Post Grad

it's all about the journey!

  • 30th December
    2009
  • 30
This is the report I wrote for my advisors on my internship with the Percussive Arts Society. Thought it might be fun to share. Don’t worry. There are lots more PAS/ Rhythm! stories to come! This is just a little overview. I almost didn’t apply for the Percussive Arts Society internship because the announcement was asking for a percussionist. But, at the time I was getting desperate to find any internship or job opportunity that I could find, and I took a chance and applied anyway. I never expected a call back, yet they called. The first person I talked to was Otice, the museum curator. He was incredibly nice and told me that he was impressed by my cover letter and how I had said, “I know you are looking for a percussionist, I’m not one, but this is what I can do for you.” He shared with me that he was also not a percussionist, and gave me a few tips for the interview. The interview was going to be a conference call between me, Otice, Michael the executive director, and Jeff the Director of Events and Marketing. The interview went great. They asked really good questions, that I actually had answers to! There was laughter, and conversation. I was nervous because I never experienced a conference call interview with that many people, but it went great and I felt really good about it.  A few days later they offered me the job, telling me that if I accepted I would be only the 3rd female to intern with PAS, and the 1st non percussionist. I was also interviewing with the Grammys at the time for an internship, but I was really excited about the opportunity at PAS, felt great about the people I talked with in the interview, and I went for it. So I went to Indianapolis in search for an apartment a week or two before I was suppose to start. A cousin of mine recently moved to Indianapolis to start a new probation officer job, and she was excited about helping me to find a new apartment. I did a lot of looking on craigslist, and setting up some appointments with apartments that were priced in the range that I wanted to spend. When I got there, all of these apartments I had set up appointments to look at were in bad areas, and were absolutely disgusting. I was upset; I didn’t want to look at apartments anymore. After the 6th place, I was just done with the whole ordeal.  My cousin took me to Lakeshore, which was a complex that was further away from work than I really wanted. But it was nice, a very nice and clean complex in a safe area. It was also about $160 more a month then I had planned on paying, not even counting electric. But I took it, because I was just done looking. This would be what I like to refer to as mistake number one. Set a budget, an actual budget and stick to it. I learned this the hard way. I should have kept on looking, despite how upset I was and found an apartment in my original budget. There are plenty complexes out there, I only looked at about 7 different places. Unfortunately the first few of Craigslist were so bad that they got me really upset. I should have taken a break, and given myself more time. But instead I took the more expensive apartment. I liked it, yes, but it was too expensive. And therefore I struggled with paying ALL the bills all 6 months. So what I learned: budget budget budget. The rent is a huge part of your budget, so make sure that you get a lease that is actually something you can honestly afford, and still have money for electric, gas for your car, groceries, internet if you want it, and all of the other misc. expenses you may have.  I’m just thankful that I figured this out when I was only locked into a 6 month lease. So now I had an apartment, I packed up my things and my Dad, Uncle and brother helped me to move in over 4th of July weekend. They moved my stuff, they left, and I was alone in my new apartment. I started at PAS two days later. The PAS staff was much different than I ever imagined they would be. It’s a music organization, a drumming organization at that, I thought it would be loud and very social. But in reality, most of the people who work at PAS are very reserved during the work day. The first day  I arrived about 10 minutes early, and there was only one person there already, Jim the Membership Manager. I walked in a he just looked at me. So I introduced myself and said I was the new intern. He said he assumed that, and showed me my desk, and then walked away. It was a very odd reception. But later I found out, this was just Jim’s personality, and it ended up growing on me. That was pretty much how my first day went though, very odd. I sat at my desk that day and just read through the “Intern bible,” to try to figure out what they wanted me to do. I was coming from this internship after an internship with Yamaha, where on the first day we had a session with Human Resources giving us background history on the company, going over company policies, etc. Then on top of that, I had a direct supervisor who gave me projects to do. The PAS internship was completely different. I was literally on my own from the day I arrived. I did not have a direct supervisor to ask questions to. There were certain processes that I was in charge of, such as the review submissions process, that the intern was just suppose to do, and nobody else in the office touched it. They had told me in the interview that with 2 of the main people giving me projects being off site employees I would have to be the kind of person who was self motivated and able to just do projects on my own. I was ready for that, but it was so much more than that. I really did get very lucky to be picked to be an intern at PAS when I did. During my time I got to see the transformation of an empty construction area to an amazing, up and running Discovery Center. On my first day when I walked through that space and the marketing director told me that the museum had to be done by PASIC (5 months!) I did not believe that it could be done.  But it happened, an unbelievable transformation in 5 months. I have so much love for this Discovery Center… because of it’s purpose, to reach out to non percussionists, to non musicians and teach them about rhythm, drumming and percussion, and show them, just some of the types of instruments involved. I know I was amazed at how complex the percussion world really is, and watching people come through, especially children, and learning about all the different hand percussion instruments, Latin instruments, African instruments, it’s just amazing. On top of that, I was so involved in this whole opening, from building shelving units, to placing instruments the night before our grand opening, I feel that it’s a part of me, and will always be. That feeling alone makes this whole internship experience at PAS worth it. On top of that, I got to coordinate the recruiting process of volunteers for PASIC. This was the FIRST time that PAS had ever used outside (non percussionist) volunteers, and Michael and the executive committee were very hesitant about it. We recruited volunteers to help run registration, help at our 2 gift shops, and help with badge checking at session doors. This was also the first year the registration was done in house, and there were hesitations and worry about wait time for attendees to pick up badges. All throughout the convention we did not hear one complaint about the amount of time that someone stood in line at registration, and that was absolutely because of the excellent volunteers we had. I am extremely proud of the volunteer program and was implemented this year.  Every single volunteer told me that they had an excellent time, and can’t wait to come back and do it again next year. I feel strongly that apart of this was the amount and quality of communication given to them before the event. I was prompt with all phone call and email replies. I was accommodating to their schedules. So many programs make it a chore to volunteer and make you feel like they are doing you a favor to let you volunteer. I tried the exact opposite approach. Every communication was friendly and expressed to them how genuinely appreciative we were for their help, that we couldn’t do it without them. If they had to come in an hour later than I would have liked, that was okay, I never made anyone feel bad about it. Our staff was friendly throughout the convention, and made the volunteers feel that they were a part of our team. Our show office was open to all of them to store food, and come and take breaks and just hang out. The volunteers enjoyed themselves so much, that several worked all day (7am-5pm) and all week. We invited the volunteers to come to Rhythm! Tuesday night for a volunteer recognition reception. We invited them to come and bring a guest along to check out the center, and gave them some appetizers and beer and wine. The amount of volunteers that came out for this was incredible, and their reactions to our simple reception were just flat out appreciation, for us to thank them like that. But they really were an invaluable part of PASIC 2009. There is no way that the conference could have happened without that many hands on site to help with processing on site registrations, and to run onsite badge pickup. Michael has said over and over again, how wonderful all of the volunteers were, and how smoothly everything ran. I developed the recruiting materials, I managed volunteer registration and scheduling, I planned and ran volunteer orientation. We had a volunteer coordinator on site, strictly dedicate to just that group of volunteers to be able to help them with any concerns, and I trained him and gave him materials and schedules to be able to do this. All of these things added to their experience, and helped to make the volunteer program successful. Many of my staff members thought that we were using the volunteer coordinator on site to recruit the volunteers, and that he brought them to us. Some might see this as “hey, no get it right, I did this work.” I see that as a huge compliment to my work.  My coworkers found it hard to believe, that on top of all of my other tasks, I was able to recruit that many excellent volunteers, and also to have someone on site to be their contact. But I delegated that essential step in the process for a reason. I knew I would be to busy to give them the attention I wanted them to have on site. In addition to all of these “extra” jobs, and that’s exactly what those were, side projects. My main task was to be the artist contact. I managed their contracts, A/V requests, instrument logistics information, sponsor information for programs, Photos/Bios for programs, and pretty much any and all communication with the artists. As PASIC got closer and closer it became a task in itself to just keep up with the emails and all of the small changes in bios, and changes of where instruments were coming from, change of performer names, and then requests for additional badges. This helped me to learn how to be super organized in my email inbox, utilizing folders and tags to be able to go back to a certain email for reference. I learned how to communicate with so many different personalities. I learned their personalities, and who liked to be asked about projects they were working on because they liked to talk about themselves, or who was all business and wanted quick and prompt replies. I think dealing with the artists was my favorite part of the internship, because I found that I really do love working with all of the different creative types I found, and I have knack for being able to handle whatever personality came my way. I knew I did a good job with this part of my internship because at PASIC artists sought me out to thank me for my attention to details to help THEIR session run well. After PASIC I received many emails from artists, just thanking me. I received phone calls, and even 1 hand written card telling me thank you for all my work and how great their sessions ran because I paid such close attention to the details beforehand. This is amazing to me, because onsite, I didn’t do much in the production aspect, and they didn’t see me at their sessions. But they knew that what I did was a very important part to their success. That without the work I did beforehand, the collecting of the information, the organizing of the details and then the distribution to the logistics workers who move the instruments, and to the A/V company who runs video and sound, that it wouldn’t have gone as smoothly. They said to me over and over, “everyone knew what I wanted before I got there. The instruments were ready, we had exactly enough mics and equipment, this never happens.” And in that, I learned my favorite new statement to make “I feel strongly that paying attention to the details can save a lot of time, money and headaches whether you are planning an event, tracking inventory, or managing a database.” These are just the highlights of what I enjoyed, and learned from my internship at Percussive Arts Society. In addition to these things, I have becoming an expert at PAS’s new database. I can troubleshoot member phone calls with log-in issues in less than 5 minutes usually. I manage review materials that are submitted to be reviewed in Percussive Notes, which is a bimonthly publication. I helped to create the layout of our gift shop in Rhythm! and I am currently managing inventory and am working to get our gift shop online. I also have a large part in the museum collection management. It has been an absolutely amazing experience for me. I have learned a lot, made a lot of valuable connections, and just had a really good time. I am going to be very sad to leave. I hate goodbyes. I hated leaving Yamaha. But I soon moved on and went back to school and got very involved in several events there. I hated the end of Backstage Pass, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to plan it again. But I got over it, and found something else to occupy my time. Then I found PAS. It’s such a small organization. They need people who are in it to work as hard as possible and do it because they love it and what the organization stands for. I hope that as PAS grows and with the opening of Rhythm! that PAS fills their office with people who love what they do, and believe in the mission of the organization.

This is the report I wrote for my advisors on my internship with the Percussive Arts Society. Thought it might be fun to share. Don’t worry. There are lots more PAS/ Rhythm! stories to come! This is just a little overview.

I almost didn’t apply for the Percussive Arts Society internship because the announcement was asking for a percussionist. But, at the time I was getting desperate to find any internship or job opportunity that I could find, and I took a chance and applied anyway. I never expected a call back, yet they called.

The first person I talked to was Otice, the museum curator. He was incredibly nice and told me that he was impressed by my cover letter and how I had said, “I know you are looking for a percussionist, I’m not one, but this is what I can do for you.” He shared with me that he was also not a percussionist, and gave me a few tips for the interview. The interview was going to be a conference call between me, Otice, Michael the executive director, and Jeff the Director of Events and Marketing.


The interview went great. They asked really good questions, that I actually had answers to! There was laughter, and conversation. I was nervous because I never experienced a conference call interview with that many people, but it went great and I felt really good about it.  A few days later they offered me the job, telling me that if I accepted I would be only the 3rd female to intern with PAS, and the 1st non percussionist.

I was also interviewing with the Grammys at the time for an internship, but I was really excited about the opportunity at PAS, felt great about the people I talked with in the interview, and I went for it.

So I went to Indianapolis in search for an apartment a week or two before I was suppose to start. A cousin of mine recently moved to Indianapolis to start a new probation officer job, and she was excited about helping me to find a new apartment. I did a lot of looking on craigslist, and setting up some appointments with apartments that were priced in the range that I wanted to spend. When I got there, all of these apartments I had set up appointments to look at were in bad areas, and were absolutely disgusting. I was upset; I didn’t want to look at apartments anymore. After the 6th place, I was just done with the whole ordeal.  My cousin took me to Lakeshore, which was a complex that was further away from work than I really wanted. But it was nice, a very nice and clean complex in a safe area. It was also about $160 more a month then I had planned on paying, not even counting electric. But I took it, because I was just done looking.

This would be what I like to refer to as mistake number one. Set a budget, an actual budget and stick to it. I learned this the hard way. I should have kept on looking, despite how upset I was and found an apartment in my original budget. There are plenty complexes out there, I only looked at about 7 different places. Unfortunately the first few of Craigslist were so bad that they got me really upset. I should have taken a break, and given myself more time. But instead I took the more expensive apartment. I liked it, yes, but it was too expensive. And therefore I struggled with paying ALL the bills all 6 months.

So what I learned: budget budget budget. The rent is a huge part of your budget, so make sure that you get a lease that is actually something you can honestly afford, and still have money for electric, gas for your car, groceries, internet if you want it, and all of the other misc. expenses you may have.  I’m just thankful that I figured this out when I was only locked into a 6 month lease.

So now I had an apartment, I packed up my things and my Dad, Uncle and brother helped me to move in over 4th of July weekend. They moved my stuff, they left, and I was alone in my new apartment. I started at PAS two days later.

The PAS staff was much different than I ever imagined they would be. It’s a music organization, a drumming organization at that, I thought it would be loud and very social. But in reality, most of the people who work at PAS are very reserved during the work day. The first day  I arrived about 10 minutes early, and there was only one person there already, Jim the Membership Manager. I walked in a he just looked at me. So I introduced myself and said I was the new intern. He said he assumed that, and showed me my desk, and then walked away. It was a very odd reception. But later I found out, this was just Jim’s personality, and it ended up growing on me.

That was pretty much how my first day went though, very odd. I sat at my desk that day and just read through the “Intern bible,” to try to figure out what they wanted me to do. I was coming from this internship after an internship with Yamaha, where on the first day we had a session with Human Resources giving us background history on the company, going over company policies, etc. Then on top of that, I had a direct supervisor who gave me projects to do.

The PAS internship was completely different. I was literally on my own from the day I arrived. I did not have a direct supervisor to ask questions to. There were certain processes that I was in charge of, such as the review submissions process, that the intern was just suppose to do, and nobody else in the office touched it. They had told me in the interview that with 2 of the main people giving me projects being off site employees I would have to be the kind of person who was self motivated and able to just do projects on my own. I was ready for that, but it was so much more than that.

I really did get very lucky to be picked to be an intern at PAS when I did. During my time I got to see the transformation of an empty construction area to an amazing, up and running Discovery Center. On my first day when I walked through that space and the marketing director told me that the museum had to be done by PASIC (5 months!) I did not believe that it could be done.  But it happened, an unbelievable transformation in 5 months. I have so much love for this Discovery Center… because of it’s purpose, to reach out to non percussionists, to non musicians and teach them about rhythm, drumming and percussion, and show them, just some of the types of instruments involved. I know I was amazed at how complex the percussion world really is, and watching people come through, especially children, and learning about all the different hand percussion instruments, Latin instruments, African instruments, it’s just amazing. On top of that, I was so involved in this whole opening, from building shelving units, to placing instruments the night before our grand opening, I feel that it’s a part of me, and will always be. That feeling alone makes this whole internship experience at PAS worth it.

On top of that, I got to coordinate the recruiting process of volunteers for PASIC. This was the FIRST time that PAS had ever used outside (non percussionist) volunteers, and Michael and the executive committee were very hesitant about it. We recruited volunteers to help run registration, help at our 2 gift shops, and help with badge checking at session doors. This was also the first year the registration was done in house, and there were hesitations and worry about wait time for attendees to pick up badges. All throughout the convention we did not hear one complaint about the amount of time that someone stood in line at registration, and that was absolutely because of the excellent volunteers we had. I am extremely proud of the volunteer program and was implemented this year.  Every single volunteer told me that they had an excellent time, and can’t wait to come back and do it again next year. I feel strongly that apart of this was the amount and quality of communication given to them before the event. I was prompt with all phone call and email replies. I was accommodating to their schedules. So many programs make it a chore to volunteer and make you feel like they are doing you a favor to let you volunteer. I tried the exact opposite approach. Every communication was friendly and expressed to them how genuinely appreciative we were for their help, that we couldn’t do it without them. If they had to come in an hour later than I would have liked, that was okay, I never made anyone feel bad about it. Our staff was friendly throughout the convention, and made the volunteers feel that they were a part of our team. Our show office was open to all of them to store food, and come and take breaks and just hang out. The volunteers enjoyed themselves so much, that several worked all day (7am-5pm) and all week.

We invited the volunteers to come to Rhythm! Tuesday night for a volunteer recognition reception. We invited them to come and bring a guest along to check out the center, and gave them some appetizers and beer and wine. The amount of volunteers that came out for this was incredible, and their reactions to our simple reception were just flat out appreciation, for us to thank them like that. But they really were an invaluable part of PASIC 2009. There is no way that the conference could have happened without that many hands on site to help with processing on site registrations, and to run onsite badge pickup. Michael has said over and over again, how wonderful all of the volunteers were, and how smoothly everything ran. I developed the recruiting materials, I managed volunteer registration and scheduling, I planned and ran volunteer orientation. We had a volunteer coordinator on site, strictly dedicate to just that group of volunteers to be able to help them with any concerns, and I trained him and gave him materials and schedules to be able to do this. All of these things added to their experience, and helped to make the volunteer program successful. Many of my staff members thought that we were using the volunteer coordinator on site to recruit the volunteers, and that he brought them to us. Some might see this as “hey, no get it right, I did this work.” I see that as a huge compliment to my work.  My coworkers found it hard to believe, that on top of all of my other tasks, I was able to recruit that many excellent volunteers, and also to have someone on site to be their contact. But I delegated that essential step in the process for a reason. I knew I would be to busy to give them the attention I wanted them to have on site.

In addition to all of these “extra” jobs, and that’s exactly what those were, side projects. My main task was to be the artist contact. I managed their contracts, A/V requests, instrument logistics information, sponsor information for programs, Photos/Bios for programs, and pretty much any and all communication with the artists. As PASIC got closer and closer it became a task in itself to just keep up with the emails and all of the small changes in bios, and changes of where instruments were coming from, change of performer names, and then requests for additional badges. This helped me to learn how to be super organized in my email inbox, utilizing folders and tags to be able to go back to a certain email for reference. I learned how to communicate with so many different personalities. I learned their personalities, and who liked to be asked about projects they were working on because they liked to talk about themselves, or who was all business and wanted quick and prompt replies. I think dealing with the artists was my favorite part of the internship, because I found that I really do love working with all of the different creative types I found, and I have knack for being able to handle whatever personality came my way. I knew I did a good job with this part of my internship because at PASIC artists sought me out to thank me for my attention to details to help THEIR session run well. After PASIC I received many emails from artists, just thanking me. I received phone calls, and even 1 hand written card telling me thank you for all my work and how great their sessions ran because I paid such close attention to the details beforehand.

This is amazing to me, because onsite, I didn’t do much in the production aspect, and they didn’t see me at their sessions. But they knew that what I did was a very important part to their success. That without the work I did beforehand, the collecting of the information, the organizing of the details and then the distribution to the logistics workers who move the instruments, and to the A/V company who runs video and sound, that it wouldn’t have gone as smoothly. They said to me over and over, “everyone knew what I wanted before I got there. The instruments were ready, we had exactly enough mics and equipment, this never happens.”

And in that, I learned my favorite new statement to make

“I feel strongly that paying attention to the details can save a lot of time, money and headaches whether you are planning an event, tracking inventory, or managing a database.”

These are just the highlights of what I enjoyed, and learned from my internship at Percussive Arts Society. In addition to these things, I have becoming an expert at PAS’s new database. I can troubleshoot member phone calls with log-in issues in less than 5 minutes usually. I manage review materials that are submitted to be reviewed in Percussive Notes, which is a bimonthly publication. I helped to create the layout of our gift shop in Rhythm! and I am currently managing inventory and am working to get our gift shop online. I also have a large part in the museum collection management.

It has been an absolutely amazing experience for me. I have learned a lot, made a lot of valuable connections, and just had a really good time. I am going to be very sad to leave. I hate goodbyes. I hated leaving Yamaha. But I soon moved on and went back to school and got very involved in several events there. I hated the end of Backstage Pass, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to plan it again. But I got over it, and found something else to occupy my time. Then I found PAS. It’s such a small organization. They need people who are in it to work as hard as possible and do it because they love it and what the organization stands for. I hope that as PAS grows and with the opening of Rhythm! that PAS fills their office with people who love what they do, and believe in the mission of the organization.