Interview with Sabrina Fragale

What can an in-person conference offer that a screen cannot replace, and what role does the venue play in this?

Especially at a scientific conference, nothing can replace face-to-face interaction. The presentations themselves are only part of the conference experience.
Just as important are the conversations between sessions, spontaneous encounters, professional discussions, and personal networking.

A good venue must therefore offer much more than just sufficient space. It should encourage interactions, provide clear wayfinding, and at the same time allow several thousand attendees to move around intuitively and easily. Equally important are well-placed quiet areas for private conversations and small-group discussions.

This combination of openness, interaction, and quiet reflection ultimately creates the framework for what makes our conference special: a place of shared connection and a true “family reunion” for our community.

How do you translate the diverse needs of academia, personal interaction, and industry into spaces and visitor experiences?

For us, it is crucial not to view science, personal interaction, and industry in isolation from one another, but rather as parts of a shared conference experience.
At the DGGG Conference, the scientific program, industry exhibition, networking, and numerous other formats come together. Accordingly, it is important to plan the layout in a way that keeps distances short, facilitates meaningful connections, and naturally integrates the various areas with one another.

The ICM offers us excellent conditions for this. Large academic conferences, smaller seminars and meetings, as well as exhibition, lounge, and networking areas, can all be brought together under one roof. The layout of the halls and spaces is particularly valuable: the different formats flow seamlessly into one another, allowing participants to move effortlessly between academic sessions, networking, and industry events.

Was there a moment during the planning process when you thought, “This is exactly why Messe München’s venues are the right choice for the DGGG Congress”?

In fact, this is particularly evident whenever our many individual requirements come together to form a cohesive, functional overall concept. The DGGG Congress has a complex structure and is correspondingly challenging to plan. The fact that we can meet all these different requirements within a single venue—and, in doing so, consistently develop customized solutions together—is a major advantage of the ICM for us.

For me personally, working closely with the Messe München team on site is particularly important. At an event of this magnitude, it’s incredibly valuable to have contacts by your side who are familiar with the conference, its procedures, and its unique aspects—and who respond to last-minute challenges in a straightforward, solution-oriented manner.

At the ICM, this collaboration works seamlessly. Thanks to our long-standing partnership, we’ve come to understand each other almost without words in many situations.
It’s precisely in these moments that I think: This is the right place for our conference.

What advice would you give to other event organizers who are looking for the right venue for their next major event?

Don't just focus on square meters, space capacity, and technical specifications. Of course, these basics have to be right. Just as important are short communication lines, flexibility, and, above all, the people you'll be working with over many months.
Even with the most careful planning, large-scale conferences always involve situations that change at the last minute or require spontaneous solutions. That’s exactly when the quality of a venue really shines through: when not only the physical conditions are right, but the staff on site also responds flexibly, professionally, and courteously, and everyone works together to quickly find a good solution.