Sunday, January 28, 2007

Media Event Links

I have included three websites that explain the Careerbuilder.com and Disney campaign that was launched last Thursday. This is the even that I attended and will star in the commercial in the future. It is interesting to see how the media portrayed the event from how I experienced it. For example, the media portrays the event to have run smoothly and taking place for a short span of time. In reality, we had to be there for seven hours and had to do the commercial three times. Also, the presidents had to say their pre-written speeches numerous times and there were a couple dress rehearsals to launch the media event. It is very interesting to acutally experience the media event and then see people's interpretations.

http://www.careerbuilder.com/disneydreamjobs/home.asp

http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070127/BUSINESS/701270328/1003

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orl-weiss26_107jan26,0,7173146.story?coll=orl-news-headlines

Thursday, January 25, 2007

First Day of Work

Monday January 22 was my first day of work. I found out that Cast Members that work for Walt Disney World deserve a lot more credit than what they receive. Today I was stationed to work at the Backlot Carts in Disney's MGM Studios. Everyday Merchantainment Cast Members receive different assignments as to what location they will be stationed at. My first assignment was to refill the water and ice on two of the park's carts. After a lot of trial and error I found out what to do and where to refill the carts. The rest of the day I was stationed at different store and carts throughout the park. I worked from 11:30 to 8:00 and I was taught closing procedures for the Star Tours ride.

Thursday January 25 I made my claim to fame on Good Morning America. Cast Members had the oppurtunity to volunteer in a press release in the Magic Kingdom. Media from all over the country were present to witness the deal signed by Al Weiss,, president of Walt Disney World Resorts and the president of Careerbuilder.com signed a campaign to advertise Disney on careerbuilder.com. We were able to be seen on Good Morning America. All 500 Cast Memebers that participated held up a card and then flipped it over to make images that could be seen from the aerial cameras. The images will be used for advertisements and commercials for careerbuilder.com. It was really interesting to be on the other side of the media. I am used to being the media and being the one that is trying to get every detail for the public to see and know. It was an awesome experience to be a part of the press release and I thought it was awesome to be on television despite the face that people might need a magnified glass to see me with. It was pouring rain all morning, but I still had an awesome time and learned a lot from the other perspective of the media.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Training

This has been a much busier week than I thought it would be. This week we've been training everyday. On Wednesday, I had the class Disney calls Traditions. The instructors went over the traditions, missions statement, and ways that Disney does things. The class wound up being a lot more interesting than I thought it would be. I learned a lot of things I didn't know before such as the timeline of the Disney company and many personal stories Cast Members told us about how they "spread the magic."

Yesterday and today my schedule has been focused on my specific job; Merchandising. I attended Merchantainment, Disney's class on how to sell their products. Half of the class was taught orally and the other half was taught through an E-presentation. They covered the basics such as making eye contact and always thanking the guest. The class online also taught us how to tell if a dollar bill is counterfeit or not. I thought that was really interesting because I never knew how to do that. I found out that I am working in Disney's MGM Studios doing outdoor merchandising.

Today myself and another seven students had to tour Disney's MGM Studios to learn every aspect of the park. It was extremely interesting to see the backstage areas of the park that I didn't even know existed. They wanted us to be as knowledgable as possible about the park so we could inform guests on whatever information they needed. I also received my costume today, which according to Cast Members is like the "day of truth." I have to wear a blue shirt,black pants, a bow tie, and a white hat. It's pretty fashionable. I wouldn't wear it out, but it's all part of the experience. Tomorrow is my first day of actual training on the job in costume.

I think the most interesting and my favorite part has been meeting people from all over the world. I've met people from not only different states but different countries. It's really interesting to hear their stories and see why and how they heard about the Disney Internship Program. I want to make the most out of this experience and in order to do that, I'm going to network as much as possible.

Monday, January 15, 2007

First Day Of Internship

Today I felt like I started college all over again. I had the anxious butterflies in my stomach while walking up to the check-in counter for the Disney World Internship Program. I was about to embark on a new journey in a new state, starting a whole new life, and best of all starting a whole new experience.
My tension was eased when I met three girls from Lousiana right away. As we started the two hour check-in process I met people from all over the world including Massachusetts, Lousiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Korea, Puerto Rico, and Michigan. I think that was the best part so far; meeting people from places I've never visited before myself.
I also got my roommate assignments today. My five roommates are from Illinois, New York, Puerto Rico, Korea, and Wisconsin. One of them is a broadcast journalism major as well. We talked about future employers that we could write for in the future because of this internship such as ESPN which is owned by Disney.
I'm extremely excited to start the internship and start this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Tomorrow is the day of truth when I find out my exact location of where I will be working for the next four months. I'll keep in touch!