Strong results - Darmstadt's science and congress centre puts in a strong finish to the year

Darmstadt 10 November 2011: Business in the final quarter of 2011 shows that the time has come for a measure of optimism at Darmstadt's science and congress centre. Indications are that the darmstadtium's results will be among the best in its still brief history. The congress centre started the fourth quarter with a strong rally in revenues and has every reason to take an optimistic view of the future.

• Subsidies limited – Revenues up
• Strategic changes promote cost efficient and customer oriented business practices
• Strong models for partnerships and cooperation
• Sustainability remains an important trademark – energy consumption falls by 10% while capacity utilisation rises
• Review of 2011 – Preview of 2012

"September, October and November will be the strongest months in the four year corporate history of the darmstadtium," reports its managing director, Lars Wöhler.

Mr Wöhler took charge of Darmstadt's congress centre at the beginning of this year and immediately announced a number of strategic changes. He is supported by the City of Science's new chief executive – Jochen Partsch, the first Lord Mayor in the history of Darmstadt to represent the Green Party – who is also chairman of the darmstadtium's supervisory board. In addition, all the members of the supervisory board representing the city of Darmstadt have been replaced.

Strong results in 2011– Revenues rally in the 4^th quarter

The number of visitors attending events at the darmstadtium in 2011 is forecast to climb to over 150,000 by the end of year. This figure is 5% higher than the corresponding level in 2010 and reflects the success of over 300 events during the current year. "We have also staged 10% more events than we did last year," says Lars Wöhler. By comparison there were 271 events in 2010. When asked to identify the underlying reasons for this growth, Wöhler admits that his team is reacting more flexibly to changing booking patterns and behaviours. "Enquiries are coming in at ever shorter notice, which means we can only plan for the long term in a very general way. Sometimes we receive enquiries just two months before the event is due to take place. For large scale events this is a very tight timescale. We then recommend a variety of room constellations to our customers. Fortunately, at the darmstadtium, we can combine our rooms in an enormous variety of configurations and their state-of-the-art technology offers plenty of options. For my team, this means that we have to provide even more intensive consulting services in the lead-up to the event."

Subsidies limited – revenues up

Revenues for 2011 are expected to be in the region of € 3.65 million. That ex-ceeds the forecast revenue by 10% and means that the subsidies currently allo-cated by the City of Darmstadt for 2011 will be sufficient. Despite the fact that more events are being booked at short notice, the darmstadtium's bookings for the coming year are already up by 20% on this time last year.
In short: Lars Wöhler believes his strategy has proven its worth and that the con-gress centre is making an important contribution to the dynamic and flourishing development of the city. "The darmstadtium will continue to take its economic responsibilities seriously going forward," says Wöhler.

Strategic changes promote cost efficient and customer oriented business practices

Most of the strategic changes presented at the beginning of the year have now been introduced. Here, the darmstadtium's managing director has put the focus firmly on bringing greater cost efficiency to the way it does business. Processes in the congress centre have been optimised further and an internal company con-trolling department established. "Very often it is the small things," says Wöhler, "that add up to big savings." For example, the congress centre has mostly switched to low energy LED lighting where this makes sense, achieved cost savings by connecting directly to the high speed internet service of the TU Darm-stadt and slimmed down its sales and marketing budget. Further steps in the implementation of the integrated marketing concept include a targeted sales ap-proach and consulting services as well as reorganisation of direct marketing activities and the successive introduction of key account management.

The strong order book and high demand are persuasive evidence that Lars Wöhler is steering the darmstadtium in the right direction. The managing director points to one of his most successful customer loyalty programmes – the large number of long-term contracts agreed (see box). For Wöhler, this is a perfect win-win situation. "Both sides profit from this type of model. On the one hand, the customer knows precisely what the venue and the service have to offer and, on the other, the darmstadtium can plan more effectively for the long term" he ex-plains.

Strong models for partnerships and cooperation – A partner for business

The process of networking with the Technische Universität Darmstadt more in-tensively is also bearing fruit. For Wöhler, the congress centre is a "part of the campus" and he sees further free valences in this area. For example, he is cur-rently investigating the event consulting needs of the TU Darmstadt in order to be able to include and establish effective consulting services for professors in his portfolio. There will be an even stronger focus on building partnerships with the city's two universities, the Darmstadt Chambers of Industry and Commerce, Wissenschaftsstadt Darmstadt Marketing GmbH, the Wirtschaftsecho, the Marketing Club and company associations over the coming months and years.

In order to operate even more successfully in the national and international arena, the darmstadtium has entered into a partnership with the five leading con-gress centres in the state of Hesse. Under the slogan "Frankfurt Rhine-Main met-ropolitan region – Your Gateway for Congresses", these five institutions plan to reinforce the status of Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Mainz and Darmstadt as THE metropolitan region at the heart of Europe still further. The first steps have already been implemented successfully with a joint presentation at this year's ICCA World Congress in Leipzig.

Sustainability remains an important trademark – Energy consumption falls by 10% while capacity utilisation rises – New: free recharging station for electric vehicles

By using carbon neutral electricity from renewable, non-fossil energy sources such as wind, water and solar, the darmstadtium avoids the emission of approx. 1,500 tonnes of CO2 annually thereby making an important contribution to climate protection. The photovoltaic system on the roof of the darmstadtium has already generated some 290,000 kWh of electricity (in the period since 10/2007). This alone has produced savings of 100 tonnes of CO2. At the beginning of the year, the darmstadtium and ENTEGA Vertrieb GmbH signed an agreement to supply 100% of the centre's electricity needs through green electricity. In addition, the "Green Globe" certified venue offers its guests the option of carbon neutral travel to their event. As well as a partnership with Deutsche Bahn (Germany's national rail company) and a special low price congress ticket for use on local public transport services, conference delegates are now able to recharge their electric cars free of charge with green electricity at the darmstadtium's own recharging station. This is also another element of the venue's sustainability con-cept.

The darmstadtium is therefore well placed to compete. "We are the perfect location for everyone who accepts the ethic of ecological and social responsibility and wants to put this into practice," says Lars Wöhler.

Long term contracts with Darmstadt's science and congress centre

• Season finale concert by the choir and orchestra of the TU Darmstadt
• "Introduction to mechanical engineering" (EMB) – TU Darmstadt
• International Symposium on Automotive Lighting (ISAL) – TU Darmstadt
• IHK Zeugnistag (CCI certificate presentation day)
• Concert Choir of Darmstadt
• Centralstation Darmstadt
• HAUS | BAU | ENERGIE trade fair
• Gesundheitsmesse (health trade fair)

konaktiva, hobit and the Hochzeitsmesse have also made long term bookings.

Review 2011 – Preview 2012

Review 2011

Congresses, conferences and workshops as well as talk shows and major social events set the tone of the darmstadtium's event calendar in 2011. In its fourth year, the congress centre continued to develop and strengthen its high level of recognition in both the national and international arenas.

The following are just a few of the companies that the darmstadtium will have welcomed as guests in 2011:

Preview 2012 – a selection

darmstadtium science | congresses:
A place of inspiration – for science, business and culture

darmstadtium science | congresses is the meeting place for science, business and culture spread over 18,000 m² at the heart of the Rhine-Main metropolitan region. Enjoying an outstanding location with convenient access in the centre of Darmstadt – the City of Science – the darmstadtium is just a few steps away from the pedestrian zone in the city centre. The venue has a range of multifunctional rooms – 21 conference rooms and a large hall that can be divided into three smaller halls all incorporating state-of-the-art communication and conference technology – and foyer areas bathed in natural daylight for accompanying exhibitions. In short: the darmstadtium offers everything the heart desires in a top event location. The avant-garde architecture gives visitors an entirely new perception of space and is perfect for scientific congresses and conferences. At the same time, the darmstadtium provides an attractive setting for corporate and product presentation, prestigious receptions, cultural events and concerts.