Monday, July 06, 2009

Learning by Doing


As an intern at Liggett Stashower, I’ve already been able to do some pretty cool things. For one, I was able to get a glimpse into the future last Tuesday during our fieldtrip to The Plain Dealer. No, I’m not referring to some all encompassing philosophy or piece of machinery that the historic Cleveland newspaper has suddenly adopted to guide its operation into the next decade. I’m literally talking about a sneak peek into the next day’s news, before just about anyone else! OK, what I’m really talking about is the packet we were given during the editorial meeting we sat in on which outlined the topics that were to be covered in the next day’s issue. It wasn’t exactly stepping into a time machine, but it was pretty close. It’s not everyday you can go home and tell your dad what will be on the front page of the newspaper the day before it is even printed.

Needless to say, our visit to The Plain Dealer is just one of the many things I’ve enjoyed since I started my internship. The very first day I was here, I was handed a creative supplement for a client that involved some investigative-style web research. The next day, I found myself calling users of a client product in order to acquire and compile their testimony. Since then, I’ve been involved in various client-related scenarios that will use my contributions to create the final product. It certainly is rewarding as an intern to have a chance to become this involved, this quickly.

My fellow interns and I got the chance to become a part of the spectacle that is the annual Duct Tape Festival in Avon, and to label those in attendance as enthusiastic about the sticky, multipurpose adhesive wouldn’t be going far enough.

To say everyone here is friendly and accommodating would be an understatement. The internship program here is very well organized and set up in such a way that I was able to feel comfortable from day one. The best part is, I haven’t even had to do any of those stereotypical intern chores, such as making copies and pouring cups of coffee. Not that I would oppose taking on any of those “assignments”, it’s just nice to know that my time here as an intern is about so much more.
Patrick B.
Creative Intern

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