Thursday 21 April 2011

A Night at the M(T)useum…



March 2011. METTLER TOLEDO CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS WORKSHOPS.

So,  there we were, James and I, on our first night in Greifensee, just south of Zurich in Switzerland, in town for 3 days of ‘learning workshops’ at the invitation of the METTLER TOLEDO Corporate Communications team. The evening had begun at a local restaurant as a pleasant ‘meet and greet’, getting to know the MT Corp Comms personalities, enjoying some great food and, of course, a few small tinctures.


But then, after a couple of hours and (I think) a few more glasses of bonhomie, things took a mysterious turn. And it all began with a kind offer by Pierre Aerni (Art Director for Global Marcoms) to drive us back to our Hotel.

Well, by now, it was a little after 10.30 at the end of, what had been, a long day. From the drivers seat came the words, “I have a surprise for you” as Pierre sped off into the night with two confused but, nonetheless, intrigued passengers. James and I stared at each other (again, this is only an assumption, as it was dark!) curious as to where this ‘Swiss Mystery Tour’ was going to end up?

Then, in the headlights, MT International Headquarters came into view. Now, even on a busy day, Greifensee is not a bustling place and at night it is very dark with next to nobody out and about.

“Aren’t the meetings in the morning?” “Is this a test to see if we can take a complicated brief at midnight, after we’ve been ‘socialising’?” “Had we transgressed the MT Corporate Guidelines and were being subjected to a disciplinary hearing?” All of these questions should have gone through our heads – but, naturally, they didn’t! To be honest, we were both a little nonplussed.

Pierre parked up and we followed him through the main doors, trying not to move too far apart as we walked. We headed down into the depths of the METTLER TOLEDO basement, through large ‘Nuclear bomb-proof’ doors (a must have in any building in Switzerland) and along a heavily ‘pipe-clad’ corridor. Picture, if you will, loud steam bursts and dripping chemically dangerous water – it was nothing like that!

Now James was becoming really apprehensive (to be honest, I was as well, but not quite so much as he was!). We stopped by a door whilst Pierre rattled his keys. He quickly and skilfully unlocked the door and ushered us in. James and I looked fondly at each other, took a deep breath, swallowed hard, and stepped through.

Well, ‘Phew’ and ‘WOW’ we’re the first two relieved sounds we uttered. Pierre had been a very busy man; we where surrounded by MT weighing machines and balances, all many generations old - a museum of METTLER TOLEDO products he had collected from all corners of the globe.



And what a fascinating collection – tracing the history of the METTLER TOLEDO brand, what has made it famous, key innovation milestones, and unique measurement and analytical systems which, if truth be told, somewhere on earth today, are probably still in use – such is their innovative outlook and robustness.

And to add to the ‘surprise’ of the evening Pierre also showed us his famous Swiss WWF stamp designs. Which is where the story joins up nicely. Because Pierre is doing his bit to protect the METTLER TOLEDO legacy with the same amount of energy that he uses to design stamps for that other world renowned conservation group.

What a brilliant and surprising evening! Thank you MT for OUR ‘Night at the Museum’.
Posted by Darryl A and Simon D


3 comments :

Beetlestone said...

Were you wearing your seatbelts as you sped through the tunnel?

Great write-up.

Pierre Aerni said...

The exact weight of ghosts and spirits can only be with an old
Witches microbalance identify!
Best Wishes from Greifensee, Pierre
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Pierre Aerni said...

The exact weight of ghosts and spirits can only be with an old
Witches microbalance identify!
Best Wishes from Greifensee, Pierre