The Overall Experience

Week Thirteen:

            This internship has given me many new experiences that have helped me to continue to narrow down what I want and don’t want in a career.  Professionally I have met many people at events and in the PR and Marketing Debt. that I have talked to and networked with in hopes that maybe down the road if I need to I could talk to them about finding jobs.  Academically I would have to say that I again was able to network with a lot of academic people at the school which could be helpful when finding a job.  The personal impact was that I learned more about myself and what I would not want to do in a job down the road.  For instance, I love taking photos but many of the events here that I took photos at I found to be somewhat boring or just not visually interesting to me.  It was a chore to have to take photos at them sometimes which I really didn’t like, so I will take that knowledge with me when looking for a job.  That being said, I did reach my goal of learning more about myself and what it would be like having a job where I took photos for people.  I didn’t exactly enjoy being forced to take photos at events that I wasn’t a big fan of, so I would have to say that overall I don’t think I will be looking for a photography job down the road.  Even though this may not have been the right fit for me, I do believe it was still a good experience.  I learned a lot from it about myself.  I think if anyone is curious about having a photography job, or working in Public Relations & Marketing then this would be a great internship for them to take and get a basic idea of what it’s all about.  Experience is the best way to learn what you really want in life.

Codes of Conduct

Week Eleven:

            There is formal Code of Conduct in the PR and Marketing Dept, but the position description did say that they wanted “someone who is personable, organized, detailoriented, creative, self-motivated, unfazed by a face-paced environment, and is able to produce work on tight deadlines.”  I think there are a few implied policies as well though, like; dress professionally, arrive on-time or early, and send photos back in a timely manner.  The only ethical concerns that I have seen with picture taking is if I take a photo of someone not involved in an event then I have to have them sign off on a waiver saying that they’re ok with me using their photo.  Otherwise I have freedom to take photos of whoever I want at events.

Tasks/Assignments and Educational Implications

Week Nine:

            Almost every week I am assigned an event to take photos at.  They are generally pretty straight forward.  My latest event was an Art Gallery Show on campus.  These are the best because there’s always ample lighting on the art work and I am able to roam around and be a little artistic while also getting good shots of everything, including the artist and their work.  Recently I have started up a “Photo of the Week” project on the eNews letters that are sent out.  In one of our weekly meetings, we (Caisse and I) we discussed photos and how they liked my photography blog.  I then told them about my “Worcester State University” link and how I’ve take photos on campus and if they were interested in using any of them.  They seemed to like the idea, and thought about maybe having a photo of the week highlight.  On weeks that I don’t have much going on and there are not many events, I go off and take some photos around campus.  It’s a nice side job and I enjoy the photography freedom it gives me. 

            For this internship I would say that my Intro. To Digital Photography class last semester was the most help, because it gave me a lot of practice and good incite on how to take good photos.  The skills I’ve learned, as I’ve said before, are how to take photos inside.  Before I wasn’t bad at it, but with all this practice I think I’ve become pretty good at taking photos inside. 

Preliminary Evaluation of Internship Experience

Week Seven:

1.      Intern’s Name:  Erika Anderson

2.      Internship Firm/Organization:  Public Relations and Marketing Department

3.      This internship provides me with an adequate learning experience for my background:  Yes, it has been, but I feel like I may soon get board doing the same ole’ thing. 

4.      My mentor at this organization understands my goals and objectives:  No, I’m not sure that she does.  I think she knows that I want experience, but I don’t think she understand that I also want to do more than just take photos for her. 

5.      I did adequate preparation investigating the sponsoring organization and level of placement before accepting this position: No, I did not investigate this dept. at all.  I figured I knew the basics of what they were about and that’s all I really needed.  Looking back I probably should’ve looked more into what they do and asked for more responsibilities, other than just taking photos.

6.      This organization expects too much work or requires more polished work than I was prepared to do: No, I am not overwhelmed by the work at all.  Sometimes it’s a good amount of work and sometimes it’s not enough.  I’m very busy with other groups, work, and classes in my life right now so overall it’s not too bad to not have a lot of work to do, but at the same time I wish there was more for me to do during the week, or maybe if I could be more involved with the process. 

7.      I cooperate with my colleagues in our work o to accomplish joint goals at the organization:  No, I don’t work with anyone else in the PR Dept.  Caisse and I were going to take photos together at one event, but she had me shoot a different event instead.  But otherwise I usually just work alone. 

8.      I cope with annoying situations without losing my temper or poise: Yes, I believe I do.  I sometimes get a little upset when I go to event that doesn’t have very good lighting, which means I can’t really take photos, but that’s all in my own time.  Whenever I’m with Caisse I keep myself positive and poise.  I don’t let her know that I’m frustrated about an event they sent me to. 

9.      I am eager to learn new skills:  Yes, I am always eager to learn new things, whether it’s random facts or something that may help me further my career.  So far I’ve only really been learning about taking photos inside and how the light is extremely important.  Otherwise I’m not sure I’ve learned as much as I would have liked to. 

10.  I find something new to learn even in the most routine tasks: Yes I would say that I do.  Although going to events and doing the same thing every week can be repetitive, I have learned more about how to take photos inside and every event I learn more about different angles and how I can make a boring picture more interesting.  It’s fun to experiment. 

11.  I consider my internship position challenging and worthy of my talents:  Not exactly no.  Although yes I am learning different ways to take photos, I could be learning that on my own.  I didn’t need an internship to teach myself those tricks.  Not to mention there is o one teaching me anything, I’m learning things on my own.  I think I could be doing much more there with their social media outlets or anything else.  I would like to spend more time with Caisse, and others, learning about what they do, and how they work the social mediums for the school.

12.  My attitude toward colleagues and clients is helpful and concerned: Yes, I am always very respectful and polite towards my colleagues and anyone I meet in my internship.  I find it’s always helpful to put a good step forward.  This way I can make positive connections with people which could help me down the road when looking for a job. 

13.  I easily recognize clients’ needs and then try and assist them:  Yes, I do try to meet everyones needs.  Though, I tend to just go places and take photos.  I only every really have to deal with Caisse.  Sometimes people at the events will ask me to take a certain photo for them, but usually I’m just in the background minding my own business, taking photos. 

14.  I demonstrate ease in initiating conversation with colleagues and clients:  Yes, it is easy for me to approach people that I don’t know and be polite and respectful towards all of them. 

15.  I show confidence and poise in dealing with colleagues and clients:  Yes, I am very confident in the work that I do for the PR Dept. and when I’m dealing with people.  I have no problem with confidence. 

16.  This Organization can point to me with pride as one of their employees:  Yes, I am very hard working and am very positive.  I don’t believe there would be any reason for the PR Dept. to not want to point me out.

17.  I approach all tasks, even low level ones, with enthusiasm and a commitment to excellence: No, I am not always excited to take photos at certain events, but I never show that when I’m there.  It doesn’t matter how I feel, my duty, my job, is to go to where they want me to go and take photos.  So I do what I have to do.  I always do my best work whether or not I like the event or not. 

18.  My work patters and quality of work produced justify the time and money the firm is investing in me:  I believe so yes, though the PR Dept. is not spending any money on me, or really spending much time on me either.  They tell me what to do, I do it, send them the pictures and that’s about it.  But that’s about it.  I do think I have earned what they do for me and more.

19.  I look forward to each day enthusiastically: Generally speaking, yes, but sometimes I am busy non-stop and all I want to do is lay down for a bit, but of course I can’t do that all the time.  I think it’s only natural to have days when you’re tired and not ready to do more work. 

20.  Although this internship is a short-term position, I am personally committed and involved for the present: Yes, I do believe that I am very involved in my internship.  Even though it won’t last much longer, I am still dedicated to do everything I need to do to produce excellent work. 

21.  This internship experience has helped me to clarify future goals: Yes, I believe it has shown me certain things that I like and don’t like about future jobs.  It’s given me some valuable insight on what I may want and not want in a future job.

22.  Describe areas of personal interest and ability that you had not been aware of before working for this organization: Actually I am not sure I have learned anything about myself that I didn’t already know before this internship.  I already knew that I had talent taking photos and working with others is something that I’ve always been good at.  Overall I haven’t learn anything new about myself.   

Organization Hierarchy, Management Structure, Communication Methods

Week Five:

            In the PR Dept. there is a small hierarchy that is Lea Ann Scales is on top and head of everything, Kimberly D. Brothers-Caisse seems to be the second in charge and everyone else is below her at the same or maybe different levels.  I don’t spend a lot of time in the office with everyone there, so I’m not sure about the rest of everyone, but from what I’ve seen that’s how I would set it up. 

            The informal and formal management is a little hard to describe, because again I’m not at the office much.  It would seem that most of the formal management is done be Lea Ann Scales and at times Kimberly Caisse also helps out.  I know that Caisse and a few others meet formally to discuss what pictures to put up online and where, but when I meet with her it’s very informal. 

Usually I meet with Caisse and Chelsea (another intern there dealing with more journalism work).  We sit around in Caisse “office” and discuss how our work is going, what we have planned for the next week or two, and what kinds of ideas we may have for the social media outlets.  Like I said before, these are very informal meetings.  I believe that the informalness of our meetings is good because it allows me to feel more open and confident in sharing my thoughts and ideas for different events going on that I could take photos at or how I think certain things on the Facebook page could look.  I also believe that it allows Caisse to be more open with us as well and allows her to interact with us at a more friendly level then a boss level. 

Lastly, the PR Dept. uses email as their main communication outlet.  Sometimes we use face-to-face communication, during meetings and if I’m in the area and stop by to chat, but usually it’s all done via email.  I think that emailing is an effective way to communicate.  Usually I have very direct and simple questions asked in my emails, so it’s easy to send them out and get quick responses.  The only issue I’ve found with emailing is that at times Caisse is very busy at work and is not able to email me back right away.  With no one else to ask questions to it’s tough to have to wait hours or a day for a response.  I recently received her phone and was given permission to call that if I ever needed to, but I haven’t had the need yet.

Organization/Personal Goals of Your Internship

Week Three:

            My goals for this internship were pretty simple.  I wanted to learn what it would be like to have a photography job.  To have to go out and take photos for someone or an organization and see whether or not I liked it.  I also was hoping that maybe through this I could continue to get my name out there, a way to network with people and see the behind the scenes of how WSU gets their social media work out there to the people.  Lastly, I also took the internship to get some “real world” experience and to build my resume up more.  The goals that the internship had for me were:

•         Managing a photography assignment from concept to delivery

•         Exploring various approaches to photography—newsy, artistic, etc.—and lighting

•         Submitting photos to a client on deadline

•         Operating camera equipment

•         Learning lighting techniques and recognizing lighting challenges unique to each assignment

•         Mastering photo editing software

•        For professional portfolio purposes, learning digital photo archiving and file management

The Organization and Its Mission

Week One:

            For my Fall 2012 Semester my internship will be at the Public Relations and Marketing Department of our school, Worcester State University at 486 Chandler St. Worcester, MA 01602.  The office is located in Room 231 of the Shaughnessy Administration Building on campus.  The website address is for the PR Dept is http://worcester.edu/NewsnMedia/default.aspx.  My mentor is Kimberly D. Brothers-Caisse and her phone number is (508) 929-8428. 

            The PR Dept. has been around since the beginning of the college’s existence, like any other company or business.  Their mission statement is;

The Office of Public Relations and Marketing works to promote Worcester State University as a preeminent institution of public higher education. The office oversees all media relations and institutional publications, supports community relations, and manages an integrated marketing
campaign to maintain consistent institutional branding.

I think this mission is pretty good, very straight forward and to the point.  There really isn’t much else to say about the PR Dept.  I think most adults and college students understand that a PR Dept. does so I think it would be somewhat annoying if the mission statement went into more detail about what they did.  Plus, if they went into more detail, would that really be a mission statement? A mission statement is supposed to be a small paragraph giving the basics of what they strive to do as a group.  I think this mission statement tells us that their goal is to keep a consistent feel with everything the school puts out.  It tells what they do.  Though it doesn’t really tell what they strive to do, there’s no “positive outlook” or whatever, it’s strictly, “this is what we do.”