I work from home

I am sure no one knew but I work from home and out of state. I live and work from Washington. I  work at home all day and I love it. It is great I get to lay in bed or on the porch or be at the park and work instead of being in the office. Also I love picking my hours and and being able to just get up and get anything I want in my house, but the biggest advantage of working from home is being able to spend the day with my  adorable Yorkie. Sometimes I do wish that I could work in the office though. It would be fun to meet everyone and interact with them. They all seem so great and I know they have fun while working. I love my job. I love learning about new things and especially about social media and viral marketing because that was fairly new to me. It is the fastest growing way to market and I love being a part of it. I work very hard and take pride in my job.

Something Foreign

Twitter. Tweet Scan. Tweets. Twit. Before I started working here at Cobalt, if someone were to say these terms to me, I would think, "Okay, you're really sweet, but maybe you need a little bit of help... those words are definitely NOWHERE near social media lingo, or even the English language." Unless you’re talking about a bird singing and tweeting, or a person who’s bothering you being a little twit, then I have no idea. Then "the anal one", along with some others, tried explaining these terms to us. I trusted they knew what they were talking about and were most likely not supposed to be locked up in an institution somewhere, but I still had absolutely no idea what they were trying to communicate. However, instead of sitting in the dark and just nodding my head, pretending like I knew what they were saying, I did a little but of research myself. Turns out, these silly words actually do mean something that makes sense. Twitter.com is a social networking site where you follow and get followed by other people or profiles. Essentially, all you do is answer the question, "What are you doing?" in 140 characters or less. To me that seemed almost too simple, and well, pointless. So I figured the best way to really get to the bottom of my confusion was to not only investigate it, but to start using this foreign site. This is what happened when I started using Twitter: first I was sad because no one was following me so I felt like I had no friends :( That’s not a fun feeling. Then once I had some followers and I started following others, it was a little bit more fun. It still seemed pointless though and I wasn't sure I was doing it right (if there is a right or wrong way to do something like Twitter).
Then I made myself a profile for GoodTube and that's when it all finally clicked. The ADD one calmed down long enough to walk me through the other foreign term called TweetScan. This is a separate website where you can search terms that other people are tweeting about. Yes I did just use “tweeting” like I understand what it means. For example, I search “humanitarian”, and anyone who has used that word in their tweeting will show up... how cool! Now I can follow others involved in my work and they will possibly go to my website. It was at this point that that little, dull light bulb in my head was really illuminated to its fullest and I finally got it. Not only did I understand the point of Twitter, but I was able to see measurable results when people saw my tweets and actually came to goodtube.org.
Twitter itself as a website has actually grown substantially since its launch in October of 2006. With hundreds more members growing the site every day, it seems others are catching onto this new phenomenon and understanding the benefits of such a seemingly simple and pointless website as well. Now that I have stepped out of the dark, I have not only started using twitter, but have started using it to my advantage. I understand and actually appreciate terms such as tweet, twit, and twitter as more than just insults and descriptions of animal noises.

The Lucky One

So, we have a few new people in our office. One of them, which shall remain unnamed, is going to be henceforth called the Lucky One. This Lucky One better know why he is lucky too. It couldn't get much better than he has it.
Anyway, this Lucky One intrigues me. He came in his first day and was quite knowledgeable, he had a lot of good ideas about things and was super nice. The next day I saw the real side of the Lucky One come out. At heart he's a total gangsta (yes, spelled just like that). When you look at him you'd think he's just a normal, cool guy. But, no! He thinks he's somebody's home slice. In fact, he thinks he's all of our home slices! From my point of view, I say good for him. Who can't use more cultural diversity in their lives? (Even if it is just in his speech)
Overall, I still think he's an awesome guy and is very smart when it comes to all of this good social media stuff. He knows what he's talking about! I like his lingo, it keeps me on my toes because half of the time I have to think for a while before I know what he's really saying. It keeps things interesting, and quite entertaining! One thing that surprised me though, was that after he started talking all gangsta like, he told us that he had a little girl, and another on the way. So cute! But, he even talks about his little girl in gangsta mode. It's awesome, or in his words, sweet ace!
Welcome to the office Lucky One!
~Intern 1

Vacation!

So every summer I go down south to Florida to visit family. This summer I am going as usual but the difference between this summer and every other summer is that I have a good overwhelming job. Now the dilemma I have is that there is going to be no bloody internet where I am staying so what should I do? Options? Wake up every morning at 6 and go to a coffee shop for 5 hours until 11 because I HAVE to be at the beach by 12 (best sun duh). But that sounds like torture because those are definitely not vacation waking hours and i would have to borrow the queen bees account. Or I could split it up go  work 3 hours in the morning and then finish my hours at night. But who the freak wants to go to a coffee shop for 5 hours a day? NOT ME. I could spend a fortune and buy a wireless card and have to pay lie 80 a month. Not over my dead body. Hmm what else could I do? any suggestions? I GOT IT! Plain and simple....I will "borrow" the neighbors internet while I work. ha. I will just walk around until I get internet even if I have to sit on the roof and fry in the sun, or sit in the driveway and fry that sounds like a fabulous idea! So much better then a stale, dark jazz filled coffee shop. lol.  I am sure after a week of hot humid Florida sun I will want to be in that coffee shop but for right now there is no way!!! 

Surprise.... You're gonna love this... ?

So, have you ever wanted to tell something to someone but were too scared? This is not one of those times. But, have you ever had to tell someone something, but didn't know what to say or how to say it? This is not one of those times either. I just haven't had time to sit down with any of "the others" and let them know what's going on in my life. So I figure, what better way to tell them than to blog about it so they all know at the same time, as well as the rest of the world, right?

Well last summer my cousin dated this guy, and just like all her other "flings" I became really good friends with him. When they started getting more "serious" (keep in mind her definition of serious is dating 5 or 6 guys at a time- kissing all of them) I never really hung out with them. Well I saw him a little bit ago and he got my number. We hung out and actually started dating. I really liked him but I didn't know what to do because not only is this girl my cousin- she is one of my best friends. Although my cousin was "seriously dating" like 5 guys and hadn't talked to this particular guy for over 5 months. I was trying to work up the nerve to talk to her about it to see if it would bug her if I dated him but when I mentioned his name she snapped back into "her mode" and said she wanted to call him and hang out with him again. CRAP!!!! What on earth was I going to tell her...? I finally made the decision to avoid it at all cost and stop seeing this guy. It was hard but I wasn't going to let a silly guy brake up my friendship. So whatev. Everything worked out... Hahaha Sike! Oh my gosh... That wasn't even what I wanted to say. (But hopefully I got your mind off of the real reason I'm writing this blog so it makes everything not seem as bad....) Here goes nothin'... 

I have only been working here for what, two weeks? And I don't think I have followed a set schedule once... like I said before I didn't know I was working here until the day before so I had previous engagements that I had to keep. They have been more than willing to be flexible, and force me to come in Fridays instead, but now comes the part that I'm not scared about because I know exactly what to say... It's not complicated at all so I'm sure there won't be ANY questions. 

Its actually a funny story- considering the one who negotiated the deal was the one who got me into all this. Supposedly, as of last week I am only working 20 hours a week, instead of the usual 40. But for some strange reason I keep coming ALL day, everyday. I have only come to two conclusions as to why. 1) I must REALLY like it here, and 2) I am so intimidated/ embarrassed to say anything that I keep my mouth shut and do what was initially expected of me. I pick the first one.

Well, I feel so much better now that I got that off my chest. See you tomorrow! :)

-Intern 2

Technology

Technology is one of those things we all love to hate. We looove it when it works perfect, fast, and does everything we want it to. But when technology fails us, we are left in the dust and do not know what to do with ourselves. A problem we are experiencing in the office today is that our trusty, extremely necessary email server is down. How can we get our work done without it? We are literally at a loss of what to do. The obvious is to try and get it up and running again, but unfortunately, our office is full of marketing and business majors who still know everything there is to know about the internet, but who aren't necessarily "computer techies." I am now biding my time writing blogs and browsing the net while waiting for email to start working again. While waiting, I started cursing the internet and its occasionally faulty ways. But then the more I thought about it, and thought about living in a world without the magic of high-speed wireless internet, I realized I couldn't imagine actually not having it. To not be able to send a quick email to a co-worker or family member, or to not be able to check the score of the US Open in approximately 2.5 seconds, after becoming so accustomed to these luxuries over really only the last few years, seems almost impossible. We have become so dependent on the luxurious internet, available everywhere, even in remote villages of Africa, that without it our world seems to stop and we are lost. So, hopefully, this email technology glitch will pass soon, and I will be able to get back to work, seeing as I literally have almost nothing to do without this source of mail that I (and the world) have grown so dependent on.
~ Intern 3

Peanut

So, for my first day experience, it was rather. . . interesting. I guess it wasn't even my first day of work, it was my job interview. I came in a few minutes before my appointment and opened the door to silence. I was a little worried that I was in the wrong place, but then a little dog came running down the hall toward me. I was more than a little surprised to see this in such a formal office setting. From the depths of the office I hear someone call out "Peanut, come back here!" I just kind of laughed because the dog didn't even think twice about being told to come back. As I had my interview and met everyone I was formally introduced to the dog of the queen bee, who was lovingly called Peanut. Come to find out, that wasn't it's name at all. It's real name is Max, but ADD and the bossy one didn't know that so they made one up hoping that it would respond. As it turns out the Queen Bee has a pretty smart little dog, it knows that it's name is not Peanut. After that I've seen Max a couple of times, but we still call him Peanut. I personally think that it fits him a little better, but don't tell the Queen Bee I said that!
~Intern 1

Friday the 13th!

It's Friday June 13th, and as Intern 2 and I sit here in our black and gray outfits, I wonder to myself, is this just a coincidence, or was there some small voice in the back of our heads subconsciously telling us to wear black. Is wearing black on Friday the 13th good luck? Or am I doomed to have some streak of bad luck today? Not only did I wear black, but a black cat passed in front of me before I came to work today! Yikes! I guess the black cat lives with me... but still. Fortunately, I've avoided walking under any ladders, and I've steered clear of graveyards today, but I might have stepped on a crack on the sidewalk... Uh oh. However, even with these potentially unlucky actions I've taken, everything (so far) is good. Nothing too terrible or out of the ordinary has happened today, but still curious, I decided to do a little research into this day of superstition, just to assure I will make it through this Friday at the office alive.
The few minutes it took me to google and research this deep-rooted, ancient superstition, pretty much had me convinced it's all a bunch of b.s. The number of people who take this day off from work, don't go to school, or just stay inside their home, away from any form of transportation, electricity, or potentially harmful activities was staggering to me! Apparently the employees of this office are unaffected as i am to this superstitious day, seeing as the majority of employees (and yes interns) are here at work... even if they are wearing black. The ADD one even had a little bit of good luck today! She seems to actually be getting some work done, and isn't her distracted, confused self as usual. This got me to thinking that maybe this day can be considered lucky. Or maybe, it's all what you make of it. If you resolve to come to work (or school) and tell yourself that you will be luckier today than any other, maybe you will. Or... if you start your day off worried, anxious and scared of leaving your own house, you could be doomed to have that bad luck.
I personally just made the resolution of making it out of the office alive today, no matter what cost. Even if "the bossy one" or the "queen bee" decide to bite my head off (which, knock on wood, they've never done), I will still make it home to my black cat safe and sound. Wish me luck! Or don't... because is all this superstition really real?

ADD's Blind Date

Intern 2, I totally agree with you about the employees being amazing BUT the ADD one is the most entertaining hands down! Let me tell you all a story. The other night she was going on a blind date and drove to the mans office to meet him. When she got there the office was locked so she called him.

"Hey it is me ADD where are you I am at your office and it is locked."

"UM I am here I will come outside," "I don't see you anywhere." He said.

"Well I am here waiting." said ADD (call waiting beeps in she answers)

"Hello."

"Hey," Said a man  "Where are you I am at my office waiting"

"What?" ADD thinks to herself this man sounds a lot like her date. What is going on!?

ADD looks at her phone and it WAS her date so who was she talking to before he called. She hung up all the phone lines and looked at the number. In overwhelming embarrassment she realized that the first guy she was talking to was a client. Thank goodness that client was friendly and relaxed!

That is exactly why we love our ADD gal. She never seems to disappoint us in the entertainment department.

**The other intern

Starting out nice...

I did not know I was going to be working here, at Cobalt Communications Group, until a couple days before I started. My dad came to me and said he got me a job that lasted all summer long but that I would get paid minimum wage, if that. He didn’t ask or suggest that I take this internship he told me that I was going to work here. When I asked what I was going to be doing, he said, “I would learn how to upload things on Facebook and Myspace.” At this point, I was REALLY excited to start this job- seeing how I have a Myspace and a Facebook account and I know the basics of uploading pictures, videos, etc. Clearly, I did not understand what Cobalt was all about.

Tuesday, June 13 was my first day. I came in, got the tour, met all the employees, learned a little bit about each of the clients and then we went into a meeting. The day went on and on as if it would never end. Everything being talked about was way over my head. As I said before I didn’t get a very good overview on Cobalt. I didn’t know exactly what to expect- but I sure didn’t expect all this. Oh my goodness! I have never felt so incompetent. My dad is a professional speaker and he has spent his whole life teaching people, among many other things, that life is all about choices. You can choose to be positive and happy, or not. I have learned that attitude is everything and that when your attitude is right your abilities will always catch up to you. Sad to say, I came into this having low expectations and a bad attitude. And boy, was I put in my place.

In the past couple days I have learned so much more about the company, the clients, as well as the employees. The employees are so much fun! I love watching people, not in a creepy sort of way. It’s great to see how they interact with each other, as well as how they handle their clients. There is a mutual respect and love for one another. They are so honest with their clients and truly do everything they can to help. I absolutely love working here, it’s such a great environment. It’s work, but its fun work. I know that I have SO much more to learn but I am excited to do so. I’m ready to take full advantage of this amazing opportunity to learn and to grow. I’m also glad to know that there’s more to Cobalt than uploading things on Facebook and Myspace.

Intern 2