MCI / Ovation

Placement organization

Name of organization: MCI / Ovation
Town/city: Barcelona
Country: Spanje
Website: https://ovationdmc.com/

Student

Name of student: Pien Vredebregt

Specialist area: TM
Placement period: 2018-2019

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: DMC
Organization’s activities: The organization works with clients all over the world and creates events for them. The events are most of the time business events, such as congresses, meetings and team-building days. They arrange the transfers, hotels, venues, restaurants and activities for their clients.
Target group of the organization: Business companies
Company culture: The company consists of two parts: Ovation Spain and MCI Barcelona. MCI works with a pharmaceutical company. They organise the events of this company.
Ovation is the biggest part of the company. They organise events for different clients, anyone can submit an application for an event.
The office is almost 80% woman and the atmosphere is really friendly. I think it is really informal/casual and everybody can get along with each other.
There are a lot of different nationalities in the office: Spanish, Italian, France, Latin-american and Dutch. They speak Spanish in the office, but everyone also speaks English. so, it is not a problem if you don´t speak Spanish that well.
Number of employees: 45
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working?

Client Solutions, this department is the first contact to the clients. They make proposals of the events, such as venues, hotels, restaurants the clients can choose from. They also make the first budgets and there is a lot of contact with clients.

Sometimes, when it is really busy at other departments you have to help them. Most of the times this is the operation department.
After a proposal is accepted by a client the proposal goes to the operation department, they do the operating part of the events. So, if you want you have to ask them to join them and see what they do onside.

Brief description of your daily activities: Every other week I am in the reception. Here you answer calls, welcome guests and you have your daily work.
The daily work exists of:
– Working on the database: overviews of restaurants, venues, contacts, etc.
– Making PowerPoint presentations: prepare proposals, make descriptions of venues, hotels, restaurants, activities, etc.
– Contacting clients by email and phone
Brief description of your company assignment: My company assignment is about sustainability. I want to research what the company can do, even more than they already do to, get a better position on the market by doing more on sustainability.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: The supervisor of the company is really nice. When you have questions you can always ask him. Further is he really busy, but you will make time if you need anything.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Social, team player, flexible
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office
English: Advanced
Spanish: Intermediate
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane and bus

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Internet, the website of spot a room
How did you go to work every day? Walking or metro

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No
Do you need a work permit? Yes, you need a NIE number. This is really hard to arrange, so I hired a company and they helped me to get it. (This cost money)
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Agency
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? I had a lot of bad luck, but it can be arranged in a week if you know what to do.
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? Yes, if you don´t speak Spanish that well, I will recommend it. It is not necessary but it comes in handy.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € €120
Accommodation (monthly): € €525, but it can cheaper.
Local transport (monthly): € 3 month metro ticket is €105
General costs of living (monthly): € €300, depends on what you do. But it is not that expensive to live in Spain.
Costs of visa: € Non
Costs of work permit: € €12 without agency help
What did the company pay for/to you? The company pays you €300 financial compensation. But if you are there less than 6 months you will pay a lot of fees. Around 24%, so in the end you get €228 a month.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did not prepare for the culture, because I have lived in Spain before. Keep in mind that it is Spain and everything goes “tranquilo”. So you have lunch at 14:00 till 15:00 and the working days are from 09:00-18:00.
Offices of the government closes at 14:00 and everything goes slow.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? No

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: 163374@buas.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Barcelona is the capital of Catalunya, so the same as for any other busy city “watch your stuff!!!”. So keep your bag always in the front on crowded places and leaves nothing unattended. Even not a phone on the table during dinner.
Barcelona can be really crowded because of the tourists, so be aware of this.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Barcelona has a lot of highlights, so check them out! And go to the beach if they weather is good.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link