THE CCH again has a bulging appointment calendar for
2015. Key events such as the 20th Congress of the European
Association of Hospital Pharmacists, the 67th Congress of the
German Society for Urology and the 32nd Chaos Communica-
tion Congress have already been booked.
EDGAR HIRT, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT CON-
VENTIONS AND EVENTS at HMC, received the presti-
gious international IMEX Academy Award for the Europe
region in 2014. When conferring the award, IMEX Group Chair-
man Ray Bloom and IMEX Managing Director Paul Flackett
said, “Mr. Hirt is an industry expert who is being honoured
for his tireless promotion of the highest standards.” The IMEX
Academy Awards are bestowed worldwide on personalities
who have made a particularly significant contribution to the
convention, events and incentive industry. Edgar Hirt has
worked in convention centres for more than three decades.
He has managed the CCH since 2007.
POPULAR, FREQUENTLY RESERVED, CENTRAL:
HMC’s record year was also a record year for the CCH. In
2014, some 390,000 people attended a total of 247 events at
the Congress Center Hamburg. That was 36,500 more than in
the previous year.
With eight annual general meetings of publicly traded compa-
nies per year on average, the CCH has been among Germany’s
top three venues for shareholders’ meetings for decades. In
2014, once again, large numbers of shareholders came to the
CCH to pick up background information on the performance
of their securities. The widespread acceptance of the CCH
was also demonstrated in an evaluation by HV-Magazin für
Hauptversammlungen, the magazine for general meetings,
which named the CCH as one of Germany’s most frequently
reserved convention centres in 2014, even ranking first in the
organisation of general meetings. As the experience of the
CCH managers shows, one reason for this is that alongside
the state-of-the-art technology and professional organisation,
event organisers particularly appreciate the ability to hold
extensive supporting exhibitions. A total of 23 rooms and
exhibition and event areas spanning 10,000 square metres
are currently available for this purpose. Added to this is the
easy accessibility within the vibrant cultural and business city
of Hamburg. In the year under review, Deutsche Lufthansa
AG was the second DAX 30 company after Beiersdorf AG
to hold its 2014 Annual General Meeting at the CCH. Other
high-quality, well-attended events were the highly regarded
31st Chaos Communication Congress (20,000 participants)
and the 95th German X-Ray Congress (7,500 participants).
The biggest crowd-drawer at the sold-out CCH in 2014 was
the Dalai Lama, who had first appeared before his fans at
the CCH in 1991. Around 25,000 listeners were enthralled
by the lectures and appearances by the winner of the Nobel
Peace Prize, who was in Hamburg from 23 to 26 August at
the invitation of the Tibet Centre. The lecture programme of
the political and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people lasted
four days. In addition to spiritual and ethical topics, the
Dalai Lama addressed political issues. In his opening lecture
to over 5,000 people from the podium at the CCH, which was
lit in red and orange, the charismatic Ambassador of Peace,
also one of the most important religious leaders of our time,
provided answers to many of the issues that concern people
today. Peace doesn’t fall from the sky. We have do something
about it. Ultimately peace is everyone’s personal responsi-
bility, the popular guest underlined.
✱ ✱ ✱
Chaos Computer Club, Europe’s largest
association of hackers, comprehensively
discussed technical and social trends and
their interconnection at the CHH.
Experts exchange
knowledge
EDGAR HIRT
Senior Vice President Conventions
and Events
31
Hamburg Messe und Congress | Annual Report 2014
CCH – CONGRESS CENTER HAMBURG