taking pictures

This is my favorite picture I took on concert duty this summer. This is Karen Slack, a guest vocalist for our 4th of July concert, Cincinnati Pops: Red White and Boom

When I was on assignment at one of the outdoor concerts, I usually had the department camera to take pictures to post on the Cincinnati Pops facebook page. It was sometimes really tiring being on my feet to get a few good photos from the night, but I always liked having a few good shots to bring back to the office.

I would always laugh when patrons asked if I was "with the press." At a few of the concerts, there were hired or press photographers there too. THEY knew I wasn't a professional photographer (most obvious sign: I always used the LED display. They use the viewfinder.)

But I always had fun.

all the pretty dresses

It's Monday morning, after 10 a.m. and I'm not not at work for the first time in two and a half months. I'm officially on the other side of my internship. Over the next few days & weeks, I'll be able to write more about exactly what I was doing since I'm no longer an employee of the organization. But first, I wanted to write about my favorite things (and least favorite things) from the summer.

Intern Perks

1. Dressing Up

One of the first things I learned about the office was the dress code.



inspiration.
via 



I read online that you HAVE to wear a jacket (blazer) to job interviews. On the day of my initial interview, it was almost 90 degrees and sunny. By the time I made it to the office, I couldn't take the jacket off even if I wanted to because I was so sweaty! Of course, my interviewers were wearing polos and dress pants and were very friendly and relaxed (all qualities I immediately loved about the office.)

I haven't worn the jacket since.

A former die-hard, jeans-and-tee-shirt type, I wore every dress and skirt in my closet this summer. Being forced to look grown-up and professional on a regular basis made it easier to get used to the idea. Now I buy new dresses, skirts and accessories frequently with the intention of actually wearing them on ordinary days.

Most valuable items: pencil skirts & nice flats.

Stay tuned for more updates this week!

last day eve

I finally made it back to the Contemporary Art Center to check out the Keith Haring exhibition. (or exhibit? show? gallery? I clearly have a few things to learn about visual arts.) Anyway, it was great to see.

Today is Thursday. The last day of the internship is tomorrow. I spent most of today wrapping up my last few projects. I was really pushing to finish the data entry project today, but I still had a few entries left when I called it quits this afternoon. I'll finish it tomorrow.

Post-Internship Things To Do:

1. Write thank you notes and letters to the staff and my sponsor for a great summer

2. Start studying for the GRE/GMAT to apply for arts administration programs.

3. Find a fall internship!

I'll write more over the next few days.

PS: I had page views from FIVE countries this week!! Thanks for visiting!

Stay tuned.

the final countdown, week 9 of 10

It's feeling more & more like fall in the city. Just another sign that my summer internship is coming to a close. 

This week was a whirlwind of interny transition.

Wednesday, I was treated to lunch with the Communications VP and Ass't at a beautiful restaurant near the center of downtown called Via Vite. Most of my days this summer were with Communications. A lot of writing, thinking about writing, wishing I could write faster. I enjoyed being able to sit down with them to ask questions and get feedback outside of the office. I learned a greal deal from them both.

I ordered the most incredible "seared Canadian salmon with sauteed spinach and citronette."  

As the Communications Assistant was making reservations for Wednesday's lunch, I was invited to a Thursday lunch with another division of the organization. This group oversaw my epic, epic data entry project. I still haven't finished the project, but I've made excellent progress. After 1300+ entries into my Access spreadsheet, I've worked backwards from 2011 to 1892. I have four days next week to enter the last few books to end at 1873.

For Thursday, the Marketing/Communications Manager and the Marketing/Development Ass't chose Jean-Robert's Table for lunch. They're a lovely bunch and I always enjoy chatting with them. I ordered the French Chataeu burger and was STUFFED. 

Later on Thursday was the farewell reception with ArtsWave. All the interns were there, reps from our respective organizations, and reps from ArtsWave.

We each spoke about our experiences over the summer and the things we learned. The reps asked questions about our career goals, interests, future plans... We all got very positive feedback from our hosts and I felt very honored to have been a part of the program. 

That night, after weeks of being a dedicated intern, I decided to go out and do something fun. I took the office up on their offer to use a few complementary tickets to a once-(maybe twice)-in-a-lifetime type of concert. Janet Jackson! I was super pumped. I brought a friend and had a great time. 

Way late getting into the office this morning. So much for the Intern of the Year award. Good thing I still have a week to recover!

Happy weekend:)

hipster saturday

I rolled out of bed a little early for this weekend's Saturday morning adventure. Today I made it to City Flea downtown, a vintage shop in Northside called Chicken Lays an Egg, and Findlay Market in OTR.

So, City Flea

Disclaimer: City Flea isn't your ordinary flea market! It was a little hipster gathering downtown of local vendors selling eco-friendly, artsy, it's-$20-because-I-made-it type things.  

I did some 'window shopping' and saw all types of neat little items. Organic pet treats, print tees, ceramic art... I left with a City Flea tote ($7) and emerald green tea from a food vendor.

My parking meter only let me stay at City Flea for half an hour, so I kept moving...

 

Next on the agenda, Finday Market and Chicken Lays an Egg...

I left City Flea and went to Findlay Market but the parking was just awful! Frustrated, I took an early detour to Chicken Lays an Egg. I discovered this little shop after seeing a few of their items featured in A-Line Magazine. It's a small place, but I think it's cute.

I bought a little pin that caught my eye. $9

By the time I got back to Findlay Market I was tired, hot, and the Findlay public restrooms were closed for remodeling. I wasn't inspired to stay long.

I went straight for the Vietnamese bistro and picked up lunch to-go. Two vegan salad rolls and rice noodles with lemongrass chicken & vegetables. ($12)

I'm glad I got out of bed and decided to do something today.

This little city is OK.

happy birthday?

They have the strangest tradition here:

If it's your birthday, you bring treats for the office.

It's always a nice surprise to find cookies or a little cake in the breakroom around lunch time. It's a big office morale boost, especially on a long, slow day.

Well, today there were at least five birthdays.

It was out of control.

There were oatmeal raisin cookies, fruit plates,  banana cheesecake, popsicles, fudgesicles, Splenda chocolate chip cookies (my personal fave), red velvet whoopie pies and chocolate-covered macaroons.  

Good thing calories don't count on Fridays, right? 

Happy weekend. :)  

the interviews.

I spent a few days last week at the public television station. We did the first of a series of interviews with professional musicians about the 2011-2012 concert season. Coming up with specific questions for each piece of each program was like a mini research project. I wanted the musicians to mention the little bits of trivia that might be left out of the program notes.

I think my research helped, but it was funny... After all the time and energy I spent preparing, we really got some of the best responses when we just let them talk.

One of my favorite interviews was with a violinist I can't say I had ever seen in the orchestra before. He warned us before we started filming that he didn't know what he was going to say and he was just going to "go with it."

weekend.

i <3 weekends with Vietnamese food!
Goi ga bap cai (cabbage chicken salad)

the visuals

 Lunch meeting at the contemporary art museum yesterday!

Visual art administration seems SO different from working with the performing arts. The other interns felt right at home, but I would have a whole lot to learn if I ever wanted to do anything with visual arts. (First, how do dress like a visual arts administrator. They were FIERCE.)

Again, another beautiful space. The conference room looked out to the city and the coolest parking garage i've ever seen. (Yes, it's a parking garage!)

And they gave us the nicest gifts from the museum shop!





Part of a giant wall installation in the lobby.
She was right at eye level.





They gave all the interns:

Obey Giant tee shirts.

A giant book on Keith Haring.

A Keith Haring Radiant Baby button. 

And lots of materials on the organization.

I sent a thank you note this morning.

They were definitely great to meet.

Auf Wiedersehen!



treats from the party today.
mine had raspberry filling!

A member of the marketing team is moving overseas & the whole office got together to say goodbye.

In the farewell speech, the guest of honor noted how nothing could be possible without the whole team. Marketing, development, communications, production, artistic, education... Team effort to make the whole thing work. 

Which got me thinking about the areas of this field that I'm most interested in. (And this definitely helped.)



Today, I would say I'm most interested in public relations. Artistic planning is a close 2nd. Then marketing. Then education. But for now, I'm just enjoying the intern perks (=the cupcakes) being a tiny part of the team.