CloudFest is back! The world’s largest conference for cloud, hosting, and internet service providers return to Europa-Park, bringing together key decision-makers to shape the future of the internet. Prepare for new partnerships, deep knowledge sharing, and the best parties the industry has ever seen. The proceedings will revolve around three industry-driving themes: The Intelligent Edge, The Sustainable Cloud, and Our Digital Future.
This is a pre-event interview conducted by Ujwal Sharma, Founder of Empire Weekly, with Mr. Christian Jaeger, CEO of CloudFest.
This is the first in-person CloudFest event since the pandemic. What are you most looking forward to?
Seeing all my friends in the community! I’m pretty new as CEO, but I’ve been involved in CloudFest since its earliest days; both as part of the event team and as an attendee. What we’ve been able to do with remote events has been exciting, but we haven’t figured out how to clink beer glasses over Zoom. You have to do that in person.
What’s new for 2022?

We’ve streamlined the registration process, so getting to CloudFest has never been easier. We have some out-of-left-field surprises lined up in terms of the agenda: Soeren [von Varchmin] is now the Chairman of the Advisory Committee, so he’s going even deeper into the conference content than we even thought was possible! Also, we welcomed some new team members… and some seriously brand-new faces! My wife and I welcomed our second child into the world, so the lack of sleep is definitely getting me ready for March!
How has the team been dealing with the Omicron variant?
We’re not epidemiologists, so we haven’t been able to go out and crush it by ourselves. We’ve been keeping an eye on each development, and making sure our partners are up to speed on what’s changing. We have plans in place to keep our attendees safe once they arrive at Europa-Park, meeting or exceeding the state and national regulations that will be in place. Meanwhile, we’re going full steam ahead to plan an unforgettable experience. We’ve all waited a long time for this!
How did you arrive at this year’s themes?
The Intelligent Edge, Our Digital Future, and The Sustainable Cloud all serve to focus our energies on the challenges of a post-Covid world. Businesses have digitized in fast-forward, and meanwhile, many people’s values have changed as well. At CloudFest we have the chance to bring some of that rediscovered humanity back into technology, which is really cool.
What makes Europa-Park such a great place for CloudFest?
These are unprecedented times, and that calls for unprecedented focus as well as a double shot of optimism. Europa-Park is this event’s spiritual home, and we all found ourselves missing it a lot. That emotional response doesn’t lie: Europa-Park is a place where the magic happens—because together we make it happen. Crazy things happen when so many different types of people with different experiences and backgrounds get together for a week and don’t leave!
Click here to register for CloudFest 2022.

Pingback: How to Become a part-time CEO – Empire Weekly