A few days after my last internship at 180 Degrees Consulting Amsterdam, I logged into Zoom one last time in order to attend our much anticipated event; “Under The Canopy”. The event was hosted to allow consultant teams from the Autumn 2020 cycle to showcase their projects and what they’ve been working on throughout the project cycle, as well as share their experience and wisdom with Spring 2021 consultant teams, and allow alumni, team members and new consultants to network.
Event day!
The day of the event itself, we agreed to all have a green theme on Zoom. That meant having a green item, green clothes, or a green background visible to others. This represented 180DC’s colour theme, but also our initiative as an organisation to become more sustainable and to help NGOs become more sustainable.
Most likely to get a superlative?
Once all participants who RSVP’d logged onto the Zoom call, we started with handing out superlatives certificates. Superlatives are fun titles that usually follow the format of “most likely to…”, and that are attributed to a person by their teammates. One by one, we allocated titles such as “most likely to roast someone” and “most likely to work for the UN” to consultants and team leaders. This started the event out on a lighthearted and kind-spirited note, exactly the kind of tone we wanted to set for the rest of the event.
Project showcase
After the superlatives, we moved on to more serious topics; it was time for the consultants to showcase the projects they had been working on for four months! There were 3 teams, all of which worked with different clients, all working in the field of social impact. It was really impressive to see how much the consultant teams have learned and grown over the last few months, and how far they’ve come. Their hard work certainly paid off and the board members could see it. After each presentation, there was room for appraisal by other consultant teams, in order to keep the kind-spirited tone we wanted to set for the whole event.
Screenshot of the Zoom event “Under The Canopy” (names and faces of team members are blacked out for privacy)
Family Feud!
But while the project presentations were very insightful, after three of them it was definitely time for a fun activity; a game of Family Feud! The game served the last purpose of this event; allowing previous, current and prospective 180DC members to network and build a community. In light of the game, a survey was sent out a week prior to the event asking everyone questions about their quarantine routine and their favourite and least favourite things to include those answers in the game. This allowed all of us to get to know each other on a more personal note.
Finally, the event ended with a certificate ceremony, awarding all three team leaders a recognition certificate for their hard work throughout the project cycle.
Thoughts and conclusions
Overall, the event was a beautiful ceremony that encompassed all the hard work we’ve been doing as a board (and team) throughout the project cycle, and a culmination of all the efforts we put throughout this internship in terms of client acquisition, consultant recruitment, consultant training, and also in terms of event planning. The event was a great ending to my time with 180DC Amsterdam and definitely the cherry on top of an amazing project cycle!