Coworker Column: Live from Bits & Pretzels

Then → Now · 2026

The 2017 "Matchmaking Wall" has grown into a fully curated attendee list with hosted tables, which confirms the post's point that events are for connections.

What it said (2017) ↓

The press room "reminds me a lot of a coworking space".

Events "put in a lot of effort to facilitate networking": an attendee app with LinkedIn profiles and in-app meeting requests, a Matchmaking Area and Wall, and audience questions sent by phone.

What happened (2026) ↓

Matchmaking is now the core of the event. Bits & Pretzels curates its attendees and runs "Table Captains", founders and investors who each host a table of conversation source.

Verdict · Held up: 9 / 10 · Full 2026 update

Events were putting a lot of effort into facilitating networking through apps, matchmaking and audience questions.Came true
Attending on a media pass gave access to a press room that felt a lot like a coworking space.Still valid evergreen

Original post · 25 September 2017

The Coworker Column is this month coming from Munich, Germany. I'm writing this from the press room of Bits & Pretzels, a yearly founders & startups event. And this press-room? It reminds me a lot of a coworking space.

I love working from press rooms. There's always a buzz going around, people are working hard to meet deadlines and get the best stories, but at the same time, many new connections are being formed, while the regulars catch up with a coffee. No wonder it reminds me of coworking!

I'm starting to appreciate these events more and more anyway; in fact, even though I work in online marketing, I can't stress enough the benefits of attending (un)conferences once in a while. Earlier on this blog we already mentioned volunteering at events, but if you have a blog or a big following on social media, you could also try and get a media pass.

What I love about industry events nowadays, is that they really put in a lot of effort to facilitate networking. Just look at Bits & Pretzels; they have an app with all attendees listed with their LinkedIn profile and an in-app message center to request meetings. Another cool thing is their 'Matchmaking Area' where they not only organise get-togethers around specific topics (it's like an unconference inside a conference!), but they also have the 'Matchmaking Wall' where per category (startups, investors, freelancers, etc.) you can put up a card with your contact details and a couple of words on what you can offer as well as what you're looking for. I put one up yesterday and already have a couple of meetings scheduled for later today because of it.

Even the conference sessions are interactive, where the audience can send questions via their phones, which in turn will be displayed and answerd on stage. It has nothing to do with the 'we speak, you listen' presentations as they were a couple of years ago.

The best events are all about making connections. And they're definitely worth it.

2026 update

What happened after this was written

Claims then:

The press room "reminds me a lot of a coworking space".
Events "put in a lot of effort to facilitate networking": an attendee app with LinkedIn profiles and in-app meeting requests, a Matchmaking Area and Wall, and audience questions sent by phone.
The old "'we speak, you listen'" talks are gone.

What happened since:

Matchmaking is now the core of the event. Bits & Pretzels curates its attendees and runs "Table Captains", founders and investors who each host a table of conversation source.

Named spaces/orgs status:

Name	Then	Now	Evidence
Bits & Pretzels	Matchmaking wall + app	Curated attendance, Table Captains, several stages (a 10+ count could not be confirmed)	official

Verdict: Came true (networking-first events became the norm). Still valid (evergreen) (the advice to get a media pass).

Headline finding: The 2017 "Matchmaking Wall" has grown into a fully curated attendee list with hosted tables, which confirms the post's point that events are for connections.

Re-verified 3 November 2026: 2 claims confirmed, 0 corrected, 1 hedged, 1 removed.

Researched 30 September 2026 and re-verified against the sources on 3 November 2026. Sources are linked in each point. Items marked "unverified" could not be established and are not guessed.