Comparing Poland and the USA

Now that I've been back in the United States after spending a wonderful eight days in Poland, I've had some time to reflect on my experiences with the history, businesses, students & education and food.

I'll start with the history of our countries. Compared to Poland, the United States is an incredibly young country. It felt like every step we took, there was a monument or dedication to a Polish figurehead or event. That is not something we see often in the US. However, I do believe that both countries have great pride in their histories and are proud to be from their respective countries.

We visited several businesses during our time in Poland including: Radio Krakow, Onet, Tygodnik Powszechny and Krakow Technology Park. Some of the businesses we visited had richer and more involved histories than that of the United States--especially, Radio Krakow and Tygodnik Powszechny. Both of those businesses played integral roles during the communist era. That's not to say that Poland didn't have very modern companies as well. Prime examples include Onet and Krakow Technology Park. Onet only stands behind Google and Facebook as the biggest media company in Poland. Meanwhile, Krakow Technology Park can be compared to the United States' Silicon Valley. So many new technological advancements are being made just in one area of Krakow.

Next up, the students and education! We visited Jagiellonian University, the oldest university in Poland. It was founded in 1364! Meanwhile, Harvard University, the United States' oldest university was founded in measly 1636. This goes along with the history differences. Institutions in Poland have longer histories. However, we got to spend time in the university itself and it felt just as modern as the universities I've been to in the United States. Everything was up to date (except for a minor WiFi glitch) and state of the art. Even the students in Poland are just like us! I figured we would have many similarities in the way we speak and act. I was pleased to see that I was right. When we got to spend time with them one evening, it felt like we were close friends just having a good time and our cultural differences barely played a part.

Overall, there were some differences and several similarities between the United States and Poland. While Poland has a richer history than the United States, our cultures, businesses and ways of life are very similar.

Oh yes, Onet!

Our class had the distinct privilege of visiting digital company giant Onet. Before arriving at their offices, we were told the company is comparable to what Yahoo was in its heyday, but from my experience, I see it as so much more.

I'll start with some stats... if we were back in Poland, those of us 21+ could (responsibly) take a shot of vodka every time they’re in the top of their category:

• #1 Polish mobile web destination platform (# 3 in country after global giants Facebook & Google)
• #1 in online video among Polish media news production
• 275 min of video streaming online
• #1 premium VOD platform – let’s call it the Polish Netflix
• Leading products on ecommerce market
• #1 news website in Poland
• #1 most quoted news in Poland

Na zdrowie! Whoo! I’m feeling woozy just thinking about it!

We were met by Piotr Łegowski, Head of the digital media campus, and Marzena Suchan, Editor-in-Chief of information services. It doesn’t get much better than that! Mr. Łegowski walked us through an explanation of the company and its market situation. It quickly became apparent that we were sitting in a pretty important office.

Łegowski highlighted the market’s trends, including the shift to mobile, and went into a long explanation of the problems that AdBlockers cause for a company such as Onet. He elaborated that Poland has the highest ad block rate in all of Europe, and because digital platforms such as Onet rely on ads for their funding, AdBlockers pose a threat to their revenue stream. Creative approaches need to be taken in order to sustain the business. He also took the time to explain Programmatic and how the auctioning process works for Onet.

One particular question that was raised by the class was Onet’s competition with Netflix. At this time, Netflix does not have access to beloved indigenous Polish content, helping Onet keep its #1 spot in VOD.

Next up, Ms. Suchan spoke with us about how she leads the entire journalism department at Onet. She outlined the structure of her team and addressed the challenge of finding a sustainable business model to support independent journalism. Her spiel included an outline of her department’s use of the Onet website, which features galleries and sliders, interviews, infographics (such as how to find a husband), live reports, and video. She also mentioned that Onet is committed to reporting reliable news, and avoiding fake news and the trap of “click bait.”

Then, Łegowski and Suchan gave us an in-depth view of how they determine the placement of news stories on the Onet website, including headline composition. They showed us the software they use, which is unique to Onet, and how it personalizes each user’s view based on certain habits and demographics.

Both Łegowski and Suchan were very open and warm; they were happy to answer our questions and reveal some of the secrets that make Onet such a force in its industry. I was actually taken aback by how open and lovely they both were, considering how busy and stressful it must be to entertain a school group during their work day.

We capped off the experience with a brief tour of their trendy offices, including a video call with the office in Warsaw!

A big dziękuję to them, and to Professor Bozena Mierzejewska on hooking us up with this incredible opportunity!

Drinks in Poland

It was fun to taste the variety of drinks and juices offered in a different region of the world. During many of our meals, we were offered a pitcher of a traditional Polish juice called Kompot. Kompot is a fruit juice served with fresh fruit in the drink. In Poland, the most popular fruits are apples, cherries, strawberries and pears. I enjoyed tasting the different types of Kompot, and particularly the pieces of fresh fruit at the bottom of the glass. My personal favorite was the peach kompot.

I also had the opportunity to taste a variety of Polish beers. During some of our free time, I chose to walk around Old Town Krakow and check out a few of the local pubs. One of my favorites was a bar called House of Beer - Krakow: Strona Glowna. This pub was a unique looking spot tucked away on a quiet side street. I went to this bar mid-day, while a few locals watched the soccer game on the small TV mounted on the wall. The bar had around 50-60 Polish beers on tap, and a few dozen offered in bottles and cans. After talking with the bartender for a few minutes, I found out that Poland has a strong history of beer and is actually Europe's third largest beer producer. Poles take pride in their beer, and after I had the chance to taste a few, I understand why. The most popular Polish beers are Zywiec, Okocim, and Tyskie. Together, these three breweries make up approximately 80% of the beer produced in Poland. There is also a large number of microbrews in Poland. which are also definitely worth trying. One of the most interesting beers I had the chance to try was called Wrzoskaw. Wrzoskaw was a raspberry sour beer, something I had never heard of before. I was pleasantly surprised at the taste, and highly recommend it! Cheers!