MY EXPERIENCE AS PART OF THE DOUGLASS RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE MEDIA

TEAM

Final Internship Reflection

By Jaclyn WeisserSchool of Communication and Information Class of 2015

Brief Overview

Worked “virtual shifts” running the Douglass Residential College (DRC) social media accounts including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and G-mail

Had weekly in-office hours that allowed me to work with my supervisor directly

Worked on the Social Engagement team under a student manager with 3 other team members to run campaigns

Adapted to company culture by learning the professional/specific style of posting in the DRC style i.e. my posts became more specific to the social media platforms they

were intended for. When I posted to Facebook, we kept in mind that the alumni would be our main audience. With posting to Instagram, the goal was to create a visual collage of Douglass campus and events for students. Twitter is used for creating conversation and reaching out to current/prospective DRC students

Expectations

I had expected to do more for the team in general I had expectations of working on several campaigns for different

deans/Douglass event planners but only ended up working on one campaign during the semester

Live-coverage of Douglass events a few times a semester Now I understand that when working in a large team, not all

projects are able to go underway as planned Sometimes there’s a goal for a project that falls through Sometimes only so many people can work on a project at once

for example, my student manager Kristen had my team work on the Yule Log campaign (posting in anticipation of this traditional Douglass event) but we realized it was more of a one person job. We communicated as a team effectively to decide who would officially run the campaign while the rest of us would work with her providing extra assistance when necessary

I learned the importance of stepping back when not everyone can take on a leadership role. Doing so creates a more efficient team more likely to get a project complete than having “too many cooks in the kitchen”

Why did I choose this internship?

I chose this internship because I’ve always loved social media and wanted to learn how to use it in a professional environment to represent an organization

I stand for the values of DRC including women’s leadership, academic excellence, and diversity

The opportunity to gain interning and social media skills while working for an organization that aligns with my values was the perfect place for me to grow professionally

Academic Classes

Hyperlocal Newsroom Hyperlocal Newsroom was a journalism class I took in fall 2014 that proved to be very

helpful with this internship This class allowed for the students to both launch and write for a New

Brunswick/Rutgers online news site which also included blogs We incorporated social media and promoted our site through Twitter and Facebook

We had to be professional and concise just like with my current internship I also learned about working in a team, sometimes from remote locations, which is a

very similar set up to my internship Because we only have bi-weekly meetings, a lot of DRC Media Team work is done virtually Hyperlocal newsroom helped prepare me for this because we had to do a lot of work

outside of the classroom to keep the news site running, just like the DRC social media accounts need to stay active

Through this class, I learned about effectively communicating with a group to get a task done, which was very applicable in my internship

Even when you can’t be face-to-face with all members of your company or team, its important to stay in contact to complete tasks or work through conflicts For example, I was supposed to cover a Douglass event Monday but realized I had a

conflict. Through an app called GroupMe, a group messaging app that the DRC Media intern use, I was able to communicate with my group and find someone able to cover the event for me

Typical Day in the Office

Because of the unique set-up of my internship, it’s hard to describe a typical day in the office My responsibilities included being in-office one a week, a 12 hour virtual shift, and bi-weekly

meetings- IF all of these were to fall on the same day for me, this is what a typical day “in the office would look like”1. As part of my virtual shift, I’d be responsible for checking the G-mail and seeing if any requests for posts have been put in, posting to DRC Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter

I learned “graphic design” through a website called Canva that allows me to make nice looking posts with text for Instagram that are aesthetically pleasing as well as informative.

2. In office, I am responsible for the same social media tasks as listed above, as well as helping the supervisor directly with any immediate tasks which sometimes included running out last minute to an event to cover it 3. Covering an event includes live-tweeting, posting one Instagram post, and one Facebook post With a lot of practice, I learned effective event coverage is about quality over quantity- it’s more

important to tweet quotes and moments of substance that every single that happens at the event 4. Bi-weekly meetings This was when face-to-face communication occurred and were able to catch up and make sure we were

on the same page- each meeting would start with the managers letting us know if changes were being made, what important events were coming up, and certain changes in the style of posting• For example, we were instructed to avoid putting fliers on Facebook because it doesn’t make the Facebook

page look very aesthetically pleasing. We then learned how to make the same information look nicer with use of Canva to be posted on social media

o We then broke up into individual teams- mine being the Social Engagement team- where we were assigned specific campaigns and able to discuss ideas with each other

Challenges and Accomplishments

My biggest challenge was learning how to adapt to an internship that was not face-to-face but mostly virtual

Sometimes it was hard to step back when I felt like I was doing “nothing” productive for the team

Time management and communication skills were sometimes challenging

My biggest accomplishment was running the campaign for “An Evening with Debra Zimmerman”

An Evening With Debra Zimmerman

Because I had expressed my interest in feminist media, I was put in charge of the campaign for the event “An Evening with Debra Zimmerman”, Executive Director of Women Make Movies and soon to be the Laurie chair at Douglass

I had hands-on experience drafting a campaign

I drafted the campaign, got it approved, was able to interview Debra Zimmerman herself, and live-tweeted the event

An Evening with Debra Zimmerman

Outline of campaign proposal

Sample graphic designed on Canva used for the campaign

Instagram post from the event

Skills Developed

Time management Because of the unique set-up

of this internship, time management was essential. It was up to me to remember my virtual hours, planned ahead if I knew I’d be busy during my

shift- also had to plan for events that I was responsible for attending and covering.

Interpersonal communication

Working with a team within a team helped me to work on

my interpersonal communication- it was

important to be on the same page as everyone even when we weren’t physically in the same space. Technology like G-mail and social media like

GroupMe and Facebook helped make communication

possible. I think this is important because as we

enter the digital age, there are going to be more

experiences working with team members and coworkers

through technology that mediates communication.

Goal setting When it comes to setting a

goal, I learned the importance of how time management

comes into play and that not all goals can be achieved and you have to accept that and

move on to a new goal For example, when drafting a campaign, it

was important to stick to the times and days I had planned because people (including Deans) were

relying on me to promote their event effectively. Additionally, I had the

experience of a goal falling through. I had the

opportunity to interview Debra Zimmerman for the

Douglass website, but after sending it through the editors, it still was

never finalized and shared. It was explained to me that

“sometimes these things just happen”- while I was disappointed my efforts

did not have any tangible results, it was still a good

learning experience in many ways. I got to

interview an important person, write the story for

the interview, and then learn that not all things are able to be carried

through.

Professionalism I learned how to use social

media professionally (this includes quality photos on

Instagram, not “over-tweeting” during live

coverage of events, making sure Facebook posts are

relevant to both current DRC students and alumni, making

sure all posts were appropriate and represented DRC’s values, and not over-

using emojis) I also learned about working

within in team and how professionalism applies even when not in the office- this

includes simply reading and replying to e-mails in a timely

and professional manner Being responsible for tasks

and projects that other people are relying on you for is

another important element of professionalism I learned.

If I could do it again…

I will be continuing my internship next semester as this is a full-academic year internship

This time, I will be more prepared with the skills I’ve learned and the experiences of the challenges I’ve overcome

Additionally, I have been made public relations intern I’m going to learn how to write press releases for DRC

while working directly with my supervisor as well as gain more “in office” experience as oppose to virtual

Career Field/Industry

As a result of this internship, I learned about the career field of journalism, media studies, and social media.

Sometimes when you write things, they don’t always get published but you have to keep going!

Communication is important in all fields, especially when working in a field like journalism that may have you doing work virtually from a computer Even when you work virtually, sticking to deadlines is extremely

important. Even if no one is in your face telling you to keep up with your work, a group of people is still depending on you.

Social media is extremely powerful in how a company/organization is represented. Being able to run social media effectively and professionally is an

important skill as the world enters a “digital age.”

Goals

Short term goal After graduating in the spring, I’d like to find an

entry-level job or paid internship within the media industry To accomplish this, I plan to send my cover letter and

resume to Jax Media, a fairly new media company that produces my favorite television show “Broad City”

• Long term goal• I plan to write television, blogs, and run social media

for feminist organizations/networks/companies• I want to find an internship (like Jax media) that will help

me get my foot in the door. I want to start my own blog or vlog in the near future to produce creative content to share.