We aired the finalists and winner of our Mother of the Year contest, the same contest which I had been helping to 'judge' a while back. I say 'judge' because a group of us were assigned to wade through the thousands of submissions and give the green light to some, so producers could wade through those green lights and narrow it down even further. We were mainly looking for who followed the rules, and who included a good picture. Like I said earlier, I couldn't power through it as well as other big, onerous projects, because many of these submissions came from families who were struggling with diseases and finances, which made me a little depressed after three or four hours.
Our three finalists and their families were excited to be here, and it was contagious. They were all so nice, and easy to work with, my job was to lead them from area to area until it was time for our segment to air. I also ended up unwinding the giant check they would win, and flattening it on the floor with some heavy boxes so it would become rigid. I hadn't ever handled a big TV check like that, so it was fun. I also learned that it was made of some plastic material instead of paper or card, which was sort of surprising.
I expected the family who won to be ecstatic and scream for joy, but instead they became very emotional. The mother was shocked and started to tear up, which made the father and their two boys weepy. They were all outgoing and excited before the segment, but you could tell that they were such a solid family unit once they won. They weren't crying because they won the money, but crying out of love and gratitude for their mom/wife, and for the recognition of something they all wholeheartedly believed: that they have a fantastic lady in their lives. Even afterwards, and until I was finished with helping out, the family didn't say anything about what they would spend the money on. Instead, they reminisced about times when their mom had been stellar as a mother or wife.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Tax forms and Cannes research
Wednesday, May 9th, 2012
Today was a full and fulfilling day, I was happy to be busy from start to end. I came in early to help with a musical segment, and the band was rehearsing when I arrived. The lead singer was Rita Wilson (Tom Hank's wife), and she was accompanied by two guitarists, a bassist, drummer, pianist (who was working two keyboards simultaneously) and another singer. My job was to have them fill out some tax forms before they performed. I recognized a few forms because my buddy back in Cincinnati had worked at Jackson Hewitt, but learning what to have them fill out wasn't the hard part as it turned out; making sure each form was complete was the bigger problem. After three attempts at turning the forms in, only to find out some parts were missing or we had the wrong type of form, we were able to get everything in order.
I also finished up doing some research for the 2012 Cannes film festival. We had a fact sheet from 2010 which included general info about Cannes and the festival, and info about that festival. I needed to update the outdated info, and add any other interesting facts and figures to the sheet. To me, one of the more interesting facts I found was that the city of Cannes spends 600,000+ Euros a year to reclaim 25,000 square meters worth of sand from the sea, which makes sense considering how tourism is integral to the city's economy.
Otherwise, I finished up outlining the scenes for Act II of my spec script, and I planned to finish the rest of the scenes tomorrow.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
The one useful call
Control room today was more productive for me than usual, I left my iPad at home so I wasn't tempted to work on crosswords. Instead, I worked on my South Park spec script, and I finished the basic outline for it. Tomorrow I'll figure out the 23-26 scenes that I need to flesh out the script, and then it pretty much writes itself.
I did get a useful caller today, the first one ever. Besides people looking for transfers, calls which are obviously useful, most viewer calls are about story ideas. Most story ideas are pretty bad; but of the at least hundred or so story ideas I've heard so far, I've passed along three, and none of them were picked up. Today, however, I had a gimme, a caller with an offer that seemed like we would have an obvious interest in it. I sent her info along with the situation along to a producer, and she followed up with a call. I felt like a useful cog today, instead of just a functioning cog, which was a nice feeling. Not that what I do on a daily basis isn't useful, but I don't often get to directly affect what will air before anyone else knows about it. I really felt like the point of the shovel on this one, whereas I'm used to feeling like the shaft.
I did get a useful caller today, the first one ever. Besides people looking for transfers, calls which are obviously useful, most viewer calls are about story ideas. Most story ideas are pretty bad; but of the at least hundred or so story ideas I've heard so far, I've passed along three, and none of them were picked up. Today, however, I had a gimme, a caller with an offer that seemed like we would have an obvious interest in it. I sent her info along with the situation along to a producer, and she followed up with a call. I felt like a useful cog today, instead of just a functioning cog, which was a nice feeling. Not that what I do on a daily basis isn't useful, but I don't often get to directly affect what will air before anyone else knows about it. I really felt like the point of the shovel on this one, whereas I'm used to feeling like the shaft.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Sacha Baron Cohen, Ann Curry, Suzanne Somers and the death of the Fat Cat
As the title suggests, today was a busy day. We had Sacha Baron Cohen, or the Supreme Leader, in today as a guest, promoting his new movie The Dictator. He arrived with some bodacious bodyguards, and in classic dictator fashion (I suppose?) was permitted to roam around the building until his interview with Matt Lauer. Luckily for me, as he's one of the few celebrities I'd like to see, he ended up commandeering the control room for a segment promo. Matt introduced the plug by explaining that he'd shot our executive producer and was now running the show, which I admittedly chuckled at.
I spent most of today transcribing a phone interview with Suzanne Somers, however, which was quite interesting. I was doubling down by doing that and working the front desk, so I was interrupted often by callers, but I was able to finish the transcription by the early afternoon. The most pleasant interruption came from Ann Curry, however, who jokingly asked if I was working or listening to music while I was transcribing - I had my roommate's Beats headphones on, which are certainly overkill for this assignment, but the only thing I had to use. I told her about the interview, and she said she was going to interview her later this week, and it must be the pre-interview. We chatted a bit about what she'd be interviewing her for, and it didn't hit me until afterwards how candid and pleasant that conversation was. I guess it shouldn't surprise me at this point, but even the biggest names I meet here at NBC are very down to earth.
In other news, that 39 pound cat died today. It reportedly was having breathing problems. It goes to show there is a limit on how fat a cat can be, a limit which transcends (or consumes?) the other 8 lives they usually get.
I spent most of today transcribing a phone interview with Suzanne Somers, however, which was quite interesting. I was doubling down by doing that and working the front desk, so I was interrupted often by callers, but I was able to finish the transcription by the early afternoon. The most pleasant interruption came from Ann Curry, however, who jokingly asked if I was working or listening to music while I was transcribing - I had my roommate's Beats headphones on, which are certainly overkill for this assignment, but the only thing I had to use. I told her about the interview, and she said she was going to interview her later this week, and it must be the pre-interview. We chatted a bit about what she'd be interviewing her for, and it didn't hit me until afterwards how candid and pleasant that conversation was. I guess it shouldn't surprise me at this point, but even the biggest names I meet here at NBC are very down to earth.
In other news, that 39 pound cat died today. It reportedly was having breathing problems. It goes to show there is a limit on how fat a cat can be, a limit which transcends (or consumes?) the other 8 lives they usually get.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Lunch with Ernie
Today was one of those days that will probably prove to be a formative experience in my career or life. I spent the morning watching a few episodes of Mary Tyler Moore in order to prepare for my lunch with Ernie Angstadt, a producer who I met a few weeks ago that has taken a special interest in me because we both share a special interest in sitcoms.
We chatted for an hour and a half about all sorts of things - from my experience growing up to current and past sit-coms, as well as the series idea I came up with a few years back. He wanted to see the episode I produced for my last internship at Waycross community TV, and I could kick myself for not keeping a copy. I gave my only copy to somebody at OU when I transferred as proof that I did the internship, so if he doesn't have it, hopefully Waycross does somewhere in it's storage. My only other option is to see if the footage is on some tapes that I still have, and re-edit the project.
One of the useful bits of advice I heard from Ernie was that I need to be on the west coast if I want to work on pre-production for sitcoms. I thought that New York was the place to be for TV, and while that's true of production, he said that all the writers are on the west coast. I suppose I'll need to apply for the west coast Page program as well.
He also advised that while it's good that I'm learning a bunch about production and analysis of shows, I need to not loose that little nugget of intuition about what will 'work' in terms of being funny. This resonated with me. I feel like I had a good grasp on that nugget in my first two years as an undergrad, but during the harder work of catching up and preparing to become professional of the last two years, that piece of me has taken a back seat. I just plain and simple need to start writing again. I'm planning on finishing my South Park spec script in the next month or so, and I want to start watching Big Bang Theory or Happy Endings to potentially spec one of those; Ernie praised both of those shows highly, and I trust his judgement.
Between the life advice, career advice, and the casual but pertinent and interesting conversations we had, I feel rejuvenated. I feel like I've reconnected with my base: my love of story and humor. Since I've been here, I've been so focused on the next step that I've started to compromise on narrative writing, the thing that made me want to study and eventually work in video production in the first place. I'm planning on spending more time after work watching these shows and working on my own projects, instead of playing video games, a sink that drains most of my free time.
We chatted for an hour and a half about all sorts of things - from my experience growing up to current and past sit-coms, as well as the series idea I came up with a few years back. He wanted to see the episode I produced for my last internship at Waycross community TV, and I could kick myself for not keeping a copy. I gave my only copy to somebody at OU when I transferred as proof that I did the internship, so if he doesn't have it, hopefully Waycross does somewhere in it's storage. My only other option is to see if the footage is on some tapes that I still have, and re-edit the project.
One of the useful bits of advice I heard from Ernie was that I need to be on the west coast if I want to work on pre-production for sitcoms. I thought that New York was the place to be for TV, and while that's true of production, he said that all the writers are on the west coast. I suppose I'll need to apply for the west coast Page program as well.
He also advised that while it's good that I'm learning a bunch about production and analysis of shows, I need to not loose that little nugget of intuition about what will 'work' in terms of being funny. This resonated with me. I feel like I had a good grasp on that nugget in my first two years as an undergrad, but during the harder work of catching up and preparing to become professional of the last two years, that piece of me has taken a back seat. I just plain and simple need to start writing again. I'm planning on finishing my South Park spec script in the next month or so, and I want to start watching Big Bang Theory or Happy Endings to potentially spec one of those; Ernie praised both of those shows highly, and I trust his judgement.
Between the life advice, career advice, and the casual but pertinent and interesting conversations we had, I feel rejuvenated. I feel like I've reconnected with my base: my love of story and humor. Since I've been here, I've been so focused on the next step that I've started to compromise on narrative writing, the thing that made me want to study and eventually work in video production in the first place. I'm planning on spending more time after work watching these shows and working on my own projects, instead of playing video games, a sink that drains most of my free time.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Legs and logs
Today was a control room day, and not a bad one to be scheduled for. The show featured a six year old who could play the piano like a pro - and could play any song once he's heard it a few times. He was bright and cheery little ham, perfect for the program. We also had Kelly Osborne as a guest on our Today's Professionals segment, and she was also a star. Like somebody in the control room said, she's not afraid to speak her mind but she also has an appropriate degree of discretion.
I logged a bit more than an hour and a half of tapes - so in real time, it took me about three hours. The tapes were pretty thick, in that they had many different images and sound bytes to log, which translates to a bunch of text. Luckily there was a segment where the three Apollo astronauts were waiting in the mobile quarantine facility to speak with Nixon for about 15 minutes, so that went by in real time. I also ended up running around 30 rock to pick up and deliver packages. Those trips got me out of having to deliver something across town, however, which was lucky because I didn't bring my coat and it started raining today.
I logged a bit more than an hour and a half of tapes - so in real time, it took me about three hours. The tapes were pretty thick, in that they had many different images and sound bytes to log, which translates to a bunch of text. Luckily there was a segment where the three Apollo astronauts were waiting in the mobile quarantine facility to speak with Nixon for about 15 minutes, so that went by in real time. I also ended up running around 30 rock to pick up and deliver packages. Those trips got me out of having to deliver something across town, however, which was lucky because I didn't bring my coat and it started raining today.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Resume sent, Graeter's had.
I was happy to see that the person who I sent my resume to last week for a quick look over and recommendation replied to my email this morning. This was the last thing I needed to happen before asking my supervisor to send it up to the desk. Hopefully, with these two recommendations (and they both used to be Pages), and with this internship and my attractive potential start date, I will get a phone call from the desk. The phone call will be a means to confirm that I'm who I say I am on my resume, so not that I'm looking past that, but I'm not as concerned about the call as much as the panel interview. I've been looking at suit jackets and shoes, a must for the interview, as somehow I lost those things in my move here. Luckily, my cousin is in town, she knows all the best shopping spots and she said she'd help me pick something out on Thursday.
Otherwise, I had a pleasant hometown surprise this afternoon: somebody brought Graeter's ice cream to share with everybody! I was also pleased to hear the positive murmurs from people trying it out, it makes me think that Graeter's can stand up to other ice cream. I had some of the black raspberry chip, my favorite, and was fortunate to unearth a huge chunk of chocolate.
Otherwise, I had a pleasant hometown surprise this afternoon: somebody brought Graeter's ice cream to share with everybody! I was also pleased to hear the positive murmurs from people trying it out, it makes me think that Graeter's can stand up to other ice cream. I had some of the black raspberry chip, my favorite, and was fortunate to unearth a huge chunk of chocolate.
One thing is always good on Monday
Crosswords. Most crosswords are easiest on Monday, and get harder as the week go on. I was scheduled for control room yesterday and had time to work on the NYT Monday crossword, and I was actually able to finish it! Admittedly, I cheated a little bit, but if I get 90% of the answers filled in, I allow myself access to the internet to find the solutions to the last bits. I used to be hardcore and not reference anything but my brain, but after a while the same few clues that I didn't know kept coming up. I figured I might as well 'cheat' in the name of 'learning', or else I'd just not learn for the sake of riding my self-depriving high-horse.
Otherwise, my big task of the day was to dub a Sandusky interview with Bob Costas ASAP. Usually we don't get dub requests that need to be filled the day of, or in this case the morning of, but this one had a legitimate reason. I found the SD version of that day's tape, but the interview occurred early in the 7th hour, and for some reason the tape would rewind all the way back. The tape was also wound in the opposite manner that they usually are; usually a tape at the very beginning has all the tape around the right reel, but this one was opposite. I had to find the HD version, and jump through some hoops to request a dub of that segment, but eventually the project was finished by early afternoon.
Otherwise, my big task of the day was to dub a Sandusky interview with Bob Costas ASAP. Usually we don't get dub requests that need to be filled the day of, or in this case the morning of, but this one had a legitimate reason. I found the SD version of that day's tape, but the interview occurred early in the 7th hour, and for some reason the tape would rewind all the way back. The tape was also wound in the opposite manner that they usually are; usually a tape at the very beginning has all the tape around the right reel, but this one was opposite. I had to find the HD version, and jump through some hoops to request a dub of that segment, but eventually the project was finished by early afternoon.
Tweaking resume
Friday was a strange day. It was packed with many little tasks which made it seem hectic, but it was the type of hectic that didn't feel very productive. I dubbed, logged, and answered a swarm of calls about all sorts of things, mostly concerning the Mother of the Year contest.
I did re-work my resume, which was a definite plus in the pile of productive musts. I trimmed it down quite a bit, getting rid of irrelevant skills that were really there just to fill space. My resume needs to be a single page, so I now realize that the space on that page is important information real-estate. I added a section for references, and was able to fit four; a much, much better use of space than the line that explained I was semi-trained in handling random camcorder models.
I did re-work my resume, which was a definite plus in the pile of productive musts. I trimmed it down quite a bit, getting rid of irrelevant skills that were really there just to fill space. My resume needs to be a single page, so I now realize that the space on that page is important information real-estate. I added a section for references, and was able to fit four; a much, much better use of space than the line that explained I was semi-trained in handling random camcorder models.
Sister Ambush, story
*These next few posts are catching up on the last few days.
I worked on my second Ambush Makeover segment on Thursday, it was especially rewarding because we chose sisters to makeover. One sister had a sign promoting her sib for the segment, and luckily for her, the rest of the ladies in the crowd were too well put together, so we surprised her by asking both of them. The sign said that she had had the same look since 1990, the year I was born. For the past two years, being on campus and being a junior or senior made me feel old. Playing pick-up basketball with high school and middle school kids who are in way better shape than me makes me feel old. That sign was a refreshing reminder that I'm actually not that old!
Otherwise, I worked the front desk. I had an interesting call which stood out amongst the purposeless ones, from a retired cop in Florida. Wells Fargo had been harassing him and his family with incessant calls, claiming that they hadn't received certain mortgage payments, although his bank verified that the checks he sent them had been cashed. After his attorney listened to the calls he recorded (which, Wells Fargo said they weren't lawfully allowed to record), he said it was one of the most egregious examples of customer abuse he's ever heard. This story could come on the tail of the segment we ran about telemarketers calling people on the do not call list - although it has a hint of bad-behavior-banking, which is relevant considering the reason why we're in a recession.
I worked on my second Ambush Makeover segment on Thursday, it was especially rewarding because we chose sisters to makeover. One sister had a sign promoting her sib for the segment, and luckily for her, the rest of the ladies in the crowd were too well put together, so we surprised her by asking both of them. The sign said that she had had the same look since 1990, the year I was born. For the past two years, being on campus and being a junior or senior made me feel old. Playing pick-up basketball with high school and middle school kids who are in way better shape than me makes me feel old. That sign was a refreshing reminder that I'm actually not that old!
Otherwise, I worked the front desk. I had an interesting call which stood out amongst the purposeless ones, from a retired cop in Florida. Wells Fargo had been harassing him and his family with incessant calls, claiming that they hadn't received certain mortgage payments, although his bank verified that the checks he sent them had been cashed. After his attorney listened to the calls he recorded (which, Wells Fargo said they weren't lawfully allowed to record), he said it was one of the most egregious examples of customer abuse he's ever heard. This story could come on the tail of the segment we ran about telemarketers calling people on the do not call list - although it has a hint of bad-behavior-banking, which is relevant considering the reason why we're in a recession.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Mother of the Year contest
This morning I had the pleasure of delivering hardbound copies of An Incredible Dream to every producer, and I'm not being sarcastic. I love the smell of new books, I love the feeling of a book in my hands. I love how you can read a book without feeling like you're staring at a floodlight; some of these big-screen HD computer monitors aren't far from it. I opened up a bunch of boxes, stacked books on a cart, and noted the most witty quips from people who suspected this book was less of a gift and more of a merger hurdle.
Otherwise, I spent most of my time going through the nearly 10k submissions we received for our Mother of the Year contest. I felt pretty bad judging people in the beginning, and ended up 'starring' one out of every twenty, until I learned that we should probably shoot for more like one out of seventy five. It got easier after that, especially considering a good, clear picture is a must. It sounds superficial, but TV is a visual medium - it would be different if it were a radio contest. It began to be tough again after the 4th hour or so, I just couldn't help but feel a little down after reading submission after submission about moms with sicknesses or kids with sicknesses. It makes me glad for my good health and my family's good health, because there are a lot of medical issues out there.
Otherwise, I spent most of my time going through the nearly 10k submissions we received for our Mother of the Year contest. I felt pretty bad judging people in the beginning, and ended up 'starring' one out of every twenty, until I learned that we should probably shoot for more like one out of seventy five. It got easier after that, especially considering a good, clear picture is a must. It sounds superficial, but TV is a visual medium - it would be different if it were a radio contest. It began to be tough again after the 4th hour or so, I just couldn't help but feel a little down after reading submission after submission about moms with sicknesses or kids with sicknesses. It makes me glad for my good health and my family's good health, because there are a lot of medical issues out there.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Fat Kitty Reincarnate and the Royal Wedding
We ran a story today on a cat named 'Meow' who weighs just under 30 lbs. He was a chunky thing, and actually looked quite noble, despite the handler noting that fat animals are usually less happy than healthier, leaner ones. This cat reminded me of the cat my family used to have as a kid - once called Tiptoes, then dubbed Fat Kitty once she became fat. That cat was 6 months older than me, and it stayed that way until I was 10. Some of my friends as a kid remember her sitting lethargically on some furniture in the basement, watching over us as we played N64. This cat was up for adoption, and we only got one call about it. Seems like pudgy cats don't have the draw that scruffy dogs do.
I spent some time today trying to get my resume from my crippled computer on to a computer here, to no avail. My computer can't connect to the internet anywhere, and these computers don't recognize my hard drive, so I couldn't even do a little transfer that way. I'll have to borrow my roommate's computer again and email myself the documents so I can access them at work. I'm getting antsy - I want to apply for the page position ASAP, but technology's dark magic isn't having any of it.
I also stayed after 5 today to finish up some work - I had to record and copy the Royal Wedding special from last year. It wasn't exactly work, I just had to mind the machine while it did everything. There were no commercials (surprisingly) for the 2.5+ hours that I had to record, so I really didn't have to even stop and start to skip past them. It was so long that it took three DVDs to finish. I'll end up finishing it all around 8, which gives me enough time to visit the open gym back at the Y. I missed playing basketball this weekend so I need my fix, especially after today.
I spent some time today trying to get my resume from my crippled computer on to a computer here, to no avail. My computer can't connect to the internet anywhere, and these computers don't recognize my hard drive, so I couldn't even do a little transfer that way. I'll have to borrow my roommate's computer again and email myself the documents so I can access them at work. I'm getting antsy - I want to apply for the page position ASAP, but technology's dark magic isn't having any of it.
I also stayed after 5 today to finish up some work - I had to record and copy the Royal Wedding special from last year. It wasn't exactly work, I just had to mind the machine while it did everything. There were no commercials (surprisingly) for the 2.5+ hours that I had to record, so I really didn't have to even stop and start to skip past them. It was so long that it took three DVDs to finish. I'll end up finishing it all around 8, which gives me enough time to visit the open gym back at the Y. I missed playing basketball this weekend so I need my fix, especially after today.
Monday on the Moon
I spent nearly all of yesterday logging tapes about the Apollo XI moon mission. I hadn't seen anything about the moon landing prior, the only thing that rung a bell was the classic "one small step for man...". It was definitely interesting to see a new perspective - one from the late 60s, where mankind was taking its first attempts at expanding its influence past our atmosphere. Plus they had no Internet, which is always weird to think about.
My roommate mentioned how alien life theorists classify sentient-life civilizations, from stage 1 to 4, based on how that civilization harvests energy for its own use. Stage 1 civs harvest energy from their planet, stage 2, from their solar system, stage 3, from their galaxy, and so on. The moon landing represents popping the bubble of stage 1, but we might actually be close to making strides in stage 2.
I read an article today about how some of the most capitalized entrepreneurs are investing in Planetary Resources, Inc., a company who aims to begin mining near-earth asteroids in the next couple decades. It sounds illogical, but these asteroids are the homes of platinum and other platinum-like elements which we use in modern technologies like fuel cells, batteries and electronics.
These elements are extremely rare on earth, which is part of the reason why these products are so expensive (and a big part of the reason why we don't have hydrogen fuel-cell cars yet, as the amount of these elements needed to produce one of these engines makes the venture not feasible). However, scientists posit that most of these elements are so rare because they accumulated on the Earth's crust from asteroids-turned-meteorites pelting the surface over time. And one of these near-earth asteroids is said to contain more platinum than the world as a whole mines in one year.
If Planetary Resources, Inc. goes public at any point, I would invest in it for sure. If anything, I'd want to help support a novel venture into Stage 2. The article quotes some pretty high potential prices for the loads they could get from some of these asteroids, so I could enjoy some gains from that investment. I'm thinking if it does work out, the prices won't stay high for very long because we'd simply have access to more of this rare material.
My roommate mentioned how alien life theorists classify sentient-life civilizations, from stage 1 to 4, based on how that civilization harvests energy for its own use. Stage 1 civs harvest energy from their planet, stage 2, from their solar system, stage 3, from their galaxy, and so on. The moon landing represents popping the bubble of stage 1, but we might actually be close to making strides in stage 2.
I read an article today about how some of the most capitalized entrepreneurs are investing in Planetary Resources, Inc., a company who aims to begin mining near-earth asteroids in the next couple decades. It sounds illogical, but these asteroids are the homes of platinum and other platinum-like elements which we use in modern technologies like fuel cells, batteries and electronics.
These elements are extremely rare on earth, which is part of the reason why these products are so expensive (and a big part of the reason why we don't have hydrogen fuel-cell cars yet, as the amount of these elements needed to produce one of these engines makes the venture not feasible). However, scientists posit that most of these elements are so rare because they accumulated on the Earth's crust from asteroids-turned-meteorites pelting the surface over time. And one of these near-earth asteroids is said to contain more platinum than the world as a whole mines in one year.
If Planetary Resources, Inc. goes public at any point, I would invest in it for sure. If anything, I'd want to help support a novel venture into Stage 2. The article quotes some pretty high potential prices for the loads they could get from some of these asteroids, so I could enjoy some gains from that investment. I'm thinking if it does work out, the prices won't stay high for very long because we'd simply have access to more of this rare material.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Seriously, TGIF
Friday was the longest day I've had here so far, I was scheduled for control room which started at 5:30am as usual, and I was also scheduled to help for an interview shoot that ended around 5:30pm. From when I left in the morning to when I returned, that Friday ended up being about a 13 hour day. However, it was a full and fulfilling day for sure, so TGIF meant more for me 'thank God it's the weekend tomorrow' rather than 'thank God this week is over'.
I signed up for a conference open to NBC/Universal interns concerning how to make the transition from being an undergraduate to landing our first entry-level position. It was extremely helpful, mostly because it was ran by a member of the HR team who handles hiring for most of NBC/Uni. positions that become open. He was one of the real people who would read my resume once I send it in - which is good to know, because most applications for NBC/Uni jobs are online, and it's easy to think you're sending your spirit into a void once you click 'send'.
It was at 11am in a building essentially in Times Square. I left a half hour early to give myself some time to get lost, which I did, but I ended up on time. I also got lost on the way back; NYC being a grid is helpful for navigation, but you really need a compass to actually use the grid. Both times I got lost I ended up going in the exact opposite cardinal direction that I needed to go. Usually my sense of direction is good, but in a concrete jungle where you can't see the horizon or sun half the time, a compass would be really helpful.
I took notes at the conference, and had all my questions (and more) answered within the first hour. The most important thing I learned was not to spread my resume across a breadth of different positions just because they're open. He advised that it's better to wait a few months for a job opening that you're passionate about and somewhat qualified for, than to toss your name in as many hats as you can. He also kept on stressing that landing a job really depend upon the specifics of the position, which you might not know about just from the listing, and about a ton of other variables that are behind the scenes. "It depends" was the motto for this meeting - a bit relieving to hear, actually, because now I know that when I get rejected for jobs that I apply to, it may simply be due to those variables that are out of my control.
The interview that I helped shoot was much more engrossing than I thought it would be, especially considering how tired I was toward the end of the day. We interviewed Ted Wells and Stan Grayson, two prominent lawyers who graduated from College of the Holy Cross. They were part of a graduating class that went on to achieve immense success in their fields, including a Supreme Court Justice, a Super Bowl winning coach, a Pulitzer prize winner, to name a few. They were also all African American students, who were all part of one of the first years of integration which occurred in higher education during the late 60s.
Having just finished my undergraduate experience, I could really relate to how they spoke about their experience. I'm usually pitifully incapable of truly relating to people who are a generation or older than me, so this was one of the first times where I actually understood where they were coming from; I felt like I was listening, rather than just hearing, what they had to say. They were both friends in school, and both had a personal relationship as well with Clarence Thomas, so they were able and willing to provide an intimate perspective on the Justice.
I had to lead them upstairs to where we were shooting the interview, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. These men are both extremely established, self-made, and have withstood more adversity than I most likely will ever have to face, and as a result, they each had a palpable presence about them. I didn't want to lead them up in silence, but I also couldn't think of any good conversation that I could really provide (I'd choke myself before I'd ask 'so how about this weather?'), so I went with a less than stellar 'has it been a good Friday so far?'. Dr. Wells could tell I was ambitiously nervous, so he politely asked about me, allowing the conversation to veer towards something new for him and familiar for me.
After the interview I smiled and shook hands with both men during the rounds of hand-shaking. Dr. Wells remembered that I mentioned the page position, so he sincerely remarked to my producer to help me out a little, seeing as I'm trying to get a job very soon. That made my day. It was after 5, and I should have been, by all means, soup in my shoes. Instead, I felt invigorated. It made me so happy to see that there are successful people who are genuine, and genuinely nice. I would have felt the same about Dr. Wells and Dr. Grayson, oral recognition or not, but that bit of personal attention goes a long way for a little guy like me.
I signed up for a conference open to NBC/Universal interns concerning how to make the transition from being an undergraduate to landing our first entry-level position. It was extremely helpful, mostly because it was ran by a member of the HR team who handles hiring for most of NBC/Uni. positions that become open. He was one of the real people who would read my resume once I send it in - which is good to know, because most applications for NBC/Uni jobs are online, and it's easy to think you're sending your spirit into a void once you click 'send'.
It was at 11am in a building essentially in Times Square. I left a half hour early to give myself some time to get lost, which I did, but I ended up on time. I also got lost on the way back; NYC being a grid is helpful for navigation, but you really need a compass to actually use the grid. Both times I got lost I ended up going in the exact opposite cardinal direction that I needed to go. Usually my sense of direction is good, but in a concrete jungle where you can't see the horizon or sun half the time, a compass would be really helpful.
I took notes at the conference, and had all my questions (and more) answered within the first hour. The most important thing I learned was not to spread my resume across a breadth of different positions just because they're open. He advised that it's better to wait a few months for a job opening that you're passionate about and somewhat qualified for, than to toss your name in as many hats as you can. He also kept on stressing that landing a job really depend upon the specifics of the position, which you might not know about just from the listing, and about a ton of other variables that are behind the scenes. "It depends" was the motto for this meeting - a bit relieving to hear, actually, because now I know that when I get rejected for jobs that I apply to, it may simply be due to those variables that are out of my control.
The interview that I helped shoot was much more engrossing than I thought it would be, especially considering how tired I was toward the end of the day. We interviewed Ted Wells and Stan Grayson, two prominent lawyers who graduated from College of the Holy Cross. They were part of a graduating class that went on to achieve immense success in their fields, including a Supreme Court Justice, a Super Bowl winning coach, a Pulitzer prize winner, to name a few. They were also all African American students, who were all part of one of the first years of integration which occurred in higher education during the late 60s.
Having just finished my undergraduate experience, I could really relate to how they spoke about their experience. I'm usually pitifully incapable of truly relating to people who are a generation or older than me, so this was one of the first times where I actually understood where they were coming from; I felt like I was listening, rather than just hearing, what they had to say. They were both friends in school, and both had a personal relationship as well with Clarence Thomas, so they were able and willing to provide an intimate perspective on the Justice.
I had to lead them upstairs to where we were shooting the interview, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. These men are both extremely established, self-made, and have withstood more adversity than I most likely will ever have to face, and as a result, they each had a palpable presence about them. I didn't want to lead them up in silence, but I also couldn't think of any good conversation that I could really provide (I'd choke myself before I'd ask 'so how about this weather?'), so I went with a less than stellar 'has it been a good Friday so far?'. Dr. Wells could tell I was ambitiously nervous, so he politely asked about me, allowing the conversation to veer towards something new for him and familiar for me.
After the interview I smiled and shook hands with both men during the rounds of hand-shaking. Dr. Wells remembered that I mentioned the page position, so he sincerely remarked to my producer to help me out a little, seeing as I'm trying to get a job very soon. That made my day. It was after 5, and I should have been, by all means, soup in my shoes. Instead, I felt invigorated. It made me so happy to see that there are successful people who are genuine, and genuinely nice. I would have felt the same about Dr. Wells and Dr. Grayson, oral recognition or not, but that bit of personal attention goes a long way for a little guy like me.
3, 2, 1, Live! - 4/19
On Thursday I helped out with a segment I hadn't worked on before. '3, 2, 1, Live!' is a close cousin to 'Who Knew?' in that it includes audience participation, questions, and it airs in the 4th hour. I thought it would be harder to get people for this segment, because I went out to search for participants later than I usually would for 'Who Knew?', but it didn't end up being too difficult.
I managed to nab the rest of the people from the dwindling crowd in the plaza outside the studio. I was able to get about 3/4 of the people who were there, a much more successful participant to crowd ratio than usual, but that makes sense considering the more diehard fans stick around until the end. I also grabbed some people from the first floor of the NBC store.
Otherwise I distributed some mail, and ended up clearing out the really full mail boxes by delivering it all to their desk. It seemed like a significant day for mail that day, there were a couple different magazines that sent out their newest issues all at once. I felt like a weird Santa because I was delivering what I thought of as presents (who doesn't like mail?) but I learned pretty quickly there's a difference between personal letters and magazines, and a difference between magazines and spam-ish mail.
I managed to nab the rest of the people from the dwindling crowd in the plaza outside the studio. I was able to get about 3/4 of the people who were there, a much more successful participant to crowd ratio than usual, but that makes sense considering the more diehard fans stick around until the end. I also grabbed some people from the first floor of the NBC store.
Otherwise I distributed some mail, and ended up clearing out the really full mail boxes by delivering it all to their desk. It seemed like a significant day for mail that day, there were a couple different magazines that sent out their newest issues all at once. I felt like a weird Santa because I was delivering what I thought of as presents (who doesn't like mail?) but I learned pretty quickly there's a difference between personal letters and magazines, and a difference between magazines and spam-ish mail.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Whatawednesday
Today was a full and fulfilling day. I even had a hamburger at lunch, and although it was from the commissary, in my mind, it legitemizes the title's pun.
I started this morning at 6:30, and made sure to wear my team USA Olympic shirt. Two other interns and I shuffled up and down the line of people around the plaza, handing out American flags, team USA shirts, and applying tattoos to hands and faces. There was a nice variety of people who showed up, including some Brits, some Irish folk, and a smattering of midwestern/east coast Americans. I met somebody from Akron, we bonded over being from Ohio. The Brits gave me a UK flag, so I wore it sticking out of my pocket by my American flag. I also ended up getting a Team USA flag (one of the ones that I spent time ripping tags off of a few days ago), which completed my trifecta of flag souvenirs.
I also logged some tapes of an interview of Jess Brown, the lady who makes Jess Brown Dolls - handmade rag-dolls of the finest, most snugly materials. She had an interesting story, starting with the accident that brought her to make her first doll for her first daughter, and ending with where she and her business is today, and what other items she'd like to begin creating. Kudos for her philosophy on her products, she believes things should be handmade, with high quality materials, and made to last years and years.
I met with Monica, the contact that Matt and Jackie passed along to me, about audience demographics. I ended up coming away with a ton more advice and helpful suggestions than I anticipated getting, and a new contact who said she'd help me with my resume, or with delivering a story idea to the proper producer. She told me about how she ended up getting her job, which was great to hear, because I'm not too far away from trying to land a more permanent position here.
She also told me all about the different demographics that we try to hit, the reasons why demographics are split as such, and how Today tailors content in different portions for these different demos. It all made sense as she was talking to me; while I had an idea about demos beforehand, her explanation, especially after seeing a bunch of different segments that have aired at different times, makes much more real-world sense now. That info will definitely help me in my discretion as far as passing story ideas along to producers concerns.
Today was really exciting and productive. It was fun working the Olympics segment, and it was fun/helpful talking to Monica. I now realize how important it is to really talk to people around me here; not only because I learn a ton when I do, but because they are always nice people, and often offer to help me out in some sort of way in my quest to get a job here at NBC.
I started this morning at 6:30, and made sure to wear my team USA Olympic shirt. Two other interns and I shuffled up and down the line of people around the plaza, handing out American flags, team USA shirts, and applying tattoos to hands and faces. There was a nice variety of people who showed up, including some Brits, some Irish folk, and a smattering of midwestern/east coast Americans. I met somebody from Akron, we bonded over being from Ohio. The Brits gave me a UK flag, so I wore it sticking out of my pocket by my American flag. I also ended up getting a Team USA flag (one of the ones that I spent time ripping tags off of a few days ago), which completed my trifecta of flag souvenirs.
I also logged some tapes of an interview of Jess Brown, the lady who makes Jess Brown Dolls - handmade rag-dolls of the finest, most snugly materials. She had an interesting story, starting with the accident that brought her to make her first doll for her first daughter, and ending with where she and her business is today, and what other items she'd like to begin creating. Kudos for her philosophy on her products, she believes things should be handmade, with high quality materials, and made to last years and years.
I met with Monica, the contact that Matt and Jackie passed along to me, about audience demographics. I ended up coming away with a ton more advice and helpful suggestions than I anticipated getting, and a new contact who said she'd help me with my resume, or with delivering a story idea to the proper producer. She told me about how she ended up getting her job, which was great to hear, because I'm not too far away from trying to land a more permanent position here.
She also told me all about the different demographics that we try to hit, the reasons why demographics are split as such, and how Today tailors content in different portions for these different demos. It all made sense as she was talking to me; while I had an idea about demos beforehand, her explanation, especially after seeing a bunch of different segments that have aired at different times, makes much more real-world sense now. That info will definitely help me in my discretion as far as passing story ideas along to producers concerns.
Today was really exciting and productive. It was fun working the Olympics segment, and it was fun/helpful talking to Monica. I now realize how important it is to really talk to people around me here; not only because I learn a ton when I do, but because they are always nice people, and often offer to help me out in some sort of way in my quest to get a job here at NBC.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
One goal down
Today was busy, starting early in the morning in the control room. We had a ton of calls, and a ton of packages to RTS. I don't mind busy work while I'm here, I figure that's a good litmus test for my compatibility with this industry.
I caught Matt while he seemed to have a bit of free time, so I followed up on my request to see somebody to learn more about audience demographics. He and his assistant Jackie recommended somebody to me, so I'm now scheduled to meet with her tomorrow afternoon.
Seeing as I want to write for TV, and TV is all about audiences, and that writing is all about knowing/being able to deliver to your audience, this is some important info that I need to know. I have a general idea about it from classes, but I've learned here that a general idea in an academic sense is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to actually doing something.
I caught Matt while he seemed to have a bit of free time, so I followed up on my request to see somebody to learn more about audience demographics. He and his assistant Jackie recommended somebody to me, so I'm now scheduled to meet with her tomorrow afternoon.
Seeing as I want to write for TV, and TV is all about audiences, and that writing is all about knowing/being able to deliver to your audience, this is some important info that I need to know. I have a general idea about it from classes, but I've learned here that a general idea in an academic sense is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to actually doing something.
Highlights from Friday-Monday
I covered the 'books' desk on Friday, and just like a week ago, it was pretty slow. I logged the books that came in, but otherwise I spent my time arguing with people on the internet. I don't recommend it.
This weekend was like my other weekends, except I busted my lip and dislocated my shoulder playing pick-up basketball. It's the first time I've dislocated something; I heard a 'pop' and my left arm was not at all where it used to be. After a few moments crouched down, nobody looked like they knew what to do, including me, so I just sort of fanangled my elbow on my knee and pushed, and luckily it popped back in. I finished the game, but it was really sore on Monday.
The only thing I remember from Monday was pulling tags off 150 Team USA Olympic flags. That and catching up with my family, which was a nice off the clock activity. I'm really trying to be constructive after work; after being constructive all day, I'm especially sensitive to when I'm wasting time. Not that I don't waste time any more, but nowadays, I can almost taste it when I do, and it's really bland.
This weekend was like my other weekends, except I busted my lip and dislocated my shoulder playing pick-up basketball. It's the first time I've dislocated something; I heard a 'pop' and my left arm was not at all where it used to be. After a few moments crouched down, nobody looked like they knew what to do, including me, so I just sort of fanangled my elbow on my knee and pushed, and luckily it popped back in. I finished the game, but it was really sore on Monday.
The only thing I remember from Monday was pulling tags off 150 Team USA Olympic flags. That and catching up with my family, which was a nice off the clock activity. I'm really trying to be constructive after work; after being constructive all day, I'm especially sensitive to when I'm wasting time. Not that I don't waste time any more, but nowadays, I can almost taste it when I do, and it's really bland.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Wild goose chase
Today was a full twelve hour day, starting at 530 this morning in the control room. I manned the desk for a while until about lunchtime, then I started on a pretty sizable log project.
The videos we're interviews with women who had read a popular book called 50 Shades of Grey, or gray, it's a character's name and I can't remember. From what I gathered in the interviews, it's about an S&M relationship between a 27 year old billionaire and a 21 year old virgin. Not exactly my type of literature, but it was funny and interesting to hear these women in their 40s talk about it. I definitely gained a new perspective from the three interviews I logged: one was a writer who liked the characters and dynamic, one was a level-headed mom who thought it was terrible writing but good exposure to a strange part of society, and one just read it so she could flaunt how comfortable she was with talking about her sex life with her friends. Nice variation.
I was also asked to find an unpopular book from '08 called "Crossbearer", do I called a few places until I found a store who said they had it in stock. After 30 minutes between walking and subway hops, I found my way into the cave of Christian literature in this store, only to not find the book and have an employee explain that it was probably an inventory error. At least I got to try a new subway line and see some more of downtown.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
"Who Knew" take two
I helped out again with the "Who Knew?" segment that airs during the 4th hour. This time, people were more eager to sign up for the experience - I think part of it was that I had more confidence this time, and perhaps last time I seemed less legitimate, which turned people off before I even spoke. I also had a little routine down with what/how I told people about the segment that got better results.
We had a good crowd with people from all over (we even had a couple from Manchester, England, who seemed to be there because Ricky Gervais was on the show today), and they all had much better energy than last week.
Otherwise I was on my feet all day, doing dubs and running things around this maze of a building, but I got to see some new places and people working on different shows. My heels are raw and losing the battle of malleability with my new-ish shoes, but the war isn't over yet.
I'm starting to get to know, or at least recognize, more people and names here. My next goal is to shadow a producer while they work on a concept for a segment, and hopefully help out on the actual production that would go in to creating the content for the segment.
We had a good crowd with people from all over (we even had a couple from Manchester, England, who seemed to be there because Ricky Gervais was on the show today), and they all had much better energy than last week.
Otherwise I was on my feet all day, doing dubs and running things around this maze of a building, but I got to see some new places and people working on different shows. My heels are raw and losing the battle of malleability with my new-ish shoes, but the war isn't over yet.
I'm starting to get to know, or at least recognize, more people and names here. My next goal is to shadow a producer while they work on a concept for a segment, and hopefully help out on the actual production that would go in to creating the content for the segment.
Legitamate callers
The internet where I'm staying is a bit dodgy, so I wasn't able to post yesterday.
I had some actually compelling story ideas from callers today. I've learned that journalism these days isn't just cut and dry facts, but that you need a story (most likely a face) that personifies a greater issue, instead of just the issue itself. Both of these callers seemed like legitimate possible 'faces' for the problems they represent.
One was about a lady who adopts children from Bulgarian orphanages, which are severly underfunded. She described them as "holocaust camps for kids" because many of the children are extremely underweight when she picks them up - one ten year old she claimed weighed ten pounds when she arrived. She brings them back to the States for rehabilitation and hopefully for adoption, her blog is thesousabrownfamily.blogspot.com if you'd like to read more.
The second story came from an Iraqi vet who is finding civilian life very hard due to her PTSD. She doesn't recieve support from the military and she was recently fired from her job due to her anti-social behavior, so she lives at home off of meager support from the government. She doesn't want to be pitied, and doesn't want to be entirely supported by the government, but she doesn't know of anywhere to turn that could basically de-train her from being a soldier to being a civilian. She only gets 45 minutes of sleep a night, because she subconsciously waits for the alarms that would go off during active duty. However, the worse part, she said, is she never hears the "ALL CLEAR" that used to calm her nerves during those stressful nights of her tour. It's like she's in a constant state of combat stress limbo.
Hopefully one of these stories gets picked up (although they are both kind of downers) because I'd really like to help produce either one, considering I spent a good 20-30 minutes talking to each lady on the phone, getting a good mental sense of what they and their situations are like.
I had some actually compelling story ideas from callers today. I've learned that journalism these days isn't just cut and dry facts, but that you need a story (most likely a face) that personifies a greater issue, instead of just the issue itself. Both of these callers seemed like legitimate possible 'faces' for the problems they represent.
One was about a lady who adopts children from Bulgarian orphanages, which are severly underfunded. She described them as "holocaust camps for kids" because many of the children are extremely underweight when she picks them up - one ten year old she claimed weighed ten pounds when she arrived. She brings them back to the States for rehabilitation and hopefully for adoption, her blog is thesousabrownfamily.blogspot.com if you'd like to read more.
The second story came from an Iraqi vet who is finding civilian life very hard due to her PTSD. She doesn't recieve support from the military and she was recently fired from her job due to her anti-social behavior, so she lives at home off of meager support from the government. She doesn't want to be pitied, and doesn't want to be entirely supported by the government, but she doesn't know of anywhere to turn that could basically de-train her from being a soldier to being a civilian. She only gets 45 minutes of sleep a night, because she subconsciously waits for the alarms that would go off during active duty. However, the worse part, she said, is she never hears the "ALL CLEAR" that used to calm her nerves during those stressful nights of her tour. It's like she's in a constant state of combat stress limbo.
Hopefully one of these stories gets picked up (although they are both kind of downers) because I'd really like to help produce either one, considering I spent a good 20-30 minutes talking to each lady on the phone, getting a good mental sense of what they and their situations are like.
Monday, April 9, 2012
3rd Monday
The Internet on my computer doesn't work again, the plot thickens in my quest to understanding the magic behind how the Internet actually works. This post is short because I have to type it out on the iPad, and because i didn't do much today.
We ran a story about a really small puppy today which everyone thought was cute, I thought it looked like a sickly bat-rat, but I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder. I got a call today from an older lady who wanted to know how she could adopt the runt. I told her that's not an option, but her local animal shelter probably had some dogs that she could adopt. She said she wanted this one because it's so small, and I insisted that dogs need lovin' no matter what their size. She sort of laughed but I don't think it was for the same reason that I sort of laughed.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Good Friday
It was a slow day yesterday, people were out on holiday seeing as it was Good Friday. I covered a desk on the 4th floor from 9 to 12 and logged a few packages. Being slow, I was able to get some homework done which was helpful. I'm actually caught up on my classwork, so I'll use this weekend to get ahead.
I'm preparing for a panel interview that I hope to get after a phone interview for the page program at NBC. Other interns have had their panels already, one knows she's been accepted, and the other is confident that she did well in hers. It's a group interview, which I've never done before, but they say that it's a little more intimidating/high stress than an individual interview, because you're interviewing with other people who want the position as well. I think the group aspect will actually work to my benefit, I'll be able to see what I'm up against.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Ambush Grammaniac
The interactions I have with people are the most fun part of this job, and the two fun things about today spanned the spectrum of possible interactions, from laughing with people to laughing at them, or rather, him. I helped out on a segment called "Ambush Makeover", where we choose two women from the crowd to makeover, and reveal the new 'them' to their family and to themselves as well. The two ladies that were picked really enjoyed the experience, if you want to see the segment, click here and scroll down the page a bit, and on the slight left hand side you'll see videos and another small scrollbar, scroll down that one a bit more and you'll see the video. One lady was here with her husband, 5 year old son and 3 year old daughter. These kids stole the show, they were almost too cute and candid to handle.
Yesterday I answered a call from an older gentleman who was peeved by a bit of incorrect grammar in a segment that, he said, he's watched for years, and has been incorrect for years. The segment is called 'Today in 2 minutes', and apparently at the beginning the announcer says "here are some of the stories we'll cover today" or something like that. He claims that every time the video only reviews one story, and that plural isn't necessary.
True, if the video actually did review one story, but it hardly ever does. He called again today to complain and asked to talk to my supervisor because I failed to change it for him yesterday. Little did he know that I do more (than I should) to help callers than anyone else at my desk, at least in terms of sympathizing with their lonely existences, so when he talked to my supervisor, he was shocked at the tone he received. After an impressive three minutes on the phone, longer than my supervisor ever puts up with useless callers, he got hung up on. Lo and behold he calls back, I answer, and he asks for my supervisors name, threatening to write an angry email.
Of course, I'm not going to give out his name, so I tell him his name is Ben... Jacobson, with the pause and everything. To me at least it seemed like the falsest of monikers, but it gave me enough juice to improv some more bullsquat about 'Ben Jacobson', and why he's in a bad mood, until my supervisor got bored with my fabrications and hung up on him for me. He didn't call back, although we were waiting so we could block his number, but I'm sure somebody's going to get a well written email complaint about a 'Ben Jacobson', look him up in the system, and delete the email, thinking it was sent to the wrong address.
Mo' money, mo' taxes
Today was an interesting day, or rather, yesterday was, so much so that I forgot to post. I helped out with a segment called "Who Knew?" that airs during the 4th hour of the show. It's a multiple choice segment, and usually Kathie Lee or Hoda ask about eight people the questions, but Billy Ray Cyrus had the honors of playing Trebek today.
I had the honors of gathering participants and a crowd for the segment, and I was surprised because it wasn't as easy as I thought. I should have asked more people from the crowd in the pavilion while they were still there, but I only signed up two participants during that time, so I had to find the other six among the transient groups passing by outside our building. Also strangely, a good half of the people who I approached were foreign; it wasn't strange that they weren't American, it was strange that I pegged them as such and my inclinations were so off. I eventually gathered enough people and sent them up to the cafe to shoot the segment. I felt a little bad because they were all nervous, and most asked what types of questions they would be asked - I told them it was general pop culture, but it ended up being Easter questions. I could see a few raised eyebrows when the real topic was introduced.
We also celebrated another intern's belated birthday today with a little pizza party lunch. All of the interns, our supervisor, and our intern coordinator sat down for the first time as a group, and it was really nice! I can't stress enough how great the people I work with are, I always had the notion that this business and this city is a bit cold, but so far my experience has been quite the contrary.
The title of this post is irrelevant, to this post, and, I guess, to republicans?
I had the honors of gathering participants and a crowd for the segment, and I was surprised because it wasn't as easy as I thought. I should have asked more people from the crowd in the pavilion while they were still there, but I only signed up two participants during that time, so I had to find the other six among the transient groups passing by outside our building. Also strangely, a good half of the people who I approached were foreign; it wasn't strange that they weren't American, it was strange that I pegged them as such and my inclinations were so off. I eventually gathered enough people and sent them up to the cafe to shoot the segment. I felt a little bad because they were all nervous, and most asked what types of questions they would be asked - I told them it was general pop culture, but it ended up being Easter questions. I could see a few raised eyebrows when the real topic was introduced.
We also celebrated another intern's belated birthday today with a little pizza party lunch. All of the interns, our supervisor, and our intern coordinator sat down for the first time as a group, and it was really nice! I can't stress enough how great the people I work with are, I always had the notion that this business and this city is a bit cold, but so far my experience has been quite the contrary.
The title of this post is irrelevant, to this post, and, I guess, to republicans?
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Bogged down with logs
It was an early morning today again, but I requested it in order to watch Sarah Palin as the guest host. Honestly, she was funny and entertaining, and even informative during certain segments. She co-hosted for one hour, and the segment I remember most was the one about raising teenage daughters. For all the hullabaloo raised yesterday, it was a pretty tame episode. We did get a bunch of calls anyways, but at least they weren't all negative. Some people still called just to rant and hang up, c'est la vie.
I logged a bunch of tape today, luckily it was on a subject that I enjoy: river monsters with Jeremy Wade. It was very interesting listening to his interview, especially the parts where he reflected on his viewership, and the qualities of the series that he thought contributed to it's success. I learned he'll be in on the show on Thursday, so I'll have to make sure to watch that segment.
River Monsters finished filming their 4th season. Logically and truthfully he admitted that the series didn't exactly have the legs to keep on going as it's going, but he mentioned that perhaps the show would morph into something else to keep fresh. I'm trying to think of ideas that would modify the premise while keeping the theme. It's unlikely that I come up with something legitimate before Thursday, but it's not unimaginable. So far I've learned that potential is everywhere, except when you rule it out, so I might as well brainstorm.
Monday, April 2, 2012
A full bin of comments
I thought I got a bunch of negative calls after the Brinkley fiasco, but it was nothing compared to the shitstorm that blew in after people realized that Sarah Palin is actually going to co host for an hour tomorrow. It wasn't an April Fools joke, although it is (or should be) kind of funny. After about an hour at the desk the comments line was full. That didn't bother about a third of callers, however, as they would call with a shaky voice, full of rage, and blurt out a tirade only to end it with a stick-it-to-the-man hang up, not leaving me a chance to say anything. The first time that happened it really bothered me, because I really do try to help people when they call, but after a few more I found solace in apathy. If it makes them feel better to rant to an intern, so be it. After a while I ended up enjoying being a rage sponge for these lonely people.
I'll be going in tomorrow early to work control room, and I'm looking forward to it. I feel like ratings season must be close or something, because it seems like the show is pushing it's self-defined status quo. Of course I've only been here a week so I could be way off base, but it seems like the programming is getting more tumultuous than normal.
In other news, I met candidly with a producer in the mail room towards the end of the day. His reputation as a nice, genuine guy proceeds him, and for good reason. We chatted about sit-coms and he showed me a cave of all sorts of shows and movies, and he also recommended that I watch a few series in particular, seeing as I want to eventually write and produce my own. He gave me the same sort of advice that I've been hearing, that I should make the most of this experience in various ways; but I really took it to heart this time. I felt like he was talking to me instead of at me, but that may be because I was paying particular attention to what he was saying. Something about his personality or character piqued my motivation to pay attention. I wish I could put my finger on it, maybe he's just a good leader.
Friday, March 30, 2012
TGIF
I had another control room day, but otherwise it was a pretty slow day, as Fridays normally are. The other interns and I went through boxes of submissions for an old contest, separated the DVDs and personal info so we could shred them. Otherwise, we fielded scores of calls from parents trying to submit videos of their kids singing for a new contest. Our website was a bit glitchy so the parents were angsty, especially since they were parents of young kids.
After a week of lots of work, I'm happy for the weekend, but I'm also surprisingly a bit concerned about how I'm going to fill my time for the next 2 days. I have a ton of laundry to do and I need to catch up on some homework, and I'm also going to apply to some jobs.
Despite having three 12 hour days this past week, I'm really pleased with how it all went. It's nice that I'm in 5 days a week instead of just 2 or 3 so I can fanangle my way into the flow of things quicker. I hope I can go on a shoot next week, or start making some connections with some producers. I only have 9 more weeks left and I can see how this whole thing is gonna fly by.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Who's affected, what's the effect?
I've come to learn how influential media can be after only a week at one of the most influential media vendors. For example, we ran a story this morning about the MegaLotto or whatever it's called being at $500 million, and walking home today I saw a sign that said it was now at $540 million. That's nearly a 10% increase in one day, and I have to wonder if correlation had something to do with causation this time.
The Trayvon Martin case is another example. Before the case was closed, details leaked slowly, and people reacted quickly. The hundred hoodie march didn't just happen on its own, obviously. Now more details are being leaked, more pictures of both men involved have surfaced, and public opinion is changing again. Not to say the public is stupid - I wholeheartedly sided with the Martins in the beginning as well, but it goes to show how sensation is a powerful motivator.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
I lost my first draft of this post, and i have to type this out on my iPad because my computer cant access the internet, so here's the abbreviated version of it.
I spun up two story ideas today, one was about the heart healthy affects that eating peppers can have, and i included the recipe for a Jamaican rub potato salad that looks tasty.
The other story was much more compelling, about viruses. I don't think I should detail it here, but hopefully it gets picked up! It's potentially great news.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Day of Days
Today was my first twelve hour day, and like Normandy, it was a telling threshold. If I couldn't storm this beach, the whole campaign would ultimately fail. This type of day is the longest one I'll ever have, so I just tried to grind it out without pouting too much. It turns out that it wasn't that bad.
Waking up at 445am was a doozy, but all I had to do was shower and dress and tumble downstairs to the car that was waiting for me. There were people around, but it was surprisingly calm for the city that doesn't sleep. I found my way to the control room, the most wired and pixel-packed room I've ever been in, and waited for my fellow (and thankfully much more experienced) intern to join me.
We grabbed the coffee for everybody at the beginning, but besides that, we didn't really contribute to the whole scene. It was still really interesting to see how everyone worked together and communicated with each other to put together the show. I got a feeling it was a unique sort of day, as one of the guests became a little weepy during an interview.
My suspicion was confirmed as I manned the front desk and phone lines for the first time. Like clockwork, viewers called in droves at about 20 after the hour, depending on their time zone, after that segment, to voice their disapproval of the interview. Most callers seemed to just want to give someone an earful, and luckily for them my ears are deep. Diffusing these disgruntled viewers was much, much easier than trying to pacify angry Macy's customers, who actually expect something to happen after their tongue lashing.
I logged some tape, learned how to sort and deliver mail, and eked out the rest of the day.
My comfort level today was much higher than I thought it would be at the day's end, so I'm hoping that continues to grow at that exponential, or perhaps at least a generous logarithmic, rate. The more people I meet and the more time I spend with them, the more efficable I feel, and that's a good feeling. Especially after logging the rest of the tapes for this particular segment, I'm looking forward to my first day of shooting, and my first time (hopefully) sitting in on the writing portion of a segment.
Matt mentioned yesterday that past interns have pitched segment ideas which have been picked up and produced, and I can't get that possibility out of my head. That's my new goal, but I really need to start focusing on the whole of the show so I can wrap my head around each hour to know how and what kinds of stories all fit together. If I can get involved in more stages of development of these segments, that will also help me realize, and hopefully actualize, the ideas that I plan to receive down the line.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Day the First
I 'woke up' in time to meet my intern buddy in the lobby so we could catch a cab. I don't think I got any sleep last night, but strangely I felt rested.
We were sent from the visiting center to orientation, only to find that we were in the new hire orientation. After a quick stop back to the center, we met with our intern coordinator, our daily supervisor, and we also met our fellow interns. We met with Matt, who was understandably bummed, but understanding, about OU's run in the tourney. He was more personable, and taller, than I thought he would be, and he single-handedly calmed the butterflies in my stomach that always come on the first day of anything.
I logged tape for the most part, in between learning the ins and outs of intern duties. Some say logging tape is the most dull task available. I hope so, because if so, I'm in for the most engaging, productive, and fun experience I've ever had.
I have to be in to work at 5:30 tomorrow morning to help out in the control room, but fortunately NBC sends a car to its people if they need to be in before 7am. Waking up won't be difficult this time, relatively speaking. I've had to be at work at 5:30am only once before, at Macy's, for my first day, on Black Friday. I'd much rather get up to do this.
And I think that sums up my first impression: I'm more motivated to do this work than any other work or school I've had to do. The work environment is unreal, or perhaps surreal, or perhaps I've just never worked in a big city at a big company before. I mean, I even get my own ID card to swipe at security points. I might be jaded to the fact that big companies all have security measures like that, but actually going through the motions gives you a good, if not proud, feeling.
So far the only bad thing is how fast the elevators go. I swear they drain my skull of blood every time I go up, and I've only gone up 5 floors at the most at once. At least I know I can't ever be a jet pilot.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
About the blog
Hello reader, welcome to my first semi-professional blog about my first 'big time' professional experience! I'll be posting daily about life for a New York City newbie while I intern at NBC for the next few months.
A little about me for background info...
I'm a Midwestern guy from Cincinnati, Ohio, and as I mentioned, I haven't ever been to New York City. I used to live in the UK near London, however, and I was able to visit Geneva, Paris, Stockholm, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Lanzarote, Sardignia, Gothenburg, Edinburg, and Rotenburg, among other places. My father was working towards his doctorate at University College London at the time, and his company decided to pay for a good deal of our cost of living, which gave us the lucky opportunity to travel when we could.
We were expatriates for two years, and returned to the States in time for me to start high school in Cincinnati. I attended Ohio State University for my first two years as an undergraduate. I didn't have an idea of what I wanted to study, but I figured that one of the largest universities in the country would have the facilities for whatever field I chose.
Of course, I decided on the one field where Ohio State hasn't a proper program - video production.
Fortunately for a student like me looking to stay in state, Ohio University has a fantastic Media Arts and Studies school, which includes video production classes, and first-class intern opportunities. In fact, internship oportunity was one of the major reasons I decided to transfer at all, so I feel very lucky that I was selected as one of the six students that OU sends annually to Today as interns.
I wanted to call this the 'Ultimate Experience', but one thing I've learned after moving from place to place validates the old hackneyed Emerson maxim 'Life is a journey, not a destination'.
Life, in every way except as a whole, is penultimate. Lucky us!
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