Committee profile: IBT

Back in may Asset | Econometrics went on the International Business Tour (IBT). In Nekst 3 of this year Jessica Tramper, committee member of the IBT committee, wrote an article for Neskt.

Since September 2020, I have had the pleasure to be a member of the International Business Tour (IBT) committee. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has had its toll on this committee as well. Last time the trip had to be canceled due to new circumstances and even now, it still has some impact on our plans. Let me shortly explain to you what the committee does and how we have tackled the issues on our path in these special times.

It may not surprise you but as the name already suggests, we are organizing a business trip overseas. It is approximately a ten day trip in which we will visit a city or country together with 25 members of Asset | Econometrics! To make this year special, we have chosen to visit not one but two countries for the International Business Tour 2022. First, we will stay a couple of days in London to visit some universities and companies. As many of you know, London is the heart of European business, so this is the most ideal location to go visit some big companies. Moreover, we cannot leave London without doing some sightseeing and cultural activities as well. Next, we will fly to Reykjavik in Iceland. The trip is not only for business, so we will do a lot of sightseeing here by cartrips and city tours. We will even go on a daytrip to go see a volcano!

Normally the trip would be organized in the time period of a year and would have taken place last October. However, the uncertainty that comes with COVID-19 made us decide to delay the trip for approximately half a year. This decision enlarged the chances of being able to go on the trip. Moreover, we made the decision to change the location of the trip to Europe due to the uncertainties. Even organizing a trip in Europe has been challenging at times. At first, companies were a bit hesitant to allow visitors on the workfloor. Now that the end of the COVID-19 period is finally in sight and the restrictions are let loose, this no longer seems to be a problem for us. We still have to be cautious of course, since traveling does come with a risk, but I can say that we are fully prepared for it. Despites all these minor setbacks, we are still thrilled to be organizing this trip!

Just like with the other committees, during COVID-19 times it has been a challenge sometimes to organize meetings. There were periods when we could only meet online, which I find way less fun. In order to still feel connected with each other and meet in real life, we have met up in our free time. Luckily, for the last couple of months we were able to hold the meeting offline at the rooms most of the time and we were finally able to do the committee activity after such a long period of time. Together with the International Business Tour committee of 2020, we did (as called in Dutch) a ‘Bierfiets’. We also cooked dinner for the lovely board members of Asset | Econometrics.

At this moment we are still busy with the last finishing touches. We are finalizing a detailed schedule and booking all the nice activities in London and Reykjavik as well. Together with Tilburg University we were able to contact the universities and start the negotiations with the companies. The externals have done an amazing job contacting the companies in order to organize the business visits. We are so looking forward to going on this trip with all the members that have subscribed and we are certain that it is going to be unforgettable! A report of the trip, including pictures, will be featured in Nekst next time. From now on, only fun things ahead!

Jessica Tramper
is BAOR-student and was part of the IBT committee. Togheter with her other committee mebmers, she organised the International Business Tour of this year to London and Reykjavik