Working for the Weekend

Erin and I started off the weekend early by attending the PRSA New Orleans event at Irvin Mayfield's Jazz Playhouse on Thursday after work. The event featured Tobacco Free Living, the organization that is pushing for smoke-free laws in New Orleans and the state of Louisiana . The venue was really nice and Erin and I met a few other PR people from New Orleans. We also met one of the musicians. (Here's a picture of us at the event).

Another perk of being an intern is having coworkers who hear about different events or local hidden treasures. Luckily, Erin filled me in on this awesome free concert. On Friday, I went to Fat Harry's to see Kermit Ruffins and managed to get only 4 feet away. He was playing at a going away party for a local news anchor who's going to start working in New York at ABC. Kermit had a great set. I got a few blurry pictures on my phone and here's one of them to the left.

After Kermit, I managed to catch yet ANOTHER free concert at Tipitina's as part of their free Friday concert series in the summer. Last Friday featured the New Orleans Bingo Show. The band is not your typical New Orleans group and I definitely got to experience something out of the ordinary.

Why are you proud to call New Orleans home?

Mara and I left the office around lunch in search of young New Orleans professionals who were eager to tell us about the many reasons they love New Orleans.

These interviews are the foundation for an upcoming marketing campaign to promote the city. Remember the bumper stickers, " New Orleans - Proud to Call it Home?" The Young Leadership Council is the organization responsible for that great slogan, and they are in the process of starting a whole new campaign!

We asked people to finish this sentence: "I am proud to call New Orleans home because..." We ran into a few camera-shy people, but for the most part, people were excited to share their many reasons for loving this city. I posted one of the interviews so that everyone can get an idea of what people had to say! So, why are you proud to call New Orleans home?

Our First Event

Our first event of the summer was held at the House of Blues. The International House of Blues Foundation hosted Schoolhouse Rock, featuring The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Percussion Ensemble Concert. Raquel and I wrote up a press release prior to the event and we were also responsible for documenting footage for the concert: Raquel on the Flip, myself on the camera. The band played percussion renditions of Pink Floyd and Radiohead. Being more of a country fan, I didn't know the majority of the songs. I left the singing to Raquel who knew almost every one!

Introducing: Meredith

Hello! My name is Meredith and I am a recent addition to the Keating Magee Internship program. I was born and raised here in New Orleans, but will be returning to Athens, Georgia in the fall to start my junior year at The University of Georgia, where I am studying advertising and speech communication.

A little over a month ago, I took an elevator ride to the fifth floor of the JAX brewery building in the historic New Orleans French Quarter not knowing what was in store for me. This was my first internship, and after hearing stories from friends and families about their first job experiences, I can honestly say that I was a little bit nervous.

After my first few days here at Keating Magee, I was pleasantly suprised to find that I was quickly gaining the trust of my fellow employees. There will always be papers to file and a phone to answer, but there are not many places that let their interns lead their own marketing plan. Yes, we (interns) were given the opportunity to create our own marketing plan for the local House of Blues. It was not only a fun business to work with, but as a local New Orleanian, it was enjoyable to work with a company that I was familiar with.

Introducing: Raquel

I’m Raquel and I’m a recent graduate of the A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University and a 2nd time intern at Keating Magee. I majored in Marketing and just finished my thesis on crisis management with a literature review on using social media to prevent “brand hijacking.” I grew up on Long Island, New York and I came to New Orleans in 2006, about one year after Hurricane Katrina.

Living in New Orleans was definitely a change from New York, but I have really enjoyed growing up while the city was re-growing. I have met so many wonderful people and experienced so many wonderful things. New Orleans is really a community in the sense that everyone knows everyone, yet there are always new things to try and new people to meet.

Interning here has really given me a much better understanding of what “real-world” marketing is really about. While getting my degree, I learned a great deal about marketing research and theory, but there is really no substitute for learning things hands-on. I’ve gotten some experience in traditional marketing while simultaneously finding out about the rising importance of social media.

I am constantly trying to go to a new festival, see a band I’ve never seen or go to a restaurant I haven’t tried, so I’m sure that some of that will creep into my posts on here. Hopefully, I can provide an educational and also entertaining picture of what my days are like here at KM.

Introducing: Mara

Hi.
My name is Mara. I am going to be a senior at Loyola University in the fall where I am working on my marketing degree. I’m from Houston but have been here in New Orleans for three years now and am proud to call this my home away from home.

I’m interning with Keating Magee this summer and couldn’t be more excited. Keating Magee is one of the top marketing agencies in the area yet it is still small enough that as an intern you still get to do actual work for clients (ie. not just make copies and fetch coffee).

Keating Magee is everything I was looking for in an internship and more and the fact that it is located in the French Quarter is a definite plus.

Introducing: Erin

Hey there!
My name is Erin. The start of the summer marked a full year of my interning with Keating Magee. Though my roots are in New Jersey, I have traded in my Jersey for a different kind of "New"...New Orleans. This year I will be a senior at Tulane University and in the following year I will be finishing my double major in Marketing and Legal Studies in Business.

I have friends interning for a variety of companies in all sorts of fields, yet I am the only one experiencing an internship in New Orleans; all I can say is that my experiences have been far more colorful and exciting. Even FILING in New Orleans has a different feel -- okay that's a stretch. Filing sucks anywhere you go.

But through Keating Magee, I have been able to gain all types of hands-on experience. Whether it's creating our own marketing plan for the House of Blues or running around the city conducting interviews, interning in New Orleans- especially in the French Quarter- is a one-of-a-kind experience.

I never realized how important Facebook, Twitter and blogs were as communication tools, but now I do. That's when I decided it would be valuable to share our experiences with the rest of the world. Give everyone a taste of what it's really like to be a marketing intern in this unique city.