With frequent trips to Ecuador and support from her mother she saw the need for people to be involved in different aspects of this culture.
“We’ve just started,” she says. “But I’ve been trying to help the community since freshman year of college.” Additionally, Estevez is beginning her Masters program while in the middle of this growing project. Estevez and Weyer have also started the San Gerardo Community Project to focus on a specific community. Getting contacts and fundraising have been two important parts of this venture. She says they are still trying to figure out the structure but the responses from students and workers are very positive. One student even fell in love with teaching and will soon go to Kenya to teach full time.

Estevez wants the programs to be self-esteeming and give students a broader spectrum of the world such as alternative teaching methods. For the Ecuadorian community she is focusing on keeping the culture, stimulating the economy and improving the techniques they are using. With IEPSD acting as facilitator between students and other businesses, a wide variety of interests can be experienced in Ecuador from journalism to agriculture. Many places in Ecuador are short staffed and are ready to welcome to students to help and learn at the same time. Places such as the Environmental and Waste Management, nutrition departments and forestry’s can always use students ready to help.

Between coordinating the projects, being a facilitator, going down to Ecuador and looking for Spanish interpreters Estevez still has more plans. “I want to learn how to work with the community leaders and provide more information [about Ecuador] to people.” She hopes that in the future IEPSD can build a pool in a community in Ecuador and provide more ways of economic growth for the people. “I’d like to have development for food stands and have a tourist house in the traditional style to maintain culture.”

With these ideas in mind IEPSD will continue to focus on building communities and making them stronger. Estevez wants to emphasize the importance of children’s education so that they are treated as equals and learning is easier and fun. “These kids are pretty neglected,” she says. “The most important thing is that we step in, become more involved . . . and bring people together.”

For more information about the San Gerardo Community Project and IEPSD go to sangerardonews.wordpress.com (blog site).

I work in the Alumni Relations and Development Department for a major university in Chicago.
My job has three parts:#1 is raising money for various programs and projects at the university, #2 is planning and implementing cultivation events for alumni, and #3 is setting up alumni with volunteer opportunities with students.

It is hard to generalize what a “normal day” is like, but here is my attempt without going into the nitty gritty details.

In my department we are split up geographically and my territory is the Southeast region. I travel to Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Charlotte, New Orleans and so on. I spend a lot of my time contacting alumni in my various regions and asking if they would like to meet to discuss their time at the University. I try to get about 10 to 12 meetings or “visits” and then I book my flight to that region.

I meet these alumni for coffee, lunch or visit at their work place. I usually spend about an hour or so talking about their experiences at the university and what they liked and disliked. I also ask if they want to volunteer by interviewing prospective students, and then I share news about upcoming events. I give updates about what is new at the university, such as new buildings, professor appointments, and scholarships. Last, but not least, I ask if they would like to increase their giving.

It is somewhat like sales because I am trying to “sell” the university, but I think for me it is about connecting people back to their university, discovering their interests and seeing (if at all) how they want to give back.

Another part of my job is events. I usually try to plan smaller cultivation events in the more popular cities. These events can be anything from a professor giving an intellectual lecture to hosting a happy hour at a neighborhood bar.

Fundraising is a great job if you like to meet interesting people and enjoy good conversation, but you have to always remember at the end of the day it has to do with bringing in the money, because without alumni donations a university will not survive.

There exists an inherent conflict-of-interest between a residential real estate appraiser and a loan officer who is driven by commissions. Loan officers want to make loans whenever possible, but if a mortgage loan is sold on a property that has been overvalued, the bank could loan out more money than they can obtain via foreclosure. This is where a vendor management company, like Finiti, comes into play. We handle the recruiting, onboarding, and managing of the appraisers, called vendors by the industry, who complete the appraisals needed for Citifinancial to close a loan.

In the majority of the country, a vendor (appraiser) is ready and waiting for an order from us even before we receive the request from the lender. However, in some cases where we do not have an appraiser, we must search for one and get them setup to complete an appraisal order for us. My team handles the recruitment and management of these individuals. We spend a good portion of our time discussing the individual fees paid to each vendor. Usually, they request to be paid more than we’re willing to dish out. Some of these conversations can get pretty testy as the rising costs of gasoline, licensure, and continuing education hamper the vendors ability to turn a profit. In addition to fee negotiation, they are also required to turn an appraisal back to us within a specific period of time. If they are not doing as we ask of them, we get to have another conversation with the vendor to find out what might be going wrong. If they don’t speed up their process, we find another vendor who can do a better job.

We also provide Citi with another type of report, done by real estate agents, called a Brokers Price Opinion (BPO). An agent completes a BPO when a Citi property goes into foreclosure and the lender needs to know how much they can expect to get when the house sells on the open market. Who would know better than the salability of a property than a local realtor? We manage these agents and brokers in a very similar fashion to the appraisers. Fees are negotiated, performance is tracked, and poor performers are replaced whenever necessary. In a volatile industry, we see our share of good stories and rough. But when Citigroup needs something to run their business, it’s our job to provide that service for them.

I graduated from a private university with a B.A. in Financial Management. After a few months of job searching the usual financial analyst and accounting roles, I unexpectedly took an offer from one of the world’s largest IT consulting firms as a consulting analyst. Currently, my role is a project-based, functional lead responsible for gathering business requirements and acting as a liaison between the technical and Client teams.

8:30 AM My typical day begins with coffee and a brief moment to collect myself. I get to my paper-scattered desk and plug in my still-running-from-the-night-before laptop. After deleting the mass spam of emails, I focus on the important few before running to my first meeting.

9:00 AM Meeting with the Client team, comprised of analysts, managers and a director, to apprise them of the project status and set a tactical plan for the upcoming week.

10:30 AM The project team convenes for a requirements session to design the application. The business team describes what they need to have for the application to meet their functional needs while the technical team pushes back due to “technical limitations” or cost efficiencies. Although the banter can sometimes be amusing due to the personalities in the room, it is mostly stressful to try and find the right balance between technology and business requirements.

12:00 PM Off to lunch! Gather a few friends and make our way to the cafeteria, full with a variety of menu selections and a sea of divided tables. We sit and discuss our respective weekends while trying to steer the conversation away from work. A turkey sandwich and a few laughs later, we all head back.

1:00 PM Check-in with the project analyst to ensure she is focusing on the right tasks, such as: documenting meeting outcomes and identifying inputs to our project deliverables.

3:00 PM Meet with a broader project team and Client sponsors to discuss project status and identify issues or risks to the budget, timeline or resources. Conversation is usually high-level and heavy with a few forced chuckles.

6:00 PM Review tomorrow’s calendar, finish the last few items of the day and pack up anything that is “late-night” worthy. Finally, I’m off to fight with traffic before reaching home and plugging in my laptop – again.

8:30 PM Check email to ensure nothing has come up before settling down for the latest episode of The Hills.

I work for a city newspaper in a large metropolitan area selling advertising for our print publications as well as our online initiatives and niche products.

My typical day varies from day to day and that is why I love working in this industry. When I arrive at 8:30 I check my emails to find out which special sections are deadlining for the day. I then read the newspaper watching for my clients ads. If my clients have ads that ran that day, I pull tearsheets, which are copies of their ads, to bring to them.

My day is a mixture of following up with clients about special sections, cold calling for new business, creating ad campaigns and maintaining the clients that have ongoing ad campaigns. I am an outside sells rep which means that I am expected to get out into the field to see my clients and prospect new ones.

As a retail rep I work directly with the owners and managers of the businesses in my territory. I enjoy working with them directly because I become more than just a sales rep. I develop a relationship with my clients and am often considered as a marketing consultant when I offer advertising suggestions and create proposals that may take their business to the next level.

Publishing sales is very much like running your own business. I am an outside sales rep with a specific territory, which I maintain and develop. I have a monthly goal that I must meet as well as a quarterly goal. Each year my monthly and quarterly goals increase depending on the previous year’s sales.

After a long day of selling, I make my way back into the office to order ads, follow-up with my manager, write sales proposals, and prepare for tomorrow’s client meetings.

I have a business degree from a four-year university and had several internships while in college.

As a sponsorship marketing and community affairs specialist for a top ten financial firm, I have the best of many worlds. The sponsorship marketing and community affairs business line allows me to be creative, interactive, strategic, and on the front lines of business development events all while giving back to the community.

We believe that sponsorships are the best avenues to raise brand awareness, support communities and increase business development opportunities.

The sponsorship process begins with regional directors and my senior manager choosing sponsorships that meets the business and community needs of each region; whether the need is recruiting, diversity, or brand awareness.

An example of a visible sponsorship is a high level art exhibit such as Picasso at the San Francisco Modern Museum of Art (SFMOMA). The exhibit itself is highly visible and as the main sponsor our company name and logo will be attached to each print and promotional piece.

Once the sponsorship is decided, the project is turned over to me for implementation. The first step is determining which executive will host the event.

With the example above, my next step is to contact each branch in the San Francisco area and present the sponsorship opportunities and benefits. The branch is then responsible to use the talking points that I provide them and communicate with all the employees in the branch, as well as the clients to be invited.

Following the conversation with the branch I begin working with the SFMOMA on the event; contacting caterers, florist, musicians, lighting, valet etc.

The San Francisco branches are responsible for the tracking form to collect information about participating clients, employees and prospects.

Once the major decisions have been made, I begin the invitation process. I provide our designers with all the text and copy but they are responsible for the design.

Four to six weeks prior to the event; invitations are mailed, vendor proposals are reviewed and approved, and parting gifts are selected.

Event week nametags are printed, final headcounts are submitted, wine is selected, talking points are written, executive itineraries are confirmed, and event supplies are packed and shipped.
Prior to the event; I and at least one colleague travel to the event. The day before event day consists of a final meeting with the vendors for an on-site event walk through and tying up any loose ends in the branch office.

Event day is quite fulfilling. There are last minute changes, requests and decisions to be tended to. The first hour is the most exhilarating. Right before guests show up, I need to do a quick check-in with my vendors to be sure that the food and beverages are all ready to go and that my musicians are set up and that the florists have transformed the venue. From the moment the guest arrives, we have to be on our game until the last guest departs. We are the guest’s first and last impressions. My goal is to make the employees of the firm shine, to ensure that clients have a great time and that everyone’s needs are met and people are pleased.

Masses of people crowd the registration table for the first hour and then it is speech time. I check the sound system and podium placement and then I hunt down the branch director, executive host and the museum curator to be sure that they are ready.

After the speeches are finished, the guests are given a private viewing of the exhibit. This is about the time when I get to have a little something to eat and start getting ready for the guests departure. We transition the registration table into a gift table. When the guests depart, we collect their nametags and hand them a gift and thank them for coming.

By collecting the nametags we are able to submit a list of attendees following the event. Our work doesn’t end when the event does, we do a series of follow-up with all the attendees and the branches involved. This will help us perfect any sponsorship we do in that area in the future.

Hi bizMe readers. I’m Amelia, International Trade Specialist with the U.S. Commercial Service. (Website www.export.gov) The main goal of the U.S. Commercial Service is to assist small- to medium-sized companies in the export of their products and services.

Five out of the seven days a week, I’m up at 5:45 a.m. and on the bus to downtown Minneapolis by 7:00. Around 7:45, I’m checking email and around 8:00 a colleague and I head to Starbucks to get our daily dose of caffeine. Until 9:00, I prep for client calls. From 9:00 to 12:00 I’m on the phone with clients discussing their international trade issues and asking them how our export resources have assisted their international business strategy. Our export resources consist of international partner search services, background checks and a plethora of other global business resources.

During lunch, I eat at my desk so I can prep for the out-of-office meeting with my client that would like training on Incoterms, export documentation, and an overview of our services. They also may need one of our services so I thoroughly research the company I am going to meet with so I can ’soft sell’ appropriately. The research consists of reading their 10-K report, if they are a public company, and studying their website. I also pay particular attention to the cues given from their marketing materials that allude to their level of sophistication pertaining to their international strategy. In addition, I take 10-15 minutes to visit the bizMe website, so I stay fresh on the trends and current events. 

The art of multi-tasking comes into play throughout my day as I do field additional calls, work with colleagues on projects, update our website, and put together our office newsletter.

My first client visit is at 1:30, so I’m dashing out the door by 1:00 to ensure I am there 10 minutes early.

Some tips for meetings that have saved me:

• If appropriate, prepare an agenda. It especially helps you stay on track if there are multiple topics to discuss. I print and pass out the agenda if appropriate.

 

• If you’re going to be late, be sure to have the contact’s phone number available so you can call them while you’re driving.

 

• Do not promise too much during a meeting.

 

• Always follow-up if you say you are going to follow-up, even if it is a quick email that states you are busy and will address their inquiry at a later time.

 

• If you don’t know the answer, admit you don’t know the answer and let the person know you’ll find the answer through other internal resources. (People can see right through you if you make answers up.)

 

After the meeting, I head back to the office, where I enter in a “Counseling Session” that pertains to the client visit. That brings me to about 3:30. From 3:30 to 4:45, I answer emails and return phone calls. By 4:45, My Ipod’s on and I’m out the door to catch my bus.
 

What does it take to be an International Trade Specialist? First of all, it takes a strong passion for all things international. From travel to international regulations, you have to enjoy it all. I’m no international trade expert, but I do believe that what I do helps companies do business successfully abroad. I enjoy my job and that keeps me motivated to learn more. I’ll be completing my MBA August 14, 2007. Although a MBA is not required, the MBA program has been instrumental to my professional development. It’s exciting to have that general business knowledge under control, so I feel more comfortable associating with other business professionals. I have been taking night classes and working at the same time, so some things have taken a back seat, like relationships.