1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:00,500


2
00:00:00,500 --> 00:00:01,700
Thank you.

3
00:00:01,700 --> 00:00:04,575
All right, so, my
name is Jordan.

4
00:00:04,575 --> 00:00:05,545
I'm a junior.

5
00:00:05,545 --> 00:00:07,970
I am majoring in English,
with a minor in Japanese.

6
00:00:07,970 --> 00:00:11,964
I spent my summer doing an
internship with a PR firm.

7
00:00:11,964 --> 00:00:14,968
So, the PR firm's name
was Evil Genius Group.

8
00:00:14,968 --> 00:00:16,429
It's been around
for about a year,

9
00:00:16,429 --> 00:00:18,628
and it's based in
Manhattan, New York.

10
00:00:18,628 --> 00:00:20,680
It was created by
Victor Cipolla, who

11
00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:23,020
has been working in the PR
industry for about 25 years,

12
00:00:23,020 --> 00:00:26,175
and co-managed by business
partner Daries Allani.

13
00:00:26,175 --> 00:00:28,820
Because it is only a year old,
we had a variety of clients.

14
00:00:28,820 --> 00:00:32,040
I worked with restaurant
owners, fashion designers,

15
00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:35,050
Pilates instructors,
everything under the sun.

16
00:00:35,050 --> 00:00:38,016
And the rest of the staff
consisted of other PR interns

17
00:00:38,016 --> 00:00:39,140
and graphic design interns.

18
00:00:39,140 --> 00:00:41,290
And, essentially, we
would collaborate together

19
00:00:41,290 --> 00:00:44,590
to create campaigns
for our clients.

20
00:00:44,590 --> 00:00:46,842
So entering the
world of social media

21
00:00:46,842 --> 00:00:48,399
was really jarring at first.

22
00:00:48,399 --> 00:00:50,690
It's really weird to go from
using Facebook and Tumbler

23
00:00:50,690 --> 00:00:54,414
as, like, a leisure activity to
a means of business and profit.

24
00:00:54,414 --> 00:00:56,872
And public relations, itself,
is a really unique department

25
00:00:56,872 --> 00:00:58,980
because it's all
about saving face.

26
00:00:58,980 --> 00:01:00,396
You know, in this
day and age, you

27
00:01:00,396 --> 00:01:01,937
can pull out your
smartphone, pull up

28
00:01:01,937 --> 00:01:05,090
any company on Wikipedia and
learn all about their history.

29
00:01:05,090 --> 00:01:07,326
So not only is it about
helping your clients get

30
00:01:07,326 --> 00:01:10,000
a really good consumer base,
it's also about doing clean up.

31
00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:11,640
For example, like,
if a restaurant

32
00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:15,200
had a bad article or bad review
about it, we would have to,

33
00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:16,822
essentially, cover
that up and leave

34
00:01:16,822 --> 00:01:21,357
all this other positive stuff
to sort of smooth it over.

35
00:01:21,357 --> 00:01:23,190
And it's definitely not
your average office.

36
00:01:23,190 --> 00:01:26,500
The equivalent of your cubicle
and desk was your smartphone.

37
00:01:26,500 --> 00:01:28,870
I spent most of my time,
like, plugged into the wall,

38
00:01:28,870 --> 00:01:31,870
cycling through all my apps,
checking my notifications.

39
00:01:31,870 --> 00:01:34,780
Keeping up with trends was also
super important, especially

40
00:01:34,780 --> 00:01:37,760
with the weekly trending
tags on Instagram.

41
00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:39,730
And every single time
I got a new client,

42
00:01:39,730 --> 00:01:42,294
I would Facebook stalk
the heck out of them.

43
00:01:42,294 --> 00:01:44,460
I would go all the way back
to their page's creation

44
00:01:44,460 --> 00:01:46,890
so I could figure out
what they're all about.

45
00:01:46,890 --> 00:01:49,556
And then the availability--
just because I

46
00:01:49,556 --> 00:01:51,680
left the office didn't mean
I was done for the day.

47
00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:52,610
I would get messages
at, like, 1:00

48
00:01:52,610 --> 00:01:54,679
in the morning from
my boss, asking me to,

49
00:01:54,679 --> 00:01:56,950
like, proofread this or
tag somebody in this.

50
00:01:56,950 --> 00:01:59,445
So, essentially, like,
always on the clock--

51
00:01:59,445 --> 00:02:00,660
always on my smartphone.

52
00:02:00,660 --> 00:02:02,201


53
00:02:02,201 --> 00:02:02,700
All right.

54
00:02:02,700 --> 00:02:05,307
So the place that I worked
in was also pretty unique.

55
00:02:05,307 --> 00:02:07,140
We didn't have our own
kind of office space.

56
00:02:07,140 --> 00:02:08,710
It was this building
called We Work.

57
00:02:08,710 --> 00:02:11,490
And We Work is a
corporation that rents out,

58
00:02:11,490 --> 00:02:14,220
like, large skyscrapers
in metropolitan areas,

59
00:02:14,220 --> 00:02:18,050
and it rents it out to, like,
private small businesses.

60
00:02:18,050 --> 00:02:20,303
So we would be sharing
the floor with, like,

61
00:02:20,303 --> 00:02:22,170
up to 10 other
businesses at once.

62
00:02:22,170 --> 00:02:24,061
And it was really
interesting because we

63
00:02:24,061 --> 00:02:25,281
got to collaborate with them.

64
00:02:25,281 --> 00:02:26,822
For example, there
was a wine company

65
00:02:26,822 --> 00:02:29,406
down the hall that ended up
sponsoring us for an event.

66
00:02:29,406 --> 00:02:31,322
And they eventually
became one of our clients.

67
00:02:31,322 --> 00:02:33,560
So it was, like, this really
great networking space

68
00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:37,519
for startup businesses
like ourselves.

69
00:02:37,519 --> 00:02:39,800
And then, interning in New York.

70
00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:42,028
So, I'm from Connecticut.

71
00:02:42,028 --> 00:02:44,370
And I've been to New
York a bunch of times,

72
00:02:44,370 --> 00:02:46,806
but you know, just to
see Broadway shows,

73
00:02:46,806 --> 00:02:47,930
not to actually work there.

74
00:02:47,930 --> 00:02:50,550
And after spending my
summer working in New York,

75
00:02:50,550 --> 00:02:53,175
I understand why
everyone in New York

76
00:02:53,175 --> 00:02:55,328
is really angry all the
time and always in a hurry

77
00:02:55,328 --> 00:02:58,630
because it's really stressful
getting from place to place.

78
00:02:58,630 --> 00:03:00,130
I had a two hour commute.

79
00:03:00,130 --> 00:03:02,970
I spent about 16 hours
a week on the train.

80
00:03:02,970 --> 00:03:05,934
So that was really
difficult because I

81
00:03:05,934 --> 00:03:06,850
was the farthest away.

82
00:03:06,850 --> 00:03:08,600
Everyone else, who was
living in New York,

83
00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:09,800
just took the subway in.

84
00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:12,200
I got really good
at using Google Maps

85
00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:14,030
because I have no
sense of direction.

86
00:03:14,030 --> 00:03:15,550
And I always had to
leave myself a huge time

87
00:03:15,550 --> 00:03:17,258
cushion for getting
to the office on time

88
00:03:17,258 --> 00:03:20,830
because of, like, Metro-North
delays and stuff like that.

89
00:03:20,830 --> 00:03:23,987
So, if you're considering doing
an internship more than an hour

90
00:03:23,987 --> 00:03:26,422
and a half away
from your home, I

91
00:03:26,422 --> 00:03:29,313
would say reconsider and try
to find a place closer by where

92
00:03:29,313 --> 00:03:30,100
you live.

93
00:03:30,100 --> 00:03:32,990
I chose not to live in New York
because rent was super high,

94
00:03:32,990 --> 00:03:35,760
but, yeah, the commute
was pretty brutal.

95
00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:38,930
All right, so, skills I
used during my internship--

96
00:03:38,930 --> 00:03:41,760
the big thing was
interpersonal skills.

97
00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:43,794
I did a lot of, like,
one-on-one interaction

98
00:03:43,794 --> 00:03:46,140
with clients because I
only had two supervisors.

99
00:03:46,140 --> 00:03:49,120
So it's not like my supervisor
was being a third party.

100
00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:51,780
I was just directly
interacting with them.

101
00:03:51,780 --> 00:03:54,271
So the main method of
communication we used

102
00:03:54,271 --> 00:03:56,218
is this app called Podio.

103
00:03:56,218 --> 00:03:58,498
It's a social
media platform that

104
00:03:58,498 --> 00:04:02,000
allows small businesses to work
one-on-one with their clients.

105
00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:03,740
It has a social
media calendar app.

106
00:04:03,740 --> 00:04:06,124
It has an event planning app.

107
00:04:06,124 --> 00:04:07,880
And, essentially,
it's like Facebook,

108
00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:10,012
where everything pulls
on your client's page.

109
00:04:10,012 --> 00:04:13,344
They can see and comment,
which is really great,

110
00:04:13,344 --> 00:04:17,010
but sometimes clients critique
every little thing you do.

111
00:04:17,010 --> 00:04:20,640
So I definitely grew a really
thick skin for rejection.

112
00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:23,705
And a lot of times, what
you want, as a PR firm,

113
00:04:23,705 --> 00:04:25,580
and what you know will
work, will not line up

114
00:04:25,580 --> 00:04:27,360
with what the client wants.

115
00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:29,940
For example, there was
an older gentleman,

116
00:04:29,940 --> 00:04:33,000
who was in charge of a southern
hospitality restaurant,

117
00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:35,656
like, a pretty
classy establishment.

118
00:04:35,656 --> 00:04:37,355
And on the front
page of his website,

119
00:04:37,355 --> 00:04:41,870
he wanted to put the "I Can Has
Cheezburger?" meme from 2007.

120
00:04:41,870 --> 00:04:44,359
And I had to explain to him
many different times why

121
00:04:44,359 --> 00:04:45,400
that was not a good idea.

122
00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:49,540
So, essentially, kill them with
kindness, be super patient.

123
00:04:49,540 --> 00:04:51,930
And maintaining contact
after the internship

124
00:04:51,930 --> 00:04:53,157
is also very important.

125
00:04:53,157 --> 00:04:55,740
A lot of my fellow interns, who
had already graduated college,

126
00:04:55,740 --> 00:04:58,113
actually went on to
become full-time workers

127
00:04:58,113 --> 00:05:00,570
for the clients that
they worked with.

128
00:05:00,570 --> 00:05:02,920
So that was a great
opportunity for them.

129
00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,042
All right, so, a
day in the office--

130
00:05:06,042 --> 00:05:08,340
when I was filling out the
paperwork for the funding,

131
00:05:08,340 --> 00:05:10,290
I emailed my boss,
and I was, like,

132
00:05:10,290 --> 00:05:12,895
so can you walk me through
what my daily tasks will be--

133
00:05:12,895 --> 00:05:14,061
what am I going to be doing?

134
00:05:14,061 --> 00:05:15,718
And he just laughed
and said, there's

135
00:05:15,718 --> 00:05:17,640
no such thing as, like,
a day in the PR world.

136
00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:19,890
And after interning
there for about a week,

137
00:05:19,890 --> 00:05:21,902
I completely agree with him.

138
00:05:21,902 --> 00:05:23,610
Every single time I
came into the office,

139
00:05:23,610 --> 00:05:24,901
I had no idea what I was doing.

140
00:05:24,901 --> 00:05:27,660
I may be meeting with clients,
I may be searching for sponsors,

141
00:05:27,660 --> 00:05:29,647
I may be running
errands around New York,

142
00:05:29,647 --> 00:05:31,980
I might be casting male models
for a fashion show, which

143
00:05:31,980 --> 00:05:33,045
is going on down there.

144
00:05:33,045 --> 00:05:34,820


145
00:05:34,820 --> 00:05:37,000
So, more on the
fashion show, this

146
00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:39,500
is definitely the most exciting
thing I did over the summer.

147
00:05:39,500 --> 00:05:41,416
It happened in mid-July,
and I was essentially

148
00:05:41,416 --> 00:05:44,080
in charge of
micromanaging everything.

149
00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:46,975
I cast the male models,
I found makeup artists,

150
00:05:46,975 --> 00:05:49,770
I found sponsors for that
step and repeat banner,

151
00:05:49,770 --> 00:05:52,590
I did all the
budgeting for the show.

152
00:05:52,590 --> 00:05:54,540
And, like, as reality
TV might have shown you,

153
00:05:54,540 --> 00:05:59,952
fashion shows are really crazy,
but they were also super fun.

154
00:05:59,952 --> 00:06:02,040
And these pictures are
from the very first event

155
00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:03,810
I did-- it was a
vodka tasting event.

156
00:06:03,810 --> 00:06:06,230
And essentially, our
job was to go around

157
00:06:06,230 --> 00:06:09,511
with, like, these cute little
cardboard signs with hashtags

158
00:06:09,511 --> 00:06:11,094
on them and take
pictures with whoever

159
00:06:11,094 --> 00:06:12,280
came to sample the vodka.

160
00:06:12,280 --> 00:06:14,405
And tell them to, you know,
post them on Instagram,

161
00:06:14,405 --> 00:06:17,930
tag the vodka company,
stuff like that.

162
00:06:17,930 --> 00:06:19,722
And I checked their
Instagram the next day,

163
00:06:19,722 --> 00:06:21,846
and they actually had a
pretty significant increase

164
00:06:21,846 --> 00:06:23,266
in followers, so
it's really cool

165
00:06:23,266 --> 00:06:25,231
to be, like, a part of that.

166
00:06:25,231 --> 00:06:28,910
And then, finally,
expectations versus reality--

167
00:06:28,910 --> 00:06:31,580
so I applied for this
internship in January

168
00:06:31,580 --> 00:06:33,200
because they said
they needed someone

169
00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:35,765
who was well-versed in social
media and can speak Japanese.

170
00:06:35,765 --> 00:06:38,620
And I was super excited
because, essentially,

171
00:06:38,620 --> 00:06:40,750
they had a Japanese
J-pop client,

172
00:06:40,750 --> 00:06:43,100
and I would be the
translator, and I would

173
00:06:43,100 --> 00:06:44,804
help bridge the language gap.

174
00:06:44,804 --> 00:06:47,592
I got there in May and she
wasn't a client anymore.

175
00:06:47,592 --> 00:06:49,300
So I didn't get to
use my Japanese at all

176
00:06:49,300 --> 00:06:51,640
over the summer, which was
really disappointing but I

177
00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:52,690
made the best of it.

178
00:06:52,690 --> 00:06:57,683
Aside from that, I was expecting
a private office, a larger

179
00:06:57,683 --> 00:07:00,370
group of supervisors, a
much more formal setting,

180
00:07:00,370 --> 00:07:01,480
and more training.

181
00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:04,211
But as I explained earlier, it
was, like, a crazy busy office

182
00:07:04,211 --> 00:07:04,710
space.

183
00:07:04,710 --> 00:07:07,836
I only had two supervisors,
so a lot of the interaction

184
00:07:07,836 --> 00:07:11,429
happened between equals,
the unpaid interns.

185
00:07:11,429 --> 00:07:12,220
It was very casual.

186
00:07:12,220 --> 00:07:15,060
Apparently everyone in the
PR world knows everyone.

187
00:07:15,060 --> 00:07:18,873
My boss is friends on
Facebook with Hugh Hefner

188
00:07:18,873 --> 00:07:20,760
and went Seth McFarlane's
birthday party.

189
00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:22,770
So that was a little surprising.

190
00:07:22,770 --> 00:07:24,626
I was a little
starstruck at first.

191
00:07:24,626 --> 00:07:28,440
And then, my boss was also a big
fan of the "get into the water

192
00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:30,470
and see if you can
swim" method, so I

193
00:07:30,470 --> 00:07:33,594
got a lot of, like, very
hands-on experiences.

194
00:07:33,594 --> 00:07:36,210
And then, of course, there
was the fashion show, which

195
00:07:36,210 --> 00:07:37,336
still, like, blows my mind.

196
00:07:37,336 --> 00:07:39,793
It's always been on my bucket
list to go to a fashion show.

197
00:07:39,793 --> 00:07:41,470
But I, like, made
a fashion show.

198
00:07:41,470 --> 00:07:42,670
So that was crazy.

199
00:07:42,670 --> 00:07:45,420
And that's it.

200
00:07:45,420 --> 00:07:48,139