Diary of a PR Intern in NYC – Weeks 6 & 7
Editor’s Note: The following is Part 5 of Sarah’s series on her experiences interning for a PR firm in (you guessed it) New York City for the summer. In case you missed the first parts, see: Diary of a PR Intern in NYC – Week One, Diary of a PR Intern in NYC – Weeks Two and Three, Diary of a PR Intern in NYC – Week Four, and Diary of a PR Intern in NYC – Week Five.
These past two weeks were a whirlwind: due to having a wisdom tooth removed, I missed some work last week and only worked one day this week (and I left at 3PM, since it was a Summer Friday). Because of this, I’ve decided to combine the last two short weeks into one longer post.
Week 6
During my sixth week at my internship, I had more fun than ever and got to partake in some exciting projects!
Magazine Research
One unique aspect of my internship that I haven’t mentioned in past posts is that Fridays are not only short days (because of summer!), but we have a professor from Parsons who runs a class with us for three hours on Fridays. This week, we got to dissect a magazine, compiling info on how many advertisements and editorials are included, who the editors are, etc.
We picked our magazines out of a bowl, and I got Food & Wine. Obviously, if I could have had my pick, I would’ve chosen InStyle or Harper’s Bazaar! Nonetheless, it was so interesting to look at a magazine (especially one I’d never read) from this standpoint. When you go through a magazine, you never think about how the number of advertisements compares to the amount of editorial pages, or who’s actually putting together the entire thing! I found this really fascinating and fun.
A Visit to Bergdorf’s
This week, I also got to go to Bergdorf Goodman! Why, you ask? Two of the Beauty Division’s bosses wanted to take me and the other beauty intern to see our brand’s counter at the store.
When I see the products in the office, they’re normally in their packaging and being wrapped to be shipped. Although I’ve gotten samples of bronzer and lipsticks, these are only a few of the items from the brand’s line. At Bergdorf, I got to see the entire line, from skincare to makeup, all on display.
The best part? I got to try every product I was curious about! From bronzing gel to the limited edition mascara (which I later got a sample of because I loved it so much!), to the core skincare items, I got to test it all. Suffice to say I came back smelling like the entire beauty department! We also looked through the rest of the beauty department at Bergdorf’s – from checking out our competitors to testing new products, we did it all. I came back with a few samples, which was so cool!
The Highlight of My Week
And, now for the best part of Week 6: I got my first placement! After sending out dozens of pitches to dozens of bloggers, then following that up by sending out dozens of products to said bloggers, I finally saw the fruits of my labor! One blogger used one of our lipsticks in a makeup look she posted! Go me! I have never been so excited to get a Google alert in my whole life.
Week 7
Unfortunately, after such a great Week 6, due to having a wisdom tooth removed, I was only in work for one day this week (and I left at 3PM, since it was a Summer Friday). So instead of re-capping what I did, I’m going to direct you to a few great sites that I’ve learned about via my interning and the class I’ve been taking within my internship.
For The Twitter Addicts…
I’ve learned so much about Twitter since beginning my internship! It’s an amazing PR tool. Here are some great websites we use with Twitter:
- TweetDeck: Since I just recently began utilizing Twitter, I’ve learned how important it is to continuously update and check it. TweetDeck allows you to maintain several accounts, all from your computer’s desktop! No re-logging in and logging out on Twitter.com all day! Definitely a useful tool.
- Social Oomph: Sign up for an account, and you can schedule your tweets, automatically follow anyone who follows you, and a whole smorgasbord of other cool Twitter-y things!
- ShareThis: ShareThis is where you can find the best of the web. With top trending topics, articles, and tools to share your site, it’s the ultimate way to find out what’s happening now and share it with your followers.
- Twellow: The Yellow Pages of Twitter. Click and find out.
- TwitBacks: Twitter Backgrounds! Create your own for free!
General Resources
- Compete: Instantly find out statistics about your favorite website or blog! Just type in the blog name or URL, and find out an estimate of how many visitors it receives per month and many other cool features.
- Addictomatic: Type in a search and find out what everyone’s saying about your particular topic, from Twitter, to blogs, to YouTube!
- DogPile: Why am I just now finding out about this? Such a great search engine!
- GoDaddy: Cheap domain names, and easy sign-up! It’s perfect for starting your own website.
- Mashable: The Social Media Authority. Find out what’s going on in social media from the experts.
- MediaBistro: Great for anyone who’s interested in learning more about media or plans on pursuing a career in media!
Fashion & Beauty Resources
- Cosmetic Database: Find out how safe your cosmetics are, and compare them to other brands. Beware: the results may scare you!
- Fashion Database: Your searchable database on everything fashion, from brands to the people behind it all.
What do you think?
So, what do you think? How is your summer internship going? Can you see yourself working for a Public Relations firm after reading about my experiences? What are your favorite web resources? Let me know by leaving a comment!
Posted on on July 20, 2010 / Filed Under: College Life / Tags: cosmetic, diary of an intern, Fashion, intern, Internship, PR, Public Relations, resources, tweet, tweet deck, Twitter
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Staley Mc
Once again I love reading this series! This is what I hope to be doing next summer and it gets me so excited reading about it! Great Post!!
Chandra
I absolutely love this series! Thank you for taking the time to share your journey with us! I am booking the Fashion Database right now… great resource!
Milana
Your internship sounds so exciting – this is a great series! You’re really doing a great job :)
Leili
this sounds sooo exciting!!
im so exceptionally jealous of your experiences with the professor from parsons!!
i would love to know all those things about magazines–i would have picked instyle too, haha.
hope youre not/werent in terrible pain–i had my wisdom teeth taken out and i was dying.
enjoy that mascara sample!
Sarah - Binghamton University
Thanks for all the wonderful feedback everyone!
@StaleyMC – Definitely try out PR! You get the best of every world! You can represent brands that you’re passionate about, feel like you’re doing a little “marketing” and business stuff, get creative, and be part of a brand without necessarily having to WORK for the brand!
@FashionStyleAdvice – Thank you so much! You’re so sweet : )
@Leili – Ah, thanks! Sometimes I feel like I chose the wrong school – I would love to actually GO to Parsons and live city life 24/7! And my tooth is fine, thanks! Unfortunately, have to have the other 3 removed next month :(
Mika
Thank you for this post! I loved hearing about your internship (which sounds so amazing) and those links were fab!
Caitlyn - FIDM
Great article, Sarah! Your post is full of good information, great tips, and I love following your escapades in the Big Apple. : )
You go, girl.
Socialite14
I love this post I could definitely see myself working with a PR firm especially one that is fashion related,since that is what I am studying.My summer job is going great so far !!!! I love all of the links you provided especially MediaBistro.com.Keep up the excellent job :)
julia
I love this series! its one of my favorites!
i just wish that this week you would have shown your clothes!
but still- a great article!
- julia
Sami
I love reading this series, your internship sounds so exciting! I would love to do something like this, but I have no idea where to start. I’m having a lot of trouble deciding on a career and what I should go to school for… =)
Sarah - Binghamton University
@Socialite14 – Thanks for your comment! Definitely experiment in any field you’d be interested in working in! So happy you liked the links!
@Julia – I’m sorry I didn’t show my clothes! I was in the office for much less time than I normally am.
@Sami – Thank you so much! I’d reccommend going to a school with a few of the majors you have in mind… I had to transfer because the school I went to first was strictly good for business and not much else, and after I realized that wasn’t for me, I was trapped! Transferring is never bad, but it can be avoided if you pick a college that has a lot of options!
Sarah - Binghamton University
@Caitlin – Thank you so much! xo
Eve
I have to say I find myself looking forward to your posts! I love all of the insight that you give us. One thing I really wish you’d do (and I don’t know how realistic the request is) is maybe post a sample of your pitches to blogs and magazines. Coming from someone who wants to go into this field it would be nice to see what is considered the correct way to approach specific people.
Thank you so much and keep up the great posts!
Veronica
hey sarah!
first of all: congratulations for your internship! that’s an amazing experience you’re having! :)))
and it’s so nice of you to share it with others. there are tons of girls that you’d give anything to be on your shoes right now! (i know I’m one of them haha)
I was really looking foward to read week 8 this pas tuesday, but you haven’t posted yet :(
do you mind if I ask you a few questions? like, what school year are you now? it says on your “profile” that you’re a freshman, but isn’t it super difficult to find a good internship like yours when you’re a freshman? most companies requires that you have to be at least sophomore :(
ooh, and how did you get it? did you know someone (networking is everything theses days! haha) or you old-fashioned applied and were lucky to get it? :)
congratulations, and thanks again for sharing it with the rest of us! :)))
xoxo
Agne Slikaite
Hi there,
I’m thinking of doing PR internship in NY this summer, could you give me any tips where to start looking etc?
Thank you.
PRivate
hi, sounds like your internship was amazing! my sister is starting a pr internship in a few weeks and i want to get get a great gift (maybe something that would be useful in her new world) to start it off. any ideas? thanks so much and best of luck to you!