What is OUT OF THE BOX?

Definition (adj.) | beyond conventional thought or practice; creative and unorthodox in thought or practice. The phrase to "think outside the box" originated in the United States in the late 1960s - early 1970s. The 'box', with its implication of rigidity and squareness, symbolizes constrained and unimaginative thinking. This is in contrast to the open and unrestricted "out of the box" or "blue-sky" thinking.

So what is La Marzocco OUT OF THE BOX?

OOTB is about celebrating our originality and providing our distribution network, their end customers, coffee shop owners, baristas, trade professionals and industry friends with a snapshot of who we are, as well as the path our company is taking in terms of product innovation.

• We will be showcasing our range of La Marzocco espresso equipment, as well as new products in a hands-on and memorable way.
• We will be creating a meaningful brand experience to generate enthusiasm towards La Marzocco through distributor meetings, workshops, lectures and the staging of various creative and fun events.
• We will be combining art & photography with industry; music & cocktails with network meetings and technical trainings; classic design & elegance with graffiti & grunge.

La Marzocco OUT OF THE BOX 2011:

• Over 1,500 guests, representing more than 50 countries around the world attended OOTB.
• With Tim Varney and Tim Wendelboe as masters of ceremonies (www.timwendelboe.no) and Willem Boot as keynote speaker (www.bootcoffee.com).
• LM inaugurated OOTB by hosting the Regional Barista Championship, "Milan Coffee Excellence", on Thursday evening.
• While Friday afternoon was dedicated to our distributor meeting, OOTB was open to the public on Friday morning and all day on Saturday.
• We provided our family of distributors a snapshot of where La Marzocco is today, as well as the path our company is taking in terms of product innovation.
• Distributors, end-customers and industry friends gathered for one-on-one meetings with LM staff, browsed the photographic exposé by internationally acclaimed photographer Sven Hoffmann (www.svenhoffmann.me), glanced through never-before-seen projects from La Marzocco's recently restored archive, jammed on the Strada and attended a series of themed workshops.
• OOTB came to a close with a party which ended around 2:30AM on Sunday… courtesy of noise control and Milan's police department.

International guest speakers included:

	Jeffrey Young | The Specialty Coffee Scene - Allegra Strategies Trends from Europe's growing specialty coffee industry. Allegra is a leading-edge strategy consulting firm based in central London, specializing in specialty coffee. Established in 1998, Allegra has brought the industry such informative and dynamic events as the European Coffee Symposium, the UK Coffee Leader Summit and the London Coffee Festival. more info at: www.allegrastrategies.com
	Sarah Allen | Social Media Networking - Barista Magazine Effective social media marketing tips for a fast-paced internet world. more info at: www.baristamagazine.com
	Thomas Plattner | The Songwa Project - the Songwa Estate The Songwa farm project is a joint company created by Probat, Mahlkönig and La Marzocco. Thomas also touched on relationship coffee and the importance of a sustainable supply chain. more info at: www.songwa-estates.com
	Dan Cunningham | Extracting Income - the Business Ferret A finance expert whose customer portfolio includes renowned names in the specialty coffee industry, Business Ferret owner Dan Cunningham led a talk targeted to coffee roasters and shop owners: coffee business with finance flair. more info at: www.thebusinessferret.com
	Roberto Bianchi | The Basket Case - La Marzocco R&D Every so often, there is a fundamental advancement in espresso technology – the first double boiler, the first electric motor or the first PID temperature controller, to name just a few. Each of these advancements has brought us great changes in the relationship between the barista and the machine, and, most importantly, the quality of the espresso. Along with game changing baristas, La Marzocco has been a driving force in this endeavor. That's why back in 2010, La Marzocco contracted with Vince Fedele of VST, Inc. to focus on what had been a long time bottleneck in espresso quality – the espresso filter basket. more info at: www.lamarzocco.com
	Enrico Wurm | Strada 101 & Technical Training session Designed for authorized La Marzocco technicians, our After-sales Service Manager, Enrico Wurm, shared equipment and service updates, as well as conducted a 101 refresher class and Q&A session on the Strada. more info at: www.lamarzocco.com
	Gloria Chirouze | Single Origin As Espresso - La Cafèotheque Traveling the globe to serve the world's finest single origin coffees in her award winning café in Paris, Gloria shared with OOTB her experiences in sourcing green coffee as well as savoring single origin coffees in the form of "espresso". more info at: www.lacafeotheque.com
	James Hoffmann | Pressure Profiling - Square Mile Coffee James Hoffmann directed a talk on Strada pressure profiling. Together with James, Tim Wendelboe, Tim Varney, Scott Guglielmino and Enrico Wurm shared their findings on pressure profiling. mroe info at: www.jimseven.com

OOTB 2011 was made possible thanks to support from our four sponsors, Marcello Zanesi from Nuova Ricambi (LM partner for spare parts), Mazzer grinders, Sarah Allen from Barista Magazine and our friends at Allegra Strategies. OOTB was also made possible with the support from ACIB; The Archivists; our guest speakers, MCs and Key Note speaker; Henk from ESW who - along with Luck i Cremas put together a siphon bar and the Hampster Studios who designed many of the hand painted machines on display.

OOTB 2011 took place on October 21-22, on occasion of the HOST Expo in Milano, Italy. The event was held in downtown Milano at the Artmouse Showroom in Via Volterra, 12 ( www.artmouse.it).