INTERNSHIP REPORT
RICHARD BRUSSE | CE-IEMES | WORK EXPERIENCE INTERNSHIP | 2014/2015
NEW YORK
WELCOME TO THE CONCRETE JUNGLE
JESSEJAMES CREATIVE ONLINE ADVERTISING WITH A TWIST
CONTENT MANAGEMENT ORGCENTRAL IS SOMETHING DIFFERENT
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e r e h w y n A t I e k a M I’l l INTERNSHIP REPORT
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Table of CONTENTS January 2015 | New York City | Limited edition
* Introduction P hase
* Goals & Products
PREFACE
JESSEJAMES CREATIVE
An introduction to six months cramped into fifty pages.
THANK YOU
A shout out to the people that helped me on my journey to NY.
GENERAL INFO
Contact information for the intern, host business and academy.
KEYWORDS AND ABBREVIATIONS Familiarize yourself with some commonly used terms.
GET TO KNOW ME
To know where I’m going, first you have to understand where I came from.
ROCKSTAR WITH A CAMERA
Music, Brusse Productions and student company Tafeltastisch.
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The company profile, including an overview of the team.
EXPECTATIONS
What will New York and JesseJames Creative bring during these six months?
THE GOALS
Both professional as personal goals set for this internship.
DAILY ACTIVITIES
A day in the life at the office of JesseJames Creative.
PROFESSIONAL PRODUCT ONE
Re-inventing the official JesseJames Creative company website.
PROFESSIONAL PRODUCT TWO
Redesigning interface parts, and CRM elements for OrgCentral and client websites.
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FIND YOUR WAY THROUGH THIS MAZE OF EXPERIENCES
PROFESSIONAL PRODUCT THREE Perpich Center for Arts Education teacher classroom microsites development.
SEO PROPOSAL
A sales related Search Engine Optimazation proposal for an external company.
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* Evaluations REFLECTION
My own evaluation, reflecting on the goals set at the beginning of this internship.
SUPERVISOR EVALUATION
The reflection of James Tormey on the course of this work experience internship.
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A short PREFACE January 2015 | New York | Introduction
HELLO & WELCOME!!!
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y name is Richard Brusse, student at the Fontys Academy for Creative Industries. I am currently completing my Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA). When I started this bachelor’s degree three years ago, I had one specific goal: to study abroad. This led me to choose an internationally orientated academy. I’m in my 3rd year and therefore I have to conduct a 5-month internship. Here I am today, finishing the internship in Manhattan, New York.
Richard Brusse CE-IEMES | 2191809 r.brusse@student.fontys.nl
The reason I decided to do the internship in New York is in my motto: ‘Go big, or go home’. After the idea sparked, I got busy. In order to present myself to potential internship companies I built a personal website with an integrated video in which I introduce myself and showcase my skills. The website can be found at richard.brusseproductions.com. After doing my research, sending out several letters, some back and forth contact, I got the OK from my internship company in January. The internship started mid August, so this meant I had eight months to prepare. Eight full months of looking forward to this insane experience. The following is more than a report, this is a story. The story about an ambitious twenty-one year old student who left all he knew and traveled 3.676,90 miles from home. The musician who left his drum kit for six months, the entrepreneur who put his business plan aside for the time being. Living abroad is something that had to happen, one way or another. And so I did it, and this is my story.
Richard Brusse Hitter of Drums, Shooter of Films and Lover of Life.
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THANK YOU A Brief Thank You Note To the people that I have worked with, family, friends and other people that helped me out in different ways. These people know who they are, so it’s on first name basis.
Wilfred, Loes, Ralph Olga Jim
For supporting me in all possible ways. For having my back. For that night backstage with the Mötley Crüe girls.
Jasper
For shooting me.
Ameed
For being a great colleague.
Elaine & Marlin Ed Bart, Sven, Koen, Jos, Jacob
For a small push in the right direction. For keeping an eye open. For the good times.
ALL MY FRIENDS
This picture was taken at my “have fun in New York” party. I prefer to avoid the word goodbye here, because before you know it I will be back.
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All t he
GENERAL INFO
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he Bachelor of Business Administration is a four-year degree, and requires a total of two internships. One of them is the work experience internship during the first semester of year three. The host business for this particular internship is: JesseJames Creative, Inc. The internship period starts at August 18th and ends on January 9th. Working hours are from Monday to Friday 9:30am-6:00pm. The position is unpaid, however commuting expenses and a weekly lunch stipend are included. For specific information about the agreement, see appendix I (“Internship Agreement�). Richard Brusse | Intern PCN: 2191809 646.982.4983 Skype: richardbrusse r.brusse@student.fontys.nl rbrusse@jjcreative.com http://follow.brusseproductions.com James Tormey | Supervisor VP/Creative Director 917.921.3648 Skype: jimbo311514 jtormey@jjcreative.com JesseJames Creative, Inc. | Host Business 27 East 21 Street, 9th floor New York, NY 10010 212.675.7424 jtormey@jjcreative.com www.jjcreative.com | www.org-central.com Ed Korkers | Internship Coordinator e.korkers@fontys.nl Fontys Academy for Creative Industries Prof. Goossenslaan 1-04 Building P3 5000 GL Tilburg 08550.79133 aci-meewerkstage@fontys.nl www.fontysaci.nl
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h W e l g n u J e oncret
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Skyline This shot was taken on the Top of The Rockefeller Center GA Tower. Photo Credit: Ralph Brusse.
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~ For your information ~ COMMONLY USED KEYWORDS AND ABBREVIATIONS
Software Used
Quick Overview Know the basics
This report mentiones a handful of software, keywords and abbreviations. The first part is a line up of all the software that I learned and utilized during the internship.
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speed, data integrity, and support for distributed, non-linear workflows. Since 2005 it has become the most widely adopted version control system for software development. Transmit
QuarkXPress (Image 3)
OrgCentral
QuarkXPress is a computer application for creating and editing complex page layouts in a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) environment. Workflow-wise you could imagine a simpeler version of Adobe InDesign mixed with a Microsoft Word elements.
OrgCentral is a JJC’s proprietary CMS and Business Management platform.
rgCentral OrgCentral is a complete Content Management System (CMS), created by the people at JesseJames Creative, Inc.
Transmit is an FTP client for Mac OS X. Although you usually use different programs for FTP and HTML editing, transmit allows the user to edit HTML directly within one program.
Basecamp (Image 2)
Salesforce
Basecamp is a web-based project-management tool. Basecamp offers to-do lists, wiki-style webbased text documents, milestone management, file sharing, time tracking, and a messaging system.
Salesforce Inc. is a global cloud computing company. It is best known for its customer relationship management (CRM) product.
GoToMeeting is a web-hosted service. It is an online meeting, desktop sharing, and video conferencing software that enables the user to meet with other computer users, customers, clients or colleagues via the Internet in real time.
Mailchimp (Image 1)
Mindjet
Git
MailChimp is an email marketing service provider. It has over 7 million users that collectively send over 10 billion emails through the service each month.
Mindjet provides ways for users to visualize information via the creation of mind maps. In this case setting up sitemaps in the first phases of webdesign, ba-
Git is a distributed revision control system with an emphasis on
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GoToMeeting
It’s basically the engine that keeps the car running, but then it also runs the car battery, radio and everything else from one centralized place. Many of the modules built into OrgCentral can easily replace costly, standalone (and disconnected) third-party systems. For instance CRM, Email Communications, Job Listings, Online Space Finders, Event/ Program Management and registration, Surveys, Committee Collaboration, Knowledge Bases and Document Management. And while almost everything is integrated, JJC understands that some companies do not want to give up on some of their current software. OrgCentral has no problem interacting with other programs, such as Salesforce and MailChimp or active directories.
OrgCentral A Custom CMS and Business Management platform used to power all JJC interactive projects. The back end for a website.
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE AND MORE
Transmit The FTP client up close
Content Management System
Customer Relationship Management
Information Architecture
A content management system (CMS) is a computer application that allows publishing, editing and modifying content, organizing, deleting as well as maintenance from a central interface. Such systems of content management provide procedures to manage workflow in a collaborative environment.
Customer relationship management (CRM) is a system for managing a company’s interactions with current and future customers. It often involves using technology to organize, automate and synchronize sales, marketing, customer service and technical support.
Information architecture (IA) is the structural design of shared information environments; the art and science of organizing and labelling websites, intranets, online communities and software to support usability and findability; and an emerging community of practice focused on bringing principles of design and architecture to the digital landscape.
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A personal bit
GET TO KNOW ME. Personal introduction Who is this guy?
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o better understand how Richard got here and where he’s going, first you have to know where he came from. Let’s skip the basics, if you are reading this you probably know his name. People who know Richard will confirm that he’s got a decent amount of stuff going on regularly In this “Get To Know Me” section we will elaborate on what Richard’s last 12 months looked like. This information will paint a better picture of who this guy is as a person, and express why he did not hesitate one nanosecond to fly to the other side of the world and chase the American Dream.
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“At the office” Photograph shot by Jasper Geelen.
, y e n o m u o y e k a m o t e n O . e v lo u o y s ie b b o h F“ ind t hree keep you in shape and one t o be creat ive.” one t o
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Ready or not , here he is
ROCKSTAR WITH A VIDEOCAMERA Personal Introduction Who is this guy?
This single article should provide a clear image of the person that wrote this report, the guy that decided Europe wasn’t enough at the age of 21. First there is a quick rundown of hobbies and activities, then there is some detail on the Brusse Productions website and last year’s student company Tafeltastisch.
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ichard’s passion is creating all sorts of videos. Over the past year he has filmed live performances, videoclips, aftermovies and even a short movie. This is a hobby rapidly growing into a business, which is why he set up the website www.brusseproductions. com. “I like to see the results of what I’ve made, but what I love the most about this business is the experience. In my first active year doing video projects I have met some great people and visited places throughout The Netherlands. I find it exciting to work on a project, brainstorm about concepts, travel to different places and even pull a late night editing shift. Right now this is still a portfolio but, as of 2015, it will turn into a business.“ Music is his life, if not making it then listening to some. Styles differ from artists such as 16
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Aretha Franklin and Joe Cocker one moment, and Mötley Crüe or even Slipknot the next moment. Richard play in two very different bands: Blues combo ‘The First Lady’ that covers songs from Bonamassa, Hendrix and Mayer. The second is Jazz band ‘Bigband Rivierenland’ whose repertoire exists of mostly Count Basie songs. “I like to explore different styles, but in essence I’m still a no-nonsense rock drummer. For the bigger part of last year I even played in a third band, punk-rock formation The Crowbar Escape Plan.” For the past two years Richard has been studying Commercial Economics: International Events, Music & Entertainment Studies, also known as CE-IEMES, at the Fontys Academy for Creative Industries in Tilburg. Courses include: international & strategic marketing, business administration, media design, sales,
copywriting, online marketing, English and research. He can work comfortably on both PC and MAC, and have decent experience with most of the Adobe Creative Suite software programs.
“I personally hit the jackpot with this bachelor, because it’s more practical, just like I am. One of the group projects we did last year was setting up a business from scratch, which involved research, a business plan, product design, a website (with ecommerce), production, stock and even shareholders (meetings included). I was the general manager.” Other interests include snowboarding, wakeboarding, playing tennis and playing basketball. The Knicks are his favorite team, which is convenient since they play at Madison Square Garden, in NYC.
Student Company Snowboarding and Wakeboarding Snowboarding and wakeboarding are two of Richard’s favorite pastime acitivities. Fun fact: James, his internship supervisor, is also into waterskiïng and skiïng. As a matter of fact, they went snowboarding together for a day at the end of the internship.
BRUSSE PRODUCTIONS This is a videography portfolio. As mentioned before, Richard loves to create all sorts of videos. Something that really stuck with him is this quote:
I started out shooting music video’s and short clips for friends, at live concert for instance. After a year or two I explored interested fields such as filming interviews, documentaries, informational video’s and even multi-camera directing. Trying to stay open minded about projects and working with a lot of different people is what takes you places.” The plan for Brusse Productions in 2015 is to grow from a portfolio into a real company, focussing mainly on informational video’s. Setting this up named “Productions” instead of “Videoproductions” is on purpose, this way doing audio recordings or music related productions is also an option.
In this case, Richard turned out as general manager of the group, they had to build a real company, developing either a physical product or service. And so, Tafeltastisch became reality. (This literally translates into Tabletastic in English). It turned out to be a physical product, sold via the webshop. A customizable sidetable, with a twist. That twist being that the client could actually have their personal pictures printed into the wood. The wood is actually the remains of a used pallet, which means that Tafeltastisch tried to think as green as possible and recycle.
“Do what you love for a living, and you will never have to work a day in your life”. This inspires him on a daily basis. “I know for a fact that I can work long days and late nights on videoprojects and still be exited to do them. Right now I can’t wait to focus more time and energy on this work so I can extend my portfolio and gain more experience.
The Fontys Academy for Creative Industries in Tilburg is a school that focusses on practical aspects. That being said, the student has to work in a team effort to set up a student company in their second year of the bachelor.
The image below shows an interview that was published right before Richard left for New York. Titled: “Videomaker With A Vision”. This vision still stands and when he’s back in The Netherlands in February, Brusse Productions will be back on the road.
Over the course of a year, Richard and his team did research, market as well as product research. Brainstorming for solutions, product development, marketing communication and visiting several markets to personally introduce the product to the public. The company was built with the help of shareholders, which meant they had to get together every couple of months for an actual shareholder’s meeting. At the end of the school year the company succesfully made back their investment and was able to wrap up the project with content investors. Tafeltastisch was an interesting and succesful project.
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JESSEJAMES CREATIVE
JJC is located in the heart of Manhattan. The office is at 27 East 21st street, between Broadway & Park Avenue
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stablished in 1989, JesseJames Creative, Inc. (hereafter referred to as JJC) is a full-service, multi-disciplinary marketing communications firm based in New York City. Providing expertise with special emphasis on interactive marketing and strategy, trade and consumer advertising, sales promotion, catalogs and direct response programs. In the past five years the focus has been almost exclusively on the municipality and association space. The company has developed a significant software platform targeted specifically to the needs of this audience. The firm’s full suite of services related to website and web application development include: interactive strategy, business process consulting, on- and offline marketing strategy, user interface design, copywriting and content development, information architecture, usability testing, web application design and administration, front- and back-end programming and Search Engine Optimization. Most of the company operations involve OrgCentral. This is an inhouse built content management system. There is more than meets the eye here, things such as intranets, mail blasts, CRM and SEO are all handled in one place. It is driving websites from major cities and schools such as The City of Edina and The Perpich School for Arts Education to non-profits like HerHonor mentoring, which is judge Judy’s foundation. More information about this system is in the next chapter. JJC is located in the heart of Manhattan. The office is at 27 East 21st street, between Broadway & Park avenue. It is located on the 9th floor. This is one block away from Madison Square Park and just a couple from Union Square. Jesse James No, We’re Not Talking About The Outlaw!
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THE TEAM The office has an open atmosphere, nobody is locked in cubicles and grabbing a drink whenever you feel like it is not an issue. Every now and then Spotify even blasts through the office. This makes it a comfortable environment to work in. On a daily basis there are four people in the office, James, his assistant Melissa and the two interns; Richard and Ameed. Amy, JJC’s Art Director, works from home and the Technical team is located in India. The following is a quick rundown of the people that are active on a daily basis. James Tormey is the VP / Creative Director. He is also the Chief Connections Officer (CCO), which means he is the primary contact for clients and spends most of his day in meetings, project managing and driving sales conversations. James co-founded JesseJames Creative in 1989. Prior to launching the firm James had ten years experience as a design consultant. Jesse Warren is the Co-Creative Director and Chief Financial Operations (CFO), which means she mostly takes care of the financial aspect of JJC. She works from home. Dawood Sangemeshwari is the Technical Lead at JJC and oversees the programming team at JJC’s Bangalore, in office. He is the rare technologist who is as comfortable envisioning the strategic business and user interface aspects of a project as he is doing the actual programming. His office houses a project manager, and 4-6 senior developers who code the many projects JJC works on simultaneously. There is a time difference between the offices of JJC in New York and Bangalore of 10.5 hours.
The Office Space When the internship period started, the office was located on West 17th street. We moved to East 21st Street in October, which was a major improvement. The space is bright and comfortable to work in.
Amy Shick is the Senior Art Director, which means most of the front-end web design and branding is her work. Pre-JJC she had experience at corporations such as AT&T, Citibank and BMG Music. Ameed Hasiba is a Business student from The Netherlands, he followed a six-month work experience internship at JJC. Melissa Mintz left JesseJames in November, she was an Office Assistant / Project Manager.
Clients A small selection of clients that JJC has worked with; Unicef, American Institute of Architects, Pagosa Springs Colorado, The City of Edina Minnesota (website shown on the right), YPO/WPO New York Chapter, Nike and HerHonor Mentoring.
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s y a w l A s I k r o Y New a e d I d o o G A
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S N O Y I M AT T C E P EX
d ernsh an t e h he i n r o t f l l e i B at w Wh
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hat led me to contact JJC was the personal touch on their website, a page stated that one of their founders was a dog. Besides the fact that this showed me I was dealing with people that can appreciate a joke, it so happens to be that I am a dog person and grew up having dogs around. Also, the application was named “big brains needed” instead of the usual titles.
Times Square More lights, more people, more traffic, more business, more parties. I expected New York to be bigger in every possible way. Bigger than what? -anything.
The first contact was via email, while I was absolutely stunned to receive something back within a couple hours, I was also afraid it would be over just as fast. The first email simply stated they were in the process of interviewing future interns, the second email was no more than one sentence: “Are you available for a quick Skype Interview at 10am tomorrow or 10am Thursday NY time?” Now, this exact email is where it hit me. New York is big, fast and unforgiving. One sentence suggesting a “quick interview”, because these people don’t have time. They don’t, period. So I would have to make it count. Long story short, during the interview we talked for over an hour about the Foo Fighters, Wakeboarding and NASCAR. Of course there was some business talk involved, but it was clear that we had a lot of common ground. In my opinion this is one of the most important things of working together; having something to talk about besides work. The next day I got an email saying that I’ve got the internship, if I want it. There were a couple of other options for me, but all things considered this was the one. The location, area of work and people were exactly what I was looking for.
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Fast-forward a couple months. A few weeks prior to starting the actual internship I got in touch with JJC again, both sides were still excited to get this thing going. I had wrapped up all the paperwork, booked the plane ticket and was ready to rock and roll. In retrospect this was hands down the most convenient flight ever, I expected customs to be a drag but I had no trouble getting into The States at all. I had agreed to join my future colleagues at a concert at 10pm on the first night, while I was touching down on JFK at 7pm. Take the time difference into account, the fact that my phone did not work and I had no Wi-Fi yet. Needless to say I did not make it to the concert. The next day I went to the office to have the first face-to-face meeting with my future boss and check out the office, which was a decent space but it had no windows. (Luckily we moved to a different office after a month, with lots of windows looking down on Broadway). The agreement stated two months of training and then three months of working, I always say we did two hours of training and five months of working. Getting right into it from day one, no nonsense. At day three I was already signing a confidentiality agreement for my first business meeting in New Hope, NJ. In the first week expectations were set, and they were high. As photo- and videography related work plays a big part in my life, we talked about doing product photography. As discussed in my internship interview I will be given the opportunity to interact with clients, (partly) manage projects and potentially give presentations to clients/ prospects in person. When this occurs, I am determined to give it my all. I had the gut feeling that I could be more than an intern at this company, and I was correct.
Prepare for Reality
“The agreement stated two months of training and then three months of working.. I always say we did two hours of training and five months of working. You’re basically learning the entire time.”
Richard For President INTERNSHIP REPORT
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W or king t owards
THE GOALS Personal & Professional Where Is This Internship Going
The sky is not even the limit, go big or go home.
The student has to prove that he can function as a starting professional in the context of the internship organization. This will be proven using three aspects.
At one point my supervisor asked me: “Why specifically Manhattan, New York?” And I simply replied: “It feels right. I don’t know when, and I don’t know how. But I know this will happen.”
1. Showcase professional products to demonstrate certain competencies are acquired. In this case certain products will be highlighted, and the linked competencies will be explained within each product.
Requirements and assignment To get to know the field of work JJC is active in. To participate in activities the student is interested in, and also activities the student is less interested in. It’s essential to “go in and do work”, basically broaden horizons. Keywords are pro-activity, studious and responsibility.
2. The student should be capable of reflecting on his own work in a professional way.
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3. A complete physical report. Note: the magazine you are reading at the moment is my interpretation of the internship report.
Professional learning goals During my five-month internship, I want to improve my English language skills by working in a team with native English speakers. Also by communicating with clients during project management, meetings and training. I also want to practice and improve the different skills I developed during my education, such as: • Strategic Marketing • Designing • Sales • Online marketing • Copywriting • Research • Project Management • Communication
“At the office� Photograph shot by Jasper Geelen.
Learning Completely New Skills I am also open to learning new skills that might not directly be within the scope of my education. An example is learning basic HTML and FTP. Competencies The academy requires that the intern acquires one or multiple competencies during the internship. I will be active within the field of all nine competencies, however, I will focus on the following five competencies: Entrepreneurship, Planning & Execution, Sales, Communication, Leadership & Management. The remaining four are Market Research, Company Analysis, Marketing Communication.
Personal learning goals As this is the first time living on my own, and the first time at a real full-time job, I hope to grow as a person. More specific in skills such as independence, responsibility, pro-activity, teamwork, problem solving and creative thinking.
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DAILY ACTIVITIES At The Office What Does He Do On A Daily Basis
What happens on a usual day to this intern at JesseJames Creative. From project management to Adobe Photoshop, from GoTo Meetings to FTP clients. The days at this office are very busy and filled with surprises.
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ver since day one I have been set up with a company email, and I’ve been granted access to all ongoing projects. That means credentials to the company Basecamp, Github and Skype accounts. I’m able to directly contact clients and after coming up with a solution, implementing those accordingly. In order to reach the goals mentioned previously, I will perform the following activities on a daily basis. Communicate on a daily basis with the office manager, other intern and freelancers in order to make progress on ongoing projects. Also contacting the coding development team to track their progress and update them. There is a good amount of room for me to be pro-active and decide my own activities. Being involved in all the projects comes with a lot of responsibility, whenever a client reaches out either through email or by phone you have to act accordingly and make sure you don’t drop the ball on ongoing issues.
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On a usual day I will start by going through my email, and user test the progress our coders have made. I can track the progress in GitHub and nudge items where necessary. Meanwhile I’m checking for any updates or questions from clients on all projects in basecamp, making sure these are answered and if needed passed along to the right person. The in-house content management system was at version 3.5 when I joined the company in August. Behind the scenes we are working hard to get version 5.0 out there, which is a complete redesign from scratch. This means there are a lot of interface parts that need to be designed and thought through. This process is going to take more time than my internship period, so sadly I will not be there for the final result. I will however work a lot on the development of this system.
Working in Photoshop to (re-) design front- and backend layouts for OrgCentral, the in-house content management system by JJC. This includes working on the front-end homepages, subpages, navigations, images, content etc. And also conceptualizing, brainstorming, designing, user testing and finalizing back end components such as modules or content sections. Working in Transmit, an OSX FTP client. This program has a build in editor to input new content and update websites. I also use it to eliminate minor bugs and rearrange basic website page sections. We use GoToMeeting at JJC for screen share calls, and those are almost every day. I found myself joining in on a large amount of the weekly client calls.
PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS I have discussed multiple options, and the main product I will be working on is going to be the JesseJames Creative website complete redesign. The process will involve brainstorming, copywriting, product photography, web design and coding. Besides this main product, I will be working on some other significant products as well. Including redesigning parts of the OrgCentral interface, dealing with clients and going to business meetings. Here is a quick overview of the different items that I will be discussing in this report. The Company Website I am part of a team in this process, meaning that my supervisor will keep an eye open and help out where necessary. It’s important for me to actively contact the team since it’s going to be their website, hopefully for multiple years. We’ve started off with restructuring the navigation, rethinking the way products are presented and brainstorm about the new layout of the site. I’m fully involved in this entire process, working out ideas and working towards the release of the new website.
A New Company Website Redesigning Interface Parts In this process, I am faced with an issue. For instance: we need a spot where the user can upload an image, this image could be pulled from the users pc or from the server. If it’s pulled from the server, what does the workflow look like? Same for pc, and if it is pulled from the pc will it be available on the server automatically afterwards? It’s part design, part information architecture and part user experience. Key in this process is functionality. Business Meetings In my internship period I’m going to sit in on both digital and real life business meetings. Several meetings in and around New York, and potentially trips outside of the state. The most interesting of these being a trip to Minnesota. Ongoing Projects The main projects that I have been involved in during my internship are all website redesigns: Perpich Center for Arts Education, City of Dunwoody, City of Edina, Pagosa Springs Colorado, Draftvalet Megaboard, Annasobol Levy Foundation, Germany In New York, Cowles and Thompson, Intesa SanPaolo, Nercomp, The Association for Community Living, Town of Addison.
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COMPANY WEBSITE REDESIGN JesseJames Creative, Inc. Rethinking The Company Website
Skills Involved Entrepreneurship, Business and Market Analysis, Strategy and Policy, Marketing Communication, Design & Planning and Execution.
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The Goal.
My Role
To set up a fresh, updated and highly functional new website for JesseJames Creative, Inc.
I was a 100% involved, from the initial brainstorm to creating moodboards to working with the developers to release the website.
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Paintjob For The Company Website Going into the second month of my internship the outdated company website was raised to my attention, and my boss and I sat down to discuss how we were going to handle this. The first step was to see what elements from the old site we want to keep, and what elements we want to delete or replace. When we figured that out, the next step was doing research on existing websites, see what other companies show on their websites and start digging for inspiration on layouts. At one point we had a number of editorial designs spread out over the wall to get an overview. We handpicked several existing HTML items, such as a gallery, a team section and client logos and customized these in our code. From here on forward it was a lot of troubleshooting before we got to the point where we wanted the site to be. Along the way we ran into cool idea’s to implement, like a blog section or a video playing behind copy instead of the usual background state.
Key Elements
During this specific project I learned to work with Transmit, think creatively and set up a timeline for completion. I’ve also had the opportunity of doing some product photography, which was very interesting.
The final website is a parallax one page site. This means all the elements follow each other on one page with a scroll function. The landing page is a banner with multiple images. The website elements are:
Short reflection
What We Do - Brand identity, websites, collateral and app development. These are just a few examples of the things JJC does.
I’ve gained a lot of experience in the process of building this website. I had my first introduction to basic HTML coding and made a lot of progress during the course of my internship. I’ve also experimented with product photography and copywriting which was very interesting.
About Us - Company background information. Our Products - OrgCentral, Uber CRM and a space finder are some of the unique products. Work - A portfolio. Our Team - Get to know the faces behind JesseJames Creative, Inc.
Website URL: www.jjcreative.com
Clients - A few names that JJC worked with in the past. The View From Here - A blog section. Contact - Get in touch. INTERNSHIP REPORT
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Redesigning Interface Parts O
rgCentral is constantly improving, either by working on new modules requested by clients, or by making progress on the new OrgCentral 5.0 system. The version most clients use at this point is 3.5. The image on the right is a sneak peek at the renewed contacts module (the CRM part within OrgCentral 5.0).
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The 5.0 OrgCentral look.
The 3.5 OrgCentral look. INTERNSHIP REPORT
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REDESIGNING INTERFACE PARTS JesseJames Creative, Inc. The Core Of OrgCentral
Skills Involved Strategy and Policy, Communication, Marketing Communication & Planning and Execution.
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The Goal.
My Role
Since many of the projects JJC builds have similar e-commerce abilities, the goal her was to design a centralized revenue dashboard that can show data.
I’ve been working on this particular item by myself with feedback from my supervisor.
* * *
Information Architecture In order to showcase the workflow within these smaller projects, a quick four-step plan is explained. This is something that happened multiple times, so this is for the general idea. Step One An issue like this sparks an idea, so my supervisor and I sit down and discuss the possibilities. As mentioned before, key in this process is functionality. So the first step is to scribble the main functionality down as paper wireframes. We need this module to show an overview. We need some sort of graphic, maybe a chart. Can we filter options and make the chart responsive? Do we even want it to be? Where do we pull the information from, another module? If so, what specific data points for that module do I want to show, and what information is superfluous?
A Four-Step Approach grab the existing background elements for the system, and build the new elements into that page. Let me stress the fact that this is an in-house system, where there are literally no boundaries in terms of, for instance, button placement. This leaves me with a major amount of freedom to build a piece like this. The first sketch transforms into the first PSD, and from there on I have some back and forth with my supervisor.
The above is a specific example for a tool that I have been actively working on. I did a lot of similar projects including an image uploader, a my city extra tool (which was an intranet tool to select newsletters) and even a complete homepage.
Step Three After the functionality and design are complete as far as we’re concerned, the coder takes over the PSD file. His task at this point is to set up a static HTML page. Again there is some back and forth feedback between designer and coder, and once it looks good, we give the OK to integrate it into the system. Step Four
Step Two After sketching the first functionality items we need, I start photoshopping. Basically I
functionality. Usually when clients experiment and discover how much is possible, they keep bringing new ideas to the table.
Short Reflection Working on these sorts of interfaces has taught me to look at a CMS differently. When you have to make sure that the functionality of every button and word is bulletproof, you start to understand the structure of the entire CMS better. For instance pulling information from the contacts section to use the mail blaster tool easier.
This step is actually more a continuous process, because after a module like this is implemented we keep improving it. Once a client starts using it, minor changes come up in INTERNSHIP REPORT
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Teacher Classroom Microsites D
uring the initial interview, my internship supervisor James told me that I would be coming along to meetings, and that there’s even the possibility to present to clients one day. This project for the Perpich Center of Arts Education in Minnesota led to me being involved in design, development and eventually presenting the product and training the client on the actual use of the system.
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TEACHER CLASSROOM MICROSITES JesseJames Creative, Inc. A Site Within A Site
Skills Involved Entrepreneurship, Business and Market Analysis, Strateg, Information Architecture, Design, Marketing Communication & Planning and Execution.
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The Goal.
My Role
To set up a website within a website that functions as a digital classroom, where teachers can post homework, files and calendars.
When I jumped into this project the design and basic HTML was finished. I did development, presenting and training clients.
* * *
Paintjob For The Company Website Ever since the first week at JJC I worked on an ongoing project for Perpich, an Art School client in Minnesota. JJC had already built their existing website, and now we wanted to implement sites within the main site where teachers could share classes, homework, calendar and other info with their students. This means I did a lot of troubleshooting and contact with the client to improve the module. Over the course of four months we made a lot of adjustments, and finally we felt that it was ready for users to dig in. My boss and I flew out to Minnesota for a full day of training with the client teams. We had two sessions with a total of around 25 people attending. During the first session I got to assist with the presentation, and do a lot of one-on-one training in the interactive part. One session consisted of an opening presentation, and after that interactive. Which means that the teachers were actually working on the new sites. As this was the first time for them seeing
What Is A Microsite?
the system, a lot of questions came up. From setting up new pages, to resizing images, to using modules such as the integrated calendar or news pods.
Its functionality is supposed to be a virtual classroom. That means the teacher has tools such as a calendar and a contact form where students can drop a message.
During the second session I got to present myself, which was a rather large responsibility. It worked out really well and the client was very statisfied with our visit. We got to train people one-on-one which means there is a lot of room for questions. It was interesting to see how people would pick up the workflow fast and get excited about setting up their classroom pages.
Each teacher gets their own landing page, with a number of subpages. The landing page is set up by JJC to include various items, such as an image slider, a calendar and a teacher’s biography. When the user does not input content into a specific section, the section simply won’t show up on the front-end. There are several interesting elements to this specific microsite. For instance the quote, wildcard and homework tip sections. These can be populated from a centralized bin where all teachers can input items, or be customized on the spot to display current information. This creates a lot of spots for the teacher to place customized content.
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Sales In Practise SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION PROPOSAL
Initial Proposal Putting Theory Into Practice
A
friend of mine approached me with the question if we at JJC did SEO optimization, and if it was possible to use this service separately from the entire system we offer. This conversation resulted in the attached email. It did not result in a deal, but the interesting aspect about this entire conversation was that it showed me practicing sales skills. It also showcases that I have learned some of the basics of SEO, keywords and metadata, and that I’m able to review websites on this front resulting in an advice. Here is the most relevant email from our communications:
“Following up your call - I double checked and there’s definitely some SEO work we can help out with. I’ve had a quick glance at the current website and, to be honest, the metadata looks terrible. You’re not looking to spend a lot of money and/ or time on this, so what we can offer is 10-20 hours working on your website to improve natural search and metadata. Note that improving your SEO is more than putting in some keywords. It’s research, putting in exactly the right keywords, keeping an eye on the market, improving the website structure, improving content itself and more. Ever heard of the phrase: ‘Give a man a fish, and you’ll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and 40
RICHARD BRUSSE
you’ll feed him for a lifetime’? What I’m saying is we’re not gonna swoop in, make some changes, and leave you a bill. We can provide you with training to gain a deeper understanding about how SEO works yourselves. This might seem a bit off track but we can also paint the picture of what competitor’s landscapes look like, give insight in how to improve the call to action and come up with a better sales funnel for your website. In the end these improvements will contribute to better search results and more traffic. You mentioned an existing CRM system, keep in mind that we’ve built a complete website Content Management System with a built in CRM module. I understand this is not what you are currently looking for but there might be some interesting options for sales automation in the future. In conclusion: we can help out with the basic SEO stuff, improve the issues mentioned above and get you on your feet. This all could be done within weeks. Let me know your thoughts, Richard Brusse JesseJames Creative 212.675.7424 www.jjcreative.com www.org-central.com
TRIPS During my internship I’ve seen more than the streets of Manhattan. I drove out to New Hope and Boston, and flew to Minnesota and Las Vegas. Some trips were business and some were recreational. Either way I gained a ton of personal and professional experience on all of these trips. Traveling multiple times by myself has also opened my eyes to the world, the sky is not even the limit.
New Hope 08.20.14 and follow-up trip on 12.11.14 Proposing for the Delaware Joint Toll Bridge Comission Minnesota 11.17.14 - 11.19.14 Presenting/training Teacher Classroom Microsites at Perpich Center for Arts Education Viva Las Vegas 10.30.14 - 11.03.14 What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.
On the third day of my internship my boss took me along on a meeting in New Jersey. Because of the client confidentiality agreement this is where the story ends for that particular meeting. That same day, we drove down to New Hope, a couple weeks earlier JesseJames had sent out an RFP to the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission. As a (creative) follow up, we brought them a fitting gift: a water tube. Attached was a note saying: “We look forward to drifting new ideas your way” It turned out that the person we spoke with was not in a position to take the gift, neither was he on the board to decide who would get the job. Now this might seem like wasted time to some people, spending an hour talking about non-work related stuff, but my boss knows that being on top of somebody’s mind is just as important. Imagine this guy talking to one of his co-workers, when the name JesseJames comes up he will definitely know whom they are. We will never know for sure if this meeting had any influence, but we did get the follow up call for a presentation in December. The Minnesota trip to present our Teacher Classroom Microsites was definitely an exciting experience.
Boston Road Trip 11.27.14 - 11.30.14 Visiting MIT, Harvard and sightseeing in general INTERNSHIP REPORT
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e m o H o G r o , G o B ig
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REFLECTION Richard Brusse Professional & Personal Reflection
Did I achieve the goals that I’ve set for myself. It’s not all black and white, some items are experience related so there is no simple yes or no. But in terms of experience, I would say: yes, the goals are definitely achieved.
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B
ased on the goals set at the beginning of my internship, here is the reflection on my experience. Both Professional as personal goals are evaluated. Project Management In my five months at JJC, project managing was one of the main daily activities. I have been actively involved in over twenty client projects. This means whenever there is an ongoing issue, handle it and keep the client up to date. Two of which I would consider myself to be mainly involved in: the Perpich Center for Arts Education in Minnesota, and the city of Dunwoody in Georgia. I have gained a lot of experience in following up with clients, contributing in meetings (digital as well as in person) and communicating with different types of people. * * *
Designing After years of messing around in photo shop, this internship showed me aspects of the software that I had never used before. I’m talking about editorial design in specific, using the correct grids and folders. The way you use Photoshop to create a document that a coder can translate into an actual webpage, is very different from the way you use Photoshop for photography or marketing ends. I feel that I’ve improved my skills within this software significantly, and comparing the first with the last file that I created during this internship would show a major difference. Copywriting Emails, official letters, website content and even this report are examples of what I did to improve this skill. Migrating content from an existing client site onto a new one was also a challenge. This process is more than copy and pasting, it’s also about keeping one eye out for opportunities to merge content or place it smarter.
SEO specific projects. I’ve also engaged in a sales proposal towards another company, Regal Financial. Coincidentally this was SEO related. I had some back and forth contact, and wrote a letter elaborating on what we (JJC) could offer the potential client. Research JJC gets most of its business through RFPs. These are requests for a proposal, put online by the client. When setting up a proposal, we have to do research on factors such as competition, location, history and possibilities for growth. We provide a content management system as a whole, which includes thinking like our clients wherever we possibly can. On the third day of my internship I attended a meeting where an entrepreneur told us his idea, concept and business model. After this meeting I had to dig into background information on this subject, current market competitors and opportunities. Basically conducting a SWOT analysis. I cannot include the information in this report due to the confidentially agreement that I signed. * * *
Coding When I started my internship I had literally no experience with coding. Nothing. I got the opportunity to work with an FTP program called Transmit, and I picked it up pretty quick. I am now capable of making content changes on webservers through FTP, make global changes in layouts, rearrange content in basic sites and change graphics. I was handed the opportunity and tools to basically teach myself the art of HTML, and so I did. This helped me a great deal when working on the new JJC website.
Work efficiency There is a lot going on at this company, at all given times. At one point we were launching three major websites within two weeks. Prioritizing work is key in this type of situations, because suddenly your nine-hour workday flies by as if it were two hours. It is important to keep re-prioritizing work, almost on an hourly basis. I have gained a lot of experience in sensing where priorities lie and restructuring these by myself. Communication Without proper communication, all else fails. Period. I’ve learned to pay more attention to details when communicating with clients or co-workers. We used programs such as Basecamp, GitHub and GoTomeeting to keep an overview of what’s going on. Delegating It was soon clear to my boss that once I start going, I tend to shift up to sixth gear pretty fast. This led me to guide the other intern and freelancers where needed, giving them instructions and issues to work on. Checking in on the daily progress they would make and be the Go-To person for them to ask questions. Personal Goals During my stay in Manhattan I got to know myself a little better. You have to take responsibility in small cases such as doing groceries, laundry or paying rent, but also * * *
In addition to the above I learned to read HTML code better, I can analyze metadata and keywords and suggest a better alternative for the client. I’ve done this in the sales case for Regal Financial.
Sales During my internship I’ve had a couple opportunities to put theory to practice. For
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Super visor’s O pinion
James Tormey Evaluation Form Work Experience Internship CE
James Tormey Vice President / Creative Director & Chief Communications Officer at JesseJames Creative, Inc.
“ RICHARD DID AN EXCELLENT JOB Evaluation Core Skills
Planning and Execution
Leadership and Management
The following is an evaluation on a five point scale, ranging from highly insufficient up to excellent. The general evaluation overall impression student is:
Draw up, execute, and adjust marketing policy plans.
Manage a project, a business process, a business component, or a company.
Excellent.
Excellent.
Sales
Evaluation reflection skills
Develop and maintain business relations for the purpose of purchasing, sales, and services, and for selling products and/or services.
In the course of the internship, and also in the internship report, the student exhibited sufficient reflection skills to meet the generic higher education qualifications.
Excellent Entrepreneurship Independently and intrepidly initiate and/ or create products and/or services
Good. Good.
Market Research Set up, execute, interpret, test, and
Communication Communicate in various languages, bearing in mind internal, external, national, and cultural variations.
Good.
Business and Market Analysis
Yes.
Evaluation written reporting The internship report is complete, and meets the higher education requirements for written reporting
Excellent.
Perform a SWOT analysis for a company on the local, national and/or international market, based on relevant national and international trends.
Marketing Communication
Not Relevant.
Not Relevant.
Convert a marketing plan into an online and/or offline marketing communication plan.
Yes.
Strategy and Policy Develop marketing policy for an (inter) national company; explain and substantiate the choices made. Not Relevant.
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R
ichard has done a great job since joining us for his internship in August.
During his time here at JJC, he has worked with us on a wide range of projects—everything websites to presentations to logo design to information architecture to interface design to business strategy. I have found Richard’s conceptual skills to be strong and his production skills are improving on a daily basis as he learns here. On a software note, we have exposed him to 6-8 software packages we use here at JJC for things such as Mind Mapping, project management, web page coding, CRM and page layout. Although each was completely new to him, he has proven to be a quick study every time. Beyond the mechanics however, Richard has all the ‘intangibles’ I look for in people—a great work ethic, honesty, rock solid followup skills and a highly honed sense of responsibility. He is also very proactive. Whether it’s by knowing who to ask the right questions
PROVEN TO BE A QUICK STUDY
”
to or just figuring it out on his own, his is the kind of personality that always finds a way to get things done...and usually goes above and beyond along the way.
During his internship so far, Richard has been involved involved in a number of other key aspects of our business here—preparing presentations, QAing websites, working directly with our development team to implement software solutions, helping to brainstorm and write proposals and doing competitive research for new clients. He has also participated in a number of client meetings and consistently provides good input during those meetings. He has has also stepped up to help lead a very important project here which is the long overdue design of our own website. From the day he arrived, Richard interacted well with the rest of the team here at JJC, took direction well and was a pleasure to work with.
Evaluation Higher Education Qualifications This part evaluates the student with regard to the following higher education standards: Extensive professionalization, multidisciplinary integration, putting theory into practise,transfer and extensive versatality, creativity and complexity of conduct, problem-focused approach, methodical and reflective thinking and acting, social communicative competence, basic qualifications for management positions, awareness of social responsibility.
Originally this was also a document showing a five point scale, from absolutely not up to absolutely. The result was consistently 5/5 meaning that on all fronts the student achieved the competency absolutely.
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g n i h t o N s I e l Impossi b INTERNSHIP REPORT
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Christmas & New Years Eve
WORK EXPERIENCE SUMMARY A quick look back on the days at JesseJames Creative, Inc. in New York City. If I had to, I would do it all over again.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, but when you’re at the Rockefeller Center in New York it is also the most wonderful time of your life.
As early as November, the first Christmas lights popped up, stores decorating their windows and music playing outside. I witnessed the Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration with live performances from Lady Gaga, Tony Bennet and Mariah Carey.
Images Above These images were all taken at Rockefeller Center.
I
can proudly say that I have achieved my goals. This internship has taught me a lot, and I have grown as a person. Although my expectations going in were different from the actual internship, I enjoyed every last bit of it. The amount of responsibility when managing projects and dealing with clients, the amount of trust given to me from my boss and co-workers, the business trips and meetings we did during the internship. Everything added up to an incredible experience. My supervisor and I got along very well, first off there was an insane amount of common interests between us which really makes it easier to work together. We even attended the Mötley Crüe farewell tour show in Madison Square Garden, which was an amazing experience.
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From a work perspective, I got the feeling that my input was really valued. When I attended business meetings I spoke up and engaged in conversation. I could bring real ideas to the table, for instance the use of a new application. I’m also not afraid to speak up when I disagree on something, which would lead to interesting conversations. For instance changing the way I would process a certain document. As a bonus I gained experience in the field of leadership and delegating. When James was not in the office I would help out other interns and guide them, give them tasks and check in on their work. I have learned to work with FTP clients and HTML editors as Transmit, Filezilla and Notepadd++. I can now edit basic HTML, read metadata and analyse SEO and work with several datamodels. These are skills that I can apply on a daily basis since I’m managing multiple websites, including my own portfolio.
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NEW YORK
See You Soon..
All Rights Reserved by Richard Brusse 2015. This magazine is the official internship report for Richard’s third year work experience internship. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher. The content in this magazine is for information purposes only.