Behind the Scenes of CloudFest 2018

We were fortunate to meet the man behind CloudFest 2018 (formerly WHD.global), who answered our questions.

ht: Hello Soeren, could you introduce your company to the hosttest visitors?

Soeren: World Hosting Days GmbH was founded in 2004 with the idea of bringing executives and business leaders closer together on the topic of hosting. The meetup, organized by Thomas Strohe, formerly of Intergenia AG and Plusserver AG, started with a local meeting in Cologne and quickly became the most important hosting event worldwide, first at Phantasialand, then at Europa-Park in Rust. In 2016, World Hosting Days GmbH also took over the event "Namescon," the largest event worldwide for the domain industry. Currently, 18 full-time employees work at the Cologne and Vancouver locations for events related to cloud services and domains.



(Soeren von Varchim, CEO CloudFest)


ht: WHD.global became CloudFest for the first time in 2018. What were the reasons behind this?

Soeren: Based on the visitor numbers from previous years, it became clear that only 25% of the visitors were employees of traditional web hosting companies. Therefore, in a small team, we searched for suitable names for a possible successor term. This is how today's CloudFest was born in a relatively short time.

ht: At CloudFest, it seems to be becoming more international - could you share the current facts about the exhibitors and visitors in 2018?

Soeren: This year, we had over 6,600 visitors and nearly 200 exhibitors. As you rightly assume, both visitors and exhibitors are becoming increasingly international. We had visitors from over 80 countries who made their way to Europa-Park.

ht: What has changed for you after the acquisition by GoDaddy?

Soeren: Nothing has changed in our ongoing business. We will continue to operate as a neutral host of CloudFest.


ht: What other events are planned for 2018?

Soeren: CloudFest India is scheduled for May 23, followed by NamesCon Europe in Valencia, Spain in June, as well as CloudFest and NamesCon China on June 28-29 in Shanghai.


ht: In the past, there were significantly more regional events - is a resumption planned for the future?

Soeren: Further executive events like the previous Racing or Sailing events are in the planning stage. Unfortunately, I cannot reveal more details at this time.

ht: The Europa-Park as the location for CloudFest was also a fitting choice in 2018. Do you plan to continue with this in the future?
Soeren: Definitely. Europa-Park has been hosting us for many years now, and it is a very good partnership for both sides. The familiar environment in Rust is highly appreciated by both visitors and exhibitors. With the expansion of available hotels, we can also continue to grow our capacities.

The interview was conducted by Marco Keul

Profile

Name: Soeren von Varchmin
Position: CEO Company: WorldHostingDays GmbH (Parent company of the events "CloudFest" and "NamesCon")
Employees: 18
Founded: 2004
www.cloudfest.com