What else?


At infoteam, the last week of August 2018 was dominated by the 26th RUBIN User Conference. At the invitation of the Messe- und Veranstaltungsgesellschaft Magdeburg GmbH and infoteam, RUBIN Users from Germany, Austria and Switzerland travelled to Magdeburg.

During the conference, which was conducted in the proven form of an Open Space event, the participants actively took part in experience sharing and brainstorming in a variety of workshops. Both software and industry issues found their place and were intensively processed in the respective groups. Even outside the workshops, the participants used the meeting to continue their discussions.

Otto meets RUBIN – Inventors and Inventions, that was the motto of this years RUBIN User Conference.The Millennium Tower in the Elbauenpark Magdeburg and the exhibition inside the Tower, which leads through the great scientific achievements and inventions of mankind in the last 6000 years, captivated all participants. On the trail of Otto von Guericke they were walking through the impressive exhibition and celebrated right in the middle of it until night time. Of course, it didn’t lack the Magdeburg hemispheres experiment either.

Pressefoto
from left to right: Christoph Herlitz, Managing Director, infoteam GmbH Berlin, Steffen Schüller, Managing Director, Messe- und Veranstaltungsgesellschaft Magdeburg GmbH

As is well known, after the RUBIN User Conference is before the RUBIN User Conference. Therefore, we are glad about the invitation of BERNEXPO AG for next year. For the 27th RUBIN User Conference the RUBIN community will meet from September 3rd to September 5th 2019 in Bern. We are looking forward to seeing you again!

infoteam GmbH Berlin
Königsberger Straße 14
12207 Berlin
Deutschland
E-Mail: info@infoteam-berlin.de

From 5 to 7 September 2017 the 25th RUBIN User Conference took place, a summit meeting at 1,800 metres above sea level. The venue was in Pontresina in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. 86 participants met in this impressive alpine scenery for vivacious professional interaction on RUBIN software.

Morteratschgletscher
Hiking tour to the zum Morteratsch Glacier

 

Together with the Convention and Event Centre Pontresina, infoteam GmbH Berlin organised a profession programme with many cultural and athletic distractions as an aside.  Already the panorama of the highest-altitude convention centre in Europe was very special for the participants. In between we had a short introduction to the Rhaeto-Romance language, which next to German and Italian is the third official language of Canton Graubünden. Whoever wanted to raise their pulse rate, took a glacier hike.

Pressefoto
from left to right: Matthias Müller, Managing Director, infoteam GmbH Berlin, Jan Steiner, Managing Director, Pontresina Tourismus, Martin Oester, Manager Marketing & Sales, Kongress- und Kulturzentrum Pontresina, Christoph Herlitz, Managing Director, infoteam GmbH Berlin

 

In 21 workshops the participants interacted and discussed the uses and potential of the RUBIN software. As usual, the various topics were brought forward by the users in an open forum. In the end, the respective initiators presented their conclusions. The topics spanned from general points to very specific questions or requirements of individual trade fair and event companies. At the RUBIN News session held every year, RUBIN consultants elaborated on new features and the further development of RUBIN software implemented since the last user conference.

In the final round at the light art campfire all participants – users as well as infoteam employees – were in agreement: the encounter was once again characterised by a pleasant openness and was highly enriching, not only professionally. The 25th RUBIN User Conference will surely be remembered for quite some time. Naturally, the grandiose venue primarily contributed to this. Even the Swiss participants enjoyed the trip to their mountainous neighbourhood. In a nutshell: “It was simply Swiss!”

And since after the user conference, is before the user conference, we would like to take the opportunity here to reveal where we are getting together in September 2018. RUBIN users will be please to know that that is Magdeburg, the capital of the German federal state of Saxony-Anhalt. Messe- und Veranstaltungsgesellschaft (trade fair and event company) Magdeburg GmbH will be playing host.

infoteam GmbH Berlin
Königsberger Straße 14
12207 Berlin
Germany
E-Mail: info@infoteam-berlin.de

“The gardener asked me to tell you that the blackberries are ready to be harvested“. I received this message on vacation. It relates to the blackberries in the backyard of the mansion in which infoteam is accommodated. There are a number of blackberry bushes. Last year we had blackberry jam and blackberry cake.

The first crop: a bowlful of fruit

Which delicious dish could I change them into this year?


That is like a chocolate Santa Claus in October. Nobody is really in a celebratory mood yet. Even in November we are not really in the Christmas spirit and thoughts of fir trees, cinnamon cookies and roast goose are still in the distant future.
That is how curious we felt at first when infoteam met three weeks before the first Sunday of Advent and together shot videos for the Advent Campaign 2016. We had Christmas music playing at our entrance as a season‘s greeting. With her good sense for decoration, our good fairy and housekeeper, Lucy, created a pleasant atmosphere with chains of lights, small Santas and Christmas floral arrangements.

Weihnachtsdekoration

The kitchen, next to the fireplace room (usually the location for discussions and stand-ups), was also thought as the film location for the videos. By enchantment it turned into the “infoteam biscuit bakery”, with the aroma of spices and orange peels filling the air; where children diligently rolled out the dough to then apply the biscuit cutters to make Christmas figures.
Time just flew by and the videos got quickly “into the box”. The edit job afterwards was great fun for all of us . We did not cut a lot away, because we did not want any sterile clips, but rather real snapshots! We believe that that has succeeded and would be very happy if our customers enjoyed the videos as much as we.

 


The 24th RUBIN User Conference took place in Nuremberg from the 6th to the 8th of September under the motto, “This is where the music plays”. A total of 130 participants got together in the Meistersingerhalle (Master Singers Hall) and exchanged their professional knowledge in an atmosphere of working together as colleagues and got to know the musical merits of Nuremberg.

 

rubin_infoteam_spielwarenmesse_nuremberg_afag_meistersingerhalle
Christoph Herlitz, Managing Director infoteam GmbH Berlin; Maik Heißer, AFAG Trade Fairs and Exhibitions, Robert Vogel, Director Meistersingerhalle; Jens Pflüger, Director IT & Finance, Spielwarenmesse eG

 

Henning Könicke, Managing Director of the AFAG Mes­sen und Ausstellungen GmbH (AFAG Trade Fairs and Exhibitions) referred to the metropolitan area as the “Capital of RUBIN Users” in which three co-organisers worked together for the first time. The AFAG, the Meistersingerhalle and the Spielwarenmesse eG worked together with infoteam GmbH Berlin to ensure a most highly professional order of events along with organising an invigorating programme in a great atmosphere. The Meistersin­gerhalle, as the home of the “Twelve Old Masters” of  the Minnesang (courtly love songs of the 12th through 14th century), not only due to its motto, but particularly due to the professional team on site, turned out to be an ideal location easy to get around in.

Deploying the open space conference methodology, a total of 23 workshops were organised by the participants themselves and were characterised by open and lively discussions. In view of the variety of RUBIN topics in and around trade fair and event management the users were able to profit from the processes used in other companies, were able to exchange their experiences and were able to garner impulses for their own practical applications. The professional knowledge regarding various customer-specific means of implementing RUBIN that the RUBIN consultants made available underscored communication, to the extent that the prerequisites for the deployment of individual functions for the relevant application case could be illustrated.

Not only the communication in the workshop sessions, but also the joint effort of the co-organisers reflects what Robert Vogel, Head of the Meistersingerhalle, described as a “symbiotic partnership based on trust” between infoteam and its customers, but primarily also denotes this partnership amongst the companies and users: “It is not a gathering of competitors, but in actuality RUBIN users who openly exchange their experiences for their mutual benefit”.

The community thought as a modern term for that which is the core of the infoteam company philosophy, also crystallised in the final round on the last day of the conference. For this Christoph Herlitz, CEO of infoteam GmbH Berlin, made use of a basic assumption on the success of communication espoused by Paul Watzlawick: “The relationship guides the matter and not vice versa”. True to this knowledge the approachable interchange among partners was the prerequisite for the excellent professional results.

infoteam GmbH Berlin
Königsberger Straße 14
12207 Berlin
Germany
Email: info@infoteam-berlin.de

infoteam met on Saturday, 16 January 2016, for its annual meeting (JAM session = JahresAnfangsMeeting). Already for the second time this annual meeting with open space character was held outside the company’s premises at the VKU Forum near the Berlin Hauptbahnhof (main train station). “This is very good for our working atmosphere”, stated one of our developers, Verena Richter. The equation is very simple: other impressions = other associations. These associations can spark new ideas during the workshop and evolve new perspectives for solving problems.

Keeping in the tradition of RUBIN User Conferences, the issues for the workshops are brought on the agenda by our staff themselves. Besides the open space workshops and the opportunity to openly speak out on matters that are dear to one‘s heart, this is a great time to speak with colleagues outside of the daily humdrum at work… either during breaks or while reminiscing about the year gone by. Such retrospectives are part and parcel of the work modus of software developers at infoteam.

Besides the technical topics dealing directly with RUBIN, in these JAM sessions good ideas are also batted around on how to enhance the good feelings. It is quite common that plans are dreamed up for the coming year – whether a barbeque in the summer or an after-work movie in the big conference room… with popcorn, of course.


Before the entire infoteam crew took off for the Düppeler Forst (forest) at Christmas time for a hike, wonderful gingerbread was served in the shape of small RUBIN modules.

This nutritious gingerbread was welcome sustenance to get the hikers through 12 kilometres. After this arduous 3 ½-hour tour, the crew settled into a restaurant to enjoy some wonderful Christmas cheer and fare.


Friedrichshafen, Germany. After 23 successful RUBIN User Conferences, an internal User Conference was held for the first time on the 2nd of December 2015. Around 40 RUBIN users and non-users met during the morning hours in the conference centre at the Messe Friedrichshafen for an all-day open space conference. After a short welcome by procurator Stefan Mittag, IT Head Sven Rostin and infoteam facilitators Christoph Herlitz, Mona Thissen and Rudi Kratzmeir, the open space conference was opened.

Open space is a type of workshop for large groups and is suitable for businesses that want to optimise their internal and client-related processes by pooling the knowledge of all participants. The basic idea is to intrinsically improve the work environment and to create a basis for cooperation. The open space methodology starts with the values of a company that are oriented to the future. “Open space brings change to life”, summarised Christopher Herlitz, Managing Director of infoteam.

In the 16 workshops that the participants organised themselves, questions on the application and requirements of RUBIN were discussed, experiences were related and problems were solved. The results of the workshops were compiled in résumés during the breaks and supplemented by infoteam in subsequent group discussions. This resulted in transferring the knowledge gained to all participants, transcending projects and departments. “It’s an all-round approach that our colleagues in Berlin are pursuing”, said IT Head Sven Rostin “they advise, support and facilitate, thereby contributing to the development of our organisation. The intensive communication between the staff members of the trade fair clearly reflected this.”

infoteam GmbH Berlin
Königsberger Straße 14
12207 Berlin
Germany
Email: info@infoteam-berlin.de

Getting away from their computers and software and heading for the piano. That is the meaning of the project “Switching Keyboards”.

Once a week, all employees of the company  – who want to – get half an hour of paid free time for individual piano lessons by state certified music teacher, Stephan Kratzert – sponsored by infoteam. Piano lessons as preventive healthcare in a company – this all-round and unique approach combines the aspects of motivation, psyche and body.

Matthias Müller, the other Managing Director of infoteam went on to explain: “By switching keyboards we try to prevent burnout, which is a common problem nowadays. We use having fun with music to thwart stress overload. So during working hours some of our team members can fulfil their dream of playing the piano.”

Simple pieces of music can be quickly learned and tried out on the piano. This can have a positive effect on the creative potential of the employees of a company. Back and wrist problems for white-collar jobs frequently occur through the wrong posture of back and arms when using a computer keyboard. Playing the piano brings self-awareness to the body and therefore preempts bad posture. For two-handed playing at least one hand must play automatically, this means that one hand must learn to play without cognitive-visual control. This leads to a more profound sense of relaxation. (Please refer to www.stephan-kratzert.de for more information)

Music teacher Stephan Kratzert elaborated: “These lessons take place on a muted piano with both teacher and student wearing open headphones to be able to speak with each other. And nobody in the company is disturbed by loud piano playing.”

The agile reflections conducted at infoteam are also done for switching keyboards. So far all participants are of the same opinion: the project will be continued with enthusiasm.

infoteam GmbH Berlin
Königsberger Straße 14
12207 Berlin
Germany
Email: info@infoteam-berlin.de