Today was our first company visit! We went to Skapa, a marketing agency. We met with a man named Erik Ekholm and he is the CEO. We went to the sixth floor of a very quiet building and walked into a gorgeous, spacious office that looks like it’s straight out of an Ikea catalog. It had an open floor concept, the desks were spread apart, and it was just decorated so beautifully.
We went into a conference room where we were offered fruit, cinnamon buns, coffee, tea, water, etc. It was very warm and welcoming. Erik was a really friendly guy with a lot of knowledge and experience. He told us the start of Skapa began because his wife had experience with communications and he personally had experience with technology. As soon as the internet was born, in 1996, they joined their skills and started this company: a company that provides marketing services to other businesses.
Skapa has a team of 9 people and are doing very well. They work with companies such as Volvo Penta, GreenCarrier, and Skanska. They’ve even won titles When asked what hypothetical tenth position they would open, he responded with sales or an art director. They stay successful by developing a close relationship with and nurturing their customers. Erik says trust and confidence are very important. Also, he says that in regard to being successful in marketing, you have to keep in mind what kind of audience you want to attract and and how to cater to that audience. Overall, it was the perfect mix of casual and professional, and a great way to start company visits.
Next, we went to Gothenburg University and had lunch in the cafeteria. After that, we went to an empty classroom and had a lecture by two professors. The first professor talked about the economy of Sweden and then specifically Gothenburg, and the second professor talked about European hockey! I really enjoyed the business lecture. It was so insightful. Last spring semester, I took an International Finance course and the lecture covered so many things I learned in it, so it all made sense to me and it was so fascinating to learn how everything in class applies in the real world.
After the lectures, we got an opportunity to “Ask a Swede”, where five students volunteered to sit with us and just talk and answer questions. This was a fun experience. We got people with completely different personalities. There were quiet, more reserved ones that liked to talk about school, and then there was one guy who was absolutely hilarious. He had the whole room laughing. This was very fun, not to mention the campus is so pretty!
For dinner, I had quite the adventure. I navigated to the nearest McDonald’s! My LARGE MEAL was only $6 USD!!!
I had to figure out what tram to use and how to get there from the tram station. I like navigating. I like being independent. This was the first time I really had to figure out who to get to my destination. On the way back, I stopped at Tintin’s and took dessert to go! I was in a part of town I hadn’t been in before. Specifically, it was on the Avenue, which we went to on the tour bus but we never got off. The side streets and the architecture were so pretty, especially at night when everything was lit up!
Take aways:
- 1 million people have immigrated to Sweden since 2000.
- There are up to 4 spots to get on the tram at one tram-stop–only one of them is the right one, depending where you’re going.
- McDonald’s is actually cheap here.
till sverige 