Internship report

14th March 2016 – 2nd September 2016

Agnieszka Bochnak

Paris-Sorbonne University

Master of Management and International Trade

Student ID number: 16008184

Under the supervision of Madam Claire Dutriaux

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Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. 3

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 4

Company .................................................................................................................................................. 5

Short history and legal status .............................................................................................................. 5

The Group’s core businesses and its main activities ........................................................................... 5

Board of Directors ............................................................................................................................... 6

My position at the Societe Generale ....................................................................................................... 6

COMM/EVE department and its main activities ................................................................................. 6

Sponsored conferences ....................................................................................................................... 7

Missions performed by an intern ............................................................................................................ 8

Email management .............................................................................................................................. 8

Database performance – IC ................................................................................................................. 9

Invoices .............................................................................................................................................. 10

Missions related to sponsored conferences ..................................................................................... 11

Negotiations ...................................................................................................................................... 12

Conference organization ................................................................................................................... 13

Impact of the internship on my future path ......................................................................................... 14

Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 16

Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................... 17

Appendicies ........................................................................................................................................... 18

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Acknowledgements

The internship that I had at the Societe Generale company was a great opportunity

both for learning and professional development. Therefore, I consider myself as a very lucky

individual as I was given a chance to be a part of it. I am also grateful for meeting so many

wonderful people and professionals who led me through the internship period.

I would like to express my deepest appreciation to all those who provided me with the

possibility to complete this report. A special gratitude I give to my supervisor, Madam Claire

Dutriaux, whose contribution in stimulating suggestions and encouragement helped me to

coordinate my professional project and, especially, write this report.

First, I would like to thank Audrey Blanch, Head of Sponsored conferences and my

internship tutor at Societe Generale. It was thanks to her that this internship is meaningful. I

thank her for her patience and trust.

I especially thank Marine Brun-Pourveau, Head of COMM/EVE department, Fabienne

Labachotte, Head of External Events and Camille Maris, Head of Internal Events.

I would also like to thank the COMM/EVE team: Celine Dopierala, Alina Lissovet, Audrey

Lemoine, Josephine Weber, Anne-Christine Maro Savelli, Adrian Billet for their great support

and a dose of humor.

Furthermore, I would like to thank Estelle, Aurelie, Marion, Elise, Natasha, Cedric,

Anne-Marie and Morgan.

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Introduction

My work at Societe Generale has been very versatile. Audrey Blanch, Head of

sponsored conferences, who is also my internship supervisor, has given me a lot of varied

missions, which allowed me to become more responsible and autonomous.

It was not an easy task to find an internship this year. After having a great experience

last year at Efma’s1 company, I was looking an internship in the same area. There are not

many internship offers regarding event management in banking sector. I sent only 5 CVs and

only 2 of them were really related to the topic. I found an internship offer in External Event

department at Societe Generale on the LinkdIn website. In the offer it was highlighted the

importance of being bilingual in English and French. Having in mind the fact that I am Polish

and neither French nor English is my mother tongue, I did not submit my CV instantly. A few

days later, however, I decided to give it a try and I sent my application via its official website.

Yet I never believed that whoever would read my profile and I was really surprised when I

received a call on Tuesday evening offering me an interview. I got two interviews and after a

week I received information that I was accepted. I was more than happy I would have an

opportunity to work in the banking sector and I would organize conferences. I got accepted as

an Event Coordinator for Sponsored conferences department. I believe my communication

skills, as well as event organisation and experience with interculturalism that I have

accumulated through my previous internship experience were important factors. Not only did

I know that my experience from the last internship did really help me but also I was aware

that I would learn a lot. Last year I was organizing conferences for bank members and

insurance companies. This time I would have a chance to see the conference from the other

side, as we would participate as a client for the conference provider. The fact that Societe

Generale is one of the leading bank in Europe and its towers at La Defense are impressive, all

that made me feel that the next 6 months would be fulfill of many new, fruitful experiences.

1 Efma – a French company who organizes conferences throughout the world for banking sector and insurance companies; In 2015 I hold a 6-months internship as an Event Coordinator.

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Company

Short history and legal status

Societe Generale is the French multinational company, the universal bank, one of the

oldest banks in France and Europe, with its headquarters in Paris – la Defense. Its history

starts in 1864 when on the 4th May Napoleon III signed Societe Generale’s founding decree.2

Since its beginning, Societe Generale has grown rapidly throughout the French territory and it

became the leading French institution. It was privatized in 1945 and expanded its networks by

founding Boursorama (before Fimatex) or by acquiring Crédit du Nord. Today Societe

Generale is the sixth largest bank in Europe and the third largest bank by total assets3. With

148,000 employees in 76 countries it remains one of the leading financial services groups in

Europe. Except being a leader in the banking sector, Societe Generale has contributed to

support for music and contemporary arts. It established a partnership with Opera, as well as it

is the main rugby and disabled sport partner.

The Group’s core businesses and its main activities

To understand my role in the Societe Generale’s company it is necessary to explain

some of its main activities. Before January 2016 the service of Communication and Events

(COMM/EVE) worked only with one main Societe Generale’s activity which was GBIS

(Societe Generale Global Banking and Investor Solutions). In January 2016 the

cooperation was expanded with two more main branches:

- French Retail Banking

- International Retail Banking and Financial Services4

This has led to many complications misunderstandings in terms of internal work. I

started my internship 3 months after the fusion, nevertheless I could easily remark that it has

been a source of puzzlement for most of employees. As it is a huge company it is not easy to

process this kind of change smoothly. It is a time consuming, slow process of acquiring new

things and learning to get used to the new structure.

2 2015 Registration Document, Societe Generale, p.4 3 2015 Registration Document, Societe Generale, p.5 4 More details about three main activities in appendix nr 1

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Board of Directors

The main body of the company is the board of Directors. Even that the most of

employees see them very rarely, it is crucial to know their position and tasks. It is composed

of 14 directors, which 12 of them are elected at the Annual General Meeting and two are

elected by employees. The main chairman and CEO is Frédéric Oudéa. The board of

Directors meets at least six times per year in order to define the strategy of the company,

ensures its implementation, examine the group’s strategy as well as oversee internal controls

and discuss group policy with respect to the organisation, information system, company

policy and human resources. The internal event department is in charge of any event support

for the board of directors, from business events to business breakfasts or conference meetings.

As I was in charge of external events and sponsored conferences I did not have a chance to

work for them.

My position at the Societe Generale

Before starting the internship at Societe Generale I had to sign a contract agreement

between me, the society and the Sorbonne University. As I signed the contract first, I did not

have the possibility to negotiate remuneration or any other facilities. Moreover, the salary at

Societe Generale is generated by salary grid. This significantly impeded negotiations during

the interview. After two weeks of bureaucracy process I could finally start the six-month

internship at Communication/Events department (later called COMM/EVE), in subdivision of

Sponsored Conferences. During the first three weeks I was trained by Vanesa, the former

intern that I did replace. Vanesa showed me step by step my tasks and explained programs

that later I would use during my internship. After her departure the role of supervisor took

over Audrey Blanch, the head of sponsored conferences. During the first interview I already

realized that this is a dynamic, young team with full of creativity and willingness to work

together. This impression did not change and I still consider that I have the opportunity to

work within the fresh, creative team who is willing to help and from whom I can learn a lot.

Even though at daily life everybody has its own issues and tasks, I can still feel the team spirit

and the eagerness to work.

COMM/EVE department and its main activities

Till January 2016 every main activity in Societe Generale had its own Communication

and Event department. However, due to the fusion on January 2016 the Group Societe

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Generale merged all smaller departments and created the one and only Communication/Event

department for the whole group. It has provoked many understatements. I am having my

internship at Communication/Event department (later called COMM/EVE), which is in charge

of material and logistical organization of internal and external events. Its main goal is to

follow the global vision of the Group’s events in order to favor the consistency and

expenditure rationalization. COMM/EVE department is also responsible for the application of

the consumption policy, instructions and events guidelines for the events organised by the

department. The head of Group Events COMM/EVE is Marine Brun-Pouvreau. Besides, there

exist three subdivisions of the COMM/EVE department:

Internal event, with Camille Maris as a head of internal events, the group consists of

six persons and organizes all internal events for different business lines,

External events, with Fabienne Labachotte as a head of external events, the group

consists of 10 persons and provides the support for external conferences/ sports events

and opera partnership,

Sponsored conferences, with Audrey Blanch as a head of sponsored conferences, a

small part of the COMM/EVE department who plays an enormous role in the

conferences throughout the world.

Regarding its responsibilities, COMM/EVE department has the following missions:

- To organize events for different entities,

- To retain necessary data for all events organized under the company policy,

- To ensure that all events organized by COMM/EVE are consistent with this policy,

Sponsored conferences

As it is the department that I am having an internship at, it is worth developing the

meaning of this small but powerful department in the COMM/EVE group. Audrey Blanch as

a head of sponsored conferences is responsible for signing around 350-400 contracts per year

for the different kinds of sponsorship throughout the world. As an intern I am helping Audrey

in various missions related to the sponsored conferences:

- renewing contracts signed year by year

- responding to new offers

- searching for new opportunities/ new events/ conferences

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The department of sponsored conferences acts as an interface between the conference

provider and internal clients. Most of the clients come from GBIS (Global Banking and

Investors Solutions) as it was the main sector till January 2016. Inside GBIS there are many

business lines, which the most active in terms of sponsoring conferences are:

CORI - Coverage and Investment Banking division of SG CIB

MARK – Global Markets

SGSS – Societe Generale Securities Services

GLFI – Global Finance

The subdivision of sponsored conferences deals with over 300 conferences per year which

Societe Generale sponsors throughout the entire world. All contracts are verified and signed

by Audrey Blanch, my supervisor. Signing a contract can be a long process and it usually

starts 6-8 months before the event. However, there are also contracts signed at the last

moment. Negotiations concerning different contracts will be described later in the next

chapter devoted to missions performed during the internship.

Missions performed by an intern

During my internship I acquired different tasks, some of which were a daily routine

and some of which were punctual missions. Most of them enriched my professional

experience and allowed me to develop in events domain.

Email management

Nowadays, in every society email box is an indispensable, daily work tool. Because

Societe Generale takes every intern very seriously, the staff has prepared my desk as if I was a

regular employee : I got my email box with my name, my specific phone number and many

other facilities such as two screens to make my work easier and more efficient. At the

beginning, most of my emails came from my tutor, but with time I started to receive direct

emails from clients.

The main goal of sponsored conferences’ department is to be an intermediary between

Societe Generale’s business lines and conference organizer or different providers. Thus, most

of the emails rely on conveying the message between both sides. Once the contract for a

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conference is signed, I prepare Launch email (appendix 2) with all details regarding the

specific conference: date, venue, agenda and website with more information. Besides, it is

important to include all important information that is in the contract such as the number of

passes we bought, the exhibition space, speaker opportunities or branding level. As we often

send an official launch email few months before the conference and clients usually do ignore

it at the beginning, it is important to include “next steps” with all deadlines and actions that

have to be undertaken before the event. Usually it concerns sending a delegate list, speaker’s

information, deciding about the visuals for the stand and goodies proposition for an event.

This email is often addressed to communication managers of every business line which act as

a mediator between COMM/EVE department and the business lines clients.

The other type of an email is “Final details” email (appendix 3) which is sent few days before

the event to all participants and concerned managers. It recaps all necessary information about

the conference and the action of the Societe Generale during the event. It concerns basic

information of the event such as venue, date, program, and all information regarding Societe

Generale’s presence as stand place, goodies choices, brochures to be sent to the event or

tweets that are going to be used during the conference. Between Launch email and Final

details email the decision are made via emails, conference calls or face to face meetings.

Another type of email that I used a lot is “Feedback email” (appendix 3) which is sent the

next day after the conference is finished. It is a way to say thank you for all Societe

Generale’s participants as well as an opportunity to ask few questions concerning the event in

order to be more efficient the next year. Questions mostly concern the attendance – quality

and quantity, branding, presence of Societe Generale on the event (stand, speakers, cocktail)

and some more questions related to the conference.

Database performance – IC

The database is a shared computer structure that contains a set of data. It plays a key

role in any company in the development of a direct marketing strategy, which takes a

personalised commercial aspect. Without the database updated periodically, company’s

efforts would be useless and no business relationship or segmentation would be possible. In

the book Database Systems: Design, Implementation, and Management5, Steven Morris and

Peter Rob discuss the importance of a database for a company, “Good decisions require good

5 Coronel, Carlos; Morris, Steven; Rob, Peter, Database Systems: Design, Implementation, and Management,

Tenth Edition. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2013, p. 4.

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information that is derived from raw facts. These raw facts are known as data. Data are likely

to be managed most efficiently when they are stored in a database.”

For COMM/EVE department database program that we use is used mostly to have an overall

view of all conferences that we do, sponsor or participate in. My tasks were to update a

database in IC – our database program, by adding to the system new conferences, budget

validations, number of participants and all necessary information that allow having a general

idea about the conference. Taking into consideration that the updating of the database is one

of my daily task, I was trained at the beginning of the internship how to use the program

correctly. IC is a complex software, but also a logical and quite understandable one.

Therefore, a time and a lot of practice allowed me to become operational in this field. Every

three months we prepare the compliance report. Before that we need to close all past

conferences and update the final budget. In order to close the event in our database, I need to

bring up to date such information as:

title of the conference,

which business line participated in

the event,

the split of the budget,

the forecasted budget and the actual

budget,

cost centres used for the event,

COO responsible for validation,

attendee list,

attach COO’s validation and the

final attendee list.

Invoices

One of a casual, but also most troubling task during the internship was dealing with

accounting department. As most of my clients were from France, England or United States, I

was principally dealing with the account department in United Kingdom or in France. As for

the first one, the procedure was quite simple and efficient. I just needed to send an invoice via

email in which I indicated the conference, the number generated by our IC support which is

given to every conference that is created in the system as well as the business line’s split of

contribution. Then I could track the status of the invoice by sending a simple email with the

reference number. A little inconvenience was timing: regarding the fact that the account

department for United Kingdom and United States is situated in Bangalore in India, it was

hard to get the answer in the same day. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same thing about the

French accounting department. The invoice had to be sent by post, with the same kind of

information like for the English department. However, tracking the invoice was almost

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impossible. They never answer the phone, and never respond to the email. The answering

machine was giving the phone appointment in one week or more and it was impossible to

communicate the other way. The other problem was the lack of information. If the invoice

was for a new provider that did not exist in our database, no one communicated the lack of

information to process the invoice: the accounting department just left the invoice without

paying. During the first week of my internship my tutor asked me to follow the invoice from

November 2015 which should be paid long time ago and according to our provider, it was

never paid. I was astonished when I discovered that the account department never treated the

invoice because the copy had a paper clip. After asking the provider to send us the new

invoice, the other problem appeared. It was a new provider and first it had to be created in our

database. To sum up the work of French accounting department I can just say that is almost

the end of June and the invoice from November 2015 is still pending.

Paradoxically, on June 2016 Societe Generale was awarded with the title of the Large Group

Prompt Payment Prize at a ceremony held at the French Ministry of Finance as part of the 3rd

edition of the Prompt Payment Conference and Awards (Assies et des prix des délais de

paiment) under the patronage of the French President, François Hollande, and sponsored by

Emmanuel Macron, the Minister for the French Economy, Industry and Digital Sector.6

According to the official statement of Societe Generale and the French Ministry of Finance,

the award was given for the efforts made by the company by implementing 30 day payment

programme for suppliers.

Missions related to sponsored conferences

My internship focuses mainly on sponsored conferences. Societe Generale participates

in around 300-400 sponsored conferences throughout the world yearly. The contribution to

the event depends mostly on the contract we sign with the conference provider. Some of them

are just kind of agreement between the company and the organizer and propose a free speaker

or some passes for the conference. The standard ones include a booth, few passes and

branding. However, there are some big conferences during the year with a complex contract

and various additional options. The example of one of them will be given later on in the

section “Conference Organization”. The mission of sponsored conferences’ department is to

sign as much contracts as possible in order to give a great visibility of the company and to

promote the brand. However, it is necessary to choose the conferences wisely because the

6 http://www.societegenerale.com

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image of the company can be easily broken. Three main actions can be taken into account

regarding sponsored conferences:

Renewing annual contracts – As Societe Generale exists for more than 150 years it is

easy to remark that it appears at the same conferences since many years. In this case our

job is to ask business lines if they are still interested in renewing the contract, and after

their written validation, Audrey, my tutor and head of sponsored conferences, can sign

the same contract for the next year.

Proposing new conferences – Year after year there are many new conferences on the

market. Our task is to check if they are worth sponsoring, and which business line could

be potentially interested by going there. In this case it is indispensable to have a general

knowledge about every business line in Societe Generale and its missions. I can say that

after three months of internship at Societe Generale I have a general idea about few

business lines with whom we work a lot, but it is a long process and especially after the

fusion in January 2016 when COMM/EVE department merged to the group level, there

is nobody in the team that can say that know them all.

Finding new partners – It sometimes happens that we receive an internal demand for

finding new partners for specifics conferences. It can concern for example the research

for conferences in German speaking countries.

The following criteria must be taken into account before deciding whether to sponsor

conferences:

- The reasons for sponsoring commercially;

- The fact that the organizing company is recognized and has a good reputation;

- The reputation of other sponsors and co-organizers;

- Potential conflicts of interest or the risks associated with this sponsorship and advertising

that is made;

- The total cost of sponsorship.

Negotiations

During my internship I had to deal with different situations where I needed a

negotiation background. Various conference providers from diverse countries, internal clients

of Societe Generale with different culture backgrounds did not facilitate the task. As everyone

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wants to get as much profit as possible, every contract deal was a constant occasion to

bargain. Negotiation courses as well as Cross-Cultural Management class which I had at the

Paris Sorbonne University gave me some ideas which type of situations I can encounter while

negotiating in business. Nevertheless, there were a lot of unexpected situations where I had to

react under the pressure. Most of negotiations I consider as successful ones. It was mostly

small things concerning a discount for a pass for the conference, lower price for goodies,

deadlines for delivering etc. However, my first negotiation was a fiasco: my tutor asked me to

negotiate a discount for a contract that we renew year after year. This time the prices

increased by 3%. As we are a loyal partner I thought that it would be easy to negotiate the

same price, but it was not. It was a kind of a failure, but maybe thanks to that I was more

assertive after that.

Negotiations with people from different culture backgrounds could lead to many

misunderstandings. Among many small ones, there was one situation which marked my

experience. An internal client received an invitation to be a ‘guest speaker’ at the conference

in Israel that we never heard of. He forwarded me an email from the organizer and asked to

finish the deal. After few minutes of really gentle conversation I realized that we had a

different connotation of a word “guest” speaker. I was so used to conferences in Europe that I

took for granted that our internal client is invited to speak at the conference for free. However,

for my interlocutor it was obvious that a speaker need to pay. The deal fell through but I

consider it as a good lesson and perfect example of how cultural background affects our

perception.

Conference organization

At my first day of the internship my tutor just signed a contract for a big conference in

Berlin and told me that I would be responsible for its organization. From the beginning she

gave me a lot of responsibility which I did not have during my former internships. Knowing

that I coordinate by myself a whole process from the beginning till the end of the conference

was a huge challenge but also a great opportunity to test myself in different situations. The

most important thing in organizing conferences is deadline: one has to be constantly

conscious about different deadlines that come up and be able to keep eye on internal clients to

get important information on time. As Societe Generale organizes around 300-400 sponsored

conferences per year it is obvious that one person is responsible for many conferences at the

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same time. It also often happens that there are two conferences at the same day, which arrived

me twice. Another important factors of the conference organization are:

- having in mind all important information indicated in a contract,

- having a validation of the budget from the COO of a business line,

- remembering which business line participate in which conference and using an

appropriate logo of Societe Generale ( Societe Generale as a group, Societe Generale

Security Services, Societe Generale Investment Banking, Adequity and more)

- taking care of a good branding of a company on the conference,

- supervising invoices that usually have to be paid before the beginning of a

conference,

- updating clients about any changes in the program,

- sending important information to people concerned and their supervisors.

The biggest challenge during my internship was to organize a three-day conference in Berlin

where 3 different business lines sponsored the event. Societe Generale was an official sponsor

of water battles as well as it organized a draw game where participants could win a rugby

jersey signed by Alll Black rugby player Ali Williams. My duty was to ensure that the stand

had a good visual, that it would be on time for the conference and that it suited to organizer

instructions. I was responsible for sending goodies proposals and taking care of an order. I

also coordinated printing of rugby draw cards, brochures, booking a hostess for a stand,

booking a transport and delivery. It was a fruitful experience which reassured me that I could

continue my professional path in the event coordination area.

Apart from the FundForum conference in Berlin I was responsible for many more

smaller conferences in Paris and Europe. Regarding the fact that every conference is different

in terms of contract and organization, the process of preparation varied a lot. Thanks to the

fact that it was not a mechanical, repeated process, every time I needed to find my own way to

accomplish the task.

Impact of the internship on my future path

If I had to summarize the internship in few words, I would say it perfectly suited the

theoretical part I learnt at the University at several levels:

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From a professional point of view, having evolved in an international and multicultural

environment allowed me to use my linguistic skills, namely English and French, and apply

my knowledge related to theories. I have, moreover, acquired new English and French terms

specific to the banking sector, logistics, marketing and business. In addition, during my

internship, Societe Generale has made its best to give me the same comfort of work as for the

other normal workers. The equipment such as two screens or a private number may seem

trivial but they have made my work comfortable.

From a personal point of view, I consider this internship as a real preparation for a

professional life. Internship at Societe Generale gave me a vision, both clear and profound, of

the necessities for all companies: work efficiency, sense of priorities, respect of deadlines, the

importance of team work and also many organisational aspects that will allow me to start my

career. The diversity of tasks that I have accomplished and trust that my internship tutor gave

me were an additional motivation. The Master of International Trade crowned by the

internship at Societe Generale brought me to what I was looking for: an enriching experience

of entering the gates of the active life with ambition and determination.

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Conclusion

As Societe Generale is a massive multinational company, I had the opportunity to do

my internship in a cross-cultural environment, which allowed me to use my language abilities

and to put my communication skills into practice. In fact, as a member of the Event

Coordination department in which I was fully integrated during 6 months, I was given

important assignments in the field of event management and direct business communication.

Upon my arrival my supervisor gave me all their confidence, for example, I was completely in

charge of the management of mailings and coordination of a big sponsored conference in

Berlin. My ideas were indeed heard, they took into account my opinion.

During this internship, I learned a lot: the first and most important is corporate life.

Then I was able to have an overview of operation of the Event Coordination department of a

company, what are the methods to manage the events and collaborate with clients, speakers

and different conference providers. I discovered several concepts that I did not know until

now, but also I could check the theory learnt at the university in the real situations in the

company.

Working at Societe Generale gave me the opportunity not only to familiarize with logistic

department, but also to collaborate with different departments such as marketing department,

financial department or press department. The diversity of work and constant challenges made

my internship unforgettable and rich in experience.

Before starting my internship at Societe Generale, I had doubts as to whether my missions

met the criteria of the Master International Trade. These concerns quickly disappeared when I

realized to which point I could put into practice the knowledge acquired during my studies at

the Sorbonne University, both in languages, project management, communication and

negotiation.

Thanks to the internship at Societe Generale and the previous internship at Efma as an

Event coordinator, I finally discovered in what area I really want to focus my career.

My internship allowed me to deal with various tasks but the most it concerned missions

related to event organisation. It was a really complete experience that will definitely help me

to find my way and I truly believe that it will give me strong assets for my future career.

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Bibliography

- Annual Financial Report 2014, Societe Generale

- Consolidated Financial Statements 2015

- Ivey Business Journal , The top ten ways that culture can affect international

negotiations, http://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/the-top-ten-ways-that-culture-can-

affect-international-negotiations

- Cohen, Raymond , Negotiating Across Cultures: Communication Obstacles in

International Diplomacy, (Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press, 1991.

- Geert Hofstede, Gert Jan Hofstede and Michael Minkov: Cultures and Organizations:

Software of the Mind, New York: McGraw-Hill USA, 2010

- Deresky, Helen: International Management: Managing Across Borders and Cultures, 8th

Edition, Chapter 3 and 4

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Appendicies