a WorldHost month in Northern Ireland

European Union Trainee Julia, from Germany, shares her professional development experience with Watson & Co. Chartered Marketing and Northern Ireland tourism journey including reader tips from her first visit to Belfast in September 2015:

Starting my month in Belfast I was really excited. I looked forward doing a traineeship for one month at Watson & Co. Chartered Marketing. I registered myself for this program in Germany at “Europäischer Bildungsverbund” and this company helped me to find Eileen Mullan – who founded Leonardo Logistics Ltd. and placed me to Christine at Belfast marketing consultancy and training business – Watson & Co. Chartered Marketing. This was an ideal traineeship for me personally as I had just finished my studies in Germany in Business Administration with a focus on marketing and public relations. Working in a busy marketing consultancy for the past month has helped me to improve my business skills and it has been a great experience to deliver the job of a marketing practitioner in a different country with a foreign culture.

Bildschirmfoto 2015-10-27 um 13.20.27Eileen Mullan, Leonardo Logistics Lts (at the centre) and Christine Watson, Watson & Co. Chartered Marketing (on the right side) with Northern Ireland Department for Employment and Learning Minister Dr Stephen Farry

 

On my third day in Belfast my first day at Watson & Co. Chartered Marketing started and I met Christine, my boss, and Jane, my colleague. They made me feel comfortable very quickly and I looked positively forward to the whole month in Belfast. Already in the first week I became involved in an annual event that Christine organises in the Long Gallery, at Parliament Buildings, Stormont – the Funeral Services Northern Ireland National Poetry Competition. It’s a competition to inspire people across the country to write poetry and the competition showcases local poetry talent. At this event the finalists recited their poems and the winners were announced – the event was sponsored by a client of the company – Funeral Services Northern Ireland, part of the Co-operative group and the prize fund was £800. The Stormont events team is also a valued client of Watson & Co. Chartered Marketing and were trained by Christine in the WorldHost Principles of Customer Service and Ambassador – welcoming visitors to their destination programme.

I was really pleased to be offered the opportunity to see the Parliament Buildings of Northern Ireland and not just from the outside but also from the inside. The Buildings were gorgeous and really huge, it’s such an enormous building. It looked very special in the sunset as you can see in the photos.

 

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thumb_IMG_1671_1024Some details about the Parliament Buildings:

Parliament Buildings is home to the Northern Ireland Assembly, the legislative body for Northern Ireland established under the Belfast Agreement 1998 (Good Friday Agreement). Built in 1921 at a cost of nearly £1.7 million, it was designed to house the newly formed Government of Northern Ireland and was officially opened on 16th November 1932 by the then Prince of Wales, on behalf of King George V.

As a visitor you are welcome to come and visit Parliament Buildings Monday to Friday 9.00am to 4.00pm to view the Great Hall or visit the gift and coffee shop. Free guided tours are available during July (starts 6th of July), August, Easter and Halloween breaks operating on the hour between 10.00am and 3.00pm. Outside of these times, free guided tours are available Monday to Friday at 11.00am and 2.00pm.

http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/visit-and-learning/visiting/tours/

 

Bildschirmfoto 2015-10-27 um 10.27.04 KopieDetails about the Funeral Services Northern Ireland National Poetry Competition:

The inaugural Funeral Services Northern Ireland National Poetry Competition ran in 2012 as an opportunity for poets from across the country to showcase their talents and highlight how poetry relates to the celebration of life and its relevance in society today. In the years since, organisers have witnessed that there is a strong passion for writing poetry as the competition has grown to become a firm fixture in the arts calendar in Northern Ireland.

http://www.fsni-nationalpoetrycomp.co.uk

The poems of the 10 finalists and the winning poem June by Stephanie Conn pictured above can be read at: http://www.fsni-nationalpoetrycomp.co.uk/winning-poems-2015/

http://www.fsni-nationalpoetrycomp.co.uk/finalist-2015/

 

After my first week passed by I enjoyed a sightseeing tour with another Watson & Co. Chartered Marketing WorldHost client: “City Sightseeing Belfast”. It was a nice day and the tour took nearly three hours and covered most of the highlights in Belfast. It was a great tour with polite people – in fact everybody I met in Belfast was really nice and attentive. The bus tour showed me many places and gave me a good overview about the city. So I didn’t hop off the bus because I wanted to get to know the city better and after the tour I roughly knew the city and how to get everywhere by foot. Top tip: The City Sightseeing Ticket lasts 48 hours so you can take another trip and hop on and hop off after your first round trip that gives you your bearings.

 

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The next day I started my trip through Belfast on foot and explored the things that I spotted the day before by bus. I really liked the Titanic area – a WorldHost destination recognised for excellence in customer service as a result of many Watson & Co. Chartered Marketing clients achieving business recognition for excellence in customer service following their training. Belfast Titanic building was my first stop. Well not the first stop because on my way there I passed by the big blue fish.

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Details about the big fish:

This 10m (32ft) salmon was commissioned in 1999 to celebrate the regeneration of the River Lagan and the historic importance of the site. The outer ‘skin’ is a cladding of ceramic tiles decorated with texts and images relating to the history of Belfast.

 

After passing the bridge over the River Lagan I walked towards the Odyssey Pavilion to get to Titanic, Belfast. I definitely liked the harbour area the most – cause it feels a little like home, Hamburg also has it’s own river and is near the sea. Thankfully it was another great day and Titanic Belfast is worth seeing! The building is so crazy and beautiful together but also the area is nice. Although I didn’t do the full tour through Belfast Titanic I think it’s a place worth investing more time to fully explore. Titanic Belfast, another Watson & Co. Chartered Marketing client, sent a member of their team on the watsonsmarketing.com WorldHost customer service training for customers with disabilities course.

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thumb_IMG_1812_1024Details about Titanic Belfast:

Located in the heart of Belfast, this state-of-the-art visitor experience features nine interpretive and interactive galleries that explore the sights, sounds, smells and stories of RMS Titanic, as well as the city and people which made her.

The construction of the building cost £77 million with an additional £24 million spent on pre-planning and public realm enhancements. The foundations to the building involved one of the country’s largest-ever concrete pours with 4,200 cubic metres (150,000 cu ft) of concrete delivered by 700 concrete lorries in 24 hours. Harcourt Construction (NI) Ltd oversaw the design and building phase of the project, a subsidiary of Dublin-based property development company Harcourt Developments Ltd.

If you are interested in a Titanic Discovery Tour you can book a guided Tour 10.30am-3.30pm from April to September for £7 as an Adult, £5 as a Child or a Student and £6 as a Senior Citizen.

http://visit-belfast.com/things-to-do/member/titanic-belfast

 

The second week started with a day off because we moved into a different office – a smaller but perfectly formed. You can see some pictures of the old and the new below:
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new officeold office at the top, new office, just around the corner below

After a lunch with a Watson & Co. Chartered Marketing colleague – Nicola Bothwell of NB Chartered Marketing in her new office in Stranmilis, the business offered me and my WorldHost colleague Jane some time for sightseeing. Our first stop was Queen’s University Belfast – So huge and beautiful, I can’t think of a comparable university in Germany, in terms of the striking architecture. The university is also next to the Botanic Gardens and the Ulster Museum – both are also great places to visit. The Botanic Gardens are really special and full of people, who try to draw the blooming plants. It’s something special to enjoy parks directly in the city.

The Ulster Museum is a nice visit; it’s free and gives details about the natural history and art. All three sites are side by side and easy to find. Top tip: You can visit the centre inside the Lanyon Building – at Queen’s University, Belfast – don’t be afraid of the surrounding black metal fences, just walk through and enjoy! There is even a visitor information centre inside the beautiful Lanyon building.

 

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thumb_IMG_2128_1024Details about Queen’s University and Botanic Garden:

Queen’s University Belfast was founded as Queen’s College in 1845, before becoming a university in its own right in 1908. Today, it is an international centre of research and education and a major part of the fabric of Northern Ireland.

http://www.qub.ac.uk

Botanic Gardens is home to the Palm House and the Tropical Ravine. The Palm House contains a range of tropical plants, hanging baskets, seasonal displays and birds of paradise, and is one of the earliest examples of a glasshouse made from curved iron and glass. It shows how advances in glasshouse technology allowed horticulturists to grow exotic plant species during the Victorian period. The building was designed by Sir Charles Lanyon, who also helped design parts of nearby Queen’s University. The foundation stone was laid in 1839 and the two wings were completed in 1840 by leading ironmaster, Richard Turner. The dome was added in 1852.

http://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/leisure/parks-openspaces/Park-6614.aspx

Across three unique sites, the National Museums Northern Ireland (Ulster Museum) cares for and presents the inspirational collections that reflect the creativity, innovation, history, culture and people of Northern Ireland.

https://nmni.com/home.aspx

 

The Belfast City Hall is worth a visit. I would say it’s the heart of Belfast. It’s directly in the centre of Belfast and a nice point for navigation. The City Hall is not only beautiful from the outside but also from the inside. I would suggest everybody to do the tour through the City Hall, it’s for free and it’s great to see – and you can understand the guide easily. (At times I found it really hard to understand the people in Belfast, especially at the beginning because of their accent and the rapid talk). Christine also trained the City Hall tour guide “Cindy” in WorldHost principles of customer service and ambassador – welcoming visitors to the destination programmes, so you really can expect a warm welcome here.

Top tip: free tours through the City Hall! Current Times: From 1st October 2015 – 31st May 2016 (Monday to Friday:  11am, 2pm and 3pm; Saturday and Sunday: 12 noon, 2pm and 3pm) From 1st June 2016 to 30th September 2016 the tour times will be: (Monday to Friday:  10am, 11am, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm; Saturday and Sunday: 12 noon, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm)

 

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thumb_IMG_2146_1024Details about Belfast City Hall:

Belfast City Hall is Belfast City Council’s civic building. It is located in Donegall Square, in the heart of Belfast city centre. It first opened its doors on 1 August 1906. The hall was built by local firm H+J Martin, following a design from Alfred Brumwell Thomas, who won a public competition with his classical Renaissance design. Funding for the new building was raised from the profits of Belfast Gasworks for which Belfast Corporation (now Belfast City Council) was responsible. The first stone was laid in 1898 and building work was completed eight years later. In total, Belfast City Hall cost less than £500,000 to build.

http://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/tourism-venues/cityhall/cityhall-about.aspx

 

Close to the Belfast City Hall is another WorldHost client of Watson & Co. Chartered Marketing: St Anne’s Cathedral, a big church with a lovely architectural style. St Anne’s Cathedral is the focal point of the Cathedral Quarter destination in Belfast. It’s worth to see the Cathedral and the Quarter of St Anne’s. It contains nice buildings and many places of interest.

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thumb_IMG_2150_1024Details about St Anne’s Cathedral:

The Cathedral was consecrated in 1904 and extended over the years, with the eye-catching Spire of Hope added in 2006. Today, as well as being a sacred space and place of worship, St Anne’s also provides a stunning backdrop for concerts, recitals, carol services and other cultural events. Inside its lofty interior are mosaics by Sir Charles Nicholson, and sculptures by Rosamund Praegar and Maurice Harding. The mosaics of Italian glass are by sisters Gertrude and Margaret Martin – the mosaic over the font is said to hold more than 150,000 pieces. St Anne’s has spectacular stained glass windows and some very fine needlework, including the poignant Titanic Pall. 

http://www.belfastcathedral.org

 

On my second weekend my mum visited me and we made a trip to Dublin. A great weekend with many new impressions and experiences. For example driving a car on the left side and going to Pubs with nice Irish live music. But I definitely have to say I prefer Belfast.

The third week wasn’t just as exciting in terms of sightseeing but working in the office I managed to create my first ever video – a PowToon to promote the Digital Marketing training course Watson & Co. Chartered Marketing are now accredited to deliver, my first ever email marketing mailchimp to advise customers that their WorldHost achievement certificates were ready for collection/delivery, my first ever website amendments on the watsonsmarketing.com CMS based wordpress website platform as well as my first ever analysis report using Google Analytics and Facebook Insights. I also enjoyed some running after work and a trip to Belfast Castle, a beautiful building with a even more beautiful view! The weather was also brilliant on the day making the little sightseeing trip even more perfect. Belfast Castle definitely is part of my personal top sightseeing attractions in Belfast. The Watson & Co. Chartered Marketing founder – Christine completed her WorldHost train the trainer programme with Brendan who delivers WorldHost training for Belfast Castle!

Top tip: Ask the Belfast Castle service professionals about the cats!

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thumb_IMG_1578_1024Some details about Belfast Castle:

The first Belfast Castle was built by the Normans in Belfast city centre in the late 12th century. A second castle, made of stone and timber, was later constructed by Sir Arthur Chichester, Baron of Belfast, on the same site in 1611. The castle burned down almost 100 years later, leaving only street names, such as Castle Place, to mark its location. In 1978 the castle closed as part of a £2 million refurbishment programme, overseen by Hewitt and Haslam Partnership architects. It reopened on 11 November 1988 and is now a popular venue for weddings, conferences and other events. 

http://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/tourism-venues/belfastcastle/bcabout.aspx

 

On my third week in Belfast I also met fellow German visitors who were also doing a traineeship in Ireland – not in Belfast, but in Cookstown – and we did a coast bus tour with McCombs to the Giant’s Causeway. McCombs is another WorldHost client who Christine trained in the WorldHost customer service and Ambassador programme and I am delighted to report that the guide was nice and attentive. The bus tour was an absolute highlight of my entire stay. It was a tour along the coast of Northern Ireland and I can’t imagine any other country that I have visited before that is so unbelievably beautiful. The coast is just brilliant and the rocks are incredible. We went to Carrick-a-rede rope bridge, which was pretty cool but maybe a little expensive cause the bridge isn’t as big as it looked in a picture – but still worth a visit and a photo – if you invest the £5 for the bridge you have a great view from the second rock on the other side of the bridge:

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thumb_IMG_2116_1024Details about the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge:

Suspended almost 100 ft (30 m) above sea level, the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge was first erected by salmon fishermen 350 years ago. Today it is a popular tourist destination, attracting thousands of thrill-seekers (and birdwatchers!) to the North Coast every year.  If you cross the 65 ft (20 m) bridge, stretching from the mainland to ‘Rocky Island’, you will have a fantastic view of Rathlin Island, Scotland and the Causeway Coast.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/carrick-a-rede/

 

After the stop at the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge we stopped for lunch at Bushmills Distillery my first visit to a Whisky Distillery. The lunch was great – for £6.50 you get a hot meal, I chose fish and chips alongside a free shot of Bushmills Whisky.

The next stop was the highlight of this trip – the Giant’s Causeway. I still cannot believe that this is a natural phenomenon, it looked really cool. The stones looked like someone treated them and stuck them together like a jigsaw. Apart from the Giant’s Causeway the rocks around the area are pretty cool. It was fun travelling around and getting to know the infamous Irish weather I heard much about. I couldn’t until I experienced it myself that within one minute the weather could switch from glorious Autumn sunshine to storm and heavy rain. That was awesome and weird together. Top tip: Giant’s Causeway is free to visit and a must place to see, but don’t forget to walk around the area and explore the coastal rocks as well as the world renowed rock formation.

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thumb_IMG_2068_1024Details about Giant’s Causeway:

Flanked by the wild North Atlantic Ocean and a landscape of dramatic cliffs, for centuries the Giant’s Causeway has inspired artists, stirred scientific debate and captured the imagination of all who see it. Giant’s Causeway are the world-famous basalt columns optional with one of the knowledgeable tour guides, an audio guide to go at your own pace. Climb the Shepherd’s Steps and hike along the cliff-top trail to get a bird’s eye view of the beautiful causeway coast.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/giants-causeway/

To find out more about the EU traineeship programme, my host facilitator and employer, the WorldHost programme and Northern Ireland you can visit:

 

My name is Julia Smentek and I’m 23 years old and I live in Hamburg. I studied Business Administration at University of Cooperative Education in Hamburg with a focus at marketing and public relations and I worked at a publishing house called display Verlag also in Hamburg. I registered myself for a traineeship program in Germany at “Europäischer Bildungsverbund” and this company helped me to find Eileen Mullan – who founded Leonardo Logistics Ltd. and placed me to Christine at Belfast marketing consultancy and training business – Watson & Co. Chartered Marketing. This was an ideal traineeship for me personally as I had just finished my studies in Germany. My hobbies are horse riding, meeting friends and doing sports. I have my own horse called Dustin and I have been riding since I was 5 years old. I also have two little dogs (Jack Russell terriers called Lisa and Sholti) and a male cat called Candur.