Hello fellow Edsters!
I have officially completed the first week of my internship in the features department and feel like a thousand doors have been open. The first day was filled with a lot of butterflies, hellos, and questions, similar to the start of anything new. After pacing the street outside my office for a good 15 minutes before my start time, I worked up the courage to walk through the massive glass doors leading into the building. Intimidated by the beautiful publishing building and stylish ladies and gentleman going up the elevators, I held my cool and went up with them. After meeting one of my two bosses and another friendly intern, I was officially working at a magazine.
Although it shouldn’t surprise me, everyone I met was extremely nice and welcoming. All the editors I was introduced to seemed like great colleagues; they were willing to answer any questions I had and happy to teach me about the magazine world. After refocusing myself, I read through the intern packet given to me. At previous internships, I was never given a bible-like guide on how to be a superstar intern.
I spent a good amount of time reading through every page getting myself aquatinted with how to make copies, where editors sit, and everything in between. I will be responsible for two daily tasks. First off, the features interns help with social media. Twitter is my bread and butter, so this task quickly became one of my favorites. Additionally each morning a "gossip packet" goes around to a select number of editors. After a good 20-25 paper jams, I was able to befriend the copier and distribute the packets after a few wrong turns around the office.
While talking around the office I couldn’t help but slow down a little when passing the art director, creative director, and editor-in-chief, feeling completely star-stuck as a girl in love with magazines. I thought to myself how do I even get to have a conversation with them, or even their assistants? At that moment I challenged myself to try and have a conversation with one of the top editors before I leave this summer, whether it be by assignment or for a pitch.
For the rest of my week I got assigned a range of tasks including working on a book list (what’s better than peaking at upcoming autobiographies and novels?), mailing out past issues, and researching topics for the career section of the magazine. Needless to say, although I am still at war with the printer, I have loved and absorbed every minute at my internship so far. I have come to realize even more, even after a few days, that you have to take in every moment, email, and piece of information you’ve given when an opportunity like this arises.
But my personal assignment still exists: how do you work with one of the editors on top of the masthead? It’s a lofty task but I am up for the challenge. After all, I have all summer to accomplish it. Comment below with suggestions on how you’ve been successfully interacting with the editors whose section you love!
Out for now,
Edit Intern
No comments:
Post a Comment