It's all about the attitude

So... most of the summer, I have been pretty unhappy with my internship. I wasn't learning anything, and no matter how hard I tried, no one would give me any work to do. Eventually, I had decided that it was just that I was in the wrong department, I figured the media people just didn't get interesting things to do regardless of whether they were interns or the Vice President of Media.

Then one day I walked in, and my supervisor told me she quit. I have NEVER seen her so happy. Turns out, she actually does have a personality under all that plainness. When she thought she would be working there for years, she spent most of her time on the computer with headphones in, ignoring me. When I would ask for something to do, she would hand me the same issue of media week (in case anyone is wondering, people really do watch those ultra tacky TBS originals). If I went and found work in another department, she would tell me that I have to stick to her department (even if they had me wake up early to spend 20 hours a week sitting in a chair and starring at a wall).

Well, let me tell you what, as soon as that woman quit, my internship became a lot more pleasant. I can't tell if her attitude change was because she stopped caring, or because she was genuinely happy. But I can finally say that she did manage to teach me somethings. First, your attitude can affect all the people around you (yes, pretty much everyone in media has been more pleasant since she left). And second, if work makes you so miserable that you aren't yourself anymore, it's not job for you.

So I say thanks, I may not know more about research, media, reach, frequency, SRDS, or anything that made me agree to be the media intern, but I certainly did learn something valuable about life. So I wish her good luck, and hope she finds something she loves. And God bless anyone who has to work with her if she doesn't

Networking isn't as hard as I thought!

Heather Hale was right - you really are only about 5 contacts away from reaching the person who can make your dreams come true! I'll explain...

I had a week off so I worked on scheduling informational interviews. At first no one paid any attention to me and I got a lot of answering machines. I was feeling really defeated and ready to give up and then things changed....
Each week University of Dreams has a guest speaker. First it was Emannual Osofu Yeboah (see previous blog post about him), then Heather Hale, then Oprah's exec. producer Candi Carter, and most recently Kevin Adler. Kevin is a sports marketing expert and talked to us about how he found his passion and how his dreams changed throughout his life. During his speech he mentioned that he worked for Leo-Burnett! I had actually called there earlier in the day and they could care less about me. So after the speech I introduced myself to him and asked if he could help me get an informational interview there - he gave me his card and told me he would love to help me out! I just e-mailed him and I'm waiting for his reply. I was so excited I could've hugged him!
Then my mom sends me an e-mail with a link to an article. My uncle's ex's brother works in Chicago in the ad industry but I never knew which agency....the article was about how he just won an Effie award and that he is the Senior VP for Cramer-Krasselt, another place I called and no one answered. So I contacted him today and he had the head of HR call me and I have an informational interview scheduled for Wednesday at noon! Now that wasn't even 5 contacts and I've already got an in at the company!

Aside from my awesome networking skills, I've been quite the tourist. I saw Batman which was filmed in Chicago so it's a big deal here. Then some of us dreamers went bowling where I was high scorer of the evening. My roommates and I checked out the Planetarium, the Aquarium, the Zoo, and the Museum of Science and Industry. We also went to a Cubs game yesterday - ironically against the Florida Marlins. The Cubbies won though and it was a good time in Wrigleyville with everyone celebrating and going crazy. Hope everyone else is having a great summer. I'm so sad mine's almost over!

Chiat and Seals

Hola,

I just wanted to swing by the blog to see what everyone's up to and say hello. I wish I could put my TBWA\Chiat\Day experience into words, but that would just not do it justice! I've been trying to track it on my blog, but still - that doesn't do it justice.

I can't wait for CSII next semester!

Anyways, I saved a seal last weekend in Malibu. I thought it's name was Sammy, but Jeff says it was Rufus so I stand corrected.
Here he is!



Good times...

A blog from Richmond

Hello!  I don't stop by this blog nearly enough.  It's fun to see what some of you are up to this summer.  Sounds like everyone is learning a lot and it's true ... fall semester will begin soon!

Our summer has been extremely busy.  Tom and I are actually in Richmond this week.  As many of you know we have an office in Richmond as well as in Tallahassee.  Richmond is a great city and a wonderful place to celebrate the 4th of July!

And, on a sadder note, those of you who were in CSII met our partner in Richmond, Gayle Turner.  Gayle was recently diagnosed with cancer.  He just completed his chemo and radiation last week and is in the process of getting ready for his surgery scheduled for August.  It's tough to see someone who's always so upbeat and happy in pain.  However, he has so much spirit and his attitude is always positive that he really is an inspiration.  So, please keep Gayle in your thoughts and prayers!

We'll be returning to Florida next week.  Keep blogging ... it's fun to know what you're up to!

 

where did summer go?

This morning it hit me... I only have 3 more weeks of my internship! At the beginning of summer I thought this might be the longest summer of my life- spending most of my time working. But it has just flown by! I have worked on so many different accounts and feel that the agency has really given me everything I was looking for, if not more. The thought of leaving Evolve makes me sad, but I am excited to have the chance to taste the real world and getting one more year to go back to the college life. I want to get all the people that I work with something really nice to say thank you for a great experience. I want them to know that I really appreciate every opportunity that they have given me here. I have toyed with some ideas but want to do/give something that will show my appreciation and blow them away. Do you all have any cool ideas? Keep in mind the non-existant advertising intern salary. haha

Can't wait to see you all in the fall! Enjoy the rest of your summer!!

it's all about the perks baby...

Greetings from Arnold DC!

So this whole paying FSU to work 40 hours a week for free thing really does suck, but there defiantly are some perks. So far the coolest things have been the “previews”, why did Tom not tell us about these sooner! NBC came in today and brought an omelet chef and made us all breakfast! Then we got to see previews of all the new shows coming (watch out, a lot of them are HORRIBLE! And I hate to be the barrier of bad news, but Dr. Phil is now getting ANOTHER show called “doctors”… he’s “out to educate America”…. Were all screwed!) but I felt cool for being “in the know” anyways J. Then we handed in a 7 question questionnaire for a gift… I thought it was gonna be an XXL tee or a rinkie dink pen, but it was 3 free tickets to Bush Gardens! Thank you NBC! Haha maybe there is something to this whole media planning thing? –ehhh I take that back…

Ps: I spent all morning making powerpoint sides for the “Bahamas” account, and I’m finally done AKA out of work. I’ve already goggled everything I’ve ever wondered about… anybody have any suggestions for good killing time websites? … ehh maybe I’ll just go play ping pong.

xoxo