Stavanger

Statue of Alexander KiellandIf you tell most people that you're going to Stavanger, they will pull a face. You know the face I mean. The one that says "What the hell are you talking about?!".

Well, wonder no more...
Stavanger is the fourth largest city in Norway in terms of population, and the third largest urban area.
The city was formally founded in 1125, but traces of settlements have been discovered in the area dating back to the end on the last ice age, some 10,000 years ago.

After the discovery of oil in the North Sea in 1969, Stavanger became the centre for the oil industry in that area of Norway. Previous to this, the main industries in Stavanger were shipping, ship building and fish canning. Incidentally, Stavanger is also the location of the NATO Joint Warfare Centre.

 

Read more: Stavanger

 

Turkish Bill

Crowne Plaza, AnkaraAnother day, another whistle-stop tour - this time Ankara.. which was nice as I usually only get to travel within Europe (yes, I know, Turkey is kind of in Europe, and yet not).
I was greeted at the airport by my driver, who I'll have to call 'Turkish Bill'. I can't remember what his real name was, and the surgeon running the training course had named him Turkish Bill, so it stuck in my head.
It turns out Turkish Bill was a retired surgeon from the Turkish Air Force and had spent some time in the 1980s on an exchange program at RAF Uxbridge in (kind of) West London, not far from where I live and (kind of) work.

 

 

Read more: Turkish Bill

   

Monte Carlo or Bust!

Le Méridien Beach Plaza, MonacoThis month I was lucky enough to be sent to Monaco. As usual, I had very little time to have a look around, but managed to get a few snaps while walking between the nice hotel hosting the conference and my digs.

The conference was taking place at Le Méridien Beach Plaza Hotel, which as its name suggests, is right by the beach. It is not, however, in Monte Carlo. It is actually in Larvotto, which is one of the ten ward which make up the Principality of Monaco.

Further information about the Administrative divisions of Monaco can be found here.

Read more: Monte Carlo or Bust!

   

EIBTM 2009

Group Dynamics and XTOL would like to say a big thank you to all the visitors and friends that came to see us at the recent EIBTM in Barcelona in December. We had a great time meeting new and existing clients and discovering how many diverse and interesting applications there are out there.

We have always believed that a successful solution needs to have not only the best technology behind it but also the best human team. Without the experience and capability to understand each and every requirement, no technology can successfully and completely adapt and eventually will force the customer to make compromises.

With the diversity of applications that we have launched and the myriad of ideas and questions that have come back from EIBTM, we are extremely excited to be able to say 'yes' to so many projects, many of which are only loosely connected with the traditional use of interactive voting and audience response technology.

Read more: EIBTM 2009

   

Ich bin ein Berliner!

Maritim Berlin HotelSitting at the side of a stage just in case a conference phone stops working is a little bit tedious. But I only had to do it for half an hour, so for once I got to see some of the city I was working in.

I was staying at the Maritim Hotel, just south of the Tiergarten, which is surrounded by lots of museums, libraries and suchlike. But no time for wandering around soaking in the culture... I had only enough time to see a few of the important sights.

 

Read more: Ich bin ein Berliner!

   

Page 1 of 2