🔷 Wine, Wheels & €7 Billion

🔹 Hello, Lake Como.

This week’s Nobel Prize in Medicine went to scientists who made it possible to switch selected brain cells on and off with light. Meanwhile, in Como, during the Volta’s Light festival, physicist Jean Dalibard received the Volta Prize for his work with lasers and atoms so cold they barely move.

Volta would have enjoyed the company.

And with autumn making itself felt this week, there’s a busy weekend ahead: powerboats on the lake, cyclists on the roads, wine tasting in Piazza Verdi and Roma fans in town for Sunday’s match at the Sinigaglia. FAI is also opening a few doors we don’t usually get through.

Let’s get into it.

-Simona

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In partnership with hightouch

This year AI shook up creative strategy. Most teams are still working like it didn't.

Ari Murray, Chief Digital Officer at Salt and Stone sits down with Bryan Harvey, Head of Brand at Hightouch, for an honest conversation about what's breaking on creative teams right now, how the roles are changing, and what a day looks like when creatives spend it on ideas, concepts, and craft while agents handle the manual execution.

Leave with new insights from 3 experts in the field and 5 prompts to instantly improve your creative output.

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What's Happening:

Italy has recorded its strongest first half for corporate property investment. Kroll’s new report tracks money going into hotels, shops, warehouses, offices, and residential projects.

Facts:

What does it mean for us?

This was Italy’s strongest first half on record for corporate property investment: €7 billion, 35% more than a year earlier. Kroll also points to more available capital and returning international investors - an encouraging sign of Italy’s appeal as a place to invest.

Maybe Italy isn’t such a bad place to call home for the foreseeable future.

🚀 Startup Deadline. Applications for ComoNExT’s equity-free accelerator close on 15 October.

🌍 Export Grant Deadline. Local SMEs can recover 50% of eligible overseas trade-fair costs, up to €5,000; applications close on 10 October.

📰 Miralago Spotlight. The Times reviews Villa d’Este Collezione’s eight private apartments in Cernobbio.

🏨 Vista Profiled. SPACE profiles Lario Hotels and its Como-born Vista brand, now expanding across Italy.

🎨 Passalacqua Design Pick. Singapore’s Home & Decor selected Passalacqua among nine standout hotels for architecture and design.

⚽ Women Win, Again. Como 1907 Women beat Napoli 2–1 through Riola Xhemaili’s 95th-minute goal.

🏛️ Varenna Villa Gift. Ca’ Venier has been donated to Varenna for social, cultural or tourism use for the next 90 years.

⚛️ Volta Prize Awarded. French physicist Jean Dalibard received the Alessandro Volta Prize in Como for his quantum-physics research.

🏭 Merger Called Off. Confindustria Como has abandoned its proposed merger with the Lecco–Sondrio association.

📈 Lecco Exports Jump. Lecco businesses exported €1.81B in the second quarter, up 13% year on year.

👷 Workforce Warning. Como and Lecco could lose more than 14,000 working-age residents by 2029, UIL warns.

🧵 Clerici Goes Cannes. Grandate’s Clerici Tessuto will present its Beach & Body 2028 collection at MarediModa Cannes.

🏨 Lecco Hotel Boom. Five projects could triple Lecco’s hotel capacity within two years, according to Confcommercio.

FRI 9–SUN 11 OCT

POWERBOAT RACING · 🚤 Centomiglia del Lario
The 77th edition brings three days of offshore racing to the first basin.
Fri 14:00; Sat 14:00 & 15:00; Sun 14:00 · Como–Cernobbio basin · Free from public viewing points; paddock closed to visitors

FRI 9–SUN 11 OCT

FOOD & WINE · 🍷 Lake Como Wine Festival
The 20th edition brings together 13 artisan wine producers in Piazza Verdi.
Fri 14:00–22:00; Sat 10:00–22:00; Sun 10:00–20:00 · Piazza Verdi, Como · Advance booking available to skip the queue

FRI 9 & SUN 11 OCT

OPERA · 🎭 Death in Venice
Britten’s final opera stages Thomas Mann’s psychological drama, in English with Italian surtitles.
Fri 20:00; Sun 15:30 · Teatro Sociale, Como · Ticket required

SAT 10 - SUN 11 OCT

OPEN DOORS · 🗝️ FAI Autumn Open Days - Recommended by BCC
Rare access to the Navigazione Laghi shipyard, private Palazzo della Rienza, Torre del Soccorso and Colombo’s working textile factory.
Times vary by site · Across Como province · Open by donation; no booking

SAT 10 OCT

CYCLING · 🚴 Il Lombardia
The 120th edition finishes in Como after the Ghisallo, Civiglio and two climbs of San Fermo.
From 10:00 · Fan Zone, Piazzale Santa Teresa, Como

CLOTHES SWAP · 👗 Swap Aperitivo
Swap clothes you no longer wear over drinks and aperitivo.
19:00–21:00 · The Nest Como, Via dei Villini 2 · Booking required; bring 1–20 good-quality items

SUN 11 OCT

FOOTBALL · ⚽ Como 1907 v Roma
Como host Roma in Sunday’s early kick-off at the Sinigaglia.
12:30 · Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, Como · Ticket required; home-sector sales restricted for Lazio residents

TUE 13 OCT

CLASSICAL MUSIC · 🎻 Tchaikovsky, Khachaturian & Shostakovich
Alexandra Dovgan joins the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, marking 60 years of Amici della Musica di Cernobbio.
20:30 · Teatro Sociale, Como · Ticket required