My family is in Colorado Springs this week, and we’re staying at an amazing ranch on top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere. Yesterday we went back to civilization for the first time, and we decided to visit Cripple Creek—an old mining town that was home to “the last great Colorado gold rush” and more than half a billion dollars in gold ore. Unfortunately gold mining can only last so long, and Cripple Creek eventually became a ghost town. In 1991 voters legalized gambling in Cripple Creek, and the city was reinvigorated, albeit with most of the storefronts inhabited with gaming establishments. Our visit was interrupted by a massive hail storm, so we waited in the car until it let up a bit and ran into the first restaurant we could find. Turns out that it was a restaurant inside of a casino, and we had to walk past a bunch of slots and other machines to get a bite to eat. Of course, I couldn’t make it past the Game King video poker machine without playing, and luckily I came away from “lunch” 90 bucks richer. That gave me the idea to take a look at IGT (International Game Technology), the Reno, NV based gaming company that designs and manufactures the Game King machine among many other casino machines. Continue reading about IGT…
When I was a little kid, my parents dressed me in shorts with suspenders and knee socks. I pretty much looked like a mini-version of Augustus Gloop from the original Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. My parents also occasionally put me on a leash. I’ve been taking it out on them ever since. For parents who prefer to raise children who don’t have axes to grind, there’s Tea Collection. I’ve also seen them go by Tea Living, but most often they just refer to themselves as Tea. They’re a San Francisco based company that offers fashions for children, or as they put it “for little citizens of the world.” Tea got its start in 2002, and now your can find their clothes “in more than 400 stores including Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Takashimaya, and the best boutiques throughout the US and abroad.” Tea’s clothing is certainly high-end, and on the expensive side when you consider it’s for kids under the age of 12, but just look at those pictures of kids looking like smaller versions of real people. Continue reading about Tea Collection…
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You know what One Day, One Internship is all about? It’s you, the audience. Maybe for you, it’s all about learning about cool companies, but for me it’s the fact that every day you bring these posts to life by researching the companies we feature and applying for their jobs. I love it when I get e-mails from employers telling me how excited they were about the surge of talented applicants that they got from being featured on One Day, One Internship. When it comes to the world of advertising, it’s kind of the same. It’s all about the audience. They’re the ones who see the ads, and then hopefully take the desired action—usually that means making a purchase. Collective is a New York City based media company that is entirely audience focused. They are “the leader in understanding and delivering audiences. With the premium inventory that attracts them. The innovative technology that delivers them. And the insights that define them.” By finding the “intersection of the right ad, targeted to the right person, in the right environment,” Collective is able to maximize the effectiveness of any advertising campaign. Continue reading about Collective…
I’m an unabashed Groupon fan. How can I not support the Chicago based company that started the group-buying frenzy? Moreover, I’m just flabbergasted at the amount of value that they’ve been able to build in such a short time. The only problem with creating an extremely lucrative new market when you have little or no IP is that the competitors come out in droves. There are a lot of Groupon wannabes. A lot. Many of them will fall by the wayside as they realize that they’re not capable of building out the kind of sales/business development team needed to grow a group-buying business, but there are a few competitors that seem to be doing quite well. One of them is LivingSocial, which is based in Washington, DC (maybe they should focus on group-bribing of politicians, or is that called lobbying?). They now offer daily deals in 52 cities, and they have nearly $50 million in venture funding. They weren’t profitable yet as of March, but you have to think that they’ll get there soon. Continue reading about LivingSocial…
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I’m sure plenty of you intend to go to grad school in the future, or you’re considering it now that you’re realizing how tough the job market really is. I have absolutely no intention of going back to school because I’m enjoying learning by doing way too much. I also want nothing to do with standardized tests ever again. But if I was going to take a standardized test like the GMAT, I’d probably want to enroll myself in prep course (because my high school strategy of getting a good night’s sleep the night before the test can only take me so far). From what I’ve heard from friends, ManhattanGMAT is one of the best out there. They’re quite obviously based in New York City, but they have locations all across the country. ManhattanGMAT delivers success for their students by staying true to 3 core concepts: focus, superior curriculum, and real teachers (who scored in the 99th percentile on the GMAT). Continue reading about ManhattanGMAT…
There has never been a better time in history to find great reading material for free. The Internet is full of excellent content on nearly any topic (such as finding internships). The coolest innovation has been blogs, which have changed the top down approach that used to dominate media publishing. Now, it’s quite easy to have a conversation with the author whose work you’re reading, whether it be through comments, e-mail, IM, Twitter, or some other preferred form of communication. This has led to more engaged audiences and, sometimes, a much quicker development of ideas. The only way to continue this trend, though, is to make sure that web authors are well compensated for their hard work (pay me!). That’s where San Francisco based Federated Media Publishing comes in (we originally covered them on One Day, One Job almost two years ago). Few web publishers have figured out how to effectively charge for access to content, yet many have learned that running engaging advertising can be a big win for all parties involved. Federated Media doesn’t works with a wide range of conversational media properties to monetize visits from highly engaged online readers through advertising. Continue reading about Federated Media Publishing…
One part of my morning routine to get these posts out to you is looking for the company’s logo. Usually I just snag it off of the company’s home page and that’s it. Occasionally I need to find a different version of the logo because it may have a weird background, the word beta written across it, or it may just be too small. The latter was the case today; however, I wasn’t able to find a more reasonably sized logo despite the fact that the company designs logos—in addition to many other things—and is named HUGE. The irony. HUGE is a Brooklyn, NY based company with offices in Los Angeles, London, and Stockholm that “helps build digitally-driven businesses.” What does that mean? It means that they work with some of the biggest brands in the world in areas like strategic planning, user experience, creative, interactive marketing, technology, and emerging platforms. With approximately 225 employees HUGE has designed and developed online experiences that drive 150 million monthly unique visitors and $12.3 billion in revenue. Continue reading about HUGE…
I have my big annual fishing trip coming up next week, which means that I’m starting to go through my mental gear checklist. One thing that I’ve been looking for is some sort of pack to carry all of my stuff when I’m on the river. I used to use a vest, but it’s no longer doing the job. In my search for a perfect pack, I came across a company called Recycled Waders that makes gear out of old waders (waterproof boots that go up to your chest to keep you dry while standing in the water). I’m pretty sure they’re too small to have any internship opportunities right now, but luckily I found a company (from a reader e-mail) that takes a similar approach, but with a much larger audience. They’re called TerraCycle (based in Trenton, NJ), and they turn trash into stuff. You can get an insulated cooler made out of Skittles bags. Or a kite made out of Oreo wrappers. Or a tote bag made of Capri Sun pouches. It’s all about making “affordable, eco-friendly products from a wide range of different non-recyclable waste materials.” Continue reading about TerraCycle…
I hate the term Millennial when it’s used in the same way that Generation Y is. A lot of career advice these days is focused on generational issues, but I just don’t buy into it. Yes, old people and young people have different attitudes, but that’s nothing new. There are way more important things to be talking about, which is why I get visibly irked when the word millennial comes up. (And I’m proving my point right now by being a 25 year old grumpy old man.) My bad attitude should explain why it took me a second to warm to the idea of Millennial Media, which is a Baltimore, MD based mobile advertising company. By millennial, they mean next generation/futuristic, so they’re ok in my book. The company apparently has the largest mobile advertising network in the country, and they claim to reach 83% of the U.S. mobile audience. Continue reading about Millennial Media…
I swear that half of all college students want to work in sports and entertainment. Unfortunately most of the job and internship postings you’ll find in those industries are actually scam internships. Getting a position at a legitimate sports and entertainment company is not easy, but with AEG you have a shot. They call themselves “one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world,” and although that sounds broad, it’s a good description. AEG operates in a number of business areas including Facilities, Sports (Teams and Events), Music (Events), and Merchandising. They own/control arenas like the STAPLES Center, Conseco Fieldhouse, and the Prudential Center, while also owning professional sports teams like the LA Kings and Los Angeles Galaxy (can you tell that AEG is based in Los Angeles?). They’ve also “promoted tours by artists including Britney Spears, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, Christina Aguilera & Justin Timberlake, The Dixie Chicks, Yanni, Paul McCartney, Usher, Kanye West, Prince, Rod Stewart, Bon Jovi, Nickelback, and PopTarts Presents American Idol.” And that’s not even half of it. AEG is a major player in sports and entertainment, and a great place to start a career. Continue reading about AEG…
Yesterday I spent a few hours poring over an issue of Fast Company that includes their list of “The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies.” It is loaded with companies that I’d never heard of, so I picked out the most interesting ones and checked to see what their internship opportunities looked like. Luckily, I found quite a few prospects, so you’re in for some really cool stuff over the next few weeks. One of the companies that I found was VICE, a New York City magazine and media conglomerate that publishes a “superedgy hipster bible.” Their content is about as safe for work as American Apparel advertisements, which is partially because AA is one of their main advertisers. The interesting thing about VICE is that they are a huge company—they have a print circulation of nearly a million magazines and their sites get 3.5 million monthly unique visitors. This has sparked growth from $45 million in revenue in 2008 to $64 million in 2009. Continue reading about VICE…
Think back to your best school teachers. They probably went above and beyond teaching the school board mandated curriculum. They came up with new ideas for projects, experiences, and maybe even trips that would take your learning to the next level. But how did your teachers pay for these extras that weren’t in the budget? Maybe they fought tooth and nail to get some extra funding, or maybe they even paid for something out of pocket. No teacher should have to do that, and no teacher should have to scale back his or her teaching because of a lack of funding (within reason, of course). Luckily, there’s now a better way for teachers to fund classroom projects. It’s called DonorsChoose.org, and it’s a New York City based non-profit organization. The site allows teachers to propose funding requests for classroom projects. DonorsChoose.org users can search these requests for projects that appeal to them, and make donations to directly fund a given classroom project. Continue reading about DonorsChoose.org…
If I ever make a ridiculous amount of money, the first thing that I’m going to do is buy a private jet—or at least a share in one. It seems like the ultimate way to travel. I’ve been on private planes before, but they had propellers and I was sitting next to or right behind the pilot (not nearly as classy). NetJets is a company that allows wealthy individuals and businesses to buy shares in private jets (since who really needs an entire jet to himself or herself?). They also have a subscription service called MarquisJet that lets you get a guaranteed number of hours of private jet use. It may not make private air travel affordable or cost effective, but it certainly puts it within reach for a lot more people. NetJets is by far the market leader, and they’re also a Berkshire Hathaway company. You know if Warren Buffett is investing in it, it has to be pretty good. NetJets is based in Columbus, OH, but quite obviously they operate all over the world. Continue reading about NetJets…
I’m a huge fan of open source software. I build all of my sites on the WordPress platform, and I am amazed at how powerful the blogging software has become over the years. Still, I know that it can’t do everything. If I get too much more advanced, I’ll probably have to move to a platform like Drupal—another open source content management system. The problem with that is that I’m not a programmer, and Drupal is a bit more complex than WordPress. Luckily, there’s a support option. Acquia is a Woburn, MA based company that provides “products, services, and technical support for the open source Drupal social publishing system.” They were founded by Dries Buytaert, the guy who created Drupal, so there’s no question about whether they’re the right people to offer Drupal support—they know the platform inside and out. Continue reading about Acquia…
I have to admit that the “jobs” that I’m most concerned with today is Steve Jobs. I can’t wait to find out what Apple is announcing today, and I wish that I had some relevant internships to bring you. I don’t, but I did come across a really cool list yesterday called 5 Butt Kicking Companies You (Probably) Never Heard Of. The list is exactly what it promises, as it features 5 later stage startups that are growing rapidly and hiring lots of people. The first company on that list is Palantir, a Palo Alto, CA based company (with another office in McLean, VA) that “is working to radically change how groups analyze information.” They were founded by former PayPal employees and Stanford computer scientists. Right now the company is focused on two verticals: Government and Finance. Both areas deal with massive amount of data and information, so it makes sense that Palantir is starting with them. Continue reading about Palantir…
A lot of people find it ironic that I put an end to my job search by starting a company that helps other people with their job searches. I’ll admit that it’s a bit odd, but it seems to be working out pretty well. Maybe you’ll do something similar by starting your career with an internship at a job-search focused company like Mountain View, CA based LinkedIn. There are plenty of other companies trying to build professional social networks and online résumé sites, but none of them seem to have any hope competing with LinkedIn. LinkedIn reached critical mass first, and that’s why they’re one of my favorite online job search tools. Not only do they allow you to visualize your own professional network to see whom you’re connected to, but they also let you browse through the networks of different companies to learn more about their organizational structure. Where else can you get access to the résumé (which includes where they interned) of someone whose job you want to have five years down the road? LinkedIn is an amazing tool for smart job and internship seekers, and it’s also an amazing business—they’ve been profitable for nearly three years (which is impressive for a startup of their size and scope). Continue reading about LinkedIn…
I have no idea how I’ve made it through nearly two years of posts on One Day, One Internship without featuring ESPN. I covered ESPN’s entry level jobs on One Day, One Job, but never took the time to look at their internship program. As you probably know, ESPN is the “worldwide leader in sports.” They’re a huge media company with multiple television stations, a magazine, and an enorous web presence—they also have branded restaurants. When it comes to sports coverage, there’s no competition; ESPN is king. They also have an amazing employment brand not only because they offer jobs and internships in sports, but also because of their awesome commercials that take place in their Bristol, CT office. I have to imagine that internships at ESPN are some of the most sought after internships out there. Continue reading about ESPN…
Even though it seems that the economy is crawling its way to recovery (I’m seeing more entry level and intern opportunities than I did last year), we have a long way to go before the finance industry gets back on its feet. Yes, the stock market is doing well, but don’t let that fool you—things are still a mess. One company that should do well during this time is Argus Information & Advisory, a company based in White Plains, NY. They “assist financial institutions in making marketing and risk management decisions.” That’s going to be a big business for years to come. I’m just hoping that bad advice from Argus wasn’t part of the reason we ended up where we are. Whether that’s the case or not, I imagine that the demand for services that help “manage the tradeoffs among price, product, risk, and customer behavior along the customer lifecycle to increase profitability” will be in high demand. Continue reading about Argus Information & Advisory…
My role at One Day, One Internship goes well beyond writing the daily posts. For instance, when the server goes down, it’s my job to get it fixed. I spend a decent amount of time on IT type stuff, but I’m in no way an expert. I guess that means that it’s okay that I don’t completely understand what Cloudkick does. They’re a Y-Combinator startup based in San Francisco, and they’re “revolutionizing the way companies manage their IT infrastructure.” In more complex terms they provide tools that enable cloud server management through the APIs of a number of different web hosts. The truth is that most of you (like me) won’t understand what that means, but for those who do, Cloudkick should be worth looking at. What I can tell about Cloudkick is that they’re offering tools that make managing IT much simpler (even if it’s still really complex). The tools offered by many web hosts have terrible interfaces, so there’s a huge need for what Cloudkick is doing. Continue reading about Cloudkick…
The future of marketing and media is getting more results based, and that trend is going to continue as tracking technology progresses. Some people think that means that branding campaigns are a dying breed, but the folks at Undertone Networks would strongly disagree. They are a New York City based online advertising network that is helping Fortune 500 companies move their branding campaigns online. The trouble with doing this is that controlling your brand online is much more difficult than controlling it on tv, radio, or in print. That’s why Undertone Networks has developed an ad network that offers “Fortune 500 marketers an ad network where they [can] confidently and safely market their products and services without having to compromise their brand.” Continue reading about Undertone Networks…
One of my earliest memories is from Detroit’s Thanksgiving parade. I think that I was about 2 years old at the time, and I saw Oscar the Grouch on some sort of float. I don’t remember much more about the parade, but I remember that. I guess that I’m an experiential marketers dream since I managed to remember that over all of the other cool things that happened when I was two years old (another early memory was getting my head stuck between the bars on a McDonald’s playground—another branded memory). I think that the people at VEE Corporation would be especially happy to hear about my early memory since they’re the company behind Sesame Street Live. They’re a Minneapolis based firm that provides “live entertainment, promotion and event marketing services for America’s most respected brands, properties and agencies.” They’re big on full-body costumes and mascots as well as merging marketing and entertainment. Continue reading about VEE Corporation…
I can’t remember whether it was late in my middle school years or early in my high school years, but there were certainly a couple of years in the late 90s when Kate Spade was as hot as could be. Whether it was a wallet, calendar, or other accessories from the New York based fashion designer, the girls in my classes went crazy for them. At that point in my life, I wasn’t the most fashion conscious kid, so I probably thought Five Star binders were still cool. Despite my ignorance of fashion back then, even I knew what Kate Spade was. Since Kate Brosnahan started her line in 1993, her company has grown exceptionally. Hallmarked by “utility, wit and playful sophistication,” Kate Spade’s offering includes handbags, shoes, accesories, clothing, jewelry, baby items, fragrance, glasses, and even paper. The company now runs 46 retail shops and continues to be a huge name in the fashion industry. Continue reading about Kate Spade…
I love boring businesses. It may not seem like it considering the fact that I’m often featuring startups that are on the cutting edge of technology, but I really do appreciate when a company is able to take an extremely simple idea and make it profitable. Uline is a perfect example. They are a Waukegan, IL based company that considers itself “the leading distributor of shipping, industrial, and packing materials to businesses throughout North America.” It all started in 1980 when Liz and Dick Uihlein identified a need for a local shipping supplies distributer. They started the business in their basement with the H-101 carton sizer, and now they have a product line that fills a 452 page catalog. That’s a lot of growth, and I expect it to continue as e-commerce and the shipping that results from it keep expanding (I have about a dozen boxes in my apartment from various holiday season shipments). And if for some reason the shipping business does slow down, Uline can always reorganize as a producer of forts for children—I always loved playing in cardboard boxes. Continue reading about Uline…
As a Yankees fan I am obliged to hate anything and everything related to the Red Sox—and even Boston sports in general. That’s why it pains me to cover NESN (New England Sports Network) today. They’re one of the most successful regional sports networks (RSNs) in the country ratings-wise (#1 for 6 straight years), and they do it in the 7th biggest media market. NESN is jointly owned by the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins, whom they cover along with the Celtics, Patriots, and plenty of local college teams. They were launched in 1984, which makes Watertown, MA based NESN one of the oldest RSNs in the country, and they now reach more than 4 million homes. I still don’t understand why anyone would want to watch Boston sports on tv. Continue reading about NESN…
It’s Black Friday! And that means that it times to talk about spending money. Last year we took a look at internships with Ernst & Young (for companies that are “in the black”). We also look at internships with SlickDeals, one of the best websites for finding Black Friday deals, a few months ago. Today we’re gong to look at Visa, since it’s hard to do any amount of serious shopping without some sort of debit or credit card. Many people think of Visa, which is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, as a credit card company, but that’s not exactly right. Credit cards are backed by a bank or similar financial institution that actually lends you the money to make your purchases. Visa is “a global payments technology company.” That means that they provide the network for your transactions, but they aren’t actually the lending institution backing your credit card. Continue reading about Visa…
One of the coolest things about big cities is that they have unique neighborhoods and districts. Small towns are lucky to have one theatre, but New York City has an entire theatre district, which is called 42nd Street. It’s kind of a misnomer, because the whole street isn’t filled with theatrers, but around the area where it intersects with Broadway at Times Square they get pretty dense. Unfortunately, in the 1980s a large swath of 42nd Street became neglected and blighted. With so much great theatrical history there, New York City and New York State got together to found a non-profit organization to revitalize the area. This organization is now known as The New 42nd Street. The organization “oversees the redevelopment of seven historic theaters on 42nd” and operates these three projects: New 42nd Street Studios, The Duke on 42nd Street, and The New Victory Theater. Continue reading about The New 42nd Street…
Although I’ve never been there, I hear that the Mall of America is great. It’s an impressive spectacle of consumerism, and it’s a must-see if you’re in the Twin Cities area. However, I’d imagine that it’s not the most educational place to take your kids. Luckily, Minnesotans have the Minnesota Children’s Museum in St. Paul. It was named by Cookie Magazine as one of “sixteen road trip-worthy museums that put the emphasis on children.” The Museum is loaded with cool exhibits like Earth World, which focuses on local habitats, and Habitot, which creates exploration opportunities for toddlers. They also play host to exciting traveling exhibits like Dinosaurs, which will be arriving in 42 days (they have a countdown on their homepage). Continue reading about Minnesota Children’s Museum…
It took long enough, but Internet video is everywhere. Yes, we had online video 10 years ago, but now it actually looks good—and works. The main reason for this is that end users (you and me) finally have technology in their homes that can handle playing online video. This means high speed Internet connections and computers with enough processing power to not crash when a website uses a Flash video player. The issue for content creators is that delivering video still poses some challenges. Sure, I was able to produce an online job search training course that relied heavily on video with little trouble, but I wasn’t delivering video to thousands or even millions of people (I wish I had the problem). As your use base increases, the challenge of delivering video increase exponentially. Moreover, managing video content in an organized fashion is a completely different challenge than organizing text and images. Brightcove is a Cambridge, MA based company that provides an online video platform for many of the worlds biggest brands. Continue reading about Brightcove…
You know Disney. You love Disney. Who doesn’t? As a company they’ve stretched way beyond Mickey Mouse, but when it comes to Disney Theme Parks and Resorts, which includes Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, FL and Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA, it’s still all about Walt Disney’s imagination. There are few things as exciting to a child as a trip to Disney World or Disneyland, and the same can be said for a lot of adults. If there’s any company that I don’t need to tell you more about, it’s probably this one. What I can tell you is that your friends are going to be insanely jealous when you tell them that you’re going to be a part of the Disney College Program while they’re unlinking paperclips and making copies in some boring internship. You’ll also have something on your résumé that will always be the first topic of conversation. How could someone not ask you about your time at Disney World or Disneyland? Continue reading about Disney Theme Parks and Resorts…
I think that I’ve mentioned before that my first experience with video chat was was with CU-SeeMe in an Internet cafe in the mid 90s. Back then the potential for social interaction over online video seemed pretty promising, but the potential for business uses (not that I thought about that when I was 13) was even greater. Real-time video has been slower to take hold on both the social and business fronts than I expected, but now that the quality is so good, we’re seeing more and more businesses embrace video conferencing. Tandberg is a company that is at the forefront of this movement. They have dual headquarters in Oslo, Norway and New York City, and they are both “the market share leader and the fastest growing company in the video conferencing industry.” Their 30% annualized revenue growth for the past 10 years may not be Inc. 5000 material, but it’s still hugely impressive. Continue reading about Tandberg…
