Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Busy, Busy Bee

I hate re-apologizing for not posting as regularly as I have in the past, but as many of you can attest, being an intern is really fun, but also really exhausting. Don’t get me wrong – I’m having a fabulous time working at my magazine, but having fun doesn’t make the hours any shorter, contrary to popular belief.

Today was an interesting combination of occurrences that made me feel like a real part of the team at my magazine, and that definitely reminded me that I’m just a lowly intern. Our editor in chief’s assistant is out on sick leave, so all of the work that she normally handles has been assigned to me. This includes, but by no means is limited to, sorting mail, calling to confirm dinners and appointments, sifting through wire photos to have images to run with stories. But I also get to do really cool stuff like write some of the stories I pull art for, and live-Tweeting fun fashion industry events.

So far I’ve been working on a short piece for the magazine that has required me to do several interviews with public relations people all over the country. It’s just a small informational piece, so I’ve been calling around trying to get dates, times, locations and notable facts from people.

I’ve been working on this small story since last week, and I had most of it ready on Friday (it was due on Monday). One woman, however, refused to answer my emails and phone calls. I talked with her associates and assistants in both of her offices (one in LA, the other here in New York). It was an exercise in self control not to scream at her when she finally got back to me late this afternoon.

But other than waiting on one infuriating person for days on end, I’m learning a lot, and the experience is totally worth having to call that poor woman’s assistant about 40 times in a week.

Just a tip: I’m learning that Twitter is a huge part of many major companies’ marketing strategy. Some will even let their followers know when they’re having sales or special promotions.

What companies do you follow on Twitter?

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