EVENTS & LIVE APPEARANCES
Events on the Radar
Conferences, meetups and industry events around AI, golf tech and digital transformation. I attend selected events in person.
North Rhine-Westphalia12 Events
ruhrSUMMIT r26 Festival
July 1-2, 2026
Jahrhunderthalle, Bochum
Largest startup conference in the Ruhr area. Two days of pitches, networking, investors and speakers.
Cologne Startup Summer Night
July 8, 2026, 18:00-23:30
Stadtgarten, Cologne
Networking in Cologne's startup ecosystem. Startups, investors, politics. 10 startups pitch in the Startup Village.
AI Coding Hackathon STARTPLATZ
September 4-6, 2026
STARTPLATZ Cologne
48h hackathon focused on Agentic Coding. Build functional AI prototypes with mentoring. Agentic Coding Community Cologne.
Basecamp Startup Stammtisch Arnsberg
September 9, 2026, from 18:30
LEO auf Wenkshof, Arnsberg-Wallen
Founders' meetup in the Sauerland region. Business development agencies invite founders, entrepreneurs and innovation enthusiasts.
DMEXCO
September 23-24, 2026
Koelnmesse, Cologne
Digital Marketing Exposition & Conference. 2026 motto: Scaling Intelligence. Marketing, technology and AI scaling.
Startpunkt57 Pitch Training
October 7, 2026, 16:00-18:00
Haus der Innovation, Siegen
Workshop: How to pitch. Founders initiative for the 57xxx postal code area. Hands-on preparation for pitch events.
Golfkongress 2026
November 7-10, 2026
Gräflicher Park, Bad Driburg
THE event of the golf industry. Topics: AI in the workplace, sustainable golf facilities, leadership in transformation.
Digitale Leute Summit 2026
November 17-18, 2026
smartvillage + Palladium, Cologne
9th edition. Product, engineering and UX/design. New: Day 1 = AI Deep Dive Day. 1,250+ attendees, 55+ speakers.
Founders Foundation (Programs & Events)
Ongoing (Startup School 2x yearly)
Bielefeld
Bertelsmann's startup academy. Startup School (10 weeks, full scholarship) + Accelerator (180 days). B2B tech focus. Hinterland of Things Conference annually in June.
Pioneers Club Events Bielefeld
Ongoing, approx. 90 events per year
Pioneers Club, Bielefeld
Coworking + network with 200+ members. Speaker events, workshops, podcast studio. Startups, freelancers and SMEs on 4,000 sqm.
AI Tinkerers Cologne (Meetup)
Ongoing, monthly
Cologne (rotating venues)
Community meetup for AI developers and builders. Talks, demos and networking around practical AI applications.
GMKI AI Anchor (Stammtisch)
Ongoing, approx. monthly
STARTPLATZ Cologne
A different kind of meetup. Together with KI e.V., bringing AI enthusiasts, experts and curious minds together.
Bavaria5 Events
Claude for Everyone Nuremberg (NUEDIGITAL)
July 1, 2026, 18:00-21:30
Z-BAU, Nuremberg
Live workshop with Claude Code Agent + Q&A with Anthropic developer. Part of southern Germany's largest tech festival.
GMVD Networking at BMW International Open
July 3, 2026, 09:00-13:00
GC München Eichenried
Golf management industry networking during the DP World Tour event.
Bits & Pretzels
September 28-30, 2026
ICM München + Oktoberfest
Europe's leading founders conference. 7,500 attendees, 3,000+ founders, 1,700+ investors. Day 3 at Oktoberfest.
Handelsblatt AI Summit
November 16-17, 2026
House of Communication, Munich
Enterprise-focused AI conference. Theme: Agents & Agency. High-level B2B event for decision-makers.
Claude Code Munich (Meetup)
Monthly (since January 2026)
Munich (rotating venues)
Monthly Claude Code community meetup. Lightning talks + networking. Over 120 attendees per event.
Berlin5 Events
GITEX AI Europe
June 30 - July 1, 2026
Messe Berlin
Global tech event with AI Everything Germany, GISEC Europe and North Star Europe. HealthTech, FinTech, Smart Cities.
WeAreDevelopers World Congress
July 8-10, 2026
CityCube Berlin
Europe's largest developer congress. Three days of tech talks, workshops and networking for developers and tech leaders.
BIG BANG AI Festival
September 16-17, 2026
Berlin
Positioning itself as Europe's leading AI event. 350+ speakers from business, tech, health and politics.
AIDAQ (AI, Data & Quantum Summit)
September 22-23, 2026
bcc Berlin Congress Center
Europe's leading conference for AI and data in business. 2,100+ attendees, 170+ speakers, 120+ sessions.
deGUT 2026 (German Founders' Day)
October 8, 2026
Arena Berlin
42nd edition. Most important information platform for entrepreneurs. Speed dating with business angels.
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