Kyle Hyslop

We Had A Ball

I thought I would wait a few of days before I posted my final blog to give me a chance to reflect on the experience after returning home. So I have reflected and I want to go back...now! That’s not quite true but I have to say that my summer has been one that I will never forget and it sure has given me an insight into what life may be like following University.

The goal of the internship, as far as I was concerned, was to give us the opportunity to gain experience working within a global company, with the aim of representing Scotland at an international level and inspiring us when it comes to any future career aspirations. Now that I have returned, it is easy to say that these expectations have been fulfilled with some icing on top. Meeting influential figures, presenting in front of VP’s, working directly with directors and gaining lifelong friendships were all added bonuses that were beyond what I had ever envisioned.

I remember, back when, reading the guff on the SaltireFoundation when I first came across them and taking note of that fact that they claimed program was ‘not for students who were looking for a paid holiday’. That statement still holds partly true because, even though I was in sunny California, it was not all beer by the pool or fun at the beach...well...at least not during the week. But that’s what I loved about it because from Monday to Friday I was worked hard, challenged and put outside of my comfort zone but that was work and experience, and it was incredibly exhilarating. Then at the weekends two days holiday in California, free to do whatever you liked and, in fact, I saw more of the state in my seven weeks than many of my local work colleagues had seen in their many years of residence.

I must thank Sun Microsystems for having me and I need to give a few ‘shout outs’ to some people who all helped make my time at the company a pleasure. Rick Barr, Jessica Escalante, Simon Panosh, Sonya Yu and Victor Lira, who are all within Business Operations Programs and Strategy (the best team at Menlo Park) and thanks again for the jacket, I sure have needed it! I would also like to thank everyone at Sun Start-Up Essentials and especially Sanjay Sharma for welcoming me to their team and keeping me busy during my short but sweet internship. I wish everyone all the best for the future and you never know, our paths may cross again sometime.

I would also like to thank the SaltireFoundation team once again who have all made it possible for me to undertake in an experience of a lifetime. I look forward to helping them out in trying to make the next program a successful one and hopefully, sometime next year, I will be briefing a new student on what life will be like for their eight week placement at Sun while trying to disguise my nauseating jealousy.

I would also like to thank my dog, Oreos, Walter Smith, the wee man at Newark Airport who knocked on the cabin door window to get me on the plane, milk.........

Slainte,

Kyle

Its Time For A Weegie White House

As said before I don't like getting caught up in election fever but this SaltireFoundation experience is taking me places I promised myself I'd never go to! Check out the video:

R.I.P. Al Capone

If your thinking about visiting San Francisco in the near future, I would highly recommend purchasing the Alcatraz night tour. I did it last night and it was absolutely terrifying! Not a lot of things put the fright in me except from maybe large spiders and possibly avocado but, in saying that, put together an island, some darkness, fog, a lighthouse, a little cold-blooded murder and lastly a high security prison and you could throw me a guacamole covered tarantula any day.

Don’t let that put you off though because you will never forget the experience. Its when you enter the cell rooms for the first time that you realize that you are actually setting foot in an untouched ex-prison and without committing the obvious, you will never get a chance to see inside one again. Certainly with my newly acquired mental image of the place, it’s a crime deterrent in itself. If only our modern day prisons are as intense as Alcatraz was.

Afterwards three others interns and myself went out for an Italian in the Little Italy district of San Francisco. The restaurant was called ‘Stinking Rose’ and I was thinking I would of loved to be in the room when they were working this one out. With Italian accents in tow:

Dino - ‘Smelly Sunflower?’
Giovanni -‘Wait, how about Sniffy Lilly?’
Luigi - ‘Its got be Pongy Poppy, capisce’
Dino - ‘Stinking Rose?’
Luigi - ‘Reeking Rosemary?’
Giovanni - ‘No no, go back one’

I managed to get myself involved in a new project at work this week. After a staff meeting with Sun Startup Essentials, we all became aware that some internal websites were not working as efficiently as they could be so I quickly stepped in to offer to design a new internal community website for their program. It was only afterwards that it realized that I have never built something of this nature and size. Luckily my buddy Sumit had spent his entire three-month MBA internship building a similar set-up for another program so I was able to get some valuable guidance but notice his time-scale and now I have all of four days to design and implement mine. It will be a challenge but I will relish it.

On a side note, I was leaving work the other day and I spotted a cyclist at some traffic lights and he had on his head, to what I can best describe, as a small wing mirror attached out from his forehead. I can fully understand why this little innovation would be useful to spot any impending front grills approaching from behind but some things you see over here would just not work in Glasgow. He was also wearing glasses and I could picture the scene cycling down Sauchiehall Street with some little Ned shouting ‘Oi, bigyin, speccy five eyes!' He wouldn’t wear it again but I like the freedom folks have over here to do what they please that would normally cause massive embarrassment at home but trust me I will not be investing in one of these contraptions anytime soon.

Slainte,

Kyle

Hillary…Give us a Song!!

I don’t like getting caught up in election fever but that is not an easy task especially over here in the US of A. I witnessed Hillary Clinton’s convention speech yesterday and, for want of a better comparison, X-Factor came to mind. Set you mind back to a time you watched Leona Lewis wow the crowds with her vocal abilities on a stage in front of millions. The cheers, the roars, the banners and…well a public vote. But really, it was not about what she sang but it was about how well she sang it. How well she sang someone else’s lyrics and someone else’s musical harmonies.

You see where I am going? Hilary did exactly this on Tuesday in front of cheering fans that were impacted, not by what she had to say, but by the way she sang it. I was half expecting cheerleaders to appear shouting H-I-L-A-R-Y. You will get the goose-bumps when you hear Leona Lewis sing live like you do when you hear Obama or Hillary speak at these public conventions and, for some, its this X-Factor effect that makes them vote or approve, even if they don’t understand where that song came from or who wrote that speech; one hell of a (dangerous) tactic.

I mistrust this political hype, especially the banners, the cheesy slogans and the adverts on our TV screens that are constantly broadcast and approved by various political figures. Why? You see this every four years and people rise up and shout about how great their politicians are and then spend the next four years slowly criticizing them when they start dealing with the real issues in hand. Like lapsed Christians who get caught up in Christmas hype and then end up going to church for the first time that year when it gets late on the 25th. Lets ignore the religious hardship of a real belief and have a bit of pomp and ceremony at Crimbo. I don’t buy it.

Anyway, rant over.

Work has been great this week, I have managed to get lots done and I am beginning to realize how little time I have left over here. Luckily I have plenty planned for the next week or so including a night trip to Alcatraz, beach party in Santa Cruz, a surfing lesson on labor day, a leaving lunch and, of course, trying to get my projects completed to the best of my ability before I finish up next Friday. I know that I will miss everyone I have met and had a chance to hang out with but I have a slight inkling that it may not be the last time I have the pleasures of their company.

Slainte,

Kyle

Born To Be Wild

After a busy week at work I decided to Work From Home (WFH) on Friday and take the afternoon off due to the hours I managed to rake-in during the previous few days. Sun are incredibly flexible as long as you work hard and do the hours, you are free to reorganize your normal 9 to 5 days.

Tahoe was calling and I quickly packed my things and began my long four-hour drive up to the lake. By this time the sun had well and truly set and I began to doubt my directional abilities but thankfully I nailed it and before long I was sitting in a bar in Tahoe city hanging out with the locals.

When I arrived I met up with my host and a long family friend, Stephanie, who lives in a nice house in Truckee that lies just north east of the lake. Unfortunately she had just recently broken and dislocated her shoulder (I didn’t know you could do both these things simultaneously but it did look nasty) but thankfully it was healing ok and she was ready to take the visitor out on the town. After foolishly asking ‘who’s going to drive’, I quickly picked up the keys to her convertible Jeep, that looks like the ones they had in Jurassic Park, and we were not long on the road to Tahoe city. She kindly told me to watch out for the bears as they come out onto the road at night and I instantly remembered that these cars proved little protection in the movie and became increasingly uncomfortable but I learnt that they don’t bother humans and they simply raid bins. We dropped off our things at her parents house which is beside the lake and headed out for a few before returning to get some sleep and prepare for the eventful day that lay ahead.

On Saturday we received a kind invitation to a gathering at a house that lay right on the lake. When we arrived we were both in awe at the size of the place, but then we realized that that was just the garage! The house itself was gigantic complete with indoor Jacuzzi, private pier, boat, two Jet Ski’s and an older guy who we later learnt was their private pilot and their plane was in a hanger up the road. The weather was superb and soon we were all out on their powerboat scouting for good surf. Last summer a new innovation was introduced to the water-sports community called ‘Wake Surfing’ and the basic premise is that you lie in the water with your feet on a surfboard while the boat pulls you up and you can begin to surf the wake that it creates. It differs from the more commonly known ‘Wake Boarding’ where you feet are strapped in like they would be on a snowboard. All I can say is that it was the most incredible experience as you can actually throw the towrope onto the boat and you are now free to surf the wake. I have now caught the surf bug and I’m planning a lesson with some other interns in Santa Cruz.

When we got back to dry land, Steph, her friend Morgan and I headed to a casino in Nevada. Half of Lake Tahoe is in California and the other half lies in Nevada and by simply crossing an imaginary border you can take advantage of interstate laws. We arrived at the Casino and quickly noticed two white tigers lying on the dance floor, yes you read correctly! Only in America! So we thought we would go check them out and after some cheeky queue skips Steph and I were touching one of the most rare big cats on the planet. The keeper asked us not to stroke the tigers as they will roll over and scratch your arm, like most cats would do, but for me the temptation was overwhelming because I didn’t care about a few scratches, I just would of liked to of said that one day in Nevada I was attacked by a white tiger. My brain then kicked in and that plan was quickly overturned. Many Mai Tai’s were then consumed down in Southbeach and the night is history.

Sunday was another beautiful day and the plan was to take Steph’s boat out on the lake for some more ‘Wake Surfing’ mainly due to my newly acquired addiction. We headed over to a place called Emerald Bay where there is an island home to an old tea house were the lady of emerald bay used to boat her guests over to for some...well…tea! The boys decided to climb the cliff face up to the teahouse while the girls circled on the boat to take photos of our poetical last moments on earth. Thankfully we all survived to tell the tale and we had great fun jumping into the water from some precarious heights. This was a real highlight of the trip as the views were quite simply breathtaking and from that moment I decided that I would be back in Tahoe very soon, maybe for the winter season.

I was now on the road again listening to the appropriate ‘Born to be Wild’ by Steppenwolf, in a convertible Jeep through some ‘rest-and-be-thankful’ roads looking onto vast mountain forestry, pure harmony. I now had to pick up my executive car and head back to the city with the realization of work on Monday morning, but that is equally exciting as I look forward to learning some more.

Big thanks to Steph and Morgan for being great tour guides and I hope that shoulder heals up soon.

Slainte,

Kyle

Do As The Romans Do!

‘Don’t do something once, that your not prepare to do for the rest of your life’

That quote sums up what work has become in the past few weeks and you may think that it has negative connotations but, in this context, that couldn’t be any further from the truth. I’ll explain….

When I arrived, the word was out that Business Operation, Programs and Strategy had an intern over from Scotland who was here to support various teams under Market Development and boy did they respond! In addition to the projects assigned to me at the beginning, I have been inundated with requests to help out in various other projects and, and in my ever-lasting need to please, I actively responded with enthusiasm and commitment. With that came more work and, to say the least, I now feel that I’ve now become more than just support but a real participant in what can be said to be a busy time at Sun. This is exactly what I wanted to happen and I hope that I will be able to leave feeling that, not only have I learned and developed but also Sun has gained as a result. An opportunity like this should not be taken lightly and I feel I have certainly jumped in headfirst with my eyes open.

I was given a market research project recently to advise Sun Startup Essentials on one of their strategies for this year financial year (full details are top secret). Panic soon set in as I realized that I have never carried out any market research and I didn’t have a clue where to start. Then it dawned on me that maybe this could play as an advantage. I thought, since I have not been programmed as such on the right and wrong approaches, that maybe I could end up producing something that is original and fresh. At least that’s what I keep telling myself! Nonetheless, it is a great project for me to be involved with because I know that by this Friday the director of SSE, Sanjay Sharma, will be reviewing what I produce and that kind of exposure is valuable.

As I mentioned before in an earlier post, I was preparing for a presentation in front of Juan Carlos Soto who is the VP of Market Development and I can tell you that I got through it without any major bruises. In the aftermath I received some great news from my manager that Juan was impressed with what I had to say about the SaltireFoundation and voiced that he wants to continue with the program for next year. This was great to hear and hopefully by this time next year we will have another Scottish student over working for a truly great team and organization.

Well I thought I would give the blog a wee update on my progress at work if anyone began to think I was having too much playtime.

Oh I forgot to mention, I am heading up to Lake Tahoe this weekend to visit a good friend of my Sisters. She stays right by the lake and she has a boat and the weather is supposed to be great so I am not looking forward to it at all. Maybe I am playing too much! But hey, when in Rome!

Slainte,

Kyle

Quirky!

Another week has passed and a weekend to remember.

Saturday brought some chores that included a quick haircut and an expensive trip to the mall before the weekend really began. You find here in California that people are incredibly laid back but if you want something done you can get anything quickly. My hair was getting a little out of control so I wandered down to my local Super Cuts to get a trim and I was expecting a long wait, as it was a Saturday. How wrong I was! The place was packed and the queue was huge but the nice lady behind the desk confidently assured me I would get seen within five minutes. ‘Nae Chance’ sprung to mind! Two minutes later my name was called, before I even had a chance to sit down the scissors were out, and I was away before any holiday chat was consumed. That is one example of why everyone is laid back because simple tasks are done efficiently to leave more time to relax.

So now I had some unexpected time to do productive things, I thought I would find my local Mall. Finding it was the easy part as it was huge, twice the length of Breahead and enough parking space to land a large aircraft. Even then I struggled to get parked and began to regret making the trip. But to my great relief the place was empty and I thought this day is getting better and better. I thought too soon! Went to get a cheap pair of sunglasses and ended up with a pair of sate-of-the-art Oakley’s with polarizing lenses that make you see things that are not normally there. I realized, after the Credit Card purchase, that I don’t really need to see these new things but hey, the American’s could sell ice to the Inuits. I now decided to get some food to reflect on my stupidity and turned the corner to the food hall. To my shock I realized that I had just found everybody! It was bedlam! Think Ibrox underground station after a European night and everyone wants to get to the pub except here hunger is the driving force so I soon gave up.

I decided to head to the relative tranquility of home and test out my new sunglasses by the pool and give Rory a phone. Iain and Lorraine had arrived safely and they were out sampling some San Francisco culture. So before long I was heading up to see them and I soon found them wandering the streets with large bags full of cheap liquor. Spot the Scots! After finding a parking space right outside Rory’s place we headed up to the apartment to make a start to the evening. It was great to see them and to be able to share our experiences but it was all a little surreal as you realize how small the world actually is, as long as you’re prepared to explore it. Last time I saw them we were in familiar Glasgow and now we were all on the other side of the world but we hadn’t changed, we could still talk as if we were home.

I gave my mate Simon (another Sun Intern) a phone and he turned up not long after and volunteered to be the designated driver which is common over here as taxi’s are not as regular as they are in Glasgow. Before long we were cruising the streets trying to find some good watering holes and ended up parking back at Rory’s and walking to a club up the road. Sonya, who is my team at Sun and Simon’s manager, was there to greet us and we were quickly escorted, free of charge, into the club and straight to a VIP area where we witnessed the son of an Oil Merchant dancing on the speakers dressed in a baby suit. Welcome to San Francisco!

The rest is history and we woke on Sunday morning, regained our eyesight, and made a b-line to the Golden Gate Bridge. On the way we experienced roads that would put the fright into Lewis Hamilton and Rory cleverly spotted the Crookest Road in San Francisco that I did not even know existed. We found the entrance and I began trying to maneuver my ridiculously large car down the street while we were playing some classy dance tracks from the 90’s. Spot the Scots! Not long and we were now heading over the famous bridge and found an interesting named but nice Indian for our breakfast and sat looking out the window onto what could be said to be one of the most iconic views in America. Iain and Lorraine don’t panic; it probably wasn’t as nice as Bellingham’s sunset!

We then realized it was about time to try and get the visitors onto their plane home, as Iain is quite good at missing flights. Thankfully we made it and it was time to say adios to our fellow Saltairians but I am sure we will see them again before our experiences are over.

I have had enough writing and I need to get my Olympic fix before the night is over. U-S-A!

Slainte!

Kyle

Have A Great Day Sir!

I was thinking yesterday, while I was relaxing by the pool, about what great American/Sun ideas Scotland should introduce to its people:

1. Carpool Lane – Great way to reduce traffic but also I reckon Scottish people would illegitimately take advantage of a clear lane and it could become a nice revenue earner.
2. Work-From-Home Fridays – Why not? I personally don’t take advantage of this perk but I like it because the place is empty and I can listen to the Chris Moyles Show.
3. Casual Work Clothes – Does ridiculously overpriced and uncomfortable attire make you work better and faster? Of course not and actually you find the more senior you are at Sun the more casual you become.
4. Family Affair – They bring their dogs to work as well as their kids. They hang out, play pool and table tennis (the kids that is)!
5. Under-Paid Waiting Staff – This improves service tenfold, but you have to remember to tip. 10% of the people I deal with on a daily basis ‘hope that I have a great day’!

Lets Go Giants, Lets Go!

Another sunny Sunday afternoon here and its about time I give my blog an update while I watch a crazy woman trying to teach a parrot how to fly! Americans, enough said!

This week has been a great mixture of work and play. My All Hands meeting went well with a lot of insight into the plans my department have for the coming year as we have begun a new FY. I came out of the meetings with a feeling that for once I can consider myself part of a team within Sun Microsystems and that we all have our own goals to try to make the coming year a successful one for the department as well as the for the company. I had the opportunity to hear Juan Carlos Soto (VP of Global Marketing Development and Engineering) speak and he was very inspiring as he was aware of what was required from everyone in the year ahead and certainly knew where the shortfalls lay in what could be said to be a disappointing previous year. I have been given the opportunity to present to him on monday which will be great, not only to make my views heard, but to meet with him in a somewhat informal manner.

As part of the events of last week I was given the chance to watch my first baseball game at the SF Giants AT&T park on Wednesday. Despite preparing myself for a cold afternoon in San Francisco, I managed to get myself ridiculously burt to the great amusement of my co-workers on Thursday, who said my face looked like a steak ready to be turned over on the BBQ. One thing I learnt while I was at the game was the fact that it was more about social interaction than what was actually being played on the field. Understanding the game was far less challenging than trying to work out what the vendors where shouting as they were trying to offload buckets of candy-floss, ice-tea and pretzels to hungry and thirsty kids. Don't take any more than one small child to these games otherwise your wallet will suffer along with their teeth! After a quick look at the scoreboard at the end of the game it was great to see that Giants went away with a hard earned victory and everyone was happy, except for the parents of the kids who were now tripping on sucrose.

Rory arrived in SF on friday and after work I headed up to the city to see him and attend another baseball game compliments of Sun's intern budget. It was great to welcome him to the city and hear a Scottish accent again that has, for the both of us, seemed to remain despite some recent adaption to avoid constant repetition. We spoke in length throughout the game about our views on what Sun has been through in recent years and what we think should change in order for them to progress. It was quite refreshing as we both had very similar ideas but what we definitely agreed on was that we both have been given great internships at Sun. We then went out to sample some night life in downtown SF which involved a very traditional Scottish session with the inevitable sore head the next day! We have been given the opportunity to meet for lunch with Crawford Beveridge (Sun's Executive Vice President and Chairman, EMEA, APAC and the Americas) on Wednesday and we are both very excited about the prospect of talking with such an influential figure not only here at Sun but around the world.

I'm now off to try and get rid of some of my american shrapnel that I have collected over my first few weeks here as thankfully my local Safeway have a coin machine. It will hopefully result in me feeling a little better off and a little lighter.

Slainte!

Kyle

Its Business Time!

It is a sunny Saturday afternoon here in San Francisco and I thought I might give my blog an update with what exactly my role is here at Sun Microsystems.

The first project that I got involved with was auditing of one of Sun's internal websites to aid with a planned migration to another portal by the end of August. It was my responsibility to try to contact various program members in order to get from them what content they wanted to move and try to establish what content, more importantly, was out of date and could be killed. This involved lots of e-mails and phone calls to first of all try to establish who was responsible for what content, and then set up meeting with them to carry out the audit itself. Just now this process is in its closing stages but I have recently been informed that I will be involved in the process of structuring the new site, as well as populating it with the required material. It is a tough but exciting project but I feel that I am involved in something that is of great priority and urgency for Sun, and hopefully I will produce something that is valuable for the company as a whole.

My second big project is to advise Sun Startup Essentials (a program within Sun that is offering startup companies discounts on many of Sun's products and services) on the most efficient method of Contact/Lead Management. In English what that means is that I am looking into how best to organize and then communicate with many of the companies that show an initial interest in what Sun Startup Essentials have to offer them. A relationship is established when there is first contact at trade shows, events, meetings etc, and usually the team will go away with many business cards, and at the moment there is not an effective process in continuing this relationship. Just now I am researching how best we can get these contact details onto various contact management systems, some of which come with business card scanners and other online alternatives are also available. Hopefully what this system will eventually achieve is a better means of following up relationships with the overall aim of capturing as many startup companies as possible, and it is important for Sun to build a good portfolio of new customers. Once this is accomplished and these companies grow and expand the revenue potentials for Sun are huge and it is certainly an exciting project to be involved with.

If you have been reading Rory's blog you might be aware that he attended an All Hands event in San Francisco recently and my department are having theirs next week. What this event intends to do is bring in all team members from around the USA to Sun's HQ here in San Francisco and it provides the opportunity to know what everyone is doing and what strategies they have in place to reach their goals for FY09. I have been asked to present at this event to talk about how I came to Sun (some SaltireFoundation endorsements will prevail) and speak about what my role has become over my first couple of weeks. This will be a great experience not only to dust off some presentation skills but to meet everyone through team building exercises and social events that are planned for the two day meeting. Baseball, football, bowling, lunches and dinners are all on the cards for next week as well as continuing with my various projects and presentations, so it might be safe to say I will touch base again next weekend!

Slainte!

Kyle

p.s. Check out some photo's of San Fran I have posted in the photo album.