The Symposium of the Tallinn Architecture Biennale (TAB) 2019 has just ended and everyone involved has fresh memories of the major event. Now it is the perfect time to look back at how ABB’s involvement with TAB started, what happened during the TAB symposium and how to move forward from here.
German born Katrin Förster, who is ABB´s International Key Account Manager for Architects, initiated the headline partnership of ABB Baltics with TAB 2019. Today she shares her reflections with us.
Before TAB
Last November Katrin was approached by the head curator of the Tallinn Architecture Biennale 2019, Dr. Yael Reisner, when both met at the World Architecture Festival in Amsterdam. „Dr. Yael Reisner, who I know for quite a while today, asked me if I could consider getting involved at TAB 2019.” says Katrin. “I answered to Yael, that I certainly could not do so without the support of the local ABB team in Estonia. But although so far architects where not in the focus of ABB Baltics, it was quickly clear after contacting the colleagues in Tallinn: Yes, we will!” Katrin expresses her great respect on how enthusiastic the Estonian ABB team embraced the idea of getting involved in an event of this caliber right away and that planning of the engagement could start shortly after.
During TAB
After ABB Baltic agreed on supporting TAB 2019, Katrin travelled twice to Estonia to meet the local team and the decision makers of the Estonian Centre of Architecture, who are the organizers of TAB.
As Katrin has overseen ABB’s involvement at several major international events for architects before, her experience and her ideas have been essential on how to present ABB at TAB in general and at the TAB symposium.
“A festival like the Tallinn Architecture Biennale, where architects meet to discuss, present their own projects and celebrate each other, is always a challenge for the participating industry. How can we attract the attendees of a festival to interact with us and have a true interest in what we do and who we are?” The concept that Katrin suggested after rising this question was totally new for ABB Baltics, but it was finalized.
Together with ABB’s Estonian communication and marketing team an exclusive ABB lounge area was created for the visitors of the symposium, where YuMi served coffee and professional bartenders mixed ABB-themed non-alcoholic cocktails. “As headline partner of the Tallinn Architecture Biennale 2019 I think we found the perfect balance to catch the eye and attention of the participating architects at the symposium. By presenting our coffee making robot YuMi as an attraction and supporting the symposium with an exclusive ABB lounge, where everyone could meet and enjoy drinks, we were able to be very present without distracting anyone from the purpose of the event. Getting connected was therefore very easy for us.” states Katrin.
After TAB
“As TAB was attracting an international group of professionals, it was superb to have colleagues joining us from other ABB countries besides Estonia: Lithuania, Latvia, Finland, Russia and Germany. Thank you all for joining us! It was a great pleasure to meet you all!” says Katrin and emphasizes that
there is a lot of following up to do to keep in touch with all the new contacts made on the festival.
“If we want to be known among architects of the region: this is the very way! We should consider to be a constant partner of the Estonian Centre of Architecture” Katrin finishes.
The Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian sales teams have already met again and discussed how to follow-up and how to implement the new ideas to become a professional partner with architects and interior designers in the Baltics.
