Yesterday, I had to work the Harlem Day event with four other interns, four part timers and my boss (Taneka). In this event, I had to arrive at 7am because I was driving there since I had to leave early to pick up my father from the airport. Others had to meet at the station at 5am to pack all of the vehicles with the equipment. Since this was a big outdoor event we took all of the company vehicles. It was the Angie Martinez Hummer H3, the Funk Master Flex Escalade, The Miss Jones Chevy and The Interactive. All of the cars were packed to capacity with equipment for the event.
When waking up for the event, one of the part timers called me inquiring where I was and the rest of the workers. I informed him of my arrangements and that our on site contact was aware and was notifed days prior of my travel arrangements. He then began to complain about the other workers tardiness. None of them were at work at 6am and they were supposed to be there by 5am. He was furious because the main person (Brandon) in charge of the event didn't show up on time and wasn't answering the phone. He also stated that he called everyone who was supposed to be working and none of them were answering the phone. However, I told him that I would meet him at the event. I arrived at the event on time just in case if anyone would arrive, I could help set up. Since Harlem blocked off all of 135 street from the bridge to St. Nicholas, I had to park on 141st and 5th avenue. Then I realized I had to walk so far to where Hot 97 was supposed to set up at. We were located at 135th street and St. Nicholas. Walking long Manhattan blocks when its hot felt like walking in a desert without water and an umbrella. When arriving to my destination, I realized no one from the station was there yet. I finally decided to call the part timer who was at the station by himself to see if anyone has arrived or if they left yet. Unfortunately, he stated that he didn't leave yet and that no one has even arrived yet to the station. I was appauld about this statement because it was already 7:30am and they were supposed to be there half hour prior.
Since no one was there and I had nothing to do. I just decided to just wait out on a stoop for their arrival. When 8am reached, sister station Kiss Fm arrived. They were shocked that I was still the only one on site and on time. They informed me that there was only one person on site representing the station. The good news was that they brought out a Hot 97 banner for me to start setting up.
Close to 9am, that is when the rest of the workers decided to arrive. Without even speaking to anyone, we jumped into setting up for our event. We posted up banners on every single gate, wall and corner. We then had to proceed in setting up a tent and a table so we can begin the event. In this tent we had a table setup with DVD's, CD's, flyers, posters, video games and books. For them to win this prize they had to either answer questions on Hot 97 or spin the trivia wheel we had.
When the event started our table was an instant hit. Everyone was winning prizes from us. We even had a long line from our booth to the street corner. In order for them to to get a prize, they had to either spin the wheel and/or answer a Hot 97 trivia question. For example, we would ask them who are the three host of the morning show (which are Cipha Sounds, Peter Rosenberg and K Foxx) and who is the voice of New York (Angie Martinez).
Even though we were under a tent, it felt like the sun was just piercing on us. It was even 95 degrees in the shade(seriously). In addition to us having a tent full of prizes, we had DJ WebStar (a Harlem rapper/producer) and Fabolous perform. In addition, Kiss FM brought out Brian McKnight.
Hours later, the show was still going on and I had to leave to go pick up my father. However, I couldn't leave because all roads leaving out of Harlem we're blocked. So I had to drive all of the way downtown and take the highway around to get my father. Unfortunately it took so long that he ended up taking a cab home from the airport.
Overall, I really enjoyed the event. Even though there was a lack of communication going on with our travel plans, we still managed to put on a successful event. There was a good crowd, and positive energy circiling around all of us.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Street Team Apperance vs. Promotions Assistant
Yesterday was one of the best days at work. Not because something extraordinary happened but that time went by fast and I left early. The day started out with me arriving to work and preparing an event bag. This was the first day that I didn't get to partake in my usual routine (by checking the voicemails first). This was because I had a street team appearance in the early part of the day. I was extremely happy because I got to take a break from the office and interact with people out on the street. Since the event was twelve (12) pm, we left the station at 10:30am so we can have ample time in getting to the event as well as setting up. However, before we left, we packed our CDJ turntable system, two big speakers, two tables, table cloth and a standard event bag (that has promotional CD's, tape, scissors, posters, flyers and giveaways).
When checking our event sheet, we realized that we were taking the Funk Master Flex Escalade. When we brought the car to the station, we quickly packed it with all of our equipment. This was the first event that I went to that we packed more than the standard amount of equipment (because it was an outside event). When we got into the Escalade, I was really happy because this event was taking place in my neighborhood, Castle Hill (in the Bronx). Even though I really don't associate myself with people in the area, I was extremely excited because it was a familiar setting. Also, this was going to be a superb event because Castle Hill is very diverse. The demographic is predominately Hispanic, than Guyanese Indians and then to Blacks. Also with a diverse age group composed of babies to senior citizens.
Driving to the event, I realized that I was doing another Verizon store event. This frustrated me because the last Verizon store event I did, the owner wanted us to give all of the customers a description of all of the phones and accessories while all of the other store representatives stopped working. However, I maintained my composure and realized that both stores probably had different job descriptions for us. Arriving at the venue, I realized that the Verizon store was not a corporate store but in fact a private, small store. Entering, I was notified that our on site contact has not arrived but until he came, we could set up. While setting up, we began to draw a crowd of spectators and of people asking for free promotional items. I instantly notified the crowd to come back in half an hour so we could finish setting up.
When we finished setting up, just like the Lil Wayne concert at Jones beach, my other street team member Erick was on the microphone for the entire shift. This was good because he drew a lot of attention to the store which allowed people to stop by and interact with us, receive promotional items and to also check out the newest deals that the Verizon store was advertising. We were also giving away four Dereon (Beyonce's clothing line)prize bags that had a t-shirt and a hat. These were for the people who could answer our Hot 97 trivia questions. So many people wanted to win these prizes. However, first we would make them speak with a store representative and check out the phones, then they would get a chance to win the prize.
Some of the trivia questions we asked was if they can name five jocs on our station, five DJ's on the station, who are the hosts of the morning show?, Name ten artist at Summer Jam and etc. Many people tried to win the Dereon prize pack but most did not know the answers to our questions. However, towards the end of our appearance, we had four avid Hot 97 listeners who knew the answers to our trivia and received their prizes. The winners all got to take picture with their gift bags in front of the Hot 97 banner that we placed inside of the store. The other contestants received posters and CD's as a means of being a good sport. After all of our prizes were given away, we handed out flyers advertising the Verizon's stores phone deals and also advertising it live on the microphone. Throughout the event we had a lot of people coming into the store checking out the merchandise and requesting songs for us to play (because I was DJin live outside the store). The workers at the store was very pleased with the turnout.
Even though this was a two hour event, it seemed to go by rather quickly. There was a good crowd, we had good giveaways and my mother also stopped by to show support. When the event finished we packed up our equipment, got our stations report card filled out by the Bronx manager of the Verizon stores (since the on-site contact never arrived). Coming back to the station, we unpacked all of the equipment to the designated spots. As soon as that finished I was immediately given a plethora of assignments to accomplish. I had to call prospective Fall interns, deal with contest winners coming into to claim their prize. Also, I had to help out with packing equipment away for another big event that we are doing Sunday called Harlem Weekend. This event is a kin to summer jam when comparing hours. We have to arrive on site 5am and the event finishes 10pm. However, we have to clean up, pack and bring everything back to the station and unpack there.
When finished with all of this everyone was leaving and I took the opportunity to leave as well. Even though it was 7pm, I felt like it was an early day for me to leave. Overall, I enjoyed yesterday because it was a day where I had the best of both world. This was with working an appearance and than ended it off with working in the office.
When checking our event sheet, we realized that we were taking the Funk Master Flex Escalade. When we brought the car to the station, we quickly packed it with all of our equipment. This was the first event that I went to that we packed more than the standard amount of equipment (because it was an outside event). When we got into the Escalade, I was really happy because this event was taking place in my neighborhood, Castle Hill (in the Bronx). Even though I really don't associate myself with people in the area, I was extremely excited because it was a familiar setting. Also, this was going to be a superb event because Castle Hill is very diverse. The demographic is predominately Hispanic, than Guyanese Indians and then to Blacks. Also with a diverse age group composed of babies to senior citizens.
Driving to the event, I realized that I was doing another Verizon store event. This frustrated me because the last Verizon store event I did, the owner wanted us to give all of the customers a description of all of the phones and accessories while all of the other store representatives stopped working. However, I maintained my composure and realized that both stores probably had different job descriptions for us. Arriving at the venue, I realized that the Verizon store was not a corporate store but in fact a private, small store. Entering, I was notified that our on site contact has not arrived but until he came, we could set up. While setting up, we began to draw a crowd of spectators and of people asking for free promotional items. I instantly notified the crowd to come back in half an hour so we could finish setting up.
When we finished setting up, just like the Lil Wayne concert at Jones beach, my other street team member Erick was on the microphone for the entire shift. This was good because he drew a lot of attention to the store which allowed people to stop by and interact with us, receive promotional items and to also check out the newest deals that the Verizon store was advertising. We were also giving away four Dereon (Beyonce's clothing line)prize bags that had a t-shirt and a hat. These were for the people who could answer our Hot 97 trivia questions. So many people wanted to win these prizes. However, first we would make them speak with a store representative and check out the phones, then they would get a chance to win the prize.
Some of the trivia questions we asked was if they can name five jocs on our station, five DJ's on the station, who are the hosts of the morning show?, Name ten artist at Summer Jam and etc. Many people tried to win the Dereon prize pack but most did not know the answers to our questions. However, towards the end of our appearance, we had four avid Hot 97 listeners who knew the answers to our trivia and received their prizes. The winners all got to take picture with their gift bags in front of the Hot 97 banner that we placed inside of the store. The other contestants received posters and CD's as a means of being a good sport. After all of our prizes were given away, we handed out flyers advertising the Verizon's stores phone deals and also advertising it live on the microphone. Throughout the event we had a lot of people coming into the store checking out the merchandise and requesting songs for us to play (because I was DJin live outside the store). The workers at the store was very pleased with the turnout.
Even though this was a two hour event, it seemed to go by rather quickly. There was a good crowd, we had good giveaways and my mother also stopped by to show support. When the event finished we packed up our equipment, got our stations report card filled out by the Bronx manager of the Verizon stores (since the on-site contact never arrived). Coming back to the station, we unpacked all of the equipment to the designated spots. As soon as that finished I was immediately given a plethora of assignments to accomplish. I had to call prospective Fall interns, deal with contest winners coming into to claim their prize. Also, I had to help out with packing equipment away for another big event that we are doing Sunday called Harlem Weekend. This event is a kin to summer jam when comparing hours. We have to arrive on site 5am and the event finishes 10pm. However, we have to clean up, pack and bring everything back to the station and unpack there.
When finished with all of this everyone was leaving and I took the opportunity to leave as well. Even though it was 7pm, I felt like it was an early day for me to leave. Overall, I enjoyed yesterday because it was a day where I had the best of both world. This was with working an appearance and than ended it off with working in the office.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Alternative Day at work
Yesterday, I arrived at work and felt awkward. It was probably because this wasn't my normal day of schedule. I normally work only Monday, Wednesday, Friday. However, since I was absent on Monday (due to me being in Florida for my cousins wedding), I decided to make up the day so I could maintain my perfect attendance record that I have this summer. Coming into work, I was introduced to an entire new staff of Hot 97 workers. From the security guards to the part timers who only work Tuesdays and Thursdays. When I noticed this, I thought today was going to be a rough day. This is because I had to get acquainted with people that I wasn't accustomed in working with.
However, when I arrived in the Promotions Department, everything changed. This was because people didn't matter because the assignments needed to be completed. There was still a lot of work that needed to be completed. Also, luckily I came into work that day because we were short an intern, a couple of part-timers, Senior Promotions Director and our Director of Promotions for Hot 97, Kiss FM and RXP. Hence, the entire office was quiet. Also,Taneka was supposed to be out of the office but surprisingly she came in because there were too many people not in attendance (however, she was leaving early).
As usual, when I came in, I went straight into my daily ritual of checking all the department voicemails. This took about an hour then I proceeded to calling the contest winners who's event was this week or weekend. Normally, the week of an event, we call the winners everyday until they come and pick up there tickets(this is so they can get a constant reminder that there tickets are at the station ready for pick up. Most of the time the winners would come the last day to claim their prize). This week was the contest winners of the John Legend Concert featuring India Arie, Mister Cee and Funk Master Flex last summer Cruise ride and The Hot Smoking Presents: De La Soul. As you can see, yesterday was a busy day with just dealing with contest winners. However, I also had to finish the assignments that I left to do the previous day.
These assignments were to pack event bags, call possibly promotions department Fall interns and schedule and interview time with them. This took awhile because a lot of people faxed resumes and cover letters as a means of applying for the internship. Total, we scheduled ten (10) interviews for the upcoming week. While doing this, winners are coming in to claim their prizes rapidly. The next step of the internship process was to interview the people that we scheduled for that day. I was happy about this because I wanted to see who they were going to hire for the fall semester. When the first person came in, Taneka allowed me to take part in the first portion of the interview (which would be me and Ashely). The second portion is if we approved, they would meet with Taneka. I was extremely excited about this because they actually wanted my input in choosing the upcoming interns. When the first person came, I was anxious. We sat him down in the conference room, got his portfolio with his resume and cover letter and began the interview process. My role in the interviews was to state the role of an intern and to give a brief description of a days work. When it was time for him to speak, he was so nervous that he didn't know what to say. Every question we asked he answered something completely opposite of what we asked. Instantly, I didn't feel he should be hired. That and that he wore club apparel to and interview. He had a big fake diamond chain, ring and matching watch. When we finished, we went back and told Taneka our opinion and she gave us a business card to hand to him. As you can see, he didn't make it to the second round. When the second person came in, he didn't want to here anything about and internship, he wanted a part-time or full time position. We were so upset because he wasted our time because he knew what he was applying for. He is another one who received a business card.
When that finished, I proceeded in accomplishing my task because it was 5pm. When I began to pack up and leave, Taneka asked if I wanted to work last minute at the John Legend concert. Instantly I accepted because it was an invite to sit in the VIP Suite boxes with our special winners and radio show joc (Big Dennis). All I had to do was take attendance and then enjoy the show. In addition, I received five (5) tickets for me to invite my friends to accompany me to the show.
When my five friends and I arrived to the show, I began to feel like a important and rich. This is because I was given the full VIP treatment. Overall, I enjoyed the show and everyone that was in the suite with me. I also felt accomplished because they had me for the first time do and event solo. All the pressure was on me but I succeeded. In conclusion, it was a long day that was not in my schedule but was glad that I worked. This showed determination, ambition and responsibility. Also, I enjoyed everything because when you have a job that you enjoy, you begin to reap with all the benefits.
However, when I arrived in the Promotions Department, everything changed. This was because people didn't matter because the assignments needed to be completed. There was still a lot of work that needed to be completed. Also, luckily I came into work that day because we were short an intern, a couple of part-timers, Senior Promotions Director and our Director of Promotions for Hot 97, Kiss FM and RXP. Hence, the entire office was quiet. Also,Taneka was supposed to be out of the office but surprisingly she came in because there were too many people not in attendance (however, she was leaving early).
As usual, when I came in, I went straight into my daily ritual of checking all the department voicemails. This took about an hour then I proceeded to calling the contest winners who's event was this week or weekend. Normally, the week of an event, we call the winners everyday until they come and pick up there tickets(this is so they can get a constant reminder that there tickets are at the station ready for pick up. Most of the time the winners would come the last day to claim their prize). This week was the contest winners of the John Legend Concert featuring India Arie, Mister Cee and Funk Master Flex last summer Cruise ride and The Hot Smoking Presents: De La Soul. As you can see, yesterday was a busy day with just dealing with contest winners. However, I also had to finish the assignments that I left to do the previous day.
These assignments were to pack event bags, call possibly promotions department Fall interns and schedule and interview time with them. This took awhile because a lot of people faxed resumes and cover letters as a means of applying for the internship. Total, we scheduled ten (10) interviews for the upcoming week. While doing this, winners are coming in to claim their prizes rapidly. The next step of the internship process was to interview the people that we scheduled for that day. I was happy about this because I wanted to see who they were going to hire for the fall semester. When the first person came in, Taneka allowed me to take part in the first portion of the interview (which would be me and Ashely). The second portion is if we approved, they would meet with Taneka. I was extremely excited about this because they actually wanted my input in choosing the upcoming interns. When the first person came, I was anxious. We sat him down in the conference room, got his portfolio with his resume and cover letter and began the interview process. My role in the interviews was to state the role of an intern and to give a brief description of a days work. When it was time for him to speak, he was so nervous that he didn't know what to say. Every question we asked he answered something completely opposite of what we asked. Instantly, I didn't feel he should be hired. That and that he wore club apparel to and interview. He had a big fake diamond chain, ring and matching watch. When we finished, we went back and told Taneka our opinion and she gave us a business card to hand to him. As you can see, he didn't make it to the second round. When the second person came in, he didn't want to here anything about and internship, he wanted a part-time or full time position. We were so upset because he wasted our time because he knew what he was applying for. He is another one who received a business card.
When that finished, I proceeded in accomplishing my task because it was 5pm. When I began to pack up and leave, Taneka asked if I wanted to work last minute at the John Legend concert. Instantly I accepted because it was an invite to sit in the VIP Suite boxes with our special winners and radio show joc (Big Dennis). All I had to do was take attendance and then enjoy the show. In addition, I received five (5) tickets for me to invite my friends to accompany me to the show.
When my five friends and I arrived to the show, I began to feel like a important and rich. This is because I was given the full VIP treatment. Overall, I enjoyed the show and everyone that was in the suite with me. I also felt accomplished because they had me for the first time do and event solo. All the pressure was on me but I succeeded. In conclusion, it was a long day that was not in my schedule but was glad that I worked. This showed determination, ambition and responsibility. Also, I enjoyed everything because when you have a job that you enjoy, you begin to reap with all the benefits.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Back from Florida and Back to Work
Today was my first day back to work from my short weekend excursion to Florida. It felt like I haven't missed anything. I arrived early and was put straight to work. I was shocked because my boss was already at work before me and I have arrived at 8:30am. As usual, I started off with my daily work ritual. I began with checking the voicemails for the department and the two bosses. As usual, it was a lot of messages for me to check which took me about an hour. Called back all of the people who I can help on my own and solved their issues. Also, I was given assignments that I was supposed to accomplish throughout the day. These assignments were to call all of the contest winners for the upcoming week, distribute prizes to the winners, create event bags and to enter all of the new winners into Promosuites.
After checking all of our messages, I proceeded onto entering all of the new winners into Promosuites. These winners won tickets to the Sean Paul Concert, Who's Next Slaughter House Concert, Maxwell Concert, On Da Reggae Tip Concert, Queen Latifah Concert and also for De La Soul. This took a long time because there was a lot of different contests won over the weekend. Also, it was hard to decipher the information put on the contest sheets because the interns in the studio tend to write horribly (to the point that we have to strain to read what they wrote). Sometimes we would have to call the winners back to make sure they gave us the accurate information so we can understand it and use it for future reference.
After finishing this, I went onto calling all of the new contest winners that were just entered into the system. This was another task that took entirely too long. This was because we did not have a full staff in office today. We were missing one of the main part-timers and two interns. All of the work was just left for me and another intern name Justin. Even though the assignments were not so intense, they were very tedious. At that time as usual, a lot of people came to claim their tickets. They were coming in rapidly from 1pm-5pm. And as usual, I am the only intern to allowed to get all of the tickets. Which made the task seem like I was entitled to do it myself.
By the time I was finished with all of this, it was 5pm. I couldn't stay late today because I had to meet up with my mother. Also, the other intern, Justin, had to leave early as well to tend to some personal matters. Even though I was supposed to leave work exactly at 5pm, I stayed a little longer so I could help out with some last minute preparations that we were doing for this weekends event (called Harlem Day). This is a big Harlem festival that is for the community where Hot 97 and our sister station plays a crucial part in.
By the time I was packing up to leave, I realized that there was still many assignments that I have not finished for the day. I had to leave it for tomorrow. The left over assignments were to call the rest of the winners as well as enter in upcoming text messaging contest for the station and creating event bags. Also, I had to remind myself to create a list of all the winners and the contest they won. All of this is supposed to be my assignment for tomorrow.
After checking all of our messages, I proceeded onto entering all of the new winners into Promosuites. These winners won tickets to the Sean Paul Concert, Who's Next Slaughter House Concert, Maxwell Concert, On Da Reggae Tip Concert, Queen Latifah Concert and also for De La Soul. This took a long time because there was a lot of different contests won over the weekend. Also, it was hard to decipher the information put on the contest sheets because the interns in the studio tend to write horribly (to the point that we have to strain to read what they wrote). Sometimes we would have to call the winners back to make sure they gave us the accurate information so we can understand it and use it for future reference.
After finishing this, I went onto calling all of the new contest winners that were just entered into the system. This was another task that took entirely too long. This was because we did not have a full staff in office today. We were missing one of the main part-timers and two interns. All of the work was just left for me and another intern name Justin. Even though the assignments were not so intense, they were very tedious. At that time as usual, a lot of people came to claim their tickets. They were coming in rapidly from 1pm-5pm. And as usual, I am the only intern to allowed to get all of the tickets. Which made the task seem like I was entitled to do it myself.
By the time I was finished with all of this, it was 5pm. I couldn't stay late today because I had to meet up with my mother. Also, the other intern, Justin, had to leave early as well to tend to some personal matters. Even though I was supposed to leave work exactly at 5pm, I stayed a little longer so I could help out with some last minute preparations that we were doing for this weekends event (called Harlem Day). This is a big Harlem festival that is for the community where Hot 97 and our sister station plays a crucial part in.
By the time I was packing up to leave, I realized that there was still many assignments that I have not finished for the day. I had to leave it for tomorrow. The left over assignments were to call the rest of the winners as well as enter in upcoming text messaging contest for the station and creating event bags. Also, I had to remind myself to create a list of all the winners and the contest they won. All of this is supposed to be my assignment for tomorrow.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Wednesday, August 5th
Yesterday at work was a very long day. I arrived at 8:30am and was ready for work. As usual, I started off by checking my work email to see if I was sent any assignments that I was supposed to complete before the bosses came in. Looking through it, I realized that there weren't any. So I resumed back into my daily ritual which is to check all the voicemails in the department. I started out with our two phone lines that are designated for the promotions department assistants. After taking down these voicemails, I began to take down Donyshia's then Taneka's. When I finished taking these countless numbers of messages, I went into handling the issues that the callers were concerned about. Some of them called because they wanted to the know the stations hours and locations, others called because they either wanted to know if their tickets were ready for pick up or if they can have a street team appearance at their next event. Usually with booking a street team appearance, they would have to fax over an event flyer, a proposal and a copy of their 501C3 tax form a month prior to their event. Then we would decide if we will be participating in their event a week before the event.
After completing this task, I went on to calling the winners of the events that was taking place this week. These people were the winners of the BET Blaze The Stage contest and for tickets to the Funk Master Flex Birthday Party Bask hosted by Fabolous. Others were picking up their tickets to the Sean Paul Concert that will be taking place next week at the Highline theater. There were not a lot of people coming into picking up there tickets until late afternoon. They all came in at once and since most of the interns were at lunch, I had to tackle them all on my own. It wasn't that bad, I just had to make sure I worked with everyone in order of arrival into the station. This was to make sure that everyone was treated properly and accordingly.
When I finished that, I went to the radio studio to interview one of the most prominent DJ's of all time, DJ Mister Cee for my research paper. I went back to the studio a little early because he said I could come observe him while he was mixing live and on-air. It was a great experience because he is a person who is very focused on his craft. He zones in and blocks out all of the noise from the lobby and the other radio show booths. After he finished his show, he allowed me to conduct an exclusive interview with him. While doing the interview I was petrified. This is because he has such a hardcore exterior. When we started, he was very uneasy but allowed me to proceed with the interview. During the interview he allowed me to ask him fifteen questions and to record it. I asked him information on when he started, how he likes Hot 97, What's his greatest experience, How did he get started and etc. Of course before I interviewed him I did some research on him. However, during the interview, I learned so much about him that wasn't in any books or websites. He is a man who is dedicated to his craft and takes it serious. Also, he doesn't get excited about his own accomplishments. What excites him is by watching other people at the station grow and become known. One thing that I learned about Mister Cee is that he is an asset to the company. People around the station call him a walking musical thesaurus because he knows everything about the topic. Also, that he does not prepare songs that he is going to mix, it just comes spontaneous when he is mixing. This is beneficial to Hot 97 because he is person that represents the station. Which is Hip Hop and R&B but overall, he represents music.
After doing this, it was 4pm and I was supposed to leave and go to my street team event. This event was a Metro Plus event at the Cherry Lounge from 6pm-8pm. This was a club that was advertising health issues and insurance. However, when I started to get ready to leave for this event, I was told to stay and ask the other intern to replace me on this event because they wanted me to stay behind and enter in text messaging contest and add prizes onto our official web page. I was also told to stay because Friday one of the promotions assistants would not be there and I would also be taking a half of day and they wanted to act on her duties in her absence. We were both going to Florida (coincidentally) on Friday. However, her flight was earlier than mine so I had to still work that day but allowed to leave early.
When 5pm hit, I was assigned to entering all of the movies prizes and ticket giveaways onto the website. In doing this, I had to go on a special site called base.com and enter in the information, synopsis of the movie, characters and etc. This took about two hours because I made sure that I was very precise and accurate. I wanted to make sure their wasn't any errors. Especially since this was something that was going to be on the website for all to see.
Since that took so long, I was told to enter in the upcoming weeks works of text messaging contest for Friday to do. I ended up leaving the station at 7pm and went out with the rest of the interns. This internship has me feeling like I am really in the workforce because I work long days and then go out to Happy hour after work with the rest of the interns to discuss our day and to relax.
After completing this task, I went on to calling the winners of the events that was taking place this week. These people were the winners of the BET Blaze The Stage contest and for tickets to the Funk Master Flex Birthday Party Bask hosted by Fabolous. Others were picking up their tickets to the Sean Paul Concert that will be taking place next week at the Highline theater. There were not a lot of people coming into picking up there tickets until late afternoon. They all came in at once and since most of the interns were at lunch, I had to tackle them all on my own. It wasn't that bad, I just had to make sure I worked with everyone in order of arrival into the station. This was to make sure that everyone was treated properly and accordingly.
When I finished that, I went to the radio studio to interview one of the most prominent DJ's of all time, DJ Mister Cee for my research paper. I went back to the studio a little early because he said I could come observe him while he was mixing live and on-air. It was a great experience because he is a person who is very focused on his craft. He zones in and blocks out all of the noise from the lobby and the other radio show booths. After he finished his show, he allowed me to conduct an exclusive interview with him. While doing the interview I was petrified. This is because he has such a hardcore exterior. When we started, he was very uneasy but allowed me to proceed with the interview. During the interview he allowed me to ask him fifteen questions and to record it. I asked him information on when he started, how he likes Hot 97, What's his greatest experience, How did he get started and etc. Of course before I interviewed him I did some research on him. However, during the interview, I learned so much about him that wasn't in any books or websites. He is a man who is dedicated to his craft and takes it serious. Also, he doesn't get excited about his own accomplishments. What excites him is by watching other people at the station grow and become known. One thing that I learned about Mister Cee is that he is an asset to the company. People around the station call him a walking musical thesaurus because he knows everything about the topic. Also, that he does not prepare songs that he is going to mix, it just comes spontaneous when he is mixing. This is beneficial to Hot 97 because he is person that represents the station. Which is Hip Hop and R&B but overall, he represents music.
After doing this, it was 4pm and I was supposed to leave and go to my street team event. This event was a Metro Plus event at the Cherry Lounge from 6pm-8pm. This was a club that was advertising health issues and insurance. However, when I started to get ready to leave for this event, I was told to stay and ask the other intern to replace me on this event because they wanted me to stay behind and enter in text messaging contest and add prizes onto our official web page. I was also told to stay because Friday one of the promotions assistants would not be there and I would also be taking a half of day and they wanted to act on her duties in her absence. We were both going to Florida (coincidentally) on Friday. However, her flight was earlier than mine so I had to still work that day but allowed to leave early.
When 5pm hit, I was assigned to entering all of the movies prizes and ticket giveaways onto the website. In doing this, I had to go on a special site called base.com and enter in the information, synopsis of the movie, characters and etc. This took about two hours because I made sure that I was very precise and accurate. I wanted to make sure their wasn't any errors. Especially since this was something that was going to be on the website for all to see.
Since that took so long, I was told to enter in the upcoming weeks works of text messaging contest for Friday to do. I ended up leaving the station at 7pm and went out with the rest of the interns. This internship has me feeling like I am really in the workforce because I work long days and then go out to Happy hour after work with the rest of the interns to discuss our day and to relax.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
America's Most Wanted Concert
Saturday was another day that I had to work an event. I was really excited about this event because I was going to work the America's Most Wanted Concert: featuring Lil Wayne, Drake, Young Jeezy, Souljah Boy and Jeremih at the Nikon Theater on Jones Beach. The concert didn't start until 6:30pm but I had to meet at the station at 1pm to pack our equipment and event bags. Also, we had to be at the event for the pre-show by 4pm.
The drive to the event was supposed to be a fifty minutes but due to heavy traffic it took two hours long. Leaving the station at 2pm we arrived at the event at 4pm (which was supposed to be our start time). We (Erick and I) had to rush to being our equipment to our spot at the location. While Erick went to park the Interactive (our transportation), I went to set up our booth. I unpacked our Hot 97 table cloth, laid out the posters, two tear drop and two pull up banners, t-shirts, CD's and Lifestyle t-shirts and condoms. After that, I set up the fender to play the music and to also speak on the microphone.
When he came back, we hooked up our ipods to play music and our booth was finally open and ready for business. It was like we were the pied pipers because as soon as we started playing the music, people plagued the table. Due to the vast number of people coming to our booth trying to obtain promotional items, we had to play games with them as a way of limiting the number of items we distribute. Everyone could take the flyers and condoms, but if you wanted to get a t-shirt, poster or CD, we would ask them trivia questions on Hot 97. For example, a guy wanted one of the CD's we had laid out on the table. Instead of just giving it to him we asked him a question about Hot 97. We asked him to name five radio station DJ's. He could only name two. We couldn't give him the CD because he didn't know the answer. Five people later, someone finally got the answer and they won the prize. After the girl won her CD, the crowd cheered and we took the picture of her with the prize she won with the Hot 97 banner in the background. While this was going on, the other street team member was on the microphone MC'in our interactions with the crowd and also telling people to come to our booth and check out our promotional items.
By the time the show started (at 6:30pm), all of our promotional items were done. This was the first event that I have ever done that everything we brought was given away. Also, I was happy that we only had to work until the concert started because I wanted to see it. When the concert started, Erick went to get the Interactive while I packed up all our posters, banners, table cloth and fender. When he came back everything was packed and we brought it back to the Interactive to load.
Afterwards, I went to watch a little of the concert. I didn't want to stay too long because I didn't know anyone there and really couldn't have enjoyed myself like I normally would if my friends were there. Besides the only artist I wanted to see were Souljah Boy and Young Jeezy. After I watched their performances, we left. We didn't want to get stuck in the after concert traffic.
We left the concert venue at 8pm. Even though we left before the concert was finished, we arrived back at the station at 10pm. We were stuck in another two hour traffic jam. Most people were leaving Jones Beach because it was the only day out of the week that we were not expecting rain and it was also up to 90 degrees. When we got back to the station, we unpacked all of our equipment, uploaded the pictures of the event and filled out our Event Re-Cap Sheet. This sheet entails of naming the event, the demographic, age group and other info regarding our appearance.
After completing all of that, I finally left the station to take the train home. I reached home 11:30pm. Overall, the event was good and tiring. It was a long day and all I wanted to do afterwards was sleep. The event was good because of the turnout and especially because the crowd had a high positive energy. I also enjoyed this event because of the weather and that we (Hot 97) had the one booth that was providing music and that had the biggest turnout of people.
The drive to the event was supposed to be a fifty minutes but due to heavy traffic it took two hours long. Leaving the station at 2pm we arrived at the event at 4pm (which was supposed to be our start time). We (Erick and I) had to rush to being our equipment to our spot at the location. While Erick went to park the Interactive (our transportation), I went to set up our booth. I unpacked our Hot 97 table cloth, laid out the posters, two tear drop and two pull up banners, t-shirts, CD's and Lifestyle t-shirts and condoms. After that, I set up the fender to play the music and to also speak on the microphone.
When he came back, we hooked up our ipods to play music and our booth was finally open and ready for business. It was like we were the pied pipers because as soon as we started playing the music, people plagued the table. Due to the vast number of people coming to our booth trying to obtain promotional items, we had to play games with them as a way of limiting the number of items we distribute. Everyone could take the flyers and condoms, but if you wanted to get a t-shirt, poster or CD, we would ask them trivia questions on Hot 97. For example, a guy wanted one of the CD's we had laid out on the table. Instead of just giving it to him we asked him a question about Hot 97. We asked him to name five radio station DJ's. He could only name two. We couldn't give him the CD because he didn't know the answer. Five people later, someone finally got the answer and they won the prize. After the girl won her CD, the crowd cheered and we took the picture of her with the prize she won with the Hot 97 banner in the background. While this was going on, the other street team member was on the microphone MC'in our interactions with the crowd and also telling people to come to our booth and check out our promotional items.
By the time the show started (at 6:30pm), all of our promotional items were done. This was the first event that I have ever done that everything we brought was given away. Also, I was happy that we only had to work until the concert started because I wanted to see it. When the concert started, Erick went to get the Interactive while I packed up all our posters, banners, table cloth and fender. When he came back everything was packed and we brought it back to the Interactive to load.
Afterwards, I went to watch a little of the concert. I didn't want to stay too long because I didn't know anyone there and really couldn't have enjoyed myself like I normally would if my friends were there. Besides the only artist I wanted to see were Souljah Boy and Young Jeezy. After I watched their performances, we left. We didn't want to get stuck in the after concert traffic.
We left the concert venue at 8pm. Even though we left before the concert was finished, we arrived back at the station at 10pm. We were stuck in another two hour traffic jam. Most people were leaving Jones Beach because it was the only day out of the week that we were not expecting rain and it was also up to 90 degrees. When we got back to the station, we unpacked all of our equipment, uploaded the pictures of the event and filled out our Event Re-Cap Sheet. This sheet entails of naming the event, the demographic, age group and other info regarding our appearance.
After completing all of that, I finally left the station to take the train home. I reached home 11:30pm. Overall, the event was good and tiring. It was a long day and all I wanted to do afterwards was sleep. The event was good because of the turnout and especially because the crowd had a high positive energy. I also enjoyed this event because of the weather and that we (Hot 97) had the one booth that was providing music and that had the biggest turnout of people.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
My day at work on Friday
Yesterday was a a regular day at work. I gave out tickets to the contestant winners, entered in upcoming text messaging contests and answered/gave phone calls. However, I knew it was going to be a long day because after my work shift, I would have to do an event. The only unusual part of the day was that we received a vast excess of callers concerned about our sister's station 101 RXP's (rock 'n' roll) event which was featuring a special segment with Jay-Z. Some people were coming in picking up tickets for this concert (that was an all day event). Others were calling because there was a weather advisory warning everyone about the heavy rain that was going to happen in throughout the day. Most people were calling because they wanted to exchange their prizes (which they are not allowed to). However, the concert was to be going on all day rain or shine.
When 5pm reached, I was very happy because I could receive some extra tickets to the America's Most Wanted Concert: featuring Lil Wayne, Drake, Young Jeezy, Souljah Boy and Jeremih. I was so happy about those extra tickets that I received because I am a fan of Young Jeezy and Souljah Boy. However, before I left for my event, I was told that I was also going to be working that event. I was very happy because i wouldn't have to pay for tickets, gas, toll and parking (times are very hard).
Going to my event, I found I was working at a club called Katra on Bowery street downtown Manhattan. This club was 21 and older and most of the people were in the early 20s. When arriving to this event, we found out that we were supposed to be helping the club advertise Corona along with the Corona girl models. Our contact person was informing us that he wanted us to give out free promotional items and tickets to our upcoming concert. Upon his request we did and the tickets we gave out were two pairs of tickets to Hot 97 presents: De La Soul concert. At this event I was on the microphone advertising the station and also the prizes and giveaways. We were also taking pictures of the crowd with our promotional items as well as with us interacting with them.
Overall, my first club event was not all as exciting as I thought it would be. The only thing I really didn't like about this event was working with their staff. The staff at this club was being really uncooperative. Also, the club was rather small but ironically packed full of people. The staff also didn't want us to post any of our banners up but ironically wanted to announce that we were present in the building. Our event finished at exactly 9pm. Afterwards, we headed back to the station to do a recap and to return the equipment.
When 5pm reached, I was very happy because I could receive some extra tickets to the America's Most Wanted Concert: featuring Lil Wayne, Drake, Young Jeezy, Souljah Boy and Jeremih. I was so happy about those extra tickets that I received because I am a fan of Young Jeezy and Souljah Boy. However, before I left for my event, I was told that I was also going to be working that event. I was very happy because i wouldn't have to pay for tickets, gas, toll and parking (times are very hard).
Going to my event, I found I was working at a club called Katra on Bowery street downtown Manhattan. This club was 21 and older and most of the people were in the early 20s. When arriving to this event, we found out that we were supposed to be helping the club advertise Corona along with the Corona girl models. Our contact person was informing us that he wanted us to give out free promotional items and tickets to our upcoming concert. Upon his request we did and the tickets we gave out were two pairs of tickets to Hot 97 presents: De La Soul concert. At this event I was on the microphone advertising the station and also the prizes and giveaways. We were also taking pictures of the crowd with our promotional items as well as with us interacting with them.
Overall, my first club event was not all as exciting as I thought it would be. The only thing I really didn't like about this event was working with their staff. The staff at this club was being really uncooperative. Also, the club was rather small but ironically packed full of people. The staff also didn't want us to post any of our banners up but ironically wanted to announce that we were present in the building. Our event finished at exactly 9pm. Afterwards, we headed back to the station to do a recap and to return the equipment.
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