Memories… in the corner of my mind…

October 30, 2009  

Continuing with the theme of press visits, I recently returned from a very enjoyable trip to Graz in Austria organised by automation solutions provider Knapp, involving a tour around the main facilities and an insight into future innovations in the pipeline for the company.

As well as all the usual presentations, corporate overview and live demonstrations, my fellow guests and I we given a highly informative guided walking tour of Graz on our first evening, followed by an excellent meal at a restaurant with views overlooking the city (breathtaking in more ways than one when you have had a couple of drinks!)

The hospitality continued the next evening when we were treated to an evening wine-tasting at an Austrian vineyard, (which meant being subjected to drinking a selection of wine and champagne that went down very reluctantly…) and another meal at a more traditional Austrian restaurant, complete with cold meats, cheeses and an incredibly jolly hostess who went by the name of Erika and who insisted that we drank more and more peach schnapps; an offer that most of our group gladly took up.

The purpose of all this merriment was for Knapp Group to reassure its customers that given the current difficult and highly uncertain economic conditions, the company seems confident that it is well prepared for all eventualities and has adapted to the changed market environment in good time. Its focus in the future will increasingly be on software, so that it will be relatively quickly be back on track for expansion or growth.

Knapp also seemed very well prepared for catering hospitably for its guests, and every representative from Knapp was professional, courteous and extremely knowledgeable, ensuring our trip was memorable for all the right reasons.

Perhaps the most memorable moment of the trip was not, however, courtesy of Knapp. This accolade has to go to another guest on the trip, who found himself in rather a sore-headed state at breakfast following a heavy night out on the tiles. Seemingly still quite inebriated, he made his way bleary-eyed to the buffet to select what should have been a nutritious meal to help remedy the effects of his hangover. Unluckily for him, the bleary eyes weren’t quite able to focus his full attention on the much needed food – which promptly ended up in his lap after placing his plate on the edge of the table. Also unluckily for him, the incident remained etched upon the minds of his fellow guests, much to his chagrin, and will be up there in my top ten memorable moments of the year so far.