Work Perks

I've already completed 4 weeks of my internship! It's crazy how time flies. I'm sorry I haven't been updating this blog, but my days consist of waking up, going to work, coming home, working out, doing homework, and then bed! I've been so busy.

But don't think I haven't had any time for fun. As I quickly found out, my work is full of perks!

The first adventure I went on was to Nordstrom to shop for sunglasses, for free! It was insane, and I loved every minute of it, we also got to meet the two women we constantly e-mail. It was so nice to put a face to a name. The sunglasses I chose are on the left.

The next adventure I went on was to the Blue Jean Bar. You literally go up to the "bar" and tell them your size, wash preference, and style preference and they bring you a ton of jeans to try on. Let me say, I've never had a jean shopping experience like this, I didn't even fall into a moment of self hatred. I love the jeans I got!

Photo credit: Courtesy Dave Olson/Kayak Chicago

On Tuesday I went on was kayaking on the Chicago river! The rest of my team wasn't able to make it, so I piggy-backed on another planning team from our sister company and made some new friends! Sadly, it rained while we were out there, so they cut our tour time down to only an hour, but I hope we can go again before the summer is over!

This photo was taken from the 99th floor of The Willis Tower! My coworker and I went to a little presentation that was held here about cross screen advertising. It seemed so unreal, I always feel like such an adult at these kinds of functions.

These are from a roof top party I went to on Thursday! When the four of us left the office it was like a monsoon outside, thankfully the venue was only a few minutes away from Merchandise Mart. The entire party revolved around a JT/ Jay-Z theme because they were doing a drawing for concert tickets. And believe it or not, the girl who invited me (furthest left) WON THE TICKETS! It was insane. This party was one of the more fun things I've done. I got 

My Fellow Interns

Throughout my time as an intern at MediaCom, I worked a lot with the interns at Mindshare and Maxus. Our three agencies are all owned by WPP and we're all on the same floor. I was the only intern at MediaCom so I was excited to get to work with other interns throughout the summer.

We had breakfast learning sessions every Wednesday where we would learn the basics of media. These sessions were so helpful, and I really took a lot from them. We also had weekly meetings with people from different departments (social media, search, digital, traditional, strategy, etc.). These meetings were super helpful in learning more about the business from different perspectives.

At the beginning of our internship we were split into groups and tasked with creating a comprehensive media plan for the BP Fuel Rewards Program. I had only created one plan before, and didn't exactly know what a media plan should encompass, and they didn't tell us either.

Luckily, I was put into a great group with two wonderfully, brilliant girls. Working with them for 6 weeks was a great experience. We were able to learn from each other, and create a great plan. I always looked forward to our bi-weekly meetings where we would bounce ideas off each other.

Above is a picture of my intern group (Mint Media). We had to present our plan to about 30 people that work in our office. After our presentation, we found out our group had the winning presentation! Coincidentally, the Mindshare North American CEO was in town, and wanted to hear our presentation. So the next day my group presented our media plan to the CEO! It was such a great opportunity.

The Mindshare interns program ended a week before mine, so we went out for a celebratory dinner. I am so happy that I was able to meet and work with these amazing people. Hopefully our paths will cross again as we graduate and begin our careers.

No Coffee Runs or Copying

I know I haven't been updating this very much, but as my time as an intern comes to an end there are a few posts that I need to write.

Coming in to this internship I didn't really know how I would be treated, what my responsibilities would be, or what kind of role I would have on the Discover Digital Planning team.

A few weeks in I realized that my team members saw me as an asset. They give me real work to do, not just "busy work." I am so lucky to be trusted with the responsibilities they give me each day.

Furthermore, they always include me in everything. I'm invited to go to every meeting, join every call, and go to after-work events.

During the past 9 weeks I've really felt like a true member of the team and I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to work with.

One Week In.

Today marked the official end to my first week as an intern! Wow, I can't believe all the things they managed to teach me in a week.

I did a lot of simple data entry, but it was nice to have responsibility. I also found out I'm doing these breakfast & learn sessions. I get to team up with interns at our sister companies and we get to learn more about the media industry (with free food!). They informed us that they are giving us the same training as their entry level employees, which I thought was really cool. I can already tell finishing up my last year of school will be difficult because I'll feel ready for the "real world" by the end of this internship.

My supervisors are so nice, and I can tell they really want me to soak up all the information I possibly can. This week they were constantly searching tasks that were in my skill range. There is so much to digital media planning and buying that it's a total learning process. There are so many acronyms, formulas, and general media lingo that I just completely don't understand.

I think my favorite part has been meeting with vendors that come in. Listening to their presentations is a good break from the usual work day, and they're all so nice. I like to listen and learn more about their company.

I think my team is trying really hard to incorporate me into everything they do, which I really appreciate. I'm really lucky to have such a hands on internship, rather than one where I'm just fetching coffee and extra paper clips.

I'm so excited about everything I will do and learn this summer. I'm so happy to have such a great opportunity.

A Journey to the "Real World"

This is how my first day of my summer internship at MediaCom Worldwide started. I woke up with a rush of emotions. Anxiety, fear, excitement, and more anxiety. I didn't know what to expect, or what they would expect from me. I left my apartment with enough time to arrive 20 minutes early. I have to take the L (the subway system in Chicago) to work, so I wanted plenty of time for my commute. My sister informed me that the L comes about every 5 minutes, unlike later in the day when they're usually 10-15 minutes apart. After getting onto the platform, I saw the digital board and it said my train wouldn't be there for another 16 minutes! Of course, panic ensued only to be immediately relieved by the oncoming headlights of my train. 

A short L ride later and I was at my building! I navigated my way through the long hallways, to the modern elevator that uses a touch screen instead of traditional up and down buttons, up to my floor. I was greeted by a nice woman behind a modern desk and we made polite chit chat as I waited for the director of human resources to take me to my office.

After I was warmly greeted by our human resources director, I was filled with some ease. She took me to what would be my desk for the next 10 weeks. It was garnished with my own computer, phone, locker, cubbie, and various office supplies.

I quickly met my supervisor, who was very nice and introduced me to my summer team. I quickly found out I was the only intern, which I'm completely okay with. More responsibility!

It was a whirlwind of a first day. They quickly gave me a run down of some, of the many, excel spreadsheets they use, along with where everything was located in the office. I had to sit through an orientation phone call from NY, which was an interesting, very long experience. I also got to sit in on an internal update meeting, which was all way over my head (they really like acronyms). I spent most of my day shadowing a very nice co-worker of mine, and learned how to do a lot! By the end of the summer I'm going to be an excel master!

The day came and went when my new colleague asked if I had plans. I didn't. She invited me to a concert that she had extra tickets for and meet and greet passes. We went to the concert, met The Wanted, jammed to Icona Pop, and had a great time.

Overall, it was an amazing first day. I can't wait to see what the rest of the summer has in store!