At Skansen Kronan for the RESER 2018 conference dinner.
Text & Photo © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro 2018

The 28th annual RESER (European Association for REsearch on SERvices) conference took place this year from 20 to 22 Sep. in Gothenburg, Sweden. We had a total of 87 registered participants with some colleagues flying in from as far as China and Japan. This year, the conference was jointly hosted by The School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg (HGU), and Chalmers University of Technology.

The RESER conferences of 2010 and 2018 are special for me because the events seem to nicely bracket my career at HGU. My role at HGU spanned between executive management and research, where I began by being part of the RESER 2010 conference organizing and scientific committee. I find it surreal that organizing RESER 2018 and meeting with RESER colleagues is also one of the last memories that I bring with me about the Business School before moving on to join Nofima, the Norwegian Institute of Food, Fisheries and Aquaculture Research as Market Scientist at the Centre for Marketing Research located at its headquarters in Tromsø, Norway.

In this blog post are photos from the RESER 2018 conference dinner. The dinner venue was Skansen Kronan, a fortress situated on the hill risåsberget at the heart of the old city of Gothenburg, Haga. It was completed in 1697, furnished with 23 canons ready for battle. It was luckily never attacked which makes it today, the perfect sight-seeing spot for a panoramic view of the city, where you can get aritsan ice-cream at the café located in the fortress.

Dinner went smooth and the atmosphere was warm and amiable, in contrast to the heavy downpour of the evening that accompanied the conference participants on their way to the fortress. On the menu that evening was Chevre toast for starter, salmon for main dish and cloudberry jam panna cotta for dessert. We also had the pleasure of listening to the Chalmers choir whose team of twelve for that evening was pitch perfect!

At Skansen Kronan

At Skansen Kronan for the 28th annual RESER (European Association for Research on Services) conference dinner with Markus Scheuer who from this year will take the helm from Patrik Ström as President of RESER.

Cheryl Cordeiro with Markus Scheuer, the incoming RESER President.

It’s a breathtaking view of Gothenburg city that greets you when you reach the top of the hill where Skansen Kronan is located.

Discovering the fascinating venue

The fortress is equipped with 23 canons. Having never been fired, they make for the perfect restaurant window decoration.

Wet swabs and rammers. The wet swabs was used to mop out the interior of the canon barrel, extinguishing any embers from a previous firing so it would not set off the next charge of gunpowder prematurely, and rammers, used to pack the gunpowder and the cannon ball together in the barrel when loading.

Mingle session

Sparkling wine as a welcome drink to the guests in a pre-dinner mingle session.

Dr. Emily Xu

Dr. Luna Leoni and Dr. Emily Xu

The Dinner

Chevre toast laced with olive oil and aceto balsamico.

Salmon served with a white wine sauce and sweet pea pods.

Life time award

Patrik Ström, President of RESER and Head of Department for Business Administration at the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg, introduces Marie-Christine Monnoyer, who is one of the founding members of RESER, the European Association for Research in Services.

Research Professor Metka Stare, from the Faculty of Social Sciences, Center of International Relations, at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, is the RESER 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient.

Research Professor Metka Stare giving a thank you speech.

Patrik Ström gives a farewell speech for his six year tenure as President of RESER

Chalmers choir entertained

The room at Skansen Kronan provided the perfect acoustic environment for the choir.

The Chalmers Sångkör performs.

Cloudberry jam panna cotta topped with red currants.

Flowers and candles by the end of the evening’s event.