Tom Weiss.
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It’s a time of celebration and celebration, and chef Tom Weiss is all about it. They have been working in the creative association “Skudras Metropole” for many years, their events are highly appreciated in international competitions every year.
At the end of November in Rome, the joint Latvian-Ukrainian charity project “Ukraine. Residence of Freedom”. The evaluation was obtained in the prestigious competition “BEA World festival”, which is the central event of the year in the event industry in the world, an award equivalent to the “Oscar” award of the film industry. 333 works from 26 countries and 86 world-renowned agencies were submitted for the competition.
– At the end of the previous year, you wrote on your Facebook account that a magical year is passing. How will you write this year?
– Just as magical, but most importantly – very, very filled with everything possible. The year passed in great dynamics, countless events, awards. But data and statistics aside, there is a lot of satisfaction above all.
– It is already customary that “Skudras Metropole” returns from international events with award-winning places. It comes so easily?
– It’s definitely not easy, behind every award is a huge amount of work, and people often don’t even understand what it requires. It’s not easy to tell either. The competition is huge, the world’s biggest, most powerful brands, each project worth millions, come up against each other in these competitions. And then there are us, as we say – Latvian Sprīdīši with our work ethic and passion for what we do. The fight is very intense, but it is a pleasure that we can compete with the large budgets of millions with our original idea. It is a real pride that powerful concepts, technical solutions, design elements, original works are created in Latvia. And pride in the professionals by our side.
We participate in competitions only with projects that are worth it, that have something meaningful, innovative, different.
– How to always get those innovative, original ideas, how high can the bar be raised?
– This is a question we also ask ourselves. It is an attempt to discover new ways, because we ourselves have a huge interest in the things we do. We go to events, look, search, thus arriving at new solutions. At competitions, we meet new partners and, putting everything together, we find the right path to follow. Of course, we always give a little more than we get, because it is no longer just a job for us, but a way of life. Perhaps the key word is “lifestyle”, because everyday we are constantly thinking about what to create new, what new world to open to people through the holidays we organize.
– Are there any limits?
– The main limitation is financial opportunities, our market is relatively narrow and the opportunities to bounce back are not great. However, limitations sometimes force you to look for new ways, new ways to realize the idea without spending huge sums of money.
People still have a desire for human emotions, so we follow this path as well, trying to touch the heartstrings of the soul, while at the same time looking for innovation using technologies that are developing very quickly. We just have to follow, trying to find that happy middle ground that allows us to connect humanity with digitization. In fact, it is a big challenge to find the best essence between the two elements.
– Have you wondered what you would do if you had an unlimited budget?
– We have thought, but there is no real answer whether it is good or not. Sometimes some imposed frames, rules of the game help to work much better, more productively and more successfully. You can create anything for a lot of money, but it is not said that it will reach a person, appeal to him, his soul. It’s cool to have the means to do good, high-quality work, but on the other hand, it lets you relax for creativity.
Now we have to force ourselves to find a way to achieve a result with limited resources, and it is quite possible that sometimes it is even better than if we had unlimited resources.
– How does the public attending events accept creative innovations?
– It’s very cool to see emotions, reaction, evaluation. We try not to immediately make the entire event digital only, but we want to show where we are going, what the possibilities of technology are. It is also important not to try to use technology for selfish purposes. The key to success is finding a way to meaningfully work with them, to integrate them into events.
It is interesting to see how even now, using augmented reality, we can break down the boundaries between the real space and the other world and end up in some kind of middle world. Then it’s fascinating to see the emotions that people experience through it. But I will repeat again, it cannot become an end in itself, because then there is no living nerve, which a person needs very much. If you manage to find a middle ground, the audience is very receptive.
– Is society becoming more and more demanding?
– We also become more demanding of ourselves, and it’s only good if people demand more, it forces us to improve as well. It does not allow you to stop in a phase of self-indulgence, when it seems that everything is wonderful, but constantly move forward and think what else we can create!
– You are not only in the “Ant Metropolis”, but also in your event management company “Making Magic”. How much customer needs should be taken into account, because as Apple founder Steve Jobs once said, if we only listened to the needs of users, we would still only have pod phones.
– There are different formats in which we work, often the wishes of the clients must be taken into account because there is such a task. However, sometimes clients rely heavily on us, on what we create. We always look for a balance, taking into account the customer’s ultimate goal, and usually the cooperation turns out to be very successful. Only by knowing what the customer wants can we fulfill his wishes.
It’s great when customers trust and allow us to follow the path we offer. In fact, the client himself also develops this way.
– In international competitions, you see what others offer. Anything worth borrowing from it?
– First of all, we get inspiration there. Sometimes we see ideas that we ourselves have created many years ago. There are a lot of meaningful ideas that we don’t look at as a design to imitate, but as a conceptual way of thinking. Now there is a big tendency to talk about global and decisive issues. As we saw in Rome this year, there are many events aimed at society, where the decisive factor is not the money, but the idea. We especially appreciate projects for which a good idea is more important, and there have been a lot of them lately. Competitions allow you to see how others think, how they create ideas, how they use technology in new projects.
– Does this mean that the folder of ideas is constantly accumulating?
– Exactly! We are constantly recording what could be useful in the future. Such a moment always comes, because the right ideas are needed at the right time. Even now, while still working on the anniversary celebration, the big events of next spring and summer are on my mind. Big projects are created half a year ahead. It can be said that we live in many seasons and events at the same time.
– If you have to be in so many events as an organizer and participant, do you still want to go to an event yourself, feel like a visitor, at some free moment?
– We want to, and we try to do it as much as possible. We also use gastronomy a lot at events, so we go to restaurants to see trends in how chefs work. We go to concerts, shows, because we can recharge our batteries there. Of course, the requirement for a good level is, it is not easy to turn off the technical, substantive vision, and then all the time one wonders what could be improved, why they haven’t thought about it. It’s a little annoying, but sometimes you manage to turn it off and just enjoy the event.
2024-01-03 15:24:05
#great #satisfaction
