After my first week here at BK Media, the motto "work hard, play hard" seemed to be a reoccurring theme throughout the office. A senior at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a newbie to the "real working world," this motto couldn't have been more refreshing to me. I was worried that my first internship would be similar to the role that Anne Hathaway played to Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada. If you have never seen the movie, Hathaway's character is stretched paper thin when she works for Streep, a fashion industry icon and editor of "Runway" magazine. Hathaway is asked to perform outrageous tasks, such as to retrieve the unpublished Harry Potter manuscript for Streep's twin daughters and to deliver Streep her steak lunch from New York's famous Smith and Wollensky Steakhouse. Hathaway is at Streep's beck and call and eventually, work becomes all that concerns her. I didn't want to be a Hathaway, but I also didn't want to be an intern with nothing to do but twiddle my thumbs at my desk. Therefore, after spending just a week with BK Media, I was relieved to learn that while everyone works extremely hard here, they still are able to make time to relax or "play." Unlike Hathaway and Streep who were consumed by their work, BK Media plays as hard as they work.
The motto "work hard, play hard" took on a literal meaning on Friday night when Brad and Josh's band, Latch, played at the Waterloo in Louisville. After having just spent my first week in the office with everyone, learning the ropes, it was great to see my boss and co-worker playing just as hard as they work during the week. The music was great and the Waterloo was a fun atmosphere. Around 10:30 PM, Jackie and her friends showed up to the Waterloo on a party bus. Jackie must have worked really hard this week, because she was "playing" really, really hard. I was impressed with her dance moves and vocals when she managed to get a hold of the mic. Rich and Nick were also there and it was nice to get to know my co-workers outside of the office.
Since I am responsible for the social media end of things at BK, the idea of "play as hard as you work," also helped me to realize the rising importance of social media. Not every company is cool enough to have their own band, but watching Latch perform at the Waterloo made me understand that networking and social media are critical to the success of any company. As a smaller company, BK Media has extremely close relationships with all of their clients. This is another aspect of BK Media that I really enjoy. In addition to the size of BK Media, the generally smaller size of BK's clients, allows for BK to get to know their clients on a personal level. However, not all companies are fortunate enough to have this advantage. This is where social media comes into play. The large size of some companies does not allow for these close relationships and therefore, through the use of social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, or MySpace, clients are able feel more connected to their businesses on a personal level.The popularity of Twitter, in particular, has sky rocketed due to the fact people are able to follow their favorite celebrites. Celebrities are able to Tweet about anything, from what they are doing at the moment to their favorite new products. People that follow these celebrities on Twitter therefore feel like they are more closely connected with them. For example, I know that right now, @KhloeKardashian feels like she is getting sick or that @Snoopdogg has just released his new CD. Using this idea, companies have begun to understand the importance of social media and now frequently use it to gain awareness from the public.
To conclude, "work as hard as you play" has meant much to me this past week at work. It is a relief to see that you can be successful at work without losing your social life completely. I also realized mid "40 Ounces to Freedom" at the Waterloo, that it's about the relationships you have. The success of a company is dependent on its communication and its social networking. Thank you BK Media, for a great first week and for showing me that all is not lost when you graduate from college.
