Urs Wihler, Lucca Riitano, Jürgen Hanelt and Lilly Huynh at BTT

The Bühnentechnische Tagung, the traditional event for theater and event technology in Germany, took place for the 63rd time at the HanseMesse in Rostock. The VDT was represented on site by Lucca Riitano (Board Member), Urs Wihler (BIW Managing Director), Lilly Huynh (Music and Spoken Word Production Department), and Jürgen Hanelt (Theater Department). After arriving on Wednesday evening feeling a bit exhausted and going through an initial orientation phase, they joined other association representatives in the DTHG Lounge. It wasn’t a traditional trade show booth, but rather a community area with “floating desks.” First impression: a bit chaotic but pretty cool! While the lounge vibe was more conducive to strolling than lingering, conversations started quickly.

Many VDT sponsors and exhibitors were in attendance—which was great! The industry is attracting young talent; the event was well-attended and showcased a great deal of diversity. The feedback from many exhibitors was correspondingly positive; they were very satisfied with the response and visitor interest. A particular crowd-pleaser was the SoundLab, where immersive audio technologies allowed visitors to dive into the exciting world of spatial listening. Interest was high and demonstrated once again that 3D audio is no longer a niche topic—and that audio is a relevant sector within theater technology.

For the VDT and the BIW, the trip was well worth it. In addition to many conversations with colleagues, we were able to hold promising preliminary discussions with potential exhibitors for the upcoming Sound Engineers’ Conference. And since networking, as we all know, doesn’t just take place between exhibition booths, the evening program was naturally a must: The BTT party in Rostock’s harbor district offered an impressive backdrop, a maritime atmosphere, and an excellent selection of food and drinks. In short, we could have had a much worse conference.

Our conclusion: The 63rd BTT was a successful industry gathering with exciting insights, many encounters, and a delightfully vibrant audio presence. We’re already looking forward to the next one.