The Year of the X Festival kicks off again in Munich at the end of April. Fittingly for the Chinese calendar, the 2017 festival is called Year of the Rooster! This business conference with a difference once again boasts a variety of interesting speakers and topics! Organizer Markus von der Luehe has already shared a few insider tips.
Markus, what is Year of the X, what is it all about?
Year of the X is an innovation festival that combines tech and wellness, true to the motto: where Buddhas meet robots. We bring on board national and international business leaders, lateral thinkers, and startups who understand that our world is undergoing lasting change as a consequence of digitalization. Our education system, our corporate cultures, and our society must adapt to the new structures created by the internet. Agile, responsive, and open are the key words here. As part of our innovation festival, we invite thought leaders from all over the world to participate in various formats, sharing inspiring stories and moderating interactive workshops.
Who is behind the event?
We are a small team: Anjali, Evelina and I are the driving forces behind the event.
How did you come up with the idea of organizing your own conference and what makes it different from others?
Most business conferences are dull and uninspiring. We decided to build an emotional brand from the outset that, alongside cool content, could convey connection, fun, and inspiration. That's how we came up with the idea of the Chinese horoscope. Every year, there's a new zodiac sign with a new personality. This year, it's the rooster. The rooster is courageous, an entrepreneur at heart, and a rule-breaker. We're using this personality to emotionally charge the festival. The entire experience, from the entrance to the stage design, will represent this theme.
How has the event developed (further) in the first few years?
We're growing. In our first year, we had 250 participants in Munich, last year we had 650, and in April we expect 1,000 visitors. We've also become significantly more international. And we've launched a new format called 33 Monkeys, where we invite all our speakers and other participants to a mountain hut after the big festival on the weekend: here we do VR workshops, for example, combine them with yoga, outdoor boot camps and campfires or play the guitar together.
“The lack of focus almost cost us our heads”
What lessons have you learned from your experiences so far? Have you ever really, or at least a little, fallen flat on your face?
Lesson learned: Despite all the idealism, the commercial focus must always be very strong. As a startup, we have limited resources and simply can't afford expensive experiments. In concrete terms, this means: there are so many opportunities and requests to do cool things, but we have to constantly question whether it makes sense. In 2015 (our first year), this lack of focus almost cost us our lives. Furthermore, it's also important to develop mental strength. As a founder, you inevitably go through highs and lows. Managing the lows has become a particular challenge for me personally. So I developed my own resilience program, which helps me better manage fears and stay focused.
You're based in Munich. Why not in hip Berlin or another city? What makes Munich so special for you?
Berlin is cool, but since we're not just a startup festival, but primarily a place where industry, agencies, and startups come together, we decided to stay in Munich. Besides, a lot is happening in Munich, especially in the B2B and IoT environment, and Bavaria is simply stronger and more relevant for us than Berlin.
From social media specialists to porn stars
You work as a startup yourself. What factors do you consider crucial for good and successful collaboration?
• Focus
• Constantly questioning whether everything we do contributes to the growth of the company
• Articulate and resolve conflicts within the team immediately
• To give everyone in the team a high degree of autonomy right from the start
Where do you see Year of the X in five years?
At its core, Year of the X is an emotional brand. Our brand values are diversity and intimacy. These could be applied to completely different products in the future. We envision, for example, a kind of retreat in the mountains or by the sea where we hold workshops, our speaker community meets regularly, and we develop initiatives with cool people. Or a wellness hotel or a completely different kind of coworking space in Munich.
What highlights await us this year?
For example, we have Alex Khan. He is a social media celebrity, has over 70k followers and is running a workshop on the topic of "How to master live stream with Periscope and FacebookWe also have the founder of Couchsurfing here, and we offer design-thinking and lean startup workshops. We also have the first virtual reality porn queen from LA here. Porn and gaming are always the first industries to adopt new technologies. There's certainly a lot to learn here. There will also be a cool surprise. The party with a campfire and food trucks will surely be cool again. Our speakers usually stay on-site. That means we can have a beer with all the people from Australia, Silicon Valley, and London and party into the Munich night.
If that doesn’t sound promising! All further information about the Year of the Rooster Festival can be found here!
