My Worx Week

As expected, my whirlwind week in Italy went by incredibly fast. Those days of eating gnocchi, drinking wine and looking out over the Tuscan countryside are behind me, but the imagery will stay with me for a while longer. The Italian way of life was refreshing to see; even though their jobs generally don’t pay as much as ours do, they seem to be genuinely happy and deeply connected to their culture and one another. Hopefully this picture can transport you there, even for only a few fleeting seconds:

I’m anxious to get back in the swing of things and help out the Worx team with various projects. Before I left, I began the process of loading all of the copy from my content document onto a client’s redesigned website using Worx’s custom content management system. Now that all of the visuals and graphics have been added, the site looks great and I’m looking forward to its official launch. It’s always gratifying to know that something you worked on can be seen and used by anyone with an Internet connection and a PC (or Mac, or tablet, or smart phone…). A company’s website is usually the potential customer’s first exposure to the brand, so it needs to be exceptional.

I should be getting back to work, but thanks for reading and I’ll talk to you again soon!

Well, we’ve officially made it to spring. My favorite part about leaving winter behind?  Saying “good-bye” to the worry that a snowstorm could hit any day and make it difficult to drive to my internship at Worx.

I’ve been continuing to build copy decks for newly redesigned websites, which involves a lot of planning and organization. The document has to be laid out in a way that makes perfect sense to the designers, and lets them know where the content fits within a website’s pages and sub-pages. I feel that the process has made me pay even stricter attention to detail than I used to. I’ve spent a lot of time on one project in particular for a client that designs and furnishes workplace renovations. I had to pick and choose content from existing promotional material and write some of my own, and it was a great way to get experience writing in a brand’s pre-established style – in this case, straightforward and minimalist.

Spring Break is just around the corner, and next week I’ll be traveling to various cities in Italy for a CCSU course called Global Visual Communication. I’ll be analyzing the ways that Italian advertising appeals to society and comparing it with our own, and I hope to learn more about how the advertising industry affects different cultures (and vice-versa) while maybe even gaining some new creative ideas to utilize here at Worx.

Grazie per la lettura! (That’s “thanks for reading” in Italian – thanks, Google Translate!)

Hey all - just finishing up my day here at Worx Branding & Advertising. I’ve been working on a few different projects for clients. I’ve been implementing various changes to Blue Back Square’s social platforms to enhance them and attract more users. I took over the social media posting for Blue Back Square during the summer and am already happy to see such an improvement. It is nice to see that hard (and fun!) work is paying off. Truthfully, I owe a lot of the success to HootSuite. As I have mentioned in past posts, HootSuite is a social media management tool that makes it easy to organize social platforms and posts. HootSuite allows me to schedule posts in advance – which is great because I am only here three days a week. I truly enjoy posting for Blue Back Square just as much as I love going there! It is definitely a fun account to work on.

Spring break is fast approaching - in just 11 short days I will be on the beautiful beaches of Cancun! It has been pretty gloomy in Connecticut these past few weeks, so I am definitely excited for a week of sun and relaxation. I’ve only been somewhere ‘tropical’ once before, during high school. I knew for my last hoorah of college I wanted to go somewhere warm so I’ve been saving up for a while. And, I’ve been checking the weather down there - it is already above 80 degrees! I will be sure to bring back photos to share on here. Talk to you soon!

Hello again, readers!

I’m now in my fourth full week as a Worx Branding and Advertising intern, and the projects and responsibilities are ramping up. I’ve been tasked with writing more headlines – one of my favorite things to do. Being able to express the values of a product, service, or even an entire company in as few words as possible is a skill that I look forward to improving with every project. I’ve also been able to participate in some brainstorming sessions with Melanie, the copy director and Marysia, the associate creative director. During these sessions, any and all raw ideas get thrown onto a whiteboard and are ultimately turned into the concept for a complete ad that will be sent to the client.

Most recently, I’ve been putting together copy decks for websites that Worx is in the process of redesigning. These are basically Word documents that are meant to preserve all the original content from a website, which will be put back on the redesigned site in either its original or edited form. It’s interesting to see all of the steps involved in revamping a website and exciting to be part of the process. Worx is more than just an advertising agency, and being an intern here allows me to gain experience in a bunch of different fields; I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Thanks again for reading, and I’ll talk to you soon!

I’m just finishing up my second day at Worx Branding and Advertising, and it’s already clear that this internship will be an incredible experience. I was first introduced to the agency during a trip put together by the CCSU Marketing Club. It was obvious from the first few minutes of their presentation that this agency is full of talented, passionate and fun-loving people. After a couple of interviews, I was thrilled to be accepted as the first-ever copywriting intern.

On my first day as a Worx intern, I was assigned real projects that will be presented to clients. As a copywriting intern, my main priority is to help out Melanie Petro, the copy director. She has a lot of experience working on huge accounts during her career, and her advice will be invaluable to someone just starting out in the industry. I’ve helped her come up with headlines for banner ads and magazine ads for two different business products. It isn’t easy to take a lot of technical information and trim it down to a short and interesting phrase, but the brainstorming process is just as rewarding as the final idea.

So far, the highlight of my two days here was my photo shoot for my profile picture.  We’re asked to bring a prop, and I decided to bring my drumsticks. I’ve been playing drums for more than 10 years in school bands, wind ensembles, marching band and even some random projects with friends and family.

Outside of Worx, my final semester at Central Connecticut State University is already moving along. I am taking the music classes that I was never able to fit in my schedule before now. Having already taken all the required Communication courses during my four-year college career – including the fascinating Advertising and Society – it’s nice to change gears. As one of my favorite professors said, “College isn’t about learning what to think – it’s about learning how to think.” I think I’ve accomplished that.

I hope that my continued blog posts will offer plenty of insight into the branding and advertising industry, and provide hopeful interns with some useful information along the way. I am excited and appreciative to have this opportunity, and I hope to contribute as much to Worx as I will surely be receiving.

Thanks for reading!

Hey everyone! I’m just finishing up my day here at Worx Branding & Advertising – and talk about busy! I have been working on a big project for over a week now for a client who is in the beginning stages of rebranding. My colleague, Katie, asked me to work alongside her during the research process and I have gotten to dig my hands in some new projects. We have been interviewing qualified candidates about the client and have gotten to hear their diverse perspectives. Along with partaking in the interviews, I have been scheduling them and transcribing the notes taken. This will greatly help the client in understanding peoples’ perspectives of their company. The research I am conducting will greatly influence the company’s new track and ultimately their new brand!

In other news, my final semester of college started last Monday and I am getting back in the swing of things. I’m back to juggling work, school, academic coaching and the marketing club. Having a bunch of commitments in my life keeps me focused. The classes I am taking this semester are pretty tough. The class I am most interested in is Introduction to Public Relations. I am very interested in this field and can’t wait to gain more experience within it. I have dabbled in public relations a bit at Worx assisting my colleagues so I know some basics, but this course will give me even more of an opportunity to learn. We will be learning about the history, objectives and role of public relation in the media and society. Even though the class meets at 8:00 a.m. (yuck!), I find myself awake and intrigued. I am excited to see what will come this semester.

Talk to you soon!

Happy New Year everyone!

Today is my first day back at Worx Branding & Advertising since the holiday. The year flew by; reflecting back on 2012 I am so thankful for the opportunities I have been given and all of the great people I have met. The new year will definitely be life-changing for me. In just four months, I will be graduating and real life will begin! I am nervous to take the next big step in my life, but I know I am ready. For now, I just need to focus on the present and get through my last semester as an undergrad.

The past few weeks at Worx have been fun. Holiday cards and treats have filled the office from clients and friends. It is nice to see the kind gestures - and that Worx is a company who values their clients, and whose clients appreciate them as well. We also had two holiday parties! I missed the first one because I was studying for finals, but the second one was really fun. I brought in peanut butter balls and there was plenty of food and drink to go around.  It’s always great to relax and celebrate the holiday season.

Only one more week left of winter break – it went by way too fast! Talk to you soon.

Happy Friday! I’m spending the last week-day before the holidays at Worx Branding & Advertising. Last night, we had an awesome work party with a Yankee Gift Swap. Some of the items were hilarious – there was even life-size spaceship (okay, maybe not life-size, but 5 feet long is still pretty big)!

It was nice to relax and enjoy the party after a day of work. There was tons of food and sweet treats to enjoy. I made my favorite dessert – peanut butter balls. I have been making them with my family forever, and always look forward to them every year around the holidays.

It still hasn’t sunk-in that I finished my second to last semester of college Monday. It’s crazy to think that in five months I will be a college graduate! I am ready to get out into the real world. I have learned so much at Worx already, and am so thankful to have been given the opportunity to intern at an amazing agency. By working in my field of interest I am gaining even more knowledge to compliment my schooling.

Thank you to every person who has helped me along the way and I wish you happy holidays!