The Importance of an Internship

As a student that wants to break into the creative side of advertising there are two main components for getting in. The first is an awesome portfolio filled with great ideas and the other is who you know. But what if you don’t know anyone in the advertising industry are you doomed to go from one closed door to then next, even try to see if you can wiggle open a cracked window? Well that may be the case but there is an easier way. Get an internship. A creative internship is beneficial for educating, networking, and getting real work.

Creative internship gives you education that you can’t get in a classroom. It puts you at the agency right in the environment. Where real projects are going on around you and the creative team is pitching ideas that can actually be published. You can get advice from Art Directors and Copywriters who are doing this everyday. They are there to give you the experience to get started in the business. A place to see where you fit in right, maybe it’s a small agency, maybe it’s a big agency, or maybe it’s somewhere in the middle.

Having a creative internship makes for great networking opportunities. Not only do you know all the people in the creative department by first name you have their email and phone numbers. And as long as you don’t screw up your internship they will probably answer future questions you will have once the internship is done. Possibly giving you letter of recommendations or a great reference for your resume. Another cool thing is that the advertising industry is a close knit one where a lot of people know a lot of other people in the industry. So your Art Directors and Copywriters know other Art Directors and Copywriters in the area or maybe even out of the area. Where one contact can easily become 5 contacts, then even 20 contacts. And for a business where getting in is half based on who you know, it’s a good way of meeting people.

A creative internship is also great for getting real work for your portfolio. This is based on getting an internship where the agency actually lets you do work, besides running errands and getting coffee (I’m very sorry if your in one like that). A student portfolio is based on make believe clients that a lot of agencies wish they could have. The thing is none of that work is published; the only place it can be seen is in your book.Interning gives you the chance to get your ideas published, and having published work in your book, as a student, is quite an accomplishment.

So I bet your wondering how you get in a creative internship. Well first you need to do your research, find out where you want to intern. Once you found where, you need to find out who the creative team is and you will want to contact them to find out if they offer internships. If they do offer internships then send them your resume along with some samples of your work. If they tend to take a little while to respond be patient, they are very busy people, but you can always send a polite friendly email asking on the status. If they ask you to come in for an interview treat it like an actual job interview, they don’t want someone who can’t be professional interning at their agency, so be prepared. Talk to your career services at your school for some tips. Most agencies are more willing to take on an intern than hire a junior with no experience, so put yourself out there and see what you can do.

Fall = Crafts

Why does fall make me want to make tea, bundle up in a sweatshirt and Uggs, and…craft? (I’m not sure that’s even an actual verb) I’m even more confused when I think about the fact that I live in San Diego, the land of limited seasons. Not that I’m complaining, but we don’t usually see our fair share of changing leaves. Of course, I have a 20 minute presentation tomorrow that I need to finish my PowerPoint for, but all I can think about is carving pumpkins, making wreaths, and glue…crazy amounts of glue. Because this is our second year off campus and we live in a neighborhood where trick-or-treaters are bountiful, I’m all about “keeping up with the Johnson’s” when it comes to holiday decorations. However, the fact that I’m not actually bringing in any money of my own right now creates a problem. Apparently, these things cost money? Luckily, there are plenty of helpful (depending on your interpretation of the word) websites with tons of do-it-yourself projects for those of us on a budget. My favorites so far are carving elegant pumpkins – I need to find these green ones with orange on the inside, decorating with fall leaves (see above for how disappointed I am about this one), and making luminaries out of dried gourds – I just like the title of this one, haven’t heard ‘luminaries’ in a while. But none of these really compared when I found out I could make my own clock. I don’t know why, but I really like clocks (my roommates thank me everyday for the Campbell’s Soup clock prominently displayed in our kitchen. Don’t worry, I took out the battery that enables it to play a song every hour). If I could have one in every room, I would and probably will at some point. But that’s beside the point. Being an intern in a creative environment (especially one that goes all out for Halloween) gets me really excited about things like this. I see things all day long that inspire me and I’m excited for this fall “season” so that I can put all of this inspiration to work through projects and crafts. Bring on the scissors and glue.

Brand Session

Today, I got to live out the reason I’ve chosen to look into the marketing industry. When I learned about marketing in my classes, it interested me immediately. I had this vision of sitting on couches (now I envision an orange couch for some reason…) throwing around ideas and getting to use my creativity in a totally different way. Once I started at Bailey Gardiner, I immediately realized that there was WAY more to it than that, but today I found out that it is truly a huge part of this industry. I was invited to attend a Brand Session today for a new client on Friday evening and could hardly contain my excitement over the weekend. I told anyone and everyone who asked about anything relating to work and had my outfit ironed and ready to go by Sunday afternoon. At this point, I wasn’t entirely sure what a Brand Session was (being from Texas, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little worried…hot metal, anyone?), but I knew it would be an incredible learning experience.

So this morning, determined to be on time or slightly early (Jennifer had explained that we would be leaving promptly at 7:40), I arrived at the front door at 7:25. Problem. I learned the hard way that yes, it’s always good to be a little early, but don’t push it. Especially when you risk the chance of being the first person at the office. With no key. I stood at the door looking confused and lost to all the morning traffic on 6th Avenue. Luckily, Jennifer saved me 5 minutes later - during which time I took the opportunity to buy juice at the 76 on the corner. Essentials.

We left a few minutes later to head to the client’s office (I’m sworn to secrecy at this point, sorry guys), where we were greeted by a lovely spread of Einstein’s bagels, coffee, juice and fruit. I felt like I had made it big time. After the introductions and perusing of the goods, the meeting started. This is when the learning began. Jennifer took charge right away and led thought provoking discussions and activities. From magazine cut-outs to price sensitivity – everything was covered. Not to mention – my new obsession. Super-sized sticky notes. Those of you that know me, know how much I love sticky notes and making lists. Trouble. What I enjoyed the most was the balance between the BG presentation and client interaction. Neither side seemed to be overwhelmed and was able to share their point of view in order to give the Bailey Gardiner team enough information to create a brand that encompasses all of the important details while still being elusive enough that consumers will want to find out more information on their own. A pretty tough task, if you ask me. But this is what they do all day long and have obviously been extremely successful. I’m not worried. I can't wait to see what they come up with.

To sum up, I’m excited to see if anything can top what I was able to experience today during my next 2 months or so of interning. If anything, this just gives me that much more motivation and understanding of what I want to pursue when I finish school in May. I know I won’t always have days like this, but it’s a refreshing change of pace and a huge building block to add to my foundation in this industry.

Halloween Dilemma

Cute or sexy? This is a dilemma that every girl faces when trying to come up with the perfect Halloween costume. There are the tried and true options for those of us that aren’t up for showing off our assets – fairy, witch, vampire, clown, angel, devil, storybook characters…the list is endless. These all seem harmless enough, right? Wrong. Pretty much every idea you can think of also comes in a “sexy” version - with plenty of leg to spare. Even Belle from Beauty and the Beast comes complete with white thigh highs. Not exactly what I remember from my favorite childhood movie. Alice in Wonderland? Try “Miss Wonderland” with the description, “Play the cards any way you want, you sassy heartbreaker!” I don’t think White Rabbit or Cheshire Cat would approve.

I get it. People use Halloween as an excuse to wear whatever they want and not have to explain their morals. But when did it become so extreme? Celebrities definitely take advantage of this holiday. Anything from Naughty Nurse to Captivating Captain (including Louboutin heels…so not fair)

to Red Hot Flirty Firefighter is fair game. I’m reminded of a scene from Mean Girls when Lindsay Lohan dresses up as an “Ex-wife” and everyone is thrown for a loop. Definitely not what she chose for her real life costume…

And you would think guys’ costumes are free and clear. Again, wrong. A few options to choose from: Firefighter with Big Hose, Breathalyzer, and Catch of the Day Big Fish. I won’t go into descriptions for any of these, but you get the picture.

So what’s a girl to do? Being in my last year of college, I want to take advantage of my last chance to make a big deal out of Halloween. However, now that we’re in a world where social websites reign supreme, I have to keep in mind that any pictures that are taken could and probably will land on Facebook. Dun dun dun. Not so sure I want my current or future employer (let alone my mom) to see pictures of me as a Lucky Ladybug or Shipmate Cutie. My worry is that are other college students aren’t taking this precaution when picking out their Halloween costumes. I know, you have your Facebook page locked down and no one can see your pictures, right? I’m pretty sure there are ways around any of that. I know I’m not banking on that fact. I’m sure most wouldn’t take the time to override anything, but you never know. Trust me, I won’t be showing up anywhere in a floor length gown, but I will be taking these things into account when putting together my costume. Right now, my options are: Flapper Girl (I’m taking my inspiration from Lauren Conrad, which seems pretty reasonable)

or Katy Perry (I know, super conservative). But I’m pretty sure I can make either of them work without being too over the top. 

I just wish the middle ground wasn’t so hard to find. Any suggestions? 

Tweeting with Justin Timberlake

I wish. So I’m new to the Twitter phenomenon - 28 tweets total as of now. At first, I tried to take the casual approach, “Ehh, I just want to see what celebrities are up to and find out where good sales are. No big.” THEN I started my internship here at Bailey Gardiner. This is when I came to realize that Twitter is way more than that. I had only considered the reasons why I would want to be on Twitter, not why those stores with crazy sales or new products were tweeting like crazy. It really has become a whole new way to advertise (I know, haven’t heard that one before, huh?). Whether users realize it or not, places that you follow are constantly advertising. Even celebrities are advertising. Whether it be a new movie, show or other venture they are working on or a magazine they want you to pick up to see their 5-page spread – they’re advertising, promoting, whatever you want to call it. THEN I started to see that some of these celebrities and places were tweeting back. Needless to say, I have a new task. I’m tweeting like crazy to anyone and everyone who might give me some props. Sadly, I haven’t had any hits yet. As of now, I have tweets out to:

 

Justin Timberlake - I asked for free tickets to his show in Vegas for my boyfriend’s 21st, which I thought was plausible since I also said he could hang out with us.

 

Rachel Zoe – Telling her I couldn’t wait for her show. Even included a countdown. Pretty sure I said “I DIE” and “BANANAS” a couple times for good measure.

 

Brad Goreski (from Rachel Zoe) – Told him that his bow ties were the highlight of my week.

 

Burger Lounge - I joined their following one day too late and missed the FREE burgers.

 

Rob Dyrdek - My boyfriend and I are convinced that he would want to be our best friend if he let us come hang out at the Fantasy Factory. Dream big.

 

And my latest one was to my boyfriend - If nothing else, at least I’ll get one pity reply. Hopefully.

So my question is…What gives? Am I just aiming too high or are there tricks of the trade that I don’t know about? I figured I’d start at the top and see what happened. I thought I’d get lucky with at least one, but no - Notta. Zip. Nein. I realize that being a 21-year-old college student/intern isn’t that appealing but c’mon people, have a heart. Of course, this doesn’t mean I won’t keep trying. I will continue to get excited/nervous every time my TweetDeck has a notification. I refuse to let this dream die. I will tweet with Justin Timberlake.

PR Intern 2 Has Been Fed

As my last day as a public relations intern at Bailey Gardiner comes to an end (yikes!), I feel the need to look back on my three months at the creative San Diego Agency. It’s been an entertaining and highly enjoyable roller coaster ride from the amazing and energetic people that I met and the accounts that I worked on… The San Diego Museum of Art, NTN Buzztime and briefly The Del Mar Ractrack, right down to all of the invaluable things that I learned about the public relations field. As I exit the ride, I also can’t help but get excited to begin my trip in exploring the rest of the amusement park. The industry is so big and I’ve only just begun.

Below is an overview of the little (and big) things that became so dear to your ‘PR Intern 2’:

• The daily positive, thought-provoking quotes written on the fridge board that made me scurry back to my desk to get a pen and notebook to jot them down onto – I've collected numerous!
• My cherished friend Keurig – you were incredibly loyal to me during my three months.
• Agency days at The Del Mar Racetrack – who could have ever resisted the ponies and people watching?
• The fabulous Culture and Cocktail events at The San Diego Museum of Art – it was a genius idea to mix socializing with fantastic exhibitions and music – and Avedon C &C is coming up this Thursday, August 13!!!
• The lively Agency employees who made me endlessly giggle from conversations – overheard and involved in. Their blog reflects this liveliness too!
• The other hard-working BG interns – whose passion for their field was felt through their determination to do what was necessary in order to do what they love.
  

And being the literary girl that I am, here’s a wonderful quote to end with. “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”

And I’m off! It’s been great BG! Thanks for the ride!!

In the land of the interns, free stuff rules!

It's been awhile since I've been in college, and I've noticed that since starting another internship, I've been reduced back to my penny-pinching habits from my college days. Everyone knows that to get your foot in the door, to get that oh-so-important experience on your resume, you need to endure the unpaid internship. Part of the internship experience that you gain is loyalty to the company you work for diligently for day after day and you show that by coming in and working for free, and ... enjoying it. I can honestly say that not getting paid for my work at this internship, doesn't really bother me. I don't dwell on it. BUT I have noticed that I jump at anything that is available to me at no cost.

Cupcakes in the kitchen from a client? Screw the diet, I'll take 2.

Self tanner wipes in the women's bathroom? Probably never use them, because I am a very Irish girl and would probably turn orange, but I will take one just in case.

Keurig coffee from the kitchen? I drink about 3 cups a day.

But recently I was treated along with all the other employees and interns to a day at the Del Mar Racetrack. I have lived in San Diego for 3 years now and was ashamed to say I had never been. But now, here was the perfect opportunity! So after a quick day at the office we all headed off to the track to enjoy some free food and drink, courtesy of Bailey Gardiner. We also received a personal lesson on the basics of racetrack betting from Jon Bailey, CEO of Bailey Gardiner, and $20 to bet with. Even though I was only there for a short time (had to get to my paying job) and I lost the $20 + $5 of my money, I had a great time. Food tastes better when it's free and outings are much more fun when you get hooked up. I can't wait to go again, but on my own dollar, I'm afraid it won't be as great...
So thank you Bailey Gardiner for helping me to enjoy the cheaper things in life.