What’s Inside ?

What’s behind the Support Team? Teams bring fun... The flying Dutchman Photography contest Travelling around OPC:

Sweden

Karaoke Cultural Activities Open doors day Anecdote of the month

October 2012

What’s behind the

EEAT Newsletter—October 2012 Page 2

What would the OPC do without the SS&S (Sales Support and Systems) team? If you´ve not asked before, it´s because you don´t yet really know what our daily tasks are… so let us enlighten you... Many of you remember us when the printer or computer doesn´t work, and although we always try to help you resolve these types of problems, really these aren´t our day to day roles.

As our name clearly explains, we solve problems and maintain many systems and applications that the OPC team uses.

Our role is to predominantly participate in the lifestyle of leads, the file generation, the preparation and loading of our database & Reporting. In these giant forms of information that we have available (MCD for AD and worked cases for TS) it is the responsibility of our team to cleanse such data in order to abide by AmEx protocols, and ultimately allow you to call our perspective or existing

merchants. Another part of our function in this cycle is that when you have managed to affiliate an AmEx agreement and the merchant has started billing, we can pull and put to-gether reports for the OPC management, and thanks to this data they can calculate periodically your incentives. In addition we also collaborate with other departments, such as the case with SS&D and Strategic Alliances. We participate in different project launches of applications or discussions about those tools we currently use: the design, implementation & checks – such as was the case with the new recording of calls for TS. Another example is the work we have been doing on the integration of our BBDD and the Dialer with MerchantForce and the project implementation and change of AQS for the TS Teams.

Antonio, Pilar y Antón

Page 3 EEAT Newsletter—October 2012

Support Team? On the other side of things, we also generate over 20 reports (be it weekly or monthly) and many of these have been newly created by SS&S since we have been working together as a team, in order to adapt and improve reporting for you. Such reports, can follow an employee’s journey as much as the merchants that he or she manages or affiliates to accept AmEx and these reports combine the collective work of nearly

100 OPC team members.

Some of these reports, as we mentioned, are run weekly for WTH, AD & TS. In these reports, they include data such as signature, market origin, OPC responsible team member, rejection reason, type of company etc – all combining the operational values with the benefit to the company, or to be used in our “one to one´s” with our team leaders.

Also, in the Acquisition Dashboard, there is monthly

reporting for TS & WTH, where we store the KPI´s per market, by function, sales m a n a g e me n t a n d carryover at individual level.

Now we have available our first work in progress, which is similar to the above, for the OPC CLMs. We also have prepared a report regarding Reactivation for AD, and lastly for Portfolio Management since just the last couple of months, which elaborates upon the Chains Summary report. If there is anything which characterizes our team, it is the continuing effort and hard work that we constantly inject to complete tasks such as these within the required time frames for our Management and ultimately give the OPC results of an excellent quality.

Teams bring fun to the Town Hall

Page 4 EEAT Newsletter—October 2012

At the beginning of the year the whole area of OPC had been informed that, with the goal of improving processes and results oriented communication, and in order to give more visibility to individual and team achievements, the Management had

the intention of organizing 4 Town Halls during the current year, 2 of a half a day and 2 lasting the full working day.

Following this information, on the 5th October the third Town Hall of the year took place, the second lasting half a day. Along the weeks anticipating the event, our Team Leaders informed us that this Town Hall was aimed towards a higher

involvement of all the team members, for them to directly participate in communicating their areas’ results, presenting the members of OPC and

highlighting the main achievements reached during the last months: the general objective was to grant us with the opportunity of taking responsibility to

recognize our colleagues and give information about our successful tasks to every OPC member, who daily give contribution to GMS.

The event began with an introduction carried out by Vivi and Julia, who opened the Town Hall by providing insight concerning the latest results and reinforcing

the success that the area is currently achieving, despite the economic crisis. Afterwards, representatives for each department (WTH, Telesales, PM, AD, the

Support Team, and also the EEAT Team) had the chance of providing us with more details concerning their achievements and their activities in general. At the end,

Alfredo intervened with the goal of closing the event and answering our questions. From 13.00 to 14.00, after the Town Hall, the whole area had the opportunity of

eating together, in order to exchange ideas and comments.

The general opinion was that the active participation of members from each team certainly had a positive impact in the development of the Town Hall, because it turned the event in something much more dynamic and interactive compared to

previous editions. Without any doubt, it would be positive to maintain this kind of participation in future occasions.

Michael habló con Lauren y la foto ha sido

tomada por Lauren.

EEAT Newsletter—October 2012 Page 5

Michael-The Flying Dutchman From Rotterdam & Dublin, to the South of France and then jet setting to a life in Madrid! Our Dutch colleague Michael Schipper has taken some time to tell us about his life, his loves and how he ended up here in Spain as well as his Blue Box journey. Originally from Rotterdam, our WTH colleague has had a rather adventurous and interesting life to end up where he is today! Michael has been with AmEx more than a decade & has used his career not only to gain different skills, but also to satisfy one of his biggest passions: Travel. His first AmEx role was in his local Rotterdam office, where he worked within the Corporate Business Travel (CBT) team. Although he loves Rotterdam (and openly admits he prefers it to Amsterdam – “you must visit!” he tells me) he found himself in a tricky position travelling between the Netherlands and … Dublin. Why Dublin though?

Well, like many “extranjeros” Michael´s journey circled around a romance, with his now wife. The two started their relationship as pen pals (there was no such thing as Facebook then!) and wrote to one another from afar, before Michael made his first trip to Dublin to meet her. After a few years of travel, they decided to move and opted for the neutral ter-ritory of Southern France, where Michael secured another role in AmEx working for the UK CBT Team. (His English is excellent and the third language he speaks fluently!) After a year in France, it seemed that they were edging closer to Spain “in search of some sunshine” and shortly after the couple made the move to his wife´s home city of Madrid, where Michael transferred with AmEx again, to work within the Establishment Services Team, which he did for nearly seven and half years. “2011 was a turbulent year for us all…” he recalls, “…what with project Marina” but an opportunity opened up to join the OPC Dutch WTH team and not to miss it, Michael hastily applied and was indeed successful. Now well established in his role, he recalls some of the happiest things that have happened in the last year or so, and definitely the most exciting was the arrival of his son “Dylan” 15 months ago. (He reaches for his mobile to show me a photo and I can assure you, that he certainly looks like a happy little chappy!) Despite the sleepless nights a small child brings, Mi-chael still arrives for work with a smile intact and his colleagues openly describe him as “a great guy, funny, a fountain of knowledge” and the one who “makes it happen!” And the romantic that he is, Michael´s life motto is “A day without love is a day not lived”.

In his spare time, Michael loves exploring his surroundings and seeing the world, and tells us about his love for Ibiza. His fellow Dutch colleague Fred describes him as “The Dutch guy who is now very Spanish”! Michael´s other top destination is the United States (so AmEx fits well!). But if he were lucky enough to find himself on a desert island, he told us that he would be sure to take the family, a whiskey & coke and a hamper of his Spanish favourites like Croquetas & Albondigas!

EEAT Newsletter—October 2012 Page 6

Photography Contest: The best vision of the Summer

It´s likely that most of us captured photos this summer, from vacations or excursions, a day at the beach, a trip to a local town with the family or the trip you´d been waiting all winter for… The EEAT team, are offering the chance to showcase these memories and we want you to send yours to us so that we can share them and relive your best or most significant ones! We´re sure that there are some really interesting ones as well as the culturally diverse. There are no particular rules to participate, we´ll accept all of your photos that you would be happy to share with us, be it for their beauty or just because you like them. Once we receive these images, we are hoping to share them with the OPC and the winner will be chosen to be the next cover image for the December edition of the E-Newsletter to brighten up those December days! Not bad eh? Good luck in searching for your favourite! We´re hoping to receive lots of submissions so that we have to work hard to find the best one – and we´re sure you won´t make it easy for us to choose! eeatteam@aexp.com

¡No te hagas el sueco!** Sweden is part of the Scandinavian Penin-sula and though it is almost as big as Spain it is only inhabited by 9.5 million people. As you see by the pictures Sweden is a country

of four very distinctive seasons and being so close to the polar circle makes the winters long and dark and the summer shorter but with a lot of light. Considering Swedes are known for being Vi-kings they are actually very humble and friendly. Did you know…

The Stockholm archipelago has between 30 000 and 35 000 islands. Among the Swedish inventions you can find; dynamite, tetra pack, pacemaker, adjustable

spanner, Ball Bering and . One of the Swedish national dishes actually is fermented (rotten) herring “surströmming”, that has been considered the most repugnant odour of food in the world. Sweden has an indigenous group of more or less 20,000 people in the north that has lived there since prehistoric times. Some of the historically biggest music groups in the world ABBA and Roxette are Swedish.

**Three definitions of why people in Spain use the expression Because it denotes playing as dumb as a Spanish shoe called “zuecos” Being compared to someone from a village in the middle of nowhere in the Valencia area called Sueca. Most probable theory: For some linguists, the expression comes from the Swedish sailors that would come by boat the Spanish harbour and because they did not know the language, they would understand only thins they were interested in.

Swedish team members recommends: Nilla (Portfolio Manager): I would like to recommend my region Dalarna, which means The Valleys, known for its good fishing lakes, beautiful campgrounds, small villages with red wooden houses and

deep forests. Dalarna is also famous for its rich culture and strong folkloric traditions such as typical midsummer celebrations. The world’s oldest and longest ski race Vasaloppet that runs be-tween the village of Sälen to the town of Mora, was run for the first time in 1922, inspired by a run by King Gustav Vasa in 1520. Maria (Portfolio Manager): If you go to Sweden and don’t mind travelling a couple of hours to the North you HAVE to visit the ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjärvi, which happens to be the first and largest in the world. Here you can experience Northern Lights and enjoy a warm accommodation or a new experience sleeping in the cold. Sara (Telesales): I would recommend some typical dishes such as: Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes, Fermented herring (Yummy!), baked potato with shrimp filling, pickled herring. Pop to the Ikea Foodhall too for some Swedish treats next time you´re there!

Travelling around OPC: Sweden

EEAT Newsletter—October 2012 Page 7

EEAT Newsletter—October 2012 Page 8

Karaoke in aid of Breast cancer Care!!!

On Thursday 25th October in the Adam´s Apple Karaoke bar, we gathered as members of the OPC, a group of 20 promising singers! There we sang… in Spanish, English, French and even Italian – all of the well-known songs in Rock n Roll, Ro-mantic Melodies and not forgetting the Classics such as Oasis or Abba.

The Objective: Have Fun for a Good Cause! And this we achieved with vigor; dancing, drinking and building relationships with our colleagues. We olso had the chance to see (for real) a bunch of people celebrating a wedding! All in all, we managed to raise some well deserved funds for the AECC Cancer Unit by paying to nominate a person to sing a song of your choice obviously all in aid of good cause. Here we leave you with a photos of the event and hope next time that you join us, if on this occasion you couldn´t make it! So we did reward those brave efforts with some small prizes too!

Page 9 EEAT Newsletter—October 2012

Cultural Activities... Towers and skyscrapers From Babel to Dubai

From the 10th of October 2012 to the 5th of January 2013 - Caixa Fourm Paseo del Prado 36 – Atocha The exhibition offers a tour through the history of tower and skyscraper construction, starting with the myth of the Tower of Babel, a structure that defied the laws of nature and the divine power which was the source of inspiration for European painters throughout the XIII and XIX century; up to

skyscrapers planned in the XXI century. This exhibition aspires to explore, via paintings, etchings, drawings, models, photos and films, the architectural diversity that has proven a search for the unattainable , due to it's excess and desire to overcome any material limit.

The giant with clay feet Albert Jodar - Galería Efti. From the 26th of October 2012 to the 9th of December 2012 - Calle Fuenterrabia 4, 6 y 13 meets an - Menéndez Pelayo. In this protect, Albert Jodar produces a travel diary in which we are presented with a familiar reality conditioned by the mass media.

The Little Prince Teatro de Abadía Calle Fernández de los Ríos, 42. From the 24th of October to the 17th of November, Wednesday to Saturday at 21:00 - 24€

What would happen if Saint-Exupéry's Little Prince weren't interpreted by a boy, but by an actor old enough to play King Lear (José Luis Gómez) who is preparing for his last journey? On his way he meets a pilot, a rose, a king, a fox, a snake, (all of which are interpreted by the brilliant actress Inma Nieto),

and each one helps him discover something new. With a surprising game of clowns, Roberto Ciulli (an Italian-german director, founder of the em-blematic Theater an der Ruhr) transforms the innocence of the original story to bittersweet clarity. This show stripped of all accessory, returning by doing so to the essence of theater, is about a man who feels like a stranger in his own planet, more than a boy that travels to a strange planet.

Open Doors day

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All of us took the opportunity to remember the child in us, and get to know our Crisalis colleagues. We played, shared “merienda” and as if we were at a child´s birthday party we ate sand-wiches, sweets and cake! The only difference was that at this party, the cake had the AmEx logo! The elevators were full and everyone wanted to see the places where Mummy or Daddy worked! The children made themselves at home in their Mum or Dad´s desks, and wore their headsets, thoroughly inspected their filing trays and asked them-selves “what does Mummy/Daddy do here all day??” We could all hear the small voices saying; is this your place? Like a school for adults! For the children, this was our fun place and they thought that their parents were having a party with clowns and face painters everyday! All in all, it was a fab day

On the 13th September at 17.00 the Madrid Crisalis building changed it´s colours! There were balloons in the vending area, clowns on the fourth floor and face painting on the first floor for children – this was the welcome to our Open Doors day!

full of colour, happiness and lots of sweet foods!

Page 11 EEAT Newsletter—October 2012

Anecdote of the month: the world’s best expensive cocktail Record for world's most expensive cocktail broken as £5,500 drink is mixed from ingredients more than 200 years old Guests at a London bar were hoping it wasn't their round after a £5,500 cocktail was mixed by a leading drinks expert. Salvatore Calabrese broke the record for the world's most expensive cocktail with his 'Salvatore's Legacy' drink

The drink was valued at £5,500, smashing the previous record for the world's most expensive cocktail that was held by The Skyview Bar of Burj Al Arab Hotel, Dubai, which cost £3,766.52 a glass Salvatore said: 'It's official, I am proud to say that history was made as well as consumed in my bar. 'In front of a crowd, I needed very steady hands to open the vintage bottles and pour these precious ingredients into my own mixing glass, which I have had for 40 years.' Why are we telling this story? Because who did sign this peculiar and exotic place were our Telesales colleagues!

which was made up of ingredients more than 200 years old. Salvatore, whose nickname is 'The Maestro', made the costly concoction using 1778 Clos de Griffier Vieux Cognac, 1770 Kummel Liqueur, Dubb Orange Curacao circa 1860 and two dashes of Angostura Bitters circa 1900s, as The Spirit Business states.

Whos was Who?

EEAT Newsletter—October 2012 Page 12

For those of you that were left wondering, we attach the final answers for the “who is who” quiz… Next time we´ll try to help and make it a little easier… but we just like to test you!

Nicolas Silvia

Mari-Carmen Jorg

Nicole

Sara

Page 13 EEAT Newsletter—October 2012

Who was Who?

Marta

Maria

Antonino Lauren

Antonio

Jobellie

Pilar

EEAT Newsletter—October 2012

A big thank you to everyone for you support...

Page 12

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Honestly, we want to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support for the events that were run for “Breast Cancer Awareness” last month (October) The market that we hosted on the fourth floor was a true success and between this and the OPC Karaoke night, we managed to raise a grand total of 1,400 Euros which we have now sent to the AECC. We´ll shortly be sending you all an email with the certificate of donation from the AECC to thank us all for the generous contributions.

Thanks again!!!!