It's job season!

It was just one year ago that I was on the mad search for a job, and here I am again doing the same thing! Luckily for me it's much easier to find a job when you're currently employed. Technically I'm not finished with the Page Program until the 2nd week in July, but once my assignment is up in three weeks I will be giving tours of NBC until the end. Not really a fun option, sorry! So I'm starting to look now.

It's all about who you know in this business. I've made a few contacts through my assignments at NBC, some with supervisors and some with former Pages who are out of the program and employed elsewhere. My roommate Carolyn actually set me up with some awesome opportunities, as well as my supervisor (and former Page) Lauren. The network of Pages is really going to drive a lot of my success in the future. There's a Page alumni list of almost 700 people that have went through the program and are currently employed in the media industry. Some of the people that I currently work with will be running big companies in the future. Pretty cool.

I have interviewed for two jobs so far. The first is at MTV (sweet) for the assistant to the directors of production events. Production events are the Video Music Awards, the Movie Awards, Spring Break events and things like that. Basically my dream job. I guess I never realized how much "events planning" I did in the past. Hello, block parties! The interview went really and I should hear back within the next few weeks. Wish me luck.

The second interview was this morning at VH1 News! It was for a production assistant in the news department. I've always said that I want to work at MTV news so I guess this is the next best thing. The interview went well here, too so I'll let you know!

I'm headed back to the 'burgh and to Westminster this weekend to see the family and to see Sing & Swing! Theta Chi has won the past 6 years (3 under my reign, a'thank you) so I hope they can pull out another! Good luck, guys.

Now, for no reason, here are some cool pictures I took a few weekends ago when the weather was nice. I love my camera.

A Historic Week at NBC

What a week it has been! I have to admit, my new assignment in news publicity was going pretty slow for the first three weeks or so, but all that changed this week! In case for some reason you haven't heard (which I don't think is possible) Katie Couric announced on Wednesday that she would be leaving TODAY after 15 years in the anchor seat. After her contract expires in May she will join the CBS Evening News as the first solo female news anchor in history. Not a bad gig, Ms. Couric! The buzz surrounding the announcement was huge and made our office very busy as you can imagine. Lot's of people calling, lots of press releases and meetings to arrange and things like that. It was all pretty exiciting!

Just when I thought things couldn't get busier, they did. The day after Katie announced she was leaving NBC held a press conference to announce that Meredith Vieira would be joining the TODAY family. Very exciting again! Meredith comes from a long news background with local news, 60 Minutes and eventually cohosting The View on ABC for the past 9 years. We had to contact all of the press for the event and make sure everyone important was attending. I also go to personally make all of the press kits for everyone in attendence, so that was fun. I'm saving one for myself if you ever want to see it!

It was such a great experience to be a part of this historic day at NBC. There hasn't been a major anchor change since Bryant Gumbel left in the late 90s so it was definitely a big day for NBC News and especially news publicity. I'm really lucky to have been a part of the change, and it was exciting to know all the info weeks before everyone else!

Everything else is pretty good. SNL has been on a three week break but it's back again tomorrow night with Antonio Banderas and Mary J. Blige. Should be an awesome show. Next week is Lindsay Lohan with Pearl Jam which is going to rock in a major way. My work hours are nuts (I'm going to clock around 75 this week) but I'm hanging in there. It will all be over soon.

It's Officially Spring

It's hard to believe that it's almost April already. Where has this year gone?! Crazy stuff. The past few weeks have been fine. I had a quick visit from the one and only Liz Farry a few weeks ago! It was great to see Liz and here about how things are going back at Westminster. I'm planning a trip home the weekend of April 22nd so I can go see Sing & Swing. Look out, WC! I also had a visit from my mom last week! She was in town for business so we had lunch and dinner while she was here. Love you, mom!

The news publicity assignment is going well. I'm working 60+ hours a week, which is leaving me with a big paycheck but I'm pretty tired at the end of the week. This assignment is only 10 weeks long, so I'm almost halfway finished already. Things are fairly quiet right now, but as soon as Katie Couric decides what she is doing after her contract expires I'm sure the phones will be ringing off the hook. I don't know what she's going to do, so don't ask!

I only have until July to stay in the page program, so I'm starting to look for some potential jobs in the area. Of course I'd love to stay at NBC, but I'm also looking elsewhere to see what my options are. As soon as I hear anything. I DID hear from MTVU and unfortunately I didn't get the news anchor position. The good news is that I got some really great feedback from 2 casting directors there, so I know how to improve in the future. I was just glad to hear something back at all, so that definitely made my day.

I'm on fire!

The Page Program is like a rollercoaster, I swear! Just when I started to kinda doubt everything and wonder about my future I get like 10 new assignments. Well not, 10... only 2. As you can see from previous posts my SNL assignment rocks. I actually wasn't the first person chosen for this new assignment, but the person who just got it got a real job so I stepped up to take over.

The new assignment is with NBC News Media. Basically that is all the PR for all of our news programs and talent ranging from the Today Show to Dateline and Hardball. My main job is to keep and eye on all of the days publications like newspapers, magazines and websites and flag the individual publicists when their client comes up. I have to look everywhere from the New York Times (to find articles about GE executives and takeovers) to the tabloids (in case people want to know who Katie Couric's dating!)

It's a big change from my position at Late Night, but it's definitely good experience and an excellent assignment to have on my resume. In my first two days I've already spoken to some big-name producers, Al Roker and David Gregory (who said, "have her call me at the White House.) Not bad... It's a little slower moving than my last gig, and the hours are a lot longer (7am to 7pm, YIKES!) but at least the pay will make it all worth it. Ahh, greed. Makes my uncle Jim proud.

Speaking of the family, I have to give a quick shout out to my cousins Corey and Luke as they welcomed a new baby boy into the family this weekend. My second cousin Grissom Matthew Sager was born on Sunday! Welcome to the family. *end mushy family section*

Live from New York

Here's a quick photo spread from my first night as escort on Saturday Night Live. Everyone went very well. There were several moments when I thought to myself, "...is this really my job?" I'm not gonna lie, it's fairly sweet.