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Two UC interns playing crucial roles in helping grow Airways NZ

Wednesday 28 November 2012, 12:54PM

By University of Canterbury

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Deima Slapsinkaite and Anna Howley
Deima Slapsinkaite and Anna Howley Credit: University of Auckland

Two University of Canterbury (UC) interns are playing small but crucial roles in helping grow Airways New Zealand globally.

Airways manages New Zealand’s controlled airspace, handling over one million plane movements annually. Linda Smith, Airways New Zealand’s strategic development manager, said UC marketing interns Deima Slapsinskaite and Anna Howley are involved in two key marketing projects.

Howely is creating and organising Airways’ entire corporate presence at the largest world air traffic controllers trade show event in Madrid next February.

``This year’s show will be bigger than ever for us, including new product announcements. It takes strong organisational skill and the knack for getting to the “key messages” in order to make a trade show work, and I have confidence that Anna will make it happen for us.

``Deima’s critical market research project is allowing us to pinpoint our target markets for a new aviation billing software product. She’s applied her very strong analytical capability and some statistical analysis she learned at UC to bring together disparate information into a cohesive story.’’

Slapsinkaite said her summer internship comprised several research projects which would be gradually added as she progressed her research.

``Airways want to find new global clients for their new software product but they currently lack the research data when it comes to tackling potential clients. The management is relying on the data collected during my internship to pursue future businesses.

``This is the real world and I have to work with what I have by applying analytical thinking. Working closely with my colleagues, I have learned how to apply various filters to sort data and came up with alternative ways on how to get missing information while working with the data I have.

``The data collected and the research that I will put together by the end of the summer period will update the Airways current data and it will be used for future purposes. My research will help to identify the key potential clients that the Airways will pursue future business with as well as help with upcoming projects.’’

Howley said her work on developing the Airways corporate presence at the Madrid trade show provided an exciting opportunity to get involved in an industry she had never thought of entering.

``The aim is to stimulate future communications with our target audience. The exhibition allows the company to strengthen relationships with our existing clients and connect with potential customers in attendance who are the business decision makers, military and CEOs in the global aviation industry.

``Airways New Zealand intends to utilise the event to display and sell the new innovations and services that the company has developed and assist in the positioning of the company as an active player in the market.

``I am enjoying the challenge of working in an environment and industry I never thought of entering. It is exciting to be involved in a company that is making some positive changes to develop and nurture entrepreneurial spirit.’’

Smith said the two UC interns had worked hard and made a great impression.

``I’ve always been impressed with the calibre of the UC candidates who work for us and have hired more than a few of them on completion of their programme. I’m equally impressed with the candidates we’re working with again this year. They’re intelligent, confident enough to challenge the team, and eager to make a difference.

``Both students have quickly become valuable contributors to our team, having to come up some pretty steep learning curves. Anna is working on how to demonstrate our world class aviation product portfolio in Madrid. Deima is looking at our billing software to help us grow our business around the world.’’