John Laxton, Université Jean Monnet, was here

John Laxton in the roof garden of TAMK School of Art and Media, Finlayson

Last week John Laxton, international coordinator and lecturer in communication from Université Jean Monnet, St Etienne, France, did staff exchange at TAMK.

He gave lectures in intercultural management, to media students at our Finlayson Campus and to business administration students at Kuntokatu Main Campus. John Laxton's schedule also included discussions with TAMK staff members, a sightseeing in Tampere and visits to proAkatemia and Demola.

Université Jean Monnet and TAMK have regular staff and student exchange in the field of Business Administration.

Study trip to St. Petersburg: 29.10.2009 – 01.11.2009

St. Petersburg, located on the Neva River, is the most northern city with more than 1 million inhabitants of the world. Founded by Tsar Peter te Great, it was the capital of the Russian Empire for more than two hundred years. After Moscow it is the country’s second largest city with 4.6 million inhabitants. St. Petersburg is a major European capital of culture and trade. With its historic centre and monuments the city constitutes an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

And within this beautiful historical city the eight participants of this year’s student trip to Russia were having a great time full of culture, business schedules and nightlife.

The participants were from IB, LIKO as well as exchange students from 8 countries: Tuire Viita-Aho, Magdalena Pichler, Kaja Voigt, Valeria Agafonova, Henri Memonen, Anne Moerman, Ivana Matysikova, Jinsung Seo, and their teacher Mikel Garant.

During the course, the students got acquainted with each other as well as Russian culture in general. The course focus was on business culture and the business environment in Russia.

The students got a closer look to the impressing culture while visiting the Hermitage, Yusupov’s Palace, the Peter & Paul Fortress and the remarkable St. Isaac’s Cathedral. Also, some went to the Marinsky Theater for Ballet, others went to the Jazz Philharmonic in addition to having many other cultural experiences.

But the trip was not just about admiring the city; it was also for understanding the Russian business culture. Therefore, the students first met Snezhana Alexeeva and Juha Ruosteenoja, managers from the Sokos Hotel Vasilievsky. First they saw the whole hotel and afterwards Mr. Ruosteenoja explained his experiences of establishing, running, and marketing a Finnish company in St. Petersburg. The visit was both enjoyable and enlightening.

Later, there was a meeting with Natalia Yakovleva, head of finance department TNB-line – a shipping freight forwarding company, as well as with the guest speakers Evgeny Bogdanov, Sergei Kaparis and Anton Pavlov from Rumpu Consulting - a closely-knit team of engineers with their precise specialization in different construction areas: from architecture to engineering.

The round-table discussion was a very interesting and informative conversation in the hotel’s 8th floor with a great view to the city. It focused on the reality of doing business in contemporary Russia. The students learned a great deal from the guest speakers and some were interested in doing their study or work exchange in Russia as a result.

Aikamatkat handled the travel arrangements. Fortunately, there were no emergencies in St. Petersburg – but they were there – just in case. They helped with the visa and information about the city before the journey and arranged the cultural program. They did everything very well.

Mike Garant also met Daria Kozlova from Saint Petersburg State Polytechnic University to discus the West Finland FIRST intensive study program in St. Petersburg planed for spring 2010 as well as future cooperation.

The group came back to Finland on the 1. November – all excited and happy about this unforgettable trip to the amazing city of St. Petersburg.

By: Kaja Voigt

A Japanese Student's View on Life and Studies in Finland

In this blog there are many stories written by the international students of our Degree Programme in Environmental Engineering. Some of our international students also have their own blogs. Some time ago I found the "Better together" blog written by Onnellinen (=happy in Finnish). He is a student of the Degree Programme in International Business from Japan. The blog reflects experiences and observations of a foreign student in Finland.

Some of the postings are written in English, some in Japanese. If you don't know Japanese, you are able to enjoy the stories anyway, because Onnellinen likes to use the camera and prints a lot of great photos in the blog. Therefore you can also join his long trip to Lapland over the Midsommer in June. The blog is established in March, so you can also see photos from winter-time.

Onnellinen about studies at TAMK and in Finland
Better together blog

Greetings from London!

Business Administration students had a trip to London from 16^th to 20^th March. On our journey there were 22 3^rd year students who had studied some of the voluntary courses related to economics such as bookkeeping, financing and financial management.

On Monday 16^th of March we took a bus from Tampere to Helsinki-Vantaa airport. Everyone was expecting the trip very much and was eager to get to London. We continued our trip with an EasyJet aeroplane and arrived to London at 10.30 pm local time. After a long day we were very tired when we arrived at our hotel Norfolk Plaza which was located near Paddington underground station.

Our group in front of the hotel.

On Tuesday morning we left from our hotel quite early and headed to our first visit at Finnish Institute. We learned that the Institute promotes the export of Finnish culture in the UK. We also had a Finpro consultant who describing us how their organisation works and how they help Finnish enterprises to get to the UK’s market. It was surprising to hear how much British people appreciate Finnish knowledge and expertise. In the afternoon we went to London Metal Exchange were we saw how the brokers waved their hands oddly and almost fought with each other when they tried to get the deals done. In the evening we went shopping, sightseeing and visited some local pubs.

Tower Bridge in the evening

On Wednesday we had a school day because we visited Anglia Ruskin University. We had several lectures from different topics like the ongoing financial crises and we also played some games related to business world. It was quite a long day but it was interesting to get to know this school. We were warmly welcomed and our hosts had planned a very interesting day for us. In the evening we had spare time and we did some shopping again and wandered around the town.

On Thursday morning half of our group went to visit Bank of England Museum. There we get to know bits of the history of the Bank of England. Among other things we get to try how heavy a gold bar is and it was very heavy because the weight of it was about 13 kilos. In the afternoon the other half of us visited BBC television centre. In the evening the whole group gathered to our hotel to reminisce the highlight of our trip.

On Friday it was time to say goodbye to London and leave home. At the Gatwick airport we had

time to do some last minute shopping before our flight. We arrived at Helsinki-Vantaa at 8 pm where we continued back to Tampere. We were home just before midnight very tired but happy after a successful journey.

Text by Sonja-Maria Korhonen

Practice Enterprise Trade Fair Report

Culture shock in an hour

The arrival to Salzburg was a bit of a shock for most of us. From what we saw from the bus, the city didn’t look quite as magnificent and glorious as everyone had expected. And as for our hotel – well, I think those stories of horror might turn into urban legends within a year or two.

The first challenge (after surviving from the shock at the hotel) for our first group was to find the exhibition centre and put up our stand. With a little help from our teachers the centre was easily found and our team was ready for action. A couple of hours, many rolls of tape, some ironing, a few pieces of iron wire and a lot of patience was needed to make it look like this:

Lights, camera, action!

The first morning wasn't quite what we had hoped for (cold shower, poor breakfast, heavy boxes to carry around, traffic jam, and fallen paper signs at our stand...) but as the trade fair started at nine o'clock we were there - enthusiastic and eager to make the best of it. And I think we really succeeded in doing that. Everyone had a good time selling our products, getting to know new people, having conversations in foreign languages and experiencing what it's like to work in an international environment.

At the end of the day we headed to the old town and its numerous alleys. After a nice dinner that we had together some of us stayed behind exploring the local night life as the rest of us went back to the hotel having their minds set up for the next (and last) trade fair day.

Mozart and some other new friends

A perfect blend of sightseeing, trade fair work, shopping and socializing with old and new schoolmates - that's how I would describe our last day in Salzburg. The trade fair ended before it really even began but no one seemed to mind that as it gave us more time to explore the city and its wonders. (Everyone should know by now where Mozart lived his life.)

In the evening it was raining cats and dogs so we stayed in the hotel, having a nice little party on our own - singing, dancing, chatting and enjoying each other's company. Not even a little catastrophe called water damage could ruin our night.

All well that ends well

So we're back in Finland, back at school. And luckily also our dear coach managed to escape from the unforgettable Herr Böse.

Before we left for Salzburg we were told that after the trade fair we might feel so tired that no work would be done for a while. But something weird happened and we've been more active and efficient than ever before.

All in all, it was a great experience and should anyone ask me - I would definitely recommend participating in such an event if given the possibility!

Text by Minnaliisa Laaksonen, HY d'Sign Oy

Getting ready for the take-off!

d'Sign's week before the fair in Salzburg has been fairly busy as there were a bunch of other things to take care of before we could totally set our minds on the upcoming event. Even though the task list was quite long and we seemed to run out of time, the atmosphere in our class has been amazingly good. Laughter and enthusiasm in our class room have convinced me that our trip will be a success. And it's not every school day that you get sew, nibble, put stickers on papers and do all kinds of fun stuff. So you've got to enjoy it while you can!

Getting ready for Salzburg

Kameleont is very excited about the trade fair in Salzburg. We are ready for the fair and we're doing some last minute preparations. The journey has been thrilling and we have had our ups and downs but we're ready to get down to business. We are not quite sure what's ahead of us but we'll take it easy and keep in mind that it's also about having fun. The fair is a great opportunity to do business and we hope to get some great deals for our practise company. We hope to get new contacts and friends from the fair and it's also great to visit Salzburg.

Kameleont Ltd

Study trip to London

Business Administration 3rd year students are heading to London from 16^th to 20^th March. Our plan is to visit Finnish Institute, London Metal Exchange, Anglia Ruskin University of Applied Sciences, BBC Television Centre and Bank of England Museum. Before our trip we have gathered information regarding our visits. We have also made some questions which we are going to pose there.

There are altogether 22 students and four teachers taking this trip to London. Students participating have chosen courses related to economics, such as bookkeeping, financing and financial management. Besides the trip we have to do some assignments beforehand and reports after the trip. We have received a grant from TAMK to help with the expenses.

Business Administration had guests from Luxemburg and Romania

A group of Luxembourgian and Romanian teachers and students took part in the practice enterprise trade fair in Tampere (4.-5.2). They also visited TAMK and the practice enterprises of TAMK’s 1^st year students. In the morning, the students visited the practice enterprises: the aims were to become familiar with the practice enterprise culture of the other countries, to do business and to network. The teachers got to know TAMK under the guidance of the 1^st year coaches Marita Tuomala and Milja Valtonen.

Presenting their practice companies and carrying out business negotiations in a foreign language were good practice for business administration students, who are taking part in the International practice enterprise trade fair in Austria (10.-12.3). 9 practice enterprises are going to Salzburg from TAMK.

Batman and Elvis met Pippi Longstocking at the practice enterprise trade fair

The 12th practice enterprise trade fair was organised in Tampere on the 4th and 5th of February 2009. 27 practice enterprises too part, 6 of which were from TAMK. Other participants were from all over Finland, including Pirkanmaa UAS and Seinäjoki UAS. Practice enterprises from Romania and Luxemburg also participated, which gave the event an extra special flavour.

The trade fair went well. Business was carried out and practice enterprises had the change to network. The practice enterprises had clearly put a lot of effort into the trade fair – the presentation was excellent and the students had used their imagination in decorating the booths and in the outfits of their presenters. The audience got greeted by e.g. Batman, Elvis, Marilyn, Pippi Longstocking and a walking tomato!


Awards crowned the trade fair


TAMK practice enterprises Motivissimo and Tili-Evidenssi gained renown in the Verkot vesille –competition for active networking. As the award, both teams got diplomas and a Skype phone! The third company to be awarded was Benemoth Publishing from PIRAMK. The aim of the competition was to encourage practice enterprises to network and to present themselves and their companies in a professional environment.

As usual, the best booths were also awarded. The categories were Audience favourite, Best appearance and Best customer service. Benemoth Publishing (selling comics) from PIRAMK got the awards for both Best appearance and Audience favourite. Pohjanmaan Turvatuote from Seinäjoki got the Best customer service award.

First year business students to Salzburg Fair

Ira Järvinen, Merja Ketonen ja Meri Kallio belong to the group of ca. 100 first year business students who will travel to Salzburg to take part into International Trade Fair for Training Firms this spring. The 100 students belong to 12 different training firms which they run for the first year of their studies. Trade Fairs for Practice Firms offer training firms of vocational schools and of institutes for adult education the chance to present themselves in public.

In the fair, business students will meet their international business partners from 355 training firms from 21 different countries. Ira, Meri and Merja expect to be able to conduct realistic negotiations which will lead to contracts. After the Trade Fair fulfilment of contracts, execution of deliveries and writing invoices will give them even more experience.

Ira's, Merja's and Meri's Training firm is called ProExperience and they produce events for companies in need of teambuilding and relaxation. Amongst the events they'll be promoting at the fair are Pirate Adventure, beginning from a dusky pirate pub in the harbour of Tampere, time travel to 70's disco or 50’s High School Prom or a medieval day in the company of Alianor and her brave loved one knight Nikodemus.

The twelve training firms, 120 first year business students, have started getting ready for the fair as early as last autumn. The firms get traveling grant, but they also raise money for traveling expenses. The firms sold flowers before Christmas, arranged lotteries etc. ProExperience has already arranged one student party and another one will be held at the 12th of Fedruary at Onnela.

The Salzburg Fair will be in the 10th to 13th of March, and Ira, Merja and Meri have promised to blog from there, telling how the medieval adventures sell in Mozart's birthplace.

Here we come! Students from training firms ProExperience and Taukomaatti.