Since the three of us MBA students are doing independent research, we had a rare class today to listen to the presentation of Stephen Ryan, Marketing Director of FOTA Wildlife Park. He gave us a lot of history about Ireland as well as information about his position.
They believe in having an interactive experience with the community. Their social networks allow users to upload pictures, photos, and blog entries of their experience at the wildlife park, which is then shared with everyone else to "like". In fact, they have over 102,000 photos tagged from other users. Through this marketing, they are gaining more visitors. Traffic went up 20% in the first year that they created their social profiles.
In the afternoon, we went to the European Union Parliament, where Ryan Meilak gave us an extensive presentation. The EU is set up in three institutions, the Parliament, Commission, and Council of Ministers and went over the responsibilties of each component.
After the EU, we went on a walking tour that allowed for me to see Old Town, by far my favorite part of Brussels so far. The architecture reminded me of Paris as there were no new skyscrapers or modern office buildings. My favorite part of Old Town was called the Grand Place Market, which was this square surrounded by incredible architecture.
