I remember that the first thing I wanted to talk about was definitely the informal "meetings" we have sometimes. I will just be sitting here in my cubicle, and suddenly both Matt and Dusty are behind me. While I continue sitting, they both lean over and discuss a document that Dusty wants to talk about - the Locus markups, in this particular example, and we discuss the fact that somehow some of my edits did not make it to the copy that made it to his desk - and also that some of the edits I did make (and I have proof of them being saved and sent to the correct person) never made it to where they should have (there was a "fiscal year" report of sorts, where all the WVUBI tenants had their products displayed...I don't know...this is a perfect example of how you don't have to be absolutely sure what it is you are dealing with, to deal with it..but anyway, all the numbers were with the wrong companies as if the formatting had been messed up at some point. I went back and corrected everything, put it all in the right place, and sent it to the graphic design intern...and it was not fixed. I have the email I sent to her saved in my Sent box as well as the correct document saved in my files.) I think it's important to note here that you should always keep your work for future reference. I mean, not only did I need to keep everything for the end of the term web portfolio / presentation, but it's good to have stuff on hand in case a question comes up as to who's fault something is.
But I may have gotten a little off topic. I wanted to comment on how interesting I found it that Dusty came to me for a meeting, not the other way around. In a more formal setting, I'm sure the boss would want all meetings with him..maybe. Or maybe he just likes to walk around and get out of his office for a while. This is not a negative comment-but Dusty does tend to jump from one idea to the next fairly quickly, so it would make sense that he just walks here to talk about something that is on his mind. It was all very informal - not a formal meeting. I just thought it was interesting. I could have been asked to go to Matt's cubicle as well. Anyway...enough about that.
So last week, Matt and I had our field trip. I was so excited at the prospect of doing something outside the cubicle, and it did turn out to be very, very cool. My interviewing skills are obviously not what they "should" be (or perhaps they are, considering I am not a journalism major...) but I did get enough information to actually write the piece, so I consider that to be alright.
Going back to two paragraphs up, I kind of wish there weren't informal meetings here. They kind of take me by surprise, I am not expecting them, and therefore cannot prepare for what I need to be familiar with or remember...we hadn't spoken about Locus in a good three to four weeks prior to this meeting, so I had to be a little rusty when I spoke of what I knew - which is not professional.
Well, until next week...
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It may be good you have these "suprise meetings," as they could be preparing you for the "real world." They help you to think on your toes and when you are working in a editor writer relationship its important to be able to communicate whenever your boss or author needs too. I would just try to be articulate when you talk and watch the ums and likes but its not an interview so they are not judging you on what you say as much as you may think ?
ReplyDeleteThat has to be frustrating, working your tail off on a project and finding out that the person that was supposed to utilize it didn't. It's a good thing that you kept all of your work for referencing. I wouldn't have thought of this situation happening, but it obviously does. It seems like the communication within the WVUBI needs to be evaluated and reestablished. It is unfortunate that your hard work isn't being recognized. I hope it gets better for you, and good luck.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested in the problems that seem to arise in the time/space between your sending a document with edits and the graphic design interns production of a text that doesn't include them. Put on your critical thinking / problem-solving hat for a moment. Where / why might the problems be arising? What could be alternative strategies for making sure that a document gets passed from your hands to the graphic designers' hands in a way that ensures the edits get put into production? Could you work more closely with the graphic designer, for example, as he or she produces a document?
ReplyDeleteI like what you said about saving all your work that you create so as to have it as reference for any problems that should arise, as in your case with the sent documents not really sending. I do the exact same thing on my e-mail. For example, I will save many e-mails instead of just flippantly deleting them because often times I can go back to find a document I sent that I needed to take another look at or find an e-mail address.
ReplyDeleteOne downside is that I can't keep up with all my e-mails, especially this semester as my 201 class is like E-mail Mania. We e-mail everything and then some. However, it is better to be able to find something when you want it, then not being able to find it at all!
congrats on being done on your internship by the way.