My alarm clock rings. 6:30. I drag myself out of bed, get ready, and head out the door to the train station. The tough part of the day is already over.
I board the train on which I will spend one hour eating breakfast while preparing for the day by browsing the email-accounts of the Finnish Dutch Chamber of Commerce, checking various old to-do notes and lists, and brainstorming ideas for events and our social media platforms.
I finally arrive in Rotterdam, and 15 minutes later I’m at the Finse Huis where the FDCC office is located. At the office we start off with a coffee and catching up on current events related to the chamber, discussing ideas for events, assessing what has been done recently and still needs to be done in various sectors, and of course – checking how everyone is doing.
Once this has been discussed we get to work. As I work with another intern we divide the workload and discuss feedback and issues.
During the day I check the email accounts regularly, as I need to be in touch with various external people regarding events. Lately I’ve been on the lookout for emails from NOKIA, who have agreed to be the host of our next event “Women in leadership: leadership and well-being”. As I’ve been tasked with managing the communication and planning of this I also need to actively communicate with the moderator, our panelists, and the FDCC board.
I create a plan for the marketing, and create the visuals for the event marketing and presentation of our speakers. As soon as the visual is ready and approved by relevant parties I update our website to include this. Once I have all the necessary information about the event I can publish it on our social media channels. I also make sure to include the event in our next newsletter so that people can save the date well in advance.
During the day I might also have a meeting scheduled. Some days this is an online meeting with one of the other Nordic Chambers of Commerce, other days it’s a delegation from the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, visiting the Netherlands to learn about the dutch market and finnish-dutch business opportunities. The latter occasionally requires more preparation, like preparing a presentation about the chamber, or finding and contacting potential meeting locations. During the meetings I take pictures that I later include in the monthly newsletter, along with a text about the event.
At the end of the day I pack up my things, walk over to the train station, and head back home to Amsterdam.
Working at the FDCC has been an amazing and incredibly insightful journey. I had the opportunity to organize events, meet interesting people, and work in an awesome team. At several points during my internship I found myself thinking “I can’t believe I’m doing this”. Had I been told 5 years ago that I would be planning the Annual General Meeting at the residence of the Ambassador of Finland in the Hague, or attending a meeting about Circular Economy at the Norwegian Embassy with the other Nordic chambers and embassies, I would have been in disbelief.
As my time at the FDCC ends I walk away having developed my skills and acquired new ones too. I’ve worked in an amazing team, and had countless interesting discussions with even more interesting people. It is an experience I will never forget.