Wednesday in Atlanta

Here is my schedule for training in Atlanta for Wednesday:

7 AM - 8 AM - Breakfast

8 AM - 9 AM - Overview of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability given by John Downs, Vice President of Public Affairs & Communication

Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability benefits the business by:
1. capturing operational efficiencies, innovate, & eliminate waste
2. drive employee engagment
3. exceed customer expectations
4. meet new trends in business
5. enhance the company's image and reputation
6. please shareholders

There are 5 parts to Coca Cola's Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability program:
1. Energy conservation
2. Packaging and package recycling
3. Water stewardship
4. Promote a balanced and active lifesty through a diverse product portfolio
5. Provide a diverse and inclusive culture in the workplace

When we met for big presentations, we met in the ballroom pictured below. The stage was decorated with coke cases. The table clothes changed everyday. Today was green because we learned about recycling. On the table, there are empty coke bottles filled with jelly beans. Instead of applause, we were suppose to shake the bottles of jelly beans. Today we all wore matching t-shirts. They are red, have a Coca Cola bottle on the front and say "give it back."

9 AM - 12:15 PM - CRS Sessions -We had sessions for each CRS "initiative." In the water stewardship session we learned that 1 Liter of Coca Cola takes 1.7 Liters of water to produce. The goal is to reduce that number to 1.3 Liters. In packaging, we learned that last year the company took out a few grams of aluminum in the can lids, saving 500 Million pounds of aluminum. In the Balanced and Active Lifestyle session, we learned that Coca Cola voluntarily pulled soft drinks with sugar and calories out of high schools and junior highs. So the only Coca Cola products in schools are water, juice, and diet drinks. In elementary schools, there is only water and juice. Also, the company is about to launch a "clear on calories" campaign by putting the number of calories on the front of all packages, on vending machines, and on soda fountains in order to help consumers make healthy choices. In the diversity session, we learned about "affinity groups" that we can join in the workplace: Enterprising Women, Gay & Lesbian @ CCE, African American Business Organization, CHISPA (hispanic group, I don't remember what it stands for), and Young Professionals.

12:15 PM - 1:30 PM - Lunch - today everyone in the South Business Unit (Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisiana, Arkansas) ate at the same table because the Business Unit Sales Manager of the South Unit was in Atlanta, and he ate with us. Just to give you an idea, here is how the chain works:

1. Truck Driver - delivers the coke

2. Merchandiser - delivers coke, sets up coke displays, makes sure all the signs are correct

3. Account Development Manager - sells coke to businesses

4. Market Development Manager - sells coke to businesses, brings in new business *this is what my position is equal to

5. District Sales Manager - brings in new business, manages other managers, has a few cities in territory *this is what I will be in 2 years

6. Sales Manager - District Sales Manager's boss, in charge of multiple areas, has many cities in territory

7. Business Unit Manager - in charge of an entire business unit - this is the man who met with us - he is in charge of all sales for Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Colorado

Above this point, you become a Vice President. He had some great words of wisdom for us. He told us to always ask for more responsibility and volunteer for special projects in order to gain more experience/knowledge.

1:30 PM - 5 PM - Service Project - We went to Freedom Park to clean up the area. Freedom Park is a HUGE park that runs along one of the major highways in Atlanta. We split up into groups. I was in the mulching group. My group shovels mulch onto the base of trees. In Atlanta, after it rains, the moisture evaporates quickly. So we put mulch at the base of trees to absorb and hold water for the trees. Other groups painted light posts, cleaned up trash, and cleared out burrows created by homeless people.

5 PM On - We had free time the rest of the night. Dinner wasn't provided. Some people went out to eat, but our group was working on our presentation at 7 PM. So most of us ordered room service and showered. We met from 7 PM - 11 PM to work on our presentation. Each group had a different topic to present. Our topic was the company's Operating Framework. The Operating Framework includes the vision statement, values, and goals & objectives. There were about 15 members of our group....it was hard to reach consensus because we are all leaders. Too many chiefs....not enough indians.

Tuesday in Atlanta!!

Here was my schedule for Tuesday, June 8th in Atlanta:

7 AM - 8 AM - Breakfast at the hotel, same as before!

8 AM - 9 AM - Introduction to Coca Cola supply chain practices, given by Ron Lewis, the vice President for the North American Supply Chain. The over-arching goals of supply chain management are:
1. Have no customer out of stock of coca cola products
2. Use as little "backroom space" as possible at customer locations
3. Use customer data to replenish products more accurately

Coca Cola's largest customers are:
1. Wal-Mart (215 Million cases per year)
2. Target (85 Million cases per year)
3. Kroger Grocery (85 Million cases per year)

There are current 2.7 complaints per million cases for Coca Cola products. The goal for next year is 2.0 complaints per million cases. The most common complaint is leaky bottles/cans.

9 AM - 12:15 PM - Supply Chain Sessions - we had sessions on the use of the Coca Cola recipe in concentrated forms, quality product management, warehousing & delivery, technology in the supply chain

12:15 PM - 1 PM - Lunch - Mexican food! Beef & chicken fajitas, tamales, rice & beans, hot sauce, quacamole, tortilla soup, chips, tres leches cake, & sopapillas

1 PM - 4:30 PM - Curriculum Overview - All the new Coca Cola employees in the university leadership program go through a manual that is tailored to our job. So each day I will work at my location, and at home I use the manual to make sure I'm learning everything I need. In the curriculum overview, we went over the structure of our program and the manual that accompanies our program. For example, I will ride with a Coca Cola delivery man for a day. Then after that day, I will go home and read about way managers schedule delivery men, the routes they take, and the factors that influence delivery. In this meting, all the new sales managers were together in one room. Some of them had been interns last year. The former interns gave us a lot of advice on how the program works. They had an internship book last year, so they talked about how they used it.

4:30 PM - 5 PM - Meeting in the conference room about schedule updates

5 PM - 6 PM - time to dress for dinner

6 PM - 11 PM - Dinner Cruise at Stone Mountain Park - this evening we took a bus to Stone Mountain for dinner. Stone mountain is the largest naturally occuring slab of granite in the world. On the side of the granite, confederate generals are carved, but we couldn't see them from the boat. Also, on the mountain there is a light show and fire works. Around the mountain, there is a lake. We loaded an old fashion paddle boat and ate a dinner buffet. For dinner was: fried chicken or roast beef with corn, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, rice, cheesecake, and chocolate cake. The picture below is of the view from our table:

After dinner, there was a dance!!! What?!?!? Everyone danced and it was so fun! When we got tired of dancing, we could go on the top deck to watch a fireworks show. What entertainment!!!

Monday in Atlanta!!!

**Aside - throughout the day, all coke products including water, juice, diet coke are free and are everywhere (in our rooms, in the hallways, in the conference rooms). So today I went to the bathroom about every 30 minutes because I was constantly drinking!


7:00 AM - 8:00 AM - Breakfast catered by the hotel - Ridiculous: pancakes, french toast, bagels/muffins/toast, eggs, omelets, bacon, sausage, oatmeal, biscuits, fruit

8:00 AM - 8:45 AM - Welcome - introduction of old people, new people, and cheering for all the universities represented. Georgia Tech and Emory have the most representation. 3000 applied for the full time jobs and around 50 were selected this year.

8:45 AM - 12:15 PM - Sessions - in small groups, we traveled around to different stations. The stations were Benefits & Payroll, Hiring Paperwork, Interview on Camera for publicity (I answered questions that were filmed to put on the website and to be used in promotion material), "Words of Wisdom" session with people who have been in the program for a year (they gave us lots of good tips!), Coca Cola Jeopardy (my team won).

12:15 PM - 12:30 PM - Group Picture

12:30 PM - 1:00 PM - Lunch - Ridiculous: salad, green beans, fried chicken, ribs, potato salad, cole slaw, beans, macaroni & cheese, biscuits & cornbread, peach cobbler, pecan pie, bread pudding

1:00 PM - 2:30 PM - Executive Speakers - the CEO (John Brock), VP of North American Business (Steve Cahillane), and VP of HR (Pam Kimmet) gave us an overview of the company, including the upcoming buyout. Coca Cola Company is in the process of buying Coca Cola Enterprises. Coca Cola Enterprises in Northa American will be renamed Coca Cola Refreshment (owned by Coca Cola Company) while Coca Cola Enterprises will operate solely in Europe. Interesting fact, Pepsi has no presence in Europe. Europeans drink wine, beer, tea, and coffee instead of coke.

2:30 PM - 2:45 PM - Afternoon Snack - fruit, nuts, candy, icecream

2:45 PM - 5:30 PM - Vice President Speakers - included a Legal Overview by Coca Cola Enterprise's General Counsel, an IT overview, and a finance overview. Interesting fact, 2009 was a record setting year for Coca Cola financials.

5:30 PM - 6:30 PM - Free time!!! Went to hotel room to rest and change clothes.

6:30 PM - 7:30 PM - Cocktail party with executives. Didn't get to meet the CEO, but I brainstormed with some interns about how to make the CEO remember me. The only thing we came up with was for me to slap him across the face. But I didn't get a chance to speak with him.

7:30 PM - 9:00 PM - Dinner - roast beef, salmon, & crab, rice, cheesy pasta, salad, rolls, grilled veggies, cupcakes

9:00 PM - 11:00 PM - Coca Cola Olympics!!! I got switched to the pink team, and we won second place overall!!! We had to line up in alphabetical order, hula hoop, shoot basketballs, putt golf balls, build towers out of blocks, ride a tricycle, play ping pong, jump rope, and create a cheer

BUSY DAY!!!

Travel & Hotel Accomodations in Atlanta

To get to Atlanta, I flew AirTran. It is suppose to be a discount airline like Southwest. Southwest doesn't fly into Atlanta, so AirTran was a good option for the company. Unfortunately, AirTran does not do curbside checkin (I had some $1 bills ready!). Inside the airport, the line for AirTran check-in was soooooo long. I talked with another passenger about "black listing" airlines. She doesn't fly Delta anymore, and I told her that I don't like American. She said that she was adding American and AirTran to her black list. She was really funny. After checking in (and paying $50 for my heavy bag), the line for security was really long too. Because of the long lines, as soon as I got to my gate, I boarded the plane. I sat by a young guy who slept the entire flight. We didn't take off until around 3 PM (New Orleans time) or 4 PM (Atlanta time). This picture below is me in the airplane. I have my creeper face on, ready to make friends!!!


At the hotel, our rooms are so nice!! I am on the seventh floor, and out my window I have a view of the mall that is next door. Here are pictures of my room:

After checking in, I went to the 4th floor ballroom to get my gift and laptop. The picture below is my "gift." It is a messenger bag, t-shirt, and baseball cap. Also in the bag was paperwork, my manual for the next 2 years, and a blue scarf. Monday night, at the social we are playing games, and I am on the turquoise team.

This is my security badge for my workplace in New Orleans.

The Woods

While on a break from packing, I decided to explore the woods behind the backyard of our house. This is a view of our house from the back. In the backyard are fig trees, magnolia bushes, monkey grass, and tall woody trees.

This is a picture of the woods. I couldn't really get a picture that captures the height of the trees. They are very tall. Many of these pictures look foggy or blurry around the edges. That is condensation on the lense from the humid air.

Here is a picture of some wild mushrooms that grow outside of our backyard fence. I want to cook them, but I once watched a very scary movie called 'Shrooms. In "Shrooms, a group of young people go into the woods to eat mushrooms that make you hallucinate. However, one girl eats a particularly dangerous mushroom. Then, she goes crazy and kills all her friends. So I won't eat these mushrooms.

In the woods, I found this random tree with a homeade ladder nailed to it. Very strange. When I saw it at first, I thought there might be a tree house up there. But no, just a ladder. I guess someone wanted to climb up and down? I'm not sure. I want to climb it, but I feel like some would protest.

Drive to Louisiana

The drive to Louisiana was sooooo long. We saw lots of beautiful scenery and the highways were very easy to ride on. Tony is an excellent driver of large vehicles. He was very careful the whole time. We have not found anything that appears to be broken. This picture was taken at a rest stop where we streched our legs out and went to the bathroom.


Finally to Louisiana! The roads in Louisiana were not as smooth as Texas roads.

Baton Rouge is a couple hours away from New Orleans. The picture below is the Mississippi River that runs through Baton Rouge. Many people have said to me that Louisiana is smelly and nasty. When they say that, they are speaking of Baton Rouge. Baton Rouge smelled like dead rats. The river is disgusting. The whole town has a foul cloud that surrounds it. Outside the town, are all legitimate swamps. In New Orleans and Mandeville, I have only seen wooded areas and lakes, rivers, etc. However, in Baton Rouge there are legitimate swamps. Very glad that I don't live in Baton Rouge!!