One Day, One Internship » production

LivingSocial

Willy Franzen — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:51:25 +0000

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.

Are You LivingSocial?

LivingSocial isn’t all that different from other group-buying sites. Their biggest point of differentiation (besides the deals that they offer and the cities that they’re in) is that they you get your deal for free if you can convince three friends to buy in. I guess that’s what it means to be LivingSocial. The thing that I love about startups in the group-buying space is that they provide fantastic opportunities for young talent. They need people in a variety of areas, and they offer the ability to learn by doing. LivingSocial is no exception. Right now they only have one internship posted on their Jobs page, and it’s for a paid Design Intern. My guess is that there are plenty of other types of internship opportunities available at LivingSocial, but that they’re just not hiring for them right now because it’s the end of July.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use LivingSocial?

Symphony Space

Willy Franzen — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 13:40:16 +0000

There aren’t a lot of things that I can do for 12 hours straight. I’m not even sure that I can sleep that long anymore unless I’m sick or completely sleep deprived. Yet for some people it’s a tradition to participate in or attend free twelve-hour music marathons. It all started in 1978 when a group of New Yorkers came “together to create their own performing arts center.” It became a movement and a non-profit organization called Symphony Space, which has been “embraced by its cultured and educated neighbors and become the centerpiece of the Upper West Side Renaissance.” Cultural institutions like community theaters can have wonderful effects on neighborhoods and their residents, so it should be no surprise that Symphony Space is still going strong and garnering tons of support 32 years later.

Start on a High Note

There’s no way that I can describe what goes on at Symphony Space better than they do. Here’s how they put it on their History page:

A packed house listening intently as an actor conjures up the mood of a short story…the soulful notes of a jazz trumpet fading into the night…children laughing with glee at the antics of a master puppeteer…dancers creating rhythmic patterns across a darkened stage…high school students cheering one of their own as she accepts congratulations after a public reading of her work…images of cinematic brilliance flickering across a screen…families coming together to watch their kids rock out…this is Symphony Space today.

If that’s the kind of stuff that you get excited about—excited enough to sit and watch for 12 hours—then you should probably consider an internship at Symphony Space. They list positions both on their Employment page and on Idealist. Internships at Symphony Space are available in their Literary Department, Marketing, Development, Artistic Directing, Accounting, Theatre Booking/Film, Education, Business Administration, Audio Editing, Peforming Arts, Social Media, and Artistic Administration. All of the positions are paid a small stipend, and you can apply by contacting Jenny Clarke, Internship Program Consultant, at jenny.clarke@symphonyspace.org

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever been to Symphony Space?

HUGE

Willy Franzen — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:34:09 +0000

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.

Are You HUGE?

HUGE must get their name from the reputations of their clients. You can be nothing but HUGE when you’re building web experiences for names like CNN, jetBlue, IKEA, About.com, and MasterCard. Huge offers a range of services that link strategy, design, technology, and interactive marketing within a defined process that is unique to HUGE. The process seems to be working, because HUGE is growing at a crazy rate—or at least their Jobs page seems to indicate they are. They have 60+ job postings, which will provide a HUGE jump in headcount if they’re all filled. Most of the jobs with HUGE seem to require some level of experience, but they’re also offering internships. They have separate pages for opportunities in NYC and LA; however, the positions offered seem to be the same. Internships are offered full-time, are paid, and are available in Visual Design, Product Design, User Experience Design, Technology, Project Management, and Operations. And if one of those areas doesn’t really fit what you’re looking for, don’t be afraid to reach out to HUGE inquire about other types of internships that may be relevant to their business.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about HUGE?

Fahrenheit 212

Willy Franzen — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 15:57:17 +0000

I was flipping through the June issue of Fast Company to take a look at their list of The 100 Most Creative People in Business (Lady Gaga is #1) because I figured it would probably lead me towards some new companies to feature. Oddly enough, the profile in magazine that caught my attention first wasn’t even from the list. It was a short profile of Geoff Vuleta, the CEO of New York City based Fahrenheit 212. He’s building a new type of consulting firm—one where IDEO meets McKinsey. He thinks that most innovation firms ignore the fact that the products and ideas that they create need to make money, and he thinks that traditional consulting firms rarely have ideas good enough to serve the markets that they so easily identify. Fahrenheit 212 focuses on helping major companies find new areas for growth—areas that will provide in excess of $100 million in new revenue. But what might be the most unique thing about Fahrenheit 212 is their business model. They only get paid if their ideas work, as they “put up to two thirds of [their] fees at risk, subject to hitting agreed commercial milestones on the initiative.”

Get These Internships Before They Boil Over

I usually look skeptically at people who say things like “I’m an idea person.” It’s very rare for someone to succeed on an idea alone. Geoff Vuleta is very much an idea man. He came from the advertising industry, and that’s one place where you can get by on ideas (after spending many years executing your way up the ladder). However, it isn’t Geoff’s ideas that scored Fahrenheit 212 clients like LG, Goldman Sachs, Starbucks, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, and NBC Universal. It’s the fact that Geoff’s ideas are only executed on when there’s a real market opportunity. There are plenty of innovation firms churning out new ideas every day, and there are plenty of consulting firms getting paid big bucks to try to help corporations do what they’re already doing better. Fahrenheit 212 is combining those two approaches with the thought that 1 + 1 = 11 (here are some case studies). If you like the way that math looks, then you need to consider an internship at Fahrenheit 212. They don’t mention internships on their Careers page, but if you look at their employee profiles, you’ll see that some of their people started as interns. It may be too late for a Summer internship, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t reach out to Fahrenheit 212. If you want to get experience in Graphic Design, Video Design, Consulting, Innovation, or Product Development, you should reach out to them at careers@fahrenheit-212.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Fahrenheit 212′s approach?

TerraCycle

Willy Franzen — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:48:08 +0000

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.”

The New Alchemy

TerraCycle got its start when Tom Szaky to pursue his passion for worm poop. Yes, that’s right. TerraCycle was founded as an organic fertilizer company that used worms to process compostable material. They’ve kept their green focus but have moved towards less crappy product offerings. Here’s a video rundown of what TerraCycle does and how it all works.

One of the things that I really like about TerraCycle is how they collect the garbage that they turn into products. They put together Brigades to collect specific types of trash. People on the brigades (you can join one) can turn in the garbage they collect to non-profits or schools, and TerraCycle makes a donation in return for the collected garbage. It’s brilliant. If you like what TerraCycle is doing, then you should give their Internships page a look. They have a number of unpaid opportunities posted including: Operations/Logistics Intern, Product Design Intern, Business Development Intern, Product and Market Development Intern, Graphic Design Intern, Licensing Intern, Video Intern, Public Relations Intern, and Sponsored Waste Intern. The application instructions vary for each position, but you can find it all on TerraCycle’s Internships page.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own any TerraCycle products?

F+W Media

Willy Franzen — Mon, 24 May 2010 15:03:35 +0000

When I decided to build Found Your Career, I pulled in Jason Seiden to tell the employer’s side of the story. He knows what it takes to succeed in the workplace, and he has a new book about just that called Super Staying Power: What You Need to Become Valuable and Resilient at Work. Check it out.

I don’t need to tell you all that the publishing industry has hit a rough spot. All you need to do is look around and see the iPads, Kindles, and Nooks. For hundreds of years the industry has used the same method delivery, but suddenly they’re losing control of how their content is distributed. This is really scary for a lot of people, but they’re forgetting something important: it’s all about the content. And the more targeted your content is to a specific audience, the better. The General Interest publication is a dying breed, and niche media is what it’s all about. F+W Media is a Cincinnati, OH based publisher that gets this. As they put it, F+W Media “offers the highest quality content in a wide variety of formats—from print to digital to video—to highly passionate enthusiast communities.” That’s a model for success that many in the publishing industry are scared of.

Join the Community

At F+W Media it’s all about communities and connecting “passionate, likeminded groups of people to share an ongoing exchange of information, ideas, and inspiration.” That’s why F+W has selected niches like Antiques & Collectibles, Automotive, Construction/Trade, Crafts, Design, Fine Art, Firearm + Knives, Genealogy, Horticulture, Numismatics, Outdoors, Sports, Woodworking, and Writing. You’ve probably never heard of many of the titles that F+W Media publishes, but that’s ok with them. As long as the woodworkers and weapons collectors know about them, they’re happy. In addition to books and magazines, F+W Media also produces digital products and courses and even operates trade shows. The focus on developing and distributing content for enthusiast audiences makes for the potential for some pretty cool internships. Right now there are a number of opportunities posted on F+W Media’s Internships page. These include Summer Production Intern (Iola, WI), Summer Media Intern – Editorial – Adams Media (Avon, MA), Summer Editorial Intern – Design (New York, NY), Summer Art Intern – Print (New York, NY), Summer Advertising Sales Intern (Iola, WI), and Summer Editorial Intern – Southwest Art Magazine (Broomfield, CO). Some positions are listed as unpaid, and for some it doesn’t say, so you’ll have to ask about that if you aren’t looking to work for free.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which of F+W Media’s communities appeals most to you?

GSD&M Idea City

Willy Franzen — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:42:50 +0000

This morning I was reading a blog post about why interns should be paid (which goes nicely with my article on the legality of unpaid internships), and I noticed that the guy who wrote the post happens to work at an ad agency that pays its interns. Since paid internships in the ad industry are always in demand, I figured that GSD&M Idea City was worth a look. I learned that they’re based in Austin, TX (I feel like a lot of companies that are hiring right now are based in Texas), and that they are one of the bigger names in the industry. In fact, from 1987 until 2007 they were “one of two agencies that held the Wal-Mart account” according to Wikipedia. That means that they helped “build Wal-Mart from $11 billion in sales to $312 billion.” The agency has since moved on, but their client list continues to impress.

Live in Idea City

Another cool thing that I learned from Wikipedia is that GSD&M stands for the agency’s founders’ initials or “Greed, Sex, Drugs, and Money,” which all can be key factors in an advertising campaign. There isn’t much detail about the company on their website, but you can take a look at the work that they’ve done for clients including AT&T, BMW, American Red Cross, John Deere, Southwest Airlines, and quite a few others. It’s great stuff, and if you’re an ad nerd, you’ll love it. Assuming that you do love their work, then you’ll probably want to check out the GSD&M Idea City Careers page. Right now they have 12 internships posted, and they’re all for Fall 2010. That’s right—getting a highly sought after internship requires planning ahead. That doesn’t mean that you can’t find a last minute Summer internship, but if you want the best opportunities, you should be looking at the Fall already. The internships at GSD&M Idea City include opportunities in: New Business Development, Studio Art, Information Technology, Account Service, Broadcast Production, Communications, Creative, Creative Project Management, Graphic Design, Marketplace Planning, Media, and Media (Chicago, IL). You can apply for all of the positions online, so get to it before it’s too late to apply for a Fall internship.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you been to Idea City?

American Association for the Advancement of Science

Willy Franzen — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 16:24:56 +0000

One of the cool things about doing what I do is that I get a lot of interview requests from media outlets. At least once a week I’m talking to someone who is writing about entry level employment or internships. What’s even cooler is when someone writes about me, and doesn’t even interview me. I’ll suddenly see a Google Alert pop up for my name or brand name, and I’ll click the link to see who’s talking about me. One of the most exciting mentions came from the journal Science and their Science Careers Blog. In case you didn’t know, Science, the Science Careers Blog, and many other publications and newsletters are published by The American Association for the Advancement of Science. The AAAS is a Washington, DC based “non-profit organization dedicated to advancing science around the world by serving as an educator, leader, spokesperson and professional association.” They work in areas likescience policy, international programs, and science education, and

Are You Advancing Science?

Now, the AAAS mission statement includes a lot of bullet points, but I thought that it was worth including them all here since it will give you a much better feel for what the AAAS is trying to accomplish. Their goals are to:

Enhance communication among scientists, engineers, and the public;

Promote and defend the integrity of science and its use;

Strengthen support for the science and technology enterprise;

Provide a voice for science on societal issues;

Promote the responsible use of science in public policy;

Strengthen and diversify the science and technology workforce;

Foster education in science and technology for everyone;

Increase public engagement with science and technology; and

Advance international cooperation in science.

If you want a broader look at the kind of work that the AAAS does, you can check out their Programs page. It has links to pretty much everything that they do. Now, if you’re a scientist (amateur or professional), the AAAS could be a pretty cool place to start your career. They don’t have a ton of jobs posted, but there area few that might be of interest to new college grads. The AAAS provides a ton of links to Career resources including their Science Careers website on their initial Career Center page, but you can find their actual internship postings here and on their Internships page. It’s hard to say whether it’s too late to apply for their Science News Writing Internship (it’s still posted on their Job listings), but there’s definitely a Development Internship available post here. There are also a number of Science & Policy Programs Internships posted, but the deadline for most of them seems to have passed. I know this is a little confusing, but if you browse around the AAAS Career site you should be able to find what you’re looking for (and I forgot to mention that the internships are paid).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read Science?

AEG

Willy Franzen — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:00:18 +0000

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.

Join AEG’s Team

Describing AEG’s business in a few paragraphs isn’t easy, so I guess that the best way to put it is that if it has to do with sports or entertainment, they’re probably involved in some way. That means that AEG offersinternship opportunities in a wide variety of areas. They actually have a halfway decent job search function on their site, so you can narrow things down by AEG Company, Area of Interest, Location, or Facility—they also let you sort the jobs so that you only see internships. Right now they have 18 internships posted in areas like Communications, Community Relations, Graphic Design, Hispanic Grassroots Marketing, Charitable Foundations, Sales & Marketing, Marketing, Mascot Marketing, Player Development, Premium Services, Special Events, Sponsorships, Production, Public Relations, Sales & Marketing, Ticket Operations, Video Production, and Youth Development. All of these positions appear to be unpaid, and you can apply for any that you find on their site through their online application process.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about AEG?

Sportvision

Willy Franzen — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 12:08:11 +0000

It’s Opening Day of the baseball season, and I’m thrilled that I’m looking at 6+ months of meaningful games for my favorite sport. Last night was disappointing in that the Yankees blew a solid lead in a sloppy game against the Red Sox, but even that can’t drown out my excitement about the hope brought by a new season. Along with a new season comes new technology. Television and online broadcasts are constantly getting better, and not just in quality. There are all kinds of new technological innovations that are making sports more fun to watch, and a lot of them are coming from Chicago based Sportvision. It all started with the FoxTrax “glowing” hockey puck (which was pretty much a miserable failure), but now we have things like the “virtual yellow 1st and Ten line™, KZone™ virtual strike zone, and the RACEf/x system on NASCAR broadcasts.” Each of these was created by Sportvision.

Are You Watching?

Sportvision is very much a technology company, but they also understand sports. They’ve been so successful with their innovation because they have a distinct model for creating new products. They look for aspects of the game that are “hard or impossible to see; happen a lot; and/or central to the understanding of the game or sport.” Then they use their technological prowess to find a way to overcome the challenges that an average fan has with the given aspect of the game in real-time. Maybe it’s strike zone recognition or knowing whether a football team should go for it on a fourth down (or maybe it’s inserting virtual advertising), but whatever it is, Sportsvision is consistently finding new ways to add value by layering things on top of the live action. It’s really cool stuff, and you’ve almost certainly seen it if you watch sports on tv. Sportvision has offices in Milwaukee, WI; Mountain View, CA; and Paris, France in addition to their headquarters in Chicago. They don’t mention internships on their Careers page, and the jobs that they have listed are mostly technical, but I was able to find an online résumé or two that indicated that Sportvision offered internships in the past. You’ll have to reach out to them and inquire if you’re interested.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite Sportvision technology?

Man Made Music

Willy Franzen — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:56:44 +0000

Like I told you on Monday, I have a ton of new companies to feature thanks to Fast Company’s list of “The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies.” It may not have been one of the lists that I mentioned in my article 9 Magazine Lists That Will Help You Find a Job, but I’d certainly add it if I were writing the article again. Today we’re going to take a look at Man Made Music, “a unique bi-coastal music production company and Sonic Brand consultancy with an extraordinary team of young music and sound design talent, well-known composers, music supervisors, programmers, club DJ’s, musicologists and brand strategists.” By bi-coastal, they mean New York and LA, obviously, and you can’t really talk about Man Made Music without mentioning their founder and President, Joel Beckerman. He’s been in music media for nearly two decades, and he rolls with big names like John Legend, Morgan Freeman, and John Rzeznik.

Music Made Internships

At Man Made Music it’s all about telling stories. Whether they’re working with NBC Nightly News, The History Channel, Mercedes, or ESPN’s X Games, they’re always ensuring that music is more than just some noise in the background—it’s furthering the message. The company is open to working in any medium, format, or industry, and to get a sense of what they do, you should check out their Case Studies. You may also want to play around with the Man Made Mixer, although it’s really just for fun. So what about jobs? If you’re trying to break into the music industry, and you’re not all that concerned with working at a major record label, Man Made Music might be the perfect place for you. They don’t get specific about their internship opportunities; in fact, their Employment/Internships link goes straight to an e-mail address: employment@manmademusic.com. That may be a little too much ambiguity for some of you, but if you reach out to the folks at Man Made Music and let them know what you can add, you might just find a really cool opportunity.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about Man Made Music?

VICE

Willy Franzen — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:07:53 +0000

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.

What’s Your VICE?

Now, I don’t want to be too hard on hipsters, but I find it funny that a company that caters to their audience by being controversial and subversive is actually a major media company raking in the dough. Next we’ll find out that plaid and fixed gear bicycles are also being manufactured by corporate behemoths. Ok, VICE might be making lots of money, but they’re certainly keeping it real. They’ve become more journalistic over time, while maintaining their “blithe and caustic irreverence.” In addition to the magazine, VICE also has VICE Retail (clothing), VICE Recordings (Music/Record Label), VBS.tv (Film and Television), Virtue (Creative Agency), and an Events business. VICE is definitely not for everyone, but if you were offended by my poke at hipster culture (and are not offended by much else), then it’s probably for you. You can learn about internships with VICE here. Current unpaid openings include Motherboard Internship, Digital Ad Operations Internship, Editorial Internship, Viceland Blog Internship, Fashion Internship, Production Internship, Content Internship, Digital Marketing and Strategy Internship, Equipment Management Internship, Production Coordination/Accounting Internship, VIRTUE Internship, VICE Events Internship, VICE Public Relations Internship, Design Internship, and VICE Records Internship. The application instructions vary, so check out VICE’s Internships page for all of the details.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read VICE?

HBO

Willy Franzen — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:52:00 +0000

It’s the ultimate premium channel. The one that separates the haves from the have nots—at least when it comes to cable packages. HBO or Home Box Office is the pinnacle of cable television. Ok, maybe I’m going a bit far, but I remember how excited I was when one day HBO was suddenly part of my family’s cable package. The cable company made a mistake, and I was now able to watch all kinds of great movies in the comfort of my own home (and without having my mom take me to Blockbuster). Of course, HBO, which is based in New York City, isn’t just about movies. Their original programming is one of the key reasons that they have more than 40 million subscribers in the US. HBO’s series past and present include Arliss, Sex and the City, Entourage, The Sopranos, Fraggle Rock, and plenty of others. Then there are their documentaries and sports coverage. It’s why people pay extra for HBO (and Cinemax, its sister station): high quality programming without commercials.

Do You Get HBO?

What many people don’t realize about HBO is the role that they’ve played in the history of cable and satellite television. TV used to be free. Then people started paying for cable with packages of channels. Then HBO came along and people started paying extra for individual channels. It almost sounds like the evolution towards paid content that we’re seeing on the Internet; however, I’m not sure that anyone is constantly innovating like HBO has done in the television industry. They were the first to transmit digitally. The first to encrypt their satellite signal. The first to broadcast in HD. The first to offer premium video on demand. HBO knows what their customers want before they want it, so they’re continually able to stay ahead of other premium channels. It will be exciting to see how HBO transforms as more and more content moves online.

Now, what if you want to be a part of the future of HBO? You’ll have to head over to their Careers page, which is hosted by Time Warner, their parent company. Right now there are 44 openings, and a few of them are internships. Unfortunately the Time Warner applicant tracking systems is a total piece of crap, so I can’t link you directly to the internship postings. The posting for HBO Internship is based in Los Angeles, CA, and it offers unpaid positions in Films Development and Production, TV Development and Production, Legal, Casting, Media Relations, Finance, and Participations & Residuals. There is also an NYC based posting for their 2010 Undergraduate Technology Internship. I find it hard to imagine that they don’t have general internships in New York City too, so you may want to reach out to internships@hbo.com to inquire. It’s unclear if you’re supposed apply online or send your résumé and cover letter to the aforementioned e-mail address, so you may want to try both.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did you get HBO growing up?

Zinch

Willy Franzen — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:04:24 +0000

If you’ve been searching for internships for very long, you’d probably do anything to go back to Senior year of high school when you were applying to college. It’s not that the admissions process is particularly fun, but at least it has a set timeline and a fixed set of options. Still, there’s plenty of room for improvement. That’s why there are quite a few young entrepreneurs who have built companies that aim to make the college process better, just like I’m doing with the entry level job and internship searches. One of these companies is San Francisco based Zinch, which was founded by Mick Hagen, a Princeton dropout. They’ve created a social network that allows high school students to connect with the colleges that they want to attend. There are more than 700 colleges and universities that invest in Zinch, which is why more than 1.5 million students have created Zinch profiles to show off to admissions counselors and to apply for scholarships and financial aid packages.

Getting an Internship Is a Zinch

Zinch’s motto is simple: “I am more than a test score.” They’re all about helping students make their case for why they’re a great fit at a given institution of higher learning. It’s the anti-common app. But what about Zinch’s business model? How does it work? Well, Zinch is free for students, but colleges must pay an annual fee to connect with students. This may seem strange to you, but you have to remember that colleges are essentially businesses, and they need a constant flow of customer. While schools like Harvard and Princeton constantly have way more qualified applicants than spots in their Freshman classes, most colleges aren’t so lucky. They need to market themselves to students. Traditionally they’ve done this by inundating the mailboxes of high school juniors and seniors based on data from standardized test scores. (Side story: My mom forced me to check the “do not mail me” box on all of my testing stuff, so I felt left out when all of my friends were getting recruited and nobody was sending me anything.) Zinch thinks that’s a poor model, so they’ve stepped it up a bit. They’ve created a new marketing platform for colleges, and it seems to be working out pretty well.

This means that Zinch is growing and hiring lots of interns. If you check out their Careers page, you’ll see that they are looking for people in Engineering/Software Development, Sales/Marketing, Internet/Search Marketing, Graphic Design, Public Relations, and Videography/Cinematography. To apply for any of these positions, you need to e-mail intern@zinch.com with the following:

1) An attachment of your resumé/CV
2) Answers to the following questions:
+ If you could change/add one thing about Zinch, what would it be and why?
+ How would you move Mount Fuji?
+ What are three things you want to accomplish before you die?
+ What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done (crazy can be defined as, for example, dangerous, silly, stupid, etc)?

There’s no word on whether these positions are paid or not.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you wish that you had Zinch when you were in high school?

Organic

Willy Franzen — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:16:28 +0000

I hope the title of today’s post didn’t make you hungry, because we’re not talking about internships in organic food. Organic is a San Francisco based interactive marketing agency with a brand that has gained a lot of keyword competition over the past 16 years. Yes, people were eating organic back in 1994, but the word wasn’t nearly as common as it is today. Doing research on Organic is tough because the organic search results (excuse my SEO pun) have all kinds of other stuff in them (at least they own Organic.com). Either Google needs to get inside my head to discern my intent, or Organic is going to have to hope that artificial packaged, processed foods go back in vogue. Ok, enough of my ripping on their name—Organic was ranked by AdWeek as the #1 interactive agency in 2007. That fits in perfectly with my impression of Organic from browsing their website and looking at their work. In fact, I’m blown away by how good Organic’s website is. It’s easy to use, it’s full of information, and it’s gorgeously designed. Their corporate mantra is “Exceptional Experience,” and they certainly live up to it.

Live Organic

I’ve found that interactive agencies sometimes go too far with their websites. They get too fancy and end up making an unusable piece of garbage. The way Organic has built their website shows that they’re good at what they do. Beyond San Francisco Organic also has locations in New York, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Toronto. The company’s clients include Bank of America, Jeep, Nike, Guitar Center, and plenty more. I could tell you more about Organic, but you’re much better off visiting their website, because it does a great job of telling their story. Organic even does a great job with their Careers site—they even make a usually crappy applicant tracking system look good. The interesting thing about Organic is that most of their 40 job openings are at pretty Senior levels, but they do have a number of postings (one for each location) for their paid Summer internship program called “The Farm.” There are opportunities to work in areas like Delivery / Project Management, Creative, Technology, Strategy, Media and Marketing Intelligence, and the whole program looks awesome. They only want rising college seniors and recent grads, but if you fit the bill, go ahead and apply online.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Organic’s name?

Riot Games

Willy Franzen — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:04:14 +0000

Apparently my parents and sister have engaged in a never-ending series of online Scrabble games played via iPhone. I’m with my parents in Florida right now, and every five minutes they’re bugging each other to make the next move. It’s crazy. Free online gaming has hit the masses, and it isn’t pretty. There are tons of new online gaming companies, and while some are focusing on bringing new gamers to the market, others are more focused on gaining ground with serious gamers. Culver City, CA based Riot Games is a perfect example of the latter. They are behind League of Legends, a free online role-playing game that is set in an imaginative world. The game has been downloaded more than a million times, and Riot Games has received $20 million in venture capital investment based on the game. $8 million of that investment came from a Chinese gaming company that has a huge user base, so this is very much an international play.

Incite a Riot

The interesting thing about Riot Games and League of Legends is that the game is essentially console quality. It’s the type of game that serious gamer would pay to play, but it’s free. Riot Games’ business model is more akin to that of Zynga than that of Blizzard. What that means is that Riot Games makes League of Legends free to play, but they charge for in-game item purchases. It seems like a smart idea, and if it works, they’re going to have a huge leg up on the game makers who charge an upfront cost for their games. With all of the recent investment, Riot Games is growing its headcount rapidly. A quick look at their Internships page will show you that they have nearly a dozen opportunities for college students. These include positions like Art Intern, Game Effects Art Intern, Software/Build Engineer Intern, Community Intern, Game Design Intern – General & Usability Design, Game Design Intern – Core Gameplay, Sound Design Intern, Production Intern, and Development Intern. Although it doesn’t say so in the internship descriptions, I’m pretty sure that all of the positions are paid. You can apply e-mail and hopefully it’ll lead to an internship where you’ll enjoy perks like ninja nerf gun battles, full expense trips to the bathroom, and stock advice.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you played League of Legends?

Demand Media

Willy Franzen — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:46:03 +0000

I’m sure that you’ve heard a lot in the news about how traditional media companies are having trouble taking their business models online. You may be under the impression that making money from web content is near impossible, but there’s a dirty little secret: it’s not. While companies like the New York Times stick to editorial integrity and chasing Pulitzers, there are companies out there that craft their content with the sole purpose of making money. A perfect example is Santa Monica, CA based Demand Media. They’ve secured more than $355 million in venture capital funding, grown annual revenue to more than $200 million annually, and reached a valuation north of $1 billion all by taking an ROI based approach to content development. How does that work? Demand Media has developed an algorithm that helps them find profitable topics. By using data from Google AdWords, they’re able to estimate the demand for a given piece of content (example: an article and video on how to tie your shoes) along with the revenue that the yet to be developed piece of content could be expected to make given a certain number of pageviews.

Demand an Internship

This may sound unsavory to some of the writers out there, but I’d imagine the business students are in awe. Demand Media delivers their content through a number of web properties, and some of these include eHow, Cracked, and Livestrong.com. In addition to distributing profitable content across their web properties, Demand Media also licenses some of the social media tools that they’ve developed internally to other businesses. One of the amazing things that I learned about Demand Media while researching them is that they publish approximately 4,000 articles and videos every day. Demand Media is YouTube’s largest contributor, and the number of pageviews that they’re driving across their network is staggering. They’re able to develop so much content through an army of freelancers who work through a site called Demand Studios. If you’re a Writer, Filmmaker, or Copy Editor, that’s the first option for getting an “internship” (it’s only freelance, and the rates are kind of low) through Demand Media. Your second option is to check out Demand Media’s Corporate Career offerings. There’s only one internship posted right now—an unpaid Editorial Internship in Santa Monica, CA—although I wouldn’t be surprised to see more opportunities posted in the future. You can apply online for this postion, but before you do, take an hour to learn more about Demand Media—there’s a ton of information available about them.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Demand Media’s business model?

Invodo

Willy Franzen — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:58:33 +0000

Video is an amazing sales tool. It’s able to show you exactly what you’re buying and how it works. The only thing better is an in-person demonstration, and those are far too expensive for mostproducts. Now that online video capabilities are pretty much ubiquitous, we’re seeing more and more companies adopt video as part of their sales process. More and more product pages have an embedded video along with all of the stuff you normally expect to find on an e-commerce site. Invodo is the company that is often behind these videos. They’re a three year old company based in Austin, TX, and they offer “a full-service eCommerce video solution that drives conversion for retailers, consideration for manufacturers, and satisfaction for consumers.” They work with more than 2,500 manufacturers and retailers including Sony, New Balance, Toys “R” Us, and plenty more major brands.

Video That Sells

If you want to take a look at the type of video that Invodo offers, all you have to do is check out their home page. It’s loaded with samples of work that they’ve done. Invodo offers a full solution for their clients. This includes content production, a platform for delivery, and a network for distribution. Surprisingly they don’t seem to have a video about themselves—you’d think that would be a key part of their sales process. They also don’t have a video about their Careers, but they’re a small company so that’s understandable. Their Internships page only shows one internship right now, and it’s for a Sales Intern. There’s no word on whether it’s paid or not, and you should also note that it’s more Sales & Marketing than just Sales. To apply send your cover letter and résumé to careers@invodo.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Has video influenced your purchasing decisions?

ESPN

Willy Franzen — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:55:12 +0000

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.

Intern at ESPN

Looking for internships on ESPN’s website feels like a wild goose chase. Luckily, I’ve found the goose that laid the golden egg—if you consider an internship with ESPN a golden egg. Ok, it’s not as bad as ESPN’s Careers site used to be, but the problem is that they leave their old Careers sites up (there’s even one from 2002 that is still accessible). The site that comes up first in Google when you search for “ESPN internships” is not the site that you want to be on. ESPN’s new Careers site is ESPNCareers.com. This includes a section on Internships that is actually quite helpful—ESPN’s former Careers site was terrible. This page gives you a broad overview of the program:

Internships are offered in the fall and spring semesters and during the summer
Opportunities are primarily located in Bristol, CT and New York, NY. Limited opportunities are available at other locations, including Los Angeles.
10 weeks – 40 hours a week
Competitive pay
Subsidized housing is available on a first come first served basis for interns in New York, NY and Bristol, CT for students who live more than 40 miles from the ESPN offices in those locations

It also says that they offer internships in the following areas: Creative Services, Communications, Digital Media, Editorial, Finance & Accounting, International, Marketing, Production, Programming, Research, Sales, Statistics, and Information Technology. From there you’ll find a link to ESPN’s actual internship listings. The postings are all from the last month, so now is the perfect time to apply for an internship at ESPN. You can apply online, and you should note that their actual opportunities go beyond the categories and locations that I mentioned earlier.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did you have trouble finding information on ESPN’s internships?

Elie Tahari

Willy Franzen — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:03:35 +0000

I’m probably more fashion conscious than the average guy, but not remarkably so. I have a few brands that I really like wearing—Bonobos and lululemon athletica for example—and most of the rest of the stuff that I buy I get from Gilt Groupe, which is always introducing me to new brands. I figure that it’s important for me to stay up on fashion to some extent because so many of you are interested in internships in the fashion industry. I recently noticed that one brand that I’ve seen on Gilt Groupe before, Elie Tahari, has a number of internships available. Elie Tahari is both the name of a designer and “a privately held global lifestyle brand with a presence in more than forty countries.” The company is headquartered in New York and serves both men and women who are “looking for fashion and value in luxury ready-to-wear.”

Internships Are In Fashion

The story of Elie Tahari is extremely cool. According to Wikipedia he came to the United States from Israel in 1971 to work as an electrician. He spent his first years here as a transient, and eventually ended up working in a boutique clothing store. This inspired him to start designing “women’s fashion inspired by the new york city nightclub scene.” That seems to have worked out pretty well for him considering the fact that he’s built a $500 million business. To get a feel for what the line is all about, you should head over to ElieTahari.com. Getting the scoop on their internships won’t be so simple. They do have a Careers section on their website, and it does include an internship posting, but it is woefully outdated. A quick Google search for “Elie Tahari internships” is your best bet, as it will turn up a multitude of listings. A number of these postings are from FreeFashionInternships.com, and they include unpaid positions like Fabric and Print Intern, Store Planning Intern, Production Intern, Fabric (Bulk Purchasing) Intern, and Licensing and Distribution Intern. You can do a search for those listings, or you can always use Elie Tahari’s Careers site to submit a résumé.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you wear Elie Tahari?

Argus Information & Advisory

Willy Franzen — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:59:22 +0000

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.

Manage Your Career Risk

Although Argus doesn’t name their clients, they can claim as clients all of the 20 top US credit card issuers and 9 of 10 top ten UK credit card issuers along with large insurance companies, top retail banks, and the largest payment processors. There isn’t much information about Argus available on the Internet, but it seems that they like it that way. Their web site is sparse, and Google barely turns up any meaningful results about them. You’ll probably want to push your research a little farther if you consider interning at Argus, and you can start by checking out their Jobs page and their College Recruiting page. Although their College Recruiting season seems to have passed, they do have some internships posted on their site. They’re looking for a Human Resources Intern along with interns in Production, IT, Accounting, and Operations. To apply for any of these positions, you should send your cover letter and résumé to resumes.Argus@hiredesk.net or resumes@argusinformation.com if you want to go through their College Recruiting people (be sure to include your Math and Verbal SAT scores and GPA). My guess is that these positions are paid, although they don’t say so.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Lunchbox

Willy Franzen — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:51:18 +0000

Although Twitter’s search results are getting filled with more and more junk, I’m still finding that Twitter is a pretty easy way to find jobs and internships that wouldn’t typically be on your radar. That’s how I came across Lunchbox, a Culver City, CA based “full-service agency that specializes in creating complete-branded content packages.” Since I have no idea what that actually means, I took a look at Lunchbox’s portfolio to get a better idea of what their work entails. Basically Lunchbox helps build brands by developing new ways for their clients to introduce their brands to customers. It may be creating stuffed animals for Discovery Channel or designing a magazine for CMT. Whatever the challenge is, Lunchbox brings an amazing creative team that has worked in the past with some of the world’s biggest brands.

What’s in Your Lunchbox?

My take on interactive agencies like Lunchbox is that the best way to judge whether you want to work for them is to look at their portfolio. Not only should you consider the names that they work with—Lunchbox has worked with Pepsi, Nick at Nite, Walmart, Warner Bros., and plenty more—but you should also look closely at what kind of work they put out. I’m impressed with what I see from Lunchbox, but it’s up to you to determine if you’d fit in with them. Now, back to that tweet that I mentioned. There’s not much more to it than a mention of paid Social Media internships, and I can’t find any details on Lunchbox’s Jobs page, but I did find someone on LinkedIn who had a social media internship at Lunchbox. Some of Lunchbox’s job offerings include Back-End Software Engineer, Front-End Software Engineer, Interactive Developer, QA Analyst, and Video Production Assistant, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see them take interns in those areas too. To apply for an internship at Lunchbox, my recommendation is that you reach out to them at jobs@lbox.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Lunchbox’s portfolio?

Jazz at Lincoln Center

Willy Franzen — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 15:59:46 +0000

I may not be into jazz, but I will readily admit that people who like jazz have better taste in music than I do. I don’t know why I feel that way, but jazz gives off an aura of being ultimately cool. You just can’t tell a jazz lover that he has bad taste in music. If you’re one of those people who is cooler than me, then I hope that you know about Jazz at Lincoln Center. It’s a New York City based non-profit arts organization that aims “to enrich the artistic substance and perpetuate the democratic spirit of America’s music.” Their mission is accomplished through four key strategies: Curatorial, Educational, Archival, and Ceremonial. Whether it’s producing and presenting performances or maintaining “a comprehensive library of original scores, transcriptions, arrangements, books and artifacts important to jazz,” Jazz at Lincoln Center is doing its best to promote the art.

Jazzy Internships

Jazz at Lincoln Center is everything jazz. While most other genres of music are driven by commercial interests, it seems that jazz—along with classical music—is more tied to the arts scene than popular music. That’s why non-profits like Jazz at Lincoln Center play such a big role in promoting and preserving the art. If you’re a jazz lover and looking to intern in the non-profit world, then you need to head over to the Jazz at Lincoln Center Jobs page. They have a number of internship openings in areas that include Business & Legal Affairs, Development, Education, Information Technology, Marketing, Music Administration, Public Relations, and Programming & Concert Administration. You can find all of the details about the internships including how to apply here. There is a weekly stipend for all of these internships, although they don’t say if it’s enough to consider the internship paid.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you a jazz lover?

VEE Corporation

Willy Franzen — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:15:04 +0000

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.

Experience VEE Corporation

Running the Sesame Street Live show seems like a big enough deal, but plenty of other huge brands have entrusted their identifying characters to VEE Corporation. These include Mr. Potato Head, Shrek and Donkey, Sponge Bob Squarepants, Mariah Carey’s legs, the Lucky Charms Leprechaun, and plenty more. VEE’s service offerings include Planning & Consultation, Logistics, Design & Ingenuity, Costumes/Creatures/Mascots, Fabrication & Construction, and Ship & Store. It’s a completely different kind of marketing company, which means that the internships that they offer are especially unique. If you check out Vee Corporation’s Careers page, you’ll see what I’m talking about. The only specific listing they have is for a paid Marketing and Publicity Internship; however, they also offer a variety of application forms for different types of jobs—Theatrical, Corporate, Production Services, Shop and Craftsperson, and Operations and Road Crew. I’m not sure if there are internship possibilities beyond Marketing and Publicity, but it’s certainly worth inquiring about.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you seen any events put on by VEE Corporation?

NESN

Willy Franzen — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:56:51 +0000

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.

Monster Opportunities

Obviously I think that internships at the Yes Network are way cooler, but I do have to admit that working at NESN would be pretty sweet. There probably couldn’t be a better place for a Boston sports fan (must… hold… back… joke…) with an interest in television than NESN. They have a “40,000 square foot state-of–the art facility” and they do a ton of broadcasting in HD. The only thing they were short on this year was October programming. If you’re interested in NESN, you should check out their Internships page. They’re currently offering unpaid internships in New Media (NESN.com), SportsDesk, Sales & Traffic, Promotions, Program Development & Acquisitions, and Boston Bruins Pre and Post Game Show. All seem like pretty cool opportunities, so I hope that you’ll check out NESN. Maybe you can help them broadcast another Red Sox collapse next fall.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you watch NESN?

The New 42nd Street

Willy Franzen — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:20:42 +0000

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.

A Walk Down 42nd Street

It wasn’t all that long ago that Times Square was filled with sex shops, but it truly has become a revitalized area. There has been a lot more behind that story than The New 42nd Street, but you have to give them credit for being part of a movement that has been extremely successful. Their mission was outlined in 1991, and they are a fine example of a non-profit that has made significant progress in achieving what it set out to do:

The mission of The New 42nd Street is clear: it must reinvent life for the seven wonderful theaters under its jurisdiction, and in so doing, recreate them as places of popular art and entertainment for the 21st century and beyond. The theaters must serve as a magnet, providing affordable entertainment for New York City residents and visitors of all ages, races and classes, and they should resound with life both day and night. In order to reanimate the theaters and the street they occupy, imagination and tenacity must be brought to bear.

Because of The New 42nd Street there is now a “nucleus of a new entertainment district for the 21st century.” That doesn’t mean that the organization’s work is done. They still have plenty to achieve—even if the goals have evolved over the years. With those changing goals come the opportunity for internships with The New 42nd Street. They post those positions on The New Victory Theater website under The New 42 Apprentice Program. The positions are paid and open to both high school and college students. You can apprentice with The New 42 in spring, summer, or fall in the following areas: Education, Finance, Marketing, New Victory Operations, Production, Studio Operations, Programming, Public Relations, and Ticket Services. There’s an online application, and if you have any questions, you can e-mail apprenticeprogram@new42.org.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

When did you last visit 42nd Street?

Big Ten Network

Willy Franzen — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:52:05 +0000

I love Ivy League sports. I really do. Although I think the league gets less respect than it deserves, I know that they’ll never be the Big Ten—even if a powerhouse like Cornell (hey, I’m biased) continues to excel at the national level in sports like Hockey, Lacrosse, Wrestling, and even Basketball. I didn’t realize how big Big Ten sports were until I walked around Chicago on a Saturday afternoon in the fall. The Ohio State bar is packed with Ohio State fans, and the Michigan bar is packed with Michigan fans. Everyone is dressed in their school’s colors—and these are people hundreds of miles away from their schools and many years away from graduation. I guess that’s why there’s the Chicago based Big Ten Network, a television station devoted to everything Big Ten. While I’m watching grainy online streaming video of Cornell Hockey with my laptop hooked up to my tv, Big Ten fans can watch their favorite team—often in HD.

Network Yourself in the Big Ten

The Big Ten Network was launched just over 2 years ago as “a joint venture between subsidiaries of the Big Ten Conference and Fox Cable Networks,” and it’s allowed the Big Ten to gain significant control and leverage in terms of media distribution. Not only do they now have more control over their advertising revenue (they prohibit alcohol and gambling ads), but they also get to bring more attention to Women’s sports and sports other than basketball and football. As they put it:

Eleven schools, 252 varsity teams, one great network to cover it all. Welcome to the Big Ten Network, your ultimate source for Big Ten sports, featuring the games, passion and tradition of the nation’s foremost athletic conference.

Obviously the Big Ten is the first to make a move like this, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see more and more athletic conferences take more control over the moneymaker that is televised college sports. If you’d like to get on board and be part of the Big Ten Network as an intern, you need to check out their Careers page—or you can just skip ahead to the Fox job search function where the Big Ten Network’s jobs and internships are listed. If you select Big Ten Network as the company, you’ll see all of the internship openings that they have available. Right now they have opportunities that include Communications Intern, On-Campus Intern, Production Intern, Marketing Intern, and Programming Intern. There’s no word on whether any of these positions are paid or not. You can apply online for any of these internships, and you should keep your eye out for more postings from the Big Ten Network in the future.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your team?

NBC and Telemundo Chicago

Willy Franzen — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:55:56 +0000

I have to admit that I pretty much stopped watching local news after going to school and living in Central New York for four years. I swear that every night the news would come on at 11 PM, and there would be a new crew reporting live from a barn that caught on fire. Here in Chicago it’s more likely to be a shooting or possibly some government corruption. I’m sure that your area has its own regular story. Usually I like to talk about how the Internet is kicking traditional media’s butt, but that hasn’t been true when it comes to local stuff. TV and newspapers still own the local market, which is why NBC Chicago and Telemundo Chicago would be pretty cool places to intern. (Telemundo is a local network much like NBC 5 Chicago, but it’s tailored to a Spanish speaking audience.)They’re still the place to go for local news (whether it’s on the web or on the tube).

Intern Locally… If You’re in Chicago

I recently came across the Internships page for NBC Chicago and Telemundo Chicago and was impressed by how many opportunities they are offering. The only thing that bugged me is that they stick a bunch of legalese in the first few paragraphs instead of using the space to tell you how awesome the internship program is. I guess they want to make it painfully clear that their internships are unpaid and only for current students at accredited college. They’re also adamant about the fact that interns can’t do certain work because of union contracts.

With all that said, there are still a ton of cool opportunities including internships in: Advertising and Promotion (NBC and Telemundo), Station/Community Relations (NBC), Digital Sales, Consumer Unit (NBC), Health Unit (NBC), Investigative Unit (NBC), National Business Development (NBC), NBC Network News Midwest Bureau, News Assignment Desk (NBC or Telemundo), News Department (NBC or Telemundo), News Planning Unit (NBC or Telemundo), Sales Research and Marketing (NBC), Sports Department (NBC), Web Development Department (NBC), and NBCChicago.com Editorial Department (NBC). There are 4 internship sessions per year at NBC Chicago and Telemundo Chicago. There’s a PDF application form that you need to fill out and mail in, so check out the NBC Chicago and Telemundo Chicago Internships page for all of the details.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you watch the local news?

EatingWell Media Group

Willy Franzen — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:00:50 +0000

Although we don’t have a Veterans Day themed post for today, we hope that you’ll celebrate by thanking a Vet and possibly checking out our post from last year on internships at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Earlier this week we took a look at Seed Media Group, a relatively new company that is finding success in an otherwise declining industry by focusing on a specific niche. Another company that is taking a similar approach is EatingWell Media Group, which is based in Charlotte, VT (near Burlington). They are “a fast-growing, independent communications company producing an award-winning national consumer magazine, high-quality food and nutrition-related books, a content-rich website, e-mail newsletters, and serving content to strategic partners with other electronic media.” It’s all about healthy eating without sacrificing the enjoyment of food. Some people think that those two things are mutually exclusive, but EatingWell Media Group has built its business on delivering content that proves otherwise.

EatingWell, InterningWell

EatingWell has grown to reach millions of people through a variety of channels because they are very much a trusted source for health conscious people. The reason for this is that they have been able to combine science based nutrition with the artistry that is essential to creating delicious recipes. They’re a relatively small company, but they do appear to be a growing. A quick look at their Internships page shows that they are offering a number of positions for students. They have both an Editorial Internship Program and an Interactive Internship Program (this includes positions in E-Marketing, Web Development/Design, and Web Writing/Production). The positions are unpaid, but well fed, so check out the full postings for information on how to apply.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you eat well?

Pogo Pictures

Willy Franzen — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:01:27 +0000

You know you love tv commercials—at least good ones. Who doesn’t? They’re an art form. Just as much creative energy goes into the advertisements that pay for the shows you watch as goes into the actual shows. Well… not always, but often enough. How else are the advertisers going to keep you from ignoring their marketing messages? If you’ve ever wondered what the behind the scenes of creating television commercials looks like, you should check out Pogo Pictures. They’re “an Atlanta based film production company specializing in image branding & television commercial production.” They represent 4 award winning directors who have shot commercials for names like Bank of America, ACE Hardware, Ford, AT&T, Publix, Verizon, Kraft, Coke, Breyers, Comcast, Coca-Cola, SunTrust and Chevron. They’ve also worked with Departments of Tourism in many states and done commercials all across the world.

Bounce Your Way into an Internship

Chances are that you’ve seen quite a few commercials shot by Pogo Pictures, but you’d never know it because commercials don’t come with credits. I’d link to some of the work from Pogo’s directors—Angel Traverso, Steve Colby, Zach Freyer, and Ryan Smith—but the site is all in Flash, so we can’t link to it. You’ll just have to browse Pogo Pictures’ website yourself to get a full read on what they’re about. Anyway, someone from Pogo Pictures contacted me and told me about their internship program. They’re looking for someone ASAP, and I don’t believe they have this internship posted anywhere else. Here’s the rundown:

Pogo Pictures is looking for a motivated hardworking Fall intern to work with the company’s Office Coordinator, Executive Producer, and Director. The candidate should currently be an undergraduate or graduate student enrolled in the current and/or upcoming semester. The internship is unpaid and requires 15 to 20 hours per week. Candidates will have the opportunity to be on set for local productions. Interested students are encouraged to send a cover letter and resume to info@pogopictures.com.

Yeah, it’s unpaid, but it sounds like some pretty cool experience. Go get it!

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

PogoPictures.com

Do you love commercials?