“When we have 50 events, we have 50 events. And every single one is the most important one.” That’s how Christoph Borstel describes his day-to-day as a director at the COP. He’s been in the industry for over 30 years, 20 of those in event production. I spoke with him because I wanted to understand how someone handles that kind of workload. Without losing their mind. His answer has a lot to do with iveo.
This is the first episode of our format Backstage by iveo.
From Excel Marathons to a Digital Stage
Christoph’s description of the old way of working is blunt: “I tried to write everything down at the start. Every day, for every single event. In Excel spreadsheets, no less. Who’s speaking, who’s joining remotely, who isn’t. It was massive. It took so much time. You could have cried, because there was just so much to do.”
If you’ve ever planned a large-scale event, you know the feeling. Multiple rooms running at the same time. International speakers. Hybrid setups. And changes coming in faster than you can type. Christoph used to manage all of this in endless Excel sheets. Local hard drives, messy email threads. The result: version chaos, lost information and the constant feeling of chasing the latest update.
The Moment It Clicked
Christoph describes the switch to iveo with an analogy I didn’t expect: “When I got my first MacBook, it felt similar. I opened the thing and it just explained itself. I fell in love with it immediately and that’s exactly what happened with iveo too.”
That’s precisely what we’re working towards at iveo. A platform that doesn’t distract, but guides. Christoph puts it like this: “It’s brilliant that I don’t have to rummage through 1,000 sheets or 1,000 Excel spreadsheets any more. Instead, I have one programme where I have an overview of everything.”
And the more the team uses the platform, the less manual work remains: “The better it’s fed by the people in charge and by me, the less you need to write run sheets. In the end, I don’t need to write run sheets at all any more.”
Day-to-Day at the COP with iveo
Christoph’s workflow at the COP breaks down into three phases. They match what we call Prepare → Plan → Produce at iveo.
- Prepare Rundown structures, speaker profiles and technical scenarios are set up centrally in iveo. No siloed planning. A shared data foundation from the start.
- Plan The detailed build-out happens collaboratively. Changes to lower thirds or schedules sync instantly across all departments.
- Produce During the live phase, everyone has real-time status at a glance. Who’s on stage? How much time is left? Errors from wrong media files or outdated information simply drop away.
What the team gains:
- Less friction. No more “Where’s the hard drive?”
- Fewer errors from duplicate or mislabelled media.
- Faster decisions, because everyone is on the same page.
Every Department in Sync
The biggest impact shows in how teams work together. Video, audio, assistant directors and project management all operate in sync.
Christoph says: “What fascinates me is that it’s not just easier for me to work, but for everyone. We no longer have the chaos of someone running around with a hard drive or uploading files somewhere that aren’t properly labelled. We all know how it goes — things get uploaded twice.”
And he continues: “Everyone who has access to their specific areas is fully informed through iveo. That’s the big advantage. Everyone, every department — video, audio, directing, all of them.”
In practice, that means:
- Everyone sees the same thing. Or rather, exactly what they need to see. At all times.
- Fewer coordination rounds on site.
- More confidence in planning and execution.
Less Documentation, More Production
The COP with its 50 events proved a point: thorough planning and smooth execution aren’t mutually exclusive. Quite the opposite. They go hand in hand when the platform is right.
Christoph addresses the industry directly: “What I’d wish for is that many agencies who run event series, or even just single days, would use this. Because you’re more flexible, you save time, you become more effective. iveo gives you confidence and after that, work is actually fun again.”
That’s the sentence that stays with you. Not efficiency. Not process optimisation. Fun at work, because you can focus on what you actually want to be doing.
Watch the full interview in the first episode of Backstage by iveo.
Want to see how Prepare → Plan → Produce can change your event planning? Get in touch.