Last week saw me working on various tasks for the strategy group in order to help with progress with the research needed to deliver their presentation to the client this week. The work varied between high level research on the market to the more specific features and functions of the final deliverable.  I have also been introduced to our next big project- developing a top-down level version of the global marketing strategy and plan for Lab49. We are starting this project completely from scratch which gives us a sense of ownership and responsibility as the plan which we develop over the next three weeks will potentially affect all areas of the company. This work will involve a range of interviews, secondary research, data analysis and overall development of a forward thinking plan to promote the offerings of Lab49 so really looking forward to start making headway on that.

I have just signed myself up for a flying trapeze class this weekend (full details next week) but this blog title has come from one of the Trapeze School’s philosophies that when you consider the possible learning that is available from the thousands of relationships you might have in your life, the potential results could be staggering. Lab49 heavily push employees to generate and share an internal knowledge bank, tapping the expertise from all areas of the company. Lunch time workshops are common place whereby an employee delivers a presentation on either their specific technical expertise or on more general principles that are valuable to all colleagues. On Friday we were given a presentation entitled ‘Getting Things Done’, a time management technique for busy people whether it be at work or at home. Being known to have to-do lists spanning two A4 pages this was a very worthwhile seminar for me and has taught me valuable principles to juggle multiple roles and tasks much more efficiently. I am sure this will come in very useful next year whist I try to manage course work, a dissertation placement, two jobs, running around a netball court and all the other student malarkey! Overall, I feel that this collegiate culture is a large contributor to Lab49’s success in innovation and thought leadership.

As our weekends are running scarce we have been trying to fit as much in as possible after work, with Chinatown and Little Italy being some of the hot spots last week. The streets in Chinatown were filled with people trying to sell you everything and anything, from Tiffany’s to turtles! I find it really interesting how groups of society come together and form their own miniature cities, replicating life from half way around the world. This is something I have been reading about lately, sociology and economics and how the two combine to determine the behavior and life choices of different societies so this venture was like bringing the book into action.

The weekend taught us a tough lesson in learning not to park next to a fire hydrant before starting our road trip up to Boston to visit some of our fellow interns. Boston is very different to the fast paced way of life in NYC: everyone seems much more relaxed, lots of quaint little streets and houses and more of a sense of community. On Saturday we explored Harvard University campus- quite a change to the John Anderson and Livy Tower of Strathclyde! The trip seems to of inspired our inquisitive minds as we’re going to Columbia University tonight to hear a presentation on their MBA programme. On Saturday night we met up with all 8 of the Boston interns and went for a lovely meal together. It was really good to share stories of what we’ve all been up to, compare our experiences of life in different companies and we were even able to teach them a few tricks! On Sunday we explored some of the city centre, watched a kilted street entertainer and relaxed down by the harbor before having to hit the road again. But farewell is not for long as I think some of them are heading down to the Big Apple in the next few weeks J

C x