Berklee Blogs

First-hand accounts of the Berklee experience

Tag: Office of Experiential Learning (Page 1 of 13)

Office of Experiential Learning

Valerie Teicher: Whittling Down Career Options

Berklee Blogs introduces Valerie Teicher, a Music Business major and spring intern, as she begins her internship at BMG Chrysalis, a rights management company representing publishing and recording rights, as well as at The Windish Agency, an independent NYC booking agency serving musicians, bands and DJs. In today’s blog, Valerie explains how her internships have helped her focus her future career…

As both of my internships are nearing their end, there seems to be a little bit of a lull in terms of my work load. I think this is normal, as large projects and commitments would be hard to throw my way knowing that I will be leaving in a couple of weeks. There have been a few days this past week where I have had very little work to do, and a lot of time on my hands. At times this has been discouraging, and it has been hard to stay motivated, especially knowing that in a couple of weeks I will no longer be here, and job prospects are not likely. However, I have really enjoyed my time at both of these places and am excited for the next chapter ahead, so I suppose my motivation may be shifting from these particular internships, and more towards the unknown future ahead—I guess that must be normal as well!

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Gabrielle Thornley: Cause for Celebration…

Berklee Blogs introduces Gabrielle Thornley, a Professional Music major and spring intern, as she begins her internship with The Echo Nest, a music intelligence company that provides the largest repository of music data in the world for app developers. In today’s blog, Gabrielle illustrates Echo Nest’s work hard, play hard mentality…

The Annual Echo Nest Mustachio Bashio turned out to be a huge success and the best celebration yet, according to employees. After lunch was delivered that Friday afternoon, the music began blasting throughout the office, signaling the end of the work day, despite the fact that it was only one o’clock.

As soon as “Eye Of The Tiger” started playing, the office door of the company’s founder flew open, spilling clouds of fog. He emerged from the room pushing the beloved trophy, that was taller than me. The office broke out into a burst of cheers and clapping. We spent the next hour watching the hilarious skits performed by the men of the office and I had the honor of being chosen to be the official announcer. Afterwards, the ladies were forced to pick only three winners, earning the men trophies and a year’s worth of bragging rights. The choice was difficult, but a big congratulations to the winners!

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Devin Wojtanek: Internship while on Lockdown

Berklee Blogs introduces Devin Wojtanek, a Music Business major and spring intern, as he begins his internship with Indie Ambassador, the team behind presskit.to, a portfolio web app designed to enhance communication within the professional music & entertainment industries. In today’s blog, Devin gives us an intern’s perspective on the recent marathon bombings and learning while on lockdown…

Writing this today, I would like to be able to talk about all the progress Indie Ambassador, as well as myself, have made over the past two weeks. Quite unfortunately though that would be difficult, as within the past two weeks, I have only made it into work once. There’s no “good” time for your city to be put on lockdown.

The last time I did make to Charlestown, it was a pleasant day, warmer than we’ve been used to lately. It was a very relaxed, just coming off a successful stint of meetings with Berklee, I spent the better part of the day dog-sitting our office dog Henry (most enjoyable), as I was continuing online research for companies. My most recent assignments have been a little broader and less specific. It’s mostly self-directed research online, looking for other music companies, whether potential partners or competitors, and taking notes. Our SXSW online radio station was so successful that IA has decided to carry on the station indefinitely, playing old and new sessions. Thus, I’ve been researching other online radio stations, seeing what they do best, and imagining what a successful station for IA would look like.

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Gabrielle Thornley: Round Two?

Berklee Blogs introduces Gabrielle Thornley, a Professional Music major and spring intern, as she begins her internship with The Echo Nest, a music intelligence company that provides the largest repository of music data in the world for app developers. In today’s blog, Gabrielle tells us her thoughts on possibly extending her internship experience…

As my time at the Echo Nest winds down, I realize just how much I’m going to miss this experience in it’s entirety. I’m strongly considering continuing my internship with the Echo Nest next Fall in order to increase my chances of a job offer in the future. Over a bottle of wine, I talked to my supervisor, Michelle, about her start in the company. It’s reassuring to know that at one point, she was also a QA/Marketing Intern, just like myself.

This week, the Echo Nest is working with a large computer software technology corporation. Although the interns have not been told the reason the company needs our data, we have definitely been working hard to make sure it is as accurate as possible, meaning my week has consisted of spreadsheet, after spreadsheet, after more spreadsheets. Hopefully we’ll be finding out soon what role we play in the development of this deal and how the Echo Nest will benefit!

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Devin Wojtanek: Navigating the New Music Industry

Berklee Blogs introduces Devin Wojtanek, a Music Business major and spring intern, as he begins his internship with Indie Ambassador, the team behind presskit.to, a portfolio web app designed to enhance communication within the professional music & entertainment industries. In today’s blog, Devin shares his thoughts on entering a new music industry as a student musician…

In the past few weeks at Indie Ambassador, there has been a spark of intensity in the atmosphere surrounding our growing project with Berklee. To recap, Presskit.to has been developing an “opportunity”/job listing board for Berklee LA alumni. Along with hooking these alums up with a Presskit, this jobs board is directed specifically for Berklee grads in LA looking for the types of jobs needed to advance their careers. Justine, the alumni coordinator stationed in LA, came over to Boston last week for a meeting, an experience that was very interesting to sit in on.

The relationship between a collegiate institution and its alumni is almost sacred in a way, as the perceived viability of the school is dependent upon the success of their graduates. At a place such as Berklee, were the nature of the art and its subsequent relation with commerce are in a constant dance with each other, it is almost impossible to determine what an average career path for a Berklee alum would look like. This is why grads’/alumni’s career paths can vary so drastically, from a small town music teacher to the super famous.

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