We knew that Brescia was an amazing place but yesterday evening we realised just how amazing it is.
There are no words to describe a city which, even on a Monday evening after a long day’s work, produced over 120 people who came to speak about Design, to find out about the culture behind our work which they obviously share and to talk to us.
We, the newcomers who knocked on the door of a city which we have always admired. We who wanted to introduce ourselves by organising a meeting for the presentation of our book.
Since yesterday evening we respect Brescia even more than before because they honoured us, not only with a marvellous meeting but also by coming to speak with us.
We will never forget the evening of 25th November 2019 when we received so much attention, so many people willing to listen to us and so much constructive dialogue.
Eugenio Massetti and Ivana Pais: dialogue about our territory, with our territory.
Brescia listened to us and spoke to us and for this we are flattered and grateful.
Also because the voices through which the city spoke to us were incredibly knowledgable: non other than the President of Confartigianato Brescia and Lombardia Orientale Eugenio Massetti and Ivana Pais, Associate Professor of Economic Sociology at the Università Cattolica who also taught at the University of Brescia for 7 years.
Don’t think about institutions which provide dull interventions in bland convention tones, don’t think that we didn’t tackle tough themes….. no way!
Like typical inhabitants of Brescia, outright and down-to-earth, the protagonists of this great little debate started off with discussions regarding the challenges on the market, the ability of local entrepreneurs to collaborate, and on the competitiveness between companies active in the territory.
And that’s great: the market is something that has to be faced head-on and we all know that economy, both in Brescia and elsewhere, is certainly not a bed of roses.
And we are not in Brescia to receive compliments but rather to have the chance to serve this city as it deserves.
Therefore, thank you: we raise our hats to this extraordinary city and to those people who took the trouble to come and talk with us, to comment on what we are doing and to share moments of conviviality and fun, jokingly making comments about the contents of our book “The Spirit of 74 – 74 key words to live happily the passion for our chosen profession”, the main event of the evening.
We also want to thank them because they rewarded our efforts with the precious gift of language. Every now and then during the evening conversations lapsed into the local dialect of Brescia and although it’s not our dialect it made us feel at home, just as we always feel when we speak among colleagues as if we were in the laboratory.
Customers? Much more – extraordinary people….. there are no other words to describe them.
How can you describe a customer who is happy to take the opportunity to return to the shop where they were served in order to find out what goes on behind the product that have chosen?
How can you describe a customer who takes their mobile phone out of their pocket to show our designer the exact colour of their flooring, with the idea of a possible new furnishing scheme for their home?.
How can you describe a customer who does something never seen before in any shop?. A customer who comes into our showroom with no intention of buying anything but just to speak for 4 hours with the other customers, with the designers and with the representatives.
We simply haven’t got the words to describe these people but we know how to recognise them: they are people who choose more than just a sofa or an armchair.
They are people who want to give a sense to their purchases, to see the culture behind the work, to have the latest information about design and to spend enjoyable moments in stimulating exchanges with others or maybe just from the pages of a book or by listening to a sociologist.
Is this a dream? No. Or maybe it is: for us it is like a dream come true. This is what we work for, to interact with our customers because this too is the Spirit of 74, this too is the “Design of your Dreams” as we like to call our style.
Meeting with the company: yesterday everyone in BertO, from all over Italy, came to Brescia.
By car, by coach, by train, alone or with colleagues, from Milan and Meda but also from Turin, Padova, and Rome.
Brescia attracted everyone and gave us all a warm welcome.
From the artisan laboratory in Meda but also from the showrooms all over Italy, the meeting with the city of Brescia was a moment for us to pull ourselves together and to bring all our enthusiasm and energy to a city which had opened its doors so generously.
And of course we must mention Giulia and Laura, the two managers of the BertO showroom in Borgo Wuhrer in Brescia. Every day, knowing the high standards of the city, they make sure that the BertO products will continue to interest their fellow citizens…. And what a good job they make of it!
Giulia, Laura, and the Spirit of 74 at its best.
When the managers of the Brescia shop were born, 1974 was already in the past and not just by a few years!
But yesterday evening in their showroom, in their city and with their contacts, they made us realise how the drive and inspiration which came from our founders is something which is truly timeless.
It was wonderful to see them at work and to see how their vitality, strength and enthusiasm so perfectly reflected the way in which BertO has worked ever since it was founded back in 1974.
So we symbolically dedicate the evening of 25th November 2019 to them certain that this amazing opportunity which was offered to us by their city will bode well for future challenges which would overwhelm entrepreneurs and managers with far more experience.
The challenge to be able to live up to the standards of Brescia.
