Glass half full?

Some say it's mission impossible.
The plan calls for revamping the entire 505-room, 17-story hotel to top-flight standards for conferences and business travelers. The remake includes a new facade from top to bottom, turning the hotel sideways by switching the main entrance clockwise to face the major thoroughfare ulica Krolowej Jadwigi, and retooling the interior with state-of-the-art communications, residential suites and conference facilities.
When the dust settles, the hotel will offer 2,300 square meters of conference facilities and 2,150 square meters of office space for rent. The bill is estimated at up to $10 million.
"The advantage of this hotel is that nobody will ever build such a big hotel in Poznan as I can see it," Walkowiak said. To build a new hotel this big, investors would have to wait 15-20 years for a return on their investment, he said.
"And nobody wants to wait that long," Walkowiak added. "We will be the only one that can organize a conference for 450 people, accommodate them and give them meals in one place."
The flip side is how to deal with the redesign of such a huge, concrete block, he said. "At the moment, for me the lobby is like a railway station, with no character - it's unwelcoming," Walkowiak said. "The structure of the hotel is just like it was 10 years ago, and the world has changed a lot since then."
If Walkowiak's optimism and his budget serve him well, he will be on the leading edge of developers and city promoters pushing to recast this trade fair capital into a leading conference center. He will also fill a void.
"Finding suitable facilities to meet company needs for training and product exhibition has been difficult not just in Poznan but throughout Poland," said Arkadiusz Tomala, marketing manager for Poznan-based Kulczyk Tradex, general distributor of Volkswagen and Audi in Poland. Kulczyk Tradex organizes car shows and conferences for dealers and employees. That means three to four conferences a year with up to 400 attending.
"It's terrible if we have 300-400 people at one time," Tomala said. "If you would even like to have all employees in one place, it's very difficult."
Kulczyk's requirements are specific, but not necessarily unique. It is looking for venues where it can invent an image, for example, when a new car model is released on the local market. "We (need) to create the right atmosphere for people," Tomala said.
Poznan is looking to capitalize on that business opportunity.
"We have the ambition that Poznan will become the conference city of Poland." said Janusz Krysiak, deputy director of the city of Poznan's department of information and development. "There are conference facilities now in Poznan, but it's not on the level that people expect."
Poznan's asset base is a good starting point for conferences, said Deputy Mayor Tomasz Kayser. Those assets include the city's location in west-central Poland, rail and air connections, regional business, as well as academic and scientific communities. Moreover, developing a conference center agenda is an extension of the city's trade fair tradition.
"That leaves some 40% of the weeks left to accommodate conferences," he said.
In addition to the seasonal character of trade fairs, a structural change in the way companies do business in Poland questions the long-term viability of trade fairs, and underscores the need to change the city's tradition.
"You never know what the future of trade fairs will be," said Walkowiak of Hotel Poznan.
"There are a lot of companies that are settling down in Poland," Walkowiak said. They "don't need to come to the exhibitions to see (who) the competition is, to do the old kind of marketing and to exchange ideas because they are here."
Miedzynarodowe Targi Poznanskie, the international trade fair company, is not sitting idle but upgrading facilities to develop its conference center role.
"The trade fairs must keep with the spirit of the times," said Stanislaw Bielazik, technical director at the International Poznan Fair.
Last January, Bielazik completed a three-month, zl. 3 million ($769,000) project adapting part of the fair's Pavilion 23 conference facility to accommodate 800-1,200 people. The upgraded site now offers air-conditioned rooms with simultaneous translation booths and complete restaurant facilities, Bielazik said.
The city is also looking to expand and develop new assets. Last year, it published a guide to organizing conferences targeting local businesses. City officials are also looking at blueprints for new projects with that same goal in mind.
In its joint venture with the Von der Heyden Group, the city is developing the Poznan Financial Center. The $40 million project is scheduled in fall 2000 to bring badly needed class-A office space to the local market. That's the first phase. On the drawing board for phase two is a hotel and conference facility.
The city has not worked out a groundbreaking date for the hotel conference site, but officials are considering three candidates to build the center, said Krysiak of city hall.
"We expect that this will be a congress hall for several thousand people," Krysiak said.
The Poznan Financial Center project is going up next door to Hotel Poznan, a detail adding to Walkowiak's concern over his own deadline. The clock is ticking.
"If we are not ready by 2001, then we will probably face another hotel in Poznan that will be newly built," Walkowiak said. "Obviously it would be more attractive than this hotel." However, after redecoration and refurbishment, Hotel Poznan will be better positioned to compete with new entrants on the Poznan market, he said.
But Walkowiak's remake must be more than skin deep. Refitting Hotel Poznan to business standards is one thing, establishing top-quality service is another.
"I can quote a foreigner," Walkowiak said. "When I told him that I'm taking over the management of the hotel, he said, 'Wlodek, don't do it. That place is full of communists.' "
That's one way to describe the people working there, and many employees haven't changed with the times, Walkowiak said. "That's why it was so difficult for me the first few months. I had to push really hard. It was like rolling a stone up a hill."
But Walkowiak sees a glass half full, and filling up. Building incentives into the workplace is part of the strategy.
"I have two cases of people that were not considered good employees," he said. "I gave them new work and they are like new people. They have proven themselves to be responsible and effective.
During the first two months, sales increased, Walkowiak continued. "Part of this new profit I will give to those who worked the hardest. You have to have discipline, but you can't be too severe."