Last summer I was interning with April Love, a Florida A&M University alum, whom is also a publicist for BRAVO T.V. Not even a week into my internship she tells me that I am going to help her plan the season 2 premiere party for the Real House Wives of Atlanta. Right away I was in contact with vendors; persuading them to provide us with free flowers, gifts, liquor you name it I did it. I even made sure the vendor who designed the step and repeat you see behind the ladies had everyone of the sponsor's logos. There is one part of the event planning that I will never forget: I was trying to get the ladies guest lists together and one housewife in particular expressed her dislike for me very clearly... but that's an entirely different story.
Before the party began I was able to walk around the ballroom of the W Hotel in Buckhead and admire my work. It was amazing! The power point I designed to give a little extra recognition to the sponsors was playing on about 12 different LCD screens leading up the hallway to the party and then right before you reached the red carpet, rope and stanchion and the step and repeat there it was playing again on a large screen. The flowers we ordered were lining every table and we filled bowls with peaches for extra flare. People were asking me questions on what to do and I knew the answers, I felt so empowered.
Then reality hit as the event was about to begin I got placed on guest list check in, talk about your nightmare. "Be like a Bull Dog," April told me "Don't let anyone in who isn't on the list and make sure all celebrities are escorted in immediately." I saw a lot of people that night, and even more people who sworn they were on the list that weren't. However, security had my back when a very large man tried to push by me and overall the night was a great success.
TESTING.
ReplyDeleteHi Sharon:
ReplyDeleteI found your blog about the Real Housewives of Atlanta to be very interesting. I had no idea you have this kind of internship experience "under your belt." I regret that people in the entertainment industry are sometimes very rude and insensitive; especially amateurs like the RHWA. And yet, so many college students today are anxious to work in the entertainment industry. I just don't get it.
The hours are long, the pay is the lowest in any sector of the industry, the work is gruleing and the people you encounter are often very ill-mannered. What would anyone want to work in entertainment?
Alonda Thomas is a graduate of the FAMU Division of Journalism. She now works for Black Entertainment Television in Los Angeles.
I admire Alonda because she did the right way. Like you, she spent a few summers interning with various entertainment PR companies, But also, before she jumped into the entertainment industry, she first got her IMC degree (FSU) and then spent several years learning her craft as a PR professional with Edelman, a PR firm in Atlanta.
When Alonda went to BET, she had something to offer. She was able to bypass the bottom-of-the-rung flunky/gofer positions because she had the credentials to start at a higher level.
Alonda is a shining example of how to get into the entertainment industry the right way.
Hi Professor Kinchlow,
ReplyDeleteI want to thank you so much for commenting on this blog because this was one of my most favorite experiences during my college career. I think the things that attract most students to entertainment are probably the same things that interested me. I love the hustle, the drop everything your doing because something else has to be done right now. Entertainment is so unpredictable. Helping to put together this event was hard work that had me up until the next morning sometimes but it was all worth it.
Like Alonda Thomas, I too plan on getting my IMC degree at FSU. Like her, I want to have several internships under my belt before I graduate (I already have 2). She sounds like a great person to have as a mentor. I am going to try to get in touch with Ms. Thomas and see if she can “school me” on some things. I don’t expect anything to fall in my lap I will go out and get everything I want, and one day you will be telling a future student about your shining star, ex-student, Shari Baron.