Intern News...

As a current intern, I have a vested interest in the world of interning… and I finally stumbled across some very interesting news about my little world:

The Facts: New York digital agency MRM is providing five interns a 6-month internship with the company while living rent-free in an Ikea-furnished 3-bedroom Brooklyn apartment. The program is called “The Apartment” and the interns share their experiences in New York and at MRM on a blog.
The Reasoning: MRM Execs say they are offering this to interns in order to better recruit the top ad students because, in recent years, MRM has missed out on top intern talent because students choose to line up at agencies like Weiden & Kennedy or Goodby Silverstein.
The Interesting: The thing I find most interesting is that this is not funded solely by MRM- because the interns are considered billable staff on accounts, MRM clients like Microsoft, Exxon, Mastercard and Diageo will be footing part of the bill to house these interns.

This seems like a really cool idea from an intern perspective- getting to live rent-free in New York while interning? Pretty good deal. But I have two major issues with this and I will address them accordingly:


1. Should clients really be footing the bill to house these interns?
I understand that, when it comes down to it, an agency runs on billing clients. But if I were an MRM client and saw my advertising dollars being spent to put interns up in a Brooklyn apartment, I’m not sure how thrilled I would be about that. MRM definitely has some big-budget clients, but no matter how much money I had to burn, I would much prefer to be putting that into a better campaign rather than funding some students to live in NYC. It’s reasonable that some companies arrange housing for interns, but a deluxe swanky NYC loft seems like an inefficient way to spend client money.

2. If you want to attract the top ad students in the country, put your energies into becoming an attractive top agency rather than just bribing students with extravagant accommodations.
While I can’t knock MRM for launching an effective way to get interns significantly more interested in their program, it does seem like a bit of a cheap way to go about it. They obviously have an abundance of money to throw around and I feel like it would be better spent doing innovative and creative things for their clients to make MRM as attractive and desirable to interns as Weiden & Kennedy or Goodby (or Bailey Gardiner) are.

All-in all, I think this is a dynamite opportunity for interns (I’ll always applaud fellow interns for getting a sweet hook-up and I do love Ikea furniture) and it’s cool to see interns get cool recognition in Ad Age for being involved in something like this. However, from an agency perspective- I’d rather have people intern because of a genuine interest in the company and not because they’re looking to live rent-free. I think, in the long run, I’d prefer to have a company built with loyal people that were all there because they sincerely believed in the work being done.

A Day In The Life

After a little over a month at Bailey Gardiner, an award winning creative agency with a talented and wonderful staff, I’m obtaining many new skills and discovering that interning is…

 

1. Arriving for your first day of work at 8:57 AM. You’ve consciously factored in three minutes of extra time for the staircase ascent so you are a) seated at your desk promptly at 9:00 AM (punctual, but not desperate), and b) can walk slowly in those new heals and your best interpretation of “business casual”—“klutz” and “ER girl” are nicknames you’d rather not have the rest of the summer.

 

2. Googling the word “V-Card” after receiving instruction to make one and having no idea what it is, mistakenly getting help from Urban Dictionary.com, and then thinking--what the heck have I gotten myself into.

(Urban Dictionary: "V" stands for virgin, holding the V card means you're still a virgin.)

 

3. Wondering how many people are actually going to leave messages for you when your office voice mail sounds like your eight year old cousin playing “businesswoman”, and you have an email address that explicitly shouts “yes I am the low man on the totem pole”, and “yes I poured the coffee you drank at your meeting this morning”.

 

4. Taking ten minutes to draft your first email to your boss because you just can’t get the first line to read right…

“Dear” (too old school)…

“Hi” (too informal)…

“Why Hello” (too creepy)

“To Whom it May Concern” (no)

…And then finally deciding to just walk the message back to her desk.

 

5. Wishing you had the owners’ manual for the coffee machine, mail machine and copy machine (that resembles something you saw in a recent horror flick).

 

6. Wondering if your “freedom to use the available mugs and dishes in the staff kitchen” is really a freedom, or just a test for how quickly you make yourself at home.

  

7. Paying $14 to park at Rite Aid your first day…and then finding the countless free spots around the corner.

 

8. Feeling like a superhero after obtaining five new identities in one day…@aol.com, @gmail.com, @baileygardiner.com, Twitter username, LinkedIn username…and then discovering your tragic flaw…remembering passwords.

  

9. Becoming a master at iChat status changes…
• 10:00 At SDMA
  
• 10:45 SDMA take two
  
• 11:50 third time’s a charm at SDMA
  
• 1:00 SDMA loves me
  
• 2:37 Made new BFF at SDMA
  
• 4:05 Tweet from Blackberry:

Ran out of gas. Camped at SDMA for the rest of the day.

10.  Taking pictures of a fantastically alluring banner (with an expensive camera you’re saving up all your unpaid internship money for), and trimming the edges on a masterfully created poster (210 down, 90 to go), fantasizing about future aspirations of one day contributing your talents to making something of equal greatness.

 

11. Learning there’s a lot more that goes into an ad campaign then you ever imagined, and gaining a whole new respect for anyone working M-F 9:00AM-5:00PM.

 

12.  Researching amazing companies you fall in love with and hope to be a part of one day. Researching the cost of 300 imprinted fly swatters, and 200 clown noses on clownantics.com.

  

13.  Licking 50+ envelopes closed, losing your taste buds, and then realizing you could have just used water and a sponge.

 

14.  Operation “Gift Bag Delivery”, with your wonderful intern partner in crime, turning into operation “Try to Find the Client”, turning into operation “Make Amends” after you realize the car you accidentally just cut off on the freeway belongs to the client you just found.

  

15.  Learning that I.O. and W.O. are not chat abbreviations, and that LOL ;) is not the response the boss wanted to hear.

 

16. Finding out “Special Assignment” means a .5 mile walk, $22 in cash, and a visit to your new best friend Paul—the owner of Uncle Biff’s Killer Cookies (the eighth world wonder and ultimate office indulgence).  

  

17. Spray painting 300 fly swatters with red numbers in an alley for 6 hours, and then later explaining to your friends and family, “No, no, calling the police won’t be necessary. I promise they don’t beat me at work.”

 

18.  Hopefully the only job I ever have where “pay raise” is nothing more than a cruel joke.

  

19. Realizing you don’t have it that bad when an officemate tells you about her intern experience “pooping the parrot”.

  

20. Showing up to work a week later with the same red spray paint still on your hands, feet, and the upper right portion of your face (see #17).

 

21. Being asked to make a beer run to celebrate the success of a campaign, and then hearing, “Oh wait, you’re not 21.” And discovering, in that same instant, that while past interns have been treated to an evening at an upscale bar to celebrate their time at BG, you will be getting a BBQ and a Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri.

  

22.  Looking up the “best way to unsuperglue your fingers” after your newest arts and craft project--making 250 fly pins.

 

23.  A necessity. Interning at BG is helping me build a colorful resume, enhance my communication, time management and critical thinking skills, understand office politics, and is giving me a plethora of fabulous conversation starters. Although it has its share of odd jobs, it is helping me discover who I am and who I want to become.        

In one sentence what does interning mean to you?