Regarding the research for my internship offer, I had heard from Animafest Experience through the ECE ( European School of Business ) . After that I immediately registered on the company's website, which respond very quickly to my requests (ex: desired department , destinations... ) .
Animafest Experience then provides a personal page assigned with a personal code , which allows you to make Skype interviews in order to refine the search for your internship . After the interviews, an offer is sent by e -mail within 2 weeks maximum. Then it is asked to confirm the internship quite quickly with a last appointment on Skype.
From the moment you confirm your internship, the different documents that are needed to finally approve the internship will appear in your personal page. You can be aware in real-time of the different documents you need : School contract, training agreement , insurance, medical report.
I was finally greeted by another student working in the same department as me, who accompanied me to my apartment, provided by Animafest Experience.
2) The labor market in the town of Malgrat de Mar
As you know , Spain is a tourist destination with many major destinations such as Barcelona , the Balearic Islands, Madrid or even the capital.
The small town of Malgrat de Mar, located 1 hour train ride north of the city of Barcelona , is also very touristy, even a little too ! Indeed , the majority of buildings in this city
are hotels, which open only during the summer period (May to October) .
The total population of this city amounts to a little less than 20 000 inhabitants , and it is generally doubled during the summer .
The labor market of the town of Malgrat de Mar is down to intensive seasonal work during the summer , mainly due to shops and services , especially tourism .
3) The must see in Barcelona !
The city of Barcelona is not only very touristy, but is also ... Historic !
Indeed it is dotted with monuments , streets, and other extremely original each other architectural elements :
La Sagrada Família
Park Güell
Also intellectual work of the architect Antoni Gaudi, Park Güell is a garden city for Barcelona aristocracy . It is built on a hill , and offers a breathtaking view over the entire city of Barcelona to the sea.
La Boqueria
La Boqueria is a 6000 square meters market , where you can find everything : fruits, vegetables , meat, fish , spices, sweets ... This is the largest market in Europe!
" What we do not find the Boqueria market , it is found nowhere "
In fact, when we enter the market, we enter another world where is mixing bursting colors fruits suns and the smells of exotic spices , a real olfactory experience !
La Rambla
La Rambla is the most famous pedestrian avenue of Barcelona, it connects Plaça Catalunya (center of town) and the old port where stands the Column of Christopher Columbus.
But is also driven by many street magicians , dancers and awesome mimes !
Bari Gotic
As its name suggests, the Barri Gotic is the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona.
This area is also emblematic of the fact that this is where the career of the famous painter Picasso began.
4) Spanish press review: Focus on Catalonia !
El País : EU asks Rajoy to negotiate to maintain Catalonia in Spain .
February 23, 2014
As you know Catalonia has a special status in Spain . The region wants to be independent of the Spanish government, and become a full-fledged region .
Today, a new debate is discussed , but at European level !
The following question is raised: In the case of Catalonia become independent , what is its legitimacy in terms of their membership in the European Union?
She also adds that "no law says that Catalonia should leave the EU if it becomes independent ." In the letter Reding assumes the positions of the Spanish government , which holds that in no case Catalonia can affirm the independence unilaterally and follow in the EU.
This new debate only reinforces the idea that the subject is delicate. Each of the parties want to find their own advantages, but the fact is that the EU has difficulties to impose their positions because the debate was born long before UE creation, in 1931.
5) The eminent Gaudi at Work !
Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) , the famous Catalan architect, is the main represent of Catalan New Art . His work has indeed marked sustainable architecture of Barcelona, and has participated heavily in the development of architecture and building techniques.
In 1882, the city of Barcelona once used the talents of the artist to erect the famous Sagrada Familia, minor Barcelona Cathedral and iconic building of the city.Which should be initially designed by Francisco de Paula del Villar .
6) Content and Missions of the Internship
I currently work in the Marketing department of Animafest Experience company .
This company offers free internships to students from all around Europe, to work in some hotels in Spain, France, Germany and Italy.
But this call also another purpose : to test the level of language!
In fact, the interview is most often conducted in English , which allows us to evaluate the level. It seems obvious that if the student does not speak English , it is very hard for us to find a placement in a crowded hotel tourists.Don't you think?
Alongside Skype , it can be asked to do other missions such as:
- Contact students that are looking for an internship immediately, via Skype .
- Post Internet ads to promote the business on diferent websites
- Send emails to partner: universities and hotels, recalling the offers of the company.
- Prepare a live presentation via Skype to partner universities to explain our services in detail.
At the same time my manager working on another project website: Student2Holidays .
It is dedicated to the proposal varied in major cities of Europe activities. He also asked me to create and translate texts promotion activities, the Spanish to English and French as well as post ads for website promotion .
7) Tips to get out!
The city of Barcelona is reputed to be one of the most festive and cultural cities in Spain , making it an ideal destination for many tourists (from all around the world ), creating an incredible melting pot !
Barcelona is no shortage of good places and good plans to entertain its many visitors !
For art lovers, the Picasso Museum , which as its name suggests is devoted to the work of the famous painter Pablo Picasso. Come visit this museum houses a collection of nearly 3500 creations of the artist.
For clubbers, especially students, Barcelona is the perfect city , here is the great address in Barcelona :
Razzmatazz is the most famous place to go out , this club is the largest nightclub in Barcelona. It has 5 rooms (5 different musical styles ranging from Rock to Electro ) on several floors and can welcome up to 2000 people !
But Barcelona is not limited only to known addresses of all , you should also feed your curiosity by walking the streets of Barcelona and discover unusual places ! Or let yourself be guided by good advices of Barcelona inhabitants, who will always be happy to help you.
8) Los Moros y Cristianos !
The festival of Moros y Cristianos ( Moors and Christians) is a commemorative cultural event which is the subject of an old Spanish tradition , as it is celebrated since the late sixteenth century.
It is commemorated in the form of a confrontation (performed by actors ) between Muslim and Christian troops in the thirteenth century for the control of Spain. They are made in honor of the patron saint of the city, which played a fundamental role in the battle since it was through his intervention that the balance tilts in favor of the Christians , despite the numerical superiority of Arab troops !
The grand and popular attractiveness of these festivities favored their expansion in several regions of Spain , but they are especially rooted in the cities of Valencia and Alicante. There are many variations, from each locality , based on its own history, adds items to the common structure of festivals.
It is usually one of the most impressive moments , which attracts the crowd. In some cases, as in Alcoy , more than 5,000 people participate in the parade. But this festival you still reserve you impressive moments, like the spectacular final battle !
At this time , each party reads a text to convince the other side to surrender. The negotiations lead to a divergence of course ... then starts the simulated combat . The realization does not lack realism and special effects , you should know that it is used thousands of pounds of powder in the process! The battle finally end with the victory of the Christians.
Interview: Santiago Matamala, CEO of Animafest Experience
Santiago (Santy)Matamala (profile LinkedIn), was working as a chief animator in one hotel in Santa Susanna (Costa
Brava, Spain) 15 years ago (1999), he is now the current owner of Animafest
Experience.
1) How
did you come up with the idea to create a company?
When there
appeared to be a need of more people, who can work in the hotel, I decided to
invite under graduated students from a field of tourism and hospitality, who
are required to get some experience during their studies. They are more
interested and motivated, because no one besides students would like to be
employed just for a short period of time (by the way tourism in Spain is very
seasonal). The first university cooperator was from Holland, therefore 2
students from there came to Spain to do their internships and then continued
their studies.
2) What
was the most difficult thing at the beginning?
One by one,
I started to get more and more partners among the hotels and universities,
starting with an animation department (hence the name of the company: Animafest
Experience), spreading to all the other departments that exist in every hotel.
All the
partnerships have been done by a personal communication and negotiations, while
traveling to each hotel and university.
3) How
did you get around the problem of communication?
Hopefully
for us it was the fastest and the most revolutionary time of Internet. Besides
that, in the end of 90’s – beginning of 2000’s the social media started to grow
really intensively. That is when Animafest’s website and program was created.
4)
Knowing that your services are free, what is the main source of an income for
the company?
The main
source of an income for Animafest is the hotels. First of all they pay for
accessing the database. Each hotel has its profile, with the information and
list of students required, differentiated by the age, gender, language skills,
duration of an internship, experience, personal skills, communication skills
etc.
5) Who
is your main competitor?
For the
students our services are for free. And that is what makes us better than our
competitors. The main competitor at the moment is IES Consulting. As well as
the hotels by themselves, because in the end they can prefer to do everything without
using any agencies help and save money. However, most of our hotels partners
are very big, and they are really in need of our services.
6) What
is the main expense in the company?
Animafest
online program is very bulky, it is changing and updating every months, from
the creation until now we spent around 200.000 Eur.
7) What
are the other main actors in the success of Animafest Experience?
The other
stakeholders of Animafest are universities. When they got to know us, while
working with us for some years, knowing about the reputation, they prefer to
help their students to find internships and feel safe for them. That is how
now, we have around 50 educational institutions that cooperate with us, and so
we can know in advance that we can expect “this” amount of students from “that”
country to apply for some of the positions in our resorts. Animafest is the intermediary
between the hotel and students and can guarantee all the problems solutions and
internship quality.
8) How
do you manage to communicate with that many partners?
Of course,
when amount of the partners grows to quite a big numbers, it is getting more
and more complicated to communicate personally. That is why nowadays, we are
using all the possible sources of communication, to make it more qualitative,
trough Skype presentation for exemple.
Spain is still
one of the most visited countries in Europe, Tourism and hospitality is one of
the most popular education fields. Those facts make quite a good forecast for
Animafest future.
End of the experiment: Results and Value added
My internship at the company Animafest Experience was very rewarding!
Indeed by working in these offices, I could evolve in a purely international environment. I must say that the main strength of the company, is the work force: students from different European countries ( Bulgaria , Lithuania , Netherlands , Russia, Hungary ) with the aim to simplify communication with students looking for an internship .
Through this context I had the opportunity to discover for sure Spanish culture , but not only !
In contact with other students, I was able to indirectly discover the respective cultures of everyone who was unknown to me until now . It was a real plus in my experience!
Apart from the highly cultural aspect of the experience , my activity brought me to mainly communicate in English . In fact I was in charge of receiving Skype calls of students from all over Europe , and guide them through the research of their internship. Being shy by nature this task allowed me to hugely improve my communication skills and strengthen my confidence.
On the internet platform of the company it is also possible to see the comments left by students after their first intrerview, above you can see that the date are little less than a month after the start of internship. It is always very encouraging!
In my experience I also have to demonstrate a high level of availability . Indeed it is not uncommon that the office is overloaded with calls from students seeking an internship , so you have to show initiative and flexibility in these moments of "rush" .
My activity within the company has also taken to me to discover the complexities of communication within it. I was asked to send e -mails, post ads , feeding a Facebook page or a Twitter account. These tasks were also very formative to observe the various aspects of communication. You just realize that this aspect of the business is essential and remains a complex tool , that is necessary to control.
In conclusion this internship was full in every way , both culturally and professionally speaking . I learned to evolve and work in a fully international environment , discovering a dynamic and growing company!
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