A Grand Success: JCI event at Microsoft Denmark

Skrevet den 27. sep, 2011 af Anne Mette Frejsel i Hør mere om JCI, Internationalt, Lokalt

Do you know the problem of trying to pack your suitcase to go home from a vacation, but you have bought so many great things on your vacation, that there is almost not enough room in the suitcase? The participants of the JCI Capital Region event, held at Microsoft Denmark in Hellerup, probably had a similar feeling about this sold-out event, which was organized by JCI Copenhagen International. The evening was packed with so many great things – fascinating presentations, exciting speaking competition, election of next regional VP, member initiation, and more – that it was almost too much to contain.

Presenters from Microsoft Denmark, from left to right: Christina Havning, Jørgen Bardenfleth, Malou Aamund and Anna-Louise Plougmand

Leadership, Social Responsibility, and Danish Industry in the Global Market
The presentations focused on the workplace of Microsoft and its place in our society, as well as the new concept of the Cloud. Microsoft Country General Manager, Jørgen Bardenfleth, started off the evening talking about leadership and social responsibility. The mission statement of Microsoft is “To enable people and businesses throughout the world to reach their full potential”. Sales Director and a recent member of the Danish Parliament, Malou Aamund, talked about how Microsoft’s cloud-based offerings enables especially smaller organizations to reduce IT cost. Some participants of the event showed up not knowing what the Cloud was, but they certainly knew when they left. Not the least because Microsoft Channel Development Manager and JCI member, Christina Havning explained the concept. She made a little drawing of a small house – representing a small, home-based business – with the IT services running on a server in the basement. She then made another drawing of a cloud, with a huge number of servers inside, in which the IT functions of the small business could easily be handled, along with many, many other businesses, with dedicated professionals continuously maintaining and monitoring the servers, including the immensely important security updates.

New member in JCI Copenhagen International: Adela Michea, with local president Sven Schöbel

Job Satisfaction and a New Member
What is it like to work a Microsoft? This question was answered by HR Manager, Anna-Louise Plougmand. She also explained how each employee is rated according to their accountabilities, and has an interview with his or her manager about the result, while comparing the result to the peers. If one employee does well, but the peers do great, the employee gets a smaller bonus than the peers.

Is this not too tough for the employees? This question was posed to one of the participants, Adela Michea, after the event, as she worked with a similar system in the EU commission. “Actually I enjoy it, because you get to discuss the results with your manager, and you get direct and honest feedback from your manager, rather than just hints and innuendo.” Adela became the focus of the evening for a moment, as she – in front of 84 participants – was accepted as member of JCI Copenhagen International. She was made member and welcomed into the organization by JCI National President, Jon Kjær Nielsen.

Winner of The Golden Microphone in the Capital Region: Signý Kristinsdóttir

Regional VP Election and Golden Microphone Competition
In addition to electing a motivated Fie Mulvad-Thiim as the regional Vice President of 2012, the evening also featured the regional competition of The Golden Microphone (Den Gyldne Mikrofon, DGM), with 3 contestants. Lone Friis, JCI Brønshøj, talked about how to make a difference. Jesper Møller, JCI København, gave a passionate speech about stepping out of the comfort zone and his ambition of becoming the first Danish Formula 1 World Champion. The winner was however Icelandic Signý Kristinsdóttir from JCI Wonderful Copenhagen. She gave a heartfelt speech on how to live longer and how surroundings contribute to a person’s longevity. She rounded of a great speech by inviting the audience to join her on a trip to Nepal. She leaves February 2067!

Superb Event Planning and Execution
All in all it was a superbly planned and executed event, and it seemed like the participants did not want the evening to end, which lead many of them to the next agenda point; a beer at the nearby OVSA bar. Troels Ravn of JCI København said: “This was the best organized regional event I have ever been to”. This was something the lead organizer, Navid Ostadian-Binai, was told many times before this wonderful evening came to an end.

By Rune Lind Jensen, JCI Copenhagen International

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Tags: Den Gyldne Mikrofon, Foredrag, JCI Ørestad, JCI Brønshøj, JCI Copenhagen International, JCI københavn, JCI region hovedstaden, JCI Wonderful Copenhagen, Ledelse, Netværk, Regionsmøde, vækst