Time is Dwindling!!!

Wow, I'm totally bad at updating this!
Good thing I have a lot to write about this past week!

We had a lot of intern programs planned for us--including a trip to ABC Studios in NYC on Monday to meet ESPN President George Bodenheimer, so it was amazing to say the least.

Lacey and I decided to head to the Big Apple a day early to catch a Mets game at Citi Field! As you're probably aware, the Mets have been less than spectacular so far this season. We weren't expecting much...HOWEVER...we were lucky enough to witness a great game against the Colorado Rockies. A Tatis grandslam put the Mets up over the Rockies for the win 7-3... we must have been good luck. ;) I was happy for my roomie to be able to witness that--she is a HUGE Mets fan.

Here we are before the game at lovely Citi Field:

After the game, we hopped on the subway into the city and spent the night in Times Square. Great idea--because rather than meet at ESPN at 7:30am to drive 3 hours into NYC, we rolled out of bed at 10 and waltzed right down the block to ABC World News (after getting a bagel and coffee, of course).

The ESPN College Relations guys are AWESOME. They set up a wonderful day for us. George Bodenheimer met us at ABC Studios for a Q&A session. A couple things I found refreshing about George: #1 He started in the mailroom and climbed the ranks at ESPN to become what he is now #2 He is humble and down to earth...answered every question we had to the best of his ability...and let us know that he counts on US to be future of ESPN. #3 He eats his Cornflakes every morning, first thing when he gets into his office. haha

George Bodenheimer:

My roommates (Pam, Lauren, Lacey) and I repping our schools:

An "ESPN" themed day in NYC would not have been complete with out lunch and playtime at ESPN Zone. haha

We had an awesome meal of mini cheeseburgers, pasta bar, salad, spinach dip, tons of dessert, etc. etc. ...AND were given game cards to go be kids in the game area (big kids in business casual clothing). I enjoyed being able to let loose--and get paid for it--with 54 other amazing people I've had an amazing summer with. Definitely clutch.

The Hartford 21 Six with Papa Joe (the wonderful, wonderful man who recruited us):

The next day after New York, we had another speaker series on campus in Bristol. We heard from Christine Driessen, the CFO of ESPN. She's a mom of two kids in college and a wife--proof that in this crazy world of Broadcasting...it can happen. She also told us a lot about the direction ESPN is going in terms of new business deals and with current ones. Pretty cool stuff.

Afterwards, all the SEC students trekked down to the building 3 basement for a video shoot. ESPN Campus Connection is showcasing each SEC school, as our conference just signed a 15 year contract with the Worldwide Leader. :) We each prepared a few 30 second readers about our schools' athletic traditions to air on ESPNU when our games are broadcast on the network. I chose to talk about 2001, Carolina's fan loyalty, the Carolina/Clemson rivalry, and tailgating in Columbia. We'll also be doing a few features for them during the season--so be on the lookout! :)

Being at ESPN has allowed me to make some AMAZING contacts. One that I know will be probably the most important to me (now and down the road) is Rosalyn Durant. She is the GM of ESPNU--10 years out of college at none other than--THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA!!!!

Rosalyn found out a fellow Gamecock was lurking around campus...and got in touch with me. We had lunch a couple days ago and she is the sweetest woman, not to mention a huge Gamecock fan like me. It's especially cool because she is a graduate of USC and our Senior Semester broadcast program, which I just finished. She knows Rick and Sonya...we definitely had a lot to talk about in our short lunch together. She gave me a lot of good advice and I know she will be someone I keep in touch with.

Sadly, I just finished my last week of operating with ESPNews. Though I'll go stop up to see them before I leave for good. It was sad to say goodbye. Everyone with News is great and I will miss them--and being an Ops Tech. It was really cool to actually have as much impact on the quality of the show as I did this summer. I learned SO much.

Doing E-Play one last time...

Goodbye to a few of my favorite guys...

Jonathan "The Coach" Coachman

Mike Yam and Kev Connors

This last week at ESPN, my supervisors Sal and Mark have been nice enough to set up observation time for me with other departments. For Tuesday, I'm excited to be observing SportsNation, Sportscenter, and Baseball Tonight!!!--Yay for Domestic Programming. Wednesday I'll be in Content Edit...and I'm not sure about the rest of the week...

Very excited, but sad at the same time. I'm not ready to say goodbye.

I've also been pretty overwhelmed trying to get in contact with a lot of people who could possibly be good resources in the future. (ie. Feature Producers, Talent Recruiters, etc...) I had coffee with Anish yesterday...who definitely made me feel better about coming out of college into the scary world of Broadcast. He's not much older than me and is already an anchor on ESPNews--so he must have done SOMETHING right. It was definitely a huge help to talk out my confusions with him and hear what he has to say. Thanks Anish. :)

Hopefully I'll be back up here at some point.

Time's Flying...

Here I am just hanging out in my normal spot in studio N....

A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks! I've been CLEARED in A2...meaning I can operate without supervision in the studio. My other jobs are coming along...they impact the show directly, therefore are taking me longer to clear.

I had my 30 day meeting with my supervisor Joe about a week ago. He's in charge of all the prod ops interns and says we're doing great and has heard nothing but good things about each of us. Speaking with him makes me really optimistic about my future in the business. He is full of good advice and encouragement.

One of the cool things I remember about my internship last summer at CBS was the immediacy of breaking news. Since I work for ESPN's 24/7 news network, if something happens...we're on top of it. Lately we've had some exciting stories you may have heard about--Steve McNair's death, the constant Favre watch (gag), Manny being Manny (aka, a tool bag), and my personal favorite Jeremy Mayfield--the meth-head.
Breaking news is fun and exciting...I love it! EXCEPT if it's during the late show.
If breaking news happens during the late show...and you're involved in it...I automatically hate you. We try to have the late show on tape and put to bed so we can all get out by 2am...BUT if breaking news happens...the A-Block has to be changed...changing the whooooole rest of the show.
You get the picture.
Oh the wonderful world of live TV and news...

In my last few weeks at ESPN I will be continuing to work towards clearing my other positions. I'll also have the opportunity to observe in Sportscenter and Content Edit, which I am really excited about! AND...the week after next...all the interns are going to ABC Studios in New York to meet with ESPN President George Bodenheimer. I'm excited to hear George's story--he started at the waaaaay bottom of the totum pole at the company...and look at him now! So cool.

As much fun as I am having at ESPN...the amazing people I have met...and as much as I am learning...I'll be glad to get home to SC to enjoy the rest of summer. I'm pretty sure the hottest day we've had up here so far has been 80 degrees (and there are no pools to be found in DT Hartford). Lame.

I'm also looking VERY MUCH forward to football season!!!! 47 days and counting...

Pleeeease come to Bosssston

Well my actual 4th of July was less than spectacular...but you'll be glad to know I did get to see some fireworks from Lake Compounce across the street through the window. ;)

I drove to Boston on Sunday morning...

Becca and I went to a Sox game, which was AWESOME! I've always wanted to go to Fenway...what a gorgeous park. And we got really lucky with the weather--the month of rain we've been having up here in New England subsided.

We're definitely hanging this one up in our living room this semester...

Becca was an amazing tour guide. We covered a lot of ground in two days...ate in Fanueil Hall, shopped on Newberry Street, and walked through the Boston Public Gardens, just to name a few things... A+ for my weekend adventure! :)

Happy Almost 4th!

Sorry, I've been really bad about keeping up with this thing! The last two weeks have FLOWN by...
I just had my 30-day review with my supervisor--we have a 30-day and a 60-day--kind of like a midterm and final. They grade us on training, performance, teamwork, initiative, reliability, and communication.
The only category I did not meet expectations on was performance--I got a "needs improvement"--which my supervisor Sal explained to me was not a bad thing. I've only been cleared to solo in one of my jobs (A2) of the three I've been training in. The other two take more time to accomplish, therefore I "need improvement" in my next 30 days for that to change. I will be assessed in Play-Out and One-Play soon!
On the more positive side, Sal said that overall I am doing very well, have a great attitude, and get along well with the crew. :)

As there is not TOO terribly much going on in the sports world at the moment (other than baseball)--there isn't much traffic in terms of athletes and celebrities coming through the studios. However, we had a special guest interview pop in the ESPNews studio last week.

Yep! Richard Petty stopped in! Awesome hat and all...

He definitely smiled and said "Hi, how are ya" to me...and as you can see in the photo above, he saw me taking pictures and gave me a smile! :)

As an A2, it's my job to put microphones on the guests that come in to the studio and make sure they have what they need. Cool, huh?

On the non-work side, we interns have been trying to have a life outside of ESPN...

We hang out in the apartment a lot after work (yes at 3:00 in the morning) and on the off chance we all actually have days off together. The picture below is of our apartment in the middle of Downtown Hartford. It's the one with the blue lights on top.

We've also made it out a time or two for some drinks. Here are some of the guys at City Steam--a bar which a lot of my co-workers have raved about. As you can see, there's no shortage of good beer at this place. AND they brew their own. ;) Yum. I want one now.

Hopefully we'll make it out again next weekend--my roommate Lauren turns 21 on Thursday! :)

You'll be glad to know I've made it back to the most FABULOUS city in the world twice already this summer. Lacey and I went into New York a few weeks ago, as I already wrote about.

Hobie and I hopped on a train Sunday morning to catch a matinee of Shrek the Musical on Broadway--SO GOOD! :) We had some time to kill before the show at 3, so we decided to get tickets to ANOTHER show at 7. Needless to say--I was in heaven. If you don't already know, I'm obsessed with Broadway.

We saw Rock of Ages, too--the all 80s rock musical. It was amaaaazing!!! I have the soundtrack in my car on repeat already.

I also exposed Hobie to Carnegie Deli and all of it's retardedly huge sandwich glory--he was in heaven there (as was I). I'm good on my reuben fix for a little while... ;) Jewish delis are the BEST.

Here are Hobie and I EXHAUSTED in Time Square before heading back to Hartford.

I love New York City...

I'm moving back there. Definitely. For sure. It's decided.

Now to find a job there. haha...

Anyway, that's about all I can think of to fill you in on. I hope everyone has a fantatsic Fourth of July weekend. Please enjoy some BBQ, ice cream, sun, and fireworks for me--as I will be in a dark studio working tomorrow.

Hopefully the sun will be out on Sunday when I head to Boston to see Becca and the Red Sox!!! :)

I feel like a Vampire...

I opened my ESPN e-mail last week to find THIS. My supervisors sent this "baseball card" to all of Production Operations. Embarassing. haha

So anyway...I haven't written much in the last week because I've basically just been training. Nothing special. It's taking me a while to train because I'm tring to clear 3 jobs and am splitting my time between them rather than just focusing on one. However, I should be cleared in A2 by next week--HOPEFULLY.

The good news is, I've been operating on all 3 jobs regularly--which means I've been rolling all the video for the newscasts and cutting some of the highlights. :) If you watch ESPNews and see frozen video or something happen that's not supposed to--it's probably me. HAAA!

My schedule has gotten easier...

I'm no longer exhausted at 2:30am when I'm coming home from work. I've been able to sleep til like 1 everyday. Lacey and I jammed one of our comforters into our window so our room is completely black. Hence, I feel like a Vampire--staying up all night and sleeping half the day. I definitely couldn't live this way forever.

When I'm not sleeping or working, I have found some time to have fun (despite the fact that New England weather sucks and I've only seen the sun like 3 times since I've been here). Lacey and I have already taken one trip to New York City! :) :)

We've also found time to explore Downtown Hartford's nightlife...we found reasonably priced beer...so we like it. ;)

Here is my Hartford Family!

Me and Lacey (my roomie) are in the front--obviously. The guys in the back are Steve, Dave, Hobie, and John.

Stay tuned for more adventures! xo

In Training

So, after a week of observing I have begun official training for studio A2, One Play, and Playout. My trainers are keeping a checklist of everything we cover--and once I have enough hours and am proficient, I will go solo live on the air! :)

Here's me in A2 with two of our anchors Will Selva and Mike Yam:

The COOLEST part of the studio, though, are the cameras.

This is the JIB:

It's the camera that gets the awesome panning and over head shots of the desk/anchors that you see all the time on ESPNews and Sportscenter. It's the only camera in the studio that's run manually.

And here is one of the 4 smaller cameras for 1-shots that are programmed and controlled from the video room next to the studio. It's crazy...all of a sudden they just start moving...haha

You'll be glad to know I'm finally starting to get around our campus WITHOUT getting lost.
Here some of my favorite parts of campus:

1. The Basketball Court: Lacey, Hobie, and Dave playing after work the other day...2. The Cafe X-Box...don't worry, if you're bored during your lunch break--there's always NCAA football.
3. The Indoor Skywalks...these hallways connect all the buildings so we don't have to go outside in the rain or in the cold!
4. The Wall of Emmys...I wouldn't mind having one of these with my name on it one day... ;-) 5. Self-Explanitory :)

There's so much more to see and do on campus...It's really like being on a college campus. I'll try to document more when I have some free time at work--which isn't often.

Til' next time! :) ...

The Late Shift...

Last night was my first night working my 6pm-2:30am shift! I prepared by staying up as late as I possibly could on Tuesday night (which was SO hard considering the lack of sleep I've gotten since I arrived here)...and tried to sleep in as late as I could. I had to make myself go back to sleep about 4 times--ironic that when I actually NEED to sleep in til 12 or 1, I CAN'T. haha

Late shift wasn't so bad though. I didn't get sleepy until about 1ish--so hopefully it will only get easier from here on out.

My supervisor Sal met with me last night to discuss their expectations for me this summer. I am on track to "clear" in 3 jobs--which means I will be doing them solo on the air in a couple of weeks--and if I mess up...millions of people worldwide will see. Scary, huh?

My jobs are 1) Play Out--ESPN's version of a tape deck. Instead of loading tapes, cueing them up, then hitting play when the director says "Roll A", I will be pulling the video clips from a server and synching them up to the show rundown and hitting play when the director says. Its pretty sweet because I don't have to worry about waking up the tapes before rolling them (any of ya'll from senior semester reading this knows what I mean!!! haha)
2) One Play--This job will require me to do some editing...I'll be taking clips from various games and editing out specific plays to air on the show as they come in. So if say, A-Rod makes some miraculous play--it would be my job to cut it and send it over so the TD can punch it in as soon as they need it for air.
3) A2--This is my job in the studio...it's basically an audio assistant. I'll be the one during commercial breaks and between segments putting mics on guests (yes...ATHLETES) and making sure the audio tech knows when they are miked up.

All I did last night really was observe. I observed Play Out (or E-Play as they call it) for most of the time. It seems pretty easy, especially since ESPN uses ENPS which we use at school--I just have to make sure to pay attention to the directors commands and not zone out, like the full timers have told me can happen easily. :) ha...
I also observed the TD. The switcher board at ESPNews is SO much more extensive than ours at Carolina News. They have to go through major training to be able to learn the button commands for all the wipes, wraps, specific animations, all the different cameras, etc. I don't think I'll be doing that job by myself. haha :)

That's pretty much all I can think of for right now. Stay tuned!