Senior Experience With Nortel LearniT

Melanie is the Director of Government Relations Internationally. She is by far the busiest person I have interviewed so far (and have a feeling she will remain the busiest)!

Upon coming into Melanie’s office, I saw stacks of papers everywhere. During our interview the phone was constantly ringing and people were stopping by to ask her when they could arrange to meet with her. I’m really glad Melanie made time for me to interview her because I found what she does to be the most interesting/appealing career field.

The range of her job description is massive! Melanie goes from planning promotional conferences that are sponsored by Nortel (such as the Americas Competitiveness Forum) to working with sales teams in 150 countries. She works with people on the issues that they face in their country and helps them out in any way she can (usually by making calls and setting up meetings with US officials or the US Embassy in a foreign country). She also can arrange for the US government to support projects and tries to get marketing people to speak to Embassies.

Melanie handles the legal side of trade agreements. She makes phone calls and makes sure that whatever happens/is signed is in the company’s best interest. For instance, when the Columbian government violated a trade agreement with Nortel, the US government would not renew their contract to bring cheaper imports into the US until the Columbian company paid Nortel the money they owed. Basically, what Melanie looks for in the different agreements is different provisions that Nortel may care about and not want to sign. These provisions can be anything from the way companies have to invest in projects to the government dictating things that require the use of one technology over another. Companies don’t like this because Governments tend to favor their technology to make a profit and the company that doesn’t have any of that technology installed can not be competitive.

Melanie had an interesting story of how she got her start with Nortel. She didn’t major in Communications or Politics or Public Relations. Melanie majored in Spanish and was a High School Spanish teacher for several years before deciding that career wasn’t for her. She then worked at a Law firm in the government relations section. The law firm had a large communications practice where Melanie was introduced to Nortel.

When Melanie came to work for Nortel, the company did not have an International position. She communicated internally with people and started up an International network that has spread to 150 countries!

Today I will completely finish the newsletter and send it out to the entire mailing list. I sent a test copy to Michael and myself yesterday but some of the font wasn’t right. I need to go back and re-format whatever I did with the original text and then I should be all finished!

I spoke with Carrie. She guided me through how to translate things on the site because I will be translating the Nortel site into Russian. The way she described things was very simple and straight forward. We both had the same page open and she talked me through what each of the icons stood for and how they operated. The previous translators were given a word document that they would translate and then the technicians (Carrie) would update the site. However, the way I’m doing it is much easier because this time we are much more liberal in time. I will just translate straight to the site, without a middle man.

A suggestion I would make for working with translators in the future is to send them a sheet with all of the different functions and what they do. In clear English there should be an outline with a step-by-step process on how to get started. I don’t need it because I had Carrie go through everything personally with me, but just to have a reference, it would be good for future translators. I will probably write the step-by-step myself when I’m actually working on translating the site.

I interviewed Melanie and I’ve spent the majority of the day talking with Mark about Atlanta. Tomorrow I will have a four way phone conference to discuss details of that trip.

This morning Michael checked in with what I have done, what I still needed to do and how far along I was with my projects. After briefly chatting about that, I helped Graziella set up for a lunch conference that will be held in the conference room later on today. I really enjoy setting up and I’m glad I know where everything is now!

After setting up I had a chance to sit in on the meeting. It was a US-Iraq Business Dialogue, chaired by Tim who is the President of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Iraq department. About ten people attended, all of whom were Presidents or Vice Presidents of major companies such as Exxon Mobil, Solemar, etc. The basic census of the two hour discussion was to figure out ways to keep in best contact with the Iraq side of business. Meeting times and places were discussed that would be as efficient and productive as possible. Various people volunteered to draft committees for a future meeting, concerning an upcoming conference in Iraq.

Although I didn’t quite understand everything that was happening in the meeting, it was a very valuable experience to sit in with these professionals and see how they communicate. The business language is entirely different! Sitting in this meeting was literarily like sitting in on a meeting from a movie of all the world’s leaders gathering together.

Above and below are photos of the board room. It’s huge!

After the meeting, when I was helping Graziella clean up, (although I didn’t do a very good job helping, I kept getting distracted with one thing or another) Tim (the chair of the discussion) spoke with me and gave me his card. I told him I was majoring in Journalism and he told me that he was also in the Journalism field before college. He then received a triple degree in Law and History. It was very nice chatting with him because although he knew I was an intern, he treated me like an equal colleague. That’s how every body here treats me and it’s extremely encouraging!

I went to my first staff meeting! It was very brief because a few people were out of the office. The meeting was held in the smaller conference room (it’s my favorite out of all the rooms because it has the best view). Greg asked everyone (including me) if we had anything to share. People presented updates on different projects that they are involved with. Ray even invited me to come to an event next Monday (there was an extra spot at a Nortel dinner table). However I won’t be able to make it on Monday, but it was great that Ray asked and that other people around the office are inviting me to events!

Today is casual Friday. One of my tasks for today is to help organize the supply room.

(Before) I don’t know how much more organized it can get because everything already seems accessible, but I guess I’ll learn!

(After) It took at least three hours to do everything that needed to be done. Basically, what Graziella and I did was move things from the front supply room to the back. That way only the necessary items would be in the front where people in a hurry could just grab them and go. I moved folders, rearranged them, moved miscellaneous items, filing papers, binder dividers and other things. I love organizing things so this was a fun task for me! I’m not sure if other people who aren’t neat freaks will enjoy it though.
This is what the supply room looked like after the grand cleaning!


Above is a photo of my beautiful organization skills! Naturally, I color coded the folders.

I checked the progress of my Google Video project and it’s not doing too well. Although the videos uploaded successfully, they are still not active on the Google account. Michael told me to copy and paste the description into the newly updated videos so they become active. However, if I do that, the rest of the information (Amount of times viewed, Rating, etc.) will be gone. So I think I’ll wait a little bit to do that.

My scheduled calling session with Carrie is coming up so she can train me on the Beta webpage software.

Today I wrote a rough outline of a proposal for the “How to” video Michael and I spoke about. I also continued re-exporting new versions of the videos that will go on Google video. I have conducted an interview with Susan and had a phone meeting with Carrie about another proposal that I’m writing. I also did research concerning that proposal.

The day hasn’t been as hectic as the previous two. I’ve been leisurely working on continuous projects and am going to continue to do so until I need to leave.

Since I don’t have much to write about today, I’ll explain the Scheduling Book.

Whenever someone is coming in to a conference or someone is going to have a meeting that will require food/drinks to be served, the person who is hosting th event will need to write down how many people are attending. They also need to write their own name in case they need to be contacted for further details.

Susan is the Director of Global Government Relations. She works along with Mary, on being a representative of the company on Capitol Hill. Susan handles all government related issues that could affect the company. Because there are 530 members and various committees, Susan and Mary split up their work into a Democratic and Republican side. Susan handles the Republican end.

Part of the job includes managing political committees and handling packs. (Money raised to be used in supporting a running candidate) As Susan described, she is in charge of policy, packs and politics (which often branch out into party committees). When choosing a valid candidate or lobbyist to support, Susan looks for top ethical standing, a well respected individual and somebody with the right experience and connections. Ethics are extremely important at Nortel!

Susan has been working with Nortel for ten years. She started out working on the hill for a member of Congress. She had always worked with a family business and wanted to find employment in a large company. After receiving her master’s degree from Oxford University, Susan worked for a Lobbying firm (She assisted in distributing Kellogg’s’ Cereal and sunscreen products!)

Susan and Mary both are tremendous assets to Nortel. They make sure that everything the company does and everyone the company supports is not breaking any violations/regulations.

Greg is the man that puts it all together. He isn’t an expert on the specialty sections of the company yet he is the one that everyone needs to go to if they need something approved. We spoke about his start and escalation to the position he holds today and about International travel.

Greg told me that when he got his job, the timing was right and it just happened, it all came together. Nortel was looking for a former high ranking employee that had had previous experience (Some of the positions Greg has held include Chief of Staff, Commerce Secretary and working with the Clinton Administration). Greg had worked with Nortel for a long time and knew many of his colleagues (that are currently working in the office). The job Greg has evolved over the past six years. About four year ago, along with International responsibility, public speaking and taking care of internal Nortel stuff, Greg was asked to be in charge of Community Relations.

When undertaking Community Relations, Greg noticed that what Nortel does (working with volunteer-based programs such as Habitat for Humanity) didn’t necessarily distinguish Nortel from other companies. So, Greg and colleague Julie had a “vision” to turn Nortel into a unique company that does more than expected!

Greg mentioned that he was very passionate about International traveling and enjoyed it. He told me that his favorite places to travel to include China, Latin America, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Brazil. He told me that he went to Iraq and Canada last year.

Greg is a great leader and an awesome boss to have!

Today I am continuing work on the Google Videos. However, a lot more has been added to my task. Now I need to find all of the older videos that were uploaded a year ago (about 70 of them) and re-upload newer versions that are higher quality.

Also today, I interviewed Mary and Greg. They are both very interesting people and I wish I had a camera with me!

Over lunch, Michael and I spoke about a possible future project. We were thinking of making a “How to” video about how to make a video about your home town. I thought the scenery/surroundings are especially beautiful in DC so it would be great to somehow integrate that into the video.

We had lunch in this board room. It’s my favorite one because of the view!

Mary is the Vice President of the Global Government Relations. She is partnered along with Susan who also works in the office. Mary was kind enough to speak with me about her tasks and what she actually does. We spoke about Congress, Policy issues, the high tech industry and the importance of Nortel’s competitiveness.

Mary’s job involves all things concerning Congress. It is her responsibility to deal with both sides of Policy issues that are agreeable or disagreeable. She gave me an example of a Policy issue that needed to be reinforced; the debatable issue of taxes. What makes taxes a competitive issue for Nortel is when other countries offer tax credits to customers. Nortel has contacts in 150 countries and the company constantly needs to work on updating their trade environment to avoid further trade issues.

Mary also explained that Nortel is not a regulated company (which I didn’t know before). All of Nortel’s customers are regulated companies (such as phone companies because they provide a service for people and the people need protection) but not Nortel. However, all of the concerns that Nortel’s partners have, Nortel has as well because Nortel is trying to provide a better service.

We got on the topic of Congress and how it has an impact on companies like Nortel. Mary and Susan aren’t experts on every policy/bill that is passed so they bring in experts that know everything about the topic. These experts help Mary and her colleagues decide whether they should care about the issue or not. Research is very important in any high tech industry, especially Nortel. That is why as much research as possible is needed to be conducted when the company decides which Congressional candidates they will support. (Technical research also needs to be conducted because Nortel is a technology company).

Another part of dealing with Congress is having many fundraisers. Fundraisers are important because they ultimately bring in pack money (money allowed to the use for the support of Congressional candidates). Mary has a list of hundreds of technical people to invite to the fundraisers (which are in the form of breakfasts/lunches and are usually hosted in the Nortel conference room) with a hope of getting ten to twenty people to come. The fundraisers are also important to the running candidate because they get an opportunity to meet people in the technical industry. (Nortel usually invites companies that conduct similar jobs such as Verizon and Motorola). If a guest hasn’t met a candidate before, the fundraisers are an excellent place to meet and get a potential supporter.

Another fundraiser is going to be held in a couple of weeks for a Democratic Senator from Louisiana.

I came into the office at 8am. Michael was very supportive and diligent in showing me around the office and explaining my tasks clearly and precisely. He showed me where everything was (I actually haven’t seen so many office supplies before!) and generally made me feel very comfortable in my work setting. I have previously met many people in the office but was re-introduced to several of them today. Everyone is very friendly and inclusive.

One of my tasks is to schedule a fifteen minute meeting with everyone that works at the DC office for a quick interview. I’ll be asking them about their position and how they managed to reach it. I have two interviews set up for tomorrow.

Another one of my projects is to download many, many (about 130) videos from google video that are nortel clips. I’ve started on that, however it will probably take about three days (or more because I keep getting side-tracked with other work).

Michael told his colleagues that if they have something for me to do/sit in on, they’re welcome to come to me. So far I have helped set up for a small meeting. It took roughly an hour to set up for ten people. It was interesting to see the other side of the Nortel meetings/conferences. I have previously only attended them but now I had an opportunity to see how much work goes into the set-up.

I am keeping very busy. As much work as there is to do, this is all very exciting!

The above is one of my desks where I do the majority of my work. The other one looks exactly the same!