Author: TechCommGeekMom

I’m glad Sarah posted and helped to define these "WINOs". I have worked with a LOT of these kinds of people myself, so it’s interesting to see that I’m not the only one who has experienced this!

Try not to be a tech comm WINO. We might have to send you to tech comm AA.

–techcommgeekmom

I think this raises an important question for all internships similar to this, not just social media internships.

When I was a senior in undergraduate school, I did an internship with one of the local network TV stations in Washington, DC. While I did do some research, and I learned how to write a PSA (public service announcement), most of the time I was doing unpaid clerical work. It was especially tough for me because here I was, paying tuition so I could get the credits to do this internship, I had to interview and compete with dozens and dozens of other applicants to get into that spot, and since I didn’t have a car, I had to take public transportation fifty miles away –and back–three times a week to get from Fredericksburg, VA to Washington DC, which cost me even more money out of my pocket. I had to pay for my own meals too, of which I would lose about six meals a week from my school cafeteria plan.

I wasn’t paid a dime, and there was a point where I literally spent a month doing nothing but stuffing envelopes. It wasn’t until the producer of the show I was working on saw that I had been doing this for so long, and I finally said, “I’m getting sick of just always stuffing envelopes all the time,” that she finally let me go on shoots and stuff. I wanted to work in television, and obviously, I couldn’t break in, even as an intern researcher or anything like that afterwards.  If I had at least been compensated a little bit so that at least my travel was compensated, that would’ve been helpful. I worked as hard there as I did doing the same thing–clerical work–for actual money during my summers.

I understand it’s a trade-off–getting college credit for doing a regular job, and it’s like having an apprenticeship. I totally get that. But especially in this day and age, when interns DO have to take up the slack of full-time workers who have been laid off and such, a little bit of compensation of some sort should be in order. That’s just my opinion based on my own experiences.

What do you think?

–techcommgeekmom

The fantastic Content Wrangler, Scott Abel, has written an excellent article regarding the need to start looking at content strategy as an actual career, in and of itself. I’d like to think that I’m a budding content strategist myself. I’m sure many of us who have become content strategists never thought, "When I grow up, I want to be a content strategist!" But perhaps future generations will…. From Scott’s description, we have to be many things to many people, and I can say from my own personal experiences, I’ve often said that I was a jack of all trades, and the master of none. But perhaps in being a multi-specialist of sorts, this is what makes a stronger candidate as a content strategist. Read this article–now!

–techcommgeekmom

I love this article! I agree that I am not a tool either, nor do I want to be judged by the tools I do or don’t know. I want to be judged on the abilities I have to adapt to a variety of tools instead to employ common sense and good judgment for my content. Thank you, Liz Herman, for writing this!

–techcommgeekmom