After a week at the Mipim event packed with meetings, conferences, and networking, the real estate business has returned home. EjendomsWatch has sought out some of the Danish participants to ask what they got out of the event. Here, Aberdeen's head of asset management, Bjarke Cloos, talks about his experience at Mipim.

How many times have you attended Mipim - besides this year?

This was my first Mipim. We were 18 people in total from Aberdeen in all of Europe who went this year.

What has been the most valuable takeaway from Mipim 2017 for you and your company?

First and foremost, we had meetings with multiple existing and potential investors. That, for us, was the primary purpose of participating, and luckily there was strong interest among investors in meeting with us. Whether it leads to any actual deals in the future is hard to predict at this point, but we have a number of concrete things to follow up on in the coming few weeks, which will hopefully produce results. Aberdeen's cocktail party on Tuesday for investors and brokers drew a lot of guests from all over Europe, and it was interesting to discuss investments in Denmark and the North with them. Also, Pertti Vanhanen and Russel Chaplin from our UK office participated in RE-Invest Summit on Monday and Tuesday, strengthening Aberdeen's presence.

Which concrete learning experiences or useful input will you take away from Mipim 2017?

I am walking away with a lot of experiences, especially because I was a rookie. More specifically, I will most likely try to plan more meetings in the same location from now on in order to avoid too much commute between appointments. Not because it's very far, but because it takes time to get in and out of Palais du Festival due to security checks and walking the Croisette with so many people in a relatively limited space. I've also had the opportunity to talk to some of the many consultants in the field. Both some that I knew beforehand and many new. I'm surprised how many there were from almost all consultancy sectors at Mipim, and in some cases how many each company sends down there every year. It must be rewarding, because participation is not exactly cheap.

Do you have any considerations regarding participating in Mipim next year?

I definitely expect to participate again next year. We've had many interesting meetings with potential investors, and there are some good opportunities to establish contact with potential business partners in a lot of different fields, which over time could help advance our company.

English Edit: Marie Honoré