Potenziale 2010 – Competence Dialogue
Creative and innovative minds can already pencil a special weekend at the end of May 2012 into their business calendars: POTENZIALE 2012 – especially since the premiere event POTENZIALE 2010 was the hottest talk of the town in September 2010, triggering high expectations for the future.
Everyone whose business is in any way related to chain restaurants or systematic interior finishing now has another "must-go" event: POTENZIALE – a first-rank information and communication forum at a venue which is already well known to insiders in the branch: The headquarters of Reinhold Keller GmbH in Kleinheubach, one of the leading business furnishing specialists in a global design world.
The invitation to the premiere POTENZIALE 2010, a gathering of veritable superlatives, already captured and inspired the imagination. The numerous guests from the fields of architecture, design, art and culture, not to mention production, investment and project planning and management, enjoyed a fitting finale to a busy week, with an ecstasy of sensuous surprises to touch body and soul alike, promoting dialogue in an informal atmosphere, but nevertheless at the highest level. An unforgettable Friday evening staging the symbiosis of art and technology, and a no less striking Saturday devoted to systematic and purposeful preparations for sporting performances and success, were the supporting pillars of the agenda. The content structure embraced messages, performances and dialogue, to the accompaniment of extraordinary music and unique artistic acts, and heightened through the indulgence of systematic pleasures for the palate, symbolically characterising the cornerstones of the chain restaurant business with systemPLAN, systemFOOD, systemSERVICE and systemCOMMUNICATION.
The "stories" of those giving presentations were integrated into a firework of artistic performance, as impressive demonstrations of the symbiosis of art and technology, of ideas and implementation. Perfectionists across the board, but free in their interpretation and incredibly spontaneous. Chainsaw artist Oliver Steiner from Karlsruhe wielded his piccolo saw to magically transform a tree stump into an expressively melancholic bust, a sculpture which is to take pride of place in the reception area at Reinhold Keller. Virtuoso musicians of the group "Headline" with spiritus rector Albrecht Hench, performed a first-ever concert recitation of the interaction between music on the one hand and chain saw on the other. The audience could be excused for believing that the rock band Queen had been reborn, as witnesses to an inimitably spectacular performance with exquisite light effects amidst atmospheric sawdust clouds.
Albrecht Hench then delighted in transcending all previously known boundaries by taking up the rhythm of yet another machine from the Reinhold Keller production hall – a musical composition for band and edge gluing machine. The impact of this world premiere and the potentials of sound were both unbelievable and unforgettable.
Indeed, fantastic impressions of artistic brilliance left an indelible mark in unison with mechanical workmanship. A further highlight was the congenial interaction of dance movements, their transformation into a digital image and subsequent output via a gigantic printing press, correlating rhythmic technical convulsions with the illustrative pen strokes and mouse in the hand of Johannes Hench, the timing and melody of Albrecht Hench's accordion and the eloquent dance performance of Iryna Varenyk.
The presenters responsible for the various topics fed each other lines in more than just the symbolic sense: Under the entertaining auspices of Rudolf Schricker, it was a joy to listen to the individual protagonists, to soak up and be enraptured by their words: Lutz Büsing, designer and professor at the Coburg University of Applied Sciences, reported on his experience with systematically developed lighting for restaurants and hotels, and at the same time spreading boldness and confidence for a more conscious approach to new lighting technologies, which lend dramatic enhancement to the scope for integration and design in the restaurant. Volker Krehl, a credible representative of the classic restaurant trade and chairman of the master chefs' and catering association Gastronom, tackled the differences and common ground of individual and chain restaurants, provoking and reconciling with references to altered customer behaviour and lifestyles with regard to "eating", explaining that it is no longer easy to categorise when fast food of the highest quality alternates with traditional fare in the round of modern leisure activities – a paradigm switch, so to speak, from veal cheeks savoured as finger-food in black-tie dress to currywurst enjoyed in biker's leathers at a trendy snack bar.
Ralph-Walther Doerner, professor at the International University of Applied Sciences in Bad Honnef and an expert in the field of hospitality management, drew attention to current trends and development tendencies in the hotel and restaurant branch, offering evidence for the systemSERVICE concept. Increased customer expectations and new technologies are bringing lasting change to the environment of temporary sojourn. In the restaurant and hotel trades, the guest's every individual wish is realised immediately.
Nobert Bolz, a media and communication expert from TU Berlin and well known from radio and television, not least as a member of ZDF's "Philosophical Quartet", commanded full concentration despite the advanced hour: systemCOMMUNICATION, interpreted as a rule of thumb in the current dialogues man/man and man/computer. When it comes to rapid comprehension, spatial perception and independent further development, those who view the computer as an instrument of play will usually emerge superior to those who use it merely to write texts. The term "chaos pilot" is given new meaning, and marketing in a world laden with an overabundance of information can only be successful if the "messages" are packed in stories.
And the food, of course: "Flying dinner" was promised. Between the presentations, artistic performance and technical innovation, the exquisite dishes of a balanced menu flirted with discriminating palates. All in all, an unforgettable evening and a deeply impressive night in Kleinheubach. The previously ignited discussion continued without respite. Restaurant chain decision-makers, architects, interior decorators and designers communicated with each other to unearth the core of the matter: Innovation is the outcome of a process of creative thought, of profound problem awareness, of belief in performance strengths, and of a search for suitable methods and means to achieve the goal of generating confidence.
Manfred Bauer, managing director of Reinhold Keller GmbH, captured the essence perfectly in his intermediate summary: "The gleam in the eyes of the guests, the smiles on their lips, their stamina and enthusiasm are testimony to the pleasure of their experience, their courage to seek dialogue and their readiness to act together. And if people are satisfied with POTENZIALE, then I am satisfied, too."
This optimistic spirit was also carried over to Saturday morning: This time, it was former Alpine skier Christa Kinshofer who took the floor to speak about "Falling, standing up and carrying on". Those with images of Olympic ski races in their mind can well attest to the perseverance, self-assurance and persuasive power with which Christa Kinshofer today stands on the podium to convey confidence as systemAMBASSADOR. It was also her honour to conclude the series of presentations, accompanied by the musical delights of the band "Headline".
Golf connoisseurs were subsequently able to test their SPORTpotential, delving into knowledgeable exchanges in anticipation of a golf tournament organised specially for the participants of POTENZIALE 2010. Everyone who was able to experience the event on this weekend in September returned home with new insights and awareness. The topic of chain restaurants will in future be discussed more intensively and in a new light. The performance capabilities and innovative strength of the branch trendsetters have been re-evaluated, and the motivation and competence of system furnishing designers – first and foremost Reinhold Keller – can now be appreciated in full.
Alliances, and even friendships, have been forged; calling cards have been exchanged; understanding and respect for and between the individual professions has grown; and all those involved are already looking forward to next time: POTENZIALE 2012.