10 good reasons to be here
1/ Feeling like Part of a Big Family — The Havas Lofts programme gives employees the opportunity to explore an entirely different world. While I am here in NYC, meeting the AdOps team, Affiperf, Mobext, Socialyse, Ecselis… I realize that we’re all in the same boat. We all have something in common. We share the same values and we are challenged by our clients. Being here, and having the opportunity to speak with so many different people face to face, makes me feel like we’re all part of a big family.
2/ Discovering Another Country not as a Tourist, but as a Local — 1 month is enough time to feel like you’re part of the city. I have started to get familiar with the subway, with the people here, the process and the good spots. By being part of Havas Lofts programme, we become New Yorkers.
3/ Comparing how things Work Here vs. Back Home — Every time I meet someone new, I try to compare their role here with how it is organized in France. If things are different, I try to understand why and determine if either France or New York could be inspired by how the other operates. We’re all part of the same big company and we have a lot to learn from each other.
4/ Sharing Best Practices with People who have the Same Job as you — Sharing best practices with people who actually work in the same area that I do is enriching. Not only because we do the same type of work, but because all clients have a different strategy in mind.
5/ Meeting other Havas People and Sharing this Experience with them — One of the best aspects of this programme is that we’re not alone, as Michael Jackson would say. We have people to share this experience with! Even though we’re all in different departments (Margot on creative, James on data and Charlotte in HR), we are taking part in this experience together. We can debrief things, share stories of people we met and tell each other about fun plans. Like, “Guys, there’s a concert on the 4th floor. You need to come!”
6/ Being able to see other Client’s Perspectives and Objectives — It’s good to see different challenges on the client side. I’ve been working on the same account for a few years now, and some aspects of media are not completely treated. For example, I went to a brainstorm meeting for a beer brand which was quite interesting, as the law in France for alcohol advertising is very restricted. The way we communicate about it here in the US is totally different from the way we communicate about it in France. This is how advertising adapts itself in link with the consumers of the country, and it definitely gives interesting insights.
7/ Leaving your Comfort Zone — Definitely a great thing to leave for 4 weeks in a city that you don’t know with people you don’t know. It gets you out of your comfort zone and makes you take some distance to things. Going to people, asking for meetings with them, discussing and sharing is not something we do enough when we’re used to going to the same place every day.
8/ Enlarging our Network and Having Different Points of View— I will leave NYC with an amazing network here at Havas NYC. I know I will definitely need the opinions of some people here when I get back to my French projects. Sharing is key if we want to improve.
9/ Being in the Most Exciting City in the World — NYC is, for me, the most exciting city in the world. I didn’t understand why people called it the city that never sleeps until this trip. But it’s true, there’s always something interesting to do, eat, see or walk by. I love art and there are so many museums, it’s like food for the soul. There’s always something to do in NYC.
10/ Thursday night is Happy Hour Time !
