Turn the Page loves to take the time to give back to the Kansas City community when possible. On Thursday, December 8, our team went to Harvesters’ main facility in Kansas City to spend three hours packing boxes of nutritional food to feed families in need. Read More
If you’re fans of TTP on Facebook, you know that we like to have fun. We get freaky on Fridays, dress up for holidays and regularly go out to lunch with one another. And this past week, we’ve had two major office-takeover pranks that have lightened the mood and sent the writers on an intense investigation to find the perpetrators. For a lot of us, our coworkers are our friends. And to many, this is very important.
A few observations about customer service and what it means to us.
How Interns Learn to Cope at TTP
I spent this summer working as an intern at Turn The Page Online Marketing. I worked as a team coordinator for 40 hours a week before heading to my second job in the evenings at a golf course. I knew it would be a challenge, but it proved to be extremely rewarding.
First of all, I need to thank everyone here at TTP for their help and support. No matter how many questions and problems I had, they were there to troubleshoot with me. Granted, the age jokes got old after a while (no pun intended), but I still appreciated the company’s friendly hospitality.
Second, my team was the best. Melissa, my manager, is stellar at her job. I genuinely loved working under her leadership. The table I was located at for the majority of my TTP stay was home to Adriana, Katie, Carlee, and myself. Adriana, who will now be staying as an employee, and Katie were my fellow interns. I’m thankful to the whole group for putting up with me and occasionally laughing at my jokes. Hopefully, I didn’t get under their skin too much. And, I must add, our team meetings rocked.
Third, I learned so much at Turn The Page. This is my first time working in this type of a professional environment, and I learned a lot about company structure, teamwork and organization. I also discovered some of the secrets behind SEO, SMO, SEM and whatever other acronyms you can think of. I wouldn’t say I’m a pro at marketing yet, but my knowledge in the subject has skyrocketed. I want to mention Tyler quickly: he trained me in a lot of what I learned and saw that I got through the summer (and we shared quite a few laughs and memories). I’m grateful for everything I have learned while working here at TTP and hope to keep developing my marketing skills in the future, both online and offline.
Advice to Interns
1) Never kill the Joe and forget to make mo’. TTP employees take this rule very seriously. While I don’t drink much coffee, I did sit nearest to the pot and witnessed quite a few livid reactions to it being empty.
2) Find a good chair, or your back will die. If there is not one provided, go buy one. Online marketing doesn’t involve much movement, so your body gets rigid and ill-tempered after sitting for hours at a time.
3) Your music is not always appreciated. If you play your music for everyone to hear, chances are someone will be yelling.
4) Be prepared to take on more work than what you were hired for. At growing companies, the extra work piles up. If you are an able-minded person, work will be delegated to you.
5) Have fun! Internships can be a blast as long as you try to make it enjoyable. So talk to people, make friends, network and enjoy your stay.
6) Pranks will happen. You will prank, see pranks and be pranked. Just go with it. And if you are under 20, jokes, comments, statements, references and snide remarks will be made about your age. So be expecting it; the old folks just can’t help themselves.
Departure
Here’s one last thank you to all of you Page Turners. You are an awesome group of people, and it was marvelous getting to be involved in the TTP culture for a summer. I will be leaving this week and beginning my college journey at Drake University soon. So here’s to a great last week! Friday will be my parting time with summer, my last good-bye to Turn The Page, and my first hello to a new season in life.
From “wobbly coffees” filled with rum to weekly office pranks, there was rarely a dull moment here at Turn The Page. A few months here gave me a much-needed break in my normal school routine while continuing to learn more than I imagined. I joined the TTP team just a few days after graduating with my bachelors degrees in Spanish and in Journalism with an emphasis in Strategic Communication. Before getting into what I’ve been doing here at Turn The Page, here’s a little bit about my marketing background.
My first internship experience was during the spring semester of 2012, where I traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina to work as an intern at a marketing company called Avant Garde Agencia. Avant Garde specializes in special event planning and guerilla marketing. It was an excellent experience, and I was able to work in both fields I love: communications and Spanish.
Directly after returning home from Argentina, I began working at Integrity Marketing Solutions, which is a company specializing in marketing for estate-planning and elder-law attorneys. Working at Integrity gave me an interesting perspective on working with a niche market and allowed me to work on a variety of tasks, from creating online magazines to tracking website stats.
And finally, this summer I began working at Turn The Page. I’ve always enjoyed writing, so I figured an internship here at TTP was the perfect way to put that skill to use. Aside from daily blogging, I learned how to optimize the content and choose the right topics to fit the audience for whom I was writing. Turn The Page challenged me to think strategically while exercising my creativity.
Many people have asked me what I liked most about working at TTP. While it’s hard to narrow it down to one aspect, there are a few that stand out to me. I have really enjoyed the freedom in working with a diverse group of clients. From auto-repair shops to hair salons to telecommunication companies, each day was presented with a challenge and an opportunity to perfect my writing.
I also appreciate the encouragement I received to produce great ideas that could improve business both internally and externally, even though I was just an intern. I took part in weekly “Think Tank” meetings, where I was able to not only learn more about the internal workings of the company, but also help work through current concerns and future developments.
Finally, I was also thrilled to be given the opportunity to use my Spanish this summer. Two of my favorite tasks were updating a client’s Facebook page for Spanish speakers as well as writing website content for another.
Until Next Time…
While I’m sad to say goodbye to my fellow Page Turners, I am excited to return to MIZZOU where I’ll pursue a Master of Arts in Journalism with an emphasis in Strategic Communication. I’m sure I’ll have my plate full, but it will be an exciting step. I owe a huge thanks each of the employees at Turn The Page for a great summer full of laughs and learning!
