I can have a great admiration for a snappy guide or someone who can present his destination or venue in a catchy way. Readers from all over the world have often asked me if I know some good examples, and I can answer them: Yes, but I can count them on one hand. People who can give a nice presentation are rare in the meetings industry. However, I'm always overjoyed when my guide in
London is wearing a
blue badge. In
New York I'm often well off with a
Big Onion guide and in
Berlin I'm sitting pretty when a guide of
GoArt is doing his thing.
My latest good experience was in
Leipzig, "the place by the linden trees", where elephants and lions were bred. I didn't know all of that.
Birgit, a city guide and dressed for the occasion as a "lark lady" with a black bow in her hair and with everything that goes with it, told me that the
Leipzig Zoo used to be called 'lion factory'. Up till now 2,500 lions, that's quite something! Male lions that performed badly were shipped off to the museum… and then Birgit looks around a little to the male company in the antique bus, she winks and then says in the most beautiful manner 'Jaaah'. And so it continued. I loved it. What mischievous humour! What a fun guide!
Another honourable mention goes to
Ronald Kötteritzsch, Sales Director of the new
Congress Center Leipzig. Merely the movement of his hands expresses welcome. He conquers his listeners with a natural smile and he adds that he deeply loves his town and his congress centre. Actually he doesn't even need to say it, he just radiates it!
The thing I missed most in Leipzig, was music. Music by
Bach, because he died there in 1750, according to the Julian calendar. Luckily I bought a CD by the famous
Leipziger Thomaner boy choir. Tonight I'm listening to
‘Der Mensch lebt und besteht nur eine kleine Zeit'. With that in mind: Spend your time well and if you organize things, do it thoroughly because you only get one shot!
I'm pleased to inform the Québec City Convention Centre that my tomato seed that they sent is doing just fine. I can already see the bright red tomatoes grow before my eyes and later on melt in my mouth. Mmm… at last I'll enjoy such a nice and juicy farm tomato! Certainly now that insiders have told me that bright red vegetables are healthier to eat than the pale ones. I can already hear people asking: has the Convention Centre turned into a tomato growing farm? Of course not. People have the positive perception on Canada as a place of purity, health and freedom. The Québec City Convention Centre has sent me a green pen with a label saying "Envision a GREENER tomorrow" - my blog readers will probably have noticed by now that me and my entourage are sensitive about a green globe with a bright blue crown around it. On top of that the pen is made of corn and is biodegradable in eight months! 
And on the back of the pen is a cap that hides a tomato-plant seed. So that's what I'm talking about. Now I've put that cap in a pot on my terrace, and I'm waiting for the tomatoes to grow. With this symbol of the Convention Centre's environment-friendly policy, Québec gave the positive image of Canada a green boost and that pleases me, it really does!
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