2006/08/29

Potsdam invites you to the City of Ideas

Potsdam/Berlin, 24.08.2006 – On 8 and 9 September 2006, around one hundred of Europe’s leading opinion and media creators will be returning to Potsdam to attend the second M100 Sanssouci Colloquium.

The programme for this year’s renowned event, which, amongst other things, is being staged together with the business location initiative “Germany – Land of Ideas”, was presented during the press conference in the recently rebuilt Hans Otto Theater, close to the Schiffbauergasse. On the occasion of the presentation, the Mayor of Potsdam, Jann Jakobs, and Mike de Vries, Managing Director of FC Deutschland GmbH put their seal on the cooperation. In this context, Mayor Jakobs promised “24 hours of intensive discussion, controversial debate and exciting conversations beautifully framed in the breathtaking surroundings of the Potsdam Palaces and gardens – this makes this years meeting of around one hundred European media representatives to one of the unique events of its kind.”

Mike de Vries, coordinator of the campaign “Germany – Land of Ideas”, congratulated Potsdam on this important event. “The M 100 media meeting in Potsdam is a unique opportunity to promote European dialogue. This aim corresponds to the intentions of the initiative ‘Germany – Land of Ideas’. We are campaigning abroad for a more positive view of Germany, one that – far removed from typical clichés – can lead to a better understanding and frankness between the peoples of Europe.”
Also in attendance, alongside prominent German media figures, like Josef Joffe, Mathias Döpfner, Stefan Aust or Bodo Hombach, are the British columnists Robert Fox, Martin Kettle and Melanie Philips, the French presenter Christine Ockrent, the Serbian political correspondent Ljubica Markovic and Danny Rubinstein, representative of the Israeli daily paper Ha’aretz. The prelude to the event, on Friday afternoon, will be hosted by the Premier of the State of Brandenburg, Matthias Platzeck. This will be followed by a keynote speech from Bernard-Henry Lévy, the French philosopher, Israel expert and government advisor. In the evening, Chancellor Angela Merkel will be attending the presentation ceremony of the M100 Sanssouci Media Award 2006.

The focus of this year’s colloquium is “The media in times of international crisis”. At hardly any other moment in time has this theme been so topical and is currently more important than ever – what and how do the media report? What duties and what role should they fulfil? Where are the limits? Where does freedom of the press end? How significant is the Internet in influencing public opinion? These are all questions the participants at the M100 will be addressing.


Background information:

Once a year, M100 invites one hundred leading opinion and media creators from across Europe M100 to meet in Potsdam. The aim is to make a contribution to the further opening of national publicity within a European society. As an event, the M100 Press Meeting is unique in its form as a forum for European discourse.

M100 is made up of the M100 Sanssouci Colloquium, the M100 Youth Media Workshop, a platform for up-and-coming young journalists between 18 and 25, and the M110 Media Award, presented annually for outstanding contributions to the intensification of cultural understanding. , Additional flanking cooperation events are also staged, in 2006, this will be the M100 Offshoot Workshop, with around 25 young journalists from Eastern Central Europe taking part.
The M100 International Media Meeting 2005 was initiated during Potsdam’s candidature for the title of “European Capital of Culture 2010”.

M100 takes place annually during the Berlin-Brandenburg Media Week and is presented within the framework of the “Germany – Land of Ideas “ campaign. M100 is supported by the State Capital, Potsdam and the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH (Media Board of Berlin-Brandenburg). The event is also staged with the support of the Federal Government’s Press and Information Office. The main sponsors of this year’s M100 are eBay GmbH and Vattenfall Europe AG. Cooperation partners are the State of Brandenburg, the Stiftung Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg (Palaces and Parks Foundation), the Hans Otto Theater Potsdam, the Youth Press of Germany UFA and Grundy UFA, the Weidenfeld Institute for Strategic Dialogue, the Reuters Foundation and the Wincott Foundation.

Contact:

M100-Sanssouci Colloquium Office

Miriam Weber

Am Alten Markt 9

14467 Potsdam

Germany

Tel +49 (0)331 201 0100

Fax +49 (0)331 201 0111

contact@m100potsdam.org
www.m100potsdam.org

You can obtain more information on the “Germany – Land of Ideas” initiative at www.land-of-ideas.org.

About “Germany - Land of Ideas”<'/b>


“Germany – Land of Ideas“ is a joint location initiative of the Federal Government and German industry, represented by the Federation of German Industry (BDI). The aim of the initiative is to portray Germany, at home and abroad, as an innovative, cosmopolitan and enthusiastic country. The patron of the initiative is the German President Horst Köhler. FC Deutschland GmbH, and its managing director, Mike de Vries, are responsible for coordinating the initiative. “Germany - Land of Ideas” is supported by numerous German companies and cooperation partners from the fields of science, culture and society. The initiative realises six core projects: The sculpture park – “Walk of Ideas”, the event programme – “365 Landmarks in the Land of Ideas”, the Fan Club, the international media service, the welcoming initiative and, in collaboration with the federal location marketing agency, Invest in Germany, the campaign “Invest in Germany – Land of Ideas”.

The Partners
adidas-Salomon AG • Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG • Allianz AG • AUDI AG •AWD Holding AG • BASF AG • Bayer AG • Deutsche Bank AG • Deutsche Börse AG • Deutsche Lufthansa AG • DHL • Deutsche Telekom AG • EnBW AG •E.ON AG • Fraport AG • Georgsmarienhütte Holding GmbH • HDI Versicherungen • Heitkamp & Thumann Group • IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG • Roland Berger Strategy Consultants • RWE AG • Voith AG • Wall AG