That moment when Dan Brown was standing in front of me...

by Miriam Mircea

Frankfurt Book Fair 2017 edition

Guest of honor France

Attending two days, this past weekend, 14-15 October, I have finally upgraded myself and us, the small agency who knew it could.

First time even, we have been invited to join the international Frankfurt Business Club and were gifted with a 6- day trade visitor ticket, for press.

I was very excited especially upon seeing how much such a ticket does actually cost.

Long story short, I have had some key points that I wanted to see and visit here, and one of them was actually physically being at the Business Club. Sound cheesy to you? Sure it might. But picture this: 4 years ago, all of these were for most people around us, a really good laugh and a pat on the back.

Well, they were vision of the future for us. So we grinded until we got here and only only here. My business partner and good friend Ioana has been working hard back home in Romania to set us apart from all those copy-pasted “movie critics” and I have been going at it here in Germany, so that our name began to ring some bells.

What is this Business Club situation? A super fancy part of one of these huge Halls, with black and gold decoration, free breakfast and complimentary coffee and the likes, internet, working space, catering. Plus free entrance to basically everything.

Here there are the real players, the ones who don’t need to appear to movie premieres or shop opening parties to be “seen”. We’re talking investors, writers, big newspaper ballers. And us :)

So, as I’m writing this, I’m soaking it all in. Because I know we’re doing something different. I know we can help and change something.

Yesterday I was invited to a conference called “Women in the Know”, about opportunities in transition. So basically the ladies invited have discussed how Global changes affect not just the publishing industry, but all parts of the economy, workforce and social life. Key speakers included Dr. Mariana Bozesan, President & Founder AQAL Capital GmbH, AQAL Foundation and Full Member of the international Club of Rome, as well as Marie-Christina Oghly, CEO Engin Soft France, new elected Worldpresident of FCEM (Femmes Chefs d´Entreprises Mondiales).

So yeah, you can imagine how great it was to see and listen to such strong and powerful women telling us that we all have the power to change the world, just because we all have a phone connected to the internet.

Hearing that made me think more and more about our mission, why did we get into this. And after almost 4 years, I think I know. We really still believe in the good of Romania. Those who want to do well, but have no chances or support, also because of somewhat of a bad name we have in Europe… how about we work on changing that, convention by convention and article by article?

So, I’m ready for some big things and so are Ioana and Neli, aka Jane Candy, our dear friend and occasional graphic artist.

My biggest fish to fry here were to meet our lovely friends from the Romanian Ministry of Culture and National Identity and to listen to Dan Brown live, during a two hour session.

Checked both off the list and both events were equally beautiful and fulfilling.

I was so delighted to see that there were people curious about Romania, there, at the stand, who took interest in books and the live readings. People from all over the world, who came to genuinely get informed and enjoy some finger food over good talks and a very cozy, friendly atmosphere. Romania looks good from here and get this, next year, at the Leipzig Book Fair, we are going to be Guest of Honor! So, let’s try and change people’s minds about us, shall we?

Second highlight of the book fair was Dan Brown, the one and only. About 2000 people came extra just to see and experience him live. The auditorium was full to the brim and equally packed with security.

He was on time, introduced by the German moderator Alf Mentzer ( of hr2 Kultur) and the German actor Wolfram Koch did the reading of some fragments from Brown’s new book, “Origin.

So my press and business club passes have granted me entrance and I could sit right at the front, third row. I got a pretty decent look at him and I have to say I really liked the way he talked about his passion for alternative history.

He is taller than I thought, doesn’t really show his age, and knows how to catch your attention. He is a master storyteller, inspite of all the critics who claim he can’t write or that his writing is repetitive. It’s a writing style, just like so many others and he has had a huge impact on the readers, movie goers, history passionates alike.

He was welcomed with thunderous applause, even standing ovations, he kept humble and thanked us for coming to see him. He gave me the “next door neighbor” vibe, without trying to take away any of his charisma and humor.

As he sat down, cameras flashed, photos were taken, social media check-ins were done. After that, the audience behaved really well and didn’t want to go after that photo which would get them likes or upgrade their status. They just wanted to listen to an author who climbed that fame ladder really quick.

He told us he was still amazed at the enormous number of people who have read his books and continue to do so and that he loved meeting his readers and traveling to see for himself the reactions people have at his books.

He mentioned he had lived in Spain for some time and therefore he felt very inspired to set that country as the background for his newest creation.

The conversation with the German moderator went on for about two hours and it was so utterly interesting that my phone was put away as I completely tuned in to experience his words the old fashioned way: by listening.

One remark he has made stayed with me and I’m sure with most people present. The author told us that in his opinion, the artificial intelligence will be the one replacing God or the divinity outside the body, the one who sits up there and is judging us. He thinks that the next evolutionary step is the collective consciousness at work instead of the old ways gods people perceive as all mighty now.

I will refrain from any personal comment but I would love to hear what you think about this matter. No judging, just opinions.

I am happy to have been present there at this edition of the FBM and to report back to base. I hope you’ve enjoyed your reading.

Do get in touch with us and let’s talk.

Thanks for giving me a few minutes of your time!

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