Getting ready to Crawl

This week has been especially busy with so many projects and assignments. That's why we're so excited to go out next Monday on our Intern Crawl.

Every year the interns at Liggett organize a special event with the interns at other Cleveland public relations and advertising agencies. We get together, eat lunch, and then spend the afternoon networking and touring each other's offices.

This Monday we've decided to have lunch at The Greenhouse Tavern on East Fourth Street. Chef Jonathon Sawyer was named one of Food and Wine magazine's Best New Chefs of 2010 and the restaurant itself was recently ranked by Bon Appetit as one of the top ten best new restaurants in the country. Even though we'll be dining on an intern's budget, it will be so exciting to say we've eaten there!

After lunch, we'll spend the afternoon touring Liggett, Dix & Eaton, Landau, Flourish and Glazen. It will be really interesting to see the other offices and to hear about the other interns' summer experiences. We got to know each other a little when we all sat on the Social Deck at a Cleveland Indians game, so it'll be great to see everyone again!

So today, thoughts of the Intern Crawl will keep me going! I can't wait!

Katie F.

Brand Management Intern

TV Legends

My whole life, I always thought working would consist of handing out Cokes and burgers to the mean and hungry. It wasn’t until college I realized work can be something you enjoy, too. We’ve had a lot going on lately. With the summer in full swing, many fun projects have been popping up. Working all day in the office and about an hour each night at home, this week seems especially busy. Luckily, LS seems to have the ability to read my mind because today I was definitely in need of some fun.

The intern crew, as well as Sean from the LS Project Management group, headed over to WKYC television (the Cleveland NBC affiliate) studios this morning with a fun day ahead of us. When we arrived, we were greeted then immediately taken to the set where “Good Company” (an information and entertainment based “talk show”) is filmed. We arrived about halfway through the show, so we got to watch the final half-hour or so be filmed. After, we toured the studios a bit and met the people that “make the magic happen.” So many parts and pieces go into each production. The amount of multi-tasking is phenomenal.

We got a chance to not only view the sets, but also have a little “playtime” with the special effects. If we weren’t already into our fields, I bet we all could be the next big anchor or weatherman.

Next, we watched the taping of the noon news program. We split and watched half in the studio and half in the control room. I have a new respect for live directors and anchors- anything can happen on live TV and since it can, it probably will. If any of you watched today, you know one can lose sound bytes just for them to re-appear again and a man dunking his head in a kiddy pool of ketchup is sometimes just something that happens.

So, work doesn’t always mean no fun. You just have to find the time to make it fun while learning along the way, and then treat yourself to burgers and Cokes after.

Thank for the great trip WKYC!

Check out our pictures from our trip!

Sasha T.

Creative Intern

The brand at hand.

Today has been busy, to say the least. It’s hard to believe the projects that were first assigned at the start of this internship are now coming due. Book reports, t-shirts, posters. Sprinkle that on top of the bed of client work already in progress and you’ve got yourself a stressful salad. But it’s the good kind of stress. The stress before a deadline that knocks your behind into gear, producing some of your best work.

My latest challenge has been the intern t-shirt concept. As Rachelle talked about yesterday, we thought we had a t-shirt concept down, ready to print. But that is clearly not the case. We had some time to think on our own, talk with some helpful intern alum, and really dive into what is going to make this t-shirt better than the others.

I’ve been doing some branding research for the upcoming POV. I’m looking into how successful brands got their start. Most of the articles I’ve seen all pointed to the same thing. You must dig deep within your company (or self) to find out what you have to offer that separates you from the rest.

Back to the t-shirts. We have to create a t-shirt design that represents our intern class. Our brand. We need to dig deep within ourselves and figure out what makes us so much cooler (or lamer) than other intern classes. Then mold that into a t-shirt design Liggett employees would want to wear.

This is a pretty daunting task. Imagine, looking at yourself, like REALLY looking at yourself, and figuring out what makes you unique. If you had to get one tattoo, one permanent thing on your forehead, what would it be of? What would your logo be? What would your tagline be? Remember, like these intern t-shirts, your brand will be an impression of who you are, that sticks with someone for the rest of their life.

I’ll be sure to keep your posted on how these t-shirts turn out.

Ben L.

Creative Intern

Groupthink

Group meetings are a common occurence at LS, and with everyone's participation, unique ideas emerge and brand building begins.

Last week, the interns and I had our own "concepting" session for LS's annual intern T-shirt project. Within a matter of 10 minutes, we nailed down a concept, wrote a back-story, and drew up creative graphics. Our idea was strong and we were set--or at least we thought!

When Katie and I completed some paper work associated with the brand message of our T-shirt, we confidently handed it over to someone outside of our intern group circle. It took him less than 10 minutes to say, "Don't put your eggs in one basket."

After hearing this, time turned back two years and I envisioned myself listening in on a lecture at UD. Energetic teaching duo, Teri Thompson and Don Yoder preached to the class about Irving Janis' Groupthink: a theory defined as "a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members' strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action."

We, the interns, loved our T-shirt concept. We loved it so much that we didn't cater to other options. Even if we were secretly skeptical, we kept silent because there was so much love around the entire idea. We continued to build upon our T-shirt concept until we finally realized that we were traveling down the hazardous path of groupthink. The intern "outsider" was a flashing yellow light, cautioning us to step outside of our circle and pursue alternative options.

Although communication and business majors are warned in the classroom about work-related hurdles, experiencing them first-hand in a job setting truly drives the message home. This experience has taught our group of interns an invaluable lesson that will prepare us for group projects and client presentations in the future. Now, we know to look at a situation from all angles and to provide several options in a sales pitch.

With some helpful direction from the LS staff, I have faith in our team that we will produce a quality T-shirt that commemorates our time as interns. Make sure you check in after July 23 to see what we come up with!

Rachelle Patsey

Brand Management Intern

Witnessed

It was hard to come in this morning - not wearing all black - as we mourn the loss of LeBron James. Last night I was glued to the television, holding on to some sliver of hope that he might choose to stay in Cleveland.

Despite the heartbreak, the whole ordeal got me thinking about teamwork. As I sit here reminiscing about all the amazing games and the camaraderie of our players, I can't help but think of our group of interns as another great team.

Right now we're working on a pretty big project together. Every year the Liggett interns design a commemorative tee shirt to give to our executives and mentors at the end of the summer. It sounds easy, but it's more complicated than I thought - and we are all relying on each other to get the work done.

While we've been brainstorming ideas together in our intern meetings, we each have our own responsibilities. Rachelle and I are working on the internal paperwork, while Ben and Sasha go over taglines and designs.

Our deadline for production is coming up, so we're diving in headfirst. While things are a little haphazard now, I know our team will come up with a great product in the end.

And I don't think any of us will leave mid-project for Miami.

Katie F.

Brand Management Intern