Scandinavian Zone Newsletter Winter 2013
Dear members and readers, It is my absolute great honor to introduce you our first zone newsletter as your Scandinavian Zone Director. I hope you like the new layout and the content! In friendship, Anders
June 2013 President of Les Clefs d’Or Finlande Pascal Gaudio meets with President of Les Clefs d’or Canada Hugo Legrand in Sofitel Montreal and also met with President of Quebec Section Simo Bovoli and chef concierge Anne Mckenna of Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City. He also had the honour to be invited to LCD Québec Flash Summer tourist info event.
Friendly visit to Stockholm, 3rd VP Roderick Levejac, asked us to join and to speak about the Swedish Chapter on how to move on from being a sleeping section to become a full member. Had a constructive meeting, nice agenda set up by Olow Frank and his team and we are confident that the Swedish Section is moving towards a brighter future! Also we had a most positive meeting with Strömma to become the first official partner in the zone (besides IHT & AMEX, Intl. Partners)
Grand Hôtel Stockholm promotes concierge service with head concierge Olow Frank.
June Kullo Golf Tournament, Finland. http://www.kullogolf.fi/fi/etusivu/ Transportation via Helsinki Limo http://www.helsinkilimo.com/ Winners were: Best Green card course development: Emmi Pöllänen, Gift Voucher for Kämp Hotel one night stay for two Best Green card course ”Attitude”: Roberto Barbato, Gift Voucher to SMÖR Restaurant Winner Golf competition: Lauri Kovanen, Gift Voucher to Hotel Haven one night stay for two Longest Drive competition: Kaija Kovanen, Gift Voucher to SMÖR Restaurant Closest to Pin: Erkki Kartano, Golf accessories gift from Kullo Golf Club
July The Danish Section visiting Georg Jensen Design at their silversmith and private event in their flag ship store at Strøget. http://www.georgjensen.com
July Members of the Danish section on ’MeMover’sightseeing. Courtesy of http://www.becopenhagen.dk/en/
The Finnish section on 4th of July traditional outdoor event – Porvoo - Cruise Haikko - Sauna – Good food – Good weather – Good friends. Transportation by Airport Taxi Yellow Line http://www.airporttaxi.fi
August Finlands newest UICH LCD member, Harry Põiklik explains: How to spend a summer's day in Tallinn. Swissôtel Tallinn campain.
August The Danish section attended an educational event at the wonderful located and historic Sølyst with service boost from Hotelbooster by Leon Birdi and inspirational presentation of whats on the dining scene in Copenhagen by bon-vivant, Mr. Kristian Brask-Thomsen.
August Kontiki Finland invites LCD Finland to discover Sipoo www.kontikifinland.fi
On September 20th to september 22nd the Scandinavian Zone held their annual Zone meeting in beautiful Oslo. We had a really positive and constructive meeting. Most of the sections are in growth especially in Finland and Denmark. In Norway there is more challenges however Kim Ertsaas is doing a great job to create more visibility of UICH Les Clefs d’Or to get more members and partners. We would like to thank our sponsors for the event, Bislet Limousine, Restaurant Lofoten, Cafe Engebret and our main sponsors AMEX and the IHT (New York Times International).
After this highly constructive meeting, Scandinavian sections became again closer than ever by sharing knowledge and procedures as well as inviting every Scandinavian members to local future events. Special thanks to the Norwegian section for making this event memorable.
September Traditional Crayfish party with the Finnish bartenders association.
In Norway there have been the following main events the past year; Board visit and lecture of the Russian Traveler with Global Blue Taxfree Worldwide Christmas Party for all members and spouses at the Grand Café. There have also been restaurant visits and monthly board meetings. http://www.lesclefsdornorway.no/home.html
November The Danish section’s traditional Christmas party was hosted by Bdrd. Price Restaurant in Tivoli Gardens. More than 100 members, spouses and sponsors participated in the event. The menu was presented by owner and celebrity chef James Price.
November Traditional Friendly Poker Tournament, was all about skills not about luck at www.casinohelsinki.fi Poker Winner: Jukka Tuomola
President of LCD Finland Pascal Gaudio meets with President of LCD Germany Thomas Munko.
From November 7th to November 10 th our President and Scandinavian Zone Director attended the EXCO meeting in Budapest and the celebration of the Hungarian Section 30th Anniversary. Also attending the Anniversary was Past President Arshad Khokhar and his darling wife Anette.
It was a very well organized and constructive meeting and thanks to the organizing committee and President Tamas Ungar, the celebration weekend was absolutely memorable in this historical capital in Europe. Showing us the best of what Budapest has to offer!
Andy Pongco Award. The Andy Pongco Award was established at the 55th International Congress in Denmark 2008, to honor the memory of Andy Pongco (an international honorary president, who unfortunately passed away), by recognizing and encouraging young members to become active participants in our global network. It is the intention of all of us at UICH to encourage as many countries as possible to present profiles of capable young members. We intend to see this friendly challenge continue for many years to come and therefore, enable us to detect the elite of tomorrow’s Clefs d'Or Concierges. To be a candidate you must fulfill these requirements:
A "Clefs d'Or" member
Under 35 years of age
Participating at his/her very first international congress
Nominated by his/her member section
Fluent in English
Must have the title "Concierge" and a hotel issued business card
As the concierge concept is not so common in Denmark it is still a big part of the Danish luxury culture, but we can always expand and make it more common that there is a concierge in every hotel in Copenhagen. Therefore, I am the only one at the Imperial hotel with a concierge title. My goal is to bring the service that only a concierge can provide to the hotel and Copenhagen. I am especially honored and proud to be able to present Denmark at the Andy Pongco awards, while pursuing to get the title to Denmark for the first time and back to where the award was launched. I am 23 years and living in Copenhagen, Denmark. During my time as a student at hotel Wakeup Copenhagen my interest grew and I wanted to be a bigger part of the concierge work. So it was quite natural for me to engage in Les Clef d'Or. My involvement in Les Clefs d'Or Denmark was recently awarded with the golden keys making me an international member. On a daily basis I work as a concierge at the Imperial Hotel in central Copenhagen. The hotel is a 4 star hotel and has 288 rooms. Imperial hotel is part of the Arp -Hansen chain, which is the leading chain in Copenhagen and where all its 11 hotels are based in. Arp-Hansen hotels range from budget hotels to 4 star luxury hotels. In my spare time I take pictures, and maintain my website pierrehoudet.com, and help out De Gyldne nøglers facebook page. In addition, I love to travel, especially to see magnificent hotels around the world. Thanks to my sponsor International New York Times who has sponsored some of my travel expenses and made it possible for me to join my first International Congress.
