Guest Blogger: Ash Islas :And, so the internship begins

Ash Islas is a senior journalism major at Florida Southern. She will continue her communication studies in the fall at the graduate level at USF.   This post talks about her internship this past semester you can read more of her Out of Ash’s blog here.

As I walked up the steps of the Cleveland Heights Golf Course, I admitted to myself that I was overwhelmed because in the past when I ignored that feeling. . .I usually crashed in a matter of seconds.  When I walked through the door I felt lost for about 20 seconds because I knew my supervisor, Ron,  Director of Florida Operations for the Detroit Tigers,  would be there, but not sure if I had arrived too early (13 minutes to be exact).  As I looked around the restaurant area I felt even more lost.  When I looked toward the bar area, which also had tables, I spotted my supervisor.  As I approached him I was greeted by middle-aged men. . .of very little flavor if you know what I mean.  A few of the gentlemen introduced themselves to me and I shook hands and introduced myself as “Ron’s intern from Florida Southern” (primarily because I had a fairly good chance that they would be Southern alums).

As we sat around a few tables the discussion about the upcoming events to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Detroit Tigers Spring Training in Lakeland.  A few agendas were handed out and as I skimmed through them, I felt eyes on me from those I didn’t have an opportunity to meet.  I tried my best to ignore them, but when I glanced up every so often, I knew my paranoia was well-founded because they would dart their eyes away from me just a second too late when I caught their eyes.

As the meeting moved on “Press Conference” on one of the agendas jumped at me like a lightning strike in the middle of the night.  I knew I wanted to work with whomever was going to be assigned that task, but was unsure of how to say it – I was only an intern.  When it was assigned to the person whom I had worked with on creating the 75th Anniversary website, I knew I would be able to voice my interests. . .but, as soon as I was about to raise my hand (I still feel like that’s necessary) Ron asked if I wanted to help.  I smiled and nodded my head.  This little Latina was going to work on a Press Conference for the Detroit Tigers only the second official week of the internship.  Thank you, Jesus.

*For those of you who may be confused, I have been affiliated with the Detroit Tigers since April 2010, but as a part-time employee.  In October of 2010, I approached Ron Myers, Director of Florida Operations for the Detroit Tigers, for an internship for the spring semester; I was offered one starting that day.  I created the website for the Tigers 75th Anniversary of Spring Training in Lakeland.  On January 11, 2011 I started my internship with them for academic credit.  Here we go!

Secrets don’t make friends

Credit to mediabistro.com

The world we live in is always moving and there is little room for privacy. Off the record used to be an idea that if you were not around camera’s or those in the media field you can say what you want without being criticized for it publicly.

Today people can easily hear everything you say. Through social media one bad impression of a person or company can be posted online and hundreds of impressions will be made by there friends and family that view there page consistently.

There are 5 simple rules cited by Gil Rudawsky:

1) “Off the record” is not considered off the record anymore

2) Never say anything to a reporter that would make you look bad

3)Temper your comments in public places

4)After you are done speaking to a reporter, make sure they are not continuing to listen, through an open mic or otherwise

5) Finally, it’s best to keep to simple—and noncontroversial—topics, especially during sound checks

These rules are essential to follow for not only politicians and celebrities but ourselves as well. When we walk to class we hear people say ridiculous things, now they are off the record, but we will always remember or at least have an idea of what was said. After all there really are no places for secrets anymoree because one wrong word or phrase can put you in a terrible situation.