A long tradition: The trade magazine Lebensmittel Praxis (LPV) has been presenting the award for three decades. The last three years of these always in the Grand Hall. "We feel very comfortable here," explains Marc Linnig. The project manager of LPV, based in Neuwied, is responsible for organizing trade fairs and events. He does not spare praise for the Grand Hall location, its team and suppliers. "For us, it's like coming home. The girls and guys who have this in hand are just great."

High voltage at the end of the day

Around 450 guests joined in the excitement in the Grand Hall, while the expert jury of trade representatives retreated to the adjacent historic Schalthaus. When the winners (in addition to Duisburg, one Rewe store each in Munich and Berlin and another Edeka store in Brannenburg) were announced in the evening at the climax of an entire day of events, there was no holding back. In an exuberant mood, people congratulated, celebrated, hugged and ate - culinary highlights prepared by star chef Sascha Stemberg, among others.

Copyright Photo: Lebensmittel Praxis, Peter Eilers/IngoHilger

With the glittering evening event in the Grand Hall, the Germany Travel Mart (GTM), the most important networking event of the German travel industry, is officially opened by Essen's Lord Mayor Thomas Kufen. This is followed by live entertainment of which the Ruhr region is justly proud: URBANATIX with their street art acrobatics, dizzying acrobatics by the GOP Varieté and an excerpt from the "Dance Homage to Queen" by the Aalto Music Theater.

"Guests completely surprised"

The Managing Director of Essen Marketing GmbH, Richard Röhrhoff, is enthusiastic: "We have managed to completely surprise the guests." The extraordinary mix of entertainment, information, show and, of course, good food certainly contributed to this. But above all, the atmospheric ambience in the Grand Hall, which invites people to celebrate and network. "We are dealing with an absolute first-class location here," says Röhrhoff. "The Grand Hall team has implemented everything for us to the letter."

The visitor was presented with an outstanding picture: exclusive kitchen setups, skilfully interrupted again and again by tasteful retreats such as sofa landscapes, blended charmingly into the industrial backdrop of the hall. At the same time, the association incorporated the club and foyer on the lower level. GfM partners, including Neff, Siemens and Miele, showed the latest in fixtures and technical appliances, framed by massive concrete piles.

"We couldn't have picked a better place for," Ottenbacher expresses his enthusiasm. "We have so many opportunities to exhibit, make contacts and give presentations here." In addition, the Grand Hall with its great service lends itself to celebrating a party including a large buffet after the trade fair days. And then later to spend the night at the Hotel Friends on the grounds of Zollverein. "We have never before booked the same location twice in a row for our trade fair," says Ottenbacher. That's changing now: The reservation for the next GfM Trends has long been fixed - naturally and not hard to guess: 2024 in the Grand Hall.

A Tuesday, mid-November 2022, quite a bit going on in the Grand Hall. The technicians are installing everything for sound and vision, and the booth builders have already arrived. Now banners are being put up, signposts are being positioned and large-format signs of the association, whose congress starts the next day, are being hung. It was no coincidence that Carsten Neugrodda, Managing Director of KVD, Europe's largest professional association for decision-makers and talents in service, chose the Grand Hall.

The KVD, headquartered in Dorsten, invites visitors to a trade show and congress every year, in 2022 for the first time at the Zollverein World Heritage Site. "We stand for trends and future models. More and more companies are moving away from being pure product providers to a service-based business model." Actually, just like the Grand Hall, he adds. The industrial hall eventually evolved into a full-service event venue, he says. "With the story behind it, the change from history to the future, we bring the theme of the convention even closer to our guests." The KVD will be back next year, that much the managing director can already say. "We experience an unusual location here and a team that we could rely on 100% from the beginning."

Uniform design for a better overview

Neugrodda points to the uniformly set-up booths. "In consultation with the Grand Hall team, all the booths are roughly the same size and have the same design." This shows off the hall's industrial charm - and visitors have a better overview of the companies presenting themselves. If you look closely, you'll notice cozy little seating areas and bar tables between the individual exhibition areas. And, deliberately somewhat hidden behind old industrial witnesses in the form of compressors, a chill-out coworking area. A smart concept that enables short distances - after all, the KVD Service Congress 2022 is all about networking. This culminates in the networking evening that follows.

On the first of two days of the event, around 350 specialists and executives are milling around in the hall, many of whom were already there for breakfast. Behind the scenes, the caterer's team, on site since 7 a.m., is routinely putting the finishing touches on the lunch. Wraps are arranged, salads put together, berries placed on the desserts. Dinner will be taken care of later by the next shift. Speaking of shifts and short distances: Those who don't live in the Ruhr region or simply don't want to drive anymore can stay overnight at "Friends," for example, the neighboring design hotel at Zollverein.