Northern Adventure to NetworkLabs

NetworkLabs is located inside  UP-Ayala Land TechnoHub. We went there on March 8, 2013 (Friday). It's our second company field trip. Hooray!

I assure you that I didn't get lost this time because I joined a convoy to get to the venue, but sadly I was still late. It was easier this time around I guess, because 1.) we had our professor with us to lead the driver, 2.) I was with my other classmates so if we get lost, at least we get lost together.

One thing you should know about me is that I'm a southern girl and I have a slight motion sickness. Our driver, as I quote one of my other classmate, was crazy. I was in the middle area of the Innova and I still wanted to have a tight grip on the handles and maybe even have my seat belt on. It felt like a really long drive, to be honest. And there were even issues when entering the venue. All I can remember is that there were a lot of guard posts. I couldn't blame them for stopping us, security is essential of course.

This one of my northern adventures because I'm from the South and I rarely go to Quezon City on commute, or at least convoy. I recognize the place because I passed by it when I went to Marikina or some other place at North.

Upon getting inside, we had a taste of how cool the design of their office through their pantry (note: I inserted a pun there, I hoped you saw it). Their office was divided into two themes: Finland and Philippines. The second floor pantry where our talk was held, had the Finland theme. Their walls had pictures of a scenic lake and the floor were covered with rock pictures or they were colored blue. They were trying to recreate or to give their employees a feel of what I think is a Finland lake dock. They even had ropes and boat shaped chairs and tables to stay true to the theme, which is really cool.

The talk was basically about NetworkLabs' humble origin and how they were able to achieve success and  maintain it through the years. They also talked about opportunities within their organization. They have a very meticulous screening process in order to filter out the best in order to be the best.

They also gave us a tour around their offices. They practice equality where managers don't have a separate offices which makes them more approachable.

 

 Of course it just wouldn't be complete without a group picture.

 

Disclaimer: photos courtesy of John Jane Granada.

Brady—Philippines, not Bunch

(Photo taken from Brady Philippines)

My trip to Brady Philippines on March 5 (tuesday) was the first company field trip I've been to for our IT-EXPO course. It's located at the third floor of Worldwide Corporate Center at Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong City. I got there by riding the MRT from Edsa until Shaw boulevard. 

After I got down at Shaw, I got lost. It's a good thing I was with another one of my classmates. We asked around, walked around and finally got to Brady after a few minutes. If you're wondering if I got there late, well.... let's just say I'm lucky I got there before anything happened. 

While entering Brady, I noticed the name of the rooms where different. Different because they were mostly named after beaches or another place that's sort of a tourist spot. I wondered why they named it that way, maybe its a way to make the workers feel that they're not just in some office space. I guess it's a way to make employees efficient in a sense that they're making them feel more at ease and relax through their environment.

It's so enlightening to see familiar faces after walking around an unfamiliar turf. So you can imagine how relieved I felt when we finally got to the pantry where the seminar was held. It's a pantry so there has to bee food at some point, and the people at Brady prepared boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts and they also had a Nescafe vending machine that has free coffee. FREE COFFEE!! I definitely felt joy upon getting that hot cup of coffee from one of my favorite inventions of man. Call me shallow, but I firmly believe that you need something to start your day right, and mine is a hot cup of coffee.

Ms. Caroline Co made us watch an animated video first, which contained a brief overview of Brady. The video was very informative and cute. She told us it was also made by our fellow Lasallians so I felt a little bit proud knowing that they were able to contribute to an organization like Brady. After a while, more people finally arrived and Ms. Co gave us more information about Brady and how they're trying to help their employees have a work-life balance. They had the Angel Network, which is sort of an outreach where Brady gives back to the community.

We also had a tour around the Brady office, where we saw the cubicles, sleeping quarters and locker rooms of the employees.

Their Sleeping Quarter Guidelines

Brady Tournament Trophies and Rewards

Panorama of the one of the Brady Office with our IT head Ms. Kiran

Ms. Caroline Co giving us a tour around th Brady

Mr. Allan Goh

Me and my classmates during the discussion

After the tour, Mr. Allan Goh our speaker discussed to us a more in the history and processes of Brady Philippines in a more in depth and technical manner. He also told us a bit of history of Technology (networks, internet, etc) and the five things that are trending in businesses today.From what I believe, Mr. Allan is Singaporean and I'm not used to hearing Singaporean accents that much so his accent made it a bit difficult for me to understand him. But overall he was able to give us more information about the said topics.

Brady also gave us freebies! A shirt and a notebook with a pen! Overall it was nice adventure! ☺

Disclaimer: photos courtesy of John Jane Granada.