For the third time running, UTAX has invited managers from selected
German dealers and their international distributors to exchange information.
Following successful events held in Düsseldorf in 2001 and Frankfurt in 2003,
the German city of Bonn set the scene for this year´s event, which took place
in mid November.
Again, more than 200 business partners accepted the invitation.
To begin with, international participants hailing from over 21 different
countries were greeted at the Maritim Hotel Bonn. The programme was launched
with an informal evening get-together, which gave the distributors the
opportunity to meet up with their colleagues and UTAX employees in a relaxed
atmosphere after many had spent several hours travelling to the event.
The distributors´ conference took place on the following day. The
international guests ended the day with a joint dinner held at the Cäcilienhöhe
restaurant in Bad Godesberg, whilst the German dealers met for their own
get-together in the hotel. This initial meeting of around 165 people also took
place in a relaxed setting.
Information and cultural tour
On the third day of their
stay, the international guests were able to learn more about the former federal
capital and its surroundings. Following a visit to the 'Haus der Geschichte'
museum, lunch was held at a historical brewery. The afternoon was also
completely devoted to sightseeing: the itinerary included the historic town
hall and the Beethoven house and a tour of the city that took in the state
parliament building, the Villa Hammerschmidt residence and Bad Godesberg.
Whilst the tour was taking place, a conference for the German dealers was
held in the Maritim Hotel.
The UTAX Arena
Everything, even during the run-up, was
centred around a sporting event. Instead of a standard invitation, participants
were sent an entrance card in the form of a sports ticket.
To ensure the "Challenge inMOTION 2005" motto was truly brought to life for
the participants, the hotel´s conference room was transformed into a luminous
orange UTAX arena: the participants formed the UTAX team, two stands now
created the seating area at the distributors´ conference, (three at the German
conference) and the speakers took up their roles as coaches, taking their
places on the trainers´ bench. A winner´s rostrum proudly displayed the three
most successful UTAX systems. The entire room was fitted out with sports
equipment and a running track featured in front of the stage. This was to play
a more significant role later on in the proceedings.
Sports presenter for
the UTAX arena was Thomas Ranft, who was able to fall back on his experience in
commentating the German touring car championship. He showed both great
professionalism and enjoyment in presenting the day´s events, which were
divided up into different disciplines:
Discipline 1: The competition
Michael Becker, UTAX's
Managing Director, took this opportunity to speak about the company´s
development over the past few years, naturally commenting on UTAX´s remarkable
success at being ranked in the German Deloitte Technology Fast 50 of 2005. He
went on to discuss the development in turnover and production runs, the
company´s market share and further market development. The audience were
presented with a range of concepts to ensure the business partners´ continued
success within the market environment.
A live sporting event was also staged as a light-hearted interpretation of
Becker´s speech. Four runners, comprising one UTAX runner and three
competitors, took to the track to contest an exciting race (albeit in
slow-motion), with full running commentary provided by a stadium presenter. The
UTAX runner crossed the winning line well ahead of the field.
Discipline 2: The Training
During the training, Robert
Feldmeier - Spokesman of the Board TA Triumph-Adler AG - explained UTAX´s
role in the TA Triumph-Adler strategy and assessed the company´s current
situation. The audience were also given a view of future targets.
Another
component of the training was concerned with sales. Here Bo-Erich Krüger, Sales
Director International DOC at the international conference, and Harald Bönig,
Sales Director Germany DOC and Marketing Director at the German conference,
discussed the development and planning of individual product areas. Besides the
necessary training of employees, the page price concept UTAX CONSULTING was
also of crucial importance, ensuring that UTAX is professionally prepared for a
market that will be even more competitive in future.
Discipline 3: The Success
Dr. Harald Schmid, European
champion and Olympic medal winner in the 400m hurdles, was also welcomed to the
event as a guest speaker. In his speech, entitled "Winning Spirit", he
explained to the UTAX team how he dealt with defeats on a personal level and
how he was able to learn from these defeats.
Since UTAX's commercial success
is closely linked to the appropriate products, Harald Bönig went on to present
the product line-up for the coming months. A few system highlights were also
announced. The new systems will be making their official debut in March 2006 at
the CeBIT trade fair in Hanover, Germany, where UTAX will once again be
exhibiting.
These three disciplines were followed by a second sporting
performance. In this performance, a street ball game demonstrated that success
can only be achieved through expertise and the right tactics, rather than
simply putting on a good show. After a tough fight, the UTAX players were able
to win through again.
To round off the proceedings in style, a photo was taken of the entire UTAX
team with individual players sporting their very own UTAX team fan scarves. The
"La ola"-wave naturally followed this motivating presentation.
The Training Circles - Circuit training
The
participants received an initial taster of the new products in their individual
"team cubicles". These new products were presented up close in various training
circles. The German participants´ training circle was supplemented with a DMS
workshop. To unwind, a fun workshop was also laid on. The UTAX team was divided
up into smaller groups and went head to head in a battle of table football and
penalty shoot-outs.
The Players´ Night
A gala evening players´ night brought
the day's events to a close with everyone in attendance. Here the German and
international teams came together. An important part of the evening was the
honouring of the "Best of all", where the most successful dealers were invited
up onto the stage to receive an individual award. The closing programme
featured live music and a special star act, giving all team members the chance
to celebrate with one another.
The UTAX Event 2005 was yet another reminder to all participants that UTAX
is the right partner, both now and in the future: a partner that has the right
strategy and first-class products, with a team who relishes the challenge of
ensuring optimal support for all its partners.
UTAX GmbH
Ohechaussee 235
22848
Norderstedt/Germany
Nicole Staho,
Public Relations
Tel.: +49 (0) 40 / 5 28 49-2 20
Fax: +49 (0) 40 / 5 28
49-2 33 | 