Euro RSCG has provided me an even larger network than I already had. I can hold my own next to many entry-level applicants in the job market and have used my passion for networking (internally and externally).

I recognize there is no “right person” to know your name and/or brand. Every person is the right person, so be sure not to overlook anyone or burn any bridges. While interning at Euro RSCG, we learned that everyone is important, from those we met at our “Lunch ‘N Learns” to the top executives we had close interactions with.

Climate Change
Two seminars were particularly interesting to me. The first, “Where Is It All Going?” led by Dennis Bushnell of NASA, addressed climate change and its implications. It used to be predicted that the icecaps would melt by 2040, but humans have sped up the process so much that now the targeted date is a frighteningly soon 2013. Because the ocean could rise about 250 feet, this would affect more than 8 billion people living in coastal locations.

This is but one of the reasons to take a good, hard look at the way we treat our environment. Bushnell said we can still change the outcome if we start altering our behavior now. New technologies are also being developed to help slow this process; saltwater technologies, for instance, are being developed in the Sahara Desert so that we can save our freshwater supply, since it’s already so scarce. This technology harbors the power to grow food and even materials to help make plastics without using crude oil. And creating agriculture in the desert opens the possibility that there will one day be rainfall in this almost lifeless land.

Get surreal. That’s my advice for anyone looking to understand the American psyche, circa 2010. The Onion just released a spot-on video of a cable newscast in 2137 with a sexed-up anchorwoman, states renamed for corporations and video-game graphics. My only quibble is that it’s so far in the future—we’re almost there now. Seriously, a former CNN correspondent told The New York Times that “about the only funnier cable news is the real stuff.” No one bothers to make things up anymore because real life—brought to us via real-time news—has gotten so bizarre that we need to view it from an ironic distance. (Not to mention that quoting The Onion has become a perfectly legit way to begin a blog post.) Ten years after “Survivor” started, we’ve gotten so used to, and so bored by, reality TV shows turbocharged by 12-step dropouts that it takes new feats of extremism to get our attention. In this age of “Yeah, so?” what would’ve been shocking a few years ago is ho-hum. How did David Letterman end up being hailed as smart and savvy for confessing that he slept with staffers? Does anyone even remember that?

Who said you can’t use your journalism experience in the field of PR? I had the opportunity to use my reporting skills, à la Robin Roberts, as Marian Salzman called me, for a one-on-one conversation with Marian, president of Euro RSCG Worldwide PR, North America. She got a peek into my Intern Diaries and decided to share her voice for this special entry. I’m sure you will find her words useful.

Q: Could you explain what you meant when you tweeted me “Make plenty of smart noise.”?
A: We like the positive disruption of young minds.

Do you mind elaborating?
We need to have various viewpoints and fewer rules.

Assuming you did that while climbing your way to the top of the industry, how did you build a reputation for yourself as the go-to trend forecaster?
I started off by just being the hardest-working, most curious person I could be and was very very lucky: right place, right time and ultimately smart forecasts. But some of it was humility. I was once a maid and a waitress, so no job was beneath me, and I learned from every role.

creativecommons.org/by Keith Allison

Even though I had watched LeBron play only once in my entire lifetime, I immediately cared about what everyone else I cared about thought of this seemingly monumental freeze-frame in basketball history. Would I have had the same level of interest 10 years ago, in the days before social media (for me, anyway)? It seemed I only really cared because I wanted to participate in the conversation about the decision—specifically, the online conversation about the decision.

During the course of my internship, I, along with other interns, have been using social media as an outreach tool. Blogging is one way I’m learning to connect with everyone, alongside additional outlets such as my Twitter and Facebook pages.

Every morning, Gabrielle Schaefer compiles a list of links to articles and blog posts that are relevant to our industry. As interns, we’re able to help her find a few links to include in the compilation. Alexandra Covington also sends out interesting tidbits with links included in 140 characters or less to make them easier to tweet. By thinking in tweets, we are able to always be connected with one another while spreading a wealth of knowledge into the Twitterverse, in a cleverly direct way.

I’m learning the ins of working for an external agency, several of which allow room for so many creative ideas to flow, as we have a diverse range of clients. Before coming to ERWW PR, I felt somewhat of a creative restraint. Working for an agency such as Euro RSCG, however, allows the mind to wander freely in hopes that once it returns, it will bring back a variety of perspectives from the mental yellow brick road. From an agency’s point of view, the land of Oz would be the final product, with the client being the Wizard. ERWW PR challenges its employees and interns by providing a venue to exercise our creativity and allowing our ideas to come into fruition by any means necessary. The opportunity affords us just the right amount of eustress.

Morales isn’t a celebrity blogger, fashion expert, business tycoon or anyone else who would typically attract mass attention on the Internet. Morales is an engineer in Colombia. And he had simply had enough.

What is my desired field? Before coming to ERWW PR, I had no idea what my desired field was. I interned for a record label, worked in special-events production for a major television network, volunteered often at political conferences and *clears throat* was a hostess at a very popular restaurant. Needless to say, I had done almost everything I believed I could possibly apply my “skills” to.

Like many, I would say to myself, “Self, what’s next?” Then my self would respond, “Girl, I don’t know; just be open for anything.” So that’s what I did—I remained open. I attended panel discussions. I talked to anybody and everybody I could.