Alan Drewsen, Executive Director of INTA, advised the 300 first timers present to make the most of their first Annual Meeting by striking a balance between networking and attending the sessions, and exploring Berlin.

The event began with an audio clip from a Humphrey Bogart classic The Treasure of the Sierra Madre which was played to outline the importance of wearing your badge all the time. “Badges? We ain’t got no badges. We don’t need no badges. I don’t have to show you any stinking badges”; it went, leaving the audience chuckling.

Drewsen was joined by five panelists: Carolyn Knecht of Motorola Inc., Maximilian Kinkeldey of Grunecker Kinkeldey Stockmair & Schwanhausser and Joshua Braunstein of CT Corsearch together with Annual Meeting co-chairs Sara Blotner of Citigroup Inc. and Peter J.A. Munzinger of Bardehle Pagenberg Dost Altenburg Geissler who all shared tips on how to enjoy your first Annual Meeting.

Some of their recommendations were: to manage time wisely; to attend as many educational sessions and table topics as possible; to get involved in other INTA activities; to make the most of client meetings, and to leave enough time to explore the city.

The panelists also stressed the importance of not being too aggressive while meeting new people. Knecht provided a simile to describe how to go about attending the first Annual Meeting: “It is like dating. You want to meet new people in a comfortable environment. You want it to be natural, and not be forced or aggressive,” she said.

“Please don’t shove business cards on people’s faces,” added Kinkeldey.

The session was followed by a cocktail reception in the lobby where the audience, which mostly consisted of young trademark practitioners, had an opportunity to meet one another and put their newly learned tips into practice.