This is my final blog for NAC (tear). It was such an amazing experience and I couldn't have asked for more. I never would have thought an internship could be fun... but boy, was I wrong. Rick, Shagah, Josh, Anna and Amanda, I love ya'll! This internship wouldn't be the same without you guys in the office with me. Shagah has helped me in so many ways. From the few press releases I did get to write, she definitely helped me create a "voice" or "tone" to use for it now. The critiques she gave me, at first I was irritated, but now I feel like it helped me become a better PR professional than I was before. So thank you!
Rick Fry, what do I say about this guy....probably the best boss to ever work for?...yup. He pulled me into his office numerous times telling me "to make mistakes," and "not to be afraid." At first, I didn't know what that meant, but by the time questions came around about jobs I was assigned, I wasn't at all afraid of messing up. So I thank you! I don't know any boss that encourages mistakes. Mistakes are a learning process, and he is one of the few bosses that gets that.
Josh is pretty awesome too! He works his butt off and doesn't complain. Oh, and spends way too many hours in that office. He was done with his hours like 3 weeks ago, haha. There is no one else I know who deserves Shagah's position when she leaves as a PR Coordinator than Josh. So congratulations!
And Amanda. It's weird to think I wasn't friends with her before I took this internship. I never thought I'd make such a good friend as her when I looked at this experience. I loved being able to click with someone who is in the same shoes as me. I also loved how we evened each other out. When she was good at something I wasn't as strong at, she took over. When I was stronger at something than she was, I would take over. Car pooling, texts, telephone calls, you name it, we did it all, and now I consider a good friend, which is hard to find. It's funny because until about a month ago, we didn't really talk. But once NMF planning started, we just clicked, which was awesome. I love her and will definitely stay friends with her.
In conclusion, this internship has given me confidence to think outside the box as a PR professional. I loved being able to apply the knowledge I was taught inside the classroom and apply to the outside world. I am really glad I got this internship. It's my first but definitely not my last. I love everyone I was working with, which is hard to find. I will definitely stay connected to NAC forever!
We do not have to go into the office for dead week, and last week was a pretty chill week because of how exhausted we were from NMF. We didn't have to go in Monday and Wednesday I was sick, so I came in on Friday from 11-3 but we ended up going to RePUBlic in the city to celebrate our hard work. Rick bought our lunch while we enjoyed each other's company one last time. So again, so long NAC, you will be missed!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Saturday, May 1, 2010
The experience of Norman Music Festival
So as you know April 24-25 was the Norman Music Festival. Being apart of something you helped create was an experience in itself. After the meeting we had the week before the festival, I'm not going to lie, I was a little nervous but excited to work on this event. My job was to check in the photographers/media when they walked into Mainsite. At first, I was just "checking in" everyone, doing my job but then after I started getting the hang of it I really started to enjoy meeting all these new people. I loved all the staff who helped me, but I was mainly with Amanda. She was helping me with the check-in. Oh, and to your left is Charles, he's another friend I made while working at Mainsite. Isn't he 
so cute!Working with others at the festival really exposed me to new people and connections, while meeting people with the same interest. I was like a greeter telling people where to go while helping out with little things that needed to get done at Mainsite. Meeting the bands and the people involved was a fun experience because I got to feel apart of the festival, not just watching it.
I also got to use the flipcam and record a couple highlights of the festival. I would have done this the entire time, but this became my job after I was done with the first. I got to record an engagement at the Main Stage. It was a fun experience. Front row! Shagah also wanted me to get footage of little things around the festival, so I recorded the crowd going crazy...and a couple dancing to Lupo, pretty funny.
All together, I had a blast. I knew I would, I just didn't know how different it would be as a person working the festival, not just watching it. All the people were amazing and welcoming when I had questions. I met numerous people, exposing me to new internships/networking. Shagah was amazing at her job and helped us out a lot. Rick and Josh prepared us perfectly for the festival as well. I will really miss working with NAC for the next festival and being VIP.
Down below are pictures of the friends I made during the festival. We all had jobs so had to keep ourselves company at Mainsite. They're pretty awesome peeps! I also tried to include some footage from my iphone I caught in action. The engagement was on a flipcam so I couldn't include in my blog. This video is still pretty amazing.
My hours were a little different for the week of the festival (April 19-23)
Mon: 12-2
Wed: 12-3:30
Friday: 11-4
Sun: 10-5 (NMF)
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Norman Music Festival preperation
Norman Music Festival preperation week was crazy. Considering how busy we were, I am just now getting around to blogging about everything that has been going on. Last week (April 12-16) most of my dusties consisted of band sheets and tweets. I probably made a band sheet that was about 4-5 pages long while having to make preperation for tweets during the music festival. Oh, which ended up being around 5 pages! We had to get every bands performing time and where they performed into a tweet, then set up the tweet to where it would automatically show up when it was time to play. It's a good idea, but just really time consuming.
Amanda and I pretty much all week posted signs and posters on main street stores. It was nice to meet people who were going to be affected by the festival. Most were nice, others didn't want to put stuff on their windows. We also went back on Friday and posted maps of the stages so people would be able to find where they were going at all times. I couldn't believe how many people were excited about the festival. I knew it was a big event, just not this big.
I got to meet a lot of the bands before the festival because some would stop by the office to drop off checks and what not. It was nice to put a face on a band. I also got to deposit a $10,000 check to OEC for a band, that was a little scary.
Overall, last week was a good learning experience because I learned so many social networking skills. I got to make over 50 tweets about the festival. I also got to see how important it was to research bands/clients. I know in PR we are to research and find out more about the client through background checks and all so that we know what we are getting ourselves into, but this was very crucial in the real world. I found out what was going on and when bands were playing, learning more about the music festival than ever when it came around. We also had a meeting with the Mainsite crew to discuss our duties for the festival...this will be more in detail with my next blog. The meeting let me get to know the people I was going to be working with, making me mroe comfortable with who I was going to be aroung.
Hours Mon:12-4, Wed: 12-4, Fri: 10:30-5
Until next time...
Amanda and I pretty much all week posted signs and posters on main street stores. It was nice to meet people who were going to be affected by the festival. Most were nice, others didn't want to put stuff on their windows. We also went back on Friday and posted maps of the stages so people would be able to find where they were going at all times. I couldn't believe how many people were excited about the festival. I knew it was a big event, just not this big.
I got to meet a lot of the bands before the festival because some would stop by the office to drop off checks and what not. It was nice to put a face on a band. I also got to deposit a $10,000 check to OEC for a band, that was a little scary.
Overall, last week was a good learning experience because I learned so many social networking skills. I got to make over 50 tweets about the festival. I also got to see how important it was to research bands/clients. I know in PR we are to research and find out more about the client through background checks and all so that we know what we are getting ourselves into, but this was very crucial in the real world. I found out what was going on and when bands were playing, learning more about the music festival than ever when it came around. We also had a meeting with the Mainsite crew to discuss our duties for the festival...this will be more in detail with my next blog. The meeting let me get to know the people I was going to be working with, making me mroe comfortable with who I was going to be aroung.
Hours Mon:12-4, Wed: 12-4, Fri: 10:30-5
Until next time...
Friday, April 16, 2010
What's been going at NAC this week (April12-16)
This weeks been pretty chill considering we are just finishing up on some stuff for the music festival. I have just been finishing up on the band list, cutting out newspaper clips about NAC and shredding paper. Fun, fun, fun!
Shagah was out of the office last Friday, so I've been working with Amanda a lot since we pretty much have the same job right now. It's pretty exciting how close the festival is. Shagah's wanting us to put as much effort as we can into the preperation because she says it'll all be worth it in the end. Next Friday I am off all weekend to get all the tables together Friday, set up on Saturday and Kid's Stage on Sunday. It's going to be a crazy week, but I'm ready to put all this hard toward something. Amanda has the bigger car, so Friday will be another bonding experience to get all the supplies together.
Friday (today) Shagah, Anna, Josh and Rick had a board meeting. I couldn't go, but I'm sure it's about NMF. So I've been in the office by myself just cutting some newspapers up and shredding paper. Hah, just trying to kill time, considering we're pretty much done with everything. Next week's going to be the crunch time, picking up everything. I'll need to make calls to all the places where picking up tents and tables. It's been a good two weeks since we made the final dicisions to get all these supplies. I'll probably to the follow-up Monday.
Rick and I had a good talk on Monday about "what I want to do with my life." He told me he wants me to start helping me write grants, since I'm not a "dog-eat-dog" kind of person for PR. I thought it was interesting. He was a little right. I don't like to compete, if it's suppose to be my position it'll come to me- to an extent. I don't know, since I've been thinking about next semester and graduation, really should be thinking about what I "really want." I probably won't be doing this internship this summer or next semester. Rick said that we don't really do anything over the summer. I'm taking summer classes so it's probably for the best. Then, next semester I don't need this for any credit so I'll probably just be sticking to classes and graduation.
So we've got NMF, updating concert list, newspapers, shredding paper to be keeping me busy. My hours this week were Mon: 12-3, Thurs: 3-6:30, Fri: 10:30-3:30.
Until next time....
Shagah was out of the office last Friday, so I've been working with Amanda a lot since we pretty much have the same job right now. It's pretty exciting how close the festival is. Shagah's wanting us to put as much effort as we can into the preperation because she says it'll all be worth it in the end. Next Friday I am off all weekend to get all the tables together Friday, set up on Saturday and Kid's Stage on Sunday. It's going to be a crazy week, but I'm ready to put all this hard toward something. Amanda has the bigger car, so Friday will be another bonding experience to get all the supplies together.
Friday (today) Shagah, Anna, Josh and Rick had a board meeting. I couldn't go, but I'm sure it's about NMF. So I've been in the office by myself just cutting some newspapers up and shredding paper. Hah, just trying to kill time, considering we're pretty much done with everything. Next week's going to be the crunch time, picking up everything. I'll need to make calls to all the places where picking up tents and tables. It's been a good two weeks since we made the final dicisions to get all these supplies. I'll probably to the follow-up Monday.
Rick and I had a good talk on Monday about "what I want to do with my life." He told me he wants me to start helping me write grants, since I'm not a "dog-eat-dog" kind of person for PR. I thought it was interesting. He was a little right. I don't like to compete, if it's suppose to be my position it'll come to me- to an extent. I don't know, since I've been thinking about next semester and graduation, really should be thinking about what I "really want." I probably won't be doing this internship this summer or next semester. Rick said that we don't really do anything over the summer. I'm taking summer classes so it's probably for the best. Then, next semester I don't need this for any credit so I'll probably just be sticking to classes and graduation.
So we've got NMF, updating concert list, newspapers, shredding paper to be keeping me busy. My hours this week were Mon: 12-3, Thurs: 3-6:30, Fri: 10:30-3:30.
Until next time....
Friday, April 9, 2010
Norman Music Festival is just around the corner!
For the week of April 5-9, things have been picking up around here. We have all the tables and tents we need for the Kid's Stage so that's a huge burden off my shoulders. I am still returning/answering phone calls for the messages I have been making for these last two weeks. It's a lot of responsiblity, considering who I am representing. NAC has such a great reputation. Anytime I have called anywhere, places are so honored to have us asking about using supplies, such as tables and tents.
We called the Republic Bank for two tents and NCBB for two tents. Both called us back this week and both are letting us use and advertise their logo for the Kid's Stage. As for the tables we called Wildwood Church for 6 tables, the Performing Arts Center 2 tables and NAC is letting us use some of their tables as well. Really, we could just use Wildwood Church for the tables because they have more than enough, but we decided to use other places as well. The only person who might be a burden the day of the festival is the Performing Arts because we're going to have to pick them up the day of, at 8...when we're suppose to already be setting up. It shouldn't be too bad but it's definitely going to have to be quick and fast. Rick's church is Wildwood, so they've been nothing but nice about the whole thing. We have to know a code to get into the storage unit, but luckily Rick has connections to places like this church. So this is all taken care of! In fact, the Performing Arts just called me back to today as I was typing this....it's all done!
I also had to make the final draft for the band spreadsheet. I probably know all the bands by heart, considering I retyped the sheet about three times. We just had to add more contact information and assign the bands officially to a stage. There will be three stages for the Norman Music Festival so it should be running nice and smooth.
I have been starting to come in at 12-3:30/4 on Mondays and Wednesdays because Amanda and I are needing to work together from here on out. We are assigned almost the exact same duties just because we're working together for the festival, so it just makes everything that much easier. I've actually been getting a lot more hours in as well.
There are about six bags of shredded paper now, and the newspaper stack is almost gone. I've been shredding more and Amanda has been cutting out a lot of the newspaper. We've been getting pretty close these last couple of weeks. It's weird because we use to be so shy around each other, but now we text and talk on the phone. We've just been updating each other on what is the latest stuff to work on at NAC.
My hours for the week: Mon 12-4, Tues 12-3, Fri 12-3
Until next time...
We called the Republic Bank for two tents and NCBB for two tents. Both called us back this week and both are letting us use and advertise their logo for the Kid's Stage. As for the tables we called Wildwood Church for 6 tables, the Performing Arts Center 2 tables and NAC is letting us use some of their tables as well. Really, we could just use Wildwood Church for the tables because they have more than enough, but we decided to use other places as well. The only person who might be a burden the day of the festival is the Performing Arts because we're going to have to pick them up the day of, at 8...when we're suppose to already be setting up. It shouldn't be too bad but it's definitely going to have to be quick and fast. Rick's church is Wildwood, so they've been nothing but nice about the whole thing. We have to know a code to get into the storage unit, but luckily Rick has connections to places like this church. So this is all taken care of! In fact, the Performing Arts just called me back to today as I was typing this....it's all done!
I also had to make the final draft for the band spreadsheet. I probably know all the bands by heart, considering I retyped the sheet about three times. We just had to add more contact information and assign the bands officially to a stage. There will be three stages for the Norman Music Festival so it should be running nice and smooth.
I have been starting to come in at 12-3:30/4 on Mondays and Wednesdays because Amanda and I are needing to work together from here on out. We are assigned almost the exact same duties just because we're working together for the festival, so it just makes everything that much easier. I've actually been getting a lot more hours in as well.
There are about six bags of shredded paper now, and the newspaper stack is almost gone. I've been shredding more and Amanda has been cutting out a lot of the newspaper. We've been getting pretty close these last couple of weeks. It's weird because we use to be so shy around each other, but now we text and talk on the phone. We've just been updating each other on what is the latest stuff to work on at NAC.
My hours for the week: Mon 12-4, Tues 12-3, Fri 12-3
Until next time...
Friday, April 2, 2010
NAC
This week was fast! Monday was just a catch up with the band spreadsheet and getting more stuff organized for the festival. We have about 24 bands now signed up so it should be exciting! Also, Shagah has me cutting out Norman Arts Council articles and pictures in recent newspaper.
My main goal right now for the Norman Music Festival is to contact studios around here for tables and tents for the Kid's Stage. We are suppose to have 6-8 rectangular tables, 2 round tables and 7 booths for the stage. This is probably the most important job I have been assigned this entire semester. I have to call so many places and act so professional...and represent Rick from NAC. So I cannot mess up! It's pretty neat having so many connections to places in Norman for stuff like tables and chairs. Rick is definitely helping us with the numbers to places here. We are mostly getting our tables from churches and mostly getting the tents from banks. People have been very friendly and flexible with the whole experience. We have to pick them up on Friday at 3 and get everything set up for Saturday. Our shifts from 8-8. We'll be taking them back on Sunday so that we can all enjoy the festival after our shifts.
I have literally been shredding paper for about two weeks now from the extra paper of the grant statements. Obviously this is valuable information so putting it in the trash not shredded is definitely dangerous. Therefore, Amanda and I have been shredding, shredding, shredding! Pretty hard, let me tell you. Also we've gone through about half of the newspapers we were assigned to cut out.
My hours for the week March 28-April 2: Mon 9-10, Tues 9-10, Wednesday 8-10, Friday 10-4:30.
Until next time...
Katie
My main goal right now for the Norman Music Festival is to contact studios around here for tables and tents for the Kid's Stage. We are suppose to have 6-8 rectangular tables, 2 round tables and 7 booths for the stage. This is probably the most important job I have been assigned this entire semester. I have to call so many places and act so professional...and represent Rick from NAC. So I cannot mess up! It's pretty neat having so many connections to places in Norman for stuff like tables and chairs. Rick is definitely helping us with the numbers to places here. We are mostly getting our tables from churches and mostly getting the tents from banks. People have been very friendly and flexible with the whole experience. We have to pick them up on Friday at 3 and get everything set up for Saturday. Our shifts from 8-8. We'll be taking them back on Sunday so that we can all enjoy the festival after our shifts.
I have literally been shredding paper for about two weeks now from the extra paper of the grant statements. Obviously this is valuable information so putting it in the trash not shredded is definitely dangerous. Therefore, Amanda and I have been shredding, shredding, shredding! Pretty hard, let me tell you. Also we've gone through about half of the newspapers we were assigned to cut out.
My hours for the week March 28-April 2: Mon 9-10, Tues 9-10, Wednesday 8-10, Friday 10-4:30.
Until next time...
Katie
Monday, March 29, 2010
NAC begins preparing for NMF
Last week was a bit of getting stuff organized for the Norman Music Festival. Bands have been dropping of demos for the festival so I've been sorting them out by making a spreadsheet of the soundtrack, the band name, contact information, and e-mail. So far I've done 24, but we'll see how much more come in. This part of the festival is for picking a couple local bands that aren't in the "actual" festival, and getting their names out there by providing them some playing time. It's pretty neat seeing all these local bands and the talent that aren't even known yet. Who knows, maybe I just met the new Radiohead.
We also had a meeting with Sonder music company to talk about the responsibilities Amanda and I will be in charge of at NMF. We are mainly in charge of the kids stage. Face painting, fake tattoos, drawings, and even a science fair will be over at the kids stage. Amanda and I have to find volunteers, tables, chairs, and donations for the booths. I'll be stopping by Sams, Target and Ed Copeland's for art supplies and food donations within these next couple of weeks. Ed Copeland's should be exciting because we'll have to provide open arts and crafts, papers and markers, and stickers for the kids. Sams is donating up to 100$ for snacks and water while Target will fill up the rest of the missing pieces. I'll also need to check in with Party Galary to pick up some booth decorations for the kids.
Amanda and I will need to set up 10-15 tables and 30 chairs. Should be exciting...The shifts for the volunteers will be about two hours each, while of course Amanda and I will have to stay until 8 PM. Long, but eventful day...
My duties last week was the spreadsheet, and tweets for upcoming events for NAC. The Medieval Fair was last weekend so I was in charge of the facebook updates and tweets to advertise what was going on. For this week, Sonder just e-mailed me with some updates of the kids stage. We already have all the volunteers, and food donations, so I'll just be finishing up on the donations of the table and chairs.
Hours last week: Mon 9-10, Wed 9-10, 12-1:30 and Friday 1-5
Until next time...
We also had a meeting with Sonder music company to talk about the responsibilities Amanda and I will be in charge of at NMF. We are mainly in charge of the kids stage. Face painting, fake tattoos, drawings, and even a science fair will be over at the kids stage. Amanda and I have to find volunteers, tables, chairs, and donations for the booths. I'll be stopping by Sams, Target and Ed Copeland's for art supplies and food donations within these next couple of weeks. Ed Copeland's should be exciting because we'll have to provide open arts and crafts, papers and markers, and stickers for the kids. Sams is donating up to 100$ for snacks and water while Target will fill up the rest of the missing pieces. I'll also need to check in with Party Galary to pick up some booth decorations for the kids.
Amanda and I will need to set up 10-15 tables and 30 chairs. Should be exciting...The shifts for the volunteers will be about two hours each, while of course Amanda and I will have to stay until 8 PM. Long, but eventful day...
My duties last week was the spreadsheet, and tweets for upcoming events for NAC. The Medieval Fair was last weekend so I was in charge of the facebook updates and tweets to advertise what was going on. For this week, Sonder just e-mailed me with some updates of the kids stage. We already have all the volunteers, and food donations, so I'll just be finishing up on the donations of the table and chairs.
Hours last week: Mon 9-10, Wed 9-10, 12-1:30 and Friday 1-5
Until next time...
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