A coupla hectic days, as things have suddenly been piled on where there was almost nothing before. Yesterday we were schooled in the Turkish way of marketing by some members from another team while our team leader was on a site tour with the VP Marketing, and then when we tried to explain this to her when she came back she got very stressed. Yesterday also started the planning process when we allocated roles to everyone, and I like the fool I am volunteered for more things than I should have. After many, many hours of nitpicking details and smoothing things out though, I think I have a schedule that will mean no sleep but an amazing amount of practical experience. The best part is the partners I’m managing – Microsoft and InBev! This means I get to network with a company that actually means something for my major, AND I’m with everyone’s favorite AIESEC global partner, InBev, which means that, damn, I HAVE to be at the parties every night. I just wonder where I’ll fit in sleeping, eating, and enjoying the conference halfway like a delegate – and when I’ll network with AIESECers. I also played a little soccer last night after our meeting ran over, but I’m so out of shape and haven’t played in a year and a half so I quit after one half. I was tired anyway!
Today I designed our storage system and worked with the Special Events team on making Global Village palatable to the externals. I also had some phone conversations with the US Embassy and Consulate, who are going to provide the US booth at Global Village with sweet materials and even two people who speak Turkish! Having a good GV table is always something to be proud of. Pretty much everyone in the CC went to the nargile cafe tonight for a couple of hours which was nice.
I learned yesterday that AIESEC LC Istanbul has a couple hundred thousand Euros in their bank account, owns its own house, and most amazingly, has a quota of 75 incoming and 75 outgoing exchanges per year. In LC Ankara, it’s 52 and 52. When I asked if they were all locally raised and managed – not taken over by the MC national team – they said, “of course they are local!” At this I was ready to write a long letter to AIESEC US on the spot decrying our current trends of centralizing exchange and STILL being behind Turkey in exchange numbers, but then I realized that they are already in the Leadership Team Meeting and so it wouldn’t make an impact. If they’re not doing their job now, an email from a guy far away won’t do it either.
Tomorrow things will continue to be stressful. I’m working hard on securing this Izmir technical traineeship, and if it goes through, then I can just relax until I go back to GT – no more worries! But it’s up to GT if they’ll let me use it as credit. I hope they make the right decision.
Here’s hoping I’m alive at the end of the day tomorrow to write something!
One reply on “Waitin’ for a Superman”
watch out for turkish tns. this coming from a turk. email me if you want to talk about it. the culture is a little different on raising tns. setting good expectations is KEY. thats why the US is centralizing exchange (although I am also against it).