NYC 2017 @mstraub4-blog - Tumblr Blog

The video is a big file so I will upload it in sections:)

Hi, this blog has the sole purpose of explaining my trip with EduTravel For Credit to New York City! Full of touristy things or international business concepts! How fun! Oh I almost forgot to mention! I’m Mackenzie, the blonde on the left and this is my very good friend and partner for this trip Jamie (you’ll see her in quite a few pictures). Happy reading!

Day 1 - Grand central station + UN presentation + Macy’s tour + improv night

International business concept of the day! Marketing! Today we explored the most extravagant, magical and not to mention the biggest store in the world. Macy’s, with a whopping 10 floors, this store contains so many things that anyone with any type of taste can find exactly what they’re looking for. It was very interesting to learn about how much research, time and effort goes into what seems to be the littlest details such as fragrance and music. The catch to that is that those minimalistic details actually have a huge impact on the general public and how Macy’s sells their products.

Everything in the store is designed according to demographics, what kind of population shops in the store, knowing what that population likes or tends to gravitate to all in order to sell more products. Our tour guide, Todd, was explaining to us the science behind the structure of the main floor. The entrance was mostly centralized around women and their shopping tendencies and behaviors. He explained that women tend to shop in diagonal patterns and that according to their studies, women tend to like to participate in the action of buying and being the most involved possible and they enjoy louder music. So, the women’s section is centralized around those studies in order to sell more products. While the men’s section is entirely different, because again it appeals to a different demographic of people.

The same rule applies internationally. A Macy’s in Spain would not be laid out the same way it is in America because the customers are different. The marketing behind this store absolutely blew me away, you could really apply this to any company that has a store or is selling a product in another place. Your marketing tactics must be coherent with your demographics in order to appeal to the customers you are trying to sell your product to.

On the touristy side of things… The day began with a short conference period and a decently long bus ride to Grand Central Station. Walking into one of the most remarkable places of New York my only thought was that one scene from Madagascar. Great thoughts. After spending an obnoxious amount of money on a slice of pizza and gawking at the gorgeous architecture of the building in its entity, we moved onto the UN presentation. Located on the second floor of a small indie book store cafe was Philipe and Dr. Lee. Philipe. The presentation was really a matter of preference in the sense that people like me really enjoyed learning about the UN ordeals and others really enjoyed the comfy chairs, the warm environment and the wifi. Up next we witnessed the biggest store in the world; Macy’s. Other than the business part with our fabulous tour guide Todd, the visit went by really quick. We all did some shopping, although personally I felt a little guilty for being susceptible to their marketing techniques. Go Macy’s for coasting me into your gorgeous shoe section and convincing me into buying a pair of red velvet heels. Following our shopping experience we attended a hilarious, unique, a tad bit controversial and certainly different improv show. All in all, New York you’ve made for a great day.

Day 2: Snow Day + Cotton Club

Well, looks like we travelled 8 hours just to get back home. Yay snow storms. The snow gave the illusion to the americans that an apocalypse was upon us. To us Canadians it seemed pretty ridiculous to declare a state of emergency because of a little blanket on the street. Oh well, in this whole situation many places made profits on this day and many others didn’t. Most of the city was shut down because of the minimal amount of flurries. This obviously hindered many businesses by driving off customers, if the businesses themselves even bothered open. On the other side of things, the big box store really profited form the New Yorkers short period of frenzy. Our tour guides Ahmed and Shelique visited Walmart and were bombarded by cabin fever feared americans. This created a huge score for the box stores because everyone was loading up on “emergency” supplies.

The highlight of the day included supper at The Cotton Club. The food was amazing (the broccoli was mouthwatering), as well as the company, Jamie and I had a wonderful dinner at a table for 2. The club in itself was awesome, red velvet walls and mirrors on every corner, it was a very cool vibe. Of course there was live music and all the girls go up to dance our hearts out to the blues beat. Definitely one of the most remarkable nights that I’ve ever experienced. Point EduTravel.

Day 3: Brooklyn Bridge + SOHO

International business concept of the day! Exchange rates! While visiting SOHO and their many stores and businesses I picked up on a few things. Being one of the most renown places for shopping in the world, the SOHO community must provide their products and services to people form all over the world. This meaning that they deal with many different currencies every day. Even I as a Canadian had to deal with some of the challenges with the currency exchanges. Every store I entered I asked if they took Canadian money, none did. Then I proceeded to ask if they took any other currencies and the vast majority only accepted payment in american dollars (they were all also interested in seeing if Canadian money actually looked like monopoly money; surprise, it does). I found it odd that these companies that operate in international markets not to mention an extremely diverse one like this, that they did not accept other currencies. It was very interesting to think that all these people who worked at these more or less high end stores weren’t required to practice any exchange rates.

On the touristy side of things… Today my friends and I looked the most touristy I think we have this whole trip. During our walk on the Brooklyn Bridge everyone had their cameras out, trying to photograph every moment of this bitterly windy day. Even though the clouds hid the sun, the walk was still without a doubt one of the most gorgeous views of New York. We even waved to lady liberty!

After our chilly walk we headed to SOHO where we all split up for some shopping time. Jamie and I ended up stopping at the cutest little cafe on our way to some of the most renown stores in north America. Oh the shopping! Being from a small town of approximately 4,000 people, we don’t even have a mall. Personally I love to shop so this piece of the trip was heaven for me. We visited our stores for our projects (mine was Aritzia and Jamie’s Urban Outfitters) and strolled the streets of SOHO with our bags of newly purchased clothes ands beloved shoes. What a day.

Day 4: Harbor presentation + Museum of American Finance + 9/11 + Islanders game

International business concept of the day! Imports and exports! Today we visited The Seamen’s Church Institute where they spoke to us about the New York Port of Authority. This port is the largest import/export port in north America. Tons and tons of things pass through this port every year, cellular phones from China, clothes from Bangladesh, and most of the things we use in our everyday lives. Shipping goods is the most efficient was to import and export goods to and from the international community, not to mention the environmental benefits that go along with it.

On the touristy side of things… Post harbour presentation we made our way to the American Museum of Finance and pretended to be traders for an hour (very cool activity EduTravel). Next up was the 9/11 memorial and the mood dimmed down for the day. I don’t think the reality of 9/11 ever set into us (2000-2001 babies) since we were so young, we were all aware of the tragedy but never really understood it in depth. Many faced dimmed walking along the edge of the monument, so many names, so many people who died beneath our feet almost 16 years ago. Following the monument tour was a visit to the museum. The museum very much put into perspective the monuments outside, really explaining what happened, what they did about it, how they overcame the tragedy and how they literally rose from the ashes of the Twin Towers.

Later on, we all pilled into the bus and made our way across the city for an Islanders game. I love hockey, what better way to brigten spirits after the museum. We made some really nice amercian friends, who are the same age as us so we got to learn about their school system, how they do things, whats acceptable in their lives. It was really cool to see how different things here are form at home. Oh and the Jets won :)

Day 5: Transit museum + Central Park + Broadway show

International business concept of the day! Tourism! Ah Central Park. The eye soar of New York. The beauty of the park is definitely not taken advantage of by the locals. This being more of a domestic business never fails to appeal to the most touristy international travellers. Between the amount of tours, horse and buggy rides, food vendors and souvenir shops filled with I ❤️ NY t-shirts. The tourism industry of New York is one to be spoken of on its own but Central Park is something different. The vendors and tour guides have become a staple that foreigners look for and expect from the Central Park experience. Although we did not get to go into the Central Park Zoo this is also a huge highlight on tourists trips to Central Park. Not only is the park gorgeous and gives a little life to the concrete jungle that is New York, it’s an industry of it’s own.

On the touristy side of things… The transit museum was like a blast from the past, in train car form! Going through the train cars was like taking a time machine through the decades. The amount of people that have sat on those benches blew my mind! How early on in the 1900s they were able to construct these underground pathways was so incredibly awesome, go humanity.

Oh Central Park, between the Home Alone fountain to John Lennon’s Imagine, I couldn’t imagine a more beautiful piece of New York. Although I was a little disappointed that Central Perk from Friends doesn’t really exist, I still loved to walk through the paths that Rachel and Pheobe would’ve ran through.

BROADWAY! Come From Away absolutely knocked my socks off! If you aren’t aware, Come From Away is a play about when 9/11 occurred and all the flights that were in the air during the attack had to land in Gander Newfoundland, a small town of only 7,000 people. The play depicts how the locals cope and accommodate thousands of people over the course of 3 days and nights and how everyone deals with how their world is falling apart. As a Canadian I found the references hilarious and very well written. I lived out east for a couple months and so the show made me feel very at home, the dialects, the slang, all so familiar and comforting. Also, since we visited the 9/11 memorial yesterday I was able to understand and contextualize what was going on in the plot. Nothing better than a Broadway show about Canadians being Canadians, New York’s history and one of the biggest events to shake our earth. Not to mention Sarah Jessica Parker watched it only a couple rows in front of us too (very very cool!).

Well, that’s all folks. A great trip with great memories and even greater friends. Thanks EduTravel for making it all possible, oh and I guess mom and dad too :)

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