The Daily Grind

This week, when I got into the office around 9:30am, Tuesday May 29^th, my boss had an overwhelming look of excitement.  Unfortunately, she knows me all too well, and what I am proficient at, which is not necessarily what I always enjoy doing. 

I am a person who finds contentment in organizing just about anything and everything.  So when Nancy announced my next project, she knew I would be happy to take on the hours and weeks of tedious work that would be demanded.  As I mentioned earlier with the radio stations’ contact lists, the museum, throughout its entire database, has roughly eight contact lists.  Some short, some long, some with different contact information for the same correspondent at a particular station, some with information that had not been edited since 2005.  This all just for the radio station category.  As many marketing departments in arguably all organizations or firms, our category of contact lists are numbers, from different cultures, to religions, to airline magazines and online at forums, to yacht clubs and the Red Hatters. 

So what my boss was so eager about, she wanted me to swipe the entire database for all of the contact lists, compile, edit, and update.  I began the project with first locating all the lists, in their various locations, most of which were in some very obscure places that made no logical sense.  I brought the total of ninety-eight lists into one folder.  I next formatted them into the same font, size, color-coding, and spacing.  This makes it easier on the eyes and less straining to have to de-code.  Not having to scour lists to find out what is necessary, expedites the process.  Then I collected every list of a related category, for example airline in-flight magazines, and put them into one excel sheet with the different tabs.  I did this for every different category, which was taxing for sure, but in the long run, make the system run much more smooth.  This is what constituted my activities for Week 4 on the job.  A tedious task, but a great experience of what the daily grind looks like to oil the system that Bowers operates on.

 

Seeing Results

This week began with me, on Tuesday May 22^nd, revising my email blast to the radio stations, then sending it out.  A had a nice response from Radio Disney.  They communicated how they had partnered with the Bowers Museum in the past, and enjoyed the experience, agreeing with myself on the mutually beneficial, intrinsic relationship between the two party’s.  We communicated through email, back and forth, brainstorming ways to promote one another this upcoming summer.   Naturally, promoting Bowers Kidseum on Radio Disney’s website event calendar was an immediate avenue.  Bowers Kidseum is our friendly museum fitted to the enjoyment of adolescents.  We have yet to set-up a “shout-out” deal.

Getting a “shout-out” on air is not a simple phone call.  Most stations’ sell “shout-out’s,” which I addressed in the initial email to the stations’, given the museum is a non-profit organization serving to educate and entertain our community, the museum’s marketing budget is very small.  So landing a “shout-out” is tricky to say the least.  Then there is a script that has to be drawn up, for what will be read off on air.  And there are time constraints to how long the “shout-out” will be, so appropriately fitting a script into that time is another concern.  This whole “shout-out” business is a work in progress, as evidently clear, but I am very optimistic of the outcome.    

I got responses from other stations, but I noted my experience with Radio Disney, because it was a positive step in my non-academically trained marketing interests.  I really enjoy marketing, especially when it goes smoothly, but I am sure I am in for some bumps in the road.  

The Art of the Job

Week two on the job,  I began working on re-establishing the Bowers relationship with radio station’s whose audiences are compatible with the museums.  My boss was very enthused to have me taken on this project.  I was confident this would be easy for me, given I made a lot of these relationship pretty solid last summer.  These relationships could be very strategic to accessing the museums community via a different path; through the radio.  Marketing successfully with a radio station to bring in new or returning audiences to the museum, requires a clever and creative way of approaching the stations’ audiences. 

            The first step in this project is to find what pre-existing excel contact lists we have of radio station.  It is important to find out what information we already have, what information we need, and what information is out of date.  Also, how have we reached out to the radio stations in the past?  Have we emailed or made a personal call?  How have they responded and what work have we done with them?  All this information can be accessed through the “notes” tab on every excel sheet.  The museum takes precaution in noting its history, so that new employee understand the situation they are walking into. 

When looking through “the pool,” which is the hard drive database on the computers that contains everything that deals with public relations, there are multiple excel sheets and word documents, which need editing, revising, and examination.  The contact lists were scattered and a giant mess, to say the least.  I comprised every excel sheet into one master document, then went through and deleted the duplicates, creating a clean, concise, and efficient contact list.

            After understanding the situation the museum had and hopefully currently has with the radio stations, then it was time to gather the information that we want to promote.  Being concise and clear is important.  People do not have the time or interest to spend reading a lengthy email, so communicating concisely makes both party’s happy.  This is what I worked on this week: finding, updating, and formatting the pre-existing list, then composing an email blast.  

First Days on the Job

My name is Brooke Frazier and I am interning this summer, 2012, with the Bowers Museum of Cultural Arts in Santa Ana, California.  I am a History and International Studies major at Loyola University Chicago.  I will be commencing my senior year this coming fall.  I was born and raised in Orange County, which is why I am familiar with and natural selected the Bowers Museum to apply for an internship.  I am actually a returning intern to the Public Relations department of the Bowers from last summer, 2011.  I will be working under my old boss, Nancy Johnson, Director of Communications and Branding. 

The Bowers has been serving the Orange County community, as a non-profit, since 1936.  The museum was founded by Charles and Ada Bowers.  The Bowers closed  in 1986 for a period of self-study, but reopened in 1992, due to community request.  The Bowers mission is to enrich the lives of its community through the world’s finest arts and cultures, which it achieves through offering lectures, exhibits, art classes, and travel programs.  

Week one at my internship commenced with a meeting at 9:30am, Tuesday May 8^th, to discuss with Nancy my hours and projects I will be heading up this summer.  Hist 398 only requires a 75 hour minimum for the semester credit, but I arranged to work Tuesday and Wednesday’s for 5 hours each, for 15 weeks.  This will give me 150 hours for the semester.  Since I am a “veteran” to the job, as Nancy puts it, she has me jumping back into the radio station gig.  She essentially wants me to be the liaison between the museum and the radio station’s whose audiences are compatible with the museums.  This will be easy for me, given I made a lot of these relationship pretty solid last summer.  Working as Nancy’s right hand, she will also have me doing multiple other projects and tasks that will come about on a moments notice.  We will see.  It is always an exciting time and the weeks fly by!