Every year the Consuls and Vice-Consuls that work at the U.S. Consulate General in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico suspend their daily operations in order to treat their staff to a fun and dynamic training day. These are usually held at one of the points of interest around Ciudad Juárez, where they prepare activities aimed to serve as leadership training exercises and, simultaneously, build better work relations with their co-workers. This year, they decided to visit Technology Hub, housed in the same building complex where the U.S. Consulate General used to stand 11 years ago, thus making it the perfect setting for a day full of nostalgia, learning, and excitement.
After a hearty breakfast consisting of pan de muerto, coffee and burritos, the 150 consular staff members in attendance assembled in the Steve Jobs Auditorium. Once settled, the group was addressed by Consular Chief Laurie Trost who took the stage to deliver the opening remarks. Afterward, Technology Hub CEO Ricardo Mora was welcomed to the stage. He spoke a little about how Technology Hub came to be, what it has achieved thus far and finished up with a small overview of the multiple projects currently in the works. As the welcoming activities came to a conclusion, the consular members were divided into teams to receive a tour by members of T-Hub’s staff. The visitors were led around to the different buildings around Technology Hub; “It's incredible how much it changed, I used to work right over there!” expressed one of the visitors as they pointed to the area where the front desk now stands within the building now known as Mega. “It is amazing what Mr. Mora did with this place, and now we're allowed to take pictures!” joked another one. All around you could hear similar comments on how things used to be when the U.S. Consulate General tended to its business 5 minutes away from the border.
Once the tours were over and everyone went down the slide that starts on the second floor of the Tera building, the U.S. Consulate General’s team members proceeded to receive presentations from Entrepreneur Anel López González and Mechatronics CEO Javier Acosta.
At the same time, other members of the consular team were taking part in a training exercise that taught them how to better explain visa and consular service procedures and processes to applicants and the general public. There were three other team-building activities to enhance and refresh their leadership skills. However, and perhaps more importantly, they served to promote better relationships between the members of the consular staff.
Finally, they concluded their activities with an outreach video project and a small award ceremony for the day’s group leaders. It was our true pleasure to have them over and we extend an invitation to anyone wishing to come and experience Technology Hub, where history and innovation have come together connecting minds and us to a brighter future.
Brenda Ruiz Lopez
Storytelling@t-hub.mx