A quick look at my class schedule for this quarter as an Ohio State University senior is enough to confuse anyone:
- Corporate Finance
- Graphical World Urbanization
- Product Design
- Geo Physics
How on earth are these courses related? It’s a good question. When people ask me what I did this summer, it adds even more confusion to the puzzle. I don’t know much about computers, I don’t know the tech community in Columbus, and I sure wasn’t a proponent of Twitter. I was the first intern in ShinyDoor’s history. I would need pages upon pages to communicate a complete list of my experiences. What follows is a highlight reel of projects, challenges, successes, failures, lessons learned and events that stick out in my mind.
I met Angela Siefer, owner of ShinyDoor, in May 2009. I had been told she might know of some possible jobs and internships around town through her huge network. Little did I know this first meeting was an interview. I walked out having agreed to intern for Angela’s company. She won’t admit it, but she’s very persuasive.
My initial list of projects was diverse; implementing a mileage tracker, researching a CRM for the company to use, building the library page on ShinyDoor’s site, finding a speaker for our first entrepreneurial round table and formalizing ShinyDoor as an LLC.
I soon found that my job would not consist of going to the office from 9-5. Communicating with professionals and techies may happen at anytime. I found that checking my mail constantly from around 8 a.m. until 11:30 kept me on top of the game.
I set up a Twitter account as soon as I signed on with ShinyDoor. I did not participate much, not fully understanding its capabilities. I slowly began to understand its power as a tool. I found most of the articles I posted to the library page about social media from posts on Twitter. I’m not sure why, but there are now 96 people following me. I am very happy with the group of people around Columbus and across the country that I follow and honestly learn a lot from them each day.
The Entrepreneurial Round Tables were one of my favorite projects. I was not sure how the owner of a coffee shop or a local farmer, were going to draw crowds. I found that because they were not the typical slick business people, others were interested in their methods and ideas. Mr. Greg Ubert of Crimson Cup Coffee and Jaime Moore of Wayward Seed Farm were incredibly entertaining. They inspired the entrepreneurs in the audience and delivered value I was not expecting. I was adding chairs well into Jaime Moore’s presentation to seat the growing crowd.I see the entrepreneurial round tables as an example of the vibrant spirit entrepreneurs in Columbus have. Simple promotion on a few online networks brought out 20+ people on a week night to hear a young farmer talk about her experiences.
I met more people in the last four months than I have in the last two years. This is a bold statement, as I am not a shy person. The nature of my job was to immerse, connect, and communicate through social networks, which led to many in person meetings. (People often asked if I was related to some guy named Nick Seguin, who apparently is in a few networks in Columbus as well.) Whether I was talking to the owner of a car dealership about a round table appearance, the social media director at Mid-Ohio Foodbank, the national director of OneWebDay, or people from the Licking Valley Chamber of Commerce, I was out there.
Not all was smooth. Even with these great tools, I became aware of several road blocks that got me down.
- My goal of certifying ShinyDoor as a woman owned business fell short. I spoke with at least five different individuals trying to accomplish this, but have found no answers.
- It took me several attempts to figure out how to post graphics onto our website. Angela’s patience with my struggles was incredible. I slowly figured out Drupal and became competent, to a point, adding content to our site.
- I found out that even though we have incredible tools of communication, connecting everyone, it doesn’t mean that people will get back to you. For everyone I met with this summer to talk about social media, two did not respond. A very good ratio I must admit, but still not what I was expecting.
My final project of the internship was OneWebDay, the international day of Web celebration. I had never heard of this worldwide event and was thrown into the fire. I was in direct communication with the national director, getting as many as 10 emails a day and talking on the phone at least once a week. I coordinated OWD ambassadors from Boston to Bangalore, Chicago and Copenhagen. It was a neat experience, deciphering language barriers and finding ways to re-explain our purpose. I learned a great deal about people’s political concerns, but also their willingness to be involved in events that promote the advancement of humankind. There were professors from Harvard, editors of newspapers, CEOs of software companies, lawyers and artists. The diversity was incredible.
Columbus’ own OneWebDay was a collaborated effort by myself, Angela Siefer and several generous volunteers, sponsors and partners. We held our event Septermber 22nd at Free Geek Coulmbus. The day included:
- The recycling of over three tons of computer equipment
- Classes on topics ranging from Linux to free business applications
- Dismantling of computers for refurbishment
- Lots of chicken wing eating
This event saw over 50 guests participating in the classes, recycling and of course eating. Being the first time Columbus has had an official OneWebDay event, it will only grow in the future.
This list is by no means all inclusive. I simply can’t write everything I learned this summer. I enjoyed Qwirk, MORPC, and Bexley Cup O Joe as places of work. I’m happy to have met the likes of Neal Roberts, Mike D’Andrea, Andrew Moon, Jimmy Rowe, Scott Merrill and Christina Christian. My career will probably not be in the field of social media, but I will never be able to leave the community I have been introduced to. The ideas and entrepreneurial spirit of most people on these networks are both inspiring and impressive.
I cannot thank Angela enough. I felt busy all summer, but know I could have done more. I learned to prioritize (kind of) and how to work with others to get tasks accomplished.
I hope that my time has helped ShinyDoor, because I know what I learned has already benefited me now and in the future.
