The story of my first experience at Grimp Day starts with a small complaint towards you participants… well hey, you’ll have to read about it here:
I get to Namur on the evening of the 8th of September, just in time to meet my team, check that the stand and products are all ok and hold a quick briefing for tomorrow’s logistics.
Fabio, Mario, Marco, Luca and I sit around a table with a beer and have a look at the next day’s programme.
We look at each other in horror.
We look back at the programme.
We look at each other in horror again.
We look back at the programme again.
We would have gone on like this for a good while but continuing to stare at the breakfast time wouldn’t have changed it!
? Breakfast was at 6:00 am and departure for the challenge location was at 6:30. ?
And this is how our Grimp Day started with the knowledge that we wouldn’t have a minute’s break.
But we are not the kind of folk to become discouraged!
The next morning we were down at breakfast at 6am on the dot and we were rather proud of ourselves – yes, because we were the very first in the breakfast room!
Even though the participants were super fit guys, morning people who are always on the ball this time we beat them, getting to breakfast first!?
I even remember taking a picture of the empty room as proof of our victory. ?
But our enthusiasm quickly waned as we saw the participants filter in to breakfast straight from their morning jog.
And this is my complaint dear Grimp Day participant friends: was it really necessary to make us feel so old and decrepit?! ?
After this shock, the day started.
Mario starts driving and, organised as ever, puts into the sat nav the coordinates for the lake in the wonderful park where the XT floating demo will take place.
Two firefighters, Simon & Bastien, are going to help us with the demo.
After carrying out a little training with our demonstrators at the lakeshore, we’re ready to go. The 28 teams will arrive in groups and will watch our demo. Luca will explain each step in English, German or French, depending on the nationality of the participants.
Fabio, Marco and I take turns swapping with Luca and also showing off the XT Pro, the standard version, the tripod and the tirol kit.
Suddenly Mario has a fantastic idea – we’ll ask the “Condor safety” company if we can borrow one of their canoes and we’ll row out to the middle of the lake. I’ll be at the oars and Mario will film everything so we can take home some great shots from an alternative point of view while the GoPros fitted onto the demonstrators helmets will do the rest!
About halfway through the day however, the girl who kindly offered to play the victim during the demos asks for a swap, the cold lake water and wind would put anyone to the test.
As we can’t just stop the demo, I pull out my wetsuit from my backpack and get ready to enter the water. ??♀️?
With my wetsuit on I walk towards the edge of the lake and Simon, who is an expert firefighter, peers at me intently and queries: “Decathlon?”
? Right then and there my brimming pride over my latest purchase turns into embarrassment.? They lend me a watertight firefighter’s wetsuit and I’m ready to jump in!
The demos continue as we gather lots of feedback from the participants, all of whom were extremely professional and collaborative.
There’s a lot of interest in our devices and thanks to the wonderfully collaborative atmosphere we manage to connect with everyone… In fact, the leader of the Düsseldorf team even tried to throw me in the water (fully dressed and not with a wetsuit) but that’s another story!?
?We go back to our hotel in the evening satisfied about our first day and with a whole load of ideas and contacts.?
