4th of July Weekend

While many enjoy a nice extended weekend off of work, the world of radio promotions just gets busier and busier during the 4th of July. The many concerts and festivals that took place around the Denver area called for us to get out and celebrate with the community.

The weekend began for me representing KOSI 101 at the Super Diamond concert at Hudson Gardens. For those of you that don't know (I didn't either), Super Diamond is a Neil Diamond tribute band from San Francisco. After finishing set-up and hanging sponsor banners, my responsibility at the concert, as per usual, was interacting with listeners, many clad in funky disco costumes. I also met two of KOSI 101's on-air personalities, Murphy and Denise, and helped them on stage when they made announcements before the show. This included promoting contests and giveaways our sponsors, Bellco and Volkswagen, were conducting.

The Cherry Creek Arts Festival was the second major event that occupied my holiday weekend. This is an annual 4th of July weekend event that promotes the visual, performing, and culinary arts with exhibits, demonstrations, and many creative and interactive family activities. All four of our stations were present at this event. Cherry Creek Fest is an incredibly important event to our stations as we represent ourselves to about 400,000 people in one weekend. Unlike several of the other events and concerts I have worked, this one was mainly focused on the kids. Maintaining the artistic integrity of the festival, we set up activities like spin art, frame decorating, and button-making for children and their families to take part in.

The holiday weekend was definitely one of the longest weekends I've had all summer, but one of the most enjoyable as I once again was able to dive into the community and really interact with our listeners and represent the company I work for.

Paying those dues...

I've talked before about all the those incredibly fun intern responsibilities. Now, I love working the large events. I actually love the long days and even the hectic hustle and bustle. These are the days where I feel like I'm actually doing something fun and meaningful and get to put myself out there in the Denver community. The days in the office, on the other hand, can take a bit of the fun away at times.

Last week during my days in the office I was sent over to help out the sales team, and their special project for me was to out together binders for sales training. What seemed like a simple task turned into four hours of printing off hundreds of pages and six hours of assembling binders. When I told one of my supervisors the task I was given, he actually laughed.

But I've learned we all have to pay those dues. Whether it's assembling binders for hours or having to go downtown to dispute the parking tickets the DJs got at an event (yes, this happened to), it's part of the experience. Even tasks that seem boring or not exactly what you expected can be learning experiences.

Today, for example, I learned an important part of radio promotions when I was asked to write a concert proposal. I learned how radio, concert promoters, and artist management work together to promote a concert and was happy to have even a small part in that by simply writing a proposal. The proposal, outlining what the station will do to support an artist and their show, will be sent to the concert promoter and the artist's manager for final approval.

Moral of the story, never get discouraged with an internship when you are asked to do some of the more tedious jobs. Your supervisors and bosses understand. They've more than likely been there themselves.While I get discouraged at times thinking I'm not doing anything important or meaningful, I know the hard work I put into every task does not go unappreciated.

Diving into Denver

I don't think I could have found a better way to dive into the culture and community of a new city than by working in radio. While I do have the days that I have to sit in the office, I'm thankful that the majority of my time at work involves being out community. Radio is not just about playing music or having entertaining shows, but instead supporting the community of the city it serves.

One event I was able to take a part in last week was the 3rd Annual Sam's Club Golf Tournament. Our morning show hosts BJ and Jamie were part of the tournament, which involved a silent auction to raise money for Children's Hospital Colorado. It was great to work with the people of Sam's Club and see how radio stations can work with their partners to support the community.

By far the most interesting work experience I have had as of yet would be helping out Alice 105.9 at the Denver Pride Parade. The station was represented with BJ and Jamie riding in a firetruck as some of our Alice staff marched alongside. This event wasn't as much work as it was fun! This was the best, most out there way for me to take part in the Denver community and have a bit of fun with our audience and listeners as they cheered us along the parade route.

Moving across the country to a city you've never even visited before can be one of the hardest things to do, but I'm so happy my job is more than just sitting behind a desk all day and instead one that lets me get out into the city and interact with the people of Denver.

Live @ Five--Shinedown

Every Friday I have the opportunity to be a part of Alice's biggest summer event series, Live at Five at the Tavern downtown. Live at Five brings two of Alice's biggest personalities, Slacker and Steve, out into the community to entertain and give out prizes. The event is also a concert series--this week having Shinedown perform. 

Live at Five was my first experience working an all day event from set up until tear down. Set up mainly involved putting up posters and banners of every kind and setting up tables for the contest entries and prize stations. We also worked with sponsors to make sure their tables and banners were set up properly. 

Our events do not only serve the purpose of promoting our station and radio personalities, but also to make sure our sponsors are well represented and promoted. My job during the event was to work with T-Mobile. I was assigned the job of using a T-Mobile camera phone to take photos of the event-goers for the Alice 105.9 Facebook page. 

I'm incredibly excited to continue being a part of Live at Five for the rest of the summer. Just the first night alone helped me learn so much about working radio events and what it takes to make one run successfully.

The Intern Tasks

I remember after seeing the film The Devil Wears Prada, I was always terrified of getting an internship or entry-level job, afraid I would be responsible for nothing more than fetching coffee and performing menial tasks under a boss that looks at me like this...

 

Luckily for me, my bosses and supervisors are the exact opposite of the high maintenance, demanding, New York City fashion editor portrayed in the film. They are nothing but welcoming, helpful, and willing to answer questions at any time. I mean, they ride scooters around the office. You get the picture. 

While I am never asked to get coffee and take out my boss' dry-cleaning, that is not to say I am never set with a little busy work when I go into the office. A few of my office tasks have included making contact lists, rolling promotional posters, making sure the station vans are stocked with the necessary equipment (it would have been more helpful if I knew what half the things on the checklist were), and laminating. Two full hours of laminating.     

But the point of this post is not to talk about #internprobs. While I have the responsibility of being the face of the company when I go out into the community for events and remotes, the other tasks must get done as well. While performing these tasks and simply being in the office, I learn what it takes to put events together. I learn the little things that are needed to make a promotional event successful, whether that be creating contact lists, making staff badges, or making sure the equipment is good to go. I learn from watching and listening. And yes, it is also really helpful to know where to find the laminator and how to use it without burning things. 

Week One in Colorado and Denver Day of Rock

It's hard to believe that I moved from Indiana to Colorado just one week ago. In that time I have already crossed off a few items on my summer bucket list while spending my days hiking, taking the train downtown, and just driving through the breathtaking scenery. I have hiked a number of trails so far from the mountains of Idaho Springs where there is still quite a bit of snow and frozen lakes to the warmer, green hills in Lair O' the Bear Park. Making it to the peaks is quite the workout, but worth every bit once you make it to the top!

But now for the real reason I'm here--the internship at Entercom Denver, the stations Alice 105.9, KOSI 101, The Mountain, and KEZW Stuido 1430. The position started Monday with not much more than a tour around the office and an introduction the the staff and the job. My nerves eased a bit as I learned how open and laid back the staff seemed to be. Everyone leaves their office doors open and some even ride scooters around the office!

There wasn't much work the us interns to do this first week, but anxious to begin I decided to jump right in and help out with a big event, Denver Day of Rock. Denver Day of Rock is a large concert event downtown that includes 25 bands and 5 stages all to raise money and awareness for children's charities. This event was one of the best ways for me, as someone new to Denver, to take part in the community. I interacted with the event-goers, encouraging them to sign up for the stations contest giveaways including free tickets to see Taylor Swift and Sting. Along with our own station contests, we worked with the marketing company Allied to help them promote the films Now You See Me and Monsters University. Denver Day of Rock was a great event to begin with to see how the station sets up and runs events and remotes and the role of the promotions team out in the community.