On 27 April we invited old, new and future friends to celebrate with us our 10 years in beta. And since we were having a special anniversary, we decided to make it in the betahaus style - crazy, DIY and far outside of the box. For our 10 Years In beta we turned betahaus | Neukölln into a little Utopia with one open air, art exhibition and a party venue with 2 separate dance floors. And the result? An unconventional party the coworking scene will remember for a while. Here are our 8 best moments from the party!

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Already early in the afternoon people started arriving at Harzer Straße 39, filling up the backyard of betahaus | Neukölln. Within a few minutes we had a slack line spread between the trees, AcroYoga community showing participants how to balance, Tarot reader, who guessed the future of our guests, and hula hoops and ribbons flying around in The Garden. Many people came with their kids, but surprisingly it wasn’t the children playing. Our backyard turned into a real playground for adults, which is metaphorically exactly what we want to be as a coworking space - a safe space, where creative sometimes even crazy ideas are welcome and failure is not something we are afraid of.

We started with live performances in The Garden from our friends Passiflora, the reunited betaband and The Ducks. They kept everybody swinging around and set the party atmosphere before we opened up The Club. When it got colder the party continued inside with DJ Niggo, Ain The Machine, Michal Vagner and Asia. Special dance crew was inviting everyone to loosen it up and while in The Club we had a rather techno vibe, our secret second Dance Floor in The Basement got everyone’s groove on with some bouncy vibes.

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Our 10 years birthday party had a special theme - UtopiaX. Intentionally, we challenged our guests to interpret it the way they want and come in the most fabulous and extravagant version of themselves. We were happy to see so many people wearing crazy neon colours and special costumes prepared for our party. Some of our favourite Utopian faces were the spring princess Luiza from Dream Facilitation, Lenny Leiter’s futuristic costume, Iva’s wishing three or our community fairy Nina. Through this dress theme we wanted to show everyone how important self-expression is for us and that there should be no boarders or stigmas, in order to shape a world we want to live in. Thanks for participating! 

Find all photos from 10 Years in beta on our Facebook Page and watch our recap video here.

If you joined the party, there is no way that you’ve missed our little alien guest in the ‘haus near the art installation by Iggy Kowalczuk. Right in the middle of The Club, Iggy created a light and video art installation which welcomed all guests before they entered the party zone. Short before the opening Iggy spontaneously decided to collaborate with Gersuny from Nostalgic Futurism, who gave a special something to the installation. During the whole party a blond-haired girl with an alien mask walked around the rooms, so in case you needed a conversation opener or Instagram-worthy posts - we had something to offer.  

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Going down into the dark rooms of our basement you might have stumbled upon some body parts coming out of the walls, soft blob creatures hanging from the ceilings or beautiful canvases painted by our guest artists, who took over The Basement and made it a live gallery. For 10 years In beta, we turned betahaus l Neukölln’s cellar into an interactive art installation. Following some memorable pictures from the betahaus archives, people were led to five separate rooms, filled with the art pieces of Saskia Fresh, Kalindi Valeur, Larisa Mamonova, ilan katin, Danko Matt, Lisa Büscher, Ocean. Now, Colette Pomerleau, The Copenhagen Catalog and others.

Before we threw the confetti and popped the Champagne, our co-founders had prepared a little speech to review the betahaus journey from the start and remind us where we’re headed. betahaus has been around for a decade and have seen, changed and experienced a ton as a part of the growing startup community in Berlin. Spending 10 years as an important figure in this scene, our co-founders had something to share.

‘’Back when we started in 2009 coworking was something people hardly could understand and now, 10 years later this turned into the usual way of working.So what's next?’' - Christoph Fahle (Co-Founder, betahaus)

Madeleine (Co-Founder, betahaus) also explained that as a coworking pioneer and home of tech-leaders, betahaus carries a big responsibility for where tech is heading to. That’s why she referred to The Copenhagen Catalog (which was also exhibited in The Basement) and reminded us to strive for a more human(ity)-driven future for both tech and coworking.

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With this birthday party we wanted to give back to the community and all the people who have supported us, worked with us and have been around for the past few years. That’s why we decided to give out some crazy discounts, free coworking memberships and vouchers from us and our special partners (see them bellow). So, if you have put your name in the colourful boxes in The Happiness Jar, keep an eye on your email inbox. We have already picked the winners and will announce them both online and through email in the next couple of days.

We can't miss to thank our wonderful partners for helping us make this event what it was -
Pilsner Urquell and Fritz Cola for the drinks and keeping our guests happy, Emmy, Drivy, FrameRight, CoffeeCircle, Dream Facilitation, moruga cacao, DAESK and BioWine for supporting our Prize Draw with gifts and discounts and our media partners from Silicon Allee, ASK HELMUT, Creative City Berlin and TechCode who helped us spread the word! That's what we call a good collaboration! 

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