Beyond Tellerrand Berlin 2018 – a superb experience

This year I was able to attend the Beyond Tellerrand conference the second time in 2018. After the conference in Munich where I attended as a volunteer I had the chance to attend the Beyond Tellerrand  Berlin 2018 edition. This time as a “normal” attendee. I attended with 3 of my co-workers and our company paid the tickets, travel costs and hotel for us. I confess it is nice when you don’t have to worry about money. It was the last conference in 2018 for me.

Berlin edition 2018, the last time at the Admiralspalast Studio

Unfortunately 2018 was the last Beyond Tellerrand which was held at the Admiralspalast Studio. The “Studio” is the second Theatre of the Admiralspalast. It is closing by the end of the year. The Studio will be rebuild as – you may guess it – expensive offices. ?

The ticket prices of Beyond Tellerrand are affordable, the organisation is always perfect therefore it is no wonder it was a sold out edition again.

The speaker line-up

The speaker line-up was quite interesting at the Berlin edition 2018. Not sure if it is only a personal feeling, but lately the conferences are more design driven as in former times. In fact we had only 3 technical talks. One about box alignment and two a out typography and variable web fonts. Not sure this is the reason you have nowadays much more women at the conference when a few years ago. At least it is what I see. It would be nice to read something official about it.

I think it is terrible difficult to get the right mix of talks and people for a conference. I remember the time I heard the same speakers at EVERY conference. That is not the case anymore. Marc Thiele does a great job in finding good speakers. I like the variety of experienced and new, female and male speakers. Well done, Marc!

My highlights

The talks were all very good therefore it is hard to choose the highlights. When I think back what I liked most it is always a mix of the topic and the speaker. Or better said how the speaker presented the talk. This talks were my personal highlights of Beyond Tellerrand Berlin 2018:

The Accidental (Design) Leader – Andy Budd

Box Alignment – Chen Hui Jing

Beyond Fonts: Elevating Lettering to Art – Gemma O’Brien

Conquer Variable Web Typography – Oliver Schöndorfer

In addition I want to mention Cécile Dormeau’s talk “How to represent people as they are” which was very unexpected talk about equality and feminism. And Kyle MacDonald’s story about trading his red paper clip was very entertaining.

Conclusion

The Beyond Tellerrand Berlin 2018 was a full success. I enjoyed being there with my co-workers and met some old friends as well. The talks were brilliant and entertaining. As it was the fifth Berlin edition we even got cake! And we got a “real” Beyond Tellerrand cup this time! Yes, I love this little things. 😉 If there is anything I could criticize it is the shirts. The print is awesome however most of the attendees doesn’t like white shirts too much. I experienced this as I sold the shirts at the Beyond Tellerrand in Munich this year. And the size of the woman shirts are… well… if you wear normally an M better take an L. ?

I hope I can attend a Beyond Tellerrand conference in 2019 and I advice you should do as well. Crossing fingers for Marc so he will find a nice and central new home for the Berlin edition next year.