Today is officially my last day in the office, but I will return one last time for the second men’s photo shoot Saturday in a week.
It was an eventful, exciting, but also a pretty stressful time for me. Entering my internship I did not have any expectations. I did not know what to expect, particularly because I have not worked in a marketing agency before and I also have not taken too many marketing classes so far. So I was in store for whatever would come up to me and I would face any challenge and work with it as best as I can. I experienced a whole lot which I will never forget and I believe that I grew from my experiences. It was a good balance between office work - writing and updating lists, and preparing clothing and accessories for the photo shoots – and the photo shoots where I was allowed to assist. Thus I could make some business connections that might be helpful after I am done with my bachelor's or eventually my master's degree and am applying for jobs. What I have learned from my experience at Benner & Partner is that it is important to stay on track with emails and update lists immediately if any changes occur, otherwise, it will end in a big chaos because no one can or will remember everything. It is also important to not only do the bare minimum but rather the maximum since, again, it is better to be overly prepared. Just in case... Being flexible is another important quality one needs to have to succeed in this field of business. By this, I mean that one can prepare everything perfectly in theory, but in practice, it is often the opposite. For example, one can never predict the weather ahead of time and if one is unlucky it will rain the day the photo shoot takes places. The photographer, the make-up artist, the models, etc. are already booked for the day, and one has to find a quick and satisfying solution to pull through the day and get it done. I also realized that working in a marketing agency is not just a boring office job and the working hours are also not as usual, but instead different every day. Some days your work is done quickly, but on other days you have to stay much longer. Overtime is also no rarity. For me, it was particularly rough since I had to drive about an hour fifteen to my workplace. I realized that it is hard to predict the traffic and on certain days it took me more than two and a half hours to get to Munich. If one has an important meeting in the morning and gets stuck in traffic, one is in trouble. Once it happened to me that I was late for work due to this reason, so I always left home early. I also think that commuting for such a long distance for more than the time of my internship is impossible. Last but not least, I want to thank Mr. Benner and the FCB team of Benner & Partner GmbH, particularly Mr. Kurt Lichtblau and Mr. Thorsten Overbeck, for the opportunity to work and do my internship, but also for the time they dedicated to me. Additionally, I want to thank the two ladies from the marketing department of the FC Bayern Munich, Ramona Roje and Theresa Hechtl, who gave me the chance to be part of the many photo shoots and give me some closer insight into their work. Thanks again to everyone who was part of my great experience at Benner & Partner. It was an awesome time, and I will keep a lot in memory! Today we had to carry all clothing rails, boxes, carpets, and all other stuff from the semi to the basement of our office. Katharina, the other trainee, and I had to carry everything by ourselves… We are “just” girls and we had huge trouble to move the stuff up and down the stairs due to the heavy weight. It took us pretty much the whole day to get everything to the place where it is supposed to be. To make things worse, it was about 90 F! After we were done, we both were absolutely exhausted. Luckily, the rest of the day went by quickly and I found some time to focus on my website.
It is Wednesday, and I am leaving the house at 5.30 a.m. It is shooting time again, and I need to drive to Säbenerstraße 51, Munich. The day started at 7 a.m. with the last preparations for the players' shoot. The outfits and accessories had to be ready when the soccer players arrived at the basketball practice courts at 8.30 a.m. Over the course of the day about twelve soccer stars, Philip Lahm, the team captain, Arjen Robben, and Xabi Alonso among others, were photographed in the Men’s and Adidas Collection of the FC Bayern. As I expected, it was a pretty busy day since all models came together, either before or after their practice session. I had to make sure that the shooting list was lead correctly, hang up the clothing after it was photographed and not needed anymore and tided up.
In the end, everything worked out just fine, and I was overly tired when I left. Another ten hour day, but I am certain that I will sleep well tonight! It was really unfortunate though that I did not see much of the actual photo shoots. It was very crowded due to the fact that many stylists, photographers, and assistants were needed and we had four different sets to work at to be more effective and efficient. Unfortunately, this time I was not allowed to take any pictures and post them online due to privacy rights. |
My Duties:
Goals/Expected Learning Outcome - Learning more about what is important and matters in marketing - Getting a deeper impression of Benner & Partner and the company’s structure - Becoming part of everyday’s work life and events - Improving communication skills - Improving teamwork skills - Improving organizational ability - Contributing to the company’s success, particularly of the FCB team Archives
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