HIMSI’s Company Visit to Gramedia Pustaka Utama
Have you ever wondered what working in the publishing industry would look like? Last Friday, on the 10th of January 2025, HIMSI kicked off their new year with a company visit to Gramedia Pustaka Utama, a renowned publishing company in Indonesia. Through this experience, the members of the English Department were given the opportunity to learn more about what working in the publishing industry entails and explore GPU’s office to have a glance of their company life.
The event started early in the morning, with the students of the English Department gathering at BINUS@Kemanggisan before boarding the bus to get to Kompas Gramedia, where GPU’s office was located. After everyone arrived, the bus departed to Kompas Gramedia at 9:30 WIB.
Soon after, we arrived at Kompas Gramedia. Upon arrival, we were soon greeted by Kak Puji, GPU’s Social Media Officer as well as the contact person who facilitated our visit to the publishing company. After a quick roll call, we made our way to Gramedia Pustaka Utama’s office. We were guided to their meeting room, where the employees and senior editors from GPU welcomed us before our event officially began.
We started the event with a quick introduction and opening from Kak Puji, Mbak Novera Kresnawati, and their fellow editors. Our MC, Asya, followed up their introduction, delivering our gratitude and appreciation for GPU for hosting this event. Afterwards, she invited Regina, HIMSI’s current president as well as the head organizer for the Company Visit event. Finally, after Regina gave her opening remarks, we passed the mic to Mbak Novera Kresnawati.
Mbak Novera is a senior editor at Gramedia Pustaka Utama with years of experience in the industry. During the event, she took charge in delivering the event’s material to us. She presented to us about the world of publishing; specifically focusing on her work and experiences as an editor. Her presentation was insightful, giving us a glimpse of what it was like to work as an editor. She taught us that an editor’s job didn’t end at proofreading—rather, they had a number of responsibilities, the most important one being scouting out for potential works to be published.
The material was very well-informed and when paired with Mbak Novera’s witty delivery, it was truly a presentation to be remembered. After she wrapped up her presentation, they held a Q&A session, where a number of enthusiastic participants were able to voice out their questions about the industry. The first five askers were also given novels published by Gramedia Pustaka Utama.
After a while, the Q&A session came to an end and we moved on to our final and most exciting part of our event: the company tour! We were given the opportunity to look around GPU’s office on the 5th floor. It was fascinating—they had a digitalization room to archive the books they’ve published digitally, an archive room to store physical copies of books they’ve published, a comfy co-working space, an office space for all their staff, and a break area where the employees could sit back and relax during their breaks.
As we ended the company tour in awe, we returned to the meeting room and Regina presented Mbak Novera (on behalf of GPU) with a plaque from HIMSI as a token of appreciation for hosting this event. Finally, we ended the event with a documentation session and we left Gramedia Pustaka Utama’s office with a smile on our faces, thanking the staff for their hospitality and for accommodating us (and for the English Classics books). Overall, it was truly a memorable and brilliant experience for all of us. Thank you, GPU!
