Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1541612
C I N E M A A U D I O S O C I E T Y. O R G 27 THE TRAVELS The many visits over the years eventually culminated with having our wedding in Helsinki, Finland, in July of 2024. So, this particular trip this past summer 2025 was for our one-year anniversary where we stayed a handful of nights in the Hilton Helsinki Kalastajatorppa Hotel, which had served as our wedding venue the year before. We had the opportunity to reminisce and roam the grounds and eat at the restaurant and peek into the banquet hall where our wonderful wedding took place. After that, we took a drive to my wife's hometown of Joensuu, which is about five hours northeast of Helsinki. Her hometown is only a couple hours' drive from Iisalmi. We were happy to finally have the time and opportunity to visit the Genelec factory and have another gorgeous road trip ahead of us as well. My wife and I checked into our hotel in Iisalmi. We booked and specified a pet-friendly hotel. To our surprise, this hotel was not only OK with dogs but seemed to embrace them as much as we do. Care package for the pup, photo booth setup and a guest book for the pup, and an overall genuine accommodating posturing toward our dog and others' pets. This is important because this was my first- ever visit to Iisalmi, the town that hosts Genelec. And if the folks in this quiet, sleepy town were this sweet and accommodating, I looked forward to meeting the leadership and workforce that make up Genelec and all who reside here. GENELEC Genelec was founded in 1978 by Ilpo Martikainen and Topi Partanen. The name Genelec is a hybrid of two words: Genius and Electric. They wanted something easy to pronounce in both English and Finnish. I have read up on the history of how Genelec came to be and that is enough to fill another article or two. The founding of this very unique company was not easy. It included all the expected challenges in forming a company of this stature and includes the humble beginnings of a family man building speakers and electronic components inside a basement of an apartment building. Their current lakeside property where the factory has stood since 1985 came with some contention and pushback from the community, which is often the case with any land by a lake in Finland. But what Ilpo Martikainen built has overcome any of those challenges and helped the economy of Iisalmi and Finland as a whole.