Busy Busy Busy

Chicago, Diary, Intern, Internship, Journalism, Mizzou, News Reporting, Premier Tourism Marketing, Suburban Life Media

Last week was quite busy. I didn’t have enough time to write a post after Monday at all. I was working on stories for Premier Tourism Marketing, writing stories for Suburban Life and went to two events for Now You Know all weekend.

For PTM, I was working on a story about Chicago’s Southland and what places to go if you’re planning a sporting event or trip for a group. I am also exploring the Wildwoods of New Jersey for a story in Leisure Group Travel. I’m looking at the beaches, boardwalks and activities in that area to enjoy the Atlantic coast.

The WildWoods Boardwalk. Image form jerseyshoreguide.net

For Suburban Life, I worked on a story for a great program called SEASPAR that provides recreational activities for people with disabilities in the area. I also went to a band practice of the Lisle Community Band because last week was their first set of practices to start their season. I learned that it has been around for 27 years and members are trying to get the word out about their great performances coming up. I also saw some adorable puppies up for adoption that were from an area in Oklahoma afflicted by a flood in May.

The adorable puppies from the West Suburban Humane Society. Image from mysuburbanlife.com

And finally, Now You Know events, I went to Spring Awakening Music Festival and the Taste of Randolph! It was a crazy weekend but a lot of fun. I went to SAMF Friday night and Saturday. I got to see some of my favorite bands like Nero, Zedd and Wolfgang Gartner. I also discovered some new ones like Nervo and Felix Da House Cat. I will definitely check them out. The fest was as fun as it was last year but was probably even better because I was able to talk to different people and I went two nights instead of one day. I think the festival was more organized this year because they built off the first fest last year and tickets were more easily accessible. It definitely felt more crowded because I think more people attended for Bassnectar, the headliner on Saturday. That was a sight to see. I talked to some people who were fans and said there’s a whole network called Chi-nectars who try to go to all of his shows. I explain more of that experience as well as the whole event in an article I wrote with another intern.

In the crowd during Bassnectar. Photo by Becky Neems from Nowyouknowevents.com

The Taste of Randolph was fun but wasn’t good timing. I wasn’t in a good mood because I was worn out from SAMF and it was hot outside. I just wanted to go home and didn’t want to cover it. But once I started walking around and checking out the scene I started to feel better. I talked with some people there who were in good spirits and enjoying themselves, I soaked up some rays and I tried some food. There was a wide variety of food there and it all looked amazing. I only tried a few things because I wasn’t very hungry. I had a BBQ pulled chicken sandwich, a lychee lemonade and a falafel sandwich. I explain more about the food and the Taste overall in the article an intern and I wrote about the Taste of Randolph.

One of the stages at the Taste of Randolph. Photo by Becky Neems from Nowyouknowevents.com

After being so tired, I started this week with a full plate at PTM as well as writing up the stories from the weekend. I was able to relax last night and I didn’t fill up this week too much. I am covering a Birdhouse Auction on Thursday, but otherwise I am giving myself a weekend off.

Update: apologizing for the lack of posts lately

Chicago, Diary, Intern, Internship, Journalism, Mizzou, News Reporting, Premier Tourism Marketing, Suburban Life Media, Tourism

I am back on the saddle this Monday interning but I have not blogged since last thursday because I haven’t been reporting since then. I attended my dad’s wedding this weekend and got to spend some much needed family time. But do not fear! I will be blogging more about this summer’s experience.

Coming up

I am working on two stories for Premier Tourism Marketing, one about sports complexes and towns and the other is about parades students can perform in. My music cities story is finished and is waiting to be published.

On Wednesday I start back at Suburban Life. I hope my patio magazine story is at its final touches and I will probably be doing the same old event reporting and local coverage. One of my stories is supposed to be on the front cover *cross your fingers* and I’m hoping to do a follow-up story on an odd topic: a principal eating a worm.

I interviewed the principal last week and in summation he said he would do anything to help boost his students reading goals and education.

For Now You Know Events, I will be reporting for the Taste of Randolph next weekend as well as Spring Awakening. I’m most excited about Spring Awakening. It’s an EDM concert I attended last year and a lot of my favorite bands will be performing. I’m most excited to see Moby, Bassnectar, Nero, Bingo Players, Zedd and Nicky Romero. It’ll be a lot of fun because I get to report and enjoy the music!

Benny Benassi at Spring Awakening in 2012. Photo by Becky Neems

That’s what’s happening in the wide world of Becky and I’ll stop taking such long (3 day) breaks from blogging! *insert sarcasm here*

Diary at PTM Day 3: Photo Rights

Chicago, Diary, Intern, Internship, Journalism, Mizzou, News Reporting, Premier Tourism Marketing, Tourism

Yesterday at Premier Tourism Marketing, I was still working on my story about amusement parks in the Mid-Atlantic area. Having to only edit the story, I still needed pictures. I called a few places and also found some open-source images on the amusement parks’ media pages. There were pages sprawled with beautiful images with high definition. The only question was, did I have the right to those images? So I called some PR offices of Busch Gardens, Morey’s Piers and Beachfront Waterparks, and Hersheypark. Some had certain directions for how to credit the companies’ photos so we would have the o.k.

Although this seems like an obvious step, a lot of people do not follow this procedure to use photos. There are websites like Tumblr, Pinterest and IHeartIt where you can collect images from the internet in a snap! Except the rights to those images are not always secure. Many people take images they find as their own and don’t look back. This is a problem for those people who worked hard to edit the photo, let alone take it.

It’s easier for me because I’m a journalist and know that every image needs a source. It’s harder for other people to know that distinction Even though photo sharing websites like Tumblr are great ways to share images, websites like Flickr have more restrictions and give more credit to the photographer than the image. So I learned it’s important to credit your photos even if it seems petty otherwise.

Diary at PTM Day 2: The Tallest and Fastest Rollercoasters

Chicago, Diary, Intern, Internship, Journalism, Mizzou, Premier Tourism Marketing, Tourism

As I am working on my mid-Atlantic roller coaster and water park story I did some research that only a visual learner would think of. I was looking at parks like Kennywood and Sixflags Great Adventure Youtube videos showing the point of view of a rider. I had the same anticipation to get to the top of the first hill and nervousness when waiting for the ride to launch from 0 to 60 in a few seconds. So because they are only videos, they cannot capture how the speed feels and how fast the ride is in miles per hour. So I went to the websites to see the numbers. Looking at theme park websites, I noticed they all used adjectives such as, the tallest, fastest, the only, the unique, in describing their roller coasters. I wanted to figure out “Is the Nitro really the fastest? Or is it the Phantom’s Revenge?” Or even, “What if it’s not even in this country?” So I did some digging and I came up with Amusement Today’s Golden Ticket Awards. Amusement Today is a news source that catalogs entrepreneurial happenings in the roller coaster business as well as debuts in the industry and its parks. El Toro, Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, came at the top for the best and fastest wooden coaster because it reaches a top speed of 70 mph and is 181 feet tall with a 176-foot drop. While Formula Rossa, Ferrari World in Dubai, is the fastest steel-framed coaster that goes from 0 to 149.1 mph in 4.9 seconds with the use of a hydraulic launch system. Other coasters are ranked highly such as The Nitro at 80 mph (Six Flags Great Adventure) and the Intimidator 305 at 90 mph (Kings Dominion.) So I think it may be fair to say that the quality of the ride is not necessarily the top speed but the experience of the ride as a whole. This information has helped my story because I didn’t know that much about roller coasters before I started my research. Now I can say I know more about amusements in the mid-Atlantic area as well as around the world such as the Schlitterbahn water park in Texas and Ferrari World in Dubai. In the future I would like to look more into the companies that make the roller coasters and their machinery like Instamin and Gravity Group. This is a subculture that I would never have tapped into if it weren’t for this story and I’m glad I know more information about the amazing feats people achieve in order to produce speed and recreation.

Learning More About the Fun Side of Life: Diary at PTM Day 1

Chicago, Diary, Intern, Internship, Journalism, Mizzou, Premier Tourism Marketing, Tourism

Today I started my internship at Premier Tourism Marketing as an editorial intern. I am going to be writing stories for their magazines and online content for Leisure Group Travel, Student and Youth Group Travel, Religious Group Travel and more. The story I am working on now is about the top mid-Atlantic amusement parks and water parks. I think this topic is interesting, not only because I have a passion for thrill-inducing activities, but also because I am able to venture into more fun and recreational topics.

When I reported for a newspaper, I was able to learn about unfamiliar topics, which is worthwhile, but this time I am able to venture in unfamiliar topics I can relate to. When I would report stories about a new police vehicle or a legislative meeting, they would be useful stories with useful information but I could not apply them to my life in a tangible way. Vacationing and travel I can apply to my life because I sometimes partake in those things and have aspirations in those categories. Travel helps people escape from the harshness of reality and I am able to do so in a work environment. I am creating a reality that involves the joys and wonders of life. Back to my roller coaster story, rides give me an adrenaline rush and it gives me joy to know that I am helping other people by giving them information about how to plan a group outing to obtain that rush.

Being able to combine business with pleasure is a great thing. When you’re at the airport in customs the attendant asks you whether you are taking a trip for business or pleasure, now you can say both. I think this is a great opportunity that I have ventured into because I can help others obtain happiness through fun activities that everyone covets.