EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE, THERE IS NO GIVING UP, YOU JUST HAVE TO FIND A WAY TO DO IT

1. 23 YEARS IN ALMA QUATTRO

1.1. THE QUICKEST IN EUROPE

I started working in Alma Quattro in 1996 when I was 21. Back then we were all a “technical team”. Four of us, Darko, Mikšin, Dragan, and I did everything, from the installation of bus stop shelters and billboards to maintenance and poster replacement. In time we have become well organised and so quick that once, when Alma Media’s representative (Alma Quattro was a joint venture with Alma Media Group from Greece) visited Belgrade, he measured the time we needed to replace a poster with a stopwatch.

In his words, we were the quickest in Europe: 7 minutes and 32 seconds.

1.2. DEEDS THAT SPEAK VOLUMES

When I say “we did everything”, I mean literally everything. For us there was no excuse that something could not be done.

As employees who spent most of the time outdoors, in the field, we highly appreciated that there was always somebody who cared for us. I never felt the attitude: “I am above you”. Of course, we knew who was who, but we were a group of people trying to create something together. In a way, we were all equal.

I noticed by some details that that the management sincerely cared. For instance, one night we were installing a backlight around three o’clock after midnight and our colleague from the management came to bring us food and drinks.

We know that we are protected. By the entire management. For long we didn’t know whether the company would survive, until 2004 when the situation was crystallizing, but we stuck together because of that sense of belonging. In the first place the management was thinking about how it was difficult to find a job and how the families of those people would live if they lost their jobs. There were consequences for mistakes, but there was also the attitude that everybody should be given a second chance. That’s how trust is built.

In 1997, before the New Year’s Eve, Alma Quattro’s management gave to all the employees original Harley Davidson T-shirts, a real luxury at that time. Kosanče Dimitrijević and Nenad Đorđević.

These are the deeds that speak louder than words, and there have been many. That’s why nothing was dificult and we were willing to contribute more.

2. UNIFORM IS SACRED TO US

Like some other colleagues from “Alma“, I am also a folklore dancer. First I was a member of the ensemble of folklore dance and songs “Dimitrije Koturović”, and since 2001 I am a member of “Branko Cvetković” ensemble.

Folklore dance made me develop my capability to spot details in human behaviour, to understand how to act in any situation and how to approach any person. Gender, race, and culture are irrelevant.

Folklore dance taught us to cope with unpredictable situations, not to be shocked by anything and to enter the stage with a smile, no matter what happened a few seconds earlier. I will dance to the end of a performance, even if I might break my leg.

Our ability to transform in a second and a chaos behind the curtains are fascinating to some cultures, like the Japanese.

There is an implicit rule among folklore dancers that our uniform, our folklore costume, is sacred to us. Nobody told us that explicitly, but that’s something we simply know.

When you are in your folklore costume, you don’t smoke, you don’t drink, you don’t swear, joke or act like a model. On tours we are the representatives of our country and it is our duty to do it right. The audience looks at us, at our national costumes, and thus they get acquainted with our country. The folklore costume is a uniform! I can jump into a pool full of cocktails, but in 10 minutes I will change and be a different person.

The biggest success of “Branko Cvetković” ensemble is the bronze medal won on the most significant folklore dance festival in Turkey in 2018. The competition included 28 countries, 26 professional dance teams and two amateur teams. We won the bronze medal as amateurs.

3. TOURS TO REMEMBER

Japan is definitely the most interesting country that we have visited as a folklore dance ensemble.

We had a privilege to attend a closed ceremony in the third most important temple in Tokyo, and sit next to monks, something that is not allowed even to noble families. During the ceremony the monk even mentioned “Branko Cvetković” ensemble. Later we dined together and ate traditional meals, which was an additional honour.

When we had a performance in Sendai, we held a tribute concert for tsunami victims. We were thinking about how to show our respect to the audience. Our girls from the ensemble learnt a Japanese song “Furusato“, and we performed it within our show. The song is about a boy who leaves his village to find a job and who is missing his family. Our performance produced an unexpected reaction of the audience. People were crying and clapping and that was, as we were told, very uncharacteristic for the Japanese to express emotions, especially in public.

When visiting Spain, we met the festival secretary, an older gentleman, who was delighted with our dance “Vojvodina”. I knew that something like that would be Reported in the newspapers and at that moment I offered him to join us on the stage during our performance. He was excited. We agreed that he would join us in the middle of our dance and over 4000 people in the audience were thrilled. There were standing ovations. During forty-two years of this festival we were the first to make such a performance with the festival organiser.

That little token of appreciation represented our country in the best light and made one man happy. Of course, their media reported about the performance appreciatively.

4. BOY’S DREAM COMES TRUE: KARTING CHAMPION

I have wanted to drive race cars since I was a kid.

Since I became a courier in “Alma“, my everyday driving practise has helped me master my skills in traffic. Two years ago I decided to finally try out for kart racing. I started driving after a three-hour training. I drove the second race in my life and I won! I won the first place in B class (amateur competition) in the territory of Belgrade. Some of competitors were drivers with 10 years of experience and also some professionals who didn’t drive for a couple of years and thus lost their edge.

The winner in A class (professional category) was faster than me for less than a second.

Alma Quattro supported this passion of mine, like always, and bought me a professional kart racing suit. This time again, everything could be done if we agreed.

During twenty-three years of my work in Alma Quattro, I have learnt a lot from my colleagues.

“Everything can be done”. Perhaps this is the biggest lesson I have learnt, and I have learnt it from the founder of Alma Quattro. Everything can always be done, there is no giving up, you just need to find a way.