Networking

Communication will always be key. Without it, businesses, schools, households and human relationships would suffer tremendously. Being social beings means that communicating is what we rely on in order to move forward. This blog post will be about the importance of communication through networking, the lessons I've learned so far, and the opportunities I've come across. Cerro Blanco, the dry tropical conservation area where I volunteer, receives interns on a regular basis. Some of them are national from universities across Ecuador, and others are international like my partner Lindsay, and I. When I first arrived, my main priority within the office was to network and advertize Cerro Blanco in any way shape or form. This wasn't the priority that was given to me, but I took the initiative because nobody else was doing it. I started with the basics, updating their blog, their Facebook, website, and brochures. But as time went by, I realized something. . .

It all began when Cerro Blanco was invited to the first annual networking event at the University of Guayaquil. This event was held in the science department, we received an invitation because one of the organizers happens to be a cousin of an employee in the office. They figured, since it was a University fair, that the university students within the organization would be the perfect fit for the job. I was honored when I was invited to go with a few other interns to give information to visitors at a booth dedicated to the organization. It was a full day event that began at 8 and ended at 5pm.

The other interns and I

A group of students at our booth

In just a few minutes after setting up, my fellow interns and I began meeting many teachers, and students that not only seemed to be hearing about Cerro Blanco for the first time of their lives, but also very interested in visiting. This confused me a bit, I thought to myself : “How do they not know about Cerro Blanco, when they go to school only 20 minutes away from this school ?!” It seemed kind of crazy to me, but I happily gave information and started giving out my email if they were interested in even information about how they could visit. Another topic that came up often throughout the day was about the internship opportunities. As soon as people found out that we were interns, they instantly asked where they could sign up, and what kind of things they would be doing. This also confused me a bit because Cerro Blanco already receives interns nationally, like I’ve mentioned before… I guess it wasn’t as commonly known as I thought it was! As the day went by, people were telling other people about internship opportunities, and I got several visits that went a little bit like this : “My friend just told me you have internship positions available, is that true?” I assured them all that it was, however they were volunteer positions, and we could always use a helping hand. These were students that were studying biology, ecology, conservation and horticulture, Cerro Blanco would be a perfect place for them to gain experience in the field. I kept giving out my email, and asking them to contact me for more details. 

Students at the other booths

The following day, at work, I told my supervisor what had happened the night before, and she didn’t seem surprised at all. “How will they know if nobody tells them?” was her answer. Thats when I learned for the first time that the national interns that come to Cerro Blanco, heard about the opportunity through word of mouth. Though, they have the posters, brochures, booklets and pamphlets by the hundreds, we spent hours sticking papers on changed information because they've been using the same ones for 4 years. They do not actively promote or advertise the internships at all, and it can´t even be found on their website. As baffled as I was by the news, it presented me with an opportunity to finally put my marketing classes at Niagara College to good use. I had a lot of work ahead of me, and I began by updating the website, and start advertizing the internships to several different schools in the district. I was even asked to do a presentation about Cerro Blanco at a school in a few weeks from now! I was shocked at how quickly people began responding for more information, and even more shocked to see how many people had no idea who, when, how and what Cerro Blanco was!

The presentation has given me the opportunity to create an official visual presentation, that informs viewers on the who, where and what Cerro Blanco is. It also describes how rare dry tropical forests like Cerro Blanco are in the world, how many endangered species rely on the complex environment that it provides and how they can contribute greatly by becoming interns at Cerro Blanco. I even named a list of specific programs of which the students could benefit from an internship at Cerro Blanco. This location is not only for scientists or people working within the environmental sector. But I let them know that I studied international commerce, and global development, and that this internship is very much related to both. The fact that I was doing a presentation and networking is strongly related to my marketing classes and my teachers would be proud because I’m finally applying some of their lessons! Today, I receive lots of help from many employees. Emails are being sent, and new opportunities are surfacing more and more. I'm no hero, Cerro Blanco's idea of networking was simply different than mine. In my opinion, this is simply a cultural difference. Canadians associate networking with social online networks, and a list of benefits put on a list and presented to anyone that will listen to them. In Ecuador networks seem much more personal. They get to know the people, and then they share the information. There is no right or wrong way, just different ways to look at the same scenario. Everyone knew how to blog, use facebook, and send emails, however nobody did it in the name of pure networking and marketing for Cerro Blanco. They instantly liked the idea of focusing a bit more on the connection building part when I suggested it. Once the ball got rolling, the rest of it just fell together in place. There were great suggestions and contributions were made by everyone, which made the job pleasantly easy. 

" I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough, we must do." -Da Vinci, quoted by David Suzuki in The Sacred Balance (I highly recommend) 

The more I learn about Cerro Blanco, the more I want to do! I'm happy that I get to put my love for networking and presentations into practice. I have been contacting schools for a few months now, not only nationally, but internationally as well. There are so many people in the world that care about similar issues as we do here at Cerro Blanco; In this case it’s environmental issues. Without networking, connections won’t be made, the issues will remain issues for a very long time, it’s easy to feel alone, and that could get discouraging. Cerro Blanco doesn’t have a person responsible for their marketing sector. They are also a Non profit organization. Without the money, I understand the difficulty seeing the value of investing in marketing employees, however communication is free. Emailing, applying and posting new promotions on Facebook page, and a website that you've already paid for, that is free, but also very time consuming. Good thing I had all of the time in the world, because after a few months, I see that it is beginning to pay off. This blog post was not meant to criticize anyone, simply to show how much progress could be done in just a short time invested in networking. If you lead in a good direction, others will follow and help you succeed. In my opinion, there is always hope as long as drive comes with the opportunity presented. Now.... time to work on this 30 minute Spanish presentation of mine ... yikes. Wish me luck!