KL: Welcome Mr. Müller! I’m very pleased to talk to the organizer of a congress with over 600 participants. Not an easy job for a student!
CM: Well, thanks for having me here. Yes, it was not so easy. We faced a lot of problems, which were difficult to handle, during the organizational process but in the end everything worked out. Nevertheless we had a lot of fun and many moments I’ll never forget!
KL: Like…
CM: Like the last day before the congress. At that day our caterer called and told us that he can´t come and serve food. This was quite a heart attack for all of us. But in the end, it turned out to be a huge misunderstanding and everything ran perfectly.
KL: Why do EBS students organize such a huge real estate congress and not professionals? By the way, how old are you?
CM: It´s part of the EBS Bachelor program that students in their first year organize themselves in the so called “resorts”. One of these resorts is “EBS Real Estate” which has to plan and host the yearly EBS Real Estate Congress. But without the help and advice from the EBS Real Estate Management Institute it wouldn’t be possible to have such a great event every year.
For us, the students, this congress and the organization process is really a huge challenge but also a great opportunity to learn and to gain experience. Most of us are between 19 and 23 years old; I´m 22 years old.
KL: But shouldn’t the same team organize the congress every year? What is the reason to have juniors arrange the event?
CM: Yes, to have the same team every year would make things easier. But we want to give every student in his/her first semester the chance to develop and grow by organizing the congress, and we want them to realize their own ideas. This may be the additional charm of our congress that other congresses don´t have.
Nevertheless, we see the problem. Right now, we model an advisory board that should promote and guide the new students.
KL: What are the things that need to be done first or to put it another way, what things need to be always beard in mind?
CM: There are plenty of things and problems one always has to keep in mind. You have to consider the speakers and their treatment, the recruiting fair, the catering, the vital technology and the ticket system, just to name a few. But for us, the most important aspect was to satisfy the participants, to spread and provide knowledge and to be a good platform for networking within the industry.
KL: What is the best way to organize yourself and how did you manage to keep your team under control?
CM: It definitely requires a lot of discipline and effort from all of the organization team. Personally, you need a good time management because you have to visit all lectures and to take all the exams beside the congress organization. Furthermore, it was not always easy to bring all the different interests to a consensus. That required an efficient communication from all the stakeholders.
Overall, my team did a great job during the entire process. Sometimes a few team members struggled a little bit, but after a personal talk everybody was back on track.
KL: What are the things that need to be done differently next year? Why did it go wrong this year?
CM: We are very happy that there occurred no tremendous events or unforeseeable incidents. For the next year, we want to improve the odds and ends; there are always things that can be done better.
One huge step for the next year might be the tent in front of the event hall. Having that tent enables us to invite more than 700 participants and would make way for more companies at the recruiting fair.
Other differences are the workshops that we want to offer to the students in order to build a stronger relationship between them and their future employers.
KL: Why have you chosen to participate in the organization of the congress? Why not register for another resort? What were you hoping to learn by that?
CM: “EBS Real Estate” is not my only resort, I´m also member of two other resorts. Nevertheless, “EBS Real Estate” is my main resort and consumed probably 80% of my time.
The decision to join this resort was definitely affected by the personalities around. Prof. Rottke and my two predecessors, Friederike Ströh and Manuel Yoon, did a great job in promoting this congress and the idea behind it. But it was also the Real Estate Industry and its (often) hidden potential that interested me.
My expectations were very imprecise when I started the work. I hoped to gain knowledge about the industry, the personalities and organizing itself. But when we realized which dimension the work would take on, I knew that we all would learn a lot.
In the end, I have to say that all the suffering and work were worth it. Working in a great team, seeing things grow and watching people which enjoy the congress is more than a satisfying award.
KL: What would you propose to all new students at EBS when deciding what resort they want to be part of?
CM: Choose “EBS Real Estate”!
Seriously, I highly recommend this resort because there will be a growing challenge every year. This is an opportunity were you can learn things and develop skills that you won´t find in any textbook or lecture note.
KL: Did any participants of the congress give you some kind of feedback? What did they say?
CM: Yes, quite a few participants gave us some feedback. Generally, the feedback was very positive but also some good ideas for upcoming congresses.
KL: Well, that was quite interesting. Thanks! I’m looking forward to the next 12th Real Estate Congress in February 2011! Will you join the event?
CM: I really hope that I can make it. Unfortunately, I´m overseas at that time but I will try to join this “Davos of the Real Estate Industry”.