Week 9: Time Flies When You're having fun

     This week started out at a very fast pace. I was running around everywhere getting last minute items for meetings and photo shoots. I had received a text from my boss on Saturday asking me to check my work email over the weekend. She wanted me to run an errand to pick up some fabric for her before I came into work on Monday. That was an experience! The email said to get some fabric swatches cut and to bring them back to her. I asked the woman at the desk to cut some samples, she did that, however, she didn't label them for me before sticking them in a bag that I brought back to my boss. Not realizing she hadn't labelled them, I took the swatches to my boss, who then asked me to go back to the fabric store and get them to label the different fabrics. When I returned to the office, I spent the afternoon researching products to use on a future DIY story. After I left the office, I went back to the fabric store to pick up more fabric to bring to my boss on Tuesday.

     On Tuesday, my boss sent me on a trip to my new favorite place...the fabric store. This time, instead of grabbing swatches, I was getting 5 yards of the fabric that she had chosen out of all the swatches I had gotten for her. When I returned, I met with my boss regarding all of the items I had found so far for the Curb Appeal story and she chose the things that she wanted to feature in the magazine.  After lunch, I continued Monday's research for the DIY project. My last task of the day was to create a Google Doc for my Curb Appeal items that included the company, prices, website, item, and a contact for the company.

Sitting in our adirondack chair

     Luckily, I didn't have to go out in the heat any more for the rest of the week. In Wednesday, I began contacting companies for images and information regarding the items I had selected for Curb Appeal. My boss also send me a bunch of Dropbox pictures which I printed out and loaded onto our server. Later, another intern and I put together an adirondack chair for a future photo shoot. My last task of the day involved bringing props back over to the office from the studio in Hearst.


     On Thursday, I made my first paint sheet. This involves cutting out a paint swatch and writing the name and number of the paint that is needed for the item. I also contacted some more PR representatives for information for some of the items to be used in the DIY story. I also printed some more photos and loaded them onto our server. I continued working on my Curb Appeal story. I called around in different states getting price estimated for roofing so I could get an average price. I continued updating my Google Doc. I also continued looking for items that could possible be used.

     Friday was pretty busy as well. It mainly involved just working on Curb Appeal. I continued looking for items and contacting companies all day. I didn't realize how hard it is to get in contact with some people! I was excited when my boss brought me a cookie in the afternoon. It was the cutest cookie I've ever seen and looked like a front door.

     I am hoping next week that I will finish up with Curb Appeal. I'm very excited for next week because I will get to see a cover shoot for our October issue.
   

My front door cookie

   

Current Event 7

HGTV Magazine

     This article is about a new fashion magazine that is coming out. The focus of this fashion magazine is not supposed to just talk about what is "hot" or the next upcoming trends you should buy before everyone, but rather it is wanting to "create a space to inspire women to live the happy, healthy, integrated lives they want to lead." According to the article, 75% of women feel worse about themselves after reading the fashion magazines that have been on the stands so far. The magazine focuses on women empowerment and not on what their life is lacking. Although some magazines have articles here and there about women gaining control of their lives, this entire magazine will have stories about doing so.

     After my co-worker read the article, she didn't have much to say about it. There have been magazines before who have claimed to be "different"and end up going right along with the status quo and become like the rest of the magazines in their genre. If the magazine does in fact do what it says, then great, but the odds are against them. They may end up becoming a magazine strictly on feminism more so than fashion.

     When I asked her about the implications the article for our company, she informed me that this meant nothing for us. Because we are a house magazine and appeal to both sexes, there are no major implications for us.

     There really wasn't much of a difference between company-wide and industry wide implications. It's just another magazine coming on to the scene. Until it becomes a nationally recognized magazine, it doesn't have an effect on the industry. However, if it does become a widely read magazine, it will mean more competition for fashion magazines--if there wasn't enough already.


    As far as her opinion on the article, she feels that it's great that there is going to be a magazine empowering women, but it will probably focus more on feminism than fashion.

Hoffman, Gabriella(2013, July 12) New Fashion Magazine Encourages Women's Empowerment. Retreived July 12, 2013 from http://townhall.com/columnists/gabriellahoffman/2013/07/12/new-fashion-magazine-encourages-womens-empowerment-n1639162

Current Event 6

HGTV Magazine

     This article talks about a growing trend of having the same issue on newsstands with different covers. The practice of doing this helps capture more readers as well as combat digital media competition. It also helps increase ad revenue for the company who's advertisement is in the front cover. I was surprised to find how many magazines actually do this. It gives the company more opportunities to showcase their creativity, which everyone likes to take advantage of. Using more than just one photo also helps the magazine to get more out of their cover photo shoots.

     I talked to a few coworkers about the article and here is what I gathered:

     Our magazine does not produce multiple covers because we are still a relatively new company and the cost of having more than one photo shoot for the cover is too high. We would have to do multiple photo shoots because the furniture that is usually shown on our cover is either built for our use or a heavy-duty piece of furniture that requires the use of a third party to get it to and from the studio and our office. Our covers are always very bright and we have had no problem attracting readers thus far.

     As far as our industry goes, the use of multiple covers is raising competition between like magazines. Although the common quote is "don't judge a book by it's cover," the cover is what drives a good amount of impulse buys at the stores who are selling these magazines. It also is a way for these print magazines to stay as updated as the can with the digital magazines that undergo constant change. More and more magazines are jumping on the bandwagon of multiple covers and it will only continue to increase.

     Everyone agreed that this concept is a good thing. It keeps every magazine on their toes and also will heighten competition. It also makes magazines racks more fun and keeps it from looking the same each week and just collecting dust.

Elliott, Stuart (June 23, 2013) A Multiplicity of Magazine Covers, and Just as many reasons, Retreived on July 3, 2013, from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/24/business/media/a-multiplicity-of-magazine-covers-and-just-as-many-reasons.html?_r=1&

Current Event 5

     HGTV Magazine

     Similar to some of my other current events, this article focuses on the digital age and what it means for the future of magazines. In this article it talks about how the digital articles provide more of reader-writer interaction in the sense that the reader can click a link and automatically be connected with the writer of the article. The trouble in this story is that the digital version is made specifically for an iPad or tablet, which makes it difficult for readers wanting to see it but don't own a tablet. They say that it will still have similar advertisements to the print versions. I feel like most of the current event articles being written about our industry have something to do with the evolving technology.
     I asked my co worker what she thought of all of this. She said that she definitely thinks this is a major topic in our industry and it should be. We are at a crossroads in our industry where companies will have to choose to stick with print or change it up with the times and start going digital. Digital will bring the same if not more benefits as print magazines and ads.
      When I asked her what this meant for our company, she responded with," For our company, we will probably not go digital for some time.We are a new magazine, yet are pretty set in our ways. We will stick to print magazines for as long as our numbers keep climbing up. If we see a major decrease, then maybe we will decide to go a different route,but I don't see that happening anytime soon."
     When I asked her what it meant for our industry, she told me," Our industry has a whole is definitely being effected by this. However, it depends on the target customer of each magazine. The younger reader based companies, will need to consider switching to digital, more so than a company with an older reader base. Digital is the future of our industry, it's just a matter of how quickly companies jump on the bandwagon."

Prewitt, Taylor (2013, July 1) Citygram Magazine emphasizes reader, writer interaction. Retrieved on July 1, 2013 from: http://www.dailytexanonline.com/life-and-arts/2013/07/01/citygram-magazine-emphasizes-reader-writer-interaction

Current Event 4

     HGTV Magazine

     My current event this week revolves around how technology is changing the role of magazines and advertising. I feel like the evolving technology is changing not only the magazine industry, but most other industries as well. What this article is saying is that print magazines are going to have even more competition with the new digital magazines and articles. In today's society, younger readers are more attracted to these digital copies and the print magazines are for an "older" audience. Although the digital world is becoming more widely used and popular, it seems that more revenue will still come from the "old school" print magazines.
     In talking to my coworkers, none of this has had an effect on our company as of yet, and we aren't too worried about what will happen in our future. We have been gaining readers and don't have a digital copy, so there is no need for us to change anything. As far as the industry goes, it will call for a few changes here and there and many companies will offer both digital and print subscriptions.
     Everyone's opinions on the matter seemed to all be somewhat the same. Everyone feels like this is starting a whole new revolution for the magazine industry, but that it will be a while before everyone converts to digital. Either way, as long as the reader is the main focus, a company will be successful.

Wood, Samantha (2013, July 1) The Changing Role of Magazines from Product to Service. Retreived on July 1, 2013 from:
http://www.minonline.com/news/The-Changing-Role-of-Magazines-from-Product-to-Service_22713.html

Current Event 3

HGTV Magazine    

     This article is about how at the National Magazine Awards, not a single women's magazine has been nominated for profile writing in over a decade. This just goes to show that society does not take women's magazines as seriously as they do magazine's directed at men. Many people think that women's magazines are directed towards unimportant topics such as hair and makeup. However, there is actually a good amount of intellectual stories in these magazines. Women's magazines deserve more respect and recognition.
     When I asked my coworker what this meant for our company, she told me that this really doesn't have anything to do with our company specifically. Both sexes read our magazine, so we don't see much prejudice towards our writing. However, on the industry as a whole, this does cause a problem and much resentment between magazines mainly directed at women and those directed at men. It almost is like a dividing line as been drawn between "real" journalism (being the men's magazines) and magazines with articles seen as being written almost as a hobby (these being the women's magazines.) Although women's magazines may not always be covering the same topics as men's, it doesn't make them any less important.
     I then asked her what her opinion was on it, and she told me she felt it was offensive. She took great offense to the fact that if she wanted to write an intellectual article for a women's magazine that it would not be taken seriously by a man, even if it was essentially the same article seen in a GQ. She feels like women's journalism should be given credit for their articles.

Beaujon, Andrew (2013, June 17) Why don't women's magazines earn more National Magazine Awards? Retreived on June 24, 2013 from:http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/216208/why-dont-womens-magazines-earn-more-national-magazine-awards/

Week 8: Feeling Rejuvenated

     This week flew by. It probably helped that it was another short week. Every summer, Hearst has "Summer Fridays", where they are given a Friday off here and there throughout the summer. This Friday was our first one, so I was given another long weekend. After having a vacation and then a two day work week, I was feeling like a whole new girl and ready for whatever tasks I was given.

The boxes of props from last
week's photo shoot

     On Monday, I downloaded and printed pictures from a DropBox file that my boss had emailed to me. I also added some more pictures to our server. The pictures I added to the server files were then printed out and I made a concept board for an upcoming story. I made 4 boards on Monday, it was exhausting! In the afternoon, I went over to Hearst and packaged all of the items used in last week's photo shoot back up so that we could return everything to the stores which they came from. My last assignment of the day was to find products on houses we had chosen for Curb Appeal that we could point out in the story. I always assumed that the magazine just asked the homeowner's where everything camefrom, but I learned that it is not that simple. I had to find products offered by different stores so that we could tell the reader where they could buy the particular item that they like.

Washington Park

     Tuesday involved even more printing. My favorite pictures I printed were of a family and before and after shots of their house. It didn't look like the same house! I also felt like I connected with the story of the house by seeing the family that lives there. I continued looking up products for Curb Appeal. I also ran two errands: I went to the Container Store and then to Home Depot to buy products for a DIY project.
     Wednesday wasn't much different from the previous two days. I continued to print pictures, add them to our server, and also continued searching fro Curb Appeal products. I also started to make a board of all the products I found so far for Curb Appeal.
     I started Thursday off with a meeting with my boss. She wanted to see what all I had found so far for the Curb Appeal story. She liked most of it but wanted more options, so I went back to my office and continued to look for more products. I also began to contact the PR Reps for some of the companies who had the products I found. My parents arrived on Thursday as well. They came up since I had Friday off so that they could visit and see my place up here. They had a wonderful time and it was hard to say goodbye. I'm hoping next week involves less sitting at my computer!!

My Sister and me on the subway

Week 7: Over the half-way mark

Pillows I had to carry from West Elm...heavier
than expected!

     I flew back in on Monday and was supposed to work a half day, but my flight was delayed for 3 hours and prevented me from doing so. It was hard to come back after being at the beach for a few days. I worked Tuesday and Wednesday this week, but we were given Thursday and Friday off to celebrate the holiday. Tuesday and Wednesday were slammed with work. On Tuesday, I took some props over to the studio in Hearst for a shoot for the October issue. It amazes me how early they do photo shoots for each issue. I also went to Party City to pick up some extra things for the photo shoot. Afterwards,I went to a Duane Reade because one of our other shoots needed a bottle of window cleaner. Tuesday afternoon consisted of putting more pictures of houses into our server on the computer and renamed them with their proper addresses. For the remainder of the afternoon, I researched more props for an upcoming kitchen story.


   

Macy's Fireworks

 Wednesday was my favorite day because I spent the entire day on set at the photo shoot. Although I didn't get to help style the set, I helped bring props to and from the back room for photos and I steamed things so they wouldn't look wrinkled. For the most part, I was able to sit in and see exactly what our stylist was doing and she let me ask her questions if I had any. I really enjoyed learning and seeing exactly how and why they take certain photos for the magazines. I also was treated to lunch in Hearst. The shoot took up the entire day and I even stayed a few minutes later than usual to help clean up. This was definitely my favorite day so far in my internship. I liked it so much more than sitting at my desk researching. I'm learning more and more each day and our stylist has told me that I can help out on another shoot soon.

        I also want to add that the 4th of July in NYC has the most amazing fireworks I have ever seen. Macy's puts them on and it is just an absolutely amazing sight. Most people go to the park near the Hudson river to view them being shot off by the barges, but I joined some friends and watched them from a rooftop. I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to be here for the summer and especially to experience a holiday here. 

The Statue of Liberty reopened on
the 4th of July

Week 6: Live a little, Have some fun...

Bookshelves before 

Bookshelves after

     I only worked two days this week because I was given some time off for my family vacation to Destin, FL.  The two days I were there were relatively slow and there wasn't much for me to do. So, I spent most of my time reorganizing our intern room. It's a closet really. There are bookshelves against the wall, that make the room feel even smaller. It often feels really disorganized in this room because there are 6 interns and often times, multiple concept boards are being made at one time in this room and some of the staff places photo shoot props in there for storage. My friend Val and I pushed all of the bookshelves together and reorganized them and the room instantly felt bigger. The office knows me now for being organized. Prior to this week, I had made a calendar, a seating chart of the staff so we know where to go when asked to go by some one's desk, and also a sheet of our cell phone numbers. Everyone has seemed to appreciate it all. I flew out Wednesday to meet my family for our vacation. It was nice to have a few days away from the city. I was able to just relax on the beach and fall asleep to the sound of the waves.


   




      I can't believe I'm already half way through my internship.  I'm really gaining a deeper knowledge of the industry as a whole as well as the way our company works. I still feel like there's so much left for me to learn though. I've also learned some things about myself while working here. I've learned that I have much better organizational skills and communication skills than I thought prior to my internship. I always felt like I've been a good communicator, but dealing with angry readers as well as different personalities from a completely different culture than I have been raised in has really helped me to grow as a person and communicator. I feel like my greatest abilities lie in researching and organizing items for future stories. I've really enjoyed doing so. I would like to spend more time on photo shoots, so that I may improve my knowledge and abilities of photo styling. So far the photo shoot has been my best experience. My worst experience has been taking props across town to a photo shoot and having more than I could carry and almost dropping everything. The biggest lesson I have learned is that far more goes into each page of a magazine than an average reader would ever imagine.

Cell numbers, Calendar,and Seating Chart that I made for the interns

Week 5: Busy Bee

     This past week consisted of a full work load. On Monday, I made another concept board for my boss, so she could see the possible houses to choose from for an upcoming story. I also spent a great amount of time researching wallpapers. This was much harder than it sounds. I had to find a specific design, size, price range, and color that my boss had specified. It also couldn't come from a wholesale company, which made it more difficult. But I was able to come up with a few options for her to choose from. I also made another binder for her filled with "Kitchen Chronicles" articles from all of the issues. I know it sounds like I didn't do too much, but these tasks took up my entire day!

I just had to take a picture of this!

     On Tuesday, I spent some time on Spoonflower in the morning to research some patterns to be featured in an upcoming story. I love getting to look on that website, because there are so many unique patterns on the site and no two look the same. I also put pictures into the computer for future "Curb Appeal" stories. I once again made another binder for my boss. This one consisted of "Curb Appeal"stories from each issue. My last task of the day was to look at the pictures of the houses we found in New Jersey and make a list of things that caught my attention that they could point out when they write the story. I was excited to do this, because I can say that "I helped with that" when the story is finally featured in an issue.

     On Wednesday, I was asked to spend more time on the Spoonflower website. This time, instead of looking for patterns, I looked for wallpapers again. I also loaded more pictures onto our server. I also looked on Pinterest for some different things as well.

      On Thursday,  I added address, names, and contact information to pictures of the houses that were possibilities for "Curb Appeal" locations. This information is provided to us by the homeowners. When we went to their houses, we dropped off a packet which basically stated that if they would like their house to be considered for being featured in the magazine, to contact us.  I also had to type out the notes I had written earlier in the week for items that caught my eye on the houses. My boss was out for a photo shoot in Savannah, and since it's my hometown, she asked me to make dinner reservations for her, so I did that. Lastly, I went to a store called Halloween Adventure to buy some hats for an upcoming story. There were so many hats to choose from and I just wanted to try them all on. I somehow managed to stay focused though, and was able to find exactly what was needed.

My dock

     I flew home Thursday night and on Friday, went to the photo shoot in Savannah. It was really interesting seeing how everything was done and how the process works. Later in the day, I had the crew over on my dock for lunch. My boss let me have the afternoon off so that I could enjoy being home with my family. It was nice being home, even if it was only for two days.

     As far as our magazine goes, we don't sell products to the readers. However, we do provide the information of the company/manufacturer and price of the items featured in the magazine. In ever issue, we also have some "freebies" that are given to readers who enter their names into the sweepstakes for them. I have really been learning a great amount about how the magazine is put together and the time that goes into every page of every issue. My favorite thing so far was definitely the photo shoot. I really enjoy seeing the steps that go into the stories and being their and getting a hands-on experience has been wonderful. My favorite section of the magazine is "Don't Buy It, DIY It" because I love getting to see the cute things they make and get ideas for things to make for my apartment. I'm looking forward to next week because I get to go on a vacation for half of the week!

Example of how we show our readers where
to buy items used in the magazine 

Week 4: In A New York State of Mind

   

Riverside Park

     This week's title says it all, I'm in a New York "state of mind." I can't say that I'm feeling like a New Yorker, seeing how every time I open my mouth, I am responded to with," Where are you from?" I've mastered the subway system and starting to finally live a faster-paced lifestyle, but I don't think I'll ever be able to say "I feel like a New Yorker."

   My boss was out of town for a shoot all week, so she left me with some week-long projects to do for her. On Monday, I worked on another concept board for "Curb Appeal" from the scouting we had done last week. I also had to gather all of the fabric swatches they had considered for last month's cover and group them by brand. This took up most of my afternoon. I never realized they picked from so many different fabrics!

  On Tuesday, the HGTV Magazine staff had a team building workshop off site and unfortunately the interns could not go. So, I had Tuesday off. I woke up early that day and went to see Good Morning America in Times Square. It was really fun, but I was surprised to find that not all of their interviews with celebrities inside of the studio are live, so I was somewhat disappointed. It was still exciting to get to go though. Later that day, I received an email that Macy's was having a sale, so naturally I headed to Herald Square and did some serious shopping in the overwhelmingly-huge Macy's. I ended up with some good finds, my favorite being a DVF travel bag for $50!

    It was back to work on Wednesday. I arrived to an email from my boss with more tasks for me to do. I was glad to get the email, because I was almost done with my other projects. I added contact information to the pictures from our scouting trip last week. It was exciting to me seeing how many responses we received from homeowners wanting their house to be considered for the magazine. All of the houses were so cute! I also continued sorting the fabrics that I had started with on Monday. Later on, I looked up where each of the showrooms were that the fabrics had come from, so that I could help with the returns.

Doorway of D & D Building

     On Thursday, I was out running errands just about all day long. I loaded myself down with 8 bags and 10 envelopes full of fabric to take back to the showrooms. All of the showrooms were located in a building named the Decoration and Design Building. I really enjoyed getting to see the inside of this building. Every floor had multiple show rooms and there were 18 floors...the building was huge! It was also fun seeing the insides of the showrooms and seeing all of the beautiful fabrics they offered. I also enjoyed just getting to meet some of the people who ran the showrooms.

     Friday consisted of running more errands. This time, I had to ride south down to Washington Square. There, I went to a a candy store call Economy Candy. There was more candy in there than the candy store in the original Charlie and the chocolate factory. It was so tempting to not buy myself some fudge! The walls were covered from floor to ceiling with every candy you can think of. It took me a while to find what the stylist was looking for, but finally found some and she seemed pleased with the purchase.

Entrance of our office

     Every morning, I am greeted with two large poster of previous covers along with a comfy royal blue couch and lime green chest used as a magazine table. I feel like this set up is very welcoming and automatically gives you a sense of the bright colors that the magazine enjoy uses. I also like that two previous covers enlarged into poster size so that you can see the creativity of each issue. On each issue, they uses different sizes, colors, and fonts to get the reader's attention and the colors of the lettering all coordinate with the colors used on the furniture on the cover. The only thing I would change about these is that I would use words that attract younger readers. The biggest problem that I have had so far involve the customers. When the customers aren't pleased or have questions about the magazine, their call comes straight to my phone. It has been hard when there is an angry reader on the other end and you have to just let them yell at you, but I just try to stay calm and say "yes ma'am" and "no sir" when appropriate until they are done with their rant. It is also difficult when a reader calls me with a question that is too vague or that I would have no idea what the answer is. .The way I have handled this is by using a confident tone with them and asking my supervisors the best way to go about answering them. The funniest thing that has happened to me this past week is getting a voicemail from an older male reader ranting about a story that wasn't even in our magazine.
I hope that next week won't bring as many angry phone calls!

Week 2: Current Event

HGTV Magazine

     According to the Huffington Post, there have been recent posts on the internet revealing a bias against women's magazines. These magazines have been said to be lacking "serious journalism." This Huffington Post article reveals that this is not true. The article talks about how women's magazines are seen in a lesser light than magazines printed mainly for men. This just goes to show that it is still a man's world and that women are still having to work twice as hard to prove they are equal to men. This fight for women's magazines to gain equal recognition is not over and will continue to go on until they feel like this battle has been successful. The link also provides a video of Bonnie Fuller, Editor in Chief of HollywoodLife.com, in which she states her frustration about not getting the recognition she feels women's magazines deserve.

     After reading this article, I found it fitting to ask one of my coworkers, who previously worked at InStyle magazine, her opinion on this issue. Here were the main parts of our conversation:

 "What do you think the implications of this article are on our company and our industry?"
       
     "It sort of degrades/berates magazines as a whole. Why is it that a magazine that is about women is not taken as seriously as a magazine that is about men? Cosmo and GQ are equally raunchy, yet GQ is better known for their high quality journalism and Cosmo is well known about sex. Industry wide, it doesn't seem to matter if Glamour gets the first interview with President Obama because it's primarily a women's magazine, and seeing how women make up a powerful demographic that both purchases and reads magazines, it's almost as if they are saying they're not smart enough to read such high quality writing, even though its out there."

"What is your personal take on these biases against women's magazines?"

     "I think it's kind of awful. I've read some amazing pieces in Marie Claire and Oprah, yet they don't get the same attention as they would in something like Esquire or Vanity Fair. There is amazing writing in women's magazines and it is such a shame that it is overlooked because the main focus here is more or less fashion and beauty. It's ridiculous."

"Do you feel like these biases have a greater effect on HGTV Magazine or InStyle Magazine?"

     "This, to some extent, really has no effect either on HGTV or InStyle because neither of them have long-form journalism or even stories that would hint at changing the world...no offense."

"How do you feel women's magazines can combat what males think of them?"

     " I think a lot of change would come from rebranding. If they make a push to say well here's this amazing article about how rape kits go unchecked and here's the impact it had that would make people sit up and listen. But it's not going to happen.To rebrand would be financial suicide when they are marketing how awesome these pairs of pants are or something of the like. Women's magazines would have to make their stories a priority and push them as opposed to '40 Ways to Please Him in Bed' in order for the rest of the magazine world to care."

As you can see, this was a great talk and very eye-opening for me. I think it's said that these magazines produce great article but because they are n a women's magazine, it is not taken as seriously.

Schuster, A (2013, June 24) Bonnie Fuller on Women's Magazine Bias: Female Editors-in -Chiefs Have 'Thrown Up Their Hands' Retrieved June 25, 2013 from:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/24/bonnie-fuller-womens-magazine-bias_n_3492433.html?utm_hp_ref=media

Week 3: Getting Down to Business

Museum of Natural History

     After another great weekend in NYC, I was excited to see what this week had in store for me. It is safe to say I was quite the "busy bee" this week.

     Monday, I spent the day printing hundreds of pictures. I printed off potential patterns off of Spoonflower. I also printed off numerous pillows, paintings and mirrors for an upcoming photo shoot of a house. They needed to replace a few things in the house to help enhance it's look for the magazine. I enjoyed finding the new home decor, but it was very tempting to start browsing the rest of the websites for personal decorations.

     Tuesday was my favorite day of the week. My boss invited me to go with her to New Jersey for the day to scout houses for an upcoming story in the "Curb Appeal" section of the magazine. It was so neat to really see what they look for in finding the right houses for each story. I always thought they they picked a house and then did an outdoor makeover on the front, but that is not the case. The houses they choose could be shot the same day that they are chosen. They already have cute decorations or great landscaping and that's what attracts HGTV Magazine to choose the house for the magazine. It was a great day to learn more about the magazine as well as have some 1 on 1 time with my boss. During our trip, we even came across a street with a stunning view of the skyline. She was even sweet enough to pay for my meals. She also let me have some input as to whether or not certain houses would be good for the magazine. I really appreciated her letting me do so because it made me feel like my opinions were valued and important.

View of Skyline from New Jersey

     On Wednesday, I ran more errands around town finding items for the Supermarket Snoop story again. They had the photo shoot for it and were unhappy with the results, so I had to go out and buy everything again. You'd be surprised how hard it is to find certain grocery items in New York! Once I finally finished running around the city like a chicken with my head cut off, I started making a binder full of stories for my boss. My boss wanted a binder full of each "Mission Makeover" story the magazine had ever done. I had to photocopy each page and then put them in sheet protectors and put them on the same side they were on the magazine, so when she was looking through it, it was like she was looking at the actual magazine. For example if the story started on the left side of the magazine with the second page on the right to make a full spread, that's how I had to place them in the binder. Although it was time consuming, I didn't mind because I enjoy organizational tasks like that.  Also, Wednesday night, Hearst paid for all of their interns to go to a pre-screening of "The Internship" with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson. They also gave us popcorn, soda, and a free t-shirt. Rumor has it Vince Vaughn was there, but I never saw him. Even though I was crushed he wasn't there, I still had so much fun with my friends from work.

HGTV Magazine Interns at "The Internship"

     Thursday was a long day. It started with me printing out all of the pictures we had taken on our scouting trip Tuesday. Once all of them were printed off, I had to make a concept board with them. Once I finished the board, I finished the "Mission Makeover" binder that I had started the day before. I gave her that binder and then started on another for the "Kitchen Chronicles" section of the magazine. However, I didn't finish that binder that day, because I had to start mailing out complimentary issues to people who had contributed to the July/ August issue. What that entails is labeling envelopes and stuffing those envelopes with a business card, thank you note, and magazine. Although it wasn't terrible, doing 100+ got a bit tiring.


     Friday was slower than the rest of the week and allowed me to take a "breather". I finished the "Kitchen Chronicles" binder. I also had to address some more envelopes. I helped organize the prop room. I also helped another intern from a different department with research items to use in an upcoming story. The afternoon was somewhat "dead". Fridays are usually slow days around here though. However, I did have something to look forward to! My boss took me to dinner Friday night with a former intern, Mimi, who went to LSU and now works for Traditional Homes Magazine.  We went to a French brasserie, it was delicious. Once again, she was sweet enough to pay for my meal. She has taken such good care of me up here. We also went out for ice cream afterwards at a New York favorite, Big Gay Ice Cream. It was hands down the best ice cream I've had!

     I've really been enjoying learning about the magazine industry and about HGTV Magazine in particular. I was surprised to find that the average age of our reader was 49. However, my boss explained to me that 49 is actually considered young in the magazine industry. I had thought that our average age would be around 35 based on what our magazine features. Because our magazine is so new (first issue was October/November 2011), much of our readers are fans of the network and started to read the magazine because of their loyalty to the brand. I feel like if HGTV Magazine was available in more stores, it would help attract younger readers.

     Even though this week was my busiest, I hope that it will continue throughout the summer. Being busy makes the time go by much faster than sitting around doing nothing. I worked very hard throughout the week, but was able to get some good laughs at the movie on Wednesday. It's good to work hard, but it's also good to just have fun sometimes. I can't wait for what's ahead of me!

Week 2: Settling In

      We were given Monday off to honor Memorial Day. This gave me another day to roam the streets of the city. I spent most of my time at the Rockefeller Center and Times Square. It was a beautiful, sunny day, so I didn't bother taking the subway anywhere. I just wanted to walk everywhere and take it all in.

American flags for Memorial Day in Rockefeller Plaza

     Although I enjoyed the long weekend, I was excited to get back to the office and see what was in store for me this week. I was excited for another intern to start this week as well.  When I got to the office, I was put right to work. I learned how to find information for PR representatives of a companies. These are the people we contact when trying to have certain items sent to our office to be displayed in the magazine. For this task,  we contacted the PR representatives or manufacturers of the items that had been put on last week's concept board. I never realized how hard it could be to get in touch with some people. It sometimes felt like I was trying to do the impossible. However, the task managed to be completed and everything came in just as we had asked. This task also made me realize how particular the magazine is when requesting items. They specifically ask for certain brands of each product so that it will work just right for the story. I also attended my first "Production Meeting". This is when the entire staff (writers, stylists, and designers) all come together and just let each other know where they are at. We find out what each person is working on, is done with, or still has left to do to prepare for the upcoming issue. I thought it was really neat that our editor was there. Apparently, this isn't common with some magazines, but our editor is very involved in everyday life here at the office.

     Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday all had a task in common: research. I never realized how much research goes into finding the perfect product to go in each story.  After this past week, I now have a great appreciation for each item seen in a magazine. One of the most challenging things for me in this was having to stay away from items on Etsy. It always seemed like the cutest items were found on that website, so I had to really search hard to find things on other sites. Even more difficult was finding exactly what the stylists wanted. You have to look at the price to make sure it is affordable, the color to make sure it will photograph well with the other props, the texture to make sure it photographs well in general, and also make sure it's the dimensions that they have asked for. Although at times I felt like this was just an annoying, tedious task, it also made me excited to know that items from MY research would be featured in an upcoming issue.

My Desk 

This is a page with different products on it to show the ultimate outcomes of product research

Checking boxes

   

     Also, on Wednesday I helped organize a book shelf as well as their Magazine library which consists of every issue they have here at HGTV. Later on, I opened boxes containing props for next issue's cover to make sure nothing was broken. The company that usually has broken items is Anthropologie because their items are so delicate.  At lunch on Wednesday, I met and ate with two interns from Harper's Bazaar and really enjoyed comparing the two internships.

Bookshelf I organized

     On Thursday, I organized another bookshelf. I also took all of those boxes into our room for all of our cover items. Once again, we ate with the Harper's interns. I'm really enjoying getting to know girls from other magazines. It's fun to see the different personalities of girls at other magazines.

     Friday was a little busier than the rest of the week. I finally was able to run errands! First, I went to my neck of the woods in the Upper West Side to get an item for our "Supermarket Snoop" story. Then I had to load myself down with all the props for that afternoon's photo shoot and went south to Chelsea to drop all of them off. That was my second cab experience and it wasn't any better than my first. I continued to unpack and repack boxes full of props for the cover shoot. The best part of the day was having a coworker bring me Jamba Juice and getting a free candy bar.

      So far, I have really enjoyed work here at HGTV Magazine. I love their use of bright, vivid colors and am really glad that the love of these colors is shown in the office. Everyone is always wearing fun and bright outfits. The laid back and relaxed style of the magazine is also reflected here in the workplace as well. I feel like I fit right into this company's culture and they have made me feel so welcomed here. I'm enjoying seeing what all goes into each issue of the magazine. It really is much more researched than an average reader would think. I have a whole new appreciation for magazines now that I am getting a "behind-the-scenes" look at everything. I have really enjoyed getting to know everyone in the office a little bit better this week and can only hope I make even stronger relationships with them throughout the summer.

     I am still getting used to the fast paced lifestyle up here. Living in a hotel alone all summer isn't exactly ideal, but I'm getting used to it. I have had to change rooms a few times due to "crowding" so I'm still trying to get completely settled in. I'm still getting used to falling asleep as well as waking up to loud noises such as yelling and car horns, but all in all, I am enjoying my time here. It has been quite a transition, but I wouldn't trade one minute of this experience for anything else in the world.

This is made of Lego pieces at the Rockefeller Center

Week 1: Current Event

HGTV Magazine

     According to a recent article in Ad Age, magazine publishers are starting to "feel the love" from advertisers for their iPad editions of their publications. Many advertising agencies are starting to opt in for this more expensive means of advertising because there is room for great potential growth. The number of people owning tablets as doubled in this past year. However, the downside for advertisers is that paying for ads in both print and iPad. According to the article, the iPad advertisements are producing larger revenue than the print ads. 

     I spoke to a co-worker about her opinion of this article and here is what I've gathered:

     When asked about the implications of this article on our company, she responded, "It sounds like our company is most likely making a small profit from the increase in ad sales. It's a rough market for magazines so any growth-small or big- especially in terms of the digital platform is a step in the right direction. It's a sign that the ever evolving world of magazines is still gaining in terms of digital."

     When asked about the implications of this article on our industry as a whole, she told me the following: "The boost in ad sales has a greater ramification industry-wise than it does company wise. While the gains company-wise are small, industry wise it's a sign that digital is a viable platform for magazines to go on to, and is most likely their best means for sustainability long term wise. Realistically, it doesn't cost a lot of money to 'print' a magazine on the iPad as compared to printing physical copies. Plus, iPad ads can be linked back to their websites so that f the reader sees something they like, they can go directly to the website, which ups reader engagement as a whole. It's an important connection and the fact that it's growing is only going to spur magazines further into the digital world."

     My final question to her was asking her about her personal opinion on this information from the article. She said," I think it's good that they'll be making gains somewhere because it means that there is more likelihood that magazines will survive, even f they will survive in a different form. It means I have a potential job in the future."

Sebastian, M. (2013, June 24) Magazine's iPad Editions See 24% Ad Boost in Q1. Retrieved on June 24, 2013 from http://adage.com/article/media/magazines-ipad-editions-24-ad-boost-q1/242787/ 

Week 1: And so it begins...

     I had my bags packed and ready to go for a morning flight on Monday, May 20. My excitement was like that of a child on Christmas morning. I caught my 9:30 flight and was on my way to the Big Apple. This Savannah girl was one step closer to becoming a city girl. I was fully convinced that I was quickly going to be swept into the "luxurious" lifestyle that I knew ALL the New Yorkers had.

Me in the Savannah Airport

      However, that opinion of New York was short lived. As soon as I stepped out of the La Guardia Airport into the hustle and bustle of the taxi line, I knew that I had it all wrong and that this was going to be a HUGE lifestyle change. I was finally able to get in a cab and I can honestly say that ride threw me around more than any roller coaster I have ever been on. I felt a sense of relief when he finally pulled to the curb to let me out at my hotel. My hotel was smaller than I had expected, but it was cheap, so I'm not complaining. It's location is on 94th street n the Upper West Side, and when you stick your head out the window, you get a lovely view of the Hudson River...that is, if you're lucky enough to have a street view room. The neighborhood is relatively quiet and Riverside Park is one block to my left and the subway is one block to my right, so I've got everything I need within walking distance.

My hotel: Hotel Alexander

     I had Tuesday, May 21, as a personal day to find my way around the city. I enjoyed going to Times Square and seeing the bright lights and enjoyed a stroll through Central Park. Of course, every good day doesn't go without its slip-ups. I was attempting a trial run from my hotel to work on the subway. However, being my first time riding the subway, I had no idea that trains go in two directions, I just assumed they had different names for each one. So, my fifteen minute commute to midtown Manhattan turned into a 3 hour subway ride to Coney Island in Brooklyn. I'm trying to just block that experience out of my memory. However, I did finally make my way to finding my office.

     

     On Wednesday, May 22, it was my big day. My internship officially started at HGTV Magazine. My position title is "Home Intern". I work for the Home Editor, Jen Berno. I had so many emotions built up inside I didn't know what to do with myself! I freaked out about my outfit, hoped they would like me, was worried about the other interns, and just prayed I wouldn't get lost again. However, as soon as I arrived, those nerves went out the window. I felt like I was right where I belonged. Everyone welcomed me and made me feel like they were just so excited I was there. With the magazine being a Hearst Magazine, I assumed I would be working in the Hearst Tower. However, I was surprised to find that our office is behind the Tower in a building called The Sheffield and our studio is located in the Hearst building.

Hearst Tower

The Sheffield

          My first day flew by. I didn't realize that I would be the first intern to start, but it was nice being here alone for a day. I learned a great deal of how things work around the office and how to answer the phones, send messengers for props, fill out UPS forms, mail complimentary issues to people/companies that contributed, and was able to help make a concept board for an upcoming story.

My first concept board of the summer

     Thursday flew by as well. I didn't do too much more than I did on my first day. I mainly just helped out my boss' assistant organize some old issues and stories for my boss. Another intern, Val, started and so we were able to get to know each other a little bit. One really exciting thing that happened was that one of my co-workers invited me to go to the opening of the E.L.F. Makeup grand opening of their store. There was a guest list and so I felt like a total New York VIP!

My friend and I at a Grand Opening Party

   We had a half day on Friday in honor of Memorial Day weekend. We had a staff meeting that morning with bagels and played a game called "High-Low". During this game we went around and said what our high was for the week and our low point of the week. I enjoyed it because I felt like in some way I felt I was on a more personal level with everyone. The day went by quickly as well. I hope next week, they will have more work for me to do. I know I'm completely capable to do as much as they can give me to do. I spent the rest of my afternoon walking along 5th Avenue and Madison Avenue. New York is completely overwhelming but I'm looking forward to what the rest of this summer has in store for me!