In Focus

What do you call this city – Kyiv or Kiev? It doesn’t really matter, and frankly both ways are fine. The city itself is an ancient mix of cultures, with both strong traditions and a modern view on today’s world. Just a quick look at the riverside in Kyiv will paint the picture for you. Along the landscaped slopes appear the golden domes of ancient churches, huge monumental statues and modern business centres made of glass and steel. Here, everyone can find something of interest, whether it’s Slavic spiritual heritage, an evening with the Virsky national dance ensemble or a classy restaurant with breathtaking views over the mighty Dnieper.

For 20 years, FUCHS Event + Incentive has successfully been working in the meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) business in Dresden, Saxony, Berlin, Thuringia and Prague. Meetings and incentives in special locations boost motivation, loyalty and ambition, and FUCHS is always on the look for new trends and innovative products. Fuchs offers unique concepts for business and gala events, including exclusive sightseeing tours with historical or regional highlights, city discoveries that combine cultural visits with fun, gala-dinner and conference organisation, special outdoor adventures and team building .

Making the grade

British companies carry out more foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in Germany than in any other European country – and by far. Between 2008 and 2013, the latest reporting period, 402 FDI projects were carried out by UK-based firms in the country, fDI Markets data shows. This compares with 293 projects in France and 270 in Ireland. BP, British Telecom, Vodafone, GlaxoSmithKline, British Airways, EasyJet as well as a diverse range of British software companies have all invested in Germany in recent years.

Founded in 1997, Amsterdam-based architecture and interior design firm Concrete won the Dutch Architect of the Year Award in 2012. Concrete spent its fledgling years creating a range of stylish and interesting commercial interiors in the Netherlands. Over the past few years, however, Concrete has broadened its horizons, taking its Supperclub concept worldwide and expanding its citizenM concept, a hip hotel brand offering low prices and high design values.

Small businesses looking to improve efficiency are increasingly finding that every cloud has a silver lining. Indeed, cloud computing, which is IT jargon for accessing applications as services over the internet, is becoming a game changer for many small companies, allowing them to access a growing number of innovative services that are easy to manage, provide transparent pricing and will scale up as a business grows. In addition to embracing cloud computing, small companies are also using Skype and video conferencing to boost their responsiveness, support consultants working in the field and expand the business.

Does this sound familiar?
Looking back at your last meeting, you have mixed feelings. The topic was interesting, the speakers distinguished – yet somehow it fell short of your expectations. The problems began at the opening ceremony – the speaker spoke too fast making it difficult to understand his points. Then there were the forums and workshops – these were in English but they failed to spark your imagination. The speaker had a strong accent and clutched his notes nervously – reading them rather than presenting his ideas. It was good to talk with colleagues from all over the world but some questions remained unanswered and it was not always easy to communicate – perhaps because not everyone was a native English speaker?

Which destination would you choose or recommend for a congress or conference? The range may seem endless to the layman, but there is an option for MICE you should not ignore: San Sebastian, in Northern Spain. We will try to disclose why.

Overlooking the sea in the very heart of the city of San Sebastian (northern Spain), Kursaal is a cutting edge architectural complex, which has been granted the European Union Mies van der Rohe Award for Architecture. It has the latest technology and offers multipurpose, versatile spaces. The Kursaal conference centre is an ideal location to hold any event format.

The city, San Sebastian, is an elegant and cosmopolitan business destination, headquarters of the International Film Festival and European Culture Capital 2016.