First off, I have to say a HUGE thank you to Ryan, Jake, Nikki, Amanda, Mike and Ted for giving me a place to stay and some great hospitality! Thank you thank you!
So while in NYC I got to do some pretty cool stuff. I've been interested in moving there after I graduate, so it was nice to stay with other people my age who already live there to get a feel for what it's like to call NYC home. I think I'm still interested in moving there, but I got a new feel for what it's like.
Friday afternoon my friend Ryan, who interns at MTVNetworks, took me to the famous Times Square offices for a look around. It was great! I didn't get to see the TRL studio or anything, but I visited MTV, MTV News, Nickelodeon, VH1, SpikeTV and MTV International. It was REALLY great to walk around their offices and see what a creative place it is! I didn't really get to talk to anyone about jobs or anything, but it was still cool. While on the News floor I spied on John Norris while he was working in his office. I felt cool!In another MTV moment, I saw Willy from The Real World: Philadelphia at a bar that night! Again, I felt cool by association.
**Cue the urban walking/taxi/subay montage**
Saturday and Sunday I switched hosts and just enjoyed a weekend in the city with my friend Jake. No broadcast adventures for once! We went to the Met and saw some great works of art, saw a movie, ate pizza... a great time!
Monday morning started early! I met with Nikki Battiste, Associate Producer on the Jane Pauley Show at NBC. She took me around the NBC studios and offices and it was SO great! I got my own private tour of the SNL studio, Nightly News and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Then we went across the street to the Today Show studios where they were taping! Nikki knew everyone there and they were all really excited to meet her and were very nice to me, too. Katie, Matt and Anne weren't there that day, but I was in the studio while Natalie Morales did a live interview, then chatting with her quickly. When I was leaving the studio, Al Roker was coming back in and I said, "Hi, Al..." and she said "Hello there." We're friends, haha!
Nikki told me all about the Page Program at NBC, which she participated in after she graduated, and it sounds like it is definitely something I am interested in now. A few months ago I heard Meg Camardese talk about her experience in the program and she loved it, too. Nikki tried to get me an on-the-spot interview with the man in charge there, but he isn't in on Mondays, so she is going to pass on my resume and info and says that she can get me an interview no problem! We'll see how it goes! Talking with Nikki was really great. She has worked for the Today Show, SNL, and Jane Pauley and she is only 25. She gave me some great inspiration and a lot of tips on how to succeed in the business. I'm very, very grateful for her time.
Monday afternoon I trained down to Ewing, NJ to stay with '04 grad Amanda Oliveri. She does promotions at Nassau Broadcasting which is 920 ESPN, 94.5 The Hawk, and 97.5 PST. I got to go into the station with her and meet her coworkers, then went on a remote with her that night in Philadelphia. Tuesday we hung out and then went to Philly again that night.
I came home today in such a crazy away. I trained back up from south Jersey to Newark to fly home, but I had a layover in DC before getting back to the 'burgh... such a whirlwind tour! All I needed to do was get on a boat and I would have had all the major modes of transportation covered!
The trip was really tiring, but really beneficial to me. I got a lot of insider info at some major networks, and also got me really excited for the career hunt! I realize now that I need to make like five resumes, depending on the type of job I'm going for. The options are endless, including radio DJ, radio news, TV news, producing, directing, reporting, acting, dance... ayiyi! I'll get it all together, have no fear! That was a really long blog entry, but I hope you made it all the way! Back to normal blogging next week. 1 more semester left...