Tourism, Anonymous, Tarrytown, and SoHo shopping

Why haven’t I been blogging? Because a massive bug flew into my room and stole all the keys off my keyboard.

That’s not completely true. I did wake up to a massive bug in bed with me just a couple morning ago, but I can assure you he got nowhere near my computer in the 3 attempts it took to kill him.

Bloomberg Studio

I have however been keeping very busy in my finals weeks as an IBMer this summer. This coming week is my last, so I’ve been busy making final decks and reports to give presentations and debriefings.

The weekend after Yo Yo Ma: my lovely boyfriend ventured all the way to the big apple to see me. I got to act as the NYC native and show off all my favorite places and explore some new adventures since I had company. We started off in Williamsburg Friday night, one of my favorites for shopping and a delicious meal at an Asian restaurant-sushi and teriyaki salmon- YUM. We also walked along the East River getting his first glimpse of Manhattan.  (See I really am learning- you can’t see Manhattan from Manhattan, ergo start in Brooklyn.

Saturday I drug him all over the city from Times Square to Belvedere Castle in Central park to the Natural History Museum. We ate a beautiful Mexican dinner at Gabriela’s on the upper west side (I highly recommend it) and finished off the night at the observation deck on top of Rockefeller Center- finally got my night view of the empire state building. Sunday we were lazy and took the time to tour New Rochelle, and saw the movie Moonrise Kingdom (which was completely gorgeous, and quite humorous in a quirky way- another recommendation.)

Bloomberg Viewing Room

Monday he left- and I went on to work.

Then that week I was fortunate enough to be invited to the IBM sponsorship with Business Week. They run a series on Bloomberg called “Fix This” which was about security this month. We were given a tour of the Bloomberg studio which was extremely impressive and has me wondering if I want to go into TV. I’ve enjoyed all my video classes so far and am hoping to get into the studio class in the spring since it conflicts with my French course this fall.

Afterward we were able to attend a cocktail hour with the panelists at the Fix This roundtable. A co-worker and I approached Barrett Brown, sometimes referred to as the spokesperson for anonymous. I’d heard of anonymous but never fully looked into what it was so we were interested to talk to him. He explained some of the work he’d done in other countries using technology and social media to point out governmental flaws. Some of the ideas I think are really interesting and if pursued in a gentler manner could promote some great changes. I was taken aback with how outspoken he was. I would think if anonymous were to have a spokesperson they would have chosen someone who could take their ideas and spin them in a way which promoted belief in the group.  Barrett made it hard to like anonymous or him as a person. He was a self professed “alcoholic” and “loner”, admitting to having no hobbies aside from drinking and reading political articles. At one point he turned to me to express his disappointment in the fact that only wine was served at cocktail hour when vodka would get him drunk quicker.

Hamlet in the park

I would have been interested to learn more about the proactive things anonymous could do- but instead I was berated with radical information and political views. The one interesting thing I learned was about the motivation behind a potential cyber war- many people believe cyber wars to be impossible because the only motivation behind cyber attacks is to gain money. From what Barrett said, anonymous has no interest in gaining money but rather in uncovering an exposing political and governmental corruption. This then begs the question, could we be looking at cyber terrorism in the future?

The weekend following I ventured up to Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow for some shopping and a walk along the Hudson River. I ate at a really delicious restaurant called Sunset Cove on the Hudson and finished the night with the new Spiderman movie.

This weekend I went shopping in SoHo and found some great back to school items at Mango and UNIQLO- neither of which can be found in Missouri, and of course UNIQLO doesn’t have an e-commerce site yet. It seems like all my favorite clothing shops are impossible to get to. Glad I was able to pick up some much needed tights for this winter though. UNIQLO makes literally any clothing item you would want in any color you would need. There was a wall with a rainbow assortment of tights directly under a wall with a rainbow assortment of puffy coats. There was an entire portion of the store devoted to every color of jean imaginable in every style and size. This is where you go when you want basics- and I’m so sad to be losing it so quickly.

Hudson view from Tarrytown

After this week I’ll give a wrap up report of the work I’ve done with IBM. It’s very interesting because every other intern I have met is in a program which will basically make them a job offer at the end- but since my position is special I’m not in that same situation… which in the end is probably ideal. I’d hate to turn down a position at IBM, but I’m also really unsure of what the future holds for me- and New York is a little farfetched for the meantime. Hoping to meet up with a Drury Alum tomorrow- I’ll keep you posted.

Yo Yo Ma, Focus Groups, and a getaway weekend

I saw the Kravis Prize for New Music concert with the New York Philharmonic, featuring the Miro Quartet and Yo Yo Ma playing collections from Dutilleux this past Tuesday.

Yo Yo Ma

The concert is awarded every two years to an outstanding composer of our time. It’s recognition of music and the recipient receives $200,000 to continue their journey and creation in the art. Dutilleux is a French composer whose work I was unfamiliar with until this concert. It was an unbelievable experience.

Dutilleux created three thrilling masterpieces which I had the joy of experiencing. Similar to French cinema, and art, you could hear the complex and layered thought process and passion behind each distinct movement. There wasn’t a story line, but there was an overwhelming wave of emotions that passed through different states in the audience. Each of our personal wounds were opened up in different ways as the organized chaos and vulnerability rang out through piercing silences and maddening furry.

One of the reasons I feel especially privileged to have experienced Dutilleux with Yo Yo Ma is because his musical expression feels as though the cello is a part of his physiology and anatomy. He has so much movement and control to bring from the simplest to the most complex note structures their fullest life. He was able to bring the audience out of the concert hall and into the music for those brief 23 minutes. It was as if the cello was an outward expression of his heart.

Gould’s Castle

Perhaps I am speaking for myself and from a deeply rooted instinct. I have always found music, especially classical music, to be a separate communication experience. Recently it was brought to my attention how important music is to me in emotional expression. Coming from analytical scientific parents, my brain functions in a strategical, seemingly cold and straightforward manner. However, with grandparents from musical and art backgrounds I also have an intrinsic creativity.  I now realize that although I do not express my emotions physically when I am sad or angry or stressed, I have been manifesting it throughout the years within my musical expression, and it has allowed me to grow as a player.

I believe most people feel music, in whichever genre they prefer. I happen to also find valuable lessons through lyrical expression. I will always be drawn to classical music though, because I value its ability to, in my opinion, express what transcends words, and really stab at universal emotions brought about by separate experiences.

Pond near Gould’s Castle

I felt vulnerable and exposed and devastated through the movement of Dutilleux’s pieces, but through their progression I felt stitched up with the experiences of the hundreds of gut wrenching tales in the audience who shared in the severity of each emotional wave.

Yo Yo Ma will always receive a three-time standing ovation encore as long as he continues to expose an intimacy and vulnerability within his audience through his expression of great compositions.

This week I was also able to partake in great advertising experiences. I attended two focus groups for some current running IBM ads and concept creative ideas. I also attended two filmings for their internet evolution partnership. It is one thing to learn about commercials, tutorials, and focus groups but I feel extremely fortunate to be able to sit through each of them as a third party to learn for my future career what to think about when organizing these events.

Path to the beach from Gould’s Castle

I even made a useful suggestion to the producer as he was filming the tutorial introduction. None of us knew the exact pronunciation of the speakers name, and instead of having to re-film if they used the wrong name I told him it might be easier to just do several takes with her saying the speakers name several different ways. I think sometimes when the pressure is on our brains stop functioning, because it certainly wasn’t the most brilliant idea I’ve had yet- but it felt great to have my suggestion taken by a producer at a large company in New York.

This weekend I decided to venture to Long Island to beat the heat on a beach. I wanted to get to the north folk and partake in some wine tasting from serious vineyards- but that didn’t happen. I think since I look so young I’d also need two forms of ID to prove I am 21. Instead I stopped by an outlet mall in Southampton (which is ridiculous in and of itself to say). I found myself in a store called “the Christmas tree store” and found myself among cheap beach house items. So of course I picked up some light up lanterns that were $1 each and some plastic wine glasses.

Next I ventured up North Hempstead to see a castle I had read about. I’m a sucker for a castle, no matter how small, which is something that should be apparent since this is the second castle I’ve posted about in New York…. And there’s a third I’ll be seeing next weekend with any luck.

Long Island Sound

The castle was called Gould’s castle and it is situated on a preserve surrounded by nature trails and a gorgeous coastline on the long island sound. I was unfortunately/ fortunately there during a wedding. I wasn’t able to go into the Hempstead House which was equally as appealing as the castle, as well as I couldn’t see the stunning view of the coast from above.  (But I now know I can rent out a beachside castle for my wedding and get married above the beach sans sand!)

Afterwards I went to see Ted because I was bored. This turned out badly and I walked out halfway through the movie- not because it was awful, but because my experience was. It was a crowded theater and I sat in a 4 seat row closer to the front than I would have liked. There were two seats on one side of me and one on the other because I didn’t want to be up against the wall or in the isle. A large group came in and sat in the row in front of me and three of them fought during the beginning of the movie about the other seats.  Once they were situated- a guy and a girl on one side of me, and a girl on the other, they began texting. There were constantly brightly lit screens distracting me from the film. At one point the girl by herself got up and left, and the boy quickly followed. They came back in and he turned to me and asked me to switch with the girl next to me because she was his girlfriend (which I would have done gladly at the beginning of the film when they initially sat down.) She was evidently pissed at him for not sitting next to her in the first place and next to her friend instead and wasn’t going to move for me to sit next to her so rather than sit through their fight I got up and moved further back in the theater where I was next to a suspiciously romantic couple who may have been doing some rated R things in the rated R movie—so I left. No amount of Teddy Bears beating up grown men could make up for my mood at that point.

Beautiful coast line

Today I watched the Euro Final and was extremely impressed by Spain, I love soccer. They are the heroes of their country right now since they’ve won 4 major tournaments and are presumably the best soccer team in the world right now.  I can’t imagine what it would be like to be a part of such a phenomenal team. They were playing a completely different game of soccer that didn’t define each player by their position but rather just the entire movement around the field and relation to their teammates.

Heavy Weekend Adventures

Last weekend I went to the flatiron district, saw the flatiron building of course, and took a waltz through the sex museum.

Flatiron Building

As a feminist columnist I feel that most people should know my opinions on gender and sex. The sex museum, though sexual in nature, is also informative and important. Sure, there was uncomfortable gallery after uncomfortable gallery, but there was also something extremely humanizing about the experience. I wish the company would have been more mature at times, and that possibly I didn’t look like a 15 year old fascinated by gender roles… that might have caused a lot of tension.

I learned that a severe amount of people are still homophobic. We’ve come a long way to where multiple states are now accepting gay couples, yet in reality a good amount of people are still disgusted by that option.

Of course the sex museum opened with a porn exhibit. I found it extremely fascinating since it showed the growth of the porn industry and the different themes it moved through. It started with the first porno ever made, and went from underground porn to the widely popular industry that is has become today.

I have problems with an industry that creates such falsities around the female physic and arousal. Most porn poorly depicts female stimulation with outrageous acting. In the end, women are usually left demoralized and humiliated on screen. It’s the same concept that anorexic models and Barbie dolls put into little girls minds. Skinny body types shouldn’t indicate beauty just as sexual submission shouldn’t be an ideal. All the same, there was still a large number of onlookers who seemed to enjoy the various dehumanizing porn clips offered. I watched each clip looking to see the industry evolve somewhat backwards to our culture. The more respect women gained in society, the more clothes they took off.

Zuri

Aside from that, there was one stand out observation I made. There were one or two porn clips all along the same wall as the others that were different because they depicted gay male porn. Now I passed through these in rhythm with the natural flow of the exhibit, but a gross majority of people bypassed this screen. I even saw one woman come in, realize what it was and turn to her husband a little too late to say “you won’t want to see this” just as he let out a huge gasp and proceeded to remark in disgust. He was okay watching Paris Hilton demoralize herself by making some man’s dream come true but he was completely disgusted by two males who were aroused by each other.

Other parts of the exhibit included historical sexual devices- chastity belts, antique vibrators (once used to treat insanity disorders), abortion tools, and “real dolls”. There was also some stunning artwork involving nudes, graffiti, and cartoon characters that had genitalia drawn onto them. There was also an interesting social experiment section which included a list of the top 100 searches put into Google around a sexual theme.  Among the top searchers were young girls and young boys doing sexual acts, as well as older people. Some of the searches were truly horrifying in the acts that were so popularly desired.

Giraffe

Afterwards I had the most amazing gelato- strawberry- made into a Popsicle and dipped in chocolate. Then I went to Chinatown, which was all in all unimpressive unless you’re looking for a deal on designer knockoff or black market items.

This weekend I traveled to the Bronx Zoo to see some animals. This week has been extremely hot and a zoo day seemed in order.

One of the unfortunate things about my experience here is the lack of social interaction. Luckily I am getting some days in with fellow interns now, but my typical day includes mostly phone conversations and instant messages or e-mails. I rarely speak to a human face, and when I come home my host family is at work. Going to the zoo was no exception to this rule. I saw a lot of lovely families and I couldn’t help thinking how I must appear, a 17 year old (21 year old) wandering around by myself in the summer.

I’ve gotten told more than once (actually three times recently) that I seem young. Today I was told at the grocery store that I seemed young to be shopping by myself. I guess she either intended to say I didn’t seem old enough to have driven there myself, or it was an observation on how most students on summer break would be with their parents or friends- not spending the summer alone. In truth it has been hard.

I don’t want to downplay my experience as anything less than amazing. I’ve met some of the top people in my industry and received compliments that have blown my mind. I’ve learned so much and am proving to myself that I can work through a lot of things that initially scare me. However, lately my enthusiasm has been declining. Coming home night after night to an empty house, and exploring a foreign city weekend after weekend alone gets tiring. I’ve been wondering how much of an experience is really worth anything if there is no one to share it with.

I’m not even sure this is a real animal

I’ve been so driven to be successful my whole life that I’ve overlooked a lot. I’ve made friends, and lost most of them. What I’m left with are people whose company I am comfortable in, and who I can share a laugh with, but no one who cares about my personal life, and can help me triumph over struggles. I can even say that I believe there are a large number of people who respect me and my dedication to academia, but you didn’t see them at the movies with me today, did you? It’s great to say that I’ve made it to this successful spot in my life by myself, but it sucks to look around and see that I’ve got no one here to even notice.

Being in New York has made me realize the obligation I have in my final year of college to work on the areas of my life that need it most because even if I was the most successful advertiser in the world, I couldn’t be happy without people in my life.

I just don’t know what sort of step that process takes because I’ve made friends; I’ve just mostly lost them and I’m at a loss trying to understand why.

“Some people need a red carpet rolled out in front of them in order to walk forward into friendship. They can’t see the tiny outstretched hands all around them, everywhere, like leaves on trees.”- Miranda July

The IBM Internship Experience

I am so fortunate to have gotten accepted into an internship program that not only pays me well, but also encourages interaction between interns. There are specific leaders in the IBM community whose job title includes creating internship experience days where we can learn from mentors who we might not have come across in our daily projects.

As the sole advertising intern, I have been paired up with several comm. interns and several groups of marketing interns who seem to work in teams. There are about 40 of us in the larger group, and 5 or 6 with just comm. and I. Last week I helped host the first internship day for our group of 40 at Ogilvy. Each department takes a turn in hosting the group so we can learn about each other’s work.

Ogilvy Internship Day Presentation Team 5

From our first internship day at Ogilvy I learned a lot about the different thought processes between the different educational disciplines. Marketers are made to think strategically and more business minded, whereas I was trained creatively, and the comm. students thought more along the lines of messaging and content. Our final activity of the day was to create a future strategy for IBM advertising. This was my fifth week and I was fairly well verse in IBMs brand image, but for some it was their first week, and even first day.

Our final consensus was that IBM wasn’t present in the lives of millenials. Being millenials, I think that was a comfortable and relatable area. However, I think there is some weight to what was said. We are the next generation of business leaders and CEOs. Older millenials may remember IBM for the Think Pads which are no longer their property, but the vast majority isn’t in contact with IBM’s brand. When Brands like Apple are building brand ambassadors for the future, IBM needs to be challenging their advertisements to do the same. If you train today’s millennial generation to see IBM’s innovation and forward thinking, they will trust it in the future.

Team 4 Ogilvy Presentation

This week, there were three more internship days planned. I missed the second internship day- an all intern wide BBQ which took place on a blistering hot summer day, because my calendar managed to delete it somehow. Rachael, a comm. intern who works in software that I previously met, filled me in later that they had played games like whistling with saltine crackers, and putting on a frozen t-shirt. Aside from missing out on meeting other interns I also missed the free IBM t-shirt opportunity (I feel like I’m back at Drury with all the free branded materials I am receiving). I was able to e-mail the internship day coordinator and have one sent to my cube though. I’ll be the next mid-west talent recruiter, “ask me about how impressed I was with my IBM experience”.

The first internship opportunity came Monday morning when we were invited to have breakfast with Jon Iwata, the senior vice president of marketing, communications, and citizenship organization. I know his schedule is extremely busy, seeing meeting after meeting scheduled in the various conference rooms by my cube, and also knowing the hundreds of employees whose work he oversees. Although the first internship day left me feeling unlucky to not have a team of interns I worked with and felt comfortable conversing with, I was glad this time around.

Ogilvy Team 3 Presentation

All the tables filled up fast with the groups of marketing interns, and our comm. +advertising table was left with the spot where Jon Iwata sat. We were able to talk more about ourselves than just the brief introduction, specifically about our hiring process with IBM. Most every intern at my table knew an IBMer and that’s how they got interested. I think I stood out as the only recruited intern, and my view and experience seem less biased than someone who has grown up in a community of IBMers.

Afterwards we met with Ed Barbini, Vice President of external relations. His job seemed similar to some of the work that I’d done with St. Louis Children’s Hospital in media relations. He manages any crises as well as confirms successes. As an example, a story leaked once about how IBMers aren’t given a restriction on how many vacations days they can take. As long as projects are getting finished on time and work is moving forward, they believe employees should enjoy time off as a reward. He was contacted by several individuals as well as their own CEO, Sam Palmisano at the time, asking if it was true.

Team 2 Ogilvy Presentation

Ed Barbini and Jon Iwata neither one intended to stay very long at IBM, however after they began, their desire to move forward was retained within the company. Each employee is given the opportunity to grow in any direction they choose. IBM, like many large companies, encourages employees to explore other areas- to move from social media to marketing to advertising, so that they are constantly learning. This allows them to retain the employees which contain a valuable amount of pertinent information to IBM, so that they aren’t constantly educating new hires on their language and culture. Many IBMers I’ve talked to said it took them a year to figure out the company, however, everyone is also devoted and believes strongly in the goals and purpose behind their work. There truly is a culture behind IBM.

The second internship opportunity I was able to attend took place at the Watson research center where our small group of comm. interns + one HR intern, and a new comm. hire met with the brilliant team who made Watson’s jeopardy win a reality. They were there from the beginning when a researcher was watching Ken Jenning’s fifty-something win on Jeopardy and decided he wanted to make a computer to verse him.

Team 1 Ogilvy Presentation

It took four years to develop Watson, and a huge amount of event planning, press mediating, brand negotiating, and risk. In the end, they had no idea if going into the challenge they would even win.

I was able to meet Watson, a huge room full of technology parts and pieces neatly organized with a think icon as its identity. The marketing team did tremendous work making an interactive icon that indicates Watson’s confidence levels, his attention directionally in a room (if he’s looking to the person to his right or left) and his activity level. Creating the digital art behind his identity within the brand image was a huge task in itself, let alone constructing his voice, and overall appearance.

The most amazing thing I learned was Watson’s implication in healthcare in the future. In other words Watson will be trained to “pass the MCAT”, and learn the healthcare industry. The potential for a computer that can learn is immense in the healthcare industry. One example given was having Watson manage healthcare insurance approval. Being able to learn from past experience and calculate for the future, Watson could run calculations to predict more accurately which medical tests should be approved and which will cost the business money.

Watson Research Center

I am thoroughly enjoying my internship days at IBM. Not only am I able to learn about the way IBM is challenging how the world thinks, but I am also gaining invaluable connections with current and future leaders in my field. Every intern is incredible in their credentials, experience, and skill sets. I feel that there is never a boring day at IBM, whether learning about new research or delving into a creative strategy to explain complex technology in a simple context. I’ve learned so much already, and am wondering if I might want to live in a big city after all… or maybe more near a big city until I can afford that apartment overlooking central park.

There are big shoes to fill out here, and I’ve never been one to say no to a great shoe.

Watson and I

The Past Two Weekends

Last weekend I didn’t get many exciting pictures, thus I held off blogging. This weekend, not to disappoint, I managed a whole slew of new adventures and documented them justly.

Brooklyn: I finally wrangled myself into departing from the magic that is Manhattan to venture across the river to her sister, Brooklyn. I had heard that Brooklyn was home to a multitude of second hand and vintage stores which to my ears means “new clothes made cheap because rich New Yorkers didn’t want them”- and boy was I right. As a tourist I consulted my New York guide before boarding the famous L-train and taking off into uncharted territory. The northern part of Brooklyn, Williamsburg, was noted as being “hipster” and home to the biggest and best Brooklyn finds; so I was off.

Chris and Jaime shirt

The selection of stores was tremendous. There were small but reasonably priced boutiques, vast arrays of shoe selections, unique jewelry stores, and funky off-beat random places. I found a really nicely made shirt by Chris &Jaime (I believe a brand sold at Barney’s). It’s made from a quilted material and has quality details. I also found some magnets that were different from the traditional New York City souvenir magnets. (Stephanie and I have a growing collection of magnets to decorate our fridge).

Afterward I wandered down toward a park that overlooked Manhattan’s coast. On my way I found an “artist flea market” that was like a craft show but with actual artists selling their clothes/ prints/ accessories/ whatever they specialize in.

Once I made it to the park there was a large parking lot that had been taken over by a huge assemblage of food tents. I’d already eaten, but my hopes are upon my return it will still be there. Brooklyn and New Jersey, and Queens are enchanting in their own way, mainly, that they have a view of Manhattan. You can’t see the great silhouettes they form from the city- and Brooklyn isn’t much to look at as a coastline.

At this point I returned to Manhattan since I had hoped to meet up with the Drury crew experiencing theater through their travels to New York and now London. Unfortunately their schedules weren’t nailed down and they ended up unable to eat dinner with me- so I bought a slice of cheesecake from Junior’s since they claim the title of “best cheesecake in New York”. Nonetheless, it was extravagant.

Andy Warhol

MoMA: I made a second round of museums; this time I only visited one though. I found out my IBM badge got me into MoMA for free which was an irresistible offer from the museum that houses Van Gogh’s Starry Night. This museum was great and had a lot to offer. The first couple of floors are dedicated to architecture and design from the modern era. There were drawings, photography, installations, and some of those crazy “how’d this end up in a museum” pieces. The 4^th and 5^th floor were dedicated to well known artists like Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, Jackson Pollock, Roy  Lichtenstein, Salvador Dali, Frida Kahlo, and others.

The 6^thfloor was a special exhibit by Cindy Sherman which was phenomenal. Sherman is a photographer- but also uses herself as the model. She is able to create stunning costumes and guises for herself through a large collection of make-up, wigs, clothing, ect. With each photo a new character appears, and for the most part none of them even seem as though they are the same woman. I loved that this exhibit took and in-depth look at women’s place in society. There was such a wide range of characters in her different collections and her talent not only as a photographer but as a make-up artist, model, costume designer, and actress also shown through.

Starry Night- Van Gogh

Shake Shack: A friend of mine, Paige, who I was neighbors with when I was born, is in New York for 2 weeks with the Springboard program for actors and actresses.  We met up after her busy day of workshops and shows for dinner and adventures. She clued me in on the Shake Shack which may or may not have been started by a St. Louisan who missed Steak and Shake. Either way it started out as a hot-dog/ hamburger stand in Madison Square Park and has spread to several locations on the East Coast including the one near Times Square that we went to.

We had to fight elbow and fist to get a seat, but both of us agreed that the burger was well worth the trouble.

[Observation: My first week in New York a man on the street trying to get me to take his rap EP asked me where I was from and then proceeded to

Jackson Pollock

tell me how St. Louis was still segregated. I assured him that we were in fact inclusive and that we do not still make different races use separate bathrooms.

The irony here is that I don’t think New York is necessarily inclusive just because it is a cultural “melting-pot”. I think it still suffers from a lot of cultural issues. Sure they have a lot of different cultures living in close proximity but they are still broken up into Chinatown and Little Italy.

The Point- Paige and I were waiting for a table for quite some time. We saw that a group of women were almost done and we moved toward their table. A woman who had just placed her order turned around and was making her first attempt to find a table began approaching and the women who were getting up ushered her over and gave their table away to her, even though we were clearly waiting. All of the women who were leaving were wearing hijabs, and so was the woman who received their table. They weren’t friends and didn’t make conversation; they merely turned the table over to her. To my eyes this seemed like a cultural exclusiveness- which doesn’t indicate that New York has obliterated all cultural biases. ]

The High Line

High Line: The high line is an old elevated railroad track that meanders along the Hudson coast of Manhattan through Chelsea. It was recently renovated into a walking path surrounded by gardens. The views are breath-taking and the company is tantalizing. Some of the buildings that it passes under have large glass windows which reveal the luxurious and wealthy district that is Chelsea. There were also installments that local artists had displayed/ were currently working on surrounding the path as well. I’ve never seen anything quite like it, and I’m glad I took two trains and walked a bunch of blocks to get there.

Empire State Building [at night]: Neither Paige nor I had been into the Empire State Building at night (of any of the tall New York Buildings for that matter) so we decided to give it a go. After various lines we made our way to the top. There is an interesting juxtaposition between viewing a city at night and viewing a night sky. Both have twinkling lights and are interesting in their own right- however they cannot be seen at the same time. There is too much light pollution in a city to see the constellations. However it was a tradeoff I was happy to make. The weather was perfect, the crowds were minimal, and the views were extraordinary. I realize now what they meant at Rockefeller Center when they said if you go up in the Empire State Building you still have to go up in Rockefeller Center. From the Empire State Building you get the tallest view, but all the buildings you can look at are nowhere near as stunning as the Empire State Building. Rockefeller is just a big brown square. So it looks like I will be venturing back into Rockefeller Center at night to get a view of the Empire State Building.

View from Empire State Building

Lesson Learned: You can’t see Manhattan from Manhattan- You can’t see the Empire State Building when you’re in it. You’ve got to go outside the city to see its splendor. You’ve got to step outside yourself to see how others perceive you.

IBM Internship Projects

So far my work at IBM has revolved around 5 projects with the addition of great meetings and experiences for educational purposes. (Pardon my sometimes vague description- trying not to violate privacy.)

1. One of the first projects I have been bringing to fruition with Ogilvy is Internship Day. All of the IBM interns- communication, marketing, and advertising (which is just me) will be coming together to meet during several days throughout the summer. Advertising is hosting the first internship day of the bunch and it is scheduled for next week at Ogilvy.

I’m really excited for all the other interns to experience Ogilvy. I’ve worked from Ogilvy 4 days since I started at IBM and every day there is full of excitement. I think it’s also important for the marketing and communication students to get a feel for the agency they are working with.

It was recently explained to me how involved my boss (the VP of advertising at IBM) likes to be in the creative process. One of the head creative directors at Ogilvy explained that some VPs hate the creative process and only want to approve a completed ad before passing it on. My boss is much different in that she loves the creative process and wants to be involved at every stage to help shape the thinking behind the ads. For this reason, my team has the pleasure of working from Ogilvy at LEAST once a week if not more.

2. The second project I’ve been working on is a Pinterest page that would allow the global advertising team to share important articles for IBMers and fellow advertisers to know. Pinterest will allow this group of advertisers to stay current in their field during their free time- keeping IBM advertising innovative and cutting edge.

3. I am performing an audit of all the in-market paid advertisements to analyze their performance, discovering which content/ placement performs best for the target audience.

4. I am working with social media channel owners to develop a stronger communication with their advertising team which could supply them with information to share. I’m developing a guide/ proposing calendar systems, and re-establishing a link.

5. In connection with the social media channels and landing page projects, I am working to optimize search by encouraging social media links to promoted material, having various channels link to each other, as well as developing strong key search terms. I’m also doing a small audit to make sure advertisements links are landing on pages which are consistent with the message delivered in the ad.

6. (This is my own project)- I’m working on keeping a record of all the projects I am working on as well as my experiences to create a small scrap-book-esq piece to give to my internship supervisor and the VP of advertising at the culmination of the internship.

Some experiences I have gotten thus far/ will be getting in the future:

•  Sitting in on the creation of a focus group guide, the selection process, as well as a focus group
• Sat in on a creative presentation from the Shazam team
• Webinars: Pinterest, Social Media Metrics, and Re-purposing written material for social media purposes
• Sat in on a an interview filming
• Meet with social media guru team to gain insights on developing social media strategies
• Learning a search optimization tool
• Attending a sponsorship in the city
• Attended and dug through valuable conversations during a TechJam hosted by IBM
• Meeting some of the most skilled individuals in their trade and picking their brain for advice and valuable information

If you have any questions for Account Planners, Social Media Gurus, Media Planners, Client side Advertisers, Brand Imagers, Data Analyzers, Creatives, ect. Contact me and I will get answers. I’ve been given a boost to the very top of the top in this business and I am so thankful for the life changing opportunities and career strengthening education I am receiving. I’d love to share this source of information with everyone, so please reach out if I can help.

Also if there are neat place in New York I should visit or once in a life time events in the area I should know about- I’d love to attend those for you as well.

My biggest peer (plus others) pet-peeve

Before I reveal the contents of this post I want each reader to understand two aspects of me that I don’t want to be misconstrued. I don’t lack self-confidence. I have humility but not to the point where I am shy about celebrating achievements. I used to be the girl that would put up a cold exterior and degrade myself- possibly believing that each achievement wasn’t good enough, possibly in an attempt to draw the attention away from myself because I was painfully shy.

That being said, I am also not boastful. I don’t want this post to come across as self-righteous or haughty. I simply acknowledge the facts that I have made great achievements in my life and have come upon, and earned great success. I refuse to shove aside any acknowledgement that I receive as if I am undeserving. I do work hard and I do earn all of the successes I have, but I recognize that without the help of many brilliant influencers in my life I couldn’t be in the place I am.

Keeping both these items in mind- know that in this post I am neither trying to be braggadocios or to put myself down throughout my commentary.

I realized recently that one of the biggest issues I have with my interactions with people is when they dismiss my comments. Sure there are cases in point which are examples outside of this context where I will accept being dismissed- for example if I am weighing in on a topic which I know nothing about. I don’t expect to be an expert in every situation. However, there are topic areas where I feel as though I have earned my badges of honor.

Academically I am consistently achieving. I’m not posting my grades all over my social media channels expecting applause each semester or expecting any rewards. I’m simply driven by some force within myself to shine in specific settings. Put me on a Tennis court and I’ll miss nearly every point, put me in a class room and I will read, research, present, and write my way through whatever gets thrown at me. I’ve made an effort upon entering college to speak up- something I never did in the past because of the repetitious cries from teachers in elementary school to “not talk in class”. I’ve always been a quick learner, and tired easily from hearing the same rules repeated every year.

The point is I’m motivated- particularly academically, and I’ve always invited challenges. I’m also open to hearing about others academic challenges. My problem with academic discussions is when someone dismisses my advice or insights completely. A lot of times this sort of pattern occurs: Someone from one of my courses takes notice and compliments me on my academic achievements. There is a commentary along the lines of “wishing” they had my “motivation” for example. I offer some input based on my experiences and some ways in which they could look into increasing their “motivation”. The person walks away from the conversation, never looks into my suggestions and continues admiring the achievements of others and never taking action.

This has happened in multiple areas of my life. fitness and healthy eating are another level where I am consistently trying to better myself. If I am offering you free advice, and you continue the unhealthy lifestyle you are living its painful for both of us.

Now I am not an expert in fitness by any means, but if you are reaching out to me in an attempt to understand my lifestyle better, I take it offensively when my input gets dismissed.

One of the top examples in my life is within my field of study. I sit day after day, semester after semester in the same small size classes, with the same students in my major, from the same graduating class, with the same teachers we have always had. By now, there’s somewhat of a routine to things. It’s obvious at this point what the expectations of our instructors will be. It is also obvious which individuals are the strongest.

I volunteer answers in class, I stay on top of readings, I do outside work to learn about new social media and mobile advertising tools because I adore this industry. I realize that might not be the case for everyone. However, if you are planning on entering the industry none the less, you will be competing for your job against candidates like me, and the other successful students in the class. We have internships, skill sets, drive, that won’t come across in your interview.

(not to brag but to prove a point) I have been on the Dean’s list every semester since I started at Drury. I came into college with a GPA higher than a 4.0. I am the president of the DU advertising/ PR networking group, I am the communication PR chair for Mortar Board and The Unmentionables, I hold a chair on the communication committee for Student government, and I write monthly feminist articles for our paper. I have completed 3 internships in 3 different cities for 3 large businesses that are well recognized, in 3 different aspects of the advertising/ PR industry. I’m currently the intern at a fortune 500 company working with one of the top agencies in the business in New York.  I got that internship because I was chosen as one of the top 15 advertising students in the United States. I studied at the largest university in Paris as part of my global awareness/ French culture learning for my minors. And on top of all of that I have been the second violin section principle for 2 years now in the Drury Chamber ensemble, as well as one of the top 5 second violins in the larger Springfield-Drury Civic Orchestra. What can I talk about in an interview? What connections have I made? What characteristics am I saying about myself with these stand-out resume pieces?

You can stand by and hope that you’d stand a chance against the candidates that are my competition for an amazing job opportunity. You can accept that you will be placed in a job that none of the more qualified candidates wanted. Or you can take my advice and start actively pursing today for your future. If you see someone who is better than you at doing what you love, figure out why, and become as good if not better than them.

For goodness sakes have high achievements standards for yourself. Land a job that you love going to. Get in a relationship that makes you feel better each day. Do things for your body so that you are happy with its appearance. Most importantly, don’t brush off my successes, and don’t complain about your incompetency to me when you won’t take my advice.  It irritates me so much I just wrote a 1,115 word blog post on it.