This week’s though is brought to KSV by Frank Sampogna from our New York office:

1.    Clients say one thing and mean another
Desire a locked down safe approach. Job security in recession climate.

2.    Procurement is running this town
Beware of the cost cutters. Fight back with value.

3.    Clients have shifted from brand focused to transaction focused decision making
Show me the transaction ROI. Prove it.

4.    Clients crave research based insights and thought leadership
Specific insights that influence behavior change relating to transactions / ROI.

5.    Clients are frustrated by lack of agency differentiation in final pitches
Continue to push out Passionate Networks of Believers as KSV differentiator.

6.    Pitch Balance. What’s that?
Careful. Tie together right balance of non-traditional and traditional media for the prospect. Don’t overbalance.

7.    3 New Rules:

1. ROI, ROI, ROI
Think ROI, demonstrate ROI, everyone talks ROI in the pitch process and final meeting.

2.  Show your operating structure matches theirs.
Adequacy and efficiency. Mirror the client structure and simply define your business benefits for them.      (not features, benefits)

3. New definition – consumer insight
“A belief, value or need not yet leveraged to create a transaction.”

Hard to believe it’s halfway through the semester already! A great internship is hard to come by, and now the trick is learning how to make the most of your experience – both in the office and out online.

And by online, I actually mean Twitter.

For me, Twitter has been the number one resource for all things internship, job, marketing, pr, news, and fun-related. Now, I could sit here for hours writing up all the great things about Twitter and why it’s so important to engage online. But I won’t – don’t worry.

I’ll try to sum up my thoughts in a few words: just do it. Like Nike.

Twitter Chats

A Twitter chat is a great place to start networking in 140 characters. It can definitely be intimidating at first to log on and start chatting it up with strangers, I know. So, start small.

For newbies: my picks for great intern/student chats are…

#internchat: Led by the Intern Queen (@internqueen), #internchat happens every Tuesday at 7pm. It’s a great place to get advice on all aspects of an internship; including how to apply, resume building, cover letter advice, even what to wear on the first day.

#PRstudchat: Led by PR professionals @dbreakenridge and @valeriesimon, #prstudchat is a great way to connect with other students interested in the field of PR and marketing and PR professionals. Want to find out if what you’ve learned in school actually happens in the “real world”? Here’s your opportunity to find out! Log on Wednesdays at noon or follow the blog: http://www.prstudchat.com/about/

Think of a Twitter chat as less of a question-answer session and more as a networking opportunity. I’ve made some really great connections with PR, marketing and career pros through my experience on Twitter. (And by really great connections, I mean I’ve had actual job offers and personal career coaches contacting me.)

Thank you for all of your hard work and enthusiasm this summer!

The KSV Intern Family, By Jordan

Funny how when you plan on getting something done at a certain time, and you’ve done all the background research to just charge ahead and start the project, you miss your train. The focus train.

The focus train is a little thing we here in the “ginger corner” refer to quite often. (Two redhead heads in an office with orange walls, what else would we call it?) It’s that moment when your bags are packed and you’re set to go. Once you’re on the focus train, there’s little that can derail your progress. You’re set to continue on this path of focus until you reach you destination, your project is completed, and your deadline is met.

But what happens when you miss the train? Once that train leaves, it may be another 5 minutes until the next train passes by. Or it could be five hours. So what to do? You have a project that must get done, but you missed your train! You just can’t seem to focus on the task at hand.

How do you get yourself back on that train?

I certainly don’t know the answer. I used to lock myself in a classroom in the basement of Kalkin Hall on the weekends armed with my laptop, books, post-it notes and highlighters galore just to get some work done. In the working world after college, you don’t have those same options. You can’t just move around every hour or so to work in a new environment. You sit at the same desk, every day, for eight hours a day. It can get pretty monotonous.

A simple Google search of “how to focus at work” yields a mere 600,000 results. No big deal. Everywhere from 5 ways to focus to 25 ways to focus, everyone has their own methods that work for them.

• Take a short walk – I like this one. A quick five minutes outside of the office can really clear your head.Unless five minutes become a second lunch break, then you’re in trouble.
• Use your hands as blinkers – Not sure how I feel about this one…. I mean in theory I get it, but I think we’d all look kinda ridiculous walking around with our hands covering half our face. Not to mention all the bodily injuries as a result of people walking into each other. But maybe that’s just me.
• 15 minutes - You can do anything for fifteen minutes. Dedicate a minimum of 15 minutes to a given project and see how far you get – who knows, maybe fifteen minutes will become three hours of productivity!
• Eat light and healthy - I definitely agree with this one. I don’t know about all of you, but after I devour a pizza and polish off a six pack, I’m done for the day.

All joking aside, a few of my own tips that work well for me:

• Physically write everything down. Every single thing you have to do, even if your “to do’s” include making a “to do” list. Highlight each thing you complete as you go. I like highlighting better than crossing out – it lets you look back and actually see how much you’ve accomplished.
  
• Ipod. A killer playlist is key. It doesn’t matter if you’re into Radiohead, the Beatles, Britney Spears, or the Glee soundtrack (Ahem, Lori W…) just listening to something you can mindlessly bob your head to can put you on the train. It’s also great for blocking out noisy neighbors. (And by noisy neighbors, I mean people chatting in the hall, the office radio, whatever.)
• Get organized. Take a few minutes each day to clean your space. It’s hard to focus on one thing when you’ve got papers and briefs from ten different projects spread-out all over your desk.

SO – to all of the KSVers out there reading this truly fantastic intern blog, your train leaves 212 Battery Street at 8:30 every morning, are you on board?

The summer of my senior year at Champlain College I was lucky enough to land an internship at KelliherSametsVolk, with their savvy, Public Relations team.

My degree was in Public Relations and I was able to learn practical knowledge that has since, related to real-world experience. The close-knit PR team made sure to include me on meetings, ask for ideas and encourage our internship team with projects. I felt involved and knew that KSV cared about their interns. It was the only company (out of my five internships in college!) that had an internship coordinator. I loved the upbeat, creative and progressive atmosphere at KSV which is why I’m so excited to be back here at the vibrant community internship blog at KSV – three years later. 

Where Am I Today? 

After I graduated from Champlain College, Summa Cum Laude with my B.S. in Public Relations I decided I wanted something new and different. So I packed up my bags (job-less and house-less) to head to Boulder, Colorado. Boulder is filled with entrepreneurs, a raving online tech startup scene, one of the happiest and healthiest cities, beautiful mountains and 300+ days of sunshine a year. 

I landed at Lijit - yes, MC Hammer probably comes to mind. 

I am the Publisher Services Manager at Lijit, a tech-startup that provides a free custom search, stats and online, premium advertising to blogs and websites. As a Publisher Services Manager I am an account manager and recruit and acquire strategic bloggers to our growing network and publisher base of over 12,000 blogs and websites. I also use my Public Relations skills in helping organize, run and attend industry events, manage our company blog and Twitter profile and also help evangelize the brand. 

I wear a lot of hats and I love the fast paced nature of a growing startup! 

I have my own blog: http://smallhandsbigideas.com/ which even helped me land the job at Lijit and introduce me to many prolific and influential professional and personal contacts. I also volunteer with Girls In Tech, Ladies Who Launch and The Wellness Initiative. Finally, I make sure to hike, snowboard and enjoy Boulder’s happy hour scene in my spare time. 

Words of Advice: 

As an Alum of Champlain College and KSV, I am often contacted by to-be graduates of Champlain College for job-searching and relocating advice through our career services office and also hear of many friends who soon came to be at KSV after I left. 

So to the KSV interns: You’re in the right spot. The people at KSV are brilliant. Don’t be afraid to invite them to coffee and ask them questions, use them as a reference (bridges should never be burned – I still am in touch with Alex!), come in early, work hard, find opportunity, do more than you’re told, collaborate and listen. 

I’m a proponent of internships and write about it often so congratulations to you and if there’s any way I can be a resource, from one post-KSV alum to another, feel free to e-mail me directly (gracekboyle at gmail dot com) or connect with me on Twitter: @gracekboyle.

So incase it’s not obvious enough: I have a bit of a crush. But setting my personal  feelings aside, here’s one more reason to follow Cashmore: he planned the first annual worldwide Social Media Day on June 30^th. 

Yes, it’s true, all that Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare nonsense gets its own day. Like it’s some sort of holiday or something. Only you don’t get presents. (I know, I was sad too.) 

But despite the lack of gifts and the day off from work and school, Burlington celebrated Social Media Day in style, with events, a town-wide scavenger hunt, and a chance to be crowned Social Media Royalty. 

Our quirky little city hosted six tweetups around town, and if you went, got your Social Media Day ‘passport’ stamped, and hunted some treasure, you could enter to win fantastic prizes. You can check out the full schedule of events here: http://bit.ly/dvaB9S.  

Our very own Senior PR Associate, Alexandra Tursi, attended the prize drawing and crowning soirée at Bluebird Tavern on June 30^th:

“It was great to see tweeps face-to-face and in person at the Bluebird Tavern awards event! What’s exciting about these tweet-ups is the opportunity to learn from other people and the organizations for whom they are handling social media. I had a chance to talk to @BirdDiva, aka Bridget Butler, who heads up social media at the ECHO Center. She shared some great ideas about inspiring Vermonters to share videos of their experience with Lake Champlain and the ECHO Center. @MissMagpieFGS was also there. She has created a web resource for Vermont parents, and discussed the power of providing fun, valuable and informative content for your audience. And of course there were prizes, good food and libations!” 

Political columnist for the Seven Days Shay Totten, @ShayTotten was crowned Social Media King, and the crown for Social Media Queen went to PMG’s Nicole Ravlin, @pmgnicole.

And what about the rest of you KSV-ers? Did any of you partake in the day’s social media festivities?

You’re all familiar with The Know, a resource to connect the fantastic KSV Intern Group with the rest of the company. The Know is still a resource, and will still aim at providing valuable information to guide KSV’s interns towards a fabulous career once they have ended their time at 212 Battery Street. The new difference is the format. Our goal with the blog is to encourage more integration and collaboration to bridge the gap.

What to expect? Well, you can expect similar stories to those published in the e-newsletter, but hopefully with more employee and intern contributions through comments. We also hope to publish guest posts from both interns and employees about their passions, what they’re currently working on, or their take on any industry news. Anything goes! (Within reason, of course!)  

Be sure to check out the “About the Interns” page where you can learn more about the talented students working with us. You can also look forward to the “Where are they now?” page, soon to be filled with tales from interns past.

If you have any great ideas for content, or want to be a guest blogger, contact me, Carrie, at cpettee@ksvc.com.

Leave comments, explore, and enjoy!

So, what’s next?

 As a former KSV intern myself, I can tell you that within these walls you will learn and gain more ‘real world’ experience than you will in any classroom, whether you’re at UVM, St. Mikes, Champlain, or beyond.   

Fastweb.com posted “Top Tips for Internship Success.” The article mentions all the usual suspects: be on time, be professional, network, don’t drink on the job, blah, blah, blah. You’ve heard this all before. From your teachers, parents, advisors, strangers, basically everyone. Regardless, they should never be overlooked. (Okay, I kinda made up the one about ‘don’t drink on the job,’ but it’s still a good tip) 

My advice? Go above and beyond. This internship isn’t just something that looks good on your resume; it’s a chance to really discover your passion. Once you graduate, you’ll spend the rest of your life working. Make sure you’re working on something you believe in. Something you’re passionate about. How else are you going to know if you love something unless you give it a shot?