Week 2

Well, this week was a little weird because I was sick on Monday. It was really nice, because the office was super understanding. I made up most of my hours working extra time on Tuesday and working for a little on Wednesday afternoon, as well.

**Tip: If you are saving something at work, make sure you know where you're saving it! I worked on a project for like 3 hours this week, and then when I went back to find it, it was gone. Except, it wasn't. I had just managed to save it in the "temp" folder rather than on the Development drive (like I should have). I was about to start over when I accidentally found it. Learned my lesson with that one!

The other intern on my team is really nice. She's at the office 4 days/week now, so since she knows what's been going on, I've just been working on stuff that she needs for the most part. My supervisor is really busy, so it's been tough to connect and get assignments directly from her. But, this setup works out well for both Jenny (the other intern) and me, I think.

Oh, and the area the interns sit is called "the fishbowl". Weird? Not when it's glass on 3 sides and in the very center of the office, directly across from the kitchen and next to the copier/mail machines/recycling bin. It's a little distracting. The best part was when I looked at the aerial map of the office and realized that it was actually labeled "fishbowl". I'm not sure how I feel about that...

1 (and a half) days down

Working at Island Press has been interesting so far. I'm really adjusting to the "office" deal again, my last 2 years of work have been full of running around the city, etc... (see that blog)

However, it's a small office, which is definitely a plus. And they're all about dressing casually (aka jeans everyday). Oh, and I can basically pick my own hours (as long as I'm there for 10+ per week. Sweet!

So far, the word has been a little... lackluster/mind numbing. They're in transition of interns right now, so they weren't prepared with new projects for me. I've just been working on this author database so that they can do mass mailings to all authors/contributors for all the books Island Press has published since it was founded in the early 80's. Mostly, it's just a lot of copy and paste action.

Next week, they should have some more exciting projects that I can get started with. I'm definitely ready to do something more substantive! I feel that the learning potential for this job is pretty promising- with the economic situation right now, they've had to lay off a lot of their staff, so they're definitely relying on interns even more than usual to pick up that extra work. Good for me!

A New Semester, A New Internship

I am starting tomorrow at Island Press, an environmental publishing company. They publish mostly textbooks, but also other titles that are more geared toward mass distribution and reading. However, in addition to publishing, they also research and propose solutions to environmental issues. Island Press works toward greater public awareness of and involvement in these areas by hosting seminars, teaching courses, and sponsoring talks. As an intern there, I will be working with the Communications & Development Team. I'm not sure exactly what my day-to-day responsibilities will be, but I am excited to get started.