Business Trip to BeeSmart
Roman has been working for BeeSmart for a year and a half, and this October he finally got the chance to travel and visit his foreign office. BeeSmart is a Dutch company with their main office in Nijverdal, a small town in the western part of the Netherlands.
The trip got off to a rough start; Roman’s flight from Chisinau to Vienna was fine, but his layover was too short, and he missed his flight from Vienna to Amsterdam. After all, there is always something interesting to do in a foreign airport while waiting for the next available flight. Though late at night Roman finally got to Amsterdam where he was already awaited by Rick, operations manager of the company, and they drove back to Nijverdal.
BeeSmart has a very interesting and useful product. They provide totally cashless solutions (software, hardware) for schools, libraries, healthcare, and recreation.
The company itself is a growing one, with 10 employees at the moment.
The main goals for this trip were to get to know each other better, meet face-to-face, and show Roman how their product is used in real life.
The week started with a traditional Dutch lunch and a short hike. With such beautiful scenery, going for a hike seemed like the thing to do!
The next day, Roman went to the office, met his colleagues, and saw what their workplace looks like. Roman left with very good impressions. The office is comfortable and cozy, with its own kitchen to prepare lunch.
The same evening, the whole company went for dinner together to a charming restaurant on the outskirts of town. They discussed strategy and future plans for the company.
Over the next few days, Roman and his colleagues went to Rotterdam. This was the most exciting part of the trip because they visited their clients, including libraries that use their product.
The most impressive one to Roman was the KB Nationale Bibliotheek, especially the archive they have in the basement. Those rooms are closed for visitors, employees wear sterile clothes, and everything is disinfected. Why bother so much? Because this archive contains every edition of every newspaper, journal, and book ever published in the Netherlands. It is a treasure that needs to be treated accordingly. All of these documents are scanned and made available for visitors in digital form, as are all the other books from the library.
The best part of all is that BeeSmart are the ones who help make everything at the KB Nationale Bibliotheek work. Every visitor to the library registers and gets an access card. With this magic card, they can use public computers, print documents, get a coffee from the vending machine, or use a “silent room” where absolutely nothing can bother you. All you have to do is add money to your access card.
Beesmart also provides applications that restrict access to certain websites and applications on public computers.
At the end of the week, Roman and his colleagues went to a shooting range. Roman did great and showed what a caring teammate he is. In addition to hitting his own target, he helped his friends by putting a few bullets through theirs.
Roman loved the sniper rifle even more! He got 47 points out of 50.
If you’ve been to the Netherlands and didn’t visit Amsterdam, your trip doesn’t count. That’s why, before getting back to Moldova, they made a tour of this amazing city, sailed the canals, and shopped for sweets.
Roman’s first trip to the Netherlands went great. He really liked visiting these places, because in addition to finding them fascinating, he got in-person proof that his work is being put to good use. Roman can’t wait for his Dutch colleagues to come to visit Moldova in the spring so he can show them all the beautiful places here.