For this trip to Madrid, I decided to do the internship track. This year the Verano program had all five of us working at IFEMA. IFEMA—Feria de Madrid, is the Madrid Trade Fair Institution. The company brings in clientele from all over the world and all over Spain, ranging from all different types of industries: food, tourism, construction, transport, fashion, arts, etc. IFEMA hosts about 80 trade shows and congresses a year, bringing 30,000 to 35,000 different companies to Madrid yearly. We all worked in different departments doing different things. I worked in the Department of External Affairs Management, where I was able to put my Spanish speaking skills and knowledge of business to use. At certain fairs, important visitors will be present and the coordinators in the office ensure that there is a schedule for the host to follow and to ensure that they recognize the person when they arrive. I worked on updating that schedule on the IFEMA website. In addition, I worked on the English translation of documents and on the IFEMA Plus website. I enjoyed my time working at IFEMA. It helped introduce me to life working in Spain if I were ever chose to do so.
