens Baumgärtner, the Department of Labor and Economic Affairs, represented the city.
Clemens Baumgärtner was pleased that the Bavarian-Chinese Spring Festival could take place this year in a new digital format with the proven successful elements. "Exchange, openness and interest in the other culture are important for mutual understanding and further cooperation - not only in the field of business," Baumgärtner said.
At the China Forum, Mrs. La Torre was responsible as project manager.
The event was held under the patronage of Hubert Aiwanger, Bavarian State Minister for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy and Deputy Minister President, Lord Mayor Dieter Reiter and ZHANG Yue, Consul General of the People's Republic of China in Munich.
This best case shows how companies had to transform themselves during the Corona crisis. Until the beginning of 2020, mbw was the operator of a conference center and formed the core of the agency with its two departments "Media Services" and "Event Management".
Today, mbw is an agency and livestreaming service provider for virtual and hybrid events and creates holistic synergy effects with the technical and spatial backup of the hbw ConferenceCenter and event management as well as digital services.
