Friday, May 15, 2009

my summer with Colaboratory

After a long and adventurous hunt, I have secured the illusive beast: an creative business internship in Portland, OR.

This weekend I found out that I will be part of Portland Advertising Federation's 2009 summer internship program, Colaboratory, serving as one of two Account Managers.


Colaboratory is 6 week program in Portland that accepts 10 junior or senior college students each year who are interested in writing, design, interactive multimedia, account management, production, strategy or public relations. We will be placed at three different Portland ad/marketing/design agencies for three two-week intensive internships over the course of the six weeks. During the six weeks, we will also be divided into teams of five--our mini agencies--and will compete head-to-head to develop a campaign pitch for a local company. Last year's company was Sameunderneath, a local clothing line. We do not know yet who the client will be this year--all they can tell us it is not Nike. The Internet rumors are true--the 2009 Colab client will be Columbia Sportswear! We will be meeting with the director of international marketing from Columbia on our first day of orientation.

Colaboratory's purpose is multi-functional. The local agencies get aptly funneled, highly qualified, eager interns, while PAF promotes young innovation city-wide and the interns get a broader perspective of the market and much more networking outlets. To say the least, it is an exciting program and for that reason and many others, I was highly invested in my application and was elated when I heard I was accepted.

Another function of the program is for the interns to be very public with their experiences to serve as a resource for other students looking to enter into an internship or the Portland business scene. The Colab interns are encouraged to blog, video-blog and Twitter about their experiences all throughout. That being said, I thought it would be fitting to make my first act as a Colab intern of the class of '09 to be a blog post about the details of my application (particularly seeing as it was the source of my blog-distraction for a few months).

My Colab Application ::

We were asked to provide three samples (shown below). I included 1) A group project Internet Marketing Plan for the Broadway Farmers Market in Seattle. Acted as group coordinator, designer and programmer for updated website, 2) DRY Soda Press Cards. With Turnstyle, acted as Project Manager and 3) Current marketing topic report on QR Code applications in package design.



One of the largest and most complex portions of the application was an open-ended response question where we were told we could use any form of media. The question asked us how we would explain to an automaker the value of marketing, PR and advertising when they are only concerned with price-reduction strategy. For my submission (shown below), I created a small book that reiterated my response using first a full page with charts, then just one paragraph, then one sentence and finally no words--the idea being, as an account manager you must be able to convey your team's idea in any way, whether that be a big long pitch or quick and short email. The book's cover was made with kraft paper and hand-sewn binding. Note the extra rad drawings of my "bull" and "bear" for the final page.



I grouped together all the main pieces into two bundles (shown below): the first included my résumé, business card, letters of recommendation, the application with my essay question responses and my little open-response book. The second bundle was my samples.



The whole thing was shipped out in this custom made envelope (shown below). Machine stitching on large sheets of kraft paper. Thanks to Maddy Eiche for letting me borrow her sewing machine!



And... then it was mailed and my Colab fate was resting in the hands of all the cool Portland professionals working with PAF.

The program is young (only in its second year), so I am sure it will be a growing process for all parties involved--but, I think that is what attracted me to the program. It is an adaptive concept that recognizes that there is no feasible way to learn everything about the creative business industry in the course of just one internship. Think bigger! Do more! Dive in the deep end and trust your skills! And most importantly, surround yourself with creative, excited, helpful individuals and figure it out. I am really excited to devote so much of my time this summer to this program. I am eager to find out who my fellow interns are and who our client will be. This summer has officially been dedicated to creativity and collaboration. Go go go.

I begin my stint with Colab on July 11th at which time all of you, my dear blog readers, will be subjected to a steady dosage of internship stories right here on Breakfast for Dinner. Prepare yourself, it is going to be an intense six weeks. You will soon read, see, hear and watch everything I encounter while venturing into the wild mix of the Portland Creative Class.


Wednesday, May 13, 2009

namesake

There have been quite a few questions coming my way lately regarding my namesake(s). What is a Reardonk and why does she eat Breakfast for Dinner?

Reardonk -- This one can be attributed to my soon-to-be alma mater, Seattle University. Upon receiving my SU email account, I was one part stunned and one part elated to see that my prefix was ReardonK@seattleu.edu. Unfortunate correlations to a rear end and baa-donk-da-donk-da-donk? Yes. Amazing ease of remembrance for my email recipients? YES! And a nick-name was born. The first rule of branding is to have a memorable name. Check one off for the Reardonk empire.

Breakfast For Dinner -- And then there was a blog. I created Breakfast For Dinner in the summer of 2008 in preparation for my trip abroad to India. The blog has evolved since to include all things simple and exciting that I encounter in my daily life--i.e. breakfast eaten at dinner time. There is a small block of copy at the bottom of my blog explaining this concept more thoroughly:
General notes in regards to things that are simple and exciting. Adventures (at home or abroad), beautiful packaging design, new moleskine journals, perfectly executed secret handshakes, jokes (inside or outside), shark week, babies with hiccups, fire pits, red shoes, yellow bikes and breakfast for dinner.

So, that is the why and what of Reardonk and her blog named Breakfast for Dinner.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

thermos


in case you were wondering, a vintage thermos makes an excellent vase.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Trekkies

More amazing than the ending of th new Star Trek movie: the fact that Ben and I have successfully completed our, count it, SECOND year of dating. Oh boy.

As the dutiful, dorky girlfriend I am, I surprised Ben with midnight tickets to the opening night of the new Star Trek movie. The beauty of this gift was that the show actually premiered at 7pm; we just went at midnight for an extra one-two punch of awesomeness. Joining us on the excursion were some of our good buddies, including Mr. Chris Kissel, the most die-hard Trekkie I know.


It really was a fabulous anniversary. The candy was plentiful, we got to be in-awe of Kissel's Trekkie knowledge and the movie was epic. Oh! And to boot, I think I now have a crush on young Spock. Sorry, Ben. It's the eyebrows...and the ears...and the heightened level of logical thinking. Gets me every time.


Trekkies x2

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

journals of sorts

In my purse, next to my bed, underneath my coffee cup and in the back pocket of my pack you will find a journal.

I have journals of all sorts. I typically use the classic small Moleskines. I vary amongst the lined/plain/and graph paper options. The tipping point of like ---> love for me with these journals is when their kraft outsides become soft and fuzzy from rubbing in your pocket so much. It's really a beautiful thing. When I go on a big adventure, like a trip to India, I opt for the classier version of the Moleskine, bound in black and perfectly suited for heavier sketches and scuff marks from adventures. I've also acquired many miscellaneous journals in recent months. One of my favorite new items is my "FIELD NOTES" journal from Draplin Design Co. (thanks to Portland marketing collective, MilkMilk, for the goody).



I use journals for just about everything. I make sketches for my homework for classes.


I take note of important things while I'm traveling. Volunteer ID card from Mother Theresa's House, daily schedule notes and ideas:


Given the prompt to draw a monkey and a lion playing together, I sketched this in one of my journals:


All of my journals have the same last page: Current Feeling. It's a habit I picked up while traveling. I tell myself, at the least, I can simply jot down my current emotion in my journals. Long entries are infrequent for me, however the cumulative sentiment of a whole page of my feelings tracked over a period of time is surprisingly representative.


This one time, I had an idea for a blog and I wrote it down.


My journals are like a community. I feel supported, nagged at, reminded and inspired by all those darn little pages.

Monday, May 4, 2009

thank you cards

A new set of thank you cards.

Made from found paper, little red strings, re-purposed vynil wood and vintage rubber stamps.