Ovation MCI Spain

Placement organization

Name of organization: Ovation MCI Spain
Town/city: Barcelona
Country: Spanje
Website: http://www.mci-group.com/

Name of student: Mariona Masanés Garcia

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2014-2015

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: MCI /DMC/PCO/M&E
Organization’s activities: Meeting and Events Management
Professional Congress Organization (PCO)
Creative Communication Services
Association Management
Destination Management Company (DMC)
Performance Improvement
Production
Events & Logistics services

Target group of the organization: Spain/UK/Germany
Company culture: The company is divided in two, Ovation and MCI;
-Ovation: these are responsible mainly for clients who come from outside of Spain which are interested in visiting Spain. They come to Spain for different purposes such as incentives, congresses, product launches, etc.
-MCI: these are responsible mainly for clients whom are Spanish which want to travel outside of Spain for either a congress, product launch, incentive, etc.

In each of both departments we have Project Managers, Senior Project Managers, Procurement Director, PCO Director, DMC Director; M&E Director, Sales, Design Team, Finance & Human Resources, etc.
Number of employees: 32
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Ovation – Destination Management / Project Manager Assistant

Brief description of your daily activities: You do a little bit of everything for both Ovation and MCI
– Proposals
– Contact Providers (through email and phone)
– Update the Database
– Budgets
– Running Orders
– Back Office Activities that are required for the events
Basically any assistance anyone might need with the group they are working on.
Brief description of your company assignment: Ovation and MCI relies on a database of information which is used to make the proposals fast and efficiently. My job is to ensure the database is updated in terms of content ( prices, information, contact details, etc). That information is then updated into a database that the organization is trying to implement on a server where all other MCI offices around the world will be able to make us of.
The informative content has to be updated as a presentation and the prices have to be updated on a master budget so that when we get a new proposal we are able to make a quick response since we have the information available.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: There are 3 directors in this organization, one for PCO, one for M&E and another one for DMC. When you take the interview the one that does it is the DMC Director then the one you will mostly be interacting with at the office is the M&E director whom is the one that guides you, introduces you to the people at the office, helps you through your tasks, etc.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Stress-proof, independent and sociable
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office / Excel
English: Advanced
Spanish: Advanced
French: Intermediate
German: Intermediate
Italian: Intermediate
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? N/A – I’m Spanish so I live with my parents
How did you go to work every day? Public Transport – Train

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: –
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? –
Did you need certain vaccinations? No
How long in advance? –

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? It is recommended to take a Spanish course before coming here since everyone at the office communicated in Spanish. Even though they all understand and can speak English they communicate in Spanish and if you do not understand you might feel excluded. If you want to learn most of it in this organization you MUST speak and understand Spanish with an advanced level.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 200€
Accommodation (monthly): € –
Local transport (monthly): € 123€
General costs of living (monthly): € –
Costs of visa: € –
Costs of work permit: € –
What did the company pay for/to you? 600€ per month

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I am Spanish so I did not have any problem adapting because this is my culture.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? –

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: hannitaah1714@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: You have to make sure you have a good level of Spanish or you will feel excluded! Take into consideration that here in Spain people eats at 2pm not at 12, this may be something you have to get used to.
Some days can be rather busy and stressful, just organize yourself and try not to freak out, you are an intern and people here are very kind and always willing to teach you.
Be social, talk to people during lunch time and listen!! That is how you will feel comfortable with everyone at the office, by communicating with them. If they see you are willing to learn and listen carefully, they will be more willing to teach you and it will be a positive experience for both you and the organization.
The directors are mostly out of the office, they are busy people so do not expect them to be around very often, just know that the rest of the office is there to help you and do not be scared of your superiors! they are kind and helpful!
You can contact me if you want to know anything else, I definitely recommend working with Ovation!

Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: You are in Barcelona city where everything is relatively close, you can reach everything by metro or train! If you’re not Spanish then definitely take the chance to explore the city and the surroundings, there is so much to see. Barcelona is a busy city and there are so many things to do that you will probably want more after your internship is over.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link