IBA Elite Bartender Course 2005 in Karlovy Vary Czech Republic
For
being best in F.B.S.K active membership test 2005, I was privileged and
honoured to participate in 10 days John Whyte elite bartender course in
Karlovy Vary Czech Republic.
The course was held between 3rd and 14th
April 2005. We were 14 participants from different European countries: Czech Republic 3, Finland 2, Sweden 1, Norway 1, UK 2, Italy 2, Switzerland 1 and Croatia 2. People had different backgrounds but majority had been working in 4 or 5 star hotel bars.
I had heard horror stories about long days and nights studying hard
during the course. For this year there had been some changes in the
schedules and timetables.
The course began with a preliminary test to
determine our knowledge in beverages. This was made in order to divide
the group into duty teams, who were responsible for taking care of the
daily tasks and quests. We had plenty of time familiarize ourselves
with sights in beautiful spa town Karlovy Vary.
The Grand Hotel Pupp offered a magnificent place and atmosphere for studying. Our main educator from CBA Milan Kolar and his assistant Gabriela Jonakova made sure that we had everything that we needed. One of many delightful events on the course was serving drinks to Miss Czech 2005 candidates who stayed in Grand Hotel Pupp. It was nice to see the different kind of methods in working and leadership.
It was our privilege to hear presentations from multitude of brand ambassadors like: Marie
Brizard, Grand Marnier, Monin, DeKyper, Bols, Cointreau, Remy Marten,
Vinium, Starobrno, Heineken, Fabbri, Fratelli Branca, Hennessy and
Finlandia Vodka. We also visited Becherovka, Mattoni and Urquell production plants and got detailed knowledge in making of these beverages.
Lectures in strategy management and public relations were held to
give us more knowledge how to run business in hotel and catering
industry. Our task was to make a business plan to build up a bar or a
restaurant and make necessary calculations for investments and
budgeting. For many this kind of information was new and offered a
great possibility to learn more how to open a bar or a restaurant in
the future.
After the Elite bartender Course in Karlovy Vary feelings are very
high in spite of very little sleep during the course. There are many
new things and ideas that have accumulated during the course and I’m
really thrilled and exited to continue the same way. The desire to work
abroad to get more knowledge is greater than ever before.
The best thing during was getting to know many different kinds of
people and create friendship for life. The educational input of brand
ambassadors and unique knowledge about beverages cannot be underrated.
Thanks to FBSK for making the participation to the course possible and CBA
and companies involved for the educational efforts and fellow
colleagues across Europe for giving a lot more information on their
countries and specialities. See you all in I.B.A 2005 Helsinki in October!!!
Yours truly, Heikki Närhi
F.B.S.K. / Finland
Becherovka >>>
Karlovy Vary >>>
Lectures >>>
City of Prague >>>
Urguel
