Where to begin, oh where to begin?

Since arriving in Dusseldorf last Thursday I have been more and more impressed with this city and the welcoming people here each day.  The Dusseldorf CongressCenter (CCD) and Dusseldorf Marketing & Tourism (DMT) collaborated with my team and MPI to create a special trip for some of the media prior to the start of EMEC 2011 (which is going on right now).

Why has it taken so long to get this blog post up, if I arrived last week.  Because there is so much to do!

First of all, I do not think you could make a guest feel more welcome than the hotels do here in Dusseldorf. Our partners here in Dusseldorf arranged for the media to stay for two nights at the Breidenbacher Hof A Capella Hotel.  Our tour with Bjorn Stremme was not only luxurious and pleasant but incredibly enlightening.  As I shared on twitter and with images on our Flickr stream, this is one of the most attentive and luxurious hotels that is more wired than any other I have visited.  At each turn there was something thoughtful. Like the digital touch screen in your nightstand drawer that controls the features of your room.  Or the fact that they do not have concierge at the hotel - everyone receives a personal assistant to attend to their stay. I could gush for hours about this hotel but then I'd never tell you about the rest of the FAM.

Our guide from the DMT, Joop Eskes, was phenomenal.  He met up with us at the oldest and most official Altbeer brewery and our official Dusseldorf education began.  As we strolled down "the longest bar in the world" Joop was great to listen to and learn from.  We explored 14th century areas of Dusseldorf, saw monuments to the great battle of 1288, walked along the Rhine and experienced a bar named after a grumpy old man.  But Joop and Edita (from CCD) made this felt like strolling through town with old friends.

The next day was another experience.  But that will have to go in the next entry.