The Channel | 2008 | Issue 1

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| JANUARY08 | THE CHANNEL
THE CHANNEL | FEATURE
INSPIRATIONAL
Simon Spanswick was one of 1,000 architects, technologists,
media executives and gurus at Digital-Life-Design organised
by Burda Media in the Bavarian capital in January
At the opening, Czerny also
pays tribute to the founder of the
famous TED conferences
), architect Richard
Wurman – 72 years old but looking
more like 60 – admitting that DLD
has borrowed ideas and concepts,
but that helps in connecting
technophiles all over the world.
Wurman is on the first panel
titled “Smart boys about new
markets” and he starts by grumbling.
There are no women on the panel
he notes and then changes tack,
saying that in his view companies
that say they are global are deluding
themselves. No organisation can
truly be global as things happen at
a local level. It’s necessary to
understand things locally to be
global is his message. He explains
his latest project ,
launched when he discovered it is
very difficult to compare what’s
happening in the world’s largest
cities. Since most of us live in urban
areas, he shares his incredulity that
the cities don’t learn much from
each other.
Former Apple Marketing VP Joe
Schoendorf, now a venture capitalist
and member of the World Economic
Forum, asks who in the audience is
under 25. A handful put up their
hands and Schoendorf notes that
half the world’s population is under
DLD
is about
DNA, gene
pools,
artistry,
writers
and
networks
“
”
t the edge of
Munich’s old
town, in a road
crowded with
historic buildings,
is the 19th century
former head-
quarters of the Bayerische Staatsbank,
now the bright and airy HVB
Forum, a centre for arts, conferences
and exhibitions. On a sunny
Sunday afternoon in mid-January,
the Forum was packed with people.
In the building’s Grosses Atrium, it
was standing room only as the
third DLD conference got
underway, introduced by the joint
managing directors of Hubert
Burda Media R&D Stephanie
Czerny and Marcel Reichart, each
of them brimming with enthusiasm
and energy. This, they said, was an
experience for friends.
NODINOSAURSHERE
Burda is a 104-year-old family-
owned German publishing empire
run by the 67 year-old grandson of
the founder. Burda publishes 250
magazines worldwide, many of
them fashion and lifestyle titles.
Revenue is around €1.1 billion and
they employ over 7,000 staff.
Hubert Burda Media is also the
largest magazine publisher in
Russia and very significant in
Eastern Europe and Turkey. The
gut reaction is to classify them as a
very traditional publishing house
in danger of becoming a dinosaur.
That would be wrong. In fact, CEO
Hubert Burda has been the driving
force behind the company's move
into social media, insisting that he
will never open a printing plant
again. That’s a clear message to his
company's publishers, editors and
investment arms to concentrate
almost exclusively on digital
strategies if they want to grow. But
it is no good just announcing the
future – you need to build a path.
EN ROUTE TO DAVOS
That’s where DLD is clever. Why
spend money sending your people
to conferences all over the world to
plan their next moves in new
media? Instead, throw a three day
celebration of the future - create
scarcity by making it invitation
only - and at the same time invite
the world's movers and shakers to
inspire top managers inside your
company. Get Google, Mercedes
Benz, Lufthansa and some venture
capitalists to sponsor. Finally, pick
the right dates, since many of the
international guests you want are
on their way to Davos. Munich is
just as easy as Zurich if you’re
heading for the mountains.
A
UPLOAD
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