Final Thoughts on my Internship at Discovery Communications

Today is my last day here at Discovery Education.  It’s been a really great semester and I’ve learned so much about the company, the department and communications as a whole.  I thought it was great that Discovery’s internship program encourages interns to meet with many different people to learn more about the company and to network.  I met tons of people and got some great opportunities.  I loved getting a chance to work with the internal events group because I love event planning and I can see myself working as a specialist in event planning at a public relations firm. Reflecting back on my semester, I’m glad I took advantage of all the chances I was given to do different things here.  From dressing up as Mrs. Potatohead in a huge suit, to spending my Sunday afternoon on the National Mall at the National Science and Engineering festival, I’ve been able to do such a variety of things.

            My public relations skills have developed significantly this semester.  I’ve become very comfortable with writing press releases, researching and reaching out to the media, video editing and many other things.  Besides PR specific duties, I’ve developed a more professional self as well.  I communicate with other employees on the floor and send tons of emails each day.

            This internship has impacted my career goals as well. Before this internship I thought I only wanted to work at a public relations firm but now I feel that I could excel in a corporate setting as well.  A lot of great things go along with working for such a big company and I’ve really enjoyed my time here. Everyone has been very friendly and I could definitely see myself in this office.

Video Editing

Throughout the last few weeks I've been compiling news clip videos of Discovery Education.  This morning I finally completed the task of putting them all together as an internal resource for our department.  A bunch of the clips have shots of our employees at various schools around the country presenting awards or giving professional development lessons to teachers.  I complied these videos based on their relevance to our department.  I worked with Windows Movie Maker and then moved over to Final Cut Pro to make the video perfect.  This morning we showed it to my supervisor's boss, saved a copy on the shared drive and now it is complete!

Pictures from the event

The run-through

Buddy brought two cakes from Carlos Bakery where he works!

The first and second place winner of the cupcake decorating contest got to bring home a cake made by Buddy

A shot from the show (working the back door)

Cake Boss in the House!

Today Buddy Valastro from TLC's Cake Boss is coming to headquarters!  He will be talking about the new season, answers questions, asking trivia questions to the audience (Discovery employees!) and holding a cupcake decorating contest for his three 'biggest fans' in the room (those who get the trivia questions correct).  I volunteering to help the corporate communications team with the event.  I went down to help with the set up and run through this morning and today at 2:30 I'll go down for the final run through before everyone starts showing up.  I will be making sure there is no trouble wheeling in the table for the cupcakes.  Also, once the show ends, I will be helping at a table in the back where there will be cookies that Buddy made for employees to take. This is just one example of the awesome events they hold here at Discovery for the employees.  Tomorrow the actors from What Not to Wear will be here giving outfit critiques.

A Quick Update

I finished up the US Anti-Doping Agency press releases and those are all set until we have the winners of the True Sorts Awards to include in the releases.  I've done some research looking for coverage and following up with various publications to see when they would be covering recent events.  Other research I've done includes creating a media list for an upcoming event in Huntsville, AL.  I worked the other day on the Discovery Education press summary of the week.

I think I am going to take Psychology of Education next semester.  It is an EDU class, which I've never taken before, but As a psychology minor, it definitely relates, and since I've spent the semester here at Discovery Education learning all about the field, I think this would be a great class to combine two things I am interested in.