Abstract
This contribution aims to give a short insight into the events taking place in the house of applied research in Bolzano, South Tyrol from the opening of the headquarters on September 13th, 2002, till today and tomorrow. The meetings and business events sector are a high-value fast-growing component of a visitor economy, above all also underpins knowledge creation and exchange, innovation and investment. All of which contribute significantly to the broader economic and social policy aspirations of a research institution and its destination. With the pandemic a new perspective arose. In the future, it will be crucial both to be a good host and to create ideal conditions for personal meetings in a stimulating atmosphere, as well as to design events with technical know-how and the necessary infrastructure – from IT to mobility – so that people from all over the world can be interconnected. Based on the vision and framework conditions mentioned above, the key to this concept is the holistic expansion of what has already made a conference and congress venue so strong in the past: knowledge and perfect implementation skills meet emotional experiences. Those who offer their participants emotional access to their offerings, also with digital events, will remain in their minds for a long time and will be a further building block of a shared, global knowledge.