We are the Logistics team, coming to you from our virtual Spring 2021 International Study Trip classroom!
Our team members are made up of Jeffrey, Khushboo, and Soham. We are looking forward to sharing our insights and letting you in on what goes into coordinating a virtual international study trip course. Throughout the term, we, the Logistics team, have been dedicated to ensuring our class meetings and future interview meetings run optimally. Through proper planning, organizing, and being adaptable, we make it logistically feasible for the class to be able to meet diverse industry executives from around the world.
We have each provided a brief overview of our learning experiences from our various team roles and responsibilities, what we enjoy most about being on the team, and what we are looking forward to in the course:
Jeffrey
Describe your experiences with the various roles and responsibilities you’ve had within the Logistics team. What have been some successes and challenges so far?
As a member of the Logistics team, the primary responsibility I have is ensuring that the class as a whole is able to function as necessary. This includes setting up and running each class, organizing schedules, and sending out meeting invites to the interviewees. While we have found success with setting up the classes, the challenge will be extending this to the interviews. It is our job to offer the most seamless and best possible experience to our peers, the interviewees, and Professor Steve Balaban.
What’s your favourite part about being on the Logistics team? What skills are you learning and what are you looking forward to in AFM 334?
My favourite part about being on the Logistics team is definitely having the opportunity to run the classes, especially in the role of Meeting Chair. Every class, one student can volunteer to fill this role and they’re given the responsibility of directing the flow of the class. This includes greeting everyone at the beginning, keeping the class on track with the agenda, and moderating discussions. My experience as meeting chair taught me valuable leadership and public speaking skills that I hope extends to the next time I facilitate a meeting. As we approach the end of the term, I’m most looking forward to conducting interviews with all the industry professionals we’ll meet with in the final week of the course.
Khushboo
Describe your experiences with the various roles and responsibilities you’ve had within the Logistics team. What have been some successes and challenges so far?
As a member of the Logistics team, not only am I responsible for setting up meetings but I am also the team captain. My role is to ensure that we are fulfilling all the responsibilities required from our end so the students can attain the best learning experience possible. Everyone on our team has had the opportunity to create meeting agendas, take meeting minutes, and send emails with the details for the next meeting. We all work together to make sure all meetings run smoothly. For example we present updates on our progress each week, so that everyone is one is current on our team’s progress. Being part of the team, I enjoyed being the Meeting Chair and managing the invitation logistics for our guest speakers. We have mostly been successful with our role and responsibilities, but one challenge we faced was choosing the best platform to have our meetings with the guest speakers. We overcame this challenge with Professor Steve Balaban, who was extremely helpful and always available whenever we needed his advice.
What’s your favourite part about being on the Logistics team? What skills are you learning and what are you looking forward to in AFM 334?
Without a doubt, the best part of being on the Logistics team was setting up bi-weekly meetings with our classmates. We have a fun segment called “coffee buddies” where everyone meets a different person once a week for individual chats. This has helped me build my networking skills and engage in deeper conversations with anyone, no matter how nervous I am. Through the International Study Trip course, I have become more confident when arranging and hosting meetings. I have also improved my communication skills. I am looking forward to our International Study Trip week, starting on August 23rd, 2021, where we will be connecting with business executives.
Soham
Describe your experiences with the various roles and responsibilities you’ve had within the Logistics team. What have been some successes and challenges so far?
As a member of the Logistics team, I have had the opportunity to have various roles which results in many different responsibilities as well. Overall, the Logistics team is responsible for overseeing the background details and framework for the class; this includes setting up the agenda for every class in addition to leading the classes, maintaining the schedule for meetings with business executives, and creating the different meeting links. Fortunately, we have a strong team and most of our responsibilities have seen large amounts of success, but we did face challenges as well. When it came to setting up meetings with business executives, it was hard to settle on a platform due to several reasons but in the end, we were able to come to a consensus that best fit the parameters required.
What’s your favourite part about being on the Logistics team? What skills are you learning and what are you looking forward to in AFM 334?
My favourite part about being on the Logistics team has to be the fact that we are able to take on a large leadership role in the course. Since we are in charge of the agenda every meeting, we are constantly improving our communication skills by asking our peers if they need time to present or have an important agenda item. I am most looking forward to the final week of the course when we are able to meet the business executives we have set meetings with, to be able to directly ask them questions on how they think different industries will react in the years to come will be a once in a lifetime opportunity.