1-week to go.........

So, as I sit here and write this post (perhaps my last before I board the plane), it's exactly one week until I'll be boarding a plane for what's been described as both, "the trip of a life time" and "the defining experience of an IBM career.  In short, I really hope they're right.

This past Wednesday we had our final Team or Pre-work call where our sponsors and leadership went over the last minute logistics and fielded any questions.  "Everyone have at least 1-call with their clients?" "No, doing dangerous activities, no excursions alone, no leaving the country."  "We've never had anyone need to be bailed out of jail.  Don't be the first."  All of it, very good advice.  So, after 12-weeks of pre-WORK, tons of calls, lots of laughs over WhatsApp with our teams, plenty of discussion with our clients and about our clients SOW, it's come to this.....1- week until it's "Go time." 

So, in my previous post I briefly mentioned our assignments.  NO this is NOT an IBM 30-day vacation, we actually do A LOT of good great work in the world.  Our large CSC team of 15 has now been broken down into 4 Sub-Teams.  Each of us have been assigned/selected for a particular NGO (Non-Government Organization) to support for a particular Statement of Work (SOW).  My high-performing, highly qualified team will be working for CEED~ Center for Entrepreneurship and Executive Development- Slovenia. http://ceed-slovenia.org/ Over the 30-days we will work closely with them to accomplish some very specific requirements with hopes of future usability and scale-ability for them.  While I'd love to dive into exactly "what" I'll be doing and gush on how interesting and passionate my client is about their mission....I'm going to leave that for a future blog post AND after we actually meet them in person and better define their scope of work.  IBMers love a challenge.  :)

So, my CSCSlovenia2 CEED team is comprised of me, a dynamic Partner Client Executive from Chicago, IL- Angela, a collaborative IT Specialist/Technical Tester from Guadalajara, Mexico- Lucy and a hilarious but dedicated, Technology Specialist/Architect from Sao Paulo, Brazil- Adriano.  In a few short weeks we've become as close as long-time friends over phone and text chats.  At times we've shared our thoughts, concerns, family pictures, humorous memes/videos and anxieties.  It's already been a great experience.  Remember, the IBM CSC program is HIGHLY selective so, my team members are truly cream of the crop, high-performing consulting ninjas.  I am surrounded by AWESOMENESS and I haven't even described the other 10 people on the CSC team.

As I'm winding the lengthy post up, I have to "shout-out" to really the most important team members I have, my family.   Since the moment I applied, was selected, found out my country assignment and now in final preparations, Erin & my boys have been completely supportive.  They've listened to my rambles about the work & calls I've been on for which they have no understanding.  They've sat and watched YouTube videos with me about the country, they've been extra quiet when I've been on calls where I'm trying to get to know someone over the phone from around the world.  In short, without them this wouldn't be worth it and I couldn't have been successful in getting this far along with what little sanity remains.  I know it will be harder for them than it is for me and feel twice as long while 1/2 as long for me.  I will miss them more than they'll know, but we'll all have grown from this experience.

Finally, as I wrap this up and look down at the time on my laptop, do the time zone calculations I realized I will have been in the air for 6 hours with about 2 more to go before I land in the Netherlands to await my connection to Slovenia.  The first weekend is already packed with kick-off activities and tour of the town.  I look forward to meeting my fellow CSCers, our local support team and the client.

WOW!  This is going to be AWESOME!

~Chris

#IBMCSC #CSCSL2  #CSCSlovenia2