Saturday

This morning we has our Comms history class and toured some of the old buildings in midtown. We saw the building where the New York Times used to be, which is in part how Times Square got it's name. The building is no longer occupied by the New York Times, but is one of the large buildings where "Times Square" ads now live. It has most commonly been known as the "Cup of Noodle" building, famous for its former and now no longer, cup of noodle steaming billboard.

We also saw the current Times building and Dr. Cressman is trying to get us a tour inside the building, but for now the outside will have to do. In this picture, it's me, Valerie, Angela and Laura.

We visited Herald Square and were going to visit another location but because of the defuncatated weekend subway schedules from construction, we weren't able to get up to 59th to see the other buildings, so that'll be for another date.

Afterwards, I went with Melissa and Brandon to the largest street market in New York. It was on 9th Avenue and went from 37th street all the way up to 57th street. Yes, 20 blocks of street fair fun! It was great. So much so that we chose to walk all the way up it and then all the way down, all 20 blocks. I ended up getting a bracelet and pair of earrings, spending only $4!

We also went to a flea market next door and then ended up returning to that area later that night for dinner at a great Indian food place called Bombay Express. They're food is just as good and half the price of Malika, where we went before, so that was fun.

Afterwards, Melissa, Brandon and I went to the grocery store to stock up on some basics. Having a fridge has been VERY nice. But let me just say, I hope that's the last time that I ever pay $6.50 for a box of cereal...you're killin me, Smalls.

Well, tomorrow's Sunday and we have a visiting teaching meeting in the morning, so, g'night!

-mk

Tom Seaver

This morning I went to Reuters in Times Square for a Satellite Media Tour (SMT) with Tom Seaver. He was talking about MasterCard's new PayPass program which he will demonstrate tonight at Shea Stadium. It was great being in the room and seeing how all the equipment made the programs come together as Mr. Seaver spoke with sports casters from all over the nation where the PayPass program has already been implemented into 11 baseball stadiums. You can see the pictures of the studio where we were at and the view from the control room where Melissa and I watched all the action. From the window, we could see Good Morning America being taped in the studio across the street and watched as people gathered around the 1st floor windows of the building as it was being taped.

During one of our SMT breaks, Andrew, the Reuters technician, took us into the filming studio to show us the view of Times Square behind the curtains (sometimes they'll shoot with the curtains open and show Times Square and sometimes they won't--for this particular SMT the studio was used with the curtains closed). You can also see pictures of that below.

Afterwards, Melissa and I stopped at a local McDonald's in Times Square to get some breakfast since we had gotten in so early for the SMT. It's proclaimed in all the tourist guides as the "Must See" McDonald's. And for good reason. The building was huge and was so high tech you would never even believe it was a McDonald's! There were flat screens, multiple stories, neon lights, flashing food items and some type of lazer light system that spun the McDonald's logo around on the ground where you walked. It was crazy! Melissa and I decided it must also be where they test the new foods for McDonald's because they served donuts...plain and powdered. Who ever heard of McDonald's selling donuts??? It was pretty cool though.

We walked from Times Square (42nd) back to our office on 34th street and walked through the fashion district where we found a giant pin and needle (see below).

Work the rest of the day went pretty fast as I finished up the project I had been working on all week. Melissa and I got off early since we had finished up for the day and had started earlier anyway. We came back to the house where I did some laundry so I'll have clothes to wear for tomorrow. I took a nap, read some more in the DaVinci code and just relaxed. I also received my memory card in the mail so I'll be able to take plenty of pictures now (yeah!). It's just a matter of actually remembering to take them... :o)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pictures!

-mk

Thursday

Today was good. It was the first day I officially brought my lunch (finally!) since I now have a fridge and can do that. I attended a writing workshop and learned some good things there and then I left early for a meeting at PRSSA Headquarters. It was a phone conference about Speed Networking with a couple representatives from the Affinity group for new professionals. They were very supportive and excited about the event and since it’s kind of my “baby” I was glad to speak with them. They will be providing volunteers, professionals and other types of support for the event.

I came home after that, went downstairs for dinner, met some new people and then got ready for our Conference Committee phone call which ended up lasting 2 hours. I think there were some good issues addressed so hopefully things will get under way and running very quickly.

I took some pictures of my room so you can see what it’s like around here, but I’ll have to post those tomorrow. I’m EXHAUSTED and it’s late. Tomorrow is the SMT in Times Square so that will be exciting, but I have to get up early. So, g’night.

- mk

Welcome, Cody Christopher Henneman!

Today my old roommate, Amanda (Hayes) Henneman had her baby. Little Cody was born at 10:15am in Boise, weighing in at 6 lbs 6 oz. and two weeks early! Mom and baby are both doing well. Cody is named after Amanda's brother, Cody Douglas Hayes, who was killed in a car accident a 4 years ago. Little Cody is the first grandchild on both the Hayes and Henneman sides. He's gonna be a spoiled one!

Work was slow this morning and I struggled to stay awake. After a while of struggling, I took a walk to wake up and felt much better. I spent the better half of the day working on a finance project for one of the agency's six partners. Unfortunately, Brett (the partner I'm working with) hadn't communicated with Genevieve (an accountant) quite what they needed in order for me to do my part. But I was strictly told by Brett and Alison (our internship supervisor) that I couldn't take on any more projects this week until everything was done for Brett. So...things got pretty slow and boring, but tomorrow it should pick up again.

After work I came home exhausted and ready for bed. But, I have some stuff I need to work on for National Conference so that will have to wait. Amanda and baby are about the only newsworthy items for today's blog. When I get pictures from her, I'll post them.

OH! I got my digital camera today so pictures will be coming soon!

-mk

Happy Birthday, Meridith!

This morning I slept in but luckily I wasn't too late for work. I attended a workshop on SMTs and learned a lot. I'm really excited about the one for Friday morning. Other than that, work was pretty normal. Nothing too exciting.

Melissa and I left work early today to go to Columbia University, where our New York Media History class was meeting in the World Room. It's a room in the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia. It's famous for the stain glass in the room that came from the old World Building where Joseph Pulitzer started his paper, The World. I couldn't find a picture of the stain glass online and I can't get the picture from Laurel tonight so I'll try another time. Joseph Pulitzer was key in raising money to build the base for the Statue of Liberty. He could recognize the importance of it, being an immigrant himself, even if so many others didn't. The stain glass is a very large square with the Statue of Liberty in the middle. One each side of the statue is a globe. If I remember correctly, that design was also the logo of the paper. The World Room is also the room where the Pulitzer prizes are judged, so it was cool to say I was there.

Today is Meridith's 27th birthday, so after class a group of us (me, Laurel, Lyndsey, Brittany, Melissa and Brandon) took her out to dinner. We went to a Thai place called "Spice" in Greenwich Village near NYU. Although I didn't order it, I tasted duck for the first time ever. Brandon got it and let me taste his. It was kinda like BBQ chicken, but that had a lot to do with the sauce and the way it was cooked. The food was really good and fairly reasonable in price. Happy Birthday, Meridith!

Anyway, I've got lots to do. I'm sorry these postings have been kinda dull and boring lately. It'll get better, I hope. :o) There's some good stuff coming up, like the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building and likely Central Park. So, stay tuned.

-mk

Take me out to the ballgame...

Today was a great day! I kept busy at work, had great experiences and went to a baseball game.

This morning a guy name Brian came to my desk and asked me to make some copies for him for a workshop he would be teaching tomorrow. I said sure and when they were done I took them to him. He started talking to me, something that I honestly didn't expect because few people just start up conversation with the interns. So, that was cool. He started telling me about where he used to work, what he used to do and how he was teaching this workshop on SMTs (Satellite Media Tours) tomorrow. I asked him the workshops were for just anyone to attend. He explained that the agency has a continuing education type of program where employees are assigned to attend one of 6 classes every so many weeks. He didn't know if interns were invited, but if I found out I couldn't attend he would be more than happy to sit down with me and teach me all about them. WOO HOO! So, I emailed Alison about being interested in attending the SMT class and possibly others. She was like "Oh yeah! Totally! That would be great!" So, another blessing of opening my mouth, I will now get to attend these regular training sessions that are on topics such as SMTs, product placement, writing, etc. So, that's exciting!

Then, this afternoon I went with a guy named Matt to meet with one of the assistant editors at Family Circle magazine. I watched Matt pitch ideas and build a relationship with this lady to use as a contact for the future. It was great. On the way back to the office Matt asked me what other accounts I was on. Turns out that he's also on the MasterCard account that I've been doing very little work for. He mentioned that on Friday morning they would be doing an SMT at a studio in Times Square and he invited me along. So, Friday morning at 7am I'm going to go to the studio right in the heart of Times Square and see it all happen. I'm STOKED!!!

Opening my mouth and asking for work has really helped make this a worth while experience. There are some new interns starting this week sometime so Melissa and I will no longer be the newbies, so that'll be good, too.

Melissa, Brandon (her husband), and I went straight to the Yankees game from work. It was a BYU intern group activity so we didn't have to pay, which made it that much more enjoyable. :o) They played the Texas Rangers and I must say, I expected the stadium to be a bit fuller. I guess I just thought that all Yankees fans were die hards and practically lived for the games. I guess that's only in the finals. In the bottom of the 8th though, they called the game because of the rain and the Texas Rangers won 4-2. Go Texas!

I'll be getting a camera this week so I'll be able to start putting my own pictures on the blog. Keep checking for pictures on old postings though, because when I get them I'll post them.

For those of you who know Teigan Scoffield, she just got engaged and will be married in September. How exciting, huh? Congrats, Teig!

Anyway, I'm off to read and then to bed. G'night!

-mk

Mothers are the best!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! I wanted to do something cool, like write a special poem just for my mom and post it up here, but I lack creative juices right now so I'll have to think of one and send it to her in the mail later. :o)

Church was good. The Relief Society lessons are a little behind here because for the third time in the last 5 weeks, I had the lesson on death and the resurrection. The girl who taught today did a great job. She works in a nursing home so she deals with death a lot and she gave she great advice and feedback. It was really good. The guy who taught Sunday School also spoke in church and let me say, it made for quite possibly one of the most interesting Sundays I've had in a long time. Let's just say in the future I'll be seeking out other Sunday School classes.

After church I spent some time reading. We were going to go to Central Park, but it was cloudy and cold out today so we all stayed in doors.

Tonight Dr. Cressman conducted our first Intern FHE. It was a lot of fun. He told us about how he met his wife and some secrets for the guys, of how to obtain similar success. :o) His family is coming out in a few weeks, so it'll be fun to meet them, too. It was cool to be able to all come together since we're usually rushing off in so many different directions.

Tomorrow night we're going to a Yankees game. They're playing Texas (yay!) and the game starts at 7:05pm. It'll probably be a really, really late night, so don't expect anything long on here tomorrow.

Things are going well in New York, and while I don't think I want to ever live here for an extended period of time, this experience is perfect! It's exactly what I need to enjoy the city, check out the field of PR and see where I want to go with things.

I wasn't able to get the pictures from Melissa today so I'll try again Tuesday. Take care!

-mk