PHOEBE GILMORE

INTERNSHIP LOGPITTSBURGH
MAGAZINE
FALL SEMESTER, 2016

GETTING MY INTERNSHIP
In March of 2016, I submitted my resume, cover letter, and samples of my
work to Pittsburgh Magazine, hoping to be chosen for a summer internship.
Unfortunately, I did not get the position. The editor told me that most of the
summer interns went to school far away, so the only time they could intern
was during the summer. She informed me that I was the magazines top
pick for a fall intern, so I interviewed there in August. The editor offered
me a position two weeks later.
WEEK 1 AT MY INTERNSHIP
I work at Pittsburgh Magazine 10 hours a weekWednesday from 9 to 4
and Friday from 12 to 3. I started working there on Wednesday, September
7 and immediately jumped into writing for the magazines daily blog, the
412. I wrote about Over the Edge Pittsburgh, an event where people rappel
off of a building in downtown Pittsburgh to raise money for charity. In this
blog post, I incorporated a new skill I learned on my first dayembedding a
video. The visual editor Rich taught me how to do this, and I decided that
my first blog post served as the perfect place to test out my new skill. The
video showed the same event from the previous year, allowing readers to
get a taste of what it looked like. This new skill taught me how to visualize
my posts and make them more exciting to our subscribers.
On Friday of my first week, I helped with an annual event for the magazine
called the Ultimate House. This year, the magazine took a unit in an old
warehouse and transformed it into a luxury apartment. In total, the house
is 11 units, but the magazine only redesigns one unit. The event includes
tours of Pittsburgh Magazines unit in the house, which will sell for 3.4
million dollars. All proceeds for the event go towards Childrens Hospital of
Pittsburgh.
For the event, I scanned tickets for peoples tours of the house. Though this
task may seem mundane, it actually taught me a lot about how to smoothly
run such a large event. Everything was very organized, from the
registration to the complimentary gift bags for the guests. I learned that
organization is key in putting on such an event and that communication
between team members keeps the event going in the right direction.
Though this was only my first week at my internship, I could already tell
that Pittsburgh Magazine is a well-run, highly professional organization.

Everyone at the office helps me out and gives me tips about everything from
editorial tone to how to properly address the guests at one of our events. I
anticipate learning much more from my time at Pittsburgh Magazine and
am eager to continue working in such a positive, productive environment.
WEEK 1 OF CLASS
The first week of class consisted of mainly introductory activities, but I
started my reading for the next week during the first week of my internship.
The two assigned chapters were titled Organizational Skills for Interns
and Communication Skills for Interns. These readings
matched closely with my experience at the first week of my internship. The
first chapter, Organizational Skills for Interns, helped me a lot in being
proactive in asking for more work when I finish my previous assignment. I
tend to read and write pretty quickly, so I often need to reach out to my
supervisor and ask for more to do. He told me that he really appreciates
when I do this, and it makes me feel like I am contributing as much as
possible in my time at my internship.
The second chapter, Communication Skills for Interns, assisted me in how
to approach my superiors about reading and revising my writing. I read a
lot of Pittsburgh Magazine before I started my internship there, but I
worried that my tone was incorrect for the magazine. Now, I comfortably
talk to my superiors and get constructive feedback. Both of these readings
proved to be extremely relevant to my current questions at my internship
and have definitely enhanced my experience at Pittsburgh Magazine so far.
WEEK 8 AT MY INTERNSHIP
On Wednesday, October 26, I compiled a piece about Pamelas Diner for the
magazines Break It Down section. This segment combines graphs,
pictures, and short paragraphs to explain different areas of Pittsburgh life.
For example, I learned that Pamelas Oakland uses 6,000 eggs per week and
make 3,600 pancakes per week, on average. This section allows me to
integrate writing and design to offer readers a new twist on a Pittsburgh
classic. I use statistics to engage readers, and pictures of Pamelas
hotcakes give visual appeal.
On Friday, October 28, I wrote a piece for the magazines daily blog, The
412. My piece covered the Pooch Parade, a family-friendly Halloween pet
parade benefitting the Myasthenia Gravis Association of Western
Pennsylvania. The visual editor Rich entrusted me with finding the image

for the post, my first time doing so. I learned about creative commons, a
database of pictures to use without any copyright issues. Learning this skill
proved important because pictures have to be within fair use laws.
ONE WEEK OF CLASS AND READINGS
In class this week, we wrapped up our discussion of the job search. Since
there were no readings for class, I chose to read ahead about web
portfolios. This reading resonated with what I learned at my internship this
week with adding graphic elements to my writing, commonly called visual
rhetoric. When something is visually appealing, more people are
compelled to read it. It seems simple, but incorporating pictures and other
aesthetic elements into my work even makes me want to read it more.
Another part of this reading I found interesting was the use of color. I tend
to be drawn to bright, vivid colors, but I learned that using them all over
your web portfolio can be a negative thing. As the reading says, If a web
page uses too many bright or vivid colors, readers might see it as loud,
immature, or uncultured. Conversely, readers typically see muted or pastel
colors as calm, sophisticated, and professional, but if the colors are too
muted, readers might think the pages are boring (Kimball 36). For me, this
section outlined how the web portfolio emphasizes a balance between
personality and professionalism.
EVALUATION OF MY INTERNSHIP AND WHAT I LEARNED
Pittsburgh Magazine offers a great internship for self-motivated, driven
students. The workload can be intense. However, this experience prepares
students for the workforce where information is not spoon-fed to you.
Proactivity and thinking ahead serve as essential factors for a successful
internship. An internship at Pittsburgh Magazine varies widely from day to
day, from magazine shoots to blog posts to events. This aspect of the
internship keeps you on your toes and always ready to take on the next
challenge.
So far, this internship has taught me about working independently. My
editor Sean often gives me assignments with little to no direction, which
allows me creative space. While this intimidated me at first, it has actually
allowed me to grow more confident in my writing, interviewing, and editing
skills. I have also learned new skills, like embedding videos, creating online
calendar events, and making my work visually appealing. My internship at

Pittsburgh Magazine proves challenging time and time again, but I would
not trade my experiences for the world.