7 Tips for Attending the OMR Festival in Hamburg

The OMR Festival 2023 is calling! Find out if and why you should attend in 2023, and our tips for attending the event.

We attended the OMR Festival in 2022 and it blew our minds. There was a varied program of lectures with insightful masterclasses, interesting exhibitors previously unknown to me, and stars from Hollywood and the German music scene.

Who Should Attend the OMR Festival?

The abbreviation is for “Online Marketing Rockstars,” but “OMR” has since become a term in its own right. The event is also expanding thematically, it's no longer just about online marketing, but increasingly about various aspects of digital transformation. The trend topic this year: How can artificial intelligence be used for marketing?

Now, besides marketing and sales professionals, the event is intriguing for anyone who has to deal with digitalization in one form or another in their job-from business managers to developers who work closely with marketing.

Meet Bright IT at the StoryBlok Booth!

We will be at OMR23 again. This time, we'll be partnering with StoryBlok to present a new marketing SaaS solution we've developed. Will we meet at the StoryBlok booth?

But now for my tips. One thing upfront: these tips are based on our experiences at OMR22. We won't know what changes will be made by OMR23 that could make our tips obsolete until the event gets closer.

Tip 1: How Should I Plan My Day?

The OMR23 program boasts many presentations and panel discussions on various topics, not just from the online marketing world. Parallel to the festival, the Finance Forward conference on digital financial solutions is also taking place, but you have to buy a separate ticket for that. There are also side events, some of which take place the day before the festival and for which you can apply via the OMR portal. In addition, there are food shows and concerts.

The list of masterclasses, guided tours and side events is already packed. However, in 2022 the program was not fully shown on the OMR website until shortly before the event started. So we'd recommend checking the program several times in the weeks leading up to the event to keep your schedule updated. The application period for the Masterclasses is technically already closed. But the organizers have extended the window for less popular Masterclasses and Guided Tours until 4 p.m. on Friday, April 28. In addition, there may still be an opportunity to participate in Masterclasses on site, if places become available due to no-shows.

Also, don't rely solely on the app to plan your day and session selection: it was unfortunately very slow and kept hanging up. I hope that this is no longer the case at this year's OMR Festival.

Very important: Include only a few must-have sessions in your daily schedule and leave plenty of time buffer between sessions – you will need some extra time for standing in queues and getting from A to B on the huge exhibition grounds. Also, feel free to stop by at our partner StoryBlok (Hall A4, booth F02) and meet us. Other than that, let yourself be carried away.

My Highlights of the OMR Festival 2022

The masterclasses were the true highlights for me: there was lots to learn here that could be immediately applied to my job.

Another unexpected highlight for me was the Expo Hall- it was filled with SaaS vendors that I had never heard of before that presented solutions suitable for the DACH region. I was able to get a lot of inspiration to make the content marketing here at Bright IT more efficient and effective.

The third highlight for us was getting to meet almost all of our partners on-site and having extensive conversations with them.

Tip: if you have partnerships with technology providers, ask them well ahead if/how they will participate in OMR and make an appointment to catch up with them.

Tip 2: How Do I Avoid the Accreditation Queues?

Last year (2022), the organizers offered the opportunity to activate your Festival Pass on site several weeks in advance and receive the event pass and wristband with a payment chip. If this is also offered in 2023 we advise that you do this if you are in the Hamburg area. If you are traveling to Hamburg just for the event, arrive one day before the event by noon if possible and go to the accreditation point at Heiligengeistfeld (Feldstraße subway station). Unlike last year, this is the only accreditation point for all attendees. You can find the opening hours of the accreditation point here.

Immediately upon receiving your festival wristband, check to see if your hand fits through. However, don't tighten the band yet if you want to take it off before the event starts. My colleague lost almost an hour at the support booth because the organizers weren't prepared for such mistakes.

If you take all this into account, you should get to the fairgrounds on the first day of the festival almost without delay.

Tip 3: Which Pass Should I Buy?

OMR has decided to simplify ticketing. At OMR23 there will be no Expo Pass. Instead, there will be only the Festival Pass with access to all areas except the Finance Forward conference, and the Finance Forward Conference ticket that also gives you access to the latter. For the organizers, this simplifies attendee management, and for attendees it means same rights and opportunities for all.

Tip 4: Look Out for Ticket Promos

In 2022, the organizers of the OMR Festival offered Expo Pass holders a free upgrade to the ten times more expensive Festival Pass – while supplies lasted. To do so, you had to post ten authentic and in-depth reviews of software on OMR Reviews within the promotional period. You must use or have used this software professionally.

For OMR23, the organizers already had a ticket promotion for Black Week. However, the contingent was used up in no time at all. There was also a discount promotion for the Finance Forward conference in December 2022. However, the people at OMR are not ruling out further promotions. Therefore, keep your eyes open and check OMR's channels regularly to avoid missing such opportunities. Maybe there are still last-minute offers.

Tip 5: How Do I Satisfy My Hunger Quickly?

The queues at the food trucks and food stalls at OMR22 were huge. Other participants reported waiting times of up to an hour. My colleague and I were lucky and found two stands with acceptable lunches and prices without a queue in the hustle and bustle at lunchtime in the Food & Networking Hall.
It pays to quickly compare the different booths and, with a little luck, eat a sufficiently filling meal faster than many other attendees. Perhaps the organizers have come up with an innovative solution for the OMR Festival 2023 that will reduce the queues. However, it's smart to put a few granola bars in your pocket.

If you want to avoid the high prices at the fair: There are many restaurants just across the street from the South Entrance to the fair. However, some of these restaurants only accepted cash and were probably, for this reason, not so busy. Take some cash with you so you can avoid crowded restaurants and get to eat faster. Of course, we hope that more stores will have moved along in their digital transformations and offer digital payment options.

Tip 6: Where to Sleep?

This tip should be a no-brainer. With 70,000 attendees and the hype surrounding OMR Festival, you should book your accommodation as early as possible, preferably a month or two in advance. If you want to stay within walking distance of the fairgrounds or the after-party hotspots in the Schanzenviertel and St.Pauli, then book even earlier. Otherwise, make sure that you can easily reach the OMR Festival by public transport. 

The fairgrounds are very easy to reach by various subways and S-Bahn lines until late at night, while cabs are not always immediately available. As a native of Hamburg, I recommend booking accommodation with ample breakfast, located on one of the train lines with at least 10-minute intervals and the minimum travel time you can tolerate. Rather than using Google Maps, check the route, travel time, and headways on the website or app of the Hamburg Transport Association (hvv.de).

Tip 7: Help Shape the Next OMR Festival

After the event is before the event. The organizers collect feedback from participants through various channels. Various visitors shared their impressions on LinkedIn during the festival, including what they liked and what they missed. For example, several visitors noted that there should be a dedicated B2B section at the next festival, as the festival program in 2022 was almost all about B2C content. I brought up my idea of a forum where marketing and IT professionals can interact to understand each other better. This way, a company can tap more of the huge potential that Mar Tech offers.

After the event, if there are things you'd like to see done differently, you should get in touch, OMR is listening.

In Conclusion…

Even though I could not do everything I had planned to do at the OMR Festival 2022, it was worth the time and money. I got a lot of inspiration and ideas for my job as a marketer and for our company. For this reason, I will go again in 2023. Will I see you there?