A first for Romania – and us

You could be forgiven for thinking we make this stuff up and of course you’ll never know. That’s the fun of it – you will just have to trust us.

Last Wednesday, we jumped on a plane to Bucharest where we were invited to speak at the first ever Romanian Lighting Convention (for real!).

It was held at the poshest hotel in town, the Marriott Grand, and smack next to the incredible People’s Palace, built by Ceausescu.

We had a sneaky look around the exhibition and were surprised to find a selection of big names and a vast array of local manufacturers – all specialising in LEDs of course!

The opening ceremony was grand and we were presented with plaques before we even did anything – wow!

There were some big prize-winning architects and some good speakers on the bill with a mix of manufacturers and European names – Jan Meibach from Traxon; Jan Ehjed from KTH; and Roger Narboni to name a few.

Since Martin last went there (20 years ago), when he couldn’t go out at night due to warnings about post-revolution packs of wild dogs, Romania has come on apiece.

This is the kind of country that we have long forgotten about and in the background, this Eastern European country is quietly building its own mini lighting industries with grand aspirations.

We were worried that due to the very academic and professional nature of the event, that our talk wouldn’t fit in – that we wouldn’t fit in to be honest! But after nearly bottling it, we were extremely pleased that our inspirational presentation of our ‘what’s awesome’ collection of 2011 went down a storm.

It’s easy to forget how connected we are in the UK, how lucky we are to see exhibitions, hear famous lighters talk, and see world class projects in the flesh. Romania is aspiring to catch up with the rest of Europe and hungry for inspiration.

The conference was rounded off with Tzuica (see picture – a bit like petrol), gypsy dancing, opera and the tango of course!

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