Goodbye Scandinavia

After completing our visit to Estonia we boarded an overnight cruise ship to head off to Stockholm, Sweden. The cruise ship featured a very nice buffet dinner with unlimited wine and beer served throughout. Many individuals took advantage of this and as a result slept very peacefully throughout the voyage to Stockholm.

Upon Arriving in Stockholm our first business visit was to Conversionista. This was one of my favorite visits because I found the information presented to be very useful. One of the important things that the owner stressed in his lecture was the importance of behavioral analysis of the end user on your website. He used an example that studied people’s eye movement on webpages and how different layouts affected their interaction with the pages. He also discussed ideas that were already well known to us as graduate students like A/B testing.

Conversionista

The next business visit was Ericsson. Ericsson’s main focus was on 5G technology and becoming a leader in 5G wireless technology. The most exciting part of the visit was the ericsson studio. It was here where they demonstrated all of their latest ideas and technologies. The tour guide showcased different things including real time public transport mapping, and also interesting virtual reality technology.

Waiting in Ericsson Lobby
Ericsson Studio

Another business visit in Stockholm was to Sinch. Sinch focuses on enhanced digital messaging for consumers. They operate business to business and are responsible for the features of many of the popular messaging apps that people are using today.

Sinch Headquarters

After this, we headed off to Copenhagen. From Copenhagen we took a bus to Malmö to visit a couple other businesses. These included Saab and Trelleborg. Saab manufactures defense airplanes, ships and submarines. Trelleborg manufactures all sorts of different seals. Both of these visits were very interesting.

Waiting in Stockholm for Plane
Turning Torso, Malmö
SAAB
Trelleborg

After this, we headed back to Copenhagen for a couple more business visits. We went to Maersk and also Mikkeller brewing company. Maersk had extremely nice facilities with models of their ships throughout the headquarters. Mikkeller was a craft brewing company located directly accross from Carlsberg (A mass produced beer). The employees at Mikkeller were extremely laid back and had a very welcoming vibe. They also provided us with free beer samples.

Maersk
Mikkeller

The final stop was Tivoli Gardens for the farewell dinner. After a long trip, everyone was ready for a nice meal together. After the dinner, some people headed home while others remained in Europe to continue their adventures. Overall the trip proved to be very insightful into the Scandinavian business culture. It was good to see how different many things are in Scandinavia versus the US.

Tivoli Garden Fairwell Dinner
Fairwell Dinner