WEBMU 2012 - Berlin - WHEW!

Photo credit: Cliff

I wasn't even
drinking that night!

Whew! That was a whirlwind WEBMU! 

The Hauptstadt welcomed a fantastic group of expat bloggers to explore, eat, drink and enjoy the general merriment. It really was loads of fun. Thanks to everyone for coming and making it such a great experience.

It was another WEBMU which took my voice away. After an entire weekend of what seems like non-stop talking, I almost always lose my voice, and this year was no different.

We put together four days of events and pretty much filled every waking moment for folks who were able to pick and choose what they wanted to attend. As always there was excellent food to be had. We feasted at Dolores, The Bird, Due Forni, Frida Kahlo and no Berlin experience would be complete without at least one Currywurst.

Stasi Museum

Since so many of the folks are seasoned Berlin tourists, it was decided to concentrate on two Kieze in east Berlin, namely Friedrichshain and Prenzlauer Berg. We toured the Stasi Museum, and checked out two of Berlin's bunkers with Berliner Unterwelten. 

Paul Sullivan of Slow Travel Berlin led us through a Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood discussing everything from its humble beginnings as a brewery/beer garden, to the unique architecture and lifestyle of the Kiez most popular with young couples wishing to push a pram. After a fantastic lunch - which was thoughtfully planned to coincide with a HUGE rainshower - we continued on to the Karl-Marx-Allee. There we learned about the grand plans of the GDR to build a monumental boulevard lined by "wedding cake" style buildings designed to hold the "working man" and his family in style. The tours were great and I heartily recommend his services to anyone wishing to discover the hidden sides of Berlin at a slow and easy pace.

Photo credit: Cliff

However for me, the coolest part of any WEBMU experience is getting to know those bloggers I read throughout the year. There are a group of folks who come back time after time, and I have to say that I look forward to WEBMU mostly to see them again.

The Regensbloggers, are the core of the event itself. Even though every city has its own organisers, it couldn't be done without them. Thanks again you two. Ian of Letters Home never ceases to crack me up after he has a few drinks down his gullet. I thought I was going to bust a gut when I looked down the table and saw Heidelbergerin with this HUGE grin on her face and a drink in each hand.

Photo credit: Cliff

No WEBMU would be complete without our resident smart ass, PapaScott. The Honourable Husband of Deutschland über Elvis fame not only came, ate, drank and took in Berlin with the rest of us... he also took me for a ride in his BIG ASS CAR! The Geek Mädel stayed with me and Deputy No at Chez Snooker, and was an absolute dream of a roomie... well, except for the cold she so nicely shared. But we won't hold that against her (I blame her boss). Der Mann and Resident on Earth aka Resident EVIL slipped in and out of the group delightfully.  

My "co-hostess-with-the-mostest" (sorry, I had to steal it) from No Apathy Allowed was ever present, ever helpful and got soooo many bonus points for saving seats over the weekend. I hear rumors that she's considering a move to Wiesbaden (or wherever) for the next WEBMU because helping to organise two events just isn't enough.

Stasi Museum
Buttonhole camera

The newbies were a lot of fun. I really enjoyed getting to know the year's cutest bride, Sarah Stäbler. I actually had to drag Deputy No out of a bar one night because they were having so much fun chatting. This was the first WEBMU for Der Irische Berliner, although I've previously had the distinct pleasure of knocking back a few with our own home town funny man. Dixie of Top Floor Corner IS every bit as sweet as Mausi told me she would be. Speaking of whom... Christina darlin, you were missed. Next year, OK?

I love's me some stairs!

Must say that Steven of Doin’ Time on the Donau showed himself to be a great sport. In a cute little Irish Pub I managed to make an absolute fool of myself. About 3.5 minutes after a fresh Coke was set before him, I somehow dumped the entire thing into his lap. He completely took it in stride, and I applaud (and thank) him for that. Good-naturedly he commented that he had another pair of jeans at the hotel and that it would be no big deal. Well, we all know that it sucks to be travelling and have something like that happen. Steven, it was fun to meet you finally... and may I say that it was a pleasure to encounter a true gentleman. I'm still looking forward to that dance mix list you promised. 

All in all it was a great weekend from which I have needed the better part of a week to recover. It seems that I barely pulled my camera out the entire time, which is simply not like me. But thankfully Regensblogger Cliff was busy with his cool-ass camera and flash!

How about some of the other bloggers' thoughts on the event?
Sarah: WEBMU & My Trip to the Embassy

Regensblog: Stasi Museum via WEBMU 2012 in Berlin

No Apathy Allowed: Berlin WEBMU 2012: The Report
Steven Glassman: Another Weekend in Berlin

Until next year!!

Bag Lady Extrordinaire - WEBMU 2012 Berlin

Wow, what can I say about putting together a WEBMU in Berlin? Actually I must say that the experience has been fun. Not just the set up, but the event itself has put a ginormous smile on my face. I mean, getting together a group of bloggers who live in Germany yet blog in English? These are my people! It is a fantastic opportunity to see some old friends and to make some new ones. 

I simply need to say that WEBMU 2012 in its current form would not have been possible without the invaluable help of Deputy Sweet No. My wife stepped up and arranged so many details that I hesitate to list them all lest the reader believe that I did nothing for the event… hm. My lovely co-hostess of No Apathy Allowed fame certainly did her part when she was actually in the city. Poor girl, I’m still not 100% certain if she truly lives in Bremen or in Berlin, she’s travelling that much. Certainly the participants have seen her at almost all of the events, but what they might not know is how much work she's been putting in with the last minute plans to make certain that all goes smoothly. I offer a sincere and heartfelt thank you to both of them.

Let’s not forget our Keymasters, the Regensbloggers. Without their continued backup and direction, these events would never come off. They are the ones who keep all the computer-based forums, Whiney Expat Bloggers Blog, Facebook, and Twitter type stuff running smoothly along with so many other little but 100% essential things. What they do is really constant work and we all owe them a deep bow of gratitude for their cooperative and may I add incredibly patient way of helping with so many things.

Coming back to Sweet No. When I told her that the WEBMU was coming to Berlin and that I would be on the organizing committee, she really didn’t look incredibly enthused. Not being an expat, she doesn’t completely understand the desire to be amongst people of your own “kind”.

But I must say that she liked the idea of the organization of the event. I tentatively asked for her help in dealing with some reservations, and she simply asked for a list of who, what, when, and where. Once she had agreed to help, I should have given her a silver star to denote her new-found deputy status. One day I casually mentioned that we needed a WEBMU bag, and some things to put in it. Well, I was thinking about a printed schedule, maybe a city map, surely a public transportation grid would be helpful, and anything else she could think of. OH, well THIS sounded like much more fun to her. She LOVES to do this kind of thing, communicating often with companies to let them know of her disapproval or gratitude as it suits her. (Someday remind me to tell you what happened when Haribo released a “new and improved” Gummi Bear!!)

The next thing I knew, she was writing to companies like Deutsch Perfekt, ExBerliner, Starbucks, Cinestar, etc. Telling them that we were going to have a blogger event and wouldn’t they like to belly up with some nice freebies for some crazy bloggers. I quietly shook my head and wished her luck. She pushed a poor KaDeWe Praktikantin to the edge with requests for the one bag I really wanted… the KaDeWe black canvas bag. In the end the young lady simply could not make it happen, but did offer a city map with a 10% discount card for Europe’s most famous department store.

One day after work as I walked into our hallway expecting a welcoming kiss, No began waving four Cinestar passes in front of my face. I was excited! I was thinking YEAH! Thanks Honey, how did you know? “They’re not for YOU! They’re for WEBMU.” Well, actually she didn’t say WEBMU per se… because she just never GOT the name. “That blogger event” is about the most she has accomplished all along. Nonetheless I was quickly coming to the conclusion that writing back and forth with these companies was actually working.

Once we walked into a favorite French café in Prenzlauer Berg and saw a local newsletter on the table. “Look Snooker, we should write them too!” Sure Honey… ‘we’ should. Potsdamer Platz was also in her line of fire and received her emails until someone came through with brochures and a walking tour on CD for that area. Ritter Sport got put on the spot as well, but was very nice in their refusal. Several others on her target list said that they couldn’t possibly give out freebies to every event coming to town, and we understood. My caffeine-crazed cranium was really hoping for Starbucks… tee hee hee… but they were in this thanks but no thanks category.

Some of them didn’t answer at all, which really upset her, so she went back at it until she got SOMETHING from them, even if it was a refusal. Deutsch Perfekt magazine (German language help) which is part of the HUGE Spotlight Verlag group wasn’t getting off the hook so easy. It was a no-brainer, as they say. English speaking expats living in Germany? Well DUH. She wrote them until they came up with an offer of back issues, which made her happy.

One day she asked me for more ideas and I suggested that searching “Made in Berlin” might be a nice place to start. That started another email blast out to local businesses catering to the Berlin crowd. By this time I think she was losing interest, but she did connect with a local startup selling chocolate pralines named Höflich Schokolade. This gentleman was very interested in her offer. He is trying to "get into" supermarkets with his product and can use all the exposure, (and web links) he can get. After personally sampling WAY too much of his rich coconut/white chocolate concoctions… I think I can say with no reservation that he should have no trouble with his product. It’s good… Too good.

iPhone photos kinda suck

Which leaves us with NO BAGS in which to deliver all of this stuff. Hmm… What to do? I had an idea for the bags. The hipsters here in Berlin seem to all have one of the simple canvas shopping bags sporting a sarcastic iron-on fashionably dangling from one shoulder. That’s what we need! Oh, and wouldn’t it be cool to have the WEBMU 2012 logo on it? Click to Amazon, oh yes… quite possible. But hey, that costs money. Damn. “What about that guy you took photos for? The one that was trying to catch illegal moving companies? He might like to help.” 

No kidding, he did. He runs an establishment which organises forwarding agents throughout Berlin and Brandenburg. Since he has an indirect interest in making certain that expats get their belongings on time and in good shape… as well as companies and whoever else ships around the world, he could see the benefit to his organisation. Instantly upon approach he smiled. “No problem, I can help”.  Before I knew it, our bags and some other incidental costs were underwritten by VVL (his organisation) which simply requested that people would check with AMÖ, a professional movers organization before they begin their move. Their basic interest is maintaining a list of moving companies with quality standards which the companies must maintain.

All in all it has been fun. Considering what to do, how to do it, where to go, and when has been a challenge. Offering as many interesting events to folks as possible in order to give them the opportunity to pick and choose how to spend their time in Berlin was the general idea. Cliff says that the next city is going to have a lot to live up to, and that maybe they will feel some pressure. But hell, since Bremen, I've known that there would be a lot to live up to. Poodle, (aka Claire of Cheeseburgers and Sauerkraut fame) really did a great job on the first one I ever attended for certain, and they've all been great in their own way, and most certainly lots of fun. 

Wiesbaden? Are you up for the challenge?

The Hauptstadt will never be the same. 

Berlin is going to host WEBMU (Whiney Expat Bloggers Meet-Up) this year! 

Put September 7-9 in your calendar and get your chance to meet your favorite expat bloggers face to face.

Looking back, we've had WEBMU meet-ups so far in Bonn (2006), Dresden (2007), Bremen / pics (2008), Munich pics (2009), Hamburg / pics (2010), and Cologne / pics (2011). 

I've had the pleasure of being a part of Bremen, Munich & Cologne and found them to be exciting and interesting. I always end up with no voice and new friends... even when I've been a bad - ahem, absent - blogger, they still welcome me with open arms. It really is a great group of people.

Finally after hinting at it for years, the group has decided to bring this bunch of craziness to Berlin! Whew, I guess this means I need to find a thinking cap! Mandi of No Apathy Allowed and I will be putting together the details. Thankfully she's an old hat at this, since she helped put the Hamburg WEBMU together.

If you’re blogging/Tweeting in English while living in Germany, and think it would be fun to hang out with other English-language bloggers talking about the thrills and pitfalls of being an Ausländer in Deutschland – Come to BERLIN!

New to Expat Bloggers in Germany? 

It isn't just an event. It is a forum for people just like us. Need to know where to find your Christmas Crackers in Munich? Just ask. Looking for help about how to more easily assimilate into the German world? We've been there, done that, and can help you too.
Register yourself for the discussion board and prepare to laugh, talk, make new friends and generally enjoy yourself at WEBMU 2012!!