Ello, ello.
Today was my first day of the internship. (: If I hadn’t mentioned it before, I am an account management intern @ HAVAS WW, CHICAGO. Never heard of it? It might be because they recently had a brand makeover as of September last year. They used to go by EURO RSCG. Still doesn’t ring a bell? You’ve probably seen their work, though! My office (CHI), specifically has done Sauza Tequila (do you remember that viral Fireman YouTube video?), Reynolds Wrap, The Laughing Cow, Pucker Vodka, etc. And Havas WW in general has done Does Equis (The Most Interesting Man in the World), McDonald’s, Evian, IKEA, IBM, Coca-Cola… just to name a few.
Anyway, it was a solid first day. Boarded the 8:00 a.m. train, arrived to Union Station a quarter til 9:00 a.m., hopped on a bus, and got to the office just in time for orientation at 9:30 a.m. Last summer, the office was on Randolph, so it was only a 25-30 minute walk from the station; but this time the office is located a little bit more North. I google mapped it, which told me the walk should take around 30 minutes, but with all the foot traffic, I’m assuming I should factor in an extra 10.
It was pretty chaotic in the office with people running around to and from meetings, trying to maintain the momentum of work from the previous week. I think the arrival of 20 new bodies moving in and trying to set up camp probably didn’t help.Yeah, there’s nearly 20 of us interns. We’re not all together though. The interns have been divided based on department and team. So more than half went to creative, and account/strategy got split into designated accounts. I’m on Bel Brands. You know, the Laughing Cow and those circular cheese wheels that come in little rad wax packing. (I meant red. But it’s rad, too.) Those were the hot commodity back in junior high days.
It’s fun. I read through all the creative brief and strategy, watch unreleased commercials, sat in on meetings… I resonate with the brand’s voice, so I’m excited to be able to touch the campaign in whatever capacity I can. It’s a team of about 10 people, including the creatives, strategists, and president. All the interns are given a “mentor,” and mine is the Sr. Account Executive on the team. I’ll just call her M. But she’s super cool and nice and SMART and can’t wait to learn from her. Her, along with her friends, and their interns, took us out to lunch today at the Nordstrom Cafe. So we all got to meet each other and have non-biz conversation. Mostly about GOT. (It’s always about GOT these days, isn’t it?)
Enough words, though. Here’s some photos to show you! (:
^ This was on the bus. This weird lady kept trying to guess how much peoples’ shoes were. I think she thought she was on “The Price is Right” or something, not public transportation. (Deep apologies if this is your mother and I retract everything I just said. She is probably a lovely woman.)
FIRST DAY TOUR:
^ Sitting right on the kiddie corner of Grand + State… And only ten tempting steps from Nordstrom. DANGEROUS, RIGHT?!
^ welcome inside! 🙂 this is the lobby.
^ My office! (: My desk is the one on the left — with all those rappers’ faces. (It was there before I was, I promise.) On the left, is B’s desk. B is also on my team as the Account Coordinator. She was really busy today so we didn’t talk too much, but she was super welcoming and helpful.
^ Yes, you are seeing that right. They gave me a PC……………………………………………….. #help. #shouldirun? I have LITERALLY never felt so disabled in my life trying to operate this colossal machine they call a laptop. It took me 20 minutes to figure out how to brighten the screen because the keyboard “sunshine icon” does CRAP. The keyboards are so plastic-y and annoying. The mouse is moves choppy and in order to do ANYTHING, it requires 9 other steps, first. Also, they don’t even have an em-dash. If I want to use one, I have to do this. (see photo below):
^ In order to make a punctuation mark, you need to shuffle through 8 other things and then copy and paste it. I’ve literally been googling “how to do __on a PC” as well as g-chatting my hotdog all day. My hot dog is a PC user by choice. (I know, those exist). Sigh, learning curve, right? Lawl. I’m just being dramatic. But I really do hate PC’s. Moving on to other corners of the office… hehe (:
^ That cappuccino maker does WONDERS. So far I’ve tried the FVL and the Chai Latter.
^ Yes. Yes I did take a panorama of the kitchen.
^ The floor plan is kind of complicated… There’s a lot of winding hallways and circular rooms. I don’t think I expected the office to be so BIG (and beautiful). Havas has their own building to themselves. It’s a five-story office, complete with rooftop seating. (: Which is where we had lunch today! Floors are separated by department; lobby, hr, creatives, account, and media, respectively. So I’m on the fourth floor! All these photos I showed you are only of the fourth floor and I still get lost. Floors are organized into Chicago “neighborhoods,” and they’re written all along floors and walls to help guide your way… you just need to remember where is called what. I’m in bucktown. (: here’s wicker park!
FIRST DAY OUTFIT:
^ I wanted to look buttoned-up, but still comfortable enough to easily do whatever the day’s tasks were, so I crossed out a skirt or dress — and double criss cross on the heels. | Blazer: The Limited | Top: Banana Republic | Pants: NY&Company | Belt & Necklace: Forever 21 | Flats: Italy
DAILY TAKE AWAY:
- BTS = back to school
- you don’t need that 4th cup of coffee — you will get jittery by 3 p.m.
- act confident. even if you don’t feel it.
- bucktown 1 printer sucks. don’t use it.
- double check, double chek.
- status meetings are essential because so many things are happening at once to each person on the team. these meetings help everyone debrief on where they’re at and minimize miscommunication
Phew. That was a long one. I just wanted to document my first day. Cheers.
XO..
A Cup of J. 