Rare Indigo Ventures Inc

Placement organization

Name of organization: Rare Indigo Ventures Inc
Town/city: Vancouver
Country: Canada

Student

Name of student: Christina Hilmer
Website: http://www.rareindigo.com
Name of student: Christina Hilmer
Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2012-2013

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Destination Management Company
Organization’s activities: Organizing incentive trips, meetings, conventions and special events
Target group of the organization: International businesses (Fortune 500 businesses)
Company culture: The office is like a home and with a very familiar and sociable, relaxed atmosphere. Colleagues treat each other with respect and also talk about personal things. There is only a hierarchy in decision making regarding financial decisions. Being an intern, they valued my opinion and views highly because they believed that I could give fresh and new insight with a different perspective.
Number of employees: 10
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? As it is a small organizations, there are not really departments but I mainly worked to in the Client Services field (instead of operating programs or doing marketing and budgets)
Brief description of your daily activities: I worked in the office and did a lot of computer work. Research for activities, venues and suppliers. Entering contact details into excel sheets and entering data into the CRM system. Contacting suppliers, preparing documents, proposals and prepare travel staff packages and assist preparing programs.
Brief description of your company assignment: To write a competitive analysis in regards to the websites of the competing organizations in Western Canada
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: I had a personal supervisor, he was great; very nice and supporting me any time. He often sat down with me and explained things to me.
Connection with study program: Relevant

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? You should be independent and flexible, sociable, representable and service-oriented, self- confident and able to take initiatives to create your own assignments and responsibilities within the company,
Additional company requirements for this placement? Excel, Word, Powerpoint, Internet
English: Basic
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Via myself, I found a nice room in a house where I lived with other international students together. The website is http://www.vancouverstudenthome.com/
How did you go to work every day? I bought a second hand bike for 130$ which was very useful to get to work and to get around in general since Vancouver is a city for bicycles.

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa?
Do you need a work permit?
How did you arrange the necessary documents: It takes up to 3 months or longer, make sure that you apply in time and for the right category of visa. There are different working holiday visas and you only can apply once. I had some trouble because the visa process only opened in February and I only could apply then. I had to wait for three weeks (and I think I was very lucky so do not rely on that) for my visa to be processed. The Visa procedure is relatively simple and you can fill in everything online. But be prepared to only start your placement in March or April!
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 3 months or longer
Did you need certain vaccinations? No

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? No
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? n/a

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 1000,00
Accommodation (monthly): € 650,00
Local transport (monthly): € 100,00
General costs of living (monthly): € 200,00
Costs of visa: 100,00
Costs of work permit: € Included in visa
What did the company pay for/to you? € No compensation

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture? Not that different from our culture
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? No

Future students on placement

My telephone number:
My e-mail address: 110312@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: If you show your initiative and that you want to learn all team members will be happy to talk to you and get you involved. The company consists of strong teamwork so you should be able to communicate well and be flexible. Independent work is also important and they expect you to show good results or at least the will to do your best. But you can ask questions anytime, everybody is very nice!
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: The city of Vancouver has a lot of things to see and explore. It is a vibrant city with a lot of events and happenings. The company is located in downtown, which is nice as you can take a walk at the waterfront or in the busy streets of downtown after work or in your lunch break. On weekends you can go skiing or in summer go to Bowen Island or just relax in Stanley park or on the city beaches. Whistler and Seattle are not far and they are easy to reach by bus.

Media

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