Getting Toward the Finish Line

Chicago, Diary, Intern, Internship, Journalism, Mizzou, News Reporting, Uncategorized

It has been difficult for me to post frequently since the summer is winding down. I’m trying to live a healthier lifestyle, which leads to me posting less than I should. I apologize. Now back to the intern news!

PTM– My New Jersey story has gone to press! I will have my second story in a magazine later this week. It feels like such an accomplishment. It took me a while to write the story and now that it’s done, I can look at it in a magazine! My other story about piers is wrapping up and I will start on probably my last story or two for PTM ever. This chapter is closing but I got some great stories out of it as well as “InSite” on travel.

Wave Swinger at a NJ park. Photo from Morey's Piers and Beachfront parks. — Wave Swinger at a NJ park. Photo from Morey’s Piers and Beachfront parks.

Suburban Life– My story about Brookfield Zoo’s Blanding’s turtles was published last week, as well as my nice story about Packs 4 Kids and a summer agriculture program through the Cook County Farm Bureau. I worked on a few interesting crime stories last week and I spoke with the president of Riverside about the Village manager’s position. I learned more about the Relay for life in Brookfield/Riverside as well as the impact it has on those affected by cancer.

Look how adorable these Blanding's turtles are. Brookfield Zoo has established a nurturing habitat for these interesting turtles. Image from Chicago Zoological Society. — Look how adorable these Blanding’s turtles are! Brookfield Zoo has established a nurturing habitat for these interesting creatures. Image from Chicago Zoological Society.

This internship will also be wrapping up soon. I was able to get a different perspective about a newsroom than I had at the Missourian. It was a different dynamic than what I had experienced before, but I have learned that I shouldn’t close the door on newspaper entirely. It’s rewarding to talk to these people and showcase the money they raised for an organization, the new business they opened or the award they received for their hard work. It will be interesting to see where I end up next year. *Aah! Scary*

NYK– I started editing actual stories last week and I really loved it! I was nervous because I thought to myself: “What if I really don’t like this editing business, then what would I do?” but I realized after editing the stories I really have a passion for helping others get across what they are trying to say in an understandable and fun way.

I also have a knack for WordPress now, as you can tell; I’m a WordPress aficionado.*Ha.* With all my SEO knowledge and text sizes and image dimensions. There could be a career in that as well *Maybe?*

This weekend I also went to my last two events of the internship. It was kinda sad, but it went out with a bang! On Saturday I went to the Taste of River North, and it was so fun! It was right on the riverfront and there were options for some good food, drinks and music. I might go again next year.

View of the Chicago River during the taste. To view more photos go to www.facebook.com/NowYouKnowEvents — View of the Chicago River during the taste. To view more photos go to http://www.facebook.com/NowYouKnowEvents

The last event was the Rock ‘N’ Roll half marathon. I saw a bunch of people who accomplished so much. (Because there is no way I could ever run 13.1 miles) There were bands staged along the route and there was a celebration after! Although I’ve never been to a race prior, I thought it was nice that we were able to congratulate these people and have some fun after all the training and running is done. It was held in Grant Park and it was a festival as well as a race.

There were tents for people to get physical therapy as well as free samples of health memorabilia. There was also a beer garden, which seems counter productive before noon, but I am not to judge. My favorite part and the reason it went out with a bang is a band that I enjoy was headlining the celebration: Walk Off the Earth. They made their start on YouTube and had a record deal with a CD in March. They were so much fun with a lot of energy. They were throwing instruments around, hitting drums with glitter flying everywhere and jumping around to their fun beats. I really felt like I was at a summer festival even though I was at a half marathon event.

It made me sad and nostalgic of all the events I’ve been to this summer, but I know that I can go to these events anytime to enjoy myself. That was kind of the fun of it though; to think, how can I illustrate this on paper? That has been my challenge this summer and I hope it will continue for the rest of my life.

-Becky

Getting Into a Groove

Chicago, Diary, Intern, Internship, Journalism, Mizzou, News Reporting

A lot of things happened last week. It’s getting harder for me to do daily blog posts so I’m going to try to do once a week posts or a few times a week. I will always post when I have a new story published, but otherwise it’s hard to spend a day at work then blog afterwards.

At PTM, I finished my sports story about Chicago Southland. I am working on my story about national parades and Wildwoods New Jersey. All this research on destinations is making me want to vacation! Wildwoods seems like a fun, inviting place because of the fun on the boardwalks, the beaches and the attractions. The parade story is helping me reminisce of all the parades I performed in. The last parade I was in was for the last football game in 2012 at Mizzou. I’m including the Disney parade in the article and that reminded me of my experience with the Disney parade and workshops in high school. I went my freshman and junior years and each trip was different. One trip we visited Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry, the other year we went to the Islands of Adventure in Universal Studios.

At Suburban Life, I just finished my story about teenage popular hair trends for Suburban Life Magazine. I learned a lot about different styles and had my hair done last week coincidentally. Other stories were in the works but this week we are supposed to be swamped because we are down an editor.

For Now You Know, I covered a Birdhouse Auction last Thursday. It was very cool because I felt like I was at a swanky cocktail party. I’m also supposed to start editing this week more so than writing and I’m excited about that because that is what I am aspiring to do. This weekend I am covering Tech Week Conference so it’s going to be a busy weekend!

One of the birdhouses at the auction inspired by Tinkerbell. Image from Nowyouknowevents.com

So things are getting into a groove at my internships and I’m getting the hang of things. I’m learning a lot and and enjoying it. As much as I want to go back to school to see my friends, I like working. So it’s conducive for me to have these experiences because I am learning skills for the future and get a glimpse of the real world.

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.