May 10-14: Wrapping up my internship

I have learned quite a bit this semester during my internship. The real life experience I gained is something that cannot be taught in a classroom. I would say I had nothing really to write about this week due to finals, but I am still working. I got HIRED through the election! So this week I will be traveling to Duncan Thursday and staying through Friday. We are shooting commercials and I am on the team to help.

I think it is very beneficial to have internships, as many as possible, throughout your time at the university. Like I said, the real life experience cannot be matched and the professional relationships you make will lead to jobs or people who can help you find one. From all the events I attended, I have tons of business cards that will help me network after my job on the campaign is over! I am very glad I chose to enroll in this class and participate in an internship.

May 3-7

Tuesday was a relaxed day around the office. I did a lot of data entry that needed to be done. It was a normal day with routine activities. I made just a few phone calls this day.

Thursday was a long and busy day. I would be traveling today to Durant, a town in Oklahoma that I had never been to. I arrived in the office around nine to work on some of the data entry I had left over from Tuesday and we left for Durant around lunchtime. We were headed down there because there was a gubernatorial forum at Southeastern State. Three of the four candidates would be there. On the way, I worked on the Faebook and Twitter accounts from my phone. Once we arrived I helped the media set up the camera and ran around finding people to let me in and out of doors. Then, as guests of the forum being to arrive, I mingled, offering bumper stickers and t-shirts and getting people to sign up for our e-mail list. Then I got to listen to my first election forum. It was very interesting to listen to the type of policy they were speaking about, because it would influence my future if I chose to stay in Oklahoma. Around 10 that night, we loaded up and headed home. It was an exhausting day.

Tuesday:9-6

Thursday:9-10 p.m.

April 26-30

This week was crazy busy. On Thursday was our candidates birthday so we spent a good majority of the week running around and making sure everything was going to go as planned. On Tuesday, we headed to the event site. We were going to be streaming live broadcast from the event so we had to test the cameras and sound and see how the internet connection would handle the interference. Luckily, after many hours of messing with wires, placement and sound, we were going to be able to pull it off. I had to make last minute phone calls to photographers, decorators and the caterers to make sure all the arrival times were coordinated. The next step was to make sure that the media around the event was going smoothly. We update the Facebook and Twitter accounts. This was also going to be a fundraising event, so we were making phone calls to volunteers and touching base with people who had RSVP'ed to remind them of the event. On Thursday, we arrived at the party site around 8 a.m. We set up all the media, tested it a few more times and tied up loose ends with the decorations. I then spent the rest of the day running around OKC getting last minute things that people had forgotten. The party was a great success and I had to walk around the whole time, making sure to talk to each person that was there and try to get them to do 30 second video spots for the Web site. When the party was over, I finally got to sit down and eat the cake!

Tuesday:9-6

Thursday: 8-9

April 22

Today was a day of the same grunt work of the campaign. I spent a lot of it making phone calls to volunteers for weekend events. I also was able to spend some time with our media consultant from Washington who was in town. I got to talk to him a lot about the media business and he told me about the best ways to get multiple clients. I talked to him about public relations and he gace me some good pointers. I helped type some more content for the Website and responded to a lot of the Facebook and twitter requests. We get tons of Facebook comments and friend requests a day so it is a full time job just trying to manage those accounts.

Hours: 9-6

April 20

Today was a similar day for me. I spent the morning working on lists containing information about contributors to past campaigns. This is an important aspect of fundraising because it lets us find out who our target audience is for events and calls. The more you know about big contributors the more you have to stand on when contacting them. This is a tedious process because I have to use a database that contains tons of information about these people and I have had to sort through it all.

I am starting to become a pro at excel.

Also, we have a major event coming up one week from today and I have been trying to do publicity for that. I have been using the Facebook event invitation aspect and have had a very positive response. I am working on a target publics for the invites. I am trying to get members of the candidates sorority, both active and alum, to come to the event and I have been contacting them with Facebook and phone calls. I am getting more and more experience on event planning.

It was also the arts festival downtown so I got to take a long lunch to go explore that. I have never been and thought it was fun!

WEEK of April12th-16th

This was a week full of some repetitive tasks. I spent a lot of time with getting Google News Alerts and posting them on blogs, Web sites, etc. in order to get good press out about the campaign. It gets tiring sifting through all the Web traffic but has ultimately taught me a lot about social networking. As usual, I made phone calls to volunteers and sent out Facebook invites and event pages. This is something that I am very familiar with and helps to reach certain demographics. We also started a big push to get summer interns to come work on the campaign. I drafted that email and helped start the circulation of that. It is something I hope people from OU will become a part of.
We also received contribution lists from other states. These lists contained the names and donations of people who give to similar parties and candidates. It is important on campaigns to sift through the names of these people and see if there is a possibility for donation. This became my job for the later part of the week was to do background research on certain demographics.

Tues/Thurs 9-6

April 8th

I spent today doing a lot of repetitive tasks. This was a very "intern" work day. There were tons of phone calls to make and a lot of pictures to upload so I was the one to do this. I made phone calls to contact people about events for what seemed like an eternity. I have found that the success rate of getting people to come to your events is highest when you make personal contact with them. I also was able to learn new MAC technology with scanners that I had never seen before. Knowing basics of photoshop helped a bit when it came to retouching and changing the photos to fit on the Web site.

I also worked overtime today to help out with a "volunteer" night. It was a long day but it was enjoyable to watch people dedicate their evening to help out. Basically volunteers on the campaign came at night to help out with little tasks that needed to be done. We contacted these volunteers from the Web site. About 20 people came out to help make phone calls and with data entry.

Thursday 9 am-8:30 pm

Tuesday April 6th. FORUM.

Today I became very familiar with google news alerts and how it can both help and hurt a campaign. Google news alerts you can set so that if anything is posted on the internet, social networking site, etc. it is sent to your alerts and you can then read the entirety of whatever it is. When working for politicians or any government agency, this is an important tool because it keeps you ahead of what most of the public reads. Since most people do not get these types of alerts you are able to deal with the information or manipulate. In some ways, you can minimize any bad press by "flooding" news alerts with positives. I spent a lot of today compiling these alerts for my candidate and posting news releases on the web site subsequent to this coverage.

I also attended a forum today that was for the APAC, an architectural political action committee.This was interesting to see because I got to see how a panel of candidates react to each other and an audience. I was at the forum to help tape and record the panel while sporadically tweeting quotes and updates for followers. This is a way we have found that people can follow the campaign closely to events the public may not attend.

Tuesday: 9-6:30

WEEK OF April 29-2.

This week was a lot like last week with the same amount of work. One of the most important aspects about a campaign is the volunteer database you have. I have spent a lot of time with the other interns separating the volunteer database into quadrants of the state. This is never a fun job to do, especially for someone who doesn't like excel. The other important things to understand about volunteers I have found out is some of them react two ways when you try to solicit their hel. They can either be the type that get upset you haven't asked for help before now or they get upset you are asking for help. They sign up to be volunteers but they do not want to actually do any work. This is where learning professional social graces comes in handy.

I also have been doing more with fundraising event planning. I have been making calls to people who RSVP'ed to make sure they were attending. This is another time when people get annoyed with you for asking to come to something they signed up for! I am still amazed however, at the amount of money that individuals are willing to contribute to a political candidate.

I have never been a person who was big into politics. Being on this campaign has taught me a lot about the government, policy and how public relations is tied into these types of people. Seeing how PR works at a state level, I can only imagine how the federal level public relations practitioners operate. It seems to be a very high stress job. The involvement that you have with a candidate makes you susceptible to criticism as well. This is something I have had to keep in mind, even though I am just an intern.

Tuesday/Thursday: 9-6.

Week of March 22-26: Work and School Woes

I can't wait for graduation for one main reason: I will not have to work and be in school at the same time. One of the hardest things about working a 9-6 position is that I have to go home and finish homework. It makes my days longer and more stressful. Now that my campaigns capstone class is picking up speed, I am spending longer hours working for that and it is taking a toll on my sleep. I find myself tired at work, well tired all the time.

However, I still managed to get a lot accomplished at work this week. I am continuing to make phone calls to ensure there will be attendance to fundraisers. I made calls for two separate events this week. This is helping with my professionalism on the phone as well as my patience with making it through a long call list. Working on this campaign made me realize that I do not like making calls from a list. It is one of my least favorite tasks as an intern. I also finalized the biography I was working on and got some great quotes from people to put in it, which I think gave a great twist on the traditional bio. We had some technical difficulties with our Web sites and internet this week which made work a little difficult and added some time required to different projects.

The event that I had been working on was this weekend, so I spent a lot of time finalizing attendance for that. I was not able to make the event, so I am curious to go in the office Tuesday and see how everything went.

Tuesday/Thursday: 9-6

Week of March 15-20: SPRING BREAK

What I am continuing to discover is the difference between vacation for a student and for someone who has a full time job. Even though I am an intern, working for class credit and not for pay, I still feel like it is difficult to go out of town for long periods of time and abandon my responsibilities. For the past three years of college, I have gone on spring break and forgotten about all school work. This year was different. Since getting this internship, I have felt as though I have to stay connected with people 24/7. I constantly check my email for notices from people at the office as well as volunteers for the campaign. The week before spring break, I went into the office on Friday afternoon for 3 hours to help set up new areas for volunteers to come in and help. As the campaign continues to pick up pace, there will be more need space.

Also, during the week of spring break I spent a total of five hours answering emails and polishing up the biography I was working on. This was a new experience for my spring break. I was not use to doing work on vacation. This is preparing me for what is to come after graduation, a lot less vacation time.

Spring Break: 8 hours

Week of March 8-12: More Event planning..

The one thing I have noticed about my internship is that the more days I spend there, the more I know what to do when I get to the office without needing direction. I have my own projects I am working on and it feels like more of a real job. I really like the new office I work in and the people that share the office with me. We have a really good time! I am still working on the event I started planning last week. I have been working out what public's to target for invites and spent a lot of time on social network sites trying to get people to confirm to the event. One thing I noticed is that a lot of people initially say they will go to an event, but it is the follow up that is important. I am trying to get contact information, phone or e-mail, for those who confirm on facebook in order to be more personal about their invite.
My PR writing class has really come in handy this week as I was asked to write a quick press release. I had to brush up real fast on the components of it and didn't feel as prepared as I would like. I haven't written a press release in a good year. However, it worked out well. I had to write a press release over the endorsement of the candidate by a NFL football player. It was really exciting to be able to be involved in that kind of media. I remember now why I hated writing press releases though, the restraints and wording of information makes it more difficult that you expect.
I am also drafting up emails to recruit interns for the summer. As the campaign progresses, we need more and more help and I am trying to find volunteers, etc.
The last thing I worked on this week is a biography for my candidate from different aspects. We are trying to get her involvement in different organizations, etc. posted and I was helping on that. A lot of writing this week and sometimes that is very taxing.

T:9-6
Thursday 9-6

Week of March 1-5: Event life.

This week I spent a lot of time working on actual events that would take place. First off, I am helping kick off a fundraising event that will take place in Oklahoma City at the end of March. I am targeting specific groups and determining the best way to get high attendance numbers. Since it is a fundraising event, it is a difficult venture to invite people to something and tactfully talk about contributions. This is something, however, that I am getting good at. I have been utilizing Facebook more than ever. I made a group and an invite for the event that will hopefully reach more people. I also have spent a lot of time contacting heads of organizations which is tedious work. All in all, being in PR campaigns currently is helping me through my internship. I am trying to apply what I am learning in both settings to the other. It was perfect planning on my part to be involved in both at the same time.
I also attended my first event this week as an intern. It was held at a very large house in OKC and was hosted by a doctor and his wife. It was also a campain fundraising event. The catering was great and luckily I got to eat some after the event was wrapping up. My main objective was to get people to sign in for the event and get contact information for our database for future reference. What I was not expecting was the amount that some people could afford to write on their checks. Maybe it is since I am in college and have no money, but to see the kind of money people drop on campaigns still shocks me today. For the kind of campaign I am working at it takes about $3 million, before the primary. Anyways, the event was very exciting and also gave me another opportunity to dress up and act professional. Learning how to speak to older business people is much different than what I am use to and I am glad I am getting that experience now.

Tuesday: 9-6
Thursday: 9-9pm

Week of Feb 22-26

For this week, I spent the majority of my Tuesday doing an office change. That is one big thing about working on a campaign, you have to be flexible with your time, location and abilities. SO on Tuesday I was a mover and fundraiser and a social networking buff. I am spending more time on the phone for my internship, getting supporters and contacting those from the past. It is sort of fun to be able to contact people all over the state, but also a little intimidating when not everyone is extremely nice. It is really amazing though to see the amount of money that civilians will put towards politicians. You think that campaign goals are really lofty, as far as the amount of money you need to raise, but it is surprisingly easy. I am also working on a special project were are doing here at the campaign. Trying to incorporate support blogs into our campaign Web site. It is a good way to get volunteers and supporters more interactive in the campaign and doing some of the same work that we do.

I am also helping on a fund raising initiative on campus as well as an opportunity for people to get registered to vote. We are hoping that by reaching out to students and helping them register there will be more of a voter turnout. I know that myself the registering part is what kept me from voting for a long time, therefore I thought it was a good idea to set something like that up on campus.

Hours: Tuesday/ Thursday 9-6

Social Media

One of the most interesting things about working on a campaign is seeing how much of an influence social media has on the fund raising, publicity, etc. Social media is becoming such an important part of public relations and really any sort of networking for companies, etc. that I am glad I am getting a lot of experience. There are certain ways to effectively use social media and I am getting to know these very well from the media director on the campaign. I know that in a previous blog I have mentioned that a lot of my work is with social media for the campaign, but I am currently working on a new project. When trying to get support for a political candidate, it is important to not only ask for money but give people room to share their experiences and involvement. People respond positively when they feel like they are needed for something. I am currently trying to develop a blog on the Web site for donors and volunteers to post why they support the candidate. It is a very vital part of the Web site because it gives people a chance to share their reasons, both political and personal, for their endorsement. This is a pretty time consuming task to take on because it requires a lot of effort in contacting people and editing their blogs. Something I learned about social networking is that it is usually done by a team rather than an individual.

**this week I worked mainly on the social networking part of the campaign and helped build a support blog for the Web site. I worked 9-6 on Tuesday/Thursday.

Vacation Time.

This internship has really started to prepare me for the real world and the job I am going to have post graduation. This past week, I took Thursday off in order to go out of town for the weekend. When doing so, I had to make sure that everything was taken care of at work, all of my responsibilities were handled and that I could make up my hours at a later time. It was not the easy situation I was use to when leaving town. I had a lot to consider when taking that time off. I also had to start considering what I was going to do when I wanted to take the whole week off for spring break. Being a student, we get built in vacations. I know understand why my parents can't take off at random times during the year to go on vacation. They have a set number of days and I am starting to understand this concept. This shows me how it won't be as easy to leave town whenever I want as soon as I get a job after graduation. I am not sure how I feel about all these experiences I am having with "real life" careers. I am feeling more prepared as I learn these responsibilities, but it is also a little depressing with graduation on the horizon.

**This week I worked on Tuesday 9-6. Working on more donor lists.

Lunch Hour.

My favorite part of the work day is my lunch hour. The decision of where we go is a long drawn out debate and seems to be one of the most difficult decisions we face each day. However, it is my favorite part of the day, mostly because I really enjoy the company of who I work with. The gossip at lunch is much different than what I am use to. Going to lunch with my friends or sorority sisters, I would have ample things to talk about. However, these days I find myself absorbing more of the chatter about politics and campiagn business. What I use to chat about at lunch now seems unimportant and juvenille. It still is my favorite part of the day because even though we talk about more important things than shopping, it is a very entertaining bunch that I am quickly becoming quite fond of. When I work five days a week, this could become a money issue..

Other than lunch, I really do enjoy most of my work day. I still am getting use to waking up early and getting dressed. The drive to the city is becoming more enjoyable as I have started to view it as down time, with no work, just traffic to sit in and music to listen to.

What I have really started to get a grasp on, as far as working on a campaign, is how important the relations you have with your donors are. Fundraising is one of the most important aspects of a campaign and how you go about getting people to give you their money is an art. Something great I have been able to work on is the social network aspect of the campaign. Facebook and Twitter are increasingly popular in the business world and applying it to our campaign is very useful. We have social media consultants who help show us how to effectively use these tools to reach the right audiences. When planning an event, it is much more efficient to send out a Facebook invite than make over 100 phone calls. The idea of social networking is a big evolution for public relations fields. It is nice to get a feel for it on this campaign. Any position I pursue in PR could possibly involve a lot of social networking. Another important aspect my internship is teaching me is professionalism. You don't even think about how your day to day conversations with people, both in person and on the phone affect you, but having this position has made me very aware of it.

** Worked Tuesday and Thursday this week 9-6 pm. This week I worked more on donor forms for the campaign and also e-mails out to potential donors. More hands on PR work this week.

The basics.

I am going to use my first blog post to explain what an internship feels like to me, a real life job. Waking up in the morning, getting ready and braving traffic is something, until now, I had shunned. I always felt like being in school was my job and I loved the fact it was one I didn't have to wake up an hour and a half early for. I am currently a senior at the Univeristy of Oklahoma and I am studying public relations. This is my last semester (well, so I am planning) at OU and I am not sure exacltly where I am going to go from here. I have had odd jobs here and there, but nothing professional or important, so I am hoping that my internship will give me a starting point for my future. My internship is at a political campaign. A world I was very unfamiliar with until now. I had never had an affinity for or interest in politics, but I did know how beneficial a campaign would be with my intended career path. With graduation on the horizon, I wanted to jump headfirst into something that I was unexperienced in and would push me to learn something new.



So far, I love my job. The first week I spent learning roles in the office and getting to know everyone. I was happy to find out that everyone I work with is exciting and vibrant. It isn't like the normal desk job I expected, and I was happy to find out I wouldn't be hibernating in a cubicle alone. I don't do well without social interaction. The laid back, yet hardworking atmosphere makes me feel like I can make mistakes, learn from them and move on without being fired. One of the main downfalls about office work is I discovered how much I despise excel. The program makes me dizzy and frustrated. However, it did help me learn about having to organize large amounts of information in a short period of time. This is the only major hatred I have discovered. Other than that, I enjoy getting to talk to people and by working on a campaign, I have witnessed one of the greatest public relations jobs-fundraising. Wathcing how many people will contribute their own money to a campaign shows the skills that the people I work with have. Today, one of the major projects I worked on was fundraising list information and I got to help draft a fundraising letter that will be sent out all over Oklahoma.



I am looking forward to what other adventures I will be on during this campaign. It is a lot of work and as the months progress it will only get more time consuming, but I know it will be worth it in the end.

**This week I worked Tuesday and Thursday from 9-6. I also went in on Friday from 9 until lunch. My responsibilities were to work on compiling lists for possible donors and support for the campaign!