Over the summer, I interned at International Center of Photography (ICP). I was mainly working on ICP’s two-year strategic planning project – Vision 2022, and I was reporting directly to the COO. My workstream was related to revenue growth – more specifically, exploring new revenue opportunities in China.

ICP is the world’s leading institution dedicated to photography and visual culture. Its mission is to champion “concerned photography”—socially- and politically-minded images that can educate and change the world. Over the past couple of years, ICP had some great experiences engaging with the Chinese audience, including a photography contest in partnership with Huawei and a travel exhibition at Tsinghua University. The leadership team believes the China market represents a huge yet under-explored opportunity for ICP. Enhancing presence in the photography and modern art space in China aligns with ICP’s mission. On a practical level, ICP has been severely impacted by the pandemic. Its art museum has been shut down for months and its photography school is making just a fraction of its usual revenue. Many employees were laid off and the organization is in desperate need of additional revenue to compensate the loss of income due to COVID-19. The initiative identified in the project is expected to bring substantial revenue for ICP.

The skillsets and knowledge I learned from my MBA degree were highly applicable and useful to the job. For instance, the concepts and way of thinking that I learned in Strategy Formulation enabled me to draw insights and recommendations from complex market, customer, and competitive data. Another example was that I applied the communication skills learned from The Leader’s Voice, which was especially helpful when I was presenting the findings to the senior management (e.g., COO and executive director) of ICP.

One of the key challenges I faced was during the implementation of the initiative. After identifying the key initiative to focus on, in this case, licensing partnership with a local Chinese agency, I volunteered to reach out to the agency and see if there’s an opportunity for collaboration. I tried various means to get the contact person and information but constantly hit roadblocks. Firstly, the agency’s official website was down, and we were unable to get any contact information. Secondly, I checked on other related websites and platforms, but the information was not valid. Additionally, I cold emailed/messaged people working for that agency leveraging LinkedIn but heard no response. One solution came to mind when all those means were not successful. While conducting research on the agency, I noticed that it had already partnered with museums such as the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. I shared this insight with my supervisor and asked her if she or ICP had any connections with relevant people in these organizations that might help us connect with the agency. I proactively suggested that I can draft emails and follow up with the relevant people. Eventually, through many chains of email, I was able to connect with the head of licensing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, who introduced us to the CEO of the agency.

My biggest takeaway is that whenever a roadblock is encountered, always take a step back and see if there are other creative, think-out-of-the box ways to tackle the problem. Another important learning was always being proactive in communicating with the supervisor regarding roadblocks, various options going forward, and actionable next steps. Supervisors can offer more support this way. Overall, I had a great summer working with my supervisor and ICP. Thanks Tamer Center for offering such a wonderful opportunity.