The End of Days

This will be my last post on this blog. The last two days of my internship were very relaxed. The other intern and I finished our work so quickly over the past few weeks that the work allotted for us was all finished as of the second last day. There were several background research tasks that I undertook in free time, and I ended up completing all of those as well. Our boss eventually found work for us to do. We compiled a list of Facebook and Twitter updates for shows in different regions. Writing this copy was fun as I got to be cheeky with them. I wrote the updates for the Canadian Facebook app page (Facebook posting can be geolocated), so I got to throw in some funny Canadian references. Unfortunately, Twitter was a tad less fun as there is no geo-locating functionality.

Such Facebook updates are representative of a shift towards a two-way communication approach to advertising where consumers and producers interact alongside one another.  I have mentioned this type of advertising in a previous blog-post.  Because the App itself is mobile and can automatically connect to social media sites (it is on an iPad after-all), users are able to share their experiences of watching shows in real time.  Part of the reason we are working on the Facebook page for the iPlayer is so that we can take advantage of this new-found social aspect of viewership.

At the end of the second last day I had a closing meeting with my boss to go over the good and bad of the internship. Most of my remarks were good. I kept bringing up how nice the organization, the people, and even the building were. It’s such a classy work environment. All of the members of the iPlayer team have been lovely and helpful. My only criticism was the vagueness of the job description. I’m sad to see it ending, but I will always look back on my brief time here with a satisfied conscience.

Day 12/13

On day twelve I started doing work on research for a new product demo video. I spent several hours researching the best product demo videos I could find, many of which were made by only a few production teams. The other intern and I both did our own research and came up with different examples and ideas. After my research I had a meeting with the GM of the project. We talked about what makes good leadership, the best ways to network, and what I should do after I graduate. I gained some good insight from this meeting.

On day thirteen the other intern and I discovered a classic Dr. Who Pinball machine in the office, along with two Nintendo 3DS. We spent a bit of time in the morning having fun with them and then got back to work. Work involved looking at ways to streamline promotion through social media. Our boss took us out for lunch and I was put on the spot to thoroughly explain my dissertation topic. They both asked some inquisitive questions that challenged me to further refine my topic. Later in the day I had a meeting with a visiting member of the team from Australia. I’ve considered moving there after my degree is finished so I wanted to pick his brain about the BBC offices in Sydney. I’m hoping that if there are any openings there I will have atleast some kind of foot in the door.

Day 10/11

Day ten started with a productive meeting with the head of programming for the iPlayer. We talked about my career aspirations which helped me clarify what I want to do. Since starting this internship, it has become quite clear to me that I like working in a relatively small team on a product. I have a rather fickle nature, so project based work is ideal for me. Also, I grew up playing team sports so I feels comfortable working towards a goal with a team at my side. The rest of the day was spent researching superfans for the country-specific launch of a show.

Day eleven started with the weekly team meeting in one of the meeting rooms upstairs. It was nice to see that my boss presented one of my ideas to the team. I can’t go in to details, but it revolved around how we will be using Twitter for promotion. In the early afternoon the office became abuzz with talk about a large fire nearby at a milk factory. Because of the size of the fire, and the risk of exploding gas tanks, two sides of the BBC complex were cordoned off…the sides I walk home from. Then the BBC building beside ours was evacuated, and because it was so cold outside, many of the employees came into our building – it was packed. I eventually had to leave 15 minutes early to get to class as I had to take a long route to the tube station. The area looked like a dystopian warzone as the chemical smoke settled amongst cold damp buildings.