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.