To Author's Page
It happens not so often that a nice corporation, or rather, a German family-owned conglomerate flew you half-way across the world for a visit to their Empire State headquarter while putting you nicely in the cozy Empire Hotel.
Which is exactly what I just got to experience during the first week of October with Bertelsmann, a lovely sprawling media empire founded in 1835, who is so big it takes up space on your bookshelves, magazine stands and television screens around the world.
It it funny how you look back and start to connect the dots in your life. As I was standing on top of the OneWorld Trade centre during a hurricane in New York, I got to reflect about how this chain of events already started a few years back with my short stint at the biggest publishing house in Denmark, Politikens Hus. (Oh the here and there that have all conspired to lead me to right here right now.) 
For thanks to this brief spell working with Politiken that got me involved in the media industry, I plucked up enough courage to apply to be part of Talent Meets Bertelsmann event. After passing a selection round against other 660 candidates from 78 countries, and going through a (comically painful) first-time video interview, I was invited to Berlin in July for the three days of rigorous challenges and mega-loads of fun. And then happened to win the First Prize with my super team. 
Supremely well-organized, TMB 2015 was loaded with creative challenges and enviable treats. The super-location at Unter den Linden 1 in Berlin,  the unfailingly hippie-charm Neue Heimat exclusively deployed for the Closing Ceremony, hippie food galore, drinks and music all night, not even counting an exclusive concert with Jonathan Jeremiah from the UK, were among the highlights. So needless to say the entire event was a feat and a feast. 
The magnanimous  Bertelsmann further charmed us heads over heels by inviting the First Prize team for a trip to New York, flying us half-way across the world, promising a packed corporate as well as social agenda…But pardon, let me stop enthusing about all these flashy corporate perks and get down to Business  🙂 
During our stay in New York, we were privileged a look into the workings of Bertelsmann different divisions, through the eyes of the executives. What a joy to be able to listen to Penguin Random House employees sharing the love for their meaningful profession, the transformative time that the publishing industry is in, and most especially about their biggest win and love affair with the Fifty Shades of Grey franchise. It must also be cool to be able to brag that your company owns the spawning Pop Idol, American Idol, and all the other Idol competition programs around the world. We also got to learn about the Bertelsmann Digital Media Investment arm and their most exciting venture into the Virtual Reality world. A learning trip that showers us with plenty of disruptive ideas, dizzy happenings and revolutions in the digital and media world of today.
Fresh from the whirlwind travels, I am still so inspired and grateful for all the opportunities bestowed on me since being under the aegis of Frankfurt School. I remember since the very first moment sitting down in the beautiful hall of the magnificent Unter der Linden 1 building in Berlin, Bertelsmann had already sowed in us a powerful idea, that “It is no mistake that you are here.”
Frankfurt School gGmbH
Adickesallee 32-34
60322 Frankfurt am Main
