An introduction!

June 9, 2008 by jkent1

Hello all,

This summer I will be doing an internship with Liturgica.com, an content and commerce based website focusing on the history and development of Liturgical music worldwide. I will be serving as a Development Associate with Liturgica.com, working to implement and improve new initiatives within the company. The main initiative I will be launching for the company is a new online advertising program. Currently Liturgica only makes money from e-commerce sales and does no advertising. This leaves a great potential for growth within Liturgica, as online advertising has become a huge profit generator for websites across the board. Furthermore, Liturgica’s customer base is an extremely targeted one and provides certain advertisers direct access to a group of people who may very likely be interested in what they have to offer.  This project will likely last me the entire summer; however, if I finish this early, I will begin work developing the company’s record label. Given my experience within the music industry, I see many places in which Liturgica could grow its current record label and really start generating profits from it. I’ll spare you the details on that for now, and we’ll come back to it later in the summer! Well, that’s it for now, be sure to check back in a couple weeks to find out how the development of the advertising program (and my internship) are going!

Peace and progress,

Jamie

Green Build 2008

The last two weeks have been interesting at GRT, as part of our project to expand the product library we have began cold calling companies to get products. I would say cold calling is analogous to public speaking for many people, it is something that most people are really afraid to do but it is a very valuable skill to have. Our mission was to call companies and get them interested in donating some of their products to our product library, a task that was not really difficult as they did not have to pay anything but valuable nonetheless. By the end of the day my cold calling skills were much improved, as I was much more comfortable and confident. Since then, the skill has actually been helping me a lot at BigBelly (my other job) where I am doing similar tasks, and in my own market research that I am doing. For my market research I am cold calling companies and getting in touch of their sustainability director and then getting them interested in allowing me to do a ‘feasibility study’ of the business concept at their company, so cold skills have become very important.

Also, on Friday I began working on another project with Andrea. Basically the GRT has a large space and they are renovating some of the space so it meets the building code. I am going to be working with Andrea to coordinator the project by facilitating communication between all the people who will be involved (architects, designers, contractors, etc). I am looking forward to it, I have worked on many many many projects at Babson so I am familiar with coordinating tasks etc, but it has been in an academic setting and typically on a presentation. I think this will be fun due to the fact that it is in a construction setting.

Another one of the tasks that I am working on for this project is getting product donations for the new space that is being renovated. Now, getting donations for a non-for profit is like making sales calls for for-profit business….so and I’ve very excited to learn how to do it. Much of the time at Babson is spent learning about for-profit businesses, which is not bad per se, but non-for profit are the 4^th largest segment of the economy and more than 1 trillion dollars go through them. Much of the information that I have learned at Babson have been geared towards a for-profit setting, income statements, analysis, cash flow, selling, marketing. Many of the same rules apply, like features vs benefits, etc, but a lot is different so I think it will be a nice addition to my education. Andrea is going to help and teach me how to get donations as she is very good at it.

Lastly, my intern friend Tucker and I went to an event for the volunteers that have been coordinating the national Green Build conference that will be happening Boston this fall(http://www.greenbuildexpo.org/) . It was an interesting event to go to, first and foremost because Tucker and I were very under dressed. We were wearing street clothes and everyone had suites and such on, but to be honest that almost made it more enjoyable as well. It was a great event because it gave me added perspective into how large the green building movement is and how fast it is growing. The president of the US green building association (USGBC) was there and spoke, he was describing how chapters are beginning in China, India, Italy, Canada. I knew that here in the states LEED building is becoming more common but I didn’t realize the global extent. It was good to learn that because it showed me how importance of this internship in gaining knowledge about the industry. Also, in his speech, the president spoke specifically of the GRT and how innovative it is, noting that it is the only organization of its kind in the whole US. That made me appreciates the job even more as it is such a cool organization.

The event was also good for ‘networking’ or meeting people as I like to call it. The most interesting person I met was from an organization called the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC). MTC is basically the MASS government’s arm into the renewable energy market in the state. So, they have connection with all parties involved (utilities, power generators, home owners, other state agencies, energy consulting firms, etc) . So it is a great place to work because it allows you to see all the things that are going on in the renewable energy market within Massachusetts, a great vantage point to see what is happening, good companies to work for, and other business opportunities. I also learned that many people at GRT used to work at MTC which is good news, because I am going to make it a point to connect with them and learn more. All in all it was an interesting couple weeks, I learned how to cold call, get donations, about how large the green building movement is, and about another cool organization in MA.

All in all, it was an interesting couple of weeks at GRT

A Belated Post!

Wow! What a crazy three weeks! Thanks to the Babson undergraduate CCD I was able to take on a low-paying internship with Two Feet Media, a startup company out of Chicago. I’ve been partnered with other college students from across the country to develop and execute a grassroots publicity campaign that will take me across the country and back. Already we’ve logged over 3000 miles and visited some of the biggest universities in the nation, all with the goal of developing content for the company’s soon-to-be-launched collegiate quarterly, called Boosh Magazine.

I discovered Two Feet before I discovered the internship grant that made this possible, but i was dismayed by the huge financial burden that an internship like this would entail. Fortunately, I’m one to check my Babson email account and I came across one from Ms. Laura Barry, the CCD administrator who is overseeing this inaugural year of the internship sponsorships. I applied for the grant as if I was applying for a job, attaching my resume, a cover letter, and a letter of recommendation from my boss at the ceramics studio on campus. It was an anxious two weeks, but both I and Two Feet were ecstatic when we found out about the sponsorship, which is really what made this internship possible. It’s an amazing opportunity and i urge anyone and everyone to apply next spring as your next summer internship gets closer.

It’s been great working for Two Feet. My bosses are a bunch of young people with years of experience in media, especially collegiate-focussed publications such as Boosh. My “office” experience is probably unlike most other summer internships, and my workspace is usually in the car as we mooch off a hotel chain’s free wireless. There is endless amounts of flexibility with such a startup and this is the beauty of the entire trip: we’re free to make it whatever we want, as long as we stick to a schedule of visits and interviews at some of the most happening places in the country. After a long weekend in Manchester, Tennessee and an overnight at the University of Missouri, we’re headed through the farmlands of the midwest until we hit Colorado, where UC Boulder awaits our energetic intern team. I’ll be sure to keep you posted as much as possible, most likely from another hotel parking lot where the wireless is endless. Cheers!

Settling in to Silicon Valley

Wow. What a first couple of weeks here in San Francisco. The city has lived up to its reputation – a crazy combination of ideas, entrepreneurs, quirks, networking and the like. I can say that so far, I have been exposed to aspects of business that I wouldn’t have seen at any other ‘normal’ internship.

I have been given freedom in what I do from day to day – Rapleaf has a policy of managing up. This means that I run things by my boss and make up my own list of tasks each week, he looks them over and then I am unleashed, free to manage my time and do things as I see fit. So far, Ben (my co-intern) and I have been in charge of the recruiting program, customer service, and PR. We’ve put out blogs, replied to Rapleaf customers and been involved in discussions about the direction of the company. Each day (from roughly 9 am to 9 pm) brings a new challenge or situation, for which so far I have felt very well prepared. The work I’ve done at Babson has prepared me to deal with the fast-paced dynamic work atmosphere of a start-up, something that 3 years ago was not the case, having held several typical pre-college jobs.

This Friday (6/14) will be my first big chance – a networking event where I will be trying to sell what Rapleaf does in real life. An exciting opportunity for me – what I was really looking for in a summer internship. Being part of a team of 15, where everyone is working towards the same goal, has giving me the ability to learn and to apply what I have learned.

In the first week of June, we had a company meeting. Our CEO Auren Hoffman went over the details, accomplishments, and future of Rapleaf. What a great introduction to the real life of a start-up. And so far, from what I’ve seen and what’s in store, a more exciting opportunity could not be imagined. A summer to be remembered indeed.

As I embark on a mission welcomin to the dark
When I first spark the arts, when the listenin start
Open your head wide, and let the Thought inside

-The Roots

Cheers,

Max

Rapleaf

657 Mission St, Ste 600

San Francisco, CA 94105

max@rapleaf.com

609.213.8679 (direct)

We’re looking for incredible product managers and software engineers. We offer $10,007 referral award. Know of any?

First day @ the GRT

Monday June 9th was the first official day at The Green Roundtable, henceforth known as ‘GRT’. To start off the summer we went over the projects that we will be working on. The basic project is going to be updating, categorizing and expanding the product library at the NEXUS green building center. The product seems mundane but it will be valuable to organization and will also help us to learn about design, energy use, etc of green building.

The product library is a place where anyone can come and see examples of green products that can be used during housing construction, these include builders, home owners, designers, architects, policy makers, etc. The product library is a very integral park of GRT’s educational goals as well as technical aspects as the technical consultants must advise thier clients what products to use. The goal will be to set a high bar for green products and I hope that the organization will eventually create thier own 3rd party brand certification. No green products are perfect per se, but they do offer many benefits over convention products, some of the categories we will be judging these products include, recycled content, toxicity, durability, social injustice (location of manufacture or extraction), life cycle analysis (in terms of energy usage, resource efficiency, and many others! It will be a lot of research, calling etc.

I worked with 2 other interns who were very nice, all from different backgrounds and with different perspectives so it was interesting to with them, one goes to Oberlin College in Ohio and the other to Colby in Maine. My plan for the summer is to learn as much about the GRT and also meet the people who participating in this industry as well. The GRT has a technical aspect which comprises of archeticures, consultants, builders, engineerings, etc…all people with very varied background. It also has a policy side (all of which I mentioned before but I learn more about on Monday) that is actually really important. The policy side of GRT advice Boston about coming up with building standard a few years ago, so clearly there are people who have a lot of experience in policy and government work, something that is very important to building and energy. I have made it a point to meet all of the people who work there (17 in total), ask them about thier background’s, how they got to the GRT and I feel this will give me great perspective about the possibilities in this industry in and around Boston and the West Coast. And for the most part they all seem very open and willing to discuss those things.

Marquis Jet

Greetings from Boston,

I have just started to unpack all of my belongings after getting here Thursday, May 29^th. I am living in Kenmore Square at an MIT fraternity house. The location is great and the sizes of the rooms are unbeatable relative to many of my friend’s apartments around the city. I had my first day of work on Thursday and had to find my way through a maze of T stops and buildings. However it turns out that I am living a block away from the Green line T stop and it is fairly easy to take that train to Government Center, from there it is about a 10 minute walk to the building Two International Place.

The company I am working for is called Marquis Jet. They sell fractional ownership in private jets via a 25 hour debit-like card. My first day was filled with introductions and tours of the various systems that they are using to sort clients and leads. They use salesforce.com for the majority of their sales leads and it seems to be very easy to use. It was implemented a month or so ago, meaning many people still are not familiar with it. This gives me an opportunity to help out and troubleshoot with the executives. After the formalities I was thrown into making some role calls in front of the executives and other office members. I was instructed to research the company and have a “pitch” down so that I could practice and get critiqued. I seemed to do very well. I had all of the information down it was simply the way I presented it and how I reacted to the questions/tone of the customer that I could use some work. The role playing was great however I can’t wait to actually start calling some potential clients to get some real experience.

In regards to the office it is one of the nicest workspaces that I have seen. It overlooks Faneuil Hall and Boston harbor. They have so much extra room also that I am allowed to have my own desk. I don’t think that I will have an office this nice until I am about 40. I was instructed to practice my pitch and I will start making actual calls next week.

I will post again once I have had a full week of work completed.

Regards,

Shane Fogarty

The Green Roundtable

Currently, I still have not started my internship but I thought this would be a good opportunity to explain how and why I got it.

I have always had an interest in environmental issues and progressive business models, however until recently, these issues were not ‘cool’. Thus, this year I began to attend events around Babson that catered to this interest. Eventually, I began to speak with Prof. Huss who used to run an energy consulting firm that dealt with energy audits/efficiency (something that is becoming popular these days) and now teaches at Babson. After conversing with him my interest began to shift into the energy industry. Then I found out that Massachusetts is a hot spot for this activity, behind California, so I began to look for positions for the summer. I talked with Prof. Huss some more, and he told me about The Green Roundtable, an organization so that seeks to make green building ‘business as usual’. Our housing and commercial infrastructure also uses the most amount of energy. At the energy expo he introduced me to the head of the organization and I got her name/contact and expressed interest in an internship. She told me that were receiving many applications and they were simply turning them down, but if I sent one in and told them she had referred me I would get an interview. I went in for the interview and found it was a small organization with activities in education, policy work, and technical aspect as well, as aspects that I’m interested in. I also found out that they had their hands in a lot of places around Boston so it would be easy for me to meet many people in the industry while working there. After my interview I emailed prof. Huss, and told me it went well, he told me he was at the organization the morning of my interview and was talking me up. So, I got the internship. Monday is out first day of training and when I will meet the other interns which should be interesting!

From Kansas to Babson to London

Hello! My name is Michael Cobb. I am a rising senior at Babson College, and I will be blogging about my experiences this summer—I hope this blog gives you a glimpse into some of the superb opportunities Babson creates.

I spent this semester studying through a Babson-sponsored direct exchange with the University of Edinburgh. Edinburgh is an emerald jewel of a city; it’s large enough to be exciting, small enough to walk everywhere, and one of the best preserved cities I’ve seen. It was exceptional to observe another culture and the differences between Scotland and America. While superb, absence does make the heart grow fonder, and I will enjoy this coming year at Babson immensely more after studying abroad. Some Babson students grumble about the workload at Babson. While Babson’s workload is more intense than study abroad, our excellent teachers usually make up for it; I missed my Babson profs quite often while in class at Edinburgh.

My advice to future study abroad students: plan ahead. Networking truly is key to gaining your dream internship, so make sure to connect with employers strongly before you leave. I had done a decent job of creating relationships with employers before I left, but being nearby during the recruiting season helps immensely.

This brings me to how I am working for P&G this summer. I concentrated my internship applications on American positions but was open to the idea of working abroad. Early in the semester, P&G sponsored a business competition in Edinburgh called “The Apprentice Edinburgh.” I had taken a similar class during my prior semester at Babson, so I founded a team and competed. We didn’t win, but we did advance quite far. During the competition, I met several P&Gers and stayed in touch with them throughout the semester. When it came time to choose among my options, knowing these employees tipped me in favor of choosing P&G. I’ll be doing Finance and Accounting in Surrey, which is outside of London.

I’m anticipating contributing to P&G and working for one of the world’s largest companies. I’m also excited about the contrast with my previous experience- a bit of consulting and software startups.

I have a few weeks until my internship begins, so I’m now relaxing at home in Kansas! Until next post,

Cheers,

Michael