New Honors Society on Campus: Sigma Alpha Phi

Up to now, the chapter of National Society of Leadership and Success in Lawrence Technological University is almost founded. I have found several Executive Board members, Michael Dalessandro, who is the Vice President, Christina Minta, the Chair of Fundraising and Ireli Xhani.

To introduce our organization to the campus while checking the responds of potential members, we decided to hold our first informal introduction meeting on campus. This is our fist time to “sell” and test our organization to the market. After settling the time and location, another crucial tip is to make our product more attractive. During the discussion, Christina mentioned that it would be more attractive if we could offer some free food. Since everyone likes free food, it will be easier to introduce the organization to someone after he accepts the benefit we offer. It is always easier to sell a product when you have free gifts attached.

Then we decided to buy some pizza from Hungry Howie’s. As the Student Government does not operate in the summer, we can not apply any money to cover our costs. However, all the E-board members are generous so we decided to pay the pizza together. As the president, I feel so happy that all the members take responsibility, and it shows that their personality fits for Executive Board members.

We set a table in the atrium, putting some pizza on it to attract students to our group. At the beginning, we found that it was a tough task to invite strangers walking by to come. Some people just ignored us, which is rather embarrassing. Actually, the first stage of communication is relatively hard since people tend to be hesitating to talk to people who they don’t know. However, no one will reject a smiling face. If one is really enthusiastic and honest, the other one will be influenced. Then, the purpose of communication is achieved.

Then we changed our attitudes quickly to become more warm and talkative to students, inviting them to have free pizza first and making jokes to make them feel comfortable. While we talked to them, we tried to affect them how important leadership skills are and how our organization can help them to achieve their expectation. Also, we collected information about what aspect they are interested in our organization, and what potential problems they concern.

This two day introduction turned out to be rather successful. We asked students who are interested and might become a member to write down their contact information. The list finally contained about 50 students, which is impressive in the summer semester. The goal of this activity, which is finding out the number of potential members and what this organization should offer to students, was reached by our hard work.

I always believe that communication skill is the fundamental requirement for successful management. The activities and meetings of this internship make me confirm how important communication skill is. Since information is the primary element in today’s business world, how to transmit the information to make it clear and understandable for listeners, how to make sure the information is transmitted correctly and in time through different channels. All these tasks are related to communication, and they play important roles in management.

IT internship, part 2

So these last couple weeks have been pretty busy.

We're migrating a lot of things from a company we just bought, which means we have to generate a lot of router scripts. Being that this would take a few centuries to do it manually, we have a script to generate the configs for us. It looks at an excel file to pull its information, so the task is just making sure everything in excel is right. This can be done by scanning over it yourself (time consuming and room for error) or by entering in really complicated formulas to do it for you. So that task fell to me, and I came up with some formulas (with help from an Excel forum to get me started) to make it easier. So now the configs are generated, which makes everything considerably easier.

We got a new network analyzer, so I've been poking around with that. And I can say I've worked with Network General Infinistream software, which is always a plus.

Next week I have Xng training. I don't remember if I mentioned this, but Xng is what we use to create work orders and it's also a database to track how things are physically connected together. That should be interesting. I'll let you know how it goes.

The Adventures of a Big City Intern-5

So yesterday was the big day. April and I met with Gail Monaco, the Director of Donor Cultivation and Major Events at the Metro New York Chapter of Make-A-Wish Foundation for coffee in NYC. The meeting was a success from the very beginning. Gail was super friendly, and very open, and willing to answer anything we had questions about. Her persona made it a lot easier than I had expected to feel relaxed around her, even though she has such a prestigious position within the foundation. We found that she had only just gotten involved with non-profits after working in insurance and real estate for numerous years. She started off as a volunteer for United Way, an opportunity which eventually turned into a paid position within the company. After being there for 6 years, she moved onto the Make-A-Wish Foundation where she has been for the past 13 years.

We learned about the process involved with granting a child's wish, and how every wish is made possible. The interviewing is actually done by volunteers which was something that surprised me. However, many of the employees at Make-A-Wish also volunteer for the foundation and get the opportunity to go out and meet the children and their families to find out what the child really wants as his/her wish. Gail said she has had the opportunity to do this several times, and though it can be tough, is a rewarding part of the experience. She also told us several wish kid stories, which were really inspiring to hear. Gail also mentioned that she still maintains contact with many of the wish kids after their experience with the foundation and gets invited to their weddings and other special events.

Overall, the meeting was definitely a rewarding experience and has further convinced me that working for Make-A-Wish is going to be my ultimate goal after school. I plan on getting involved with the Detroit chapter as soon as I am able to once getting back to Michigan. I would really like to intern with them at some point in time before graduating college to get a better feel for the industry in general, as well as the foundation specifically. I'm not sure what I would want to do within the foundation specifically just yet, however after listening to Gail yesterday, the foundation seems to allow you to "wear many hats" as she continuously described it. One day she talks to donors and plans budgets, the next she plans major events, other days she talks to the kids...every day is different and that aspect of the job definitely appeals to me.

In addition to meeting with Gail, I have an appointment with one of the employees in our office tomorrow to talk about his experience working with handicapped children. I'm also meeting with a woman who works in NYC at the Alliance for Lupus Research office as the Special Events Manager next Wednesday after work for coffee. I also received an e-mail response from another Make-A-Wish employee and will hopefully be meeting with her some time next week to get a feel for her position within the foundation and her experiences.

So goal #1 is going wonderfully and my networking is well under way!

More to come!
Krysta

LTU + Social Entrepreneurship: 2 Iowans Offer Their Take on Detroit

Over at another blog, two students from Grinnell College in Iowa are talking about their impressions, thoughts and ideas about the City of Detroit. Through the Detroit Social Innovation Project, a joint venture between Lawrence Tech's Center for Nonprofit Management and Grinnell College, Mickale Haile and Beth Miller are spending 9 weeks working to create socially innovative internships that will bring other students to the area to discuss and find creative approaches to Detroit's social and economic problems.

Check it out, make some comments, jump into the dialogue!

We have some great things going on right next door, and rather than becoming discouraged or feeling like we need to flee the state, it just might pay off to stop, look around, and see how we can use our creativity to make the world around us a little better.

Some other great resources on talking about Detroit:

• Metromode, a local online magazine featuring all things Detroit, is launching the Metro Detroit Talent Retention Program, in which it will feature young professionals from around the area who have chosen to stay, live and work in metro Detroit
• Intern in Michigan connects Michigan employers and student interns to make the most of the wealth of talent we have right here
• Positive Detroit is a blog dedicated to highlighting the good news about things that are going on in the Detroit area

Links to each of the Grinnel students' individual posts:

• "Why Detroit? Why Now?" 6.22.09
• "Thoughts on Non-Profits and Public Transportation" 6.23.09
• "Social Innovation and Urban Farming in Detroit" 6.25.09
• "The Osborn Revolution and 'working from the bottom up'" 6.26.09

The Adventures of a Big City Intern-4

So while in the Big City, I’ve decided that it would be a good idea to set some goals to obtain by the time I leave here to make sure I’m making the most of my experience.

1. Network like crazy!
I want to get ahold of and meet with AT LEAST 3 non-profits before I leave here. So far I’ve gotten thru to the Director of Donor Cultivation and Major Events at Make-A-Wish Foundation, and today i started collecting contact information for the UNICEF headquarters.

2. Master the Subway/Transit System

It’s harder than it sounds. It is SO easy to get all turned around and end up in multiple bureaus without even meaning to!

3. Get to the gym 4 times/week.

We walk everywhere, but it seemes like everyone in this city works out like, all the time. So call it peer pressure but…=]

4. Go to at least one Broadway show.

I think this is just a NYC must. Who goes to NYC and doesn’t go to Broadway?

5. Visit the art museums: Guggenheim and MoMA

Stuff like this is always so much fun and super interesting.

UPDATES

This week is going even better than last week, and I'm learning more and more each day. I've learned a ton about HTML and Wiki formatting, which is proving to be a very useful skill, and will definitely be another super beneficial skill to add to my resume. Tomorrow the director from my department is giving a presentation about presentation skills, what to do, what not to do, etc. I've always considered myself to be a pretty decent public speaker, however I'm hoping that this will make me even better.

One of the other things that I've rediscovered since getting here is my love for working with non-profit organizations, especially those that work with kids. This weekend one of the interns and I are volunteering at a barbecue in Central Park for Harlem school kids, which is sure to be an eye-opening experience. I have also been talking to the people in my office who I have discovered to be my best resource as far as finding networking opportunities go. Later next week I'm having lunch with one of the guys in our office (Rob) to talk to him about his experiences, and we're going to see if we can set something up with some of the non-profits he used to work with. Also, after meeting with Josh H today I discovered that his girlfriend works for a non-profit in the city so I will hopefully be meeting up with her soon too.

Overall, things are starting to go extremely well in the way of networking currently, so I'm hoping that that continues to go uphill. Despite a little bit of homesickness at the beginning of the week I'm continuing to enjoy my time in the city and can't wait to get paid again so we can do some more exploring in NYC.

-Krysta

IT internship, part 1

Taking a cue from the other intern who's posting, I'm going to give all my posts the same title with different parts, so it's easier to follow.

Okay, so I have really been slacking in the posting department, and that's because I've been studying for my CCNA exam. If you don't know, that's Cisco Certified Network Associate, and it's a really good cert to have if you're going into the networking field. I enrolled in the Cisco Networking Academy last year and after that just studied for a good month and a half. Even at work, because they are awesome enough to understand that this cert would be beneficial to both me and them. My test was on the 18th and all spare time (well, most) was spent studying, thus I really didn't get to update much. But it paid off! I passed! I'm a CCNA!

Anyway.

The company is possibly the most laidback company I've ever worked for. Not in terms of getting things done, because everyone gets their work done, but dresscode wise (most of my coworkers wear jeans), and stuff like that. I have a very hands off manager, and in fact most of my work comes from the guys I work with. And there is no shortage of it, which I definitely enjoy. Recently I upgraded a Sniffer Infinistream, which was a more lengthy process than I expected. Sniffers analyze packets that go through a router and are invaluable in figuring out an outage or a problem. I can also generate router configs, which was actually very good practice for the CCNA because they use cisco routers. I've troubleshooted, installed hardware, done work orders, configured things, and basically, finally in a position where I understand what's going on and I can apply what I learned in class, and learn some more. I know a lot more about cellular traffic than I did when I first came in, and how things connect and how packets travel.

The other thing is that everyone is awesome. My group jokes around with each other a lot, but we all get everything done and in on time. I really actually hope that I can extend this to the fall or actually work there permanently.

I promise to update regularly now, probably once a week or so :)

The Adventures of a Big City Intern-3

Hey all!

So one of the things that I have been advised to do being so close to the Big Apple is to network, Network, NETWORK. Where better to make business contacts than in the big city where there are so many successful business owners, entrepreneurs, and people who have essentially climbed to the top of their corporate ladders.

One of the things I knew I always wanted to do after college was to work with non-profit corporations, and since coming to New York I have made it one of my goals to meet with at least three representatives from big non-profit corporations to get a better idea of what their line of work is like and what they had to do to make it to the top. First on my list is Make-A-Wish Foundation. So far I have sent individual e-mails to several of their Wish Coordinators, as well as their Special Events Manager, and just recently sent an e-mail through their information request link to the entire staff at Make-A-Wish NYC. I made it clear that I was not looking for a job, but only for an opportunity to do some networking, and some learning as to what it takes to obtain a position like theirs within such a huge national corporation. I have already received a response, and will hopefully be setting up a meeting time and place with their Special Events Manager sometime in the near future.

In addition to Make-A-Wish, I am hoping to get into contact with the March of Dimes and Children's Miracle Network, and perhaps even several other smaller foundations if I can find a way to make it work. I think that ultimately, I would love to work for a non-profit that helps children, so what better way to get into that industry than learning from those who are already in it, and using them as contacts later on to locate positions in the field?

In addition to contacting the non-profits I have set up a profile on linkedin.com to try to make some more contacts, receive recommendations, and essentially advertise myself to have a better chance of getting a job after school.

More to come soon [from the city where it NEVER stops raining...]

Krysta

Career Summit for Women in IT -- Connect, Lead, Succeed

On June 20, 2009, the Michigan Council of Women in Technology is holding its 4th Annual Technology Career Summit! If you can't wait to register, here's the link up front: https://mcwt.cuveventreg.com/register/?event_id=8&mode=reg_session&job=login

The keynote speaker is Rhonda Walker, WDIV-TV anchor, who will speak about her professional journey. The remainder of the conference will include interactive workshops and a great panel discussion.

If you are thinking about a job in the IT field, this is a fantastic chance to network with other students and established professionals.

If you attend the event and want to blog about how it went, just e-mail kevans [at] ltu [dot] edu -- it would be a great way to let others know what you learned!

The Adventures of a Big City Intern-2

Hey all!
So I had my first weekend in the city, and it was definitely a blast. =]
Friday night we did a lot of exploring and wandered around Hoboken to get a better feel for the local scene and nightlife. Saturday was spent catching up on all the sleep we had lost throughout the week, and doing a little bit of homework. However, that night we got to go out and have some fun exploring the New York public transportation system and met all kinds of interesting people along the way.
Sunday morning we took our first real tourist trip, and went out to Governor's Island. Along the way we got out first real taste of street performers, and scam artists who tried to charge us $10 for taking a picture with him because he was dressed up like the statue of liberty [pictures to come soon, promise].
We finally made it to the island and walked around, exploring the coastline and taking loads of pictures of the sailboats, ferries, and the Statue of Liberty. The statue was even more amazing than I could have imagined...and the view of the water was phenomenal. =]
After walking the coastline we went and checked out the River to River Art and Music Festival that the island hosts each year. Artists bring their pieces to the island and they are set up for public viewing. Most of the pieces were unconventional which made the festival even more interesting.
One of my favorites was an exhibit that featured hundreds of flowers that people had hung from a tree. The public was invited to take a flower and to it to a branch and make a wish. The exhibit originated from a part of Indian culture, and was just one of many exhibits that displayed the diversity of the artists at the festival.Another cool exhibit that we visited was an audio art experiment inside the walls of Fort Jay. There were sound waves that were controlled by the number of people inside the walls, how close together or spread out they were, and they way they moved. The experiment was designed to give the allusion of being "in charge" of the sound waves.
After the festival, we headed back into the city for dinner and did some shopping on canal street, through Chinatown and Little Italy. We made it back to the apt. without getting lost ALL DAY, which was a record for us...we were pretty psyched.
Tomorrow it's back to work at the office, which really isn't as bad as you would think. All of the employees are young, and super friendly, so it's a great working environment for a college intern. I'm learning a lot and experiencing a lot of super cool things.
more to come!!

The Adventures of a Big City Intern

Well I finally made it! After getting through months of anticipation, and a delayed flight, I have finally made it to Hoboken, NJ to start my internship at EducationDynamics, a website host company. While here, I’m working with their Program Marketing Department as one of four summer interns, all of whom are spread out between the various departments.

I had my first day of work yesterday, and as nervous as I was, I ended up having an amazing experience…which isn’t so hard to do when you can see the New York City skyline from your desk. Within the first few hours I made my acquaintance with my mentors, Rosa and Cristin, and met with the director of my department to discuss the different kinds of projects I will be working on this summer. Rosa is super laid-back, and is one of the newest employees to the company, having served as the PM intern last summer. Cristin has been here for about a year and a half, and not only works full time in the office but does freelance illustration on the side.

After getting acquainted with my new team, we were treated to lunch by one of the VP’s and then attended our very first full office meeting where we came up with a theoretical design for a chat application for the websites they use here, one of which is geared towards incoming freshman (which is the one LTU uses), and the other called FYRe, which is geared towards first year students with the goal of keeping them at the university. I immediately assumed that as an intern, and not to mention, the only person under-20 in the entire office, that I wouldn’t be addressed much, if at all, and that if I were to speak up, anything I were to say would be ignored.

WRONG.

All four of us quickly discovered that we were just as responsible for brainstorming and participating as any full-time employee in the company. We all began to speak up, throwing out ideas and giving input that the VP running the meeting seemed genuinely interested in hearing, and quickly added them to the developing list for the chat application. Towards the end of the meeting we switched into smaller groups and based on the collective group input, designed a chat box for the application, and when everyone was finished it was time to present. When it got to our group, I was the one who ended up presenting the project which was both scary and exciting at the same time.

Once that meeting was finished, the other interns and I met with the Vice President of design to discuss a new project his team was working on: developing a mentor/protégé website for another university. Again, we discussed the features we wanted to see, and came up with designs for what we felt the page should look like, as well as how the selection process would be implemented, etc.

Overall, my first day was a whirlwind, but I could not ask for better. After work we headed back to our apartment, and did some grocery shopping and just hung out for the night.

Oh, yeah, roommates, almost forgot. I’m living in an apartment in the city of Hoboken with the 2 other female interns, April and Erin, and Jill, a student who attends the university that our apartment complex is owned by. April is a talkative sweetheart who goes to school in Georgia where she is a Public Relations major. Erin just finished up her undergrad work at NJIT where she majored in Business. She’s super sweet too and logical, and knows her way around the city well enough to not get us lost. Jill just finished up her undergrad work at Stevens University and she’s been a tremendous help as far as giving us tips as to the best and cheapest restaurants, shops, etc. in and around NYC.

So far the experience has been amazing, and tonight we’re planning on going to a charity run in CENTRAL PARK [!!!!] and then going out with everyone from the company to hang out and get to know them on a more personal level.

More to come!!

Krysta