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!