Country getaway

On Thursday and Friday our class went on a field trip style excursion to a little place called Bräkne-Hoby (see map). We were taken there to have intensive team building and workshop sessions for our business plans. Bräkne-Hoby is in the neighbouring region of Blekinge and seems like a really nice lush green place. There is also an archipelago, which the locals kept talking about.

My team was of course working on the underpants stuff, as mentioned in the previous post. Until we got some basic knowledge about the product it felt like we were really clutching at straws, but after a while we started to get a clearer idea about the project and who the main players were. Ringing the laundry and the hospital helped. Also, great websites like www.AliBaba.com helped us get into contact with multiple suppliers in China who knew how to make the garments we need.

The people in the region want to put Bräkne-Hoby on the world map, they said.

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Some of the other teams have developed really good ideas, but other teams still look like they are struggling for direction. I was shocked when two classmates told me that our speech seemed to be one of the most coherent and well established.

We were given a lecture by Rune Andersson, a very successful businessman here in Sweden. Its nice when experienced and successful people take the time to come speak to us. It gives the whole class a bit of a lift and some validation that this isn't just a university course, but something that could lead to something bigger in the business world.

We also had some fun while we were there. Everyone in the class had been assigned a role — some had to make breakfast, while others had to organize team building games. I was in the entertainment group with a few others and we had a great time.

Originally we were only given 15 minutes to perform (according to the schedule) and we decided to get together briefly and practice and brainstorm what we could do during these 15 mins. While doing that, a crowd began to gather and suddenly we were performing. The 15 minutes stretched into hours, but I had a great time. Overworked, underpaid, but satisfied :) We played on the guitars, my harmonica, a skinned tambourine that we borrowed from the university and a little rice shaker that I made out of a medicine box. Brandon, Petter, me, David and Alex played for most of the time.

The other entertainment team didn't even get to perform, unfortunately, but thats that way the cookie crumbled...