Business Trip for a Remote Intern

On a lucky Friday, I was meeting with my supervisor and other close contact within iteach. While I was in the middle of my research, they surprised me asking if I wanted to join the founder and VP of iteach on a business trip to a prospective city. The trip was only for a day, and it was that coming Monday. I quickly jumped at the opportunity and was on a plane two days later. This trip would entail meeting with a state representative from a state as well as a tour of the capitol building. They were trying to bring legislation to the general assembly allowing iteach to operate and certify teachers. We even ran into many people of importance. I watched the VP pitch those people on why we were there with fact sheets and an explanation. One of iteach’s goals is to become legally used in all states. They currently are only approved by law in about 10. The legislation behind teacher certification is different in every state. This means that they need state reps to bring bills and other legislation that can allow them to work in other states.

Upon landing in the city, I met up with the founder of iteach and then was picked up by the vice president. They explained to me how the meetings usually go as well as their strategy for them. My two superiors explained their tactic in a way that seems to work very well due to their chemistry. This has a lot to do with their traits in the way that they lead and represent the company. The founder was extremely relatable to the representative and used that to appeal to her. She found things in common between the two. The VP was very agreeable in her approach as well with a sprinkle of continuousness. She appealed to the rep with storytelling as well as facts paired with them. Her attention to detail always brought the conversation back on track. This allowed for the representative to understand and take in all the necessary information while side banter appealed to her emotionally. Because of this, the meeting went extremely well, and she is hopefully going to carry the bill to the general assembly when they are in session next.