Stepping stones in my career

I have always said that any experience in the professional world is good experience, especially while I am still in college. Even if it is something that you realize does not interest you, that leads you one step closer to what does. Even if you have a bad experience or receive constructive criticism, that helps shape who you want to be as a professional. My experience at WSHH 99.7 was an awesome one, and I’m happy to say that it will continue. I have been hired as a Promotions Assistant for the station! My experience has helped me learn how the real world in part of the SAE industry works. Because I hope to get into event planning or marketing, this internship was the perfect step stepping into the beginning of my career pursuit. Knowing that I am gaining experience in something that I know I want to do in my professional career, I am excited to see what the future holds with my time at WSHH 99.7!

Organization is key!

One thing I’ve learned about being successful in the professional world is that you have to be super organized. Without organization, you will be a MESS. I have learned to have a label and file for anything that I receive at the station. Whether it be for an event or a contact list, it needs to be in a folder. sPEAKING of contact lists, MAKE AN EXCEL SPREADSHEET FOR ALL OF YOUR CONTACTS FOR AN EVENT AND SAVE IT. It will make your life so much easier, and it will be easier for people to use in the future if need be! Especially for events, color coding an excel spreadsheet will also help greatly (i.e. green for confirmed participants, yellow for maybe/follow up, red for no). Have a hard copy of everything, as well as a digital copy. You never know when something can disappear! Making sure you have an in-text/writing commitment is also important. Without this, people can change their minds like they had never committed to anything. Communication is a big part of organization as well, because if everyone is not on the same page, there is chaos! Making sure everyone is on the same page with everything helps with organization greatly!

Achieving Goals

When I start anything, I always set goals for myself before I begin. Before starting my internship with WSHH 99.7, I had three goals in mind to achieve during my time at WISH 99.7: To broaden my knowledge in the radio industry through shadowing different parts of the company, to help plan events and remote appearances for the station, and to participate in remote events for the station and meet new people while doing so. I achieved my first  goal by not only interning with the marketing and promotions department, but also by being able to go on a couple of sales pitches with the sales department, as well as shadow their radio personalities during on-air time and interviews. I was able to achieve my event planning goal because it was one of my main duties during my internship. I helped my supervisor, Maureen, plan and organize many events including Rustic Chic Magnifique at the Galleria of Mt. Lebanon, as well as Spring KidzPLAY, which is happening this coming weekend. I learned how difficult it can be to plan an event with so many aspects, but also how rewarding it is in the end. However, one of my favorite parts of the internship was being able to go to remote events at least twice a month. I could play games with listeners and kids, talk to different people every day, and meet a lot of new listeners and local business owners! It reminds me of  working at Disney in a way, being able to converse with so many different people at every remote event. I feel as though during my time at WSHH, I have been able to achieve all of my goals that I had set for myself.

Media Kit work!

One of the biggest and most important tasks I’ve had during my internship at WSHH 99.7 was updating, revising, and recreating the station’s media kit. Starting with designing the cover, I had to use label-approved photos of some of the artists that are played on the station. If a photo is used of an artist that is not label-approved, the station could get in trouble. Next, I made graphs of listener statistics, called the “listener profile,” including ages of listeners, employment status, popular times, etc. that were given to me from WSHH 99.7. I then added the on-air schedule for the station, as well as images of our three radio personalities. Playlist examples are next, including the top artists played on WSHH 99.7. The coverage map is next, with an image of the coverage map, as well as all of the counties that the station serves. Community involvement photo examples and captions, as well as promotional highlight pictures and captions and interactive presence examples follow. A list of services provided by WSHH 99.7, as well as a client list and testimonials come next. The media kit ends with the “remote broadcast package” details and contact information for the managers and directors at WSHH 99.7. Even though it was a lot of work, I am very happy with how it looks and I’m proud of my final product!

Mascot Party!

Have you ever heard of a mascot party? Neither have I but apparently it’s a hit! I learned about this popular event during my time at WSHH 99.7! I was first made aware of it after Winter Wonderland at Station Square, where numerous mascots were asked to come entertain guests and walk around, take pictures, etc. Given a list of over 50 mascots from around the area, my most recent task was to find mascots available to join us at an event at the Mall at Robinson on April 22. You would never think that there were so many mascots in the Pittsburgh area! Between colleges and universities to businesses and restaurants to sports teams, there are a ton! However, what I didn’t realize was that some restaurants and businesses need requests at least five months in advance! Because of this, a lot of mascots were automatically cut. I also learned that if you need a college or university mascot, the best option is to contact the cheerleading coach! Getting more than 10 mascots to attend a “mascot party,” which is a dance party with mascots and kids/listeners, is a lot harder than it seems! Nevertheless, I have finally confirmed 12 mascots for the mascot party this weekend that will be a part of a bigger event!

You win!

One of my favorite things to do (even though it’s really one of those “small things”) is to call people to tell them that they’ve won a prize or that they’re prize is in to pick up! Listeners get super excited when they win prizes, and we give a variety of prizes away so everyone in the family might be able to be involved! From concert tickets to musicals and plays to family packs for Disney on Ice to a kitchen remodel, there’s something for everyone when you listen to the station, or even go on social medias for the giveaways.

My favorite part of calling winners, though, is when they’ve won tickets for one of their favorite things. Whether it be a favorite artist or musical, it’s always awesome to talk to the winner, especially if you love said artist/musical as well. Today for instance, I had to call the winners of our Lady Gaga tickets to tell them that they will be at will call versus being sent a hard copy of the tickets. The best part? The winners have floor seats. DO YOU KNOW HOW EXCITED PEOPLE GET WHEN THEY FIND OUT THEY HAVE FLOOR SEATS TO GAGA?? (About as excited as I got when I had to buy my floor seats for Gaga! Lol!) Being able to talk to listeners about our joint excitement always makes my day a little bit brighter 🙂

If you’re late, we’re all late.

No matter what industry you are in, being on time is ESSENTIAL. Especially in the professional world. Being late or unreliable is a negative connotation and looks bad for your professional experience. Even not being able to manage your time, having events conflict after being committed, etc. can all affect how people perceive your actions. Am I sometimes late for dinner with friends? Absolutely. Am I ever late for an event for my job or internship? NO. I make sure I have enough time to get to where I need to be with plenty of time to spare. Because if I’m late, or someone else is late, that makes the whole process a little bit behind, and that’s not a good thing.

For example, our last event was from 9:00 am – 1:00 pm, including set up and tear down. A promotions assistant and two interns (one including myself) were supposed to meet at the station and then drive down to the event location. The other intern had said that he/she would meet us at the event location instead of the station. The other intern was an hour late. While it isn’t difficult for two people to set up a remote event, it is a lot easier when there is three people. The other intern being an hour late put myself and the promotions assistant behind in our set up because there was only two of us. Then, once the other intern arrived, he/she automatically was asking to leave early because of a “conflicting commitment.” I felt like this was very unprofessional being that he/she was already an hour late, and now wanting to only stay for about 30 minutes to leave early to go somewhere else. Because he/she also had to leave early, this caused the tear down process to also fall behind because we were down a person (again).

Point of this blog post? Please be prompt and on time in the professional world. It will make you look 100 times better 🙂