Okay, so the summer got away from me. It happens. But let me just say, it was quite the ride.
I wrapped up my internship with WBLI and WBAB just before returning back to school. I wish I had actually kept up to date on my blogging so that I could have really given all of my readers an in-depth view of an internship radio industry, but I will do my best to play catch-up. Here’s an excerpt I wrote in my journal during the summer that I wanted to share here:
“Every Wednesday, I wake up at 4:15am on the dot and I’m out the door by 5:15am to get to the BLI studios just before 6am. During my studio shift of 6am-9am, I pull half hour sections of the morning show from the studio inventory as the morning progresses, and I created podcasts from segments that are featured on the show. For example, last week Dana and Jeffrey talked about a news story involving a peacock that broke into someone’s house and snuck into bed with the unsuspecting homeowner. Dana and Jeffrey are always hilarious and offer up some great commentary on these little segments. My job is to string together the segment, edit out the breaks, make it sound sharp and coherent, insert opening and closing station IDs, and publish to the website. Wednesdays are also the day that we air ‘To Catch A Cheater”, a segment focused on a caller’s predicament involving a significant other that is believed to be cheating. Dana and Jeffrey essentially get the “cheater” to ‘fess up through role-playing, and the audience and caller are in on the “sting”! I’ll create the podcast for that as well, and publish it to the website for listeners to download and replay at their own leisure.
My other obligations during studio time involve creating on-air promotional pieces for the Morning Show that air throughout the day. These consist of 5 second witty one-liners from a segment that morning, plus the opening and closing sound effects and station IDs.
We also have office shifts where we participate in what is considered the behind-the-scenes work to help the station run smoothly. Tasks range from updating listener contact information databases, to calling contest winners, to keeping promotional items stocked, and other odd jobs. This isn’t your stereotypical coffee-slave internship! Because of my phone skills, my site supervisor referred me to a friend in the sales department who put my skills to the test as an interview screener. This meant that I would conduct recorded phone interviews with sales interviewees of Cox Media Group Long Island. Basically, I was just a friendly voice on the other side of the phone, feeding screening questions to the prospective employee. It was pretty awesome being an intern and getting to interview people for real positions in the company!
The final piece of the internship puzzle is the wonderful world of promotional events. Have you ever been to a benefit walk or maybe a car dealership or festival where you’ve seen a radio station tent set up? I get to work at these kinds of events for internship credit! In my first two weeks, I have: driven the station’s van in a parade, interacted with fans at a minor league baseball game, provided music and prizes at a blood drive, and attended an in-store musical performance with 5 lucky fans and their guests. BUT, the possibilities are endless, and every week, there are new experiences to be a part of. As interns, we are encouraged to choose events that we are interested in and passionate about, and believe me, I am taking advantage of these experiences.” (Editor’s note: Some other events I did this summer included the Long Island Nassau County vs. Suffolk County Police Tug of War Benefit for the Wounded Warrior Project, Long Island Summer Marathon series, Tour de Cure Bicycle Race for Diabetes, 7-11 store events, Contractor Appreciation Party, Adventureland Family Theme Park, and lots more.)
So there ya have it. My summer in a nutshell. Wish you were all there!
Here’s a picture of the front page that I made for our e-mail list sign up binder. I was so proud of my work! Gotta love those Polaroids 🙂
