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