Just Another Manic Monday

Wow, yesterday was such a blur! It's so nice to finally have something consistent to be working on, but yesterday I had 3 meetings regarding the same project. It was great until the meeting that was at 5PM. Okay, I like what I do, but 5PM meetings are only good 'cause I get to sleep in (that way I work an 8 hour day, 9-6 or whatever). Except yesterday I came in around 9 to jump immediately into work that needed to be done by my meeting at 10. Stress! A huge part of this project is resting on my shoulders, and while formatting and doing minor changes are no big deal... well, let's just say there's a lot of formatting and minor changes to make. Every detail has to be perfect! I also met with someone who is going to publish the presentation and we're going to make it even more complicated by adding in interactive segments. That's cool, good for the people that are going to be viewing it, but not so cool for me. At least I have help, and he seems nice and approchable, which is good.
I have to say the most frustrating thing is waiting around for people to send stuff to me. Not that they're necessarily slow, but my job rests on their provisions. I'm like the master consolidator of this project; I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that knows what's going on with every aspect. It's really cool to be such a huge part of a really important task! But at the same time I wish I knew more about the content and was able to do some editing.
I also just found out that I accidentally deleted a lot of what I worked on yesterday and it is irrecoverable. FML.

Busy Busy Busy!

Hello, devoted readers. I apologize for the lack of posts - this little girl has actually been doing too much work (well, sort of) to update! In fact, I spent most of yesterday working on a presentation that was shown to the heads of Marketing and Sales. That's right. I'm kind of a big deal. (Okay, not really, but it's fun to think so!). Today is Friday, ahhh, casual Friday! There is always a sort of almost tangible excitement in the air as everybody feels an almost frantic energy, looking forward to the weekend. I definitely think there is more typing going on today! The sound of keys clicking has pretty much become my definition of working rate; although, to be fair, the sound of my keys currently is not really work related, is it?
I'm really starting to get into the groove of work. I get my same coffee, I know my routine of parking in the same spot, going over to Starbucks to relax and read for lunch, etc. It's exciting! Corporate World, here I come! It's going to be interesting going back to school and having homework again; I'm really a fan of the no work after five thing.
So, I don't really have any experiences to share today. I'm afraid that I've had my run of awkwardness in the office. Maybe I should create an awkward moment just to see what happens. Like compliment my boss' makeup or something. Any ideas of such things I can do/say? Let me know!
Here's another question: when writing an email to your whole project team regarding a due date, is it inapporpriate to end the e-mail with "Go team!"? I'm not sure. It could be funny, or it could be immature. I personally think it would make the message more personable, maybe give people a little smile in these stressful times, but I've never worked in an office. Maybe I should send it out and see if anything awkward happens...

What it Means to Forget Your Badge

First off, I have a habit of taking off my badge right as soon as I get in the car after work and placing it in my purse, sort of like a celebration of the day's end. For some reason, I didn't do that yesterday. So I get to work and I'm rummaging through my purse trying to find where I put it the evening before, and lo and behold - no badge! Of course I'm instantly anxious, wondering if I have to drive all the way home lest I can't get into the building. So I call Alex, and yes, he finds my badge still clipped to my pants from yesterday. Lame! I decided to try the front desk; this isn't the first time this has happened, right? Of course, the lady gives me a name tag and buzzes me in. I just have to make sure that I stop by her desk if I want to be let in at any time. I also got a little anecdote about how she decided to get french toast sticks this morning even though she's diabetic and of course she spills syrup everywhere and was spending the morning cleaning the desk with sanitary wipes so she hopes she didn't hand me anything sticky (deep breath). So overall, it was a learning experience. Your badge equates ease, but you can survive without it. I'm just wondering how I managed to remove my pants without noticing this big plastic thing attached to them!
By the way, the VP of Sales and Marketing just walked by with a rolling bag. Nothing says power like the loud sound of smooth wheels rolling on carpet (except, of course, a great suit). And we laughed at those kids in high school.

Convention Day

Well yesterday was quite fantastic! I felt very official, traveling to the city with all these old folks. Okay, I slept most of the way. Gotta build up that energy! So after a bit of confusion as to where to get our badges (we signed up late so we weren't at the regular registration booth), we began our wandering about. The place was huge! There were three separate buildings to choose from - two related to semiconductors and wafer management and one related to solar technology. We decided to start with semiconductors. All the booths were fantastic. There's things being invented and used that I didn't even realize there would ever be a need for! There was a whole booth on ceramic gears, nuts and bolts, etc. Another booth featuring laser etching was giving away pens with one's name on it as a demo; I got one for Alex, I thought he'd get a kick out of it. Many companies even had lounges set up for their employees and the people running their booth. Ours did, but we never really got a chance to hang out there. There were also a bunch of meeting rooms set up. We thought they were for the companies to have meeting with customers or other companies, and in fact we saw our head of marketing heading into the meeting area in the afternoon. After lunch at a great Thai place just a block away, we headed over to the solar exhibits. The stuff there was so amazing! I can't believe so much has been done for solar power in the past few years. The booths displayed anything and everything related to solar, including machines to build the struts that hold up the panels, to combining solar panels and wind turbines, to machines that were created to turn panels as the sun moves based on longtitude and lattitude of the panel's location. My company's booth was really cool as well, and even had a little touch screen quiz about solar power and the company's involvement in the field - if you took it, you entered to win a Wii!
I also got to go with two coworkers, Juan and Luke. I didn't realize before that they were closer to my age. Though older, Juan is even a college intern! We got along great, and had a really fun day. I also noticed that they were both very polite, pretty into fashion, and chivalrous. It's nice to see that maybe once men "grow up" and get jobs, they're not all college alcoholics. I don't mean to generalize about all men my age, obviously there are great guys out there. I just think it's funny that they started a debate about whether a man's Louis Vuitton bag was authentic before I even noticed it. It's nice to finally be able to feel a bit more welcome and social in the office.
Overall, I had a great day, and am very glad I didn't pass up this opportunity. Perhaps sales might be something I'd like to get involved in in the future!

Little Girl's First Business Meeting!

Yesterday I got the opportunity to join a business meeting, both in person and via conference calling. It was a simple review of the status of the project I'm helping out with, and I'm not really sure how necessary I really was, but I gave some input and took notes on what I would need to do in the future. I must say, it was incredible exciting! I am now sure that is the method I would like to lead meetings when I am a manager - anyone in the area comes to a room, and if people far away are necessary they can call in to join. We even used a projector to display my manager's desktop on a wall so that all could see the presentation we were working on and input directly to the slides. It honestly felt very similar to some discussion sections I've had for school. The host asked questions regarding the slides, and people would input, then discuss someone's opinion. It was great! Okay, the content was a little dry, and it was late in the afternoon, but I was still having a good time. I felt important, and that's matters a lot to this little girl. When it's so easy to get intimidated by Business People (in caps for emphasis), it's nice to have a chance to be on a somewhat equal footing with them. Or at least respected as the intern that will be consolidating all their information. Whatever. Moving on up!
Tomorrow I go to a huge conference regarding what my company deals with in San Francisco. I am very excited. There should be booths by various other companies (gotta be sneaky when checking out the competition!) and seminars where really important people in the technology community are interviewed about different things, from where they see solar technology in 20 years to how to best invest in today's markets. I'm not sure it'll be terribly exciting, but I feel as if I should take advantage of every opportunity that comes my way. Plus, I'm pretty sure I get paid to walk around a tech show in San Francisco all day. I'm going with two coworkers as well, so I'll get to foster company interaction. I'm sure I'll write something about it soon, so stay tuned!

Returning from a Sick Day

Last Friday, I woke up feeling quite ill. Having just taken training regarding disease spreading prevention (specifically, the next flu epidemic - watch out for those chickens), I decided to follow the wise advice and stay home. Indeed, having an extra day of rest allowed me to return to work today in a semi-healthy state. I was under the impression, though, that I would be faced with a full inbox and leftover tasks that would take me at least a day to catch up. No luck there, folks! I got a few emails regarding contact information which took me a good 90 seconds to consolidate. I had to do my weekly Monday assignment, which took me about an hour and a half. I also got a meeting invitation set for 5-6 tomorrow, so now I get to stay late on Tuesday.
On the plus side, last week I worked on the same project for two days straight. It basically involved a lot of Excel work. I believe the other intern in our group is not very familiar with Excel, so I had to walk her through a lot of stuff about formatting. Very tedious for someone who has been fortunate enough to have used Excel frequently in the past. It gave me a really bad headache, there were a few unnecessary complications, and it literally took two days of two interns doing formatting and consolidation to finish. Thus, probably the only upside of being sick was that I didn't have to spend Friday morning re-rechecking (yes, for the third time) the data we had compiled.
Lesson learned: rough mornings hurt, but not nearly as much as losing a days pay. Yep, interns don't get sick hours. Surprise!

Little Girl's First Teleconference!

This morning I had my first ever teleconference! It was quite exciting - I got an e-mail with the information, I logged in online, I called in and said my name after the tone, and suddenly I could see a list of people also in the meeting, and the host's desktop! "How exciting," I thought to myself, "another cool part of being in the real world!" I failed to mention this teleconference was a training session. It was very boring. I have also listened in to previous eMeetings with my manager, and have been very unimpressed. Sure, we're saving paper and trees and time; we also get to meet from the comfort of our own office (or, as it may be, cube). Yet you have to fight on the phone with people to get them to stop talking and listen. You lose the personal connection that comes with learning something with a group of people. There's no big conference table, no projector, no screen. I'm quickly learning that my impression of the "real world" died in the 90's. Now it's all about efficiency. If you can't have a meeting while concurrently typing up a spreadsheet and planning your next dentist appointment, you are not a successfully efficient businessman/woman. If only things were not so. The most interesting thing about this experience is that one of the points stressed in the company overview is to interact personally in the office, be it with coworkers, customers, supervisors, etc. Yet in my opinion, having an online meeting as opposed to in person contradicts that basic principle. I one day will manage a group that will meet in a conference room for all meetings, and I will wear suits every day. Though the modern world seems to believe otherwise, I do not equate efficiency with a lack of human connection.
As a small aside, along the lines of restroom awkwardness: After washing my hands, I turned around to grab a towel and realized a cleaning lady had been standing behind me, waiting for me to finish. As I ripped the towel off the dispenser, she said "No soap?" (it was actually "no soup?" but I think I got her drift). I replied, "No, I used some." Very, very awkward.

The Corporate Lunch

Today I went to have lunch at a nearby salad bar type restaurant (like Fresh Choice). It was quite tasty. I was surrounded by other office types, wearing various badges indicating their place of work. I got some stares - obviously I look young to be working at a desk already. It made me think. I have been avoiding the cafeteria because I believe I'd look and consequently feel so out of place. Now, I'm not asking for a welcome wagon, or anything, but I remember the previous intern telling me how he never really talked to anyone in the office. And really, they are all much older than I am, or at least at a different place in their lives. They talk about kids, marriage, excercise, recipies. I'm not yet ready for that to be the stuff I talk about! I have other interests - in fact, last night I stayed up late trying to learn how to play a song that Chris wrote on the guitar. My manager was telling me just this morning how happy she was that her daughter goes to bed early because she gets so tired from summer camp. Now I'm happy to talk about these things sometimes, but they only serve to remind me how young I am, and how my friends and I do NOT talk about that stuff. Sure, we don't really talk about anything more important, but at least it pertains to my life. Basically, I'm not sure I'll be having a very social lunch schedule in the future. Good thing that salad place is so good!

Summertime

Welcome back, devoted fans. Last week my company was on shutdown, so I obviously didn't have many office experiences to share with you. I can say this: having a week off every month is really nice, as it gives me a chance to have some kind of summer vacation. This past week I went shopping, and visited camp. And I slept, a lot.
But on the way back from camp, Alex and I had a conversation regarding if we would ever return to work there. You see, I felt very sad at some points this weekend, as I was watching the kids I had previously been a counselor for be all grown up. Basically, I felt old, and that I was missing out on one of their most critical growth periods. They're now going into junior year, and I know that that summer at camp was probably the most influential on me. I had been a counselor for the same kids for three years previously, and feel as if now when they need me most, I'm not there. But how could I be? I have to get a "real world" job, and get payed. But here's the question: once I get into law school, will I be able to perhaps return to be on senior staff, or maybe direct the Avodah or CIT program? What does one do during the summers of graduate school? More work? I just assumed yes, but perhaps not.
Am I wasting my summer freedom working, or at least working at a deskjob as opposed to something more fun? I guess it's all about priorities - I chose to spend my time improving my resume, and perhaps learning about a career and/or company I might be interested in. Others don't see this as very important at the current moment. In this competetive job market, I feel the need to get an edge, but is that feeling misplaced? Will my work here really affect anything other than my bank account? Of course, there's no right answer, and every situation differs per person. Too bad there's no manual to tell you all about it...
For a mini office experience: today I'm working on a report with a coworker who is also here only for the summer. We were both working with excel, yet while I was trying to consolidate information, she was trying to simplify the labeling of files. My point is when sharing a file, I wish there were no such thing as "Read-Only," and more than one person could access and change a file at a time. Gosh darn it, Excel! I basically spent much of my morning waiting for her to finish with a file, then taking my turn, then letting her work, and having to write down stuff to remember to type in somewhere else. It was very frustrating, but at least it killed some time!