For Kara Labs '09, getting to her summer job is not just a matter of a morning commute. The rising senior from Piermont, N.H. is interning in London at Taylor Herring PR, one of the largest public relations firms in England. Established in 2001, the firm's clients range from television shows such as Dr Who, The Apprentice and Britain's Next Top Model to Disney projects like Pushing Daisies.
"A typical day for me is very exciting because I never do the same thing twice," Labs says. Her assignments have so far included compiling press packs to send to journalists, doing research on various clients and pitching them to the press, and promoting the Leaders in London International Leadership Summit to get journalists to publicize the event. She is also responsible for scanning the newspapers and magazines each morning for any mention or publicity of Taylor Herring's clients. In addition, she has been able to go to the taping of on-air interviews for the radio, attended the premiere of a documentary, and been to the taping of one of The Sunday Night Project, one of Britain's biggest shows.
This is Labs' second summer internship: last year she worked as a journalist, at New Hampshire Public Television in Durham, N.H. She says that her position at Taylor Herring is not comparable, but she is thoroughly enjoying her work outside the Hamilton academic setting. "Although I do miss Hamilton every time I leave it, there is so much to do out in the rest of the world," she says. Thanks to alumni and parent donations, Hamilton students can apply for funding to support them while they work in a field of interest with an organization that cannot pay them. Labs received a stipend from the George and Martha Darcy Internship Support Fund, which provides cost-of-living stipends to students working in unpaid internships.
The addition of going abroad has made the experience "that much better," says Labs. Living in Notting Hill and working a 36-40 hour week, she has nonetheless taken the opportunity to travel, seeing Oxford and Brighton as well as the Scottish Highlands, Cornwall, and Dublin, Ireland. There are added challenges working in a public relations firm in a foreign country, however. In addition to the smaller obstacles of understanding new accents, phrases and spellings, Labs had to immediately begin work with an unfamiliar paper system. "I did not know the layout of the newspapers or what type of news is covered by which newspaper," she explains. Having to read through all of the newspapers every day, though, she is now more familiar with the British newspaper system than the American one.
Labs has even been on television herself, after being mistaken for a British citizen: right before a controversial new rule banning alcohol on the London Underground was due to take effect, she and some friends were stopped by a camera crew as they were coming home from dinner. "We apparently didn't look American, because one of camera men and the reporter turned to us and asked us what we thought about the change of the law," she says. "They even asked us what we thought of Gordon Brown. Then crew figured out we were American and asked us a whole series of other questions."
A communications major with a minor in theatre, Labs hopes to attend graduate school to obtain a master's degree, after which she intends to work in broadcast communications or public relations. "I think I am now leaning on doing something in the world of public relations now, but we'll see," she says. Either way, she feels that she has gained a great deal of knowledge in a short time working for Taylor Herring, learning how to work with clients and how to assemble and send out press releases. "The people who are teaching me about the world of public relations are extremely experienced in their field," says Labs. "I feel very glad that they have imparted some of their knowledge on to me."
-- by Laura Bramley
"A typical day for me is very exciting because I never do the same thing twice," Labs says. Her assignments have so far included compiling press packs to send to journalists, doing research on various clients and pitching them to the press, and promoting the Leaders in London International Leadership Summit to get journalists to publicize the event. She is also responsible for scanning the newspapers and magazines each morning for any mention or publicity of Taylor Herring's clients. In addition, she has been able to go to the taping of on-air interviews for the radio, attended the premiere of a documentary, and been to the taping of one of The Sunday Night Project, one of Britain's biggest shows.
This is Labs' second summer internship: last year she worked as a journalist, at New Hampshire Public Television in Durham, N.H. She says that her position at Taylor Herring is not comparable, but she is thoroughly enjoying her work outside the Hamilton academic setting. "Although I do miss Hamilton every time I leave it, there is so much to do out in the rest of the world," she says. Thanks to alumni and parent donations, Hamilton students can apply for funding to support them while they work in a field of interest with an organization that cannot pay them. Labs received a stipend from the George and Martha Darcy Internship Support Fund, which provides cost-of-living stipends to students working in unpaid internships.
The addition of going abroad has made the experience "that much better," says Labs. Living in Notting Hill and working a 36-40 hour week, she has nonetheless taken the opportunity to travel, seeing Oxford and Brighton as well as the Scottish Highlands, Cornwall, and Dublin, Ireland. There are added challenges working in a public relations firm in a foreign country, however. In addition to the smaller obstacles of understanding new accents, phrases and spellings, Labs had to immediately begin work with an unfamiliar paper system. "I did not know the layout of the newspapers or what type of news is covered by which newspaper," she explains. Having to read through all of the newspapers every day, though, she is now more familiar with the British newspaper system than the American one.
Labs has even been on television herself, after being mistaken for a British citizen: right before a controversial new rule banning alcohol on the London Underground was due to take effect, she and some friends were stopped by a camera crew as they were coming home from dinner. "We apparently didn't look American, because one of camera men and the reporter turned to us and asked us what we thought about the change of the law," she says. "They even asked us what we thought of Gordon Brown. Then crew figured out we were American and asked us a whole series of other questions."
A communications major with a minor in theatre, Labs hopes to attend graduate school to obtain a master's degree, after which she intends to work in broadcast communications or public relations. "I think I am now leaning on doing something in the world of public relations now, but we'll see," she says. Either way, she feels that she has gained a great deal of knowledge in a short time working for Taylor Herring, learning how to work with clients and how to assemble and send out press releases. "The people who are teaching me about the world of public relations are extremely experienced in their field," says Labs. "I feel very glad that they have imparted some of their knowledge on to me."
-- by Laura Bramley
