Oh gosh. Hello. So much has happened, time flies, next thing you know there's less than a week to the end of the year. Well, I have to start where I left off, with Money: where I interned for the summer. Think the best way to maybe go about this is to kind of make a bulleted list (not in any specific order) with the things I remember.
- I had the opportunity to dorm at Columbia University on a floor occupied by other Time Inc. interns. Which was amazing. I'm from Queens, so moving back to NYC after graduation, I knew I had a home to return to, and that I could stay there until I had the means to move out (not anytime soon). Ideally though, I would love to live in the city or somewhere in Queens really close to the city, because I don't know, that's where I work, I'm young and that's just ideal. So having the opportunity to at least do that the summer right after graduation was amazing. The Columbia campus & neighborhood was great, and Time Inc. offices were just a 25 minute ride away on the 1. I had great roommates--one of whom was also a Money intern and who I became pretty close to, and two who interned for People magazine (one for the site, one in the art department). We had a spacious suite, our own rooms. It was just really nice.
- I was so nervous on the first day! Walking into it with Angela (my roommate) helped. We were greeted by the super friendly office manager who led us to the layout room, where the staff was having its weekly meeting. Immediately knew who the editor in chief was by the way he led the meeting. I didn't see him often except occasionally in the hallways and during meetings. The man is so funny in a way that most probably find offensive. I'm not sure how to describe it, but I thought he had a ridiculously great sense of humor.
- Apps. During our first month, in place of the monthly beat memo meeting, the EIC held an apps meeting instead. He was interested in developing the magazine's first smartphone app. I think that project may or may not have been put on hold because Time Inc. is preparing to launch all its publications on the Nook for the new year, but I may be mistaken. Anyway, the staff was split into groups of three or four, interns included, and each was required to either build on app ideas submitted to the EIC a few months earlier, or create a new one from scratch. Each group consisted of reporters, editors, art directors, and an intern! It was so nice to be able to get to know different members of the staff in a small group. They were all so friendly and I felt comfortable contributing. And just the process of conceiving a new app was a lot of fun.
- I somehow became the designated intern to accompany a reporter and photographer to Times Square each month to assist with the back of book "The Big Question" page. The first time, I assisted and the second time I went myself! My question was, "Do you love or hate your bank?" I love man-on-the-street interviews, so that was fun.
- BEST PLACES TO LIVE. This is what the interns are really there for, haha. Each year Money releases its Best Places to Live in America issue, where it ranks the top 100 cities in America based on a number of factors. The lists alternate between small towns (less than 50,000) and large towns (I forget the interval, think it's more than 100,000), but this year it was small towns. Money collaborates with a data service provider which I won't name, but provides a list of towns that have the best of a variety of things including: jobs/employment, health, and education. They send reporters to the top 25 or so, and based on their reporting rank the top 10. The rest, the interns report on. 30 each. We spoke to real estate agents, government officials and residents to determine what the town was like and if it really deserved to be on the list.
Link: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2011/snapshots/CS2560785.html
- CNNMoney.com. My final, final week was spent in the CNN offices at the Time Warner Center, as that is where CNNMoney.com exists. (Web and print are quite separate). It was so awesome being in a real newsroom; our purposes as interns was to help them launch the Best Places to Live on the Web. So mostly, we did a lot of fact-checking and used cool apps to create the slideshows.
- Photoshoot. The LAST thing I expected to do as part of my internship was participate in a photoshoot. Typically, an EIC features his or her photo next to the editor's letter each month, but Craig's not into that, I guess. So he has a member(s) of the staff pose in lieu instead, usually finding a way to incorporate them into the letter. For August, he chose the interns. Like, we actually had a makeup artist and stylist come in and help us prepare. Then we took photos on one of the building's balconies and in front of the building with Radio City Music Hall as a backdrop. Unreal. I look absolutely awful in the photo, but no matter. It was a cool opportunity.
- As interns, we also had the opportunity to contribute to Money's blog, "More Money," (hosted by CNNMoney.com). I wish I contributed more often but it was nice to contribute at least one--a story about how to score a deal on used cars. I was also working on a story about the FAA shutdown (and how it would affect travelers who wanted refunds) but it literally kept changing every hour. Stressful. By the time I edited it, the FAA had ended the shutdown and the story was pointless. Bit frustrating.
- Other perks: we had our own offices, we received free issues of every of Time Inc.'s magazines, bagel fridays!, seminars (on how to search for difficult documents, for example), and being able to attend staff meetings. Everyone was hilarious in their own right and it was so much fun (and helpful!) to see each member collaborate. Each person brought a different talent, style, area of expertise that really manifested itself in the pages of the magazine and it was great to be able to see that work itself right in front of you. They treated us like real members of the staff and at the same time held our hands; an experience that I won't (nor expect to) have ever again, but it was perfect for an internship right after college--being released into the real world while still being able to take baby steps.
- Personal finance. Towards the end, I began to think that maybe I allowed the internship to do more for me than I did for it, which caused a few regrets. But I do think I took what I learned from it and was able to apply it to my next internship at New York Magazine (major updates coming about that experience soon). One of the biggest things Money did for me was help me get a hold of my finances. I view them so differently now. More independent. I graduated with about $3,000 in credit card debt that I knew I should be worried about but assumed I'd figure out, eventually. Um, no. Wrong answer. This internship was like a crash course in get-your-financial-shit together. (Another reason it was perfect for post-graduation). Even before the internship started, Margaret (one of the senior editors) mailed us a few back issues of the magazine plus a copy of Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance In Your Twenties And Thirties. So helpful, still! And I'm proud to say that I have paid off my entire credit card! This summer I learned its better to get rid of that first then focus on loans (Already made my first payment. Womp. My goal is to get rid of the $25,000 in two years.) Also learned that writing about personal finance is not all that hard and actually kind of fun. Different than what I'm most passionate about (the long form non-fiction feature type writing) but I could totally do this too. In fact, I already did, once. I freelanced for Parents.com (http://www.parents.com/parenting/money/family-finances/save-money-for-your-newborn/). And I'll be starting an internship with Business Insider's Your Money in January! Which is crazy. Seriously, who would have thought. Anyway. Money. My best internship as of September. And really, I think my time there set the stage for the rest of my career.
