My internship I had with Forward PR was the most amazing experience I have had that has been remotely close to what I want to do after I graduate. I learned so much in the past three weeks but it was not all about what everyone thinks PR is about. Yes I learned about how the firm handles the media and clients but I also learned how to really talk and network with people and handle myself in a professional manor. The first day was great, I was given the opportunity to meet some of our clients. I was given the task of visiting our clients, picking up their pieces and delivering them to magazines that would in turn feature our clients on their pages. I was also asked to do what my boss called press checking in which I would go to Selfridges and look at magazines and news papers to see if any of our clients are featured. If I did find our clients I was to buy the paper or magazine bring them back to the office rip out the pages and scan them. Once the pictures were scanned I was to send the scans to our clients so they could have them on virtual file, I would then put the pictures in "The Black Book" which holds pictures of every client we have represented. I was also given the task of making inquiry calls to magazine and stylists about our clients pieces that have yet to be returned. It is our job as the PR firm of our clients to keep track of pieces that are sent out and pieces that are returned. We make sure that there is no damage or anything missing. I was also in charge of emailing magazines any questions we had about features and what the process was in getting our clients out in the fashion world. The most exciting part of the internship and possibly the most important part I had to perform was attending fashion shows and events. It was so important to go to these events because I learned how to network and get my name as a business woman out there. I talked with many people about what I was trying to accomplish with my internship and what I aspired to to when I graduated. I also got the chance to see how my co workers networked and dove into conversation with people. I learned that in order to figure out how other firms work and how other people work within those firms I need to talk and pitch myself and my company to others. The office was not all running around and work, the boss was really keen on making a point of not making the work place a negative environment. She wanted us to know that she is open and relaxed and ready to hear any suggestions we had about clients or events. I thought that was really important because I know that I can not work in an atmosphere that is negative and strict because I would be too afraid to ask questions or to make mistakes and without mistakes I would never learn. Even though it was a laid back environment I knew that there was a fine line between casual work and being lazy and slow; I always made sure that I was constantly given tasks and got my work done within a reasonable amount of time. It will be very interesting to see the differences between the ways firms are run in the U.S vs. firms in London. I feel as though firms in London specifically Forward PR work hard but take time to rejuvenate energy as well, I think that firms in the U.S are more strict and more keen to get the job done and be successful and don't take the time to make sure that the employees are relaxed and get the job done successfully and thoroughly.

Friday was our last day meeting with the London crew as a whole and we had an appointment to be given the grand tour of Parliament. We got to actually go in and see where the Lords and Commons met to make big decisions. We also got to tour around and see where the queen gets dressed before attending these important gatherings. It was really interesting to be at Parliament with all the political turmoil going on at the time and England having members of Parliament stepping down. Before coming to London I thought that people were not really interested in U.S politics let alone any countries politics but after being here its different to see everyone so interested in the way their own country is run. SO many people pay attention to what is going on in London; mostly through news papers. The tour was very cool because I never got a chance to tour the capital building in D.C so this was really my first time seeing where a government makes history changing decisions.

Thursday was really hard to wake up for because the day before was so jam packed we were all really tired but we had a morning lecture at ULU about British media and the effect is has on British society. We talked about how in London specifically there are really only two major classes; upper and lower class. We talked about how British society was like an English sandwich, two pieces of bread with a little meat in the middle. The upper and lower classes were the two pieces of bread and the meat was the middle class; there is not a very huge middle class and it has never dominated British society. We then compared this English sandwich to the American super colossal sandwich in which the upper and lower class were the top and bottom bun and that the meat was the biggest part and the middle class America. It is the main goal of the media to hit the middle class straight on and really give them what they want to know.

Our lecturer went on the talk about how England has a lot of people that read the daily paper and that because of its size it is easy to distribute papers. With the States, there are different time zones and it is such a vast and wide country it is harder to get news from one side of the U.S to the other side. It was a good lecture but it was a topic that it mostly self explanatory. People need the news and the news needs its audience.

After the lecture we had the rest of the day to visit the Queens Royal home Windsor Castle. It was a gorgeous place and would have no complaints if I lived there. We were able to walk all over the grounds and we saw the queens view of her land and her gardens but we were able to go inside certain parts and see her majesty's doll house and doll collection as well as the different parlors with the royal armor and portraits of all the royalty that has lived at Windsor of the years. It was hard to not touch anything because it was all so shiny and beautiful inside; the detailing of the walls and ceilings were immaculate. For a little bit I felt a little royal and would move in in a heart beat if asked : )

The next day, Wednesday (June 3rd) was probably the busiest day we had since we have been in London. The group had a morning visit to the Tate Modern Museum but I unfortunately was unable to go because I had my interview for my internship. After my interview I had the chance to meet up with everyone at the Tate Modern for a little bit but we soon left for lunch and headed back to ULU (University of London) for a lecture with Bob Craig on WWII and the Blitz.

It was the most interesting and by far my most favorite lecture we had. In the states we learned about WWII almost every year in history class but hearing it from a British perspective brought whole new meaning of the effects of the war universally. Bob talked about people taking shelter in the Tube stations and building shelters in the gardens of homes and even shelters under tables if you lived in apartments. He also told us about children being evacuated out of the city and being sent to the country. It was successful but executed too early. Moms missed their children and often sent for them to return home. Many children became casualties of the German bombings. The most interesting fact about London and the war was them experiencing bombing for 56 consecutive nights and loosing 40,000 homes a week.

After our lecture Bob took us to the Imperial War Museum and showed us around the exhibits for WWI and WWII. It was very cool seeing the different air crafts and bomb shells the British used during the wars. There were also my recent exhibits we got to check out including one on the victims of the Holocaust.

We left the Imperial War Museum a few hours later and rushed off to catch the world famous show WICKED!!!!!!! It was by far the most spectacular most amazing show I have ever seen. My attention was focused on the stage the entire time and I would highly encourage everyone and anyone to go see it. The singing, the songs, the acting were all wonderful and I hate to admit but I did get a little teary eyed during some scenes.

This night was by far the best night of my life. I learned a lot, I got to experience a lot and i definitely got to see a lot as well. I think this was the point in my trip where it really hit my that I was actually in a different country and that I am getting to do what a lot of other people will probably never get the opportunity to do. Everyone should have to privilege to do what I'm doing and I think it is so important to want to take on the responsibility of being in another country and embrace the similarities and differences of cultures and customs.

After we finished up our tour in Westminster Abby we broke for lunch and all met at the BBC Studios main headquarters where "all the magic happens". The BBC is made up of seven floors of news room employees. There are over 2,000 people set up in a circular room where they work with news through T.V, media and online. It is the biggest broadcasting station in the world. The first broadcast was in 1922 and about 80% of the news is planned news; journalists write about 80% of their own scripts as well.

We learned that the building is in the shape of a big question mark and I think my favorite part of the tour was when we got to see the dressing rooms for celebrities and all the dirty stories about celebrities being difficult and demanding; it was nice being able to hear that most celebrities are fun and easy to get along with. It was definitely a tour geared to the Media Studies majors but I learned a lot of PR stuff as well. To wrap up the tour we were able to put on a game show to see what it was like to be in front of the camera as well as behind it helping with the scenes and such.

This was a good day that ended on a high note. I learned a lot about so many versatile things but it all plays into the history of London which I'm still desperately all trying to remember and retain considering before I came here I didn't know very much about this country besides the basics.

Tuesday (June 2, 2009) wasn't too busy either we all met up to tour Westminster Abby with our guide Marc Belben. A little background on Westminster...

It is the greatest known church in the world, there are over 3,000 people buried there today and the Abby used to be Catholic until the 1500's when King Henry the 8th separated the church and crown. What I thought was pretty cool was that there is a tomb for an unknown British warrior like they have in Paris as well as the U.S. It is a tomb that represents all the lives lost during WWI and it is lined with red poppies which symbolize blood shed and war.

Probably one of the greatest tombs was not a tomb at all but a commemoration to Winston Churchill who said when he became Prime Minister during WWII was "I have nothing to offer but blood, sweat, toil and tears".

Another crazy fact I learned was that out of everyone buried in the Abby there is only one who is buried vertical, everyone else is horizontal. That person was a man by the name of Ben Johnson who was a student of Westminster and a partisan of Shakespeare. When he dies he could only afford so much space within the Abby so he was buried vertical as opposed to everyone else buried there.

I liked this trip because I got to see graves of so many famous historical people that have made such a big difference in our lives and to not realize what they did for generations to come until then was a big awakening and made me want to go home and research all of the people further just to know what went on in their lives. It was cool seeing a church with so much history within the walls too because we have nothing even remotely close to this in the States.

Hey Everyone!

So this week has been a little crazy and I know I haven't written about last week so here it goes. Get ready....

The Monday we got back from Paris wasn't too busy we all met under the Big Ben and had a lecture in the House of Parliament with an actual member of Parliament named Graham Brady. He told us how things are ran within the British government and we were given the opportunity to ask questions about the problems within their government, his thoughts on them and his ideas of how they are going to be fixed. He also gave us a little background on the Prime Minister. The current PM is Gordon Brown, there are 646 members of Parliament and 97% of Parliament are white. What I found interesting that I didn't know before was that the Prime Minister can declare war and ask the queen to dissolve Parliament and be open for national elections.

After are lecture in the House of Parliament we broke for lunch and met back at ULU for another lecture on the European Union with Dr. Gavin Dodsworth. I actually enjoyed this lecture because I felt that he related what we were talking about to our generation. He had a way of speaking passionately about the EU but was able to convey the message to us in a clear way. We learned that there are 27 countries in the EU and that it is not automatic to be a member. If a country doesn't want to be in it they don't have to; by choice Norway and Switzerland are not in it. To be part of EU you have to feel as though if you give you will get something out of it and the only country to leave was Greenland. One of the main reasons to have started EU was to bring countries together and prevent WWIII. It has done a good job so far and by coming together in the EU, there will be more influence on the rest of the world.

We learned how the Euro came about and it was to create a United States of Europe through currency, goods, service, free movement of people and capital. There is one federal reserve and it determines the Euro's worth.

Monday was like a said an interesting day but it wasn't too chaotic which was good because we were all still trying to recover from Paris. It was cool learning about where the Euro came about and why it is so important for more countries to join and come together along with the majority of Europe.