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[28.9.2007]
IT’S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!

Last days, last hours,...this is not the Armageddon. This is the beginning of a great journey that awaits every intern who has just received all the knowledge he/she needs in order to build his/her future in the right direction. Completing that package of knowledge, my last week has been a good reflection of the whole summer. First, stress during the preparation of an important presentation. Second, presenting the results you’ve worked on work for so long. Third, the things you learned from it providing you with the feeling of satisfaction and finally the positive feedback you get being a cherry on the top.

Though this internship has been a superb experience having learned soooooo many things, there is a crucial factor which made this learning process possible. Namely, I would like to say thank you to all the people who have helped me throughout this internship. Whether it was professionally or personally, every single person’s attention and contribution will be remembered. After all, no matter what they say, it’s the people that make a company or your experience so great. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

[24.9.2007]
Power of people, power of mind and power of agility. These are the three P&G pillars as they were presented to the interns on the first day. At a first glance, big words do not make a great result. However, as my internship progressed I started to understand the meaning and importance of these truths. At the beginning of the internship you need people's help to get you started in the right direction. Afterwards, your brain is the thing that actually delivers the result content wise. Finally, the ability to be agile provides you with the necessary approach to actually make your sell. After all, the 'how you sell it' part is crucial in the CBD department.
This week has been an 'agility week' as selling to the customer means not only reorganizing my internal presentation a little bit, but also understanding HOW & WHAT the customer wants to hear from me (including the French language the presentation must be in). A finished presentation however is not sufficient; you must be prepared for battle at your best. This why most of the time this week went to making backslides.
As the content of my project was finalized, the most time consuming work was over. This gave me an opportunity to be present at some of the other interns' final presentation, where it was interesting to the see the people you've been out with for drinks now presenting their serious work! Because the interns are all so diverse, it showed in their work which made it even more appealing.

Talk to you next week,

Ivan

[14.9.2007]
WHOOOZZZAAA!! A moment to relax and perhaps a moment to reflect on things.

This is how the last minutes of this week feel like. The reason for such behaviour is that I just had my presentation with the CBD-director in order to get approval for the project I have been working on (internal sell) and it went very well. It means that all of my efforts have not gone down the drain. However, although such result calls for celebration it is not to be forgotten that this presentation was for P&G managers only, whereas the real test will be in two weeks. Then, I will have to present my project proposal at the headquarters of the retailer-chain who is the focal point of the project (external sell). It will be the ‘make it or break it’ presentation, preferably the first one! Not many interns get to communicate or to negotiate with the outside business world on behalf of P&G, and that is something I will never forget. I will keep you updated on the out coming of the future challenges.

Greetz

[10.9.2007]
Research is done. Conclusions are drawn. Now the question is: ‘How do I present it on my final presentation to convince the senior management of my findings?’. The search for the answer to that question was the highlight of this week’s activities. As it was my last progress-meeting with my coach and team leader, I took the opportunity to hear about what they had to say on the matter. This way I could create a waterproof structure for my presentation which will ensure success of the sell of the project next week. From that moment on, I was able to focus completely on the preparation of the presentation without stressing about how to do it. Planning really is a painkiller.

[3.9.2007]
A good start usually defines the success of future occurrences. Well, this week had a sad takeoff. On Saturday P&G organized a GREAT sports day for both interns and working employees, causing soar muscles the following daysƒº. However, that same evening we had to face the inevitable. The farewell dinner for the interns was a fact which made you realize that, even though someone¡¦s internship still continues for a month or more, the summer had passed. This meant saying goodbye to the interesting people you¡¦ve met over the past two months as well as acknowledging that your internship is slowly coming towards its end (I still have a few weeks to go). The dinner confirmed the feeling of the true saying ¡¥time flies¡¦.
In order that the gloomy thoughts wouldn¡¦t take over my week¡¦s working performance, I arranged my tasks so that they consisted of finalizing certain parts of the project. The latter requires accuracy and high concentration leaving no time to drift away.

[24.8.2007]
When working on a project you have to clearly know your targets. These you can receive from your superiors in the early stages of your progress, but the question remains: ‘Have you REALLY understood your objectives in order to perform properly?’. Well this week, having presented something substantial to my supervisors, they acknowledged that I have been working in the right direction and should continue doing so in order to reach my goals. It gave a great feeling of satisfaction to be taken seriously as an intern and receiving feedback in the form of both consultation and practical aid in the decision making process. The light suddenly appeared at the end of the tunnel, and it wasn’t the one of a train coming towards me.
Such occasions filled up the chain of feelings that are experienced during a great internship: expectation – discovery – learning – functionality – recognition.
As I have still quite some time to work here, I hope there are plenty more to come.

[17.8.2007]
Wauw! The week passed by AGAIN. Even though I’m working on my own now and there are no daily deadlines, I don’t seem to experience any moments of idleness or discontent, which makes time fly. The information received, or that you can retrieve yourself is so interesting and diverse that it gives you the possibility to work on your project in any direction preferred, both strategically as practical implementation. When the great amount of sources still proves to be insufficient you can always turn to a colleague for opinion who will be glad to it share with you. You might even have an interesting remark that could be useful for him. The whole process of discovering new things that have not been seen by your colleagues yet, provides you with a feeling of a pleasant rollercoaster ride which makes a stop each week-end, but after which you already long for the next one.

[13.8.2007]
I started my internship on Monday July 2 and instead of loading me with work on the first day as I was expecting, P&G organised social activities for the group of 40 interns. It was a good way to get to know each other and it made you feel a part of the group and part of the P&G-family. When I started off in my department, this feeling of being part of something GREAT was further stressed as I proudly became a member of the Delhaize-Provera-GDL CBD Team. This meant that I started working with a group of people all striving to reach the same goals. Although I could contact them for questions of any kind, any time (!), my integration and contact with the rest of the company was facilitated by the guidance of my coach Ben. He made sure that I received a proper image of what CBD is all about and he introduced me to the wonderful world of knowledge, i.e. the shares and sales Databases. The access to the latter proves to be crucial in giving me the base to support my ideas for the project. Besides the overwhelming information, I discovered how new real strategies come to life in the business world when I was invited to the yearly Team event, which was a mixture of business and pleasure.
Now that P&G had done its part, I was ready to take up the challenge of my project!