I Will Not Be Unemployed

And the peasants rejoice!

To my delight (and that of my parents and relatives) I have found myself employment after the NBC Page Program! I had to take out the specifics, but just be glad I'm employed and still working in TV.

I'm not finished being a Page just yet and I'm having a pretty exciting last week! I spent several hours serving as a stand-in on the Dr. Keith set while they did some camera blocking and run throughs for the first show on Thursday. A few Pages and I had the chance to be fake guests and have fun making up fake stories about our awful family life. Dr. Keith grilled us on camera about our fake lives and then analyzed us. It was really fun.

Tuesday night a few of us got to work the premiere party for season 3 of Project Runway on Bravo. We handed out credentials at the door, make sure everyone was getting in ok, and then passed out goody bags at the end of the night. It was a really fun time, because we got to see a lot of celebs and interact with many of them at the door. It was about 8,000 degrees at the entrance, but we got some nice swag when we left. Oh, the perks of Paging. (Heidi Klum is an amazing creature, by the way.)

Here are some pictures from the event. The first is me with Kara Janx, a designer from last season, and the second with with Malan Breton, a designer from the new season. Check 'em out.

Long Time, No Blog

It's been a long time since I made an update, but not too much has been going on. I've mostly been giving tours of NBC while looking for jobs in the downtime. I was lucky enough to be the only Page to work Katie Couric's farewell party after her last broadcast on TODAY. It was a beautiful Wednesday afternoon and the venue was stunning. The party was on a rooftop of a nearby building in Rockefeller Center. It had grass and a wading pond and a beautiful view of St. Patrick's Cathedral. They also shot a scene from Spiderman up there.

Of course I had my camera with me to take pictures of the event. I was mostly taking pictures of the area and the venue, but at the end I was lucky enough to get a picture with Katie. (She asked me if I wanted one! I didn't ask her!) I know some of my relatives will barf when they read this, but I'm proud of Katie. She's done so much in her 15 years on TODAY. Much like some older folks feel a special connection with Dan Rather or Tom Brokaw, Katie Couric has been on my television screen since I was 8 years old. I'm going to miss her!

The job hunt sucks, but it's not really that bad I guess. Most recently I interviewed for a job as a talent assistant on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The position was here in New York and my interview went really, really well, but they decided to go with someone else. I know the person that got it and I'm really happy for them. On to the next one...

I'm still trying to get a back in for a second interview with MTV. My goal for this week is to get back in there and get the job. At this point I'm almost ready to ask, "So what do I have to do to get this job?" Desperate? Maybe. Haha.

I still have a few other leads that aren't really worth writing about at this point, but I'll keep you updated as I find out some more info . I'm going to start to looking into jobs at CNBC. It's not necessarily the first place I would think of work, but there are a lot of great openings, and it's a place to gain some great experience.

I'm headed to Boston for my cousin Jay and future-cousin Kate's wedding. It's going to be great to see all of my family in one place, and get out of New York for a bit. Now if only I could get a trip to the beach in there...

Flash back a year ago

Let's look into our crystal ball and see what I was doing just over a year ago today...

Oh, it's me and Tandi predicting out futures in broadcasting after graduation. Luckily for both of us we haven't had to beg just yet! Tandi's doing awesome at a radio station in Florida, and I have some good leads on potential jobs for next month. Hopefully after July 15th I won't have to resort to this source of income.

A Lot of Endings

It's been a while since I updated last. That's mostly because I've been pretty busy at work, but what else is new? My assignment in News Media ended two weeks ago. I had a really great time helping with publicity and it definitely piqued my interest in PR. Not only did I have fun, but I learned a lot and gained some great contacts and references for the future.

NBC had their 2006 Upfronts at Radio City Music Hall a few weeks ago. Us Pages got to help out w/ the wrangling and seating of the audience. A few of us were also lucky enough to work the green room where all of the talent waited before going on stage. It was great to see all of the present and future NBC stars all in one place. Everyone from news talent to sitcoms and drama stars were waiting down in the room. The stage manager asked us to go get the talent and bring them to the staging area, so that was also really fun! I got to escort Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet and the rest of the cast of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Not bad! It was exciting to be a part of NBC's new season.

;">Last weekend was the season finale of Saturday Night Live. Kevin Spacey was the guest host and Nelly Furtado was musical guest. It was a pretty good show, but also sad. It wasn't until the show ended that I realized I had been a part of something truly amazing. It's very cool to think that in 30 years or so I can say that I was in the studio for an entire season of SNL. I think as Pages we're a little decensotized from celebrities and TV after a few weeks in the building, but every time I tell someone outside of the program about my job they're always so excited for me. It's cool. I can't complain. Several Pages, as well as me and the other SNL Pages, got to work the finale after party on the Rockefeller Center skating rink. I can't describe the feeling of being surrounded by so many talented and important people. Not only that, but realizing that we were dancing to really loud party music at 3am outside in the middle of New York City. It's been a good year...

Unfortunately my year is coming to an end. My official last day is July 15, 2006. The bad news is that I cannot do anymore assignments because I don't have enough time left in the program. Basically that leaves me back on the job hunt. Funny how I was doing this whole thing exactly one year ago today. The great thing about having done the Page Program is that a year ago I was looking for jobs at local TV and radio stations in Pittsburgh, and now I'm looking for jobs at major networks and companies. It was a nice way to up the ante. Coming out of Westminster I would never have the resume or confidence to walk into a place like NBC or MTV and interview for a job. Now I feel like I have the knowledge and ability to take on almost any challenge. It was definitely worth it.

On the job front, I've interviewed at MTV and I'm waiting to hear back. My potential boss said that she really wants to get me back in for a second interview, but she's busy with the Movie Awards until June 5th. After that I'm going back in and talking with her boss. Sounds like a plan. I also interviewed at The Dowd Agency, which is a private PR firm that reps Mark Burnett, Yahoo! and several other big-name clients. The interview went really well, and I'm headed back in the second week of June to talk about how I can fit into the company. Things are looking good.

I'll keep you posted!

Cinco de Mayo!

It's almost 80 degrees in the city today. Perfect for some Cinco de Mayo celebrations after work. Can't really beat that. The bad part about that is that I'm stuck behind a desk for the majority of the day. The good part is that I only have one more week at News Media before I'm back to a (somewhat) normal schedule. I really have learned so much as this assignment and it has definitely piqued my interested towards publicity and PR.

I haven't heard back from MTV just yet, but they told me it would take a few weeks. Probably around mid-May so I still have some time. I found out that I didn't get the PA job at VH1 News because they hired someone internally. That makes a lot of sense, so I'm not upset. It was definitely nice to get an actual "yes" or "no" instead of nothing at all. I've had a few other leads here and there, but nothing too serious. Of course I'll keep you updated when I find things out.

If I can't find a job here in the States it looks like I could always find work in Brazil! Just kidding, but funny story! A few months ago I gave a tour to a crew from a Brazillian TV show who were filming NBC and the tour for a tourism video about New York. The host of the show interviewed me and a fellow Page, and came on the tour and video taped it. We finally got sent a copy of the video and it's pretty ridiculous. It might be kinda boring if you can't speak Portuguese, but my part is still in English, just voice-overed! For some reason I can't post the video so email me if you'd like to see it. It's pretty ridiculous.

The next three weeks are going to be very busy at work. The NBC upfronts are coming up. That's where the network debuts all of their new shows and specials and advertisers, executives and talent come to check it all out. It's a big media frenzy and I'm very excited about seeing it first hand. Saturday Night Live is back for the last three shows of the season. Tomorrow's show is hosted by Tom Hanks with musical guest Red Hot Chili Peppers. I couldn't be more excited about both! My job is fairly awesome.

I was lucky enough to head home last weekend to see the family and my friends at Westminster. It was a short trip (just the weekend) but I got to see everyone who I really care about. We had a cookout at my aunt's house and then I headed back to WC to party with everyone. Although Theta Chi didn't win Sing & Swing for the 7th year in a row (sorry, guys) everyone did a really good job and I was very proud. I was really happy to see everyone. Here are some pix from the cookout:
UPDATE: There has been word going around that the cake pictured below has been altered from its original state. This picture clearly shows that the cake was to welcome Patrick home and no one else. It's obvious by the photo.