Orientation!

Who knew after that disaster of a time FSU calls orientation I'd ever have to go to an orientation again. This one was a lot more exciting and didn't end in tears, though!

All we did today was set up our computers with the wireless printers, get our email passwords, and find out who and what we'll be assigned to but it was still so thrilling.

The five other girls I'll be interning along side all seem really nice, which is a refreshing surprise compared to some of the people I've met thus far in the PR program. Mary Beth and I knew each other already from PR (thankfully one of the sweeter girls in our class) but I imagine I'm going to get along wonderfully with the rest of the girls, none of whom are from the PR major, but in some way doing communications.

Now the exciting info! I've been assigned to work with Autumn Mayfield, the founder of The Mayfield Group, and I will be working on the DoubleTree Pittsburgh Green Tree and August Winston Holdings accounts. Though I only got to meet her briefly, Autumn seems very nice and I'm very excited to learn everything I can with her. As far as the accounts go, I was assigned some background reading on both of them, and they seem very interesting.

At first I was hesitant about being assigned to AWH. They are a new client for the Group but are not a "normal" type of client. AWH is a joint venture between August Group Ventures and Winston Harton Holdings that offers an "experienced institutional investment and management platform with dedicated capital." Do you know what that means? Because I don't. Haha. I'm only partially joking, as after reading through the materials I was given I have a bit more of a background. But it is still going to be very interesting learning about what it is they do and how we can best help them as their PR agency. So even though at first I felt a little let down that they're not actually a hotel to represent, I'm now really glad I've been given the opportunity to do so.


My second account, the DoubleTree in Pittsburgh is a hotel that is part of the Hilton Hotels group. So I am still getting the experience representing a hotel directly. I had more information given to me about the DoubleTree account than I did for AWH, so that comforted me a bit, haha. They are an establish client at the Group so I feel like I'm going to really see a lot of new things all from different angles.

 Monday starts my first day and I expect to hit the ground running. I'm going to do some research on the two companies (beyond what I was given) so that I feel completely comfortable when I go in to talk to Autumn on Monday about what it is I'll be doing. According to Nancy, we're going to be getting into the thick of things really quickly though! And she says it's very fast paced, which I'm really looking forward to. I can't wait to start applying the skills I've already learned from class and learn so many new things.

Anxiously Awaiting... (10 Days Away)

Though I don't go for my internship "orientation" until next Friday, I am getting more and more excited to start working at the Mayfield Group. I'm an old soul, so the idea of finally starting to work in my chosen career path is just too much excitement for me to handle. 

I'm required to submit a "final report" to receive the credit for my internship, and I hope to use this blog as a way to organize my experiences as I go (so I'm not frantically trying to write about it all the night before it's due).

Thus, in a nutshell, this blog will help me to create the following:

-a diary of internship activities

-an assessment of internship activities measured against the initial objectives I set for myself

-an analysis of the value of the internship in terms of the student's personal and career objectives

-examples of written or other materials produced during internship

I want to get as hands on as possible and spend as much time learning as I can. The other day a friend of mine tweeted and article about how to succeed at being a horrible intern and I took notes while reading so I don't make the same mistakes! Hopefully my employers will really view me as an asset to their team. But only time will tell, and I'm going to have to wait for the internship to start first!