Just got home from being at the Berlin event and I have to say it was super disappointing. To have an event in Berlin and have it not reflect anything about the city, its culture, its style, the people who live here, and to totally ignore what the city is about was really a huge let down. I love this city, which is why I moved here from New York, why I am married to a Berliner, and why I started a business here. This city is made up of creative, open minded, liberal, interesting, and unique people. 15 - 20% of the people in this city make their living in the music industry, a much larger portion are involved in the scene some way (working in the nightlife industry) - it is commonplace to havea dj playing at a bar, in a shop, even in a park... You literally can't hold out your arm in the ubahn without hitting someone who is a dj (as one of their jobs) and yet Google decided to play Spotify radio garbage music without a dj or band, totally ignoring that huge part of Berlin culture. Literally thousands of djs and aspiring artists would have loved the chance to play this event (and 99% of them would have done it for free). So that was one big miss on Berlin culture, fine. The venue for the event (the Prenzlauer Berg stattbad) was an "ok/safe" choice (even though for a fraction of the cost the organizers could have picked an interesting venue that reflected Berlin style and fashion by going with one of the hundreds of readily rentable Club, warehouse, or gallery spaces which are all used to handling events of all sizes for either music or fashion) but it was extremely boring and the decoration and setup had nothing to do with the unique gritty and "cool" style that has made Berlin an international hub for alternative style and design. Berlin hosts alternative fashion week, Berlin had one of the most thriving street art and graffiti cultures in Europe, and Berlin has some of the most talented young graphic and visual designers in the world who again (just like with the music) would have loved to work on this event, who could have made it visually interesting, and would have ensured it reflected Berlin culture. Again, so many people would have done this for free, but it seemed like Google paid some huge company who was oblivious to what happens in Berlin to throw a party that would have fit much better in the "normal/clean/boring" major cities in Germany like Stuttgart or München. So the "ambiance" was another huge miss on one of the things that really defines Berlin, ok fine. Then we come to the drink situation. How can anyone, in any state of mind, throw a party in Berlin and not have a pilsner beer option? The organizers seemed to be promoting a craft beer (which came in Porteer or pale ale) which claimed to be a "Berlin" beer but I have never seen or heard of in my life. I spend a good amount of time out in Berlin (as reflected by my 320+ reviews) and I have never once hear of this beer - if the organizers wanted to feature a real "Berlin" beer then they had plenty of options which reflect what people actually drink in bars, restaurants, in spatis, or at home - Berliner Pilsner, Berliner Kindl, Rollberg (pilsner or red) immediately come to mind. Seriously though, an event supposedly embracing Berlin can't not have pilsner beer, the most popular style of beer in all of germany. So on the drink side that was a bit of another missed opportunity to actually integrate Berlin culture. When it came to food, this was the biggest fail in my eyes. Berlin is a city with a thriving, exciting, and interesting food scene. Right now there are hundreds of new cool restaurants opening up each month and every week there are food markets where you can walk around and sample food from hundreds of restaurants and street vendors. How in the world did the event organizers miss the boat and not have the idea to invite restaurants, vendors, and stands to come set up a little food market (creating an mini markethalle neuen) here? As someone who has most of my Google guide points from restaurants and food photos from around Berlin (and the world), seeing catering with Currywurst and a tofu burger option at an event that is supposed to represent this city was a laughable joke. The way the event was set up (with everyone hearing in all at once and waiting in line to get our name tags in the beginning) , the planning (or a parent lack thereof), and the overall experience was, in one word, disappointing. Of course I am a little biased because I organize parties here in Berlin so I could see all of the missed opportunities, but the whole feeling of the event, the total lack of a vibe, the total boringness and failure to integrate anything "Berlin" really has turned me off of the Google guides program. I had the false hope that this program was something that Google was doing to show that they really cared about Berlin and wanted the guides and maps and Google as a tool to be able to better reflect and serve the Berlin market but tonight I saw that Google probably wasted 10-20k paying a firm that had nothing to do with Berlin to throw an event that also had nothing to do with Berlin and could have just as easily been in the Shriners lodge in Iowa.
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Matt
2022
