Study Abroad Berlin: May 23, 2016

Day 1: Navos

The morning started out with a subway commute to Navos. When we arrived at the white office buildings it seemed almost like apartment buildings, but as we went up the flights of stairs there was a different business on each floor. I think all of us were shocked to see how casual everyone in the office was dressed. Jeans and tennis shoes, a casual shirt (or button up for the men) were the norm in this office. It was clear that we had overdressed for the occasion, and it didn’t help that it was incredibly hot outside. Oh, and like many other places we’d gone to, there was no air conditioning. The office space was had an open concept to it, with some glass walls and windows letting in the natural light. We spent the day in the conference room that overlooked a soccer field, and I can’t say that I wasn’t excited about that. Some of the staff including Jana, Jana (yes there were two), Stefan, Christian, gave presentations on about the company and a little bit about what they do. They focus mainly on political and renewable energy communications. They made sure to emphasize the fact that they were an independent agency. The political communication makes sense as they are located in the capital.

When Jana and Jana went over their internal communications they discussed how they had open dialogue with the people in an area where a company needed to put up grids for this new renewable energy initiative in the country. I thought that they were talking about it theoretically at first, but quickly realized that they had actually been able to put it into practice. This concept of extreme honesty and communication seemed idealistic in my eyes, but I guess it is the way that communication differs back home. I’m not saying that it is a dishonest one, but it is clear that we aren’t as honest as we could be. For the project they were working for, they involved the people in the planning process rather than spring the information on them when they had no say. I think that if we can evolve the communication process in the States, things could change for the better. It was really funny to see the shock that Seltzer went into when Jana cited Grunig and Hunt. Proof that they are really information and fact driven over here.

One of our groups gave their presentation on the current status of the election and what we can expect in the future. Their presentation sparked a really good and open conversation in the room. You could tell that the Navos employees were really amused and intrigued at how crazy this election has gotten. One of the big questions at the end of the discussion was who in the world is Trump going to pick as his running mate. I think we made it clear to them that we were equally in awe at the state of our politics as they were.

Today was really eye opening to the fact that although the common denominator was public relations, the inputs and the outputs were different here in Berlin as they are back home. I am looking forward to interacting with the Navos people more because everyone was really nice. I’m also excited to see what other things I can learn from them!