It’s not a birthday party anymore.
Don’t get me wrong. There were plenty of birthday celebrations. I had a birthday party at a heuriger (remember those traditional Viennese wine bars/restaurants). I had a birthday party at my preferred club in the heart of Vienna. And I had a birthday party at a restaurant that is another favorite of mine, where wine was served but only to those who do not prefer beer or something a little stronger.
Yes, at Heuereka III we partied hard. But it wasn’t just a party. Heuereka is an established conference now.
See… participants wore wristbands donning the URL of this very website. In case anyone partied so hard he forgot what happened, he knew to look down at his wrist to find a recap of the events in Vienna.
No seriously, we ran the gamut at Heuereka III. A full day of talks covered the ins and outs of online marketing and transitioning from self-employment to ownership of a fully systemized business and — once you’ve “made it” — setting up a foundation in Liechtenstein to protect your assets for the long-run.
Of course, this wasn’t just a business and investing event. We heard from a renowned German pickup artist on how to get in…to a happy long-term relationship. You weren’t expecting that one, were you? But don’t be disappointed. His talk wasn’t politically correct either. ?
Actually, the theme of Heuereka III was life hacking and business hacking. Speakers presented life hacks, business hacks, relationship hacks and time management hacks. And one of our prized speakers threw a wrench in the system by arguing that life hacking is useless — he says success requires taking detours, not shortcuts. Can you guess who this speaker was? Hint: he made appearances at Heuereka I and Heuereka II.
And for those of you who did not attend, we had a film crew at Heuereka this year. But you’re just going to have to stay tuned for that…
How’d we get the party started?
As we have done in the past, we returned to Vienna’s Prater to kick off the festivities with a Thursday evening dinner. A traditional barbecue dinner morphed into a night of drinking, reconnecting and establishing new friendships, partnerships and bonds in a private setting within a large public park.
I had the pleasure of welcoming more than 100 friends from around the world. Attendance at this year’s Heuereka grew to 140 people over the course of the weekend.
The next morning it was workshop time. Choices included bright and early yoga, peer-to-peer/decentralized lending, agricultural investing (remember my Georgian walnut farm?), networking around the globe and cryptocurrency investing.
By early afternoon Friday, the drinking had already resumed. It would be an afternoon and evening full of wine consumption… but also exercise.
We made up for skipping out on a heuriger for Saturday night dinner by hiking from one winery/heuriger to the next in a super scenic part of Vienna located up in the hills with views of the Danube and the city center. This is an area that basically attracts no tourists.
We started at Heuriger Pospisil, where the early birds indulged in pre-hike wine and appetizers. After gaining a little elevation, we reached Heuriger Hirt, where many of us stopped for lunch. Heuriger Hirt offers an incredible setting for a Viennese picnic with views of vineyards and of course the Danube.
After lunch, the uphill portion of the hike continued. Many of the wine-consuming hikers were surprised by the steep ascent.
It was more of a workout than most people expected. But we all made it to the top of the hill and to the next winery, and it was downhill from there.
Where did I turn 29?
Our final destination was Heuriger Schubel-Auer. There we dined, drank and counted down my time as a 28-year-old. As my time at 28 was came to an end, I donned a patch to express my undying love for the currently 28-member European Union.
When the clock struck midnight, friends greeted me with birthday songs and wishes. I was very grateful for the warm reception I received.
Despite the main day of the conference starting the following morning at 9 am sharp, after midnight, we shifted the party to Volksgarten, my favorite club in Vienna. I rang in my birthday with fellow revelers, partying the night away until it was time to grab a couple hours of sleep.
The main event
Back at Michaelerplatz, my Viennese headquarters, I got a brief rest in my apartment and headed downstairs to kick off the main day of Heuereka. Like last year, we were again in the Looshaus, a building at Michaelerplatz that you might also know as the Raiffeisenbank building. This is where a full day of speeches were delivered.
Some of our more well known speakers this year included online marketer Kris, pickup artist-turned-relationship coach Maximilian Puetz and software company founder-turned-foundations expert Dr. Olaf Gierhake.
Kris revealed his most important marketing principle, Maximilian taught us that if you have a happy wife, you have a happy life and Olaf delved into the aforementioned foundations in Liechtenstein.
Also Jochen Mulfinger, the “time millionaire”, gave a speech about the world’s most precious resource.
We likewise heard from business coach Melanie Retzlaff about how to make more money with less effort; artificial intelligence expert Julian Arndts on the applicability of AI in business: Christoph Huebner on internationalizing health insurance; Ruben Moor on living and investing in Colombia; and Sebastian Wartenberg with more on marketing.
Oh, and there was a investment presentation about the short-term rental business that I am involved in. More to come on that in the near future…
As for my talk, it centered around the theme of “counting countries.” As I will explain in future blog posts, there are many lists used to count countries in the world. The standard United Nations list is just one of them. But for your interest, I have currently been to this many ? out of this many ? on the UN list.
The party continued Saturday night at Stiegl Ambulanz, one of my favorite places in Vienna. It is located on the campus of the University of Vienna, which itself is located on the site of an old hospital.
We indulged in a big buffet dinner, followed by drinks that included an excellent birthday present I received: Diplomatico Reserva rum. I drank in Venezuelan style as if I was back in Caracas or beautiful Los Roques.
Stiegl Ambulanz was a strategic choice for Saturday dinner because it gave us extended drinking and mingling hours. We celebrated the final hours of my birthday, and the celebration continued on there until 2 am when we changed locations to Club Passage.
Scholarium Sunday
You may still be wondering who gave the talk about life hacking being pointless. If you guessed Rahim Taghizadegan, you are correct. You may remember Rahim is the director of the Scholarium, an academic institution in Vienna that is the keeper of the tradition of Austrian School economics.
In Heuereka tradition, I co-moderated with Rahim a discussion in the Scholarium on Sunday, the final day of the conference. This year we touched on all things geopolitics and economics. Rahim delved into the outlook for entrepreneurs and investors in a coming downturn or crisis. We also covered the topics of central banking and the future of money, as well as what climate change is really about and what the solution to the supposed climate crisis is. ?
After a Lebanese lunch, many goodbyes and a little winding down, I had Argentinian BBQ with some friends to relax.
Then the following day, the conference was over, but the events continued. I hosted a larger investment presentation about our short term rental business. It was a packed house in the Looshaus. ?
After all of this, I was pretty exhausted. But no rest for the not-so-weary. It was time to hit the airport for a return to Georgia as part of another post-Heuereka group adventure…
Hi from Kakheti:
The future of Heuereka
My birthday falls on a Monday next year. What could this mean? Will we do Heuereka again? Might the conference morph into a weeklong affair? What do you think will happen? And if you haven’t attended a Heuereka but you think you have value to offer the event, contact me. Heuerkea is a private, exclusive event, but we welcome new participants every year. ?
Until Heuereka IV… stay current with my travels by reading Christoph.today.
