Breakfast Burrito and Blueberries

Alliteration was the name of the game for today's breakfast. After that, it was back into the same routine of last week. Apart from having to run a bit to catch my bus, I made it to the office without any hiccups.

Todays first meeting involved the design of a marketing communication to be sent out by a company to its customers. The team's goal was to improve the open rate of the communication and it was decided that the asset would have to be re-designed. Next comes the challenge of pitching the re-design to the company.

After this, I was left with a large chunk of time during which I worked on my case studies.

Later this afternoon, I have a meeting over at NYU with George Agudow at the schools ITP program. I am very interested in their graduate program and I hope to learn more.

This Week.

What did you learn this week?
So far, this internship has been amazing for me. I have learned how large agencies work, and how to prioritize my time in a work setting. I also learned of the many facets of commuting to work, and keeping track of what meetings I have when. I also learned much of the secrecy that comes with working with large companies.
Did you like what you were doing? 
Absolutely I have. Everyone at Digitas has been as nice as can be, and have made this process completely painless. Every meeting I have been in has been interesting and I have learned something new every time. Although I of coarse miss people from school, I know that what I am learning is invaluable and that this is a once in a lifetime experience.
Why do you suppose you were asked to do a certain activity?
For example, this week I was asked to complete two case studies on Social media and mobile advertising. This was because in this field, ones knowledge must change as technology does. And while they are very up to date, It is assumed that my age group is very knowledgeable about social media and the mobile space.
Did everything happen as you expected it would or were there some surprises? 
The only thing that I was really surprised about how little down time I actually have. I am very busy every day and I love it. In fact, if I am not doing anything, Carrie or Kerry will swing by and bring me into one of their meetings.
How will you benefit from this week’s activities?
I have gotten many business cards and met many contacts within Digitas. This could prove very useful later on down the road when I need a college internship or even when I am out of college and trying to get a job. Apart from that, I am learning a ton. When I first arrived, any advertising lingo would send me into a fit of confusion; already I can make at least some sense out of it.

Croissant and Strawberries

I'l be honest here: I had a pretty hard time getting up this morning. But with the sunlight streaming through the windows and straight into my eyes, I knew I didn't have a choice. So up I got, and into the shower I jumped. This provided the last push I needed to become a fully conscious human being. After this and a quick breakfast consisting of croissants with jam and strawberries, I was off.
During my commute today, I literally passed 5 M23 buses (the bus I take to work) headed in the wrong direction, and not a single one headed my way. Despite this I was happy to have a good long walk this morning to further wake me up.
As soon as I arrived at work, I was whisked off into my first meeting (I am sensing a pattern here). In the meeting we talked about what tweaks needed to be done to a few Flash banner ads. The developer was there with us and quickly fixed what needed to be fixed. It amazes me how many times a simple banner ad has to be checked over before it can go out. Although I guess it makes sense seeing that the ad could possibly be seen by millions of people.
After this, my sponsors set me up with a meeting with some of the younger people in the company so that I could ask them any questions I had, whether about Digitas or life in general. Here I learned about their experiences during college, and trying to get a job post-grad. All together, I think I learned a lot from their what they had to say.
As tomorrow is Saturday, I believe I will be on a short blogging hiatus. But I pledge to return renewed on Monday to keep you updated on my shenanigans.

Egg Sandwich and Raspberries.

Today was destined to be a good day from the start, seeing as I woke up to the delicious smell of eggs making its way into my nostrils. Even though I was up an hour earlier than usual, the eggs made me forget about how hard it should be for me, a teenager, to awake this early.
I had to wake up earlier today because I had a 9:00 meeting with a couple different marketing teams where they presented what they had been working on for the past several months. Each group talked about what they had already put in market in terms of ads and campaigns, the results from those campaigns, and stuff they were planning to release shortly. Overall, it seems that Digitas has some pretty smart people and some pretty revolutionary ideas in terms of advertising.
One of the main topics of the meeting was the integration being done with social media sites like Facebook and Youtube. I was very surprised by how much work was put on these sites that I take for granted.
After a quick 30 minute break, I went into a meeting with (censored) from analytics. Here I learned how they track not only when people click the ads, but also those who see it and choose to navigate back later to check it out. Either way, they know what ad you saw that gave them your business. Its crazy stuff.
A few other meetings followed this, including one where I learned that Digitas actually uses code words for new upcoming projects. If one were to even mention the real name within the building, there could be consequences. Talk about the final word! (Pun very much intended)

Greek Yogurt and Fruit

Today began with a very, very rainy day in the city. This was made slightly better by the presence of yogurt and fruit with granola, a favorite of mine. Thankfully, I caught the bus about half way through my commute.
As soon as I arrived at work I was whisked off into my first meeting. This involved learning about the different levels of targeting for internet ads. Whether it is the pay-and-spray model or the lazer guided ad that offers you an incentive based on how qualified you are, they do it all.
I want to take this chance to show you a little bit of what my desk and the surrounding office looks like.

My Desk:

And although I cannot show you much of the office, here is what I can show.

My Row:

 I have a couple meetings coming up, but after that I will be done for the day. All in all, it is pretty exciting to work at Digitas!

Stale Cereal

Today began with stale cereal left by the last person to use our apartment. I should have seen that as a sign of things to come but I was oblivious. After a quick shower I headed out. It was not until 15 minutes later, halfway through my commute, that I remembered that I forgot my keycard. The same keycard that was crucial to gaining access to the high security fortress that is Digitas. After making the trek back, I thankfully caught the bus and made it to work on time.

From there my day improved drastically. I had a 10:30 meeting with (censored), a manager of marketing for a large utility company. Here we discussed how the TV ads that he primarily deals with are tailored to suit the regions they air in. It is a very interesting process involving many different deals and offers.

After this I began work on re-skining this blog, and performing two case studies for my sponsors. One study involves talking about my favorite companies and their presences both online and offline. The second deals with the hot topic that is Social Media. How does a company take it seriously enough to allow it to have an impact. Is Twitter just a fad? Is Facebook dying? Hopefully by the end on my 3 weeks I will have an answer to these questions.

Bagel and Lox

As I begin writing this, I am sitting, waiting for my Digitas orientation to begin. I have already had my customary bagel with lox, so my day is sure to be a good one.
The first hour I spend filling out forms and learning about the day to day at Digitas. Next I learn about how to set up my email and calendar, and what the dental plan is like.
After this I went out to lunch with Carrie and Kerry, my project sponsors. There they told me all about what they do and what I will be doing while at Digitas.
The main account I will be working on is that a large financial company.I can't say much due to the multiple Non Discloser Agreements I am under, but I will be working on Aquisition, or trying to get more customers.