Digital Home of Kristoffer Strom

Wednesday 08th of September 2010

Conference trip to the Czech republic (2006-04-21 -> 2006-04-23)

Ever so often this lawfirm I'm working at blows away a ton of money on a trip somewhere for a few days. And this was one of those times! We were gonna go to Karlovy Vary (aka. Karlsbad) in the Czech Republic. I had no idea what that place was or how serious these conferences were and I doubted how fun it would be with all these lawyers and stuff.

The problems started even before we left! They chartered 2 planes (!!) to take us down there but it still wasn't enough. So around 10 of us had to go with a regular flight a bit earlier and me being the unpretentious person I am I voulunteered. The worst part of that was that the plane took off from Arlanda airport at 8 am, which meant I had to leave home at 5.30 am! And we were gonna go home with the charted airplanes that was gonna land at Bromma airport so I couldn't take the car! But after getting up at 5 am on the friday and making my way to the airport and checking in at 7am me and Håkan (friend from work) ordered in our first beer for the weekend. I think that's the earliest beer I've ever had. 2 hour flight down there and then another 2 hour drive in a chartered buss to the 5 star (!!) hotel called Grand Pupp! And I don't know if it was because I voulunteered or what, but I got the biggest suite in the HOUSE! I mean, this is the suite moviestars stay at during the movie festivals there! This is the suite Daniel Craig is gonna stay in just a few days later when they are shooting the next Bond movie!

Ater packing up my stuff me and Håkan and two other guys from work took a little trip around the town and ended up sitting at some outdoor restaurant with even more beer! The town was a little bit schitzo - some buildings looked kinda new while the one right next to it looked centuries old! This city had alot of history a little everywhere but right now it's most famous for the annual movie festivals. And they also mentioned several times that they were gonna film the next Bond movie there too.

At 7pm the rest of the lawfirm arrived by the truckloads and after they settled into their small quaint rooms we started up the buffé and talking the usual crap and general relief of being away for a while. After that we went to the hotel bar that was way, WAY, too understaffed and not ready for 200 swedes coming there when drinks are free! Some pool, some discoing and then back to the hotel to get some sleep at around 4 am. End of day 1.

On saturday we started the real conference with some pep talk about just how good we are and how bright our future is (but as opposed to all other employers that have done this, this guy had the numbers to prove it) and then some motivational speech and how to ease communication at the workplace and then some teambuilding theory by the football legend Thorbjörn Nilsson (one of the guys that won UEFA cup back in -82!). Then we split up into groups with a mission - make a 1 minute commercial for this lawfirm! Great teambuilding exercise! I've done alot of teambuilding but never really liked the idea, never felt that good, but this was actually rewarding. One interesting thing I learned is that everyone knows me and I know everyone since sooner or later they all call the helpdesk... but they don't know eachother, so I had to do the introductions :)

Then we all got suited up for the posh dinner! I still refuse to wear a tie and since we didn't have any clients there I got away with it. I did my absolute best with gentleman behavior and had an absolute blast! I was surrounded by lawyers who I thought "what tha hell am I gonna talk to them about!?" but as it turned out, conversation was never an issue! Our little commercial (which I can actually take credit for) got 2 nomination for the Vinge awards (??) and we won best slogan contest so we felt pretty good about that and started the afterparty with champagne. Then it was a few hours of free drinks and stuff in a big bar all reserved for us (I even got up on the dancefloor) that's how fun this was. I achieved the ultimate stage of feeling like "king of the world!" at around 2.30am. Last time I checked the time it was a bit after 3 so I got a few hours of sleep I think... End of day 2.

On sunday we checked out of the hotel way, way too early and a 2 hour bus ride back to Prague and started a tour of the city beginning in the castle and going through all the "have to see!" things there was. The two things that impressed me the most was the gothic cathedral with the awesome glas artwork and then there was the big gathering of Ferrari cars for the F1 race! Then it was time to go home in one of the two chartered jets home to sweden and a taxiride home and by then I was so exhausted! End of day 3.

All in all it was an awesome weekend that I'll never forget and I actually am more motivated at work then I used to be! Mission accomplished!

Click here for the image gallery!

Complete Menu