Editor's comment

Over hill and dale

It was quite a European-focused November for me. I’ve been to the beautiful country of Austria to visit some of our friends, and to Amsterdam (despite the fog that tried to ground me) for the judging meeting of the European Office Products Awards (EOPA). 

The EOPA judges’ meeting is fascinating to attend. As a humble note taker, I was able to observe the proceedings and gain an insight into what some of Europe’s most important vendors and resellers look for in a product, a company or a person. Several of the debates went on for some time – the lunch break was very short – as there is rarely one clear winner for a category. The product categories contained a number of ground-breaking products and after a sedate start the passionate judges leapt out of their shells to defend and expand upon the credentials of what each saw as a ‘product of the year’. 

When writing this month’s Hot Topic about the eurozone debt crisis, which was no mean feat, I spoke to a number of people who maintain their passion for the industry despite the impact of the economic chaos (see Hot topic: Eurozone). It was interesting to hear a number of them talk about opportunities, and the different ways they’re coping. 

Judging by this month’s Big Interview with Ravi Saligram (see Big interview: Ravi Saligram) it seems that there is optimism over the pond too. Saligram is confident that OfficeMax now has the tools to grow and speaks extremely highly of his team.

I went on another important trip in November – the Climb of Life (see News analysis: Climb of Life). It was a wonderful, though tough, event and climbing England’s highest mountain felt worth it when our fundraising total was announced. But as one of my team members said: “It’s lucky the cloud was there – if I’d seen how far we were going I wouldn’t have gone!” And I won’t forget the Monty Python quotes that kept us laughing up the mountain: “That piece of halibut was good enough for Jehovah!”

Felicity Francis, Editor

Keywords: Climb of Life, European Office Products Awards, EOPA, editor's comment, office products international