While it's okay to intern for an organization that's never had an intern before, make it a larger organization. That way, at least they're more "organized" and aren't as likely to flake out.
Maintain solid communication (once a week/every other week) with your supervisor from the time you obtain your internship to the time it starts.
Have any agreements on housing, airfare or compensation in writing and confirmed before making travel arrangements.
I was supposed to be heading down south to work for a smaller organization this coming week, but due to problems in the aforementioned areas, there has been a change of plans.
Instead, I have gone $300 in the hole for plane tickets and decided to head back to Miami. Who knew that plane ticket change fees would be substantially more than what I paid for the ticket? You're welcome Standby Ticket Holders.
I'll be down in Miami rigging, launching and covering the events for BACARDI Miami Sailing Week while, luckily, still receiving internship credit.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
You Can't Handle This
Rolex Miami OCR
This event was the antithesis of CRW last year. I felt I should be well-rounded, though.
For those who don't know, OCR is "Olympic Class Racing." The event is an Olympic qualifier bringing in about 800 sailors from around the globe in the 10 Olympic + Paralympic classes. (470s, Skuds, RS:X, Stars, Lasers, etc)
What was I expecting? I thought all my previous conceptions would be proved wrong. I was hoping all the rumors and events floating around were isolated incidents.
Needless to say, I was disappointed in the event. It wasn't that the event wasn't run properly; it was the communications going on inside the event.
Lesson #1 in International Communications:
When someone can't understand you, it doesn't mean they can't hear you. No one was deaf in any of the circumstances I witnessed.
Lesson #2:
Be Patient. Short tempers don't solve problems or answer questions. Enough said.
Lesson #3:
Don't dismiss someone just because they're not on the US Sailing Team Alphagraphics. Give everyone the same treatment and amount of attention.
Lesson #4:
If you welcome a problem with a smile, 9 times out of 10, they'll reciprocate.
Another problem was one that was publicized by a high profile individual. The way the event was being promoted and covered was behind the times. "Cover It Live" is a great platform and it was implemented well. Though, the daily video highlights should have been done differently giving more attention to each individual class and more international sailors. Then, the Facebook photos were only 10-20 per day. That is not near enough to get a good grasp on the event if you're not there. Talking to locals outside the event, they didn't even know anything about the international sailing regatta.
This event was the antithesis of CRW last year. I felt I should be well-rounded, though.
For those who don't know, OCR is "Olympic Class Racing." The event is an Olympic qualifier bringing in about 800 sailors from around the globe in the 10 Olympic + Paralympic classes. (470s, Skuds, RS:X, Stars, Lasers, etc)
What was I expecting? I thought all my previous conceptions would be proved wrong. I was hoping all the rumors and events floating around were isolated incidents.
Needless to say, I was disappointed in the event. It wasn't that the event wasn't run properly; it was the communications going on inside the event.
Lesson #1 in International Communications:
When someone can't understand you, it doesn't mean they can't hear you. No one was deaf in any of the circumstances I witnessed.
Lesson #2:
Be Patient. Short tempers don't solve problems or answer questions. Enough said.
Lesson #3:
Don't dismiss someone just because they're not on the US Sailing Team Alphagraphics. Give everyone the same treatment and amount of attention.
Lesson #4:
If you welcome a problem with a smile, 9 times out of 10, they'll reciprocate.
Another problem was one that was publicized by a high profile individual. The way the event was being promoted and covered was behind the times. "Cover It Live" is a great platform and it was implemented well. Though, the daily video highlights should have been done differently giving more attention to each individual class and more international sailors. Then, the Facebook photos were only 10-20 per day. That is not near enough to get a good grasp on the event if you're not there. Talking to locals outside the event, they didn't even know anything about the international sailing regatta.
Well, it might be just that train of thought that got me sentenced to the RS:X course. That or they figured that I just wasn't fitting in. I wasn't going to change my ways to fit their "type," so long as I was doing my job well.
Low and behold, I had a fantastic time with some great people running the social media on the race courses. These were my kind of people out there on the water. They fit my type and my expectations. I thoroughly enjoyed myself outside the office.
The nightlife wasn't too shabby either after I discovered a fantastic place called The Sandbar. The Sandbar boasts 1/2 price tacos on Mondays and 1/2 off hurricanes on Wednesdays in conjunction with Redneck penny PBR's and pudding wrestling. Needless to say, good food, great portions and cheap prices. It quickly became my second home after I discovered $3.50 drafts.
Not What I Was Trained For
Charleston Race Week 2010
Sailing media and PR is not what I was trained for in my years of studying at NMU.
Everything I learned is wrong.
My boss wanted to strangle me because I was so eager to help, but I, myself, was helpless. I hated the internship, hated my professors and just wanted to go back to rigging boats the day before. I wanted someone to hold my hand through the process like I've heard from a number of interns. But, no, this was an event internship that lasted a week. When Boss recognized that I was educated in a style very different from what the sport demands, he just told me to forget all my classes.
I didn't go to school for journalism, but that's the style press releases that need to be sent out here in the US. Why? Because no one understands the sport and how broad it really is. Actual journalists have no idea how to interpret sailing lingo and would just nudge it off their desk with all the rest of the crap they sift through.
In my review, he said I was an excellent "schmoozer." A more educated person may take this as a backhanded compliment, but I'll take it for what it is -a compliment. The media -oh, the media. Why not be a little nauti if it fits the event and publics?
If I didn't have who or what I needed, I found a way to get it. This was probably the hardest part. No offense to these big-name professional sailors, but I have no idea what your face looks like. When told to fetch quotes, I was given a list of names of people I had never met before. Not going to lie, the task was a bit intimidating with over a thousand sailors roaming the harbor. Luckily, the party was being hosted at the venue, so the sailors were somewhere between their boats and the bar. Why not walk around with a few beers passing one out to names on the list or those who could point me towards those names?
I was truly spoiled by this internship. It was a crash course in what I want to do with my life and make a career out of. Boss also had no curtains or double-meanings. I was allowed into every aspect of the event and saw it all. I didn't immediately recognize how privileged I was until my next internship.
Sailing media and PR is not what I was trained for in my years of studying at NMU.
Everything I learned is wrong.
My boss wanted to strangle me because I was so eager to help, but I, myself, was helpless. I hated the internship, hated my professors and just wanted to go back to rigging boats the day before. I wanted someone to hold my hand through the process like I've heard from a number of interns. But, no, this was an event internship that lasted a week. When Boss recognized that I was educated in a style very different from what the sport demands, he just told me to forget all my classes.
I didn't go to school for journalism, but that's the style press releases that need to be sent out here in the US. Why? Because no one understands the sport and how broad it really is. Actual journalists have no idea how to interpret sailing lingo and would just nudge it off their desk with all the rest of the crap they sift through.
In my review, he said I was an excellent "schmoozer." A more educated person may take this as a backhanded compliment, but I'll take it for what it is -a compliment. The media -oh, the media. Why not be a little nauti if it fits the event and publics?
photo cred: Meredith Block
If I didn't have who or what I needed, I found a way to get it. This was probably the hardest part. No offense to these big-name professional sailors, but I have no idea what your face looks like. When told to fetch quotes, I was given a list of names of people I had never met before. Not going to lie, the task was a bit intimidating with over a thousand sailors roaming the harbor. Luckily, the party was being hosted at the venue, so the sailors were somewhere between their boats and the bar. Why not walk around with a few beers passing one out to names on the list or those who could point me towards those names?
I was truly spoiled by this internship. It was a crash course in what I want to do with my life and make a career out of. Boss also had no curtains or double-meanings. I was allowed into every aspect of the event and saw it all. I didn't immediately recognize how privileged I was until my next internship.
photo cred: Meredith Block
An Afterthought
I realized that I should have started a blog when I began studying public relations. PR has given me a new insight into sailing and why it is constantly falling apart - specifically in the US.
Before immediately discrediting me, know a few things (I'll keep them brief):
I...
- grew up on the water with a family that has a lot of sailing history. Unfortunately, it is "history" after my sister and I were born
- have taught at three different sailing foundations and will go into more depth on those in a later posting
- am a boat owner with my sister
- have interned with two high profile sailing organizations for events with a third coming next week (more later)
- am finishing up my last semester of college at Northern Michigan University obtaining a bachelor's in PR
If you are like most people I speak with, you have an idea of what PR is, but no... not really. For you, I'll give my blunt definition:
"PR people clean up what you fuck up or do their best to tell you how to not fuck up"
That definition doesn't cover everything, but it takes care of a lot of it.
I'll credit my professor with this definition, though, so I don't get completely torn apart by anyone in PR:
"communicating an accurate image or message to publics"
In this blog, I'll be discussing anything and everything with a focus on sailing. I'll also be posting through the eyes of a soon-to-be college graduate searching for the "dream job."
To be honest, this blog may prevent me from getting a job if a potential employer doesn't like my views, language or whatever, and I am perfectly fine with that. I'm not going to roll over and tell some organization how great of a job they're doing if they're royally fucking it up (like so many in the US are doing). I'm okay with this even if it means I have to revert to teaching sailing or managing boat rentals.
So, here it is...
Before immediately discrediting me, know a few things (I'll keep them brief):
I...
- grew up on the water with a family that has a lot of sailing history. Unfortunately, it is "history" after my sister and I were born
- have taught at three different sailing foundations and will go into more depth on those in a later posting
- am a boat owner with my sister
- have interned with two high profile sailing organizations for events with a third coming next week (more later)
- am finishing up my last semester of college at Northern Michigan University obtaining a bachelor's in PR
If you are like most people I speak with, you have an idea of what PR is, but no... not really. For you, I'll give my blunt definition:
"PR people clean up what you fuck up or do their best to tell you how to not fuck up"
That definition doesn't cover everything, but it takes care of a lot of it.
I'll credit my professor with this definition, though, so I don't get completely torn apart by anyone in PR:
"communicating an accurate image or message to publics"
In this blog, I'll be discussing anything and everything with a focus on sailing. I'll also be posting through the eyes of a soon-to-be college graduate searching for the "dream job."
To be honest, this blog may prevent me from getting a job if a potential employer doesn't like my views, language or whatever, and I am perfectly fine with that. I'm not going to roll over and tell some organization how great of a job they're doing if they're royally fucking it up (like so many in the US are doing). I'm okay with this even if it means I have to revert to teaching sailing or managing boat rentals.
So, here it is...
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