ANNUAL CHRONICLE
Every time I come to Vår Gård I am amazed at how fantastic the reception is. It's not only the food, the fantastic surroundings and the atmosphere that I enjoy but it is also a world-class customer meeting. A hello, a welcome, a smile or a little warming small talk. The staff at Vår Gård really live our vision of the importance of The good meeting in all our activities.
I think the personal meeting has become more important than ever this year. Because this fall, when I have not met and talked to others on a daily basis, I have realized how much I really miss people.
How good it feels to see another person directly in the eyes and not through a screen camera, to laugh and argue and be close to each other. To be able to touch and be touched. Of human presence simply.
At the same time, the corona pandemic has taught us to deal with a different everyday life in new ways, for better or worse. Digitization has taken a leap forward, the need to travel far to be able to meet has diminished and the line between home and away has been blurred.
We have in many ways changed our behaviors and been forced into actions we have never even had to reflect on before. For who would have even thought of having digital dinners in front of the screen or workshops in various digital break out rooms before the pandemic made its entrance?
Necessity is the mother of inventions, it is said, and think of the many creative ways to socialize, work and conduct activities that have emerged during this year. Not least here at Vår Gård .
"Need is the mother of the invention"
When the conference business was put on hold, they invested in private guests. When restaurant visits were prioritized away, they opted for weekend shopping and pick-up food. When the Christmas table dinners in December became fewer, they opted for Christmas catering and dinners for home delivery instead.
It became a flexible and necessary adaptation to a reality around us that has changed faster than perhaps ever before.
We will probably never go back to a time when people see it as necessary to physically travel across half the globe to attend meetings and conferences, and I think that is basically a positive consequence of the pandemic.
On the other hand, I believe that the need to be in the same room from time to time, and look each other in the eye again, will be more important and more anticipated than ever when the pandemic finally gives way. Then places like Vår Gård will become even more important. I really look forward to that day.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and be afraid of you!
Marie Nygren, CEO of Kooperativa Förbundet