The Overall Experience

Being a part of this internship has not only taught me the importance of advertisement, but it has also made my work ethic a lot stronger.  I have dedicated a great amount of my time to this internship, even if I was out of the office, doing tasks such as cleaning the office, posting online ads, etc.

                At first, I was a little shy with people coming in the office. I would only greet them as they walk in the office and answer any questions that they asked. But after I got to know some of the regular clients, I learned to provide excellent customer service with a smile on my face. If fact, every day I hope that new people come in so that the studio can grow in success and so that I can continue providing good customer service.  To me, this is a really important and personal benefit that this experience has brought me because I am now less shy and I could maintain conversations while doing my work at the same time.

                Apart from doing online posting and going out flyering around the city, I got to learn how to professionally take video and photos that a website or magazine can use. This means that I had to learn about using the right amount of headroom, look space, utilizing the proper camera angles, etc. I also practiced writing press releases, which I found harder than I thought but I was willing to fail over and over and try again in order to learn. Along with customer service, my communication skills increased as I began to call local events about having Bristol Studios volunteer as entertainment. And I got to go to some of these events and places such as open mic nights and a beer-brew convention at the DCU center. I even got to visit the main studio in Boston, which has all of the workshops and studio rooms.

                Even though I’m a Communications major, I was stuck between pursuing a potential career in either Public Relations or Broadcast Media. I chose to do this internship because it was music related and I wanted to witness the process that it takes for a record label to create an artist. I also took this internship because I had already taken a class having to do with Public Relations and I wanted to see if I had a knack for it. With this internship I feel like I have met all of my goals that I have set in the beginning of the semester.

                This experience was very interesting to me, but I feel more at home with Broadcast Media. With that said, I hold no regrets taking this internship because it adds to the experience that I will surely need for the future. If anyone loves or has a passion for music and wants to get in the Public Relations field or any media field, then this internship is the opportunity of a lifetime for them.

               

Week 11 – Codes of Conduct

There aren’t any written forms of conduct or policies for this business. Everyone that’s a part of this company follows the basic and standard rules that keep a business professional.  For example, every client is greeted professionally with a “hello” and a “goodbye”, even if the employee and the client know each other well. With that being said, every conversation amongst workers and between them and clients should not have any profanities or anything sexual. Casual talk is acceptable though. In this business, casual clothing is accepted just as long as no one is underdressed or wearing any offensive clothing. Also, any type of sexual harassment between anyone is unacceptable as well as fraternization, which is when people within the business develop a more-than friendly relationship (that includes the worker and their client).  Any type of discrimination (against race, color, sex, sexual orientation, etc.) is also not allowed. Since this is a voice studio that instructs vocal lessons and artist development, any discrimination depending on the client’s singing voice is not allowed either. Honesty is above all the most important thing in this business. Being honest about the work that the employees put in and the things that they get out of it such as money is key in maintaining this business’s credibility.

Week 9 – Tasks/Assignments and Educational Implications

I do a variety of things in my internship, but the things that I do every time I come in to the office consist of cleaning the area in order to make it look presentable and post advertisements of the studio online.  For the online posting, I copy and paste information about the studio’s history and mission on various online advertisement websites in order to spread the word around the MA area. Over time I learned that this is important because in this day in age people are mostly on the internet. I also learned that the consistency of new ads that I put up will increase the chances of somebody finding one of those ads and reading them. This method of promotion has gotten the studio a good amount of inquiries.

Most of the inquiries though have come from flyers. The other thing I do that’s part of the promotion is spread flyers around the city by leaving them in local businesses. This brings in all types of people who probably just wanted to get a haircut or eat some exotic food before coming in contact with one of the Bristol flyers.  Since it’s not guaranteed that every person that picks up a flyer is going to call and use this service, it is important that I keep supplying these stores with a new batch of flyers. Usually I do this when I’m not in the office, but I would often distribute flyers around the surrounding businesses when I am in the office.

                One other thing I do is look up any musical events or any event that holds musical acts as entertainment online such as a concert or a relay. I also look up information from high schools in the central MA area, primarily that of the music department. All of this information gets put into a Google Doc that uses a chart in the program Excel. This information is used by the people who run the studio such as the person I intern for so that they can contact these organizations and high schools and make offers and negotiations.

                I have recently practiced writing press releases with the assistance of the studio manager of the Boston studio. Even though I have written press releases in a Media writing class I took a year ago, this studio manager has given me some valuable tips on spelling, grammar and all around material that will make a story interesting. I will take these with me in case I write any press releases in the future.

                Interns are important in the way that this business stands. Everything that I do helps the studio gain more students and more connections. And through this internship, I have learned a few things, such as communicating with people, how to take pictures and video and how to write press releases. But the most important life lesson that I learned from this internship is that consistency is key to achieving success.

Preliminary Evaluation of Internship Experience

1) Intern's Name Patrice Peris

2) Internship Firm/Organization Bristol Recording Studios

Think seriously about your internship performance thus far. Reflect on the items below and use them to help clarify areas of strength and weakness so that you may improve the outcome of your internship.

3) This internship provides me with an adequate learning experience for my background.  Yes, due to the importance of constant promotion.

4) My mentor at this organization understands my goals and objectives. Yes.

5) I did adequate preparation investigating the sponsoring organization and level of placement before accepting this position. Somewhat. Since this internship deals with music, I found it to be interesting.

6) This organization expects too much work or requires more polished work than I was prepared to do. Sometimes.

7) I cooperate with my colleagues in our work or to accomplish joint goals at the organization. Yes.

8) I cope with annoying situations without losing my temper or poise? Yes

9) I am eager to learn new skills. Yes

10) I find something new to learn even in the most routine tasks. Sometimes

11) I consider my internship position challenging and worthy of my talents. Yes

12) My attitude toward colleagues and clients is helpful and concerned. Yes

13) I easily recognize clients' needs and then try and assist them. Yes

14) I demonstrate ease in initiating conversation with colleagues and clients. Yes

15) I show confidence and poise in dealing with colleagues and clients. Yes

16) This organization can point to me with pride as one of their employees. Yes

17) I approach all tasks, even low level ones, with enthusiasm and a commitment to excellence. Yes. I strive to accomplish every task perfectly.

18) My work patterns and quality of work produced justify the time and money the firm is investing in me. No money is being invested in me

19) I look forward to each day enthusiastically. Somewhat.

20) Although this internship is a short-term position, I am personally committed and involved for the present. Yes. I plan ahead weekly in how I can make time for this internship and how I can complete 10 hours in a week.

21) This internship experience has helped me clarify future goals. Yes. I’m beginning to gain interest in writing about other artists.

22) Describe areas of personal interest and ability that you had not been aware of before working for this organization. Writing press releases and features for artists.

 

Organization Hierarchy, Management structure, Communication Methods

Bristol Studios is run by Ric Poulin, who is currently the executive. He oversees everything and everyone to make sure that things are running smooth. He also produces songs and teaches students how to sing. Below the executive are the experienced workers who train the new staff. Next in charge are those who deal with sales. The people who are in sales are those who run registration for new students and sell CD's and books. Next, there are people who are in charge of organizing the money that is earned and paying necessary bills. Then, there are the teachers (engineer teachers and vocal instructors). After that, there are the supervisors that check on the workers and technology present. And last, there are the workers that clean the studio, flyer, do online posting, write press releases and more. Everybody has to report to the executive, which keeps this cycle and the company going. Every person involved in this company interact with each other through a number of websites whether it's for regular communication or keeping track of information and statistics.
This close structure of employees is really effective in keeping the company up and running due to the strong communication that each person working in Bristol has with each other. Patrice Peris, the person I intern for, is the executive and vocal teacher of the Bristol Studios in Worcester but she's also an experienced employee and a vocal teacher in the Boston studio. She maintains close contact with Ric while she's in Worcester by sending him her statistics from the Worcester studio as well as those of her interns.
Here is an organized way to look at the departments and their importance within the studio. The role of the executive is listed 7th and placed at the top of the list because the executive acts as the manager and because everything else goes to him.
7. Executive: Oversees everything to make sure things are running smooth.
1. Comm.: Experienced workers that train new employees.
2. Sales: Deals with registration of students, organization of books & CD’s, etc.
3. $: Handles money, handles supplies, pays necessary bills
4. Delivery: Provides lessons for students (audio engineering & vocal)
5. Quality: Checks on employees, technology, etc. Issues awards
6. Public/Promo: Cleans facility, passes out flyers, online posting, write press releases, organizes events, etc.

Organization/ Personal Goals

This opportunity will make myself
more credible for a potential career in my future. I understand that
in order to get far in life as one wishes, one must take chances and
ignore any feeling of fear and anxiety. So that is one of my goals
with this internship; to be able to face a beneficial challenge
without any doubt and thus making myself a better person. I also hope
to exceed in other life skills such as time management, work ethic,
responsibility/dependency, etc. My other goal is to gain useful
knowledge and experience from this type of work in order to make
myself more profitable and at the same time have fun. And I want to
use my past experiences, although little, and the experience that I
will gain along the way to help this studio run along smoothly. This internship will have me apply my time in various forms of Marketing like online posting and flyering. I will also be required to provide assistance to any of the clients of the studio. Each week I will be emailed a battle plan with tasks that I'm expected to accomplish in order to help this business get more exposure. As an intern, I know that my position is important in helping this business grow.

The Organization and it's Mission

I am interning for Bristol Voice Studios in Worcester, Massachusetts located on 5 Pleasant Street. Its contact number is 774-275-0564 and its website is http://bristolstudios.com. I specifically intern for Patrice Peris, who is the head vocal teacher for the Worcester office and can be contacted either by the phone number mentioned earlier or through her email, which is patrice.peris@bristolstudios.com. This studio is available for first-time and professional singers that want to improve their vocals as well as prepare to enter in the music industry.  For 25 years, Bristol Voice and Recording Studio has provided people with effective service in voice development, artist development, and recording.  With a main studio in Boston and one that’s currently being built in LA, Bristol has already developed artists for major record labels such as Sony, DefJam/Mercury, Warner and Universal Studios. I think that this service is very useful and important in starting anybody’s potential music careers. Bristol provides services for anybody either learning how to sing or anyone learning about the music industry. I see how important a service like this really is when I come to the office and see clients from different cities, and sometimes different states, come to learn the techniques of singing.