Monday, September 29, 2014
week 7: Client #2
Unfortunately the strike didn't subside over the weekend and we were forced to confront delaying the trip once again. The strike was now at 250,000 people and was impacting the national economy. Reports were coming in that this strike might last longer than the last big one this country saw which involved the platinum mining industry and lasted 5 months. With that insight we discussed our options with the client and decided to delay the trip until October which meant I wouldn't be involved. It was disappointing but unforeseen circumstances like that take the decision out of your hands. I instead began my work on updating the commerce departments databases on sustainable energy contracts in the country. That project would go on for a few weeks as part of a series of things I was tasked with completing before my internship ended.
week 6: The Strike
Week 6 was supposed to be about preparing for my next big client coming into town: a hydraulic and pneumatic tool company from Pennsylvania, however a strike had started in Johannesburg by the NUMSA group which consists of unionized members of industries that my client was looking to target. The strike was primarily over wages and paid time off, but by Wednesday it seemed like it might drag on for quite awhile. The contacts I was making with companies the client wished to have meetings with was not gong smoothly; some didn't want to preform any new business with the strike going on, others couldn't afford to do business with so much money being lost, and others simply closed their doors and were waiting for a deal to be struck. The main reaction I was getting from the CEOs and CAOs of these companies was that the union was asking for more than the companies could possibly afford and were stuck at a deadlock. This was proving to be a major obstacle for me and so I went to my supervisor and filled him in on the developments. We has a meeting with the CEO of the client company and discussed our options. We agreed to delay the trip a week and see how the strike shook out, hopefully with an agreement being met and then meetings could be made.
week 5: 4th of July celebrations
Week 5 was all about the 4th of July. When working in an American Embassy you can imagine how big the 4th of July holiday is. Everyone from the embassy as well as local luminaries and members of the South African congress were attending a celebration party at the Consulate General's estate in the northern suburbs of Cape Town. This was to be my first interaction with members of the South African Congress as well as any notable important figures from Cape Town. The only task I was assigned by the senior official of the Department of Commerce back in Johannesburg was to mingle with members of the various local trade delegations and to be able to give an update on what they were looking into at the weekly meeting the upcoming week. I was able to listen to the speeches by both the Consulate General and Ambassador Gaspard who had made the trip down from Pretoria for the event. Afterwards I had a few moments with the Ambassador to ask him a few questions on his career and to take advantage of the special situation I found myself in. Overall, I was pleased and honored to be a part of the festivities.
week 4: Arrival
As stated earlier week 4 was destined to be the busiest work week so far with my first major client coming in to town. I arranged a local chauffeur service to pick them up from the airport and meet me at the consulate. Upon arrival I got them all checked through security and we set up in the conference room to make last minute notes to the itinerary I had established for them. Their party consisted of the CEO of the company and her COO. The first day of meetings went well and most of the meetings were around the harbor area. I had the chauffeur drop them off at the hotel later that night and headed back home. Day 2 was pretty similar but day 3 was centered around their participation in a convention for maritime companies at the Cape Town International Convention Center. After the convention they did a bit of sight seeing and took a personal day. On Thursday we met back up at the consulate and discussed the trip to see if it met their needs. They were beyond satisfied and had a lot of inroads into establishing a distributor in Cape Town. I have to say, excluding one minor setback with the need to reschedule a later meeting, I was overjoyed how well the week went and received a lot of praise from my supervisor on how well the week went. Definitely one of the high points of the entire internship.
Career Services
Back in April I had the chance to attend GoGreen 2014 in Seattle, WA. Its a national annual conference on the newest methods and delivery systems being incorporated across both private and public sectors but is mainly housed with different metropolitan leaders and officials. A 3-day event, I had attempted to attend the 2013 conference but couldn't make the scheduling work so I was overjoyed that my last final was finished the day before the conference began in late April.
Focusing on sustainability and reducing the distance of logistical and transportation networks to focus more on local abilities, GoGreen 2014 brought leaders from all the major cities and businesses in the area (Boeing, Microsoft, Amazon, and Darigold in particular) into the same conference showcasing their most recent advancements in those areas. Along with lectures and Q&As, there was workshops, booths, and theoretical presentations on what might be in the pipeline.
Overall, I had looked forward to attending GoGreen for a few years now and was not disappointed in what I picked up from the 3 day event. I was able to create new network contacts in a region of America I would love to get my career started in and picked up new skills to bring with me to any new position I hold in the future. I would recommend the next incarnation of GoGreen to anybody interested in advancements in sustainability, especially when it pertains to what is being done in the public sector.
Monday, September 15, 2014
Week 3: Learning on the fly
Hi all,
Picking up where I left off, I had just got handed a huge project to take point on a company attempting to enter the South African market. I began by searching already established databases for prior contacts in the marine industry. Then I began searching for ideal targets, including some of the world players in the industry that had headquarters in the Cape Town area. Those two searches led me to about 25 names which I spent the whole week tracking down CEOs and COOs who would be interested in meeting with my clients. It took some time to formulate a solid itinerary for the client but after some email chains with the owner, we created a schedule that worked for them and created 13 separate new business meetings to potentially create long term trade agreements. They were scheduled to arrive in town the following week so I'll let you guys know what happens in the upcoming posts.
Picking up where I left off, I had just got handed a huge project to take point on a company attempting to enter the South African market. I began by searching already established databases for prior contacts in the marine industry. Then I began searching for ideal targets, including some of the world players in the industry that had headquarters in the Cape Town area. Those two searches led me to about 25 names which I spent the whole week tracking down CEOs and COOs who would be interested in meeting with my clients. It took some time to formulate a solid itinerary for the client but after some email chains with the owner, we created a schedule that worked for them and created 13 separate new business meetings to potentially create long term trade agreements. They were scheduled to arrive in town the following week so I'll let you guys know what happens in the upcoming posts.
Typical Day
Hi all,
So to describe my typical day I should begin with this admission: I was incredibly fortunate to be able to get diplomatic housing in Cape Town thanks to the embassy. It meant that I lived about five minutes from the embassy. I normally arrived at the gates of the embassy around 730am and then made it through security and into the right wing of the building by 8am for the start. Emails, returning calls, and a daily meetings usually ate up the hours till lunch which was around noon. The afternoon was more of the same as well as contacting new companies and creating contacts with various associations to get at their members lists. We generally finished up and went home between 430 and 5pm. Thanks to the World Cup being on at the same time, after work I had plans nearly every night. That about wraps up the average day at my summer internship.
Cheers,
Thomas
So to describe my typical day I should begin with this admission: I was incredibly fortunate to be able to get diplomatic housing in Cape Town thanks to the embassy. It meant that I lived about five minutes from the embassy. I normally arrived at the gates of the embassy around 730am and then made it through security and into the right wing of the building by 8am for the start. Emails, returning calls, and a daily meetings usually ate up the hours till lunch which was around noon. The afternoon was more of the same as well as contacting new companies and creating contacts with various associations to get at their members lists. We generally finished up and went home between 430 and 5pm. Thanks to the World Cup being on at the same time, after work I had plans nearly every night. That about wraps up the average day at my summer internship.
Cheers,
Thomas
Week 2: Diving In
Hi all,
The first weeks of the internship were fairly hectic. As you might imagine working out of an Embassy has a few more security checks and paperwork that needs to be accomplished before you can get into the actual work. I spent the first two days in numerous security meetings and learning all about working as a liaison of the U.S. Government in a foreign country. By the time I actually settled in and got to working with my team of Senior Trade Specialists it was nearly the end of week 1. When I came back on Monday I was handed a huge project, an American Marine netting company (for reasons that deal with proprietary information I can't disclose the name of the company) based in Nevada. The project was far more hands on then I thought I would get to do during the internship but I dived in, full of enthusiasm. I had two weeks to set up 12 meetings with companies in the Cape Town area and fill a three day itinerary that also featured a trade convention at the Cape Town Convention Center for The Marine Industry. It meant I had very little time to do anything else. I'll pick this up in later posts.
Cheers,
Thomas
The first weeks of the internship were fairly hectic. As you might imagine working out of an Embassy has a few more security checks and paperwork that needs to be accomplished before you can get into the actual work. I spent the first two days in numerous security meetings and learning all about working as a liaison of the U.S. Government in a foreign country. By the time I actually settled in and got to working with my team of Senior Trade Specialists it was nearly the end of week 1. When I came back on Monday I was handed a huge project, an American Marine netting company (for reasons that deal with proprietary information I can't disclose the name of the company) based in Nevada. The project was far more hands on then I thought I would get to do during the internship but I dived in, full of enthusiasm. I had two weeks to set up 12 meetings with companies in the Cape Town area and fill a three day itinerary that also featured a trade convention at the Cape Town Convention Center for The Marine Industry. It meant I had very little time to do anything else. I'll pick this up in later posts.
Cheers,
Thomas
The U.S. Department of Commerce
Hi all,
So like I said I spent the summer working for the U.S. Department of Commerce in Cape Town, South Africa working at the U.S. Embassy in the International Trade Department. Do to the complicated nature of the South African Government when it comes to importing and selling products in the country, American companies often find it easier to find a complimentary company already created and operating within South Africa with all the proper paperwork and then create an agreement to sell the products through them. Finding these companies and creating a database falls to trade specialists within the country and that was the main job I was given. Along with that I worked to create a larger database on sustainable businesses in the country, what percentage of renewable energy projects were picked up by American companies in the last 5 years, and reaching out to local CEO's of companies who might be looking to do business in America and would be willing to be part of a trade expedition. More information about those things to come in the following weeks.
So like I said I spent the summer working for the U.S. Department of Commerce in Cape Town, South Africa working at the U.S. Embassy in the International Trade Department. Do to the complicated nature of the South African Government when it comes to importing and selling products in the country, American companies often find it easier to find a complimentary company already created and operating within South Africa with all the proper paperwork and then create an agreement to sell the products through them. Finding these companies and creating a database falls to trade specialists within the country and that was the main job I was given. Along with that I worked to create a larger database on sustainable businesses in the country, what percentage of renewable energy projects were picked up by American companies in the last 5 years, and reaching out to local CEO's of companies who might be looking to do business in America and would be willing to be part of a trade expedition. More information about those things to come in the following weeks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)