UK Technology Infrastructure IMLP Events

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sjdunphy/2914939372/Last month we had the chance to meet face-to-face with our IMLP Champion for Aviation, a CIO from one of our Aviation businesses. He flew from our Headquarters in Cincinnati to the UK to spend some time understanding our processes and initiatives we are running here.

UK Healthcare IMLP's joined us from Amersham for a site tour in our GE Aviation Systems facilities in Bishops Cleeve, Cheltenham. We shared best practices to keep on improving the IMLP in the region and met local leadership to better understand business needs.

After going out around Cheltenham, some of our colleagues were amazed by this town in the heart of the Cotswolds! You can find more information here about Cheltenham and its sorroundings.

Technology Infrastructure IMLPs meet at least quarterly, so we can increase our network and keep on building the talent pipeline in the UK.

IMLP Bloggers Meet at GE Formal Event (Finally!)

Alana (left) and Brandon meet at a GE event in BaltimoreOn the IMLP program and at GE, we often forge professional relationships with team members from a distance - without ever meeting them in person.

However, over the course of our two years on program, unexpected meetups can often happen.

Take for example Brandon Henak, an IMLP Alumni from GE Healthcare.

Brandon and I worked on the blog in it's early stages, and often have conversations about social media and blogging (we both blog for IMLP and on our personal blogs as well.)

So, while at a GE Event in Baltimore, Maryland, Brandon noticed on Twitter and Foursquare that I was traveling and "checking in" at airports. After sending me a few direct messages on Twitter, we finally met!

He knew that I'd be posting this one on the blog.

All Intern Career Fair: Schenectady Edition

Schenectady Area Interns Gather for Annual EventThursday, June 25th marked GE Energy Infrastructure’s 4th annual Intern Networking Event and Career Fair.

The events is an opportunity for Schenectady-area interns interested in GE’s leadership programs to meet one another, interact with program representatives, and gain advice on career selection.

Over 125 interns and representatives from 14 leadership and affinity programs from throughout the capital district filled a conference room in  Schenectady for the event, which featured a keynote address by the CIO of GE Power and Water, an ice cream social, and the opportunity to interact with leadership program representatives from across the business.

The presentation covered GE career paths and gave an overview of the Power & Water business - from the new Wind building in Schenectady to how government regulation changes have impacted our products. The message left the crowd feeling that it's an exciting time to be at Energy.

Many interns commented that the GE career path overview reassured the audience that what you studied in college won't hold you back at GE.

After the presentation, Interns were invited to visit booths during the career fair segment, which gave area EIDs time to ask questions directly to leadership.

One an EID intern located in Schenectady, said that she appreciated the chance to mingle with program leaders and some of her fellow interns. “I enjoyed being able to talk to people from different parts of GE Energy and from the various programs that [the company] offers,” she said.

Programs and Affinity Groups represented at the event included: IMLP, FMP, OMLP, CLP, EEDP, African-American Forum (AAF), Asian-Pacific American Forum(APAF), GE Women’s Network (GEWN), Hispanic Forum (HF), and the Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Ally Alliance (GLBTA).

The annual intern networking event and career fair began four years ago and has been organized and managed each year by an IMLP intern supervised by Susan Kudlack, IMLP Site Representative, and Schenectady IMLPs.

“Run Maadi Run”- IMLPs Take On Bangalore Marathon

Bangalore IMLPs join a group of runners to race for the finish line!“Run Maadi Run”

was the punchline of the recently concluded Sunfeast World 10K Bangalore marathon.

23,000 runners made their way to the start line on May 31st, 2009 to showcase the spirit of Bangalore and run for a cause. We had 50 runners from GE Bangalore, including a bunch of IMLPs, who took part in this event.

The GE runners participated in two categories. Most of us took part in the 5.7 km Majja Run. We ran the whole distance dressed in school uniforms to promote the theme “Education for All”. We were carrying banners which displayed captions like “Education is not preparation for life; Education is life itself” or “A great teacher takes a hand, opens a mind and touches a heart” and others.

This effort was well appreciated by many and a few of us were also captured by the TV cameras and shown on national television. A few also participated in 10 km Open Run and some clocked impressive timing of finishing the race in less than an hour.

The GE runners took up this opportunity and collected funds to support an institution called “Association for the Mentally challenged (AMC)”. AMC has been set up to provide support services to mentally challenged from all sections of society. Today it shelters and supports about 200 children, adolescents and adults.

Participating in this race was a great experience.

Equipped with mp3 players, running attire, water bottles, timing chips, we started off the race in an open road at 8:00 am on a Sunday Morning. The participants ranged from professional athletes, celebrities, students, senior citizens, physically challenged, corporates or just the common man with a great spirit to run.

There were huge crowd of supporters on the sideline throughout the track cheering us up. The organizing team did a great job and you could find them at frequent intervals serving water, glucose and cheering the runners. The Majja run saw participants in creative costumes to support various causes and it had an atmosphere of a big carnival. The great feeling of completing the race and crossing the finish line cant be put into words.

Guest Blogger: N. Ramesh

IMLPs Teach 1st Grade with the Junior Achievement Program and Sparks Elementary School

Family. Wants. Needs. Jobs. Education.

These were the focus points of their lessons as 8 IMLPs, myself included, took to Sparks Elementary School in Stamford, CT to teach the 6 first grade classes there. 

Walking into the building, we were surrounded by memories of our youth… the colored in snowmen from Mr. So-and-so’s class taped on the wall, the cut out construction paper traced-hands with names on them put on the hallway cork board outside of Mrs. Whats-her-name’s office, the miniature water fountains outside the bathrooms and mystery meat lunches being announced over the school PA system… ah, those were the days.  Putting aside the nostalgia, we bravely took to the classrooms, armed only with our wits… and step-by-step lesson plans complete with activity books, posters, hand-outs, and everything we could possibly need.  Okay – so it wasn’t quite as challenging of work as we’re used to everyday, but boy was it fun.

The first lesson was about Families.  Here we got to talk about different types of families, how they work together, different jobs in the families, and how everyone has to do their part to make it work… even if sometimes it’s not fun (like doing chores).  The first graders were very interactive and eager to participate, which really made it fun.

The second lesson was on Wants vs. Needs. Here we talked through what a “want” is and what a “need” is and how many things may seem like needs, but can really be done without (like TV, cars, and toys).   This lesson was neat in that we got the children very involved, allowing them to draw, color, and play a wants vs. needs flashcard game.

The third lesson was about Jobs.  Here we told the kids what we did for a living and went on to show how important jobs are.  Taking it another level, we talked a bit through how education allows them to get good jobs.  We made it fun by having the children talk about jobs that they’ve done or that people in their families do.  We even got to use a large poster that students could come up to and point out people doing jobs on.

The fourth lesson got the children to design their own city.  The children put buildings wherever they wanted on a map and then got to explain why they did it the way they did (everyone put the candy store next to their house so that they could go there every day).  From this, we talked about how the city works well thanks to a bunch of people doing different jobs for each other and helping each other out.  We also got the kids thinking about what they want to be when they grow up and had them create their own business in their city.

The last lesson tied things up by talking about how good jobs allow you to get money, which helps your family and allows them to satisfy their needs and (after satisfying their needs) their wants.  It worked to show the class that a good education is the key to a good job.  Once again though, we got to make it a fun, interactive lesson by making it into a game of charades wherein people acted out jobs and got paid for them if “they did a good job” and someone guessed what they were.

Overall, the day was a riot.  These kids were so eager to participate and so much fun to teach.  They caught onto the lesson ideas quickly and were really smart too.  The whole day, in fact, was a fun time and a rewarding experience.  Just to see their smiling faces and fuel their energetic spirits was well worth it.  I think I speak for all of the IMLPs involved when I say it really was a great day.