This is a digitization effort to preserve a 22-week physical record of my Industry Based Learning (IBL) journal. The original content was part of one of my first website efforts – hosted on the now defunct DezzaNet ISPs personal home page platform. View the journal index on my main Coles Myer (IBL) page.
Monday 6 August, 2001
Today, having spent some portion of my weekend reading up past project material, I worked solidly with my supervisor to prepare a draft copy of a strategic summary report on the Coles Call Traffic Analysis project. Starting work at the usual pre- 8am, I stayed in ’til 5:20pm in order to complete the work. The morning half – until my supervisor arrived – was relaxing – checking emails, etc… The afternoon was however, quite important – and the overall work completed made me feel quite productive.
Tuesday 7 August, 2001
With my supervisor on leave from Thursday, we really had to continue with the report and send out a ‘final copy’ to the Coles top management. In between, during lunchtime, my Monash Uni supervisor (one of them) came for his first visit to check on how well I had settled in and the kind of work I was doing. Overall, his impression is very positive – my supervisor praising my efforts. We finally completed the final report by 3:00pm and I left at my regular 4:00pm end-time.
Wednesday 8 August, 2001
This morning was spent at the Crown Casino – Paladium venue – where a Cisco Systems seminar/presentation was held. I was attending to ‘keep up with technology’ as people in the industry say. Meeting up with a couple of my IBL friends, we had brunch at the Casino food court – before journeying into work in time for lunch. The afternoon was spent with my supervisor, covering the tasks that would preoccupy my time while she would be able.
2017 reflection: Vendor conferences and events are part of the industry rhythm. Coles Myer as a retailer is not a telecommunications company, but because of its sheer size and market power, has unique opportunities in adopting technologies which offer economies of scale in reducing operational costs. Coles Myer is also unique in that its retail network is dispersed nationally, which poses the challenge of utilising technology which can service both metropolitan and rural regions.
Thursday 9 August, 2001
Today involved two presentations in the city – the morning one at Ericsson (Melbourne Central) and the afternoon one at Alcatel (Exhibition St). The purpose of my attending was to prepare myself for the evaluation of responses to our RFP (Request For Proposal) next week. The whole day’s ‘outings’ were very educational, with the Hoddle St team lunch being Japanese food.
2017 reflection: My love affair with Japanese food could probably be described as fledgling in those days of 2001.
Friday 10 August, 2001
With a combination of tiredness and completion of the work for the week, I only worked for 3 hours and took the rest of the time off. Leaving at 11am, I visited an IBL friend before heading back home… The weekend was spent doing some Internet research and reading of preparation materials.