Friday morning began my core course’s (strategic communications) short study tour to western Denmark! Before I left in the morning, I found the sweetest surprise on my desk waiting for me from my host family. Aren’t they the best?
We hopped aboard the bus and were on our way to Odense, the hometown of the famous author Hans Christian Anderson. The class split up into 2 groups, and I first went to the Brandts Workshop to do a news team workshop! We divided up roles and responsibilities and were soon on our way to producing a full 10 minute newscast. I was the weatherwoman…please laugh. I need to work on my camera skills if I ever have to do this again! I was so focused on being engaging that I accidentally smiled the entire time I reported on the devastating flood in India and Pakistan killing hundreds of people and leaving many homeless…not a smiling matter!
The class then all met back up together and went to a ropes course for some team building. This was the first time I had ever done a ropes course! I slipped on my harness and was on my way to tree tops to attempt to do the second hardest course…not the best idea!
I was swinging and zipping along, thinking again and again that surely the course I chose was about to end, but obstacle after obstacle kept following the next. The forest got quiet and I just knew I had to hurry to meet up with the rest of the group. I chose THE LONGEST COURSE. Why me. After our teacher located me up in the trees and kindly let me know that my friend Kate and I were the last ones, I booked it and finally finished the course that wrapped around the entire park…oops!
We then all went out to dinner and slept VERY soundly after a long day of broadcasting and zip lining.
Tuesday morning my group did a walking tour of Hans Christian Anderson and saw his childhood home and the streets where he grew up. It was amazing to see houses still standing from the late 1500s! The town of Odense was quiet and adorable. I wanted to sit by the river forever and read HCA’s fairytales.
I was swinging and zipping along, thinking again and again that surely the course I chose was about to end, but obstacle after obstacle kept following the next. The forest got quiet and I just knew I had to hurry to meet up with the rest of the group. I chose THE LONGEST COURSE. Why me. After our teacher located me up in the trees and kindly let me know that my friend Kate and I were the last ones, I booked it and finally finished the course that wrapped around the entire park…oops!
We then all went out to dinner and slept VERY soundly after a long day of broadcasting and zip lining.
Tuesday morning my group did a walking tour of Hans Christian Anderson and saw his childhood home and the streets where he grew up. It was amazing to see houses still standing from the late 1500s! The town of Odense was quiet and adorable. I wanted to sit by the river forever and read HCA’s fairytales.
We then went to the branding office of the town that shared their marketing strategies to gain tourism in Odense with Hans Christian Anderson as the main selling point. The printed materials in museums and plaques on buildings are all in several different languages, making the tours friendly to people from various countries. The town also has metal footsteps on the sidewalk throughout the town that allows visitors to take their own walking tours in the “footsteps” of HCA.
Nest stop: Aarhus.
In Aarhus we went to the Folkekirken and Denmark's Church Media Center to learn about how the church handles their communications office. It was so interesting to see how engaging their Facebook page was and how many fans it had. It posted content from wedding ideas to news articles about the church. We all enjoyed learning about this realm of communications that few of us remember has such an impact on a community.
We then went to Skovdal & Skovdal, one of my favorite site visits. This company is a photography business that takes photos of food and home products for advertisements and publications. When we entered the studio, there was a busy chef at the open kitchen preparing a Christmas meal. We got to see him place the dish on the the Christmas "table" (a plank of vintage-looking wood) and see it be photographed for the holiday edition of a supermarket's publication. The photos were stunning and we couldn't believe we got to see a real photo shoots occurring right before our eyes.
Lastly, we went to ARoS Art Museum. On the roof of the museum, there is a rainbow spectrum that you can walk around and see the city from every hue of the rainbow. It was incredible! The museum had other modern and traditional art that we got to explore before heading back to Copenhagen.
Nest stop: Aarhus.
In Aarhus we went to the Folkekirken and Denmark's Church Media Center to learn about how the church handles their communications office. It was so interesting to see how engaging their Facebook page was and how many fans it had. It posted content from wedding ideas to news articles about the church. We all enjoyed learning about this realm of communications that few of us remember has such an impact on a community.
We then went to Skovdal & Skovdal, one of my favorite site visits. This company is a photography business that takes photos of food and home products for advertisements and publications. When we entered the studio, there was a busy chef at the open kitchen preparing a Christmas meal. We got to see him place the dish on the the Christmas "table" (a plank of vintage-looking wood) and see it be photographed for the holiday edition of a supermarket's publication. The photos were stunning and we couldn't believe we got to see a real photo shoots occurring right before our eyes.
Lastly, we went to ARoS Art Museum. On the roof of the museum, there is a rainbow spectrum that you can walk around and see the city from every hue of the rainbow. It was incredible! The museum had other modern and traditional art that we got to explore before heading back to Copenhagen.
Back in Copenhagen on Thursday, we visited a company called DesignIt. This place was amazing. The office was so open and flowing, and we got to tour the space and see designers at work. We saw some of the products that the company has designed, including a first-aid kit that won an award for its functional design and a beer bottle that weighed significantly less that its previous model, saving the client shipping costs and materials. The member of the communications team that showed us around the office was a DIS alum! It was so cool to see her as a professional in Copenhagen after being a study abroad student just like us a few years ago.
Next we went to Trinitatis Kirke and learned about how this church in Copenhagen communicates its values to the public. The church is led by a female pastor, has a night service with mats to rest on, contemporary music, and it supports gay rights. This is not the traditional kind of church that is popular around Denmark. The female pastor who spoke with us was incredible and has a unique outlook on how to serve the young community. The relaxed night atmosphere draws in the target population of adults ages 18-30 and forms a sense of community. This community can then spark the desire in the individuals that come to learn more about the church and commit their lives to its values.
We then broke up into small groups and spread ourselves out among 4 different companies. My group went to an architecture firm called 3XN Architects. The office was STUNNING. I couldn't believe how many models of modern buildings lined the halls. The designers were busy at work, and it was so cool to see them actually designing amazing buildings and structures. We met with one of the communications professionals who has the job of communicating the complicated architecture news jargon into a simple message to targeted audiences who would be interested in the news about a certain project. She was incredible to talk to.
Our class concluded core course week by creating stop-motion videos that communicated what we had learned over the week and presented them together today. Core course week was such a success. I can't wait for our next core course adventure: London for travel week 2!
Next we went to Trinitatis Kirke and learned about how this church in Copenhagen communicates its values to the public. The church is led by a female pastor, has a night service with mats to rest on, contemporary music, and it supports gay rights. This is not the traditional kind of church that is popular around Denmark. The female pastor who spoke with us was incredible and has a unique outlook on how to serve the young community. The relaxed night atmosphere draws in the target population of adults ages 18-30 and forms a sense of community. This community can then spark the desire in the individuals that come to learn more about the church and commit their lives to its values.
We then broke up into small groups and spread ourselves out among 4 different companies. My group went to an architecture firm called 3XN Architects. The office was STUNNING. I couldn't believe how many models of modern buildings lined the halls. The designers were busy at work, and it was so cool to see them actually designing amazing buildings and structures. We met with one of the communications professionals who has the job of communicating the complicated architecture news jargon into a simple message to targeted audiences who would be interested in the news about a certain project. She was incredible to talk to.
Our class concluded core course week by creating stop-motion videos that communicated what we had learned over the week and presented them together today. Core course week was such a success. I can't wait for our next core course adventure: London for travel week 2!