Want it. Win it. Keep it…(1)

[…] A life is empty of meaning unless filled with a risky and soaring commitment. Of course there’s only one such type of commitment, and that is work. The other work, invisible work, is the work of the soul, the spirit, talent, whose creations transform the world, making it richer, more just, and more human […] .
Editorial by Stefano Lavorini

This statement by the writer Sándor Márai(2) came hazily to my mind while one January evening I was speaking with Bernd Jablonowski, director of interpack & Save Food, about the fate of B2B fairs, and about the role that old and new players active in the market could one day have.
Our acquaintanceship goes back ten years, when Bernd took on the task of organizing a fair, which has always been the paradigm of all things packaging and processing around the globe.
From the beginning, when globalization had yet to show its full form and dynamics, before the economic barometer made a decisive move eastward, this man had astonished me not only with his work ethic, but also with the focus, determination and lack of dogmatism with which, from the beginning, he pondered the future of his own business, seeking more effective ways to plan the course of events.

And I was all the more surprised because he dedicated himself to organizing an event that has never been on the brink, an expression of a strong national economic system, and which, year after year, has reported record numbers.
Everything repeats itself once again this year, from May 8th to May 14th: interpack 2014 will be bigger this time (with special pavilions even outside), with an extensive offer of demos and exhibits (in addition to Metal Packaging Plaza, a new fair dedicated to components called “Components for processing and packaging” is scheduled for May 8th-10th in Düsseldorf’s Stadthalle).

But that’s not all: Interpack, as a solid, competent and proactive industrial actor with regard to the market and public opinion, will once again organize the Save Food congress (a product of the collaboration between the German fair organizer and the FAO), scheduled for May 7th and 8th, along with the accompanying technology demo InnovationParc Packaging.
Everything is going smoothly, then, but not by accident.
There can be no doubt that such performance is not only an heir to a long tradition of excellence, but is also part and parcel of a larger strategy, an efficient organization, of so much good work carried out with the medium- and long-term in mind. And, as far as Bernd is concerned - it’s worth venturing - of talent well spent.

These considerations lead me to a non flattering comparison with what is happening in my own country where, alas, it appears to me that all too often and in the most different fields people do not live “for” something, but “against” something.
Perhaps I am wrong. Thus, in the hope of also being able to give shape and meaning to the future in Italy, I cite the great English poet Milton(3):

“Our greatness will appear
Then most conspicuous, when great things of small,
Useful of hurtful, prosperous of adverse
We can create, and in what place soe’er
Thrive under evil, and work easy
out of pain
Through labor and endurance”.

A nice schedule all things considered….

Note

(1) Quotation from “Leggere a colori” , www.facebook.com.
The Italian title is based on an ingenious play on words (and sounds) that defies translation.
(2) Sándor Márai, The fair woman, Adelphi, 2004
(3) John Milton, Paradise Lost, Mondadori, 2004