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VLB EVENTS
Every crisis also presents opportunities So far, VLB has weathered the COVID-19 crisis relatively well. Contract analysis and research projects have remained stable. However, there have been negative impacts in the area of events and training. We spoke with Dr. Josef Fontaine, the VLB Managing Director responsible for this segment, about current developments and future plans in this business area.
Digitalization is also unstop pable in the event sector: Florian Schrickel during the recording of the digital pre sentation of his research project in the new VLB media studio
How have VLB’s activities in the area of seminars and conferences developed so far this year during the COVID-19 crisis? Fontaine: In February, we were still looking forward to a successful year of events. However, this business area came to almost a complete stop from March onwards due to COVID-19. We had to cancel four major conferences in Germany and three international events. We also had to interrupt the ongoing courses in our training and education center in Berlin, but, in the end, we were able to keep them going by quickly switching to digital teaching methods. From May onwards, it was possible to attend classes at our premises again, under strict conditions. Special thanks go to my colleague Gerhard Andreas Schreiber, who, together with our team, very quickly developed and implemented a comprehensive hygiene concept for VLB. Did training courses have to be cancelled? Fontaine: No. Our certified brewmaster course was completed in July as scheduled. The next course starts in January 2021 as a hybrid event. This means that participants can choose whether they complete the theoretical part of this training course inhouse in Berlin or from home. However, they will need to attend the practical part of the course inhouse in Berlin starting in May 2021. The German-language brewmaster course was also completed as planned, including the exams of the Chamber of Crafts. The fact that we have relied on a distributed learning concept from the very beginning of the course 2019/2020 has proven
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to be a stroke of luck. We are very pleased that the 2020/2021 course just started with 23 participants. Our course for the master distiller exam has finally been finished successfully in October. So you can see that we were able to continue our training courses despite the pandemic, albeit under more difficult conditions. What are VLB’s plans for the future? Are there any new offers in the inhouse courses? Fontaine: We have been busy considering different concepts over the past few months. After a lot of deliberation, we have decided to enter the field of sommelier training as well. Together with our partners, Hotel Michelberger Berlin and Preussische Spirituosen Manufaktur, we will offer a two-week advanced training course to become a certified beer and spirits sommelier. This inhouse course begins at the end of February 2021. In addition, there is a new series of training courses under the title VLB Brewery Expert Course. The course teaches current brewing knowl-
Brauerei Forum International – November 2020
edge in a limited subject area with a strong emphasis on practical use. The first module will focus on beer filtration and will take place in December. Digital training courses are very popular at the moment. What is VLB doing in this respect? Fontaine: Previously, we were focused on offers in our training and education center. Due to the restrictions caused by the pandemic, we had to take a closer look at digital training offers. Established VLB courses such as “Micro Malting in Practice” and “Craft Brewing in Practice” took place entirely online. We have also successfully carried out online training courses and seminars for customers in Southeast A sia and South America. We are currently developing more digital courses. We will continue to view these as a supplement to our inhouse courses in the future and will therefore only offer these online seminars for a fee. What will happen with the in-person conference events that VLB hosts?
