Herr Mike in Deutschland

I have not mentioned my fair employer for a while, which is odd as I have had ridiculous amounts to do this week. Word of the week is 'teleconference'. I have taken part in quite a few recently whilst supporting Katrin (my fellow Water Technologies colleague) with preparations for forthcoming trade shows. I have actually just woken up from dream about a trade show. I think I need a holiday.

I has been really good experience though, relating to the events management side of PR. It has also made me realise that to specialise in events management would be to consign myself to an early grave; it's so stressful! You are reliant on so many different people and there are so many things that can go wrong! I have spent a lot of time this week chasing senior water professionals for information to go on boards around exhibitions. Some people are really good at responding, others take a lot of time so it can be extremely frustrating.

The teleconferences with America and China have been good to sit in on. We are fortunate that we get to participate at a reasonable hour as the USA are 6/7 hours behind (depending on where they are) and China are 7 hours ahead. So for the Americans these things are held really early and for the chinese guys it is really late. For we at head office it is around lunchtime, which I actually think is the greatest inconvenience. It is most difficult to concentrate on schedule changes etc with a rumbling stomach.

Quite a few things to get on with next week, bit of pressure as deadlines approach regarding the International Water Federation Congress in Beijing. The Chinese government are heavily involved and this makes business very different and often difficult. For the moment however I will enjoy the weekend and pray that England destroy Andorra to save me an ear bashing at work.

If you are actually interested in what I do then you can visit the Siemens I&S website for an overview. If you check it out soon you will see a link to a press release regarding the new 'E-Balls' product, superb name! Though I support all areas my key role is within Water Technologies. I remember being a bit baffled by it all at first but I am actually getting into it now, I know my reverse osmosis from my desalination. Bring on the pub quiz!