Lift Report

Dr. Ursina Böhm

The influence of culture on cooperative efforts

It lies in the nature of international cooperation that differing working styles, bearing the marks of their cultures, will meet one another and increase the probability of communication misunderstandings. The effects of intercultural misinterpretation can be much the same as a slap in the face. The one person feels himself to have been slapped unjustifiably while the other often hasn’t a clue that he given cause for offense. But when they first meet the first thing any two strangers will strive to achieve is a basis for trust. In the best case distrust will delay the building of confidence necessary for successful cooperation.

Lift Expo Russia, 18th – 21st May 2005, Moscow

Two years ago a bunch of members of VFA dared the jump into the “cold water“ and participated in the first LIFT EXPO Russia. In 2005 it was not only a bunch of but a respectable number of members participating. Beside the language and the Cyrillic letters, Moscow is a normal metropolis of this globalised world, as expensive as Tokyo and with the same traffic chaos like London. What is then so special about Moscow and Russia? It is the need of the people to catch up after 80 years of dictatorship of the proletariat, discovering their own freedom and the chances there of.

3rd Schwelm Symposium – Schwelm, 2 and 3 June 2005

This year’s Schwelm symposium, the third in the series, was held on 2 and 3 June. The topic was advanced technology in and around lifts. The venue was the Hotel Haus Friedrichsbad in Schwelm, which offered ideal conditions for the event. The symposium, organized by Henning GmbH, VFA Interlift e. V. and Lift-Report, attracted considerable interest in the lift sector. About 130 delegates registered for the tightly packed programme.