And here we go......

Where to begin, I'm not even sure.  It's been a whirlwind of activities since arriving and even more so after our Kick-Off Event on Monday.  I just can't even begin to capture all the sights, sounds, people and work here in my blog posts.  

Monday, September 10th we were scheduled to meet at City Hall (Opened in 1484) for the Official CSC Kick-Off with the Mayor of Ljubljana (the most beautiful and greenest city in all of Europe), IBM Slovenia staff, the CSC Team and our Host organizations.  As I mentioned before, our team of 15 is broke into 3 teams of 4 and a team of 3 each to support one of the following Non-Government Organizations:

   

  A non-profit that facilitates economic growth through entrepreneurial growth in Slovenia.

  
 SOS Help-line is a non-profit with the basic goals of providing personal counseling, intercession and advocacy to women – victims of violence.

  
Zavod 404/Science Institute 404 is a Ljubljana-based privately owned youth technology center 

promoting hands-on STEM projects for schools of the Slovenian national education network.  

 
Particular focus on e-literacy for youth and seniors, social inclusion and inter-generational

objectives.Pioneer in senior’s integration into digital society

As 4 Sub-Teams we will spend the next 30 days supporting a specific SOW and helping solve their real-world problems.  My NGO is, CEED who are doing great things by connecting and supporting entrepreneurship within Slovenia!!  This organization is lead by a passionate group of people dedicated to educating, connecting and developing entrepreneurs. 

 

** Corporate Service Corp & IBM-Slovenia Team**

 *

Once our meeting in City Hall was over we head over to our hosts office for a working lunch with delicious pizza and good conversation.  We finished the afternoon off in true Ljubljana fashion....at a Cafe for refreshments and conversation.

After re-grouping with our CSC team on Monday evening we compare experiences and enjoy eachother's excitement and newly discovered challenges.  To wrap up the evening a few of us decide to head down along the river for a "quick" bite.  After conferring with the front desk on the best and quickest (we needed to prepare an agenda for the next day) place to eat, we're given 4 hamburger joints, but one stuck out to us.... TOKYO PICNIK  http://tokyopiknik.com/

 Yes, look closely as they serve not only delicious Ramen, but also delicious burgers!!!   It was tasty and filling while providing us just enough energy to complete the tasks left for the rest of the evening.

It's been a journey already, full of sites, friendships being solidified and memories being made.  In short, this experience already has been the best and ALL that was promised.

#CSCSLOVENIA2  #IBMCSC #CSCSL2

Next up:  Getting to know our client, late nights and meeting a local high school for a future community event.

 **Preview of our planning meeting at the high-school.  Our group is planning an Introduction to Project Management