Telekom presents itself with a large stand at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. This is my first time at the event. One element is repeated again and again on the stand. Of course ... it's quite magenta, but the same lettering appears everywhere: #TAKEPART. That's Telekom's message. We want to let people participate. Today, on the first day of the fair, the hashtag couldn't fit better.
The doors will be opened to visitors for the first time at nine o'clock in the morning. It is Monday, the first day of the fair. Then everything happens very fast. Many journalists are cavorting on the stand. First interviews are given and visitors ask the first questions at the exhibits.
It is my first MWC and the first trade fair that I accompany for Telekom. Since I'm new to the company, some of the topics are completely new to me. But one element connects everything: #TAKEPART or in German #DABEI. It's a hashtag, which until now has only been an element of communication for me. Today, here at the booth, it shows its real power.
With the hashtag, Deutsche Telekom wants to put the motto of participation to the front. What does that mean? For me, it's not just the connection to faster Internet, 5G, campus networks or other major innovations that were presented today at the press conference. It is also the motto that unites all the employees at the stand. They show, explain and immerse visitors in their respective topics. Precisely because they want visitors to participate. Everyone is literally absorbed in his or her own topic. The stress is as good as forgotten.
Even though only one day has passed at the trade fair, I have the feeling that I have already learnt more than during the entire preparation. It is then something different than clicking through a briefing, a media folder or a presentation. I am deeply impressed by colleagues who explain the product or topic to me and who are proud to have contributed to it.
The topic or the technology behind it can seem so complicated and distant to me. When the people at my stand show and present content with so much heart and soul in it, the visitors want to be #DABEI and I anyway!