Company Promotion CPRO

 Once upon a time, in the '70s, vintage Stewardesses used to promote products on board by wearing them and walking down that aisle just like models on the catwalk. It is not a surprise that they did look like models since the grooming standards from the very beginning of this journey were extremely strict (we are talking about the 30/40s, for more details check out my article about the Flying Uniforms).

Dolder Grand Hotel Zurich

Today we don't do that anymore... well at least not on board! Depending on the Company size and position on the international map of exclusivity, some Airlines are still organizing promotion events in base and outstation. And I had a privilege of participating in many CPROs, mostly outstation!

Brussels Ribbon Cut CPRO

Bruxelles Atomium

Outstation were my favorite because not only I might have traveled to a new destination that was out of our flying network, but I would also get a chance to visit those places as a tourist. Like that time in Brussels when I took a train to nearby Gent in order to visit my friend from the university times. It's a win win! 

Zurich CPRO Mobile Truck

Moreover, Flight Attendant-Promoters would fly in business class, so I got used to the comfortable traveling conditions very soon. Starting from the limo pick-up at my company accommodation in Abu Dhabi and drop off at the hotel in the promotion destination. The pay for the "ground work" was the same as other ground jobs within the company (such as trainers and other office positions), meaning significantly lower than our flying hours as Cabin Crew. So in exchange of luxury and more time on ground, those months with CPRO on my roster, I would earn less. And I was perfectly happy with that, finding a good balance of work in the air and on ground, in base and outstation.

Promotion Team on board Boeing 787

I also met some good people that I had a pleasure becoming friends with (liebe Maren). I mostly had to assist the clients with food and drinks, present some innovating on board products, promote the company and illustrate the excellence that only my company ever had: the so called "Residence" which was fitted only on Airbus 380 aircrafts. See the video bellow and you'll understand what I am talking about! It's an on board private apartment (in fact there was only one per aircraft) which will save you money from paying a private jet, but give you the same privacy and excellency that is expected for a 31.000$ round-trip from NYC to Abu Dhabi. Unfortunately due to Covid-19 pandemic, EY decided to withdraw from the market all the  A380s, which also means no more Residence from this year.

But back on the main topic, CPRO. I remember that 5 day promotion in Munich for Air Cargo exhibition. Gulf companies were pretty much the only ones having Air-Hostesses work on the promotion, but for us it was fun. That's when I earned my A380 metal, almost half a meter big aircraft model from our German representative. It stands today in a high position, flying towards the window and reminding me every day how liberating is to have wings!

Air Cargo CPRO Munich

Or that other time in Salzburg where we attended a night gala event in the hangar at the airport, joining Air Berlin, Nikki Lauda and Red Bull Crew. We also had a free day before and after the event - such was the coincidence with flights, so the Ambassador came to join me all the way from Italy and it felt like a small vacation. Christmas markets, visiting castles and museums, warming up in the historic coffee bars with Sacher torte and hot chocolate in the city of Mozart.

Hangar BTU Salzburg CPRO

Rome, Geneva, Salzburg, Abu Dhabi - the Ambassador would follow everywhere as a love top, so my working on ground would get integrated by the amusing exploring of surroundings and culinary delicacies, on the top of constant loving support.

Rome CPRO with Alitalia Crew

Zurich is my favorite though and I've done promotion there several times. Twice for the Film Festival itself and once for a Red Cross gala event. 

ZFF central Pavilion

Zurich Film Festival is usually held in September and you can see walking on the green carpet many of the internationally known celebrities. My Airline had a stand for Stars right in the middle of it all, in a central pavilion, in front of the Zurich Opera House, in the Sechseläutenplatz. Thanks to that I was able to see Christoph Waltz, Liam Hemsworth, Luke Evans, Kiefer Sutherland and Arnold Schwarzenegger walking on the green carpet that went from the central pavilion to the Cinema Corso. Of course all the other cinemas in the city center were involved as well with a full day program 10 days long. I managed to see some of the films after my working shift and I am a cinema lover, so it was a huge privilege for me! My favorite film was Colonia with Ema Watson and seeing the film Premiere right there, in the big hall of Cinema Corso with Lufthansa Air Stewardess from the 70s opening the first scene of the film (that was her role!!!), gave me goosebumps! Highly recommended film and it doesn't have to do anything with aviation - besides that opening scene. During the lunch break I would get my take-away food and go to the lake to enjoy some sun and fresh air, observing the swans dance.

EY star lounge in the central Pavilion of Zurich Film Festival

The Red Cross gala event was held in the glorious Dolder Grand Hotel which stands in the hills and has a great panorama over the city. Another opportunity to see the swiss bourgeoisie who's names I was starting to recognize. Star of the gala was the former Miss Switzerland whose dress was by far the most impressive one. But I did have fun analyzing all the guests outfits: after all it was the first time in my life to see such a burst of elegant gala dresses in all colors, materials and forms! Sort of a fairy tale come true where I could fit as an observant Cinderella, hahaha. Well they did offer us a table and after the delicious food, we went on the stage to deliver the auctioned prize. Fun fun Fun!!!

Red Cross Gala CPRO at Dolder Grand Hotel Zurich

I did have some "local" promotions as well, one of those at the Aviation event in Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi. The problem with a promotion in the desert is that outdoors it gets hot pretty quickly and being our uniform quite thick, we suffered some sweating. But the setting under the stars was quite impressive and the atmosphere very cool. 

Emirates Palace CPRO, Abu Dhabi

I am gonna close my CPRO memories with quite a cool one: Ferrari World Abu Dhabi! When a new game called Flying Aces was about to enter this amusement park, Ferrari decided to make a promotion video with 28 Cabin Crew filling up all the seating spots on the new rollercoaster. And it was such a blast that I fainted during the ride (yeah, I missed the biggest in the world loop with the twist!)... You can clearly see the horror on my face (if you manage to spot me, little hint: I was the only one with the short hair!). While the others were in for the second round, I was begging to get me out of there 😂 Such a shame! That working day got us a prize of 2 premium tickets for the park itself. Since the Ambassador happened to be in Abu Dhabi during those days, I seized the moment and after the promotion job (that went from 6 to 12am), I changed clothes in the bathroom, left my uniform in the lockers and enjoyed the park for the rest of the day, until the closure at 10pm. He did not convince me to get on Flying Aces again, not happening. But I bet that rollercoaster enthusiasts will have great fun! I'm in for more chilling games. 

Cavallino Rampante from the Ferrari World CPRO

Oh, almost forgetting: the setting of Flying Aces is amazing, during the route to the rollercoaster you get to learn a lot about Ferrari, starting from Count Baracca, Italy's top fighter ace during the WW1. The emblem that Baracca wore on his airplanes - Cavallino Rampante - inspired Enzo Ferrari to use it on his racing cars. The prancing horse became the official symbol of the Scuderia Ferrari racing team since 1929. These two gentlemen were proudly from my region Emilia-Romagna. Although I would see more Ferrari cars on the streets of the UAE, rather than in Italy, the Ferrari Headquarters factory is based in Maranello, less than 50km from my home, Bologna. That was a little history and geography lesson if you don't mind. Now enjoy the ride, starting from the Crew faces:

I know that flying after the Pandemic will have to get reimagined all over the world, but I honestly hope that the memorable experiences such as the above mentioned ones will still be part of Flight Attendants job!

Mommy's 8 March

 Today I spoke with a dear friend of mine from the Netherlands about the Woman's Day. She asked me some personal questions and even though I quite don't understand the reason of those questions (hahaha, now I'm thinking about it!), what I do know is that it took me down the memory line and it gave me the inspiration for this article! 

Today I want to cherish the beauty of a woman and especially THE one who brought us into this world, the one who is not anymore among us, but surely above us and inside us. I am gonna tell her wonderful story to the world., my Mom.

Me and my Mommy hiking in Italy 1988

First of all she was named by a flower, not the woman's day flower Mimosa, but Hortensia (which in English should be Hydrangea), a beautiful colorful flower that we used to have in our garden when I was a child.

Me in our childhood garden among Hortensia's

Hortensia was born in Bucharest, Romania. Her biggest passion in life, MUSIC, turned after a lot of hard work  into a lifetime career. She studied Direction of Choir at the University of Music in Bucharest where she met my father (he came all the way from Yugoslavia to study Music at the prestigious Conservatory in the capital city of Romania). She also played a piano many hours a day and was a member of Song, a cheerful and historical choir Ensemble in Bucharest. 

Choir Ensemble SONG, Bucharest

Is there anything more beautiful than combining music and love? Having that ultimate mutual understanding and vibrations. With that splendid energy, full of dreams and fresh with knowledge this young couple moved to my father's hometown in Eastern Serbia, well at that times it was glorious Yugoslavia! More precisely to Kladovo, a small town on Danube river that is also a natural border between Romania and Yugoslavia. 

Me and Mommy in the oldtown Fetislam by the Danube River

Dedicated to spreading love for music, my mother as piano and choir teacher and my father as piano and musical theory teacher, they soon enough joined the piano section of the Music School of Kladovo as the first ever highly trained professors with the University degree in 1980. That same school was renamed Music School "Konstantin Babić" under the direction of my father in 2006. It was the first time in Serbia that a music school got named by a living person, a musician of course. It is curious to mention that when the Music school first opened in September 1969, the first ever teacher in the piano section was my grandmother. It runs in the family, right?

My parents at the seminar in Montenegro 
in the 80s

In such a small town as my hometown (less than 9000 people in the city center), every other child goes to the school of Music because there are only a limited number of activities offered. Children loved my mother and as a consequence their parents did too. So she was that foreign beautiful lady that conquered the hearts of half a town, because that's what music does. She made our town's name famous at the sectionals, regionals and nationals championships, both with piano section and with the choir. Oh what a joy singing in that choir (of course I did, and my sister too!!!). It gives me chills just to think about that particular competition when our composition was so powerful and engaging that the final note would resonate in the big hall for the longest time until the laud applauses would break that magical moment turning it into a wonderful cheering. My heart was exploding of joy and satisfaction. 

Choir competition in Šabac 1990

Choir competition in Vršac 1993

And then there was that strange "fame" in my town that I understood only when I grew up. People would say hello without me knowing who they actually were and apparently I was always safe, wherever I went and whatever I did (for the better and worse). Soooo, I might didn't know who they were, but they surely knew who I was, and that is "the daughter of the Piano Professors", that's how I grew up. She really left a lasting impression, a mark in our little hometown and that is how I want to remember her. 

Along with her I want to cherish all the inspiring ladies that have given such an important contribution to our community such as our beloved English teacher Radmila and the former Cultural Center director Žaklina. Today is the International Woman's Day and I want to thank this international minded ladies.

Me and mommy with the Angel of Music in 2010

I would like to close with one of my favorite photos, the cuddle of the world, a mothers hug. Love you mommy!

Me and mommy in 1988