martedì 26 luglio 2011

ISTITUTO EUROPEO; Study abroad, multi-destination internship program, interview of Detlev Glanert Director of FONDAZIONE CANTIERE INTERNAZIONALE D’ARTE







Q1: Can you describe what FONDAZIONE CANTIERE INTERNAZIONALE D'ARTE does?



A1: The FONDAZIONE was founded as a central organization for three culture activities, what in former times belonged to the responsibility of the Comune of Montepulciano: the Music School (founded in 1720), the Theatre (founded in 1792) and the Festival “Cantiere Internazionale D’Arte” (founded 1976 by Hans Werner Henze). The FONDAZIONE looks after all administration and organization things for these three institutions. The founders were the Comune of Montepulciano and the Provincia, Members who make up our organization are nearly all towns around and a number of independent institutions.







Q2: What is your role at FONDAZIONE CANTIERE INTERNAZIONALE D'ARTE?



A2: I’m artistic director for the festival “Cantiere Internazionale D’Arte”, in this role I have to decide all artistic questions for the festival, sometimes in collaboration with the Music Director Roland Böer. In addition, I have to make all contacts between artists and administration; I see my role also as a dramaturge and controller, for all levels of the festival.





Q3: What type of events does the FONDAZIONE CANTIERE INTERNAZIONALE D'ARTE hold?



A3: Here the FONDAZIONE CANTIERE INTERNAZIONALE D'ARTE the first big summer festival “Cantiere” for what I’m responsible, with more then 50 performances including operas, theatre, concerts, chamber music, modern music. Second we have a large series of concerts, arranged by the Music School, in all sizes; then a winter series of theatre performances (every winter 6 or 7). In addition to that the Fondazione cares about different music events for the town, also the choir and the brass band belongs to that responsibility.





Q 4: What are you doing to prepare for this year’s Opera?



A 4: This year the musical director and myself have to decide the pieces (normally two operas for the summer, plus all other titles), then the director, costume designer and stage designer; I have to look for all other people requested for an opera production. I have to communicate and to arrange between the different departments, what includes very often also a control of the budget. I have to develop in collaboration the rehearsal and production schedule, to prepare the announcements and the catalogue, and all other things belonging to an opera production.





Q5: Why have you decided to accept interns? According to you what is the best contribution and intern has given your Company?



A5: We always had interns with us, but we would like to enlarge this collaboration. At the festival “Cantiere” no artist is paid, and the technical and administration crew is very small, so that we need every free hand for helping us. On the other hand we can offer to the interns an insight view about the artistic and organization development of operas, concerts etc, in a strong collaboration with international acclaimed artists; the interns will learn the Italian language by doing, in the collaboration they are surrounded by Italians. The interns are absolutely important for us, because they are helping in these thousand little things what are coming in the last moment; it was very good that Marguerite played also the violin, so she could help out in our chamber orchestra, where an instrument was missing.



The Cantiere is a very special festival, and absolutely not to compare with others: the fact, that nobody is paid, that everybody eats together two times a day, that no real departments dividing are existing, creates an atmosphere of solidarity and friendship. We are convinced that the Cantiere is perfect for interns.



Interview of: Detlev Glanert

Interviewer: Nick Palozzi

mercoledì 20 luglio 2011

ISTITUTO EUROPEO; Study abroad; multi-destination internship program, ALTREMANI Interview of Art Director Vega Donati.


Art Director Vega Donati.

Q: 1 What inspired you to create organic home furnishing?

A:1 What inspired me to create organic home furnishings was the vegetables themselves. I wanted to sustainably capture the beauty of their various shapes, colors, and textures within a home setting.



Q:2 Who is your largest consumer?

A:2 Generally we provide temporary structures for events such as, decorative screens, chairs, lighting and artistic pieces. In addition, we also supply private customers with home furnishings.



Organic art.
Q:3 What are your future goals for AltreMani?

A:3 One of my future goals for AltreMani is to introduce the AltreMani brand to other cities and establish similar workshops across Italy.



Q:4 Do you plan to sell worldwide?

A:4 Yes, we want to expand our market to other countries.



Q:5 Why have you decided to accept interns? According to you, what is the best contribution an intern has given your company?

A:5 I have decided to accept interns because I think it is important for AltreMani to be exposed to different cultures. Incorporating foreign interns into my workshop provides another dimension of diversity to our products; both physically and intellectually.

Interviewee: Vega Donati



Interviewer: Nick Palozzi

ISTITUTO EUROPEO; Study abroad; Multi-destination internship program, ALTREMANI internship interview of Rachel Tsolinas.

Q:1 Does this correlate with your major concentration?


A:1 My major concentration is in Psychology.





Q:2 What Are Your Tasks And Assignments at AltreMani?

A:2 My daily activities vary day to day. The first week I was there I translated AltreMani’s Blog from Italian to English. Lately, I have been helping in the workshop working on organic vegetable curtains. Public Relations interest me, therefore whenever there are meetings they allow me to sit.





Q:3 How is the communication barrier?


A:3 The communication barrier can be hard at times, but we make due. I feel as if my Italian has become stronger in the sense that I can understand more than I can speak. My coworkers are people from all over Italy, who speak with different dialects which makes communication difficult. They will explain things to me in Italian first, then what ever I don’t understand they will explain further and lastly if I can’t understand them at all they use someone who knows a little English and a dictionary.





Q:4 What was your largest accomplishment at your internship?

A:4 I would say that my largest accomplishment at my internship was to create curtains out of vegetables. This is a very challenging task because I have never done this before and there were a lot of experimentation before finding the solution.



Q:5 How would you rate your Internship experience?

A:5 I’m very satisfied with interacting with the employees and being submerged with the language. Although I really wanted an internship that dealt with public relations, however due to the time frame it was not possible. One cool thing that we’re working on at the shop is holding an exhibition with John Malkovich’s technobohemian. He is a guy that has an eye for peculiar things, and is interested in the works that we do. AltreMani was able to line up a meeting to connect for this exhibition.He owns a shop of art work made of recycled materials some of his art is functional and not functional. Alter Mani will be holding and exhibition on july 27th.

Interviewee: Rachel Tsolinas



Interviewer: Nick Palozzi

giovedì 14 luglio 2011

ISTITUTO EUROPEO; Study abroad; multi-destination internship program, Pixel Corporation interview of Elisabetta Delle Donne.

pixel.jpg (3922 bytes)

Company: Pixel
Company Manger: Elisabetta Delle Donne


Pixel was started in 1999 by Elisabetta Delle Donne. She and her team have over fifteen  years of experience in the education, training and culture sector. Pixel developed mainly in the framework of transnational cooperation and their mission is to develop a creative new approach to education, training and culture.
Pixel has 12 people working as full time staff, also over 100 external experts and trainers cooperate with Pixel.


Q1:Can you describe what your company does?

A1:  Pixel promotes internationalization and  transnational Cooperation in the fields of  Education, Training and Culture. Pixel has significant experience in the field of transnational collaboration. Pixel has been involved in around 70 projects financed by the European Commission  and around 40 funded by  European Social Fund. All of them focus on education, training and culture. This includes, for example, projects on language learning, science education, arts, tourism, innovation etc.
Pixel also organize international conferences in the field of education as well as international  in-service training courses for teachers and trainers. Finally Pixel is currently promoting a Master on
 At European level, Pixel has developed cooperative agreements and partnerships with over 400 institutions. Pixel’s European partners are: ministries, universities, schools, regions, provinces, municipalities, training institutions, research centres, cultural institutions, schools, hospitals etc. in 30 different European countries.  



Q2: How did you get started?

A2:  

I graduated in Political Sciences – International Affairs from the University of Florence and then I got a Master in Business Administration in 1993. I started working in the field of transnational cooperation funded by the European Commission a few months after my University graduation. From 1993 to 1995 I worked as a European project manager in an organisation created by the Tuscan universities for the promotion and management of European higher education projects. There I started writing my first European projects application and managing European projects in the field of education and training.
From 1996 to 2000 I worked for a consortium of training companies as coordinator of the European Project Planning and Management team.
At the beginning of 1999 I created Pixel and since then I have been its president.

Q3: What is your role in the company?

A3:  My role in the company is president however, I feel as if I am more of a coordinator/ manager. My main aim is to promote new Ideas for development. For example one of the newest initiative  is a masters course in European project planning and management. This course will be based in Florence Italy and have teachers from around the world, the classes are held in English.

                           
Q4: Have you considered taking your business outside the European Union?

A4:  I’m not one to make long-term plans due to the fact that in this field there is constant change. Recently, at our conferences on education we have noted that 40 percent of our attendants are outside the European Union. This is a positive for us and can possible allow for expansion outside the Union.



Q5: Who are your largest clients?

A5:  We do not have one major client due to the fact that 50 percent of our income comes from public funding for the European commission; the second biggest sector is universities. Working in this business you must have a background in English, the clients we work with are not all Americans or from England, they are from all over the European Union and the only way to communicate is through one common language which is English.



Q6: How has the downward economy affected your company?

A6:  The downward economy thankfully is something that has not affected us in a significant way. As I said before, 50 percent of our income comes from public funds by the European commission and this does not change much. On the other hand, for the conferences it has affected it a little, due to the small increase in the price of goods however nothing to major.



Q7: Why have you decided to accept interns to work for your company?






ISTITUTO EUROPEO Interns: Jenee Trimboli, and
Allison Schoner.


A A7: It is a good opportunity for us to get to work with people from a different background and to let them experience what we do, to give them the opportunity to learn from our experience. We are happy to be still in contact, even after years, with some of the interns who worked with us.
 .





                                             

martedì 12 luglio 2011

STUDY ABROAD: Multi-Destination Internship Program: LUMENG JIN'S Experience with ISTITUTO EUROPEO





STUDY ABROAD: Multi-Destination Internship Program: LUMENG JIN'S Experience with ISTITUTO EUROPEO







Q1: Where Is Your Internship?
A1:  Albenga, Italy. Chemical lab for food\water analysis. 

Q2: What Are Your Tasks And Assignments As An Intern?
A2: Chemical analysis of local water\ food samples for pesticides, metals etc. 

Q3: How is the Communication barrier? 
A3:  Half of the staffs at work speak English, they explain well and they are very patient. 

Q4: How well does this Internship correlate with your major concentration?
A4: Pretty well. Not exactly as what I expected, but the tasks at my internship is interesting and worth learning. Using scientific equipments is a challenge, but most of them are national-wide used and learning how to use them is very helpful.

Q5: Tell us about your experience in Italy? What are your thoughts on Italian culture and life style?
A5: Amazing. People are friendly, environment of working\living is joyful, especially Italian food are awesome! I'm very luck to have a chance to live with a host family, and I learned more about the culture and Italian life style by spending daily time with them. I found out people have late dinners, and love to spend more time on exercises, everyone looks fit and cheerful...... It's definitely different from American, but I enjoy it very much.

Q6: After Interning and living in Italy would you stay if you had the chance?
A6: Yes!

Q7: Overall remarks and Opinions... Do You Like Your Internship?
A7: Yes! Learning and experiencing at the same time is awesome!

lunedì 11 luglio 2011

ISTITUTO EUROPEO Pro Japan Fund raising - Raccolta fondi per il Giappone



Con i concerti di Giovedì 28 aprile a Firenze e quello del 20 di maggio a Prato abbiamo raccolto la cifra di 2098,88 Euro.
Il giorno 6 di giugno 2011 la Sig.ra Isobe ha trasferito i fondi (2098,88 Euro) alla Croce Rossa Giapponese, di seguito pubblichiamo copia del bonifico.
I cantanti, i musicisti, lo staff dell’ISTITUTO EUROPEO e quanti hanno contribuito affinché il concerto avesse luogo ringraziano sentitamente tutti i coloro che hanno sostenuto l’iniziativa con il loro apporto economico.

*****************************



At the concerts held on April 28 in Florence and on May 20 in Prato we raised 2,098.88 Euro. 
On June 6, 2011, Ms. Isobe transferred the funds (2,098.88 Euro) to the Japanese Red Cross; we will publish a copy of the transfer shortly.
The singers, musicians, staff of the ISTITUTO EUROPEO and everyone who helped ensure the concerts’ success would like to thank those who contributed so generously with their financial support.









giovedì 7 luglio 2011

ISTITUTO EUROPEO; Study abroad; multi-destination internship program, Consiglio Regionale della Toscana interview of CIO Carlo Cammelli.

This is the first interview of a series of presentations of companies we work with for the multi destination program.


Carlo Cammelli is the CIO of technology department at Consiglio Regionale della Toscana. His main mission is to create a parliament that is transparent and accessible to the people of Tuscany. In addition, he aspires to create public interest in the parliament by using new forms of technology to communicate from Consiglio to the society. These efforts will ensure a stronger truthful public image of the Parliament.











Q1: Can you explain the role of the Consiglio Regionale della Toscana?



A1: Consiglio Regionale della Toscana is the local parliament for all of Tuscany. There role is to make decisions that benefit the people and the region. There are three main buildings that make up this parliament, my building is the IT area were process information and supervise all equipment that run our local parliament.



Q2: How did you arrive to the Consiglio Regionale della Toscana?



A2: I started 15 years, in order to work with the Consiglio Regionale della Toscana, you have to take a test. This test is very competitive and only three people are chosen for interviews for a single position. I was chosen and later moved to my current position as CIO of CRT.



Q3: Can you describe your role in the parliament?



A3: My Role as CIO of CRT is to support the technological services to ensure that all goes well. My main Mission is to keep in touch with the people of Tuscany so that they can view CRT with transparency. In order to do so, I must choose what technology will be better and faster to support our mission.



Q4: What is the largest obstacle of your job?



A4: There are three main ways of communication in today’s world. First we have talking, writing and photography. These three ways to communicate have all switched from paper to digital. The main problem I have is convincing my people that our technology is a more efficient way to communicate with the people of Tuscany. In addition technology changes constantly therefore I have to be aware of new instruments and updated software to ensure the success of our mission.



Q5: What are your present and future goals for Consiglio Regionale di Toscana?








A5: we have two directions first is to understand what technology can offer to the success of our mission while always being updated on new technology. Secondly, to align our workers on the digital network and to about gain feedback how the technology we use is working and what suggestions our workers have to allow for a better network.



Q6: Do you believe that technology can enhance the relationship between citizens and politics?



A6: Technology is a service CRT uses this service to communicate with the people. My job is to make CRT accessible and transparent to the people of Tuscany because we want our people to be able to find the facts at the source. Many people use this service to display the good they have done this is an example of how technology is used in the wrong manner. I believe that technology is supposed to be used to hear the suggestions and concerns of the people. Using technology allows the parliament to become stronger not weaker by displaying transparency. Currently on our website there is a live video stream of the Consiglio when there in session. This allows the people to see and hear what is being discussed, who is fighting for what and hearing the true facts from the source. We have many computers and T.Vs displayed throughout the buildings focusing on our agenda.



Q7: Why have you decided to accept interns to work for the IT department? According to you what is the best contribution an intern can give your department?


A7: In our department technology and applications are important but are harmful if you don’t take care about how useful are for the people that use it. So some people that come from other backgrounds have experiences that allow them to view our mistakes and opportunities with fresh eyes. It is not important the amount of total experience one has or how long you are in the job, but a fresh and clean mind. For this reason we have accepted interns and for us this is a great opportunity, meanwhile it is also important that we have an open channel not only with students coming from study abroad programs but with Italian school/University: the project Alternanza Scuola Lavoro has been alive for 3 years now. We engage the interns on themes that are not marginal, because if you believe on this opportunity you cannot give a marginal chance: you take more from core themes. Our last 2 interns have worked on a new way to communicate from Consiglio to the society and about the content on monitor touch and on the design of Planet Galileo.

Interviewee: Carlo Cammelli
Interview by: Nick Palozzi

lunedì 4 luglio 2011

ISTITUTO EUROPEO; Study abroad independent study, a student’s experience at Siena di Palio.


Palio di Siena one of the most amazing events held in Italy. What makes this dangerous but exhilarating event so significant is the long standing tradition that is deeply rooted into the Senese culture. The people of Siena live for there Contrada, this is not something that is done for tourists this is for the people and their Contrada. I knew there would be many diehard fans, what I didn’t expect was a mosh pit of people trying to race to the edges of the Piazza del Campo to get the best view. To get from San Francesco to the Campo took 1 hour, due to the procession of Contrada’s and their followers singing and chanting. After entering the Campo I was overwhelmed to see the thousands of people packed into one small area. In total this race take around 75 seconds, the most EXCITING 75 seconds of your life. Words cannot describe how it is to be in the center of this race, although you find yourself and the crown in sync spinning around trying to watch each jockey. At the first turn one jockey slams into the wall one the second lap another falls off at the harsh turn. lastly, we have a winner the Oca (goose) the crown went wild and became so loud you couldn’t even hear yourself. This was like nothing I have experienced before in my life, you can see the passion and emotion on each person. Americans has nothing like this, the Super-Bowl does not even come close to this, when you see someone crying over a football game you tend to think to yourself, stop crying it is only a game. Whereas the Palio has centuries of tradition and passion that is passed down from father to father when people cry it has significant meaning. This type of passion and tradition is something I want to share with my children and their children. The Palio di Siena is something that everyone must experience once in their lives, it really shapes your understanding of the meaning of tradition and culture which we I believe we lack in America.                                                By: Nick Palozzi

venerdì 1 luglio 2011

ISTITUTO EUROPEO; Study Abroad in Florence Italy, Jersey Shore hate them or love them.

As many of you know the overnight pop icons of the Jersey Shore crew, had recently filmed there 4th season in Florence Italy. In America there was much controversy whether the members of the Jersey Shore should be filming in Florence Italy, due to their wild and violent track record. In addition, many Italian government officials spoke out against allowing the Jersey Shore coming to Florence, for the simple fact there actions can portray Italy in a negative manner Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi said “that the cast members of the MTV program will not be allowed to be filmed drinking in public, or spending time in bars or clubs that serve alcohol, that the show should not depict Florence as a drinking town, and that it should emphasize the city’s history of culture and good food.” I say hate them or love them there not doing anything different than any other group of ragazzi (Guys and Girls).