Reflection #1:
Activity: PGC
Date of reflection: November 2
Learning outcomes: LO5
After the Peer Group Connection retreat I could analyze in detail the importance of working together as a team. The purpose of this retreat was to get to know all of the PGC members better and to apply this methods and experiences to our future groups. Nevertheless, some challenges presented themselves as the retreat advanced and we had to work together to burst through them. It was difficult to open up to people that do not know you. This was a challenge that we all had to face in order to build relationships amongst each other. The benefits of accomplishing this were many, by doing so we could learn new skills on social relationship constructions and how to implement this elements to our future 9th graders.
Reflection #2:
Activity: Internship at Mimanzana Smartec
Date of reflection: April Monday 24th and Thursday 27th
Learning outcomes: LO5
After finishing the list of keywords I presented them to Nicolas at his office. He gave me feedback on the matter and mentioned that some of the words did not have a big connection with the company. However, he said that the connection was not always relevant since keywords that are not necessarily connected can lead to large traffic volumes anyway. He also told me that not all the times big volumes are needed since sometimes a very specific keyword can guarantee conversion more than a general keyword. Then we talked more about the firm itself and their approach with these keywords. He wants the brand to be seen and in order to do so he requested to focus my searches more on volume than on specific subjects. I was assigned to search for more words and come back next week to discuss them and look for the possibility of creating an ad campaign based on the best searches.
Reflection #3:
Activity: Internship at Mimanzana Smartec
Learning outcomes: LO5
(May Monday 1st and Thursday 4th)
Last week was on Monday everything was as usual with Nicolas we were working together on identifying possible new clients for Mimanzana Smartec. This monday he stated that he was going to give me an important assignment involving researching benchmarks on Thursday. However, last once I got to the firm on Thursday Nicolas was not there and I texted him asking him where he was. He responded with a voice note apologizing and explaining that he had to leave for a meeting and he was already on his way back but had another meeting as soon as he arrived so he couldn’t get to see me. Finally, he said that he would record all of the instructions on a video and send them to me on that same day. That same day I waited for his video but it never arrived and the following day I called him to remind him of this task but he never replied. This has made me evaluate and reflect upon my role on the company. I understand that Nicolas is busy but he talked to me about two meetings on Thursday when he also had a meeting with me. Maybe at first he felt responsible for giving me work but lately he has been more laid back with assignments and I don’t know if this is because I am just a school student (even though I have been doing challenging tasks in the firm) or the company itself needs him at the moment. I still like working with Nicholas but overall what bothered me was the fact that he gave me his word on “an important assignment” and he didn’t bother to even send the video or answer the phone.
Reflection #4:
Activity: Internship at Mimanzana Smartec
Learning outcomes: LO5
Week #9
(May Monday 8th and Thursday 11th)
This week in Mimanzana Smartec I was assigned two tasks. First Nicolas told me to extend the keywords list that I had been working on previously. The list was of 22 entries and he told me to try to get the closest possible to 100. This was an issue because once you pass the 15th word the relevance and connection to the company decreases. Therefore, I feel like 100 is excessive. Additionally, the second task consisted of assembling a content based plan to organize and structure the ideas for future blogs and articles that the firm wants to elaborate. This plan consists of; date, buyer persona, the idea, the copy (text that goes in the post), the link to an high definition image and additional information that can help the company. The objective of this plan is to organize the content that Mimanzana Smartec will produce for social media matching the keyword study that I previously conducted. This way, the content created will be more relevant. I think that this is a very good way to manage time and organize the posts for social media. Parallely, the firm hopes that by writing this text forms there will be more brand recognition. I now see how content is created and is not done without an inherent purpose.
Reflection #4:
Activity: Internship at Mimanzana Smartec
Learning outcomes: LO5
Week #10
(May Monday 15th and Thursday 18th)
Throughout this week I have met with Nicolas to review the ideas discussed during the first weeks at Mimanzana Smartec. We reviewed the topic of inbound marketing which consists on the process of attracting prospects through the creation of prospects. He once again mentioned that my goal on the firm was to help them obtain new customers that at some point in the future will become brand promoters. Then he told me to keep thinking of new keywords for the spreadsheet and that even if the relevance was low any idea would help. He chose some words and made me increase the content plan to two weeks. Additionally, he mentioned that my next big task was going to be assigned the upcoming week. I feel like Nicolas keeps sending my assignments that are significant to some extent. However, I could be doing something that I enjoy more. I will ask him next time I see him about what could be some potential tasks that I am good at and like. At this point I am thinking about something involving designing, something similar to designing a landing page.
Reflection #5:
Activity: Internship at Mimanzana Smartec
Learning outcomes: LO5
Week #11
(May Monday 22th and May Thursday 25st)
During this week at Mimanzana Smartec I had the opportunity to discuss my ideas for future tasks. After mentioning that I was mostly interested by creative or strategy- oriented assignments he mentioned that by Thursday he would be sending me three ideas that I could work on. These ideas were meant to fit these characteristics and I was excited to know that I would be working on new material. Thursday arrived and I didn’t receive any email from Nicolas. I sent him several emails and by Saturday I had received the three tasks plus an apology from him. The tasks were:
“a) De acuerdo a las palabras claves que buscaste, desarrollar 3 artículos de blog para nuestro portal: www.mimanzana.com/blog
b) Busca ebooks que te parezcan interesantes y elige 1. Luego tradúcelo , para enviarlos a nuestros clientes. Puede encontrar aquí: https://www.hubspot.com/resources
c) Realiza otra grilla de contenidos en Facebook para Julio.”
He told me to choose one out of the three assignments and have it ready before thursday of next week. I decided to choose option “b” since I knew that generating e-books is a valuable task for the company when talking about obtaining new clients. I found a very interesting e-book on inbound marketing and this was great because I already had some prior knowledge on the topic.
Here is the link for the translation:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1lQNOh9XVvIgx6TctkAugkURdsTOm5wJ19k2jQi_Vn7c/edit#slide=id.p
Reflection #6:
Activity: Internship at Mimanzana Smartec
Learning outcomes: LO5
Week #12
(May Monday 29th and June Thursday 1st)
During the last week at Mimanzana Smartec I got to focus on another one of the previously assigned tasks. I helped to organize the component chart for all the month of July. This chart consisted of an outline in which I was simply organizing the deadlines for different projects that the workers had to do. From my point of view this is a easy task to do but I decided to take responsibility for it due to the fact that I know that organization is a key factor to achieve deadlines and actually getting the tasks done. In a certain way I feel like this is a task below my abilities but I can understand that I won’t always get to do exactly what I want in the firm and this is something that they need right now.
Reflection #7:
Activity: Internship at Mimanzana Smartec
Learning outcomes: LO5
Week #13
(June Monday 5th and June Thursday 8th)
This week in Mimanzana Smartec was dedicated to finishing one of the final tasks that Nicolás gave me as options. I finished revising the content chart for July since there were some opportunities that I was missing and other posts to be revised. I basically had to develop more interesting content for the ebook I translated so that it would be engaging and attract the buyer personas that the company is targeting. Then on Thursday, I just went by the company to say goodbye and thank everyone for letting me be part of the Mimanzana Smartec team for the last couple of months. I feel like this has been a great first laboral experience for me and one that I won’t forget since it has had an influence on my future career choices. Now I know what parts of marketing I consider interesting and worth focusing on. Even though there were some moments in which I felt like I wasn’t actually needed in the firm I know that it was all part of process and it depends on the way I look at things.
Reflection #6:
Activity: Kantaya
Learning outcomes: LO5
Today I got to go outside of the city into the Ancon area to experience what it feels like to be a teacher and an example to young children. I was assigned to teach the children about Russia and its history and culture to the kids. This was something difficult at first due to the fact that there were many stations and I had to explain the same thing over and over until the twelve stations were finsihed. Additionally, some of the kids would have interesting questions that worked as small challenges for me as a teacher. However, I think this was a significant experience for me as a learner and I am happy to have helped out.