Week 9: Tasks/Assignments and Educational Implications

Since day one at my internship I have been given numerous tasks and assignments. On Thursday March 22, we had the 10th annual Heroes Breakfast held at the Manor Restaurant in West Boylston. For this event I had duties such as contacting people to nominate heroes from local newspaper clippings from 2011. After our heroes had been chosen I had to create certificates and thank you letters to all of those who had participated and then contact those who had been chosen and take down their information so we could start filming their stories. I then worked hand in hand with Darice in creating our invitation, awards, program and went on numerous outings to visit our heroes and the victims of some of the stories to capture their story on film with our videographer Ryan Hughes. About two weeks before the event we had a meeting with the event coordinator from the Manor and this was a new experience because I saw everything that you need to address and discuss before your event can actually happen. When I finally saw it all come together after working a 10 hour shift the day before for setup I was so happy to see all of our hard work pay off. During the event and after it I had the greatest feeling in the world, the event was a success and everyone enjoyed themselves. I received many congratulations and thank yous and I was so happy to have had a role in all of the behind the scenes work.

This is the CEO Lisa Piehler participating in the Radio event.

Along with this event I have also been given tasks to create certificates for an Amateur Radio event that took place at the chapter on March 9-10. There is also the annual golf tournament coming up in July and in my previous "what I have been up to.." blog there are examples of my work from the task I was asked to complete. In the next four weeks I will begin working on sponsorship brochures for the golf tournament and will continue to create any promotional items that will be needed. I have also agreed to assist Darice up until the golf tournament and will be working it the day of as well. I love to see the end result because there is so much work that leads up to these events that when you witness everything coming together it is one of the greatest feelings in the world.

Week 7: Preliminary Evaluation of Experience

1) Intern's Name  Meghan Alarie

2) Internship Firm/Organization American Red Cross of Central Massachusetts

3) This internship provides me with an adequate learning experience for my background. This internship will provide me with an abundance of experience. I am able to take projects into my own hands and go off on my own to complete them. I am given a lot of responsibility and thus am receiving a lot of experience and background.

4) My mentor at this organization understands my goals and objectives.  My mentor, Darice, has been very understanding of my goals and objectives, before coming to the Red Cross Darice was in the line of work that I wish to go into and with that she is able to delegate tasks to me that will help me reach my goals and objectives.

5) I did adequate preparation investigating the sponsoring organization and level of placement before accepting this position. When I went into the internship fair in the Fall, I really was not sure what type of position I was looking for, I knew what I wanted for experience, I wanted to work with someone who would need to do a lot of event planning and have that be a major part of their public relations plan. Upon looking at all of the companies that were there I figured I would gain a lot of experience with the Worcester Sharks, but upon meeting with Darice and talking to her for 15 minutes I soon realized that I wanted to be at the Red Cross. After our meeting I looked more at the chapter and the paperwork she had given me and decided that this was where I wanted to be.

6) This organization expects too much work or requires more polished work than I was prepared to do. I do not feel that I am overwhelmed with more work than I was prepared for. I have had a lot more traveling than I thought, but it is nothing that really overwhelms me. With my current part time position I was actually really prepared for a large work load and it is what I have always been used to.

7) I cooperate with my colleagues in our work or to accomplish joint goals at the organization. I do work hand in hand with Darice as well as another woman in the office, Pat, who I learn a lot of computer skills from. All though Darice is in charge of the Heroes Breakfast we work closely with Pat for she has worked on this project in years previous. Not only do I work with others in the Central Mass office, but also other Communication Directors from other Mass. chapters as well, and I produce some work for them.

8) I cope with annoying situations without losing my temper or poise? When working closely with others and those who are outside of the office you need to keep your poise at all times. We have run into some difficult situations but I have always prided myself on being able to keep things professional and I believe I have handled the situations with poise and grace.

9) I am eager to learn new skills. Darice has allowed me to work so closely with her that I am very eager every day I go to the office. I am able to show so much of my abilities and learn a lot from her that it makes my internship experience very enjoyable.

10) I find something new to learn even in the most routine tasks. This is very true, for example, after creating my postcard for our golf tournament we then had to process all of the mailing labels. We already had all 1500 contacts in an Microsoft Excell spreadsheet and Pat was able to teach me how to do a mail merge. This may seem like a secretarial skill but I know that having this skill will definitely come in handy one day.

11) I consider my internship position challenging and worthy of my talents. This internship has been challenging, but also very rewarding. I know I have the skills of resourcefulness and creativity, but I was able to enhance them with this position. My skills were challenged, but without being challenged I would never have gotten the experience that I have thus far.

12) My attitude toward colleagues and clients is helpful and concerned. When working very closely with our Heroes I have learned how to communicate better with those who must be informed. I had to learn everything about our event inside and out in order to answer any questions that they had. I also had to learn how to work closely with media personnel and how to be helpful to them in giving them what they need to do their job.

13) I easily recognize clients' needs and then try and assist them. The needs of the clients were clear. We have March is Red Cross month and we wanted to make sure that our events were going to be bigger and better this year. For our events we wanted everything finished with enough time for mistakes to be brought to our attention before that actual day of the event. Darice does not currently have an assistant, so my job was to fill that position.

14) I demonstrate ease in initiating conversation with colleagues and clients. This is a skill that I have always felt very comfortable about. Conversation is the key to getting anything done and without being able to initiate it you are going to make your work day that much difficult. No matter the situation, good or bad you need to be able to communicate with your colleagues and clients.

15) I show confidence and poise in dealing with colleagues and clients. I have always felt that I have very good "people skills." I know that I belong where I am and that I have worked hard to get there and this is where I draw my confidence from. When you are in the work place you need to be confident and poised in your relations because if you are there, it is more than likely that you did something right to be there. When you have confidence in dealing with your clients and colleagues you will be respected and that is a very important quality in the work place.

16) This organization can point to me with pride as one of their employees. I have been many places and have met many new people with the Red Cross and I am always introduced and am able to talk and form an opinion. When I first started I had a media training course with other directors I was able to join in on the training activities and my responses were heard and they were definitely proud of how I preformed and were happy to have me there.

17) I approach all tasks, even low level ones, with enthusiasm and a commitment to excellence. Being an intern there will be those tasks that seem "low level" but somebody needs to do it, such as addressing envelopes or putting together packets. These jobs need to be done and I am committed to doing them right because they are all apart of the process.

18) My work patterns and quality of work produced justify the time and money the firm is investing in me. I know that I have good work ethic and this is a very busy time for the Red Cross so we all need to be working diligently to complete tasks on time. During my 6 hour days I am constantly working, either Darice and I are working together or she gives me a job for me to complete on my own and then I see her when it is finished before anything goes out to the public.

19) I look forward to each day enthusiastically. I look forward to each work day. Each day we are working on new projects and getting closer to our larger event. What is very exciting about my work days are that we are very active, we are not just sitting in an office, many times we are meeting with people and completing tasks outside of the office.

20) Although this internship is a short-term position, I am personally committed and involved for the present. I am very involved in the present, I will also be trying to attend our golf tournament in July even though I will not be an Intern I want to see the turn out and the revenue that my save the date gained.

21) This internship experience has helped me clarify future goals. This internship has made me realize that this is what I want to go into. I understand the communications end of public relations but I have thoroughly enjoyed working on our events that we have produced. I know now that this is the end of public relations that I wish to concentrate on and I hope to be successful in.

22) Describe areas of personal interest and ability that you had not been aware of before working for this organization.

What I have been up to....

So I thought I would give a little up date on the activities I have been working on. Right now we are in the midst of planning the annual Hero's Breakfast that will take place on March 22nd at the Manor Restaurant in West Boylston. With the interview process underway for the video that will be aired during the breakfast we have been busy at work with also planning the annual Charity Golf Tournament that will be on July 30th at the International in Bolton. This is one of the largest fundraising events of the year for the Red Cross of Central Mass and we will invite over a thousand people and companies to join us. In March a Save the Date card will be sent out and I was given the opportunity to show off my creative and artistic skills and create the postcard.

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When my director and other board members saw this they loved it and 1000 of them were ordered. I was also approached by the director of the Berkshire chapter to adjust it to their chapter's golf tournament this is what I created...

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500 of these were ordered. It is such an amazing feeling to know that so many people are going to see your work, there is no other feeling in the world like it. I take pride in my work and am very proud of myself and what I have created.