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| Participants of the intensive course together with Pirkko Varis in Lomasaari, Virrat |
We spent one week in Tampere and Virrat, Finland in fall 2014. The
coordinator of the Nordplus Nordic and Baltic Business Innovation Network and
the intensive course “Business
Innovation Focussed on Experience-based Products/Services”, Senior Lecturer
in Marketing Pirkko Varis from
Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK), Finland organised for us the programme.
Altogether 26 students and 8 staff
members from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Lithuania and Norway joined the
intensive week. From TAMK, Finland students Veera
Hahtala, Jukka Hartikainen, Jonna Hurmansalo, Jenni-Maria Korhonen, Marika Ropanen and Mihail Kastrunis took part in the course.
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| Assignment from Suomen Hopealinja Oy |
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| Assignment and the coordinator Pirkko |
On Saturday we had a welcome session with some teambuilding activities and
we could get acquainted with each other and spend some time together. On Sunday
we did a sightseeing tour in the city of Tampere and got familiar with the ships
of the company Suomen
Hopealinja Oy (Finnish Silverline Ltd.) in the harbour as part
of our assignment. The tour included a visit
to Pyynikki Observation Tower with a view on Viikinsaari island.
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| Danish students on top of Pyynikki Observation Tower |
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| A view to the Viikinsaari island |
After the sightseeing tour we spent some time in
Tampere and thereafter travelled to Virrat where we had accommodation in wooden
houses by the lake in Lomasaari.
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| Proposal approved! |
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| Accommodation in houses by the lake in Lomasaari, Virrat |
On Monday morning we had presentations of all the countries and study
programmes taking part in the course. We also followed a presentation on “Get
the message across” given by Vidar Alvarstein from UiT The Arctic University of
Norway, School of Business and Economics. We were divided into teams and we
were given the assignment from the company. The
aim was to suggest events and services to be offered for various customer
groups during the summer season. It was also a wish that we give suggestions for marketing communications mix for
various customer groups.
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| Some members of Finland team |
On Monday afternoon we worked in teams at Virrat campus of TAMK. We had ideation process and sessions with Janita Saarinen from Idema Oy and all
activities were related to the assignment. We also could visit Virrat
attractions and the harbour of Virrat. On Tuesday and Wednesday we worked hard in our teams
and finalized our ideas. We also delivered our reports and presentations by the
deadline.
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| Team idea generation on the lake in Virrat |
On Thursday we travelled from Virrat to Tampere where
our presentations took place at TAMK main campus. All teams did great work. On
Thursday evening we had a closing ceremony and dinner. We congratulated the
winners, thanked the organisers and all participants, took a lot of pictures
and headed to the city centre to continue our last evening together. On Friday we
left Finland with all wonderful memories.
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| Presentation by Tuuli, Marika, Indré, Christian and Daniel |
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| Audience including judges Monika Didžgalvytė, Christian Hammerich, Kristo Krumm and the company representative Jutta Lenander preparing for presentations |
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| The happy winning team Madis, Caroline, Marion, Jonna, Rokas and Mihail |
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| Norwegian students on top of Pyynikki Observation Tower |
Students from UiT The Arctic University of Norway,
School of Business and Economics, Tromsø
Marion Knutsen:
I will remember the week as a place where networking, friendships,
knowledge and long-life experiences were made, as cliché that sounds. The
teamwork between the students/teachers from different national backgrounds gave
me several impressions that I had not considered in advance, and in lighted
problems and solutions in different perspectives. I learned strengths and
weaknesses in me, as well as in other members of my team, and then we made the
“result” work smoothly together. I also learned different idea generation
tools, how to make creative minds just blossom with interesting ideas, with
guidance of a professional coacher. These tools I’ve already imprinted in my
daily study routine. We got excellent service from the bus company
Ykspetäjä Oy, Lepikonmäki-yhtiöt including finding the lost items. Pirkko, I want
to say thank you for your effort for this course, not just on my behalf.
One word summary: Illuminating.
Emil Skoglund Ellefsen:
I had a
wonderful time and I learned a lot. Thank you so much for everything you did to
make sure we had a good experience.
Daniel Valla
Villmones:
I have only
good things to say about the Nordic and Baltic Business Innovation
week. My goals before I started the course were simply to
make new friends and challenge myself, and I managed to fulfil each goal
and even more goals than my original ones. I’ve made new international
friends that I’m sure I’ll run into at a later stage of my life. I also managed
to challenge myself, I really put my soul into the idea we created. Being
on course also made me realise the importance of teamwork. Back in my home
country I usually work by myself, because that is what I’m used to. I would
also like to mention that the free time activities also were quite fun. Now
that I’m looking back I would like to thank you Pirkko for the existence of
this course, I’m sure I’m not the only one who is grateful.
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| Estonian students and staff members Anneliis and Kristo in Tampere |
Students
from Tallinn College of Tallinn University of Technology,
Business, Estonia
Jonas Grauberg:
Some
sentences about our happy time in Finland. The whole week was not only about
the project that we did. It was about getting to know different people from
different countries. Working in a team with different people was hard, but it
was really interesting to see how people approached the topic that we were
given. All in all the environment we had in Finland was superb. I would really
like to thank everyone who participated in the program, because this whole week
was about great people and personalities. And as always. Is nice, wawaweewa.
Riin Marii
Jõgis:
It was a great opportunity to meet other foreign students. Nordplus
teaches a lot about teamwork and communicating with different people. Instead
of hard work it felt like a vacation. Happy times!!!
Tuuli-Marie Soomann:
This
programme was an amazing experience to meet different people and have a very
good time together. It was the best week of my university life so far. This
experience gave me new good friends, extraordinary ideas and positive energy. I
definitely will recommend this programme to everybody.
Madis Kerna:
It was an awesome
experience. I met new cool people. They came from different countries and
difference was seen by people. The best thing was the organisation. It looked
like we were on a vacation, but we did work also. I had in Virrat every day
sauna and we had good times in fishing. Great experiences.
Kati Kuustik:
Everything
was great and I liked it. People were nice and it was interesting to work with
foreign students. Organisation and living places were super!
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| Lithuanian student team |
Students from Vytautas Magnus University, Faculty of
Economics and Management, Lithuania
Edgaras Kerševičius:
This project for me was a chance to get complex
knowledge of foreign business and cultures. Unforgettable people and peaceful
atmosphere helped me to solve the project tasks and spend a brilliant time in
Finland. Thank you a lot for everything!
Ieva Kinčiūtė:
It was a
perfect project which allowed to incorporate international ideas and advised a
real company the best solution to a problem. It was a
useful international experience, because I had a good opportunity to improve my
English speaking skills. I also met many new people from other Baltic and
Nordic countries. Although I met many new people, I appreciate that the
trip helped me to get to know my Lithuanian friends better, too. Moreover, I visited
a new country, Finland. Everything was organised really well. Thank you very
much!
Indrė Vitkutė:
In
my opinion, this project is contributing to empowering young people to become
leaders of the future. Young people
had enough potential, brilliant ideas and deserved to be recognized. All teams
planned big goals and created very good offers for the company, more than we
thought was possible! As well in this way we inspired and motivated
ourselves to think beyond our limits. I believe it was a very good opportunity
for us! We all are sure we are ready to do better than we ever could! And it is
what this project showed to us!
Text: Estonian, Lithuanian and Norwegian students
Photos:Monika Didžgalvytė, Vytautas
Magnus University, Faculty of Economics and Management, Lithuania
Anneliis Tomingas, Tallinn College of Tallinn University of Technology, Business, Estonia
Pirkko Varis, Tampere University of Applied Sciences, Finland
Pirkko Varis, Tampere University of Applied Sciences, Finland
The following institutions are members of the Nordplus Nordic and Baltic
Business Innovation Network:
Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK),
Business, Finland
The University of Southern Denmark, Faculty of
Engineering, Odense, Denmark
Tallinn College of Tallinn University of Technology,
Business, Estonia
UiT The Arctic University of Norway, School
of Business and Economics, Tromsø, Norway
Vytautas Magnus University, Faculty of Economics and
Management, Kaunas, Lithuania
