SMA summer parties – the tradition continues

Martina Fischmann

On September, 9 the SMA employee summer party is upon us once again and preparations are in full swing. It’s become too much for one person to handle, so Marketing has taken on organizing the event. But they still ask for my help. They are “borrowing” our apprentices for set-up and tear-down and they want to know where we ordered the food last year.

It all reminds me of the 2005 summer party:

900 employees were looking forward to an exciting celebration. In those days we made everything ourselves, from shopping for bratwurst and buns, to everyone pitching in at the grill and with the beer.

Buns at the last minute: 2005 SMA summer party

The party started well and everything was going great. Then at 5:20 p.m., I heard some bad news: We were out of buns for the bratwurst. What to do? Call the closest bakeries and have all the buns set aside for us, find a car to use, grab an apprentice for help. Head out. Wait. We needed money. What was in my wallet would not cover it and, of course, it was too late to get the money through official channels at SMA. Then I saw Günther Cramer and Reiner Wettlaufer (responsible for finances) standing nearby. I briefly explained the situation, and Günther Cramer pulled out his wallet, handed me €100 and told me to pay him back on Monday. Sometimes it was and still is just that simple. We got enough buns to last until the end of the party and (almost) no one noticed. It was another successful summer party.