This summer I had the incredible opportunity to intern at the book publisher Penguin Random House. I worked for the publicity department of Random House Books and worked under Cynthia Murray, a deputy director of publicity. The publicity departments job is to raise awareness and inspire excitement about Random House books through earned media. Cynthia’s job as a publicist is to develop relationships with media contacts and pitch them books to review, discuss, or feature.

As the publicity intern, I was given the chance to oversee each step of the publicity process through my work with Jeanne Marie Laskas book To Obama. I wrote the press release, researched coverage of similar books, looked into local media outlets, and then developed a pitch list of the most relevant contacts for Cynthia.            

My time at Random House provided me with a wealth of knowledge of the ins and outs of publicity as well as the necessary skills for a career in this industry. In addition, I was able to learn about another side of publishing, the editorial department, through my peer mentor, Emma Caruso, who is an Assistant Editor at Random House. I volunteered to read submissions, write readers reports, and draft response letters for her to send to agents, which we discussed in weekly meetings. This experience taught me that I am not only passionate about and fascinated by publicity, but also by editorial, and I will continue working with her informally this year to continue learning. Thanks to this summer internship, I have the skills and the connections I need to pursue my dream of working in book publishing.

SHARE

Carin Rollins ’94 and John Marlow ’90 are two Colgate graduates who are rapidly becoming household names in biotech. Both were invited back to Colgate on February 11, 2019 to speak about their experiences as innovators and industry leaders. The event, “How Liberal Arts Grads are Driving Innovation”, was co-sponsored by Career Services, Thought Into Action, Colgate’s Biology department, Neuroscience program, and the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.

Rollins is CEO and co-founder of Hinge Bio. Inc, a California-based biotechnology startup putting multimillion-dollar pharmaceutical innovations on the market. Marlow is co-founder and senior vice president of RingCentral, a cloud-based telecommunications company that boasts 4,500 employees and offices on four continents. Marlow also serves as legal director of Brainsonix, an ultrasound-based brain mapping system intended for faster and less invasive surgery and treatment.

RingCentral was among the first corporations to design wireless, centralized communication systems, intended to break away from the clunky, on-site phone boxes used by many corporations when the company was founded in 2003. Today, they’re the largest business communications provider in the world, and still growing rapidly as many businesses modernize their systems.

“Innovation, to me, is a way of thinking,” Marlow said. “We just replaced hardware with software, and that was a big thing.”

Rollins agreed. “You have to show that a prototype is working—that the market is pulling for your product,” Rollins said. “Otherwise you won’t go anywhere.”

Both Marlow and Rollins admitted that being an innovator and entrepreneur demands a tremendous amount of work—and some luck. Marlow used his own experience as evidence.

While seeking out funding for RingCentral in 2003, he was rejected by hundreds of investors during formal meetings. But he happened to run into a Class-A investor at a bar. That individual “instantly got it,” Marlow said, and agreed to fund the project. That support led to a second top-level firm investing as well. While it wouldn’t have been possible without a functional product, the amount of painful luck was, according to Marlow, “undeniable.”

Rollins also reflected on her experience at Colgate during the seminar. “The skills I learned in the liberal arts gave me the skills I needed to succeed,” Rollins said. “It’s how I am able to wear so many different hats as a CEO and entrepreneur. I wouldn’t be where I am without Colgate.”

SHARE

The World Cup is the largest global athletic spectacle — every four years, billions of viewers tune in to watch the world’s elite soccer players represent their nations in fierce and emotional competition. This summer, my work primarily focused on FOX’s cross-platform coverage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Experiencing FOX’s production of the World Cup was one of the most thrilling endeavors of my life. During the tournament, I assisted producers in the digital media hub by clipping live broadcasts and reporting on social engagement data. My most important responsibility was to assemble a highlight package of the best Instagram and Twitter fan reaction videos from the day’s action. To perform this task, I used social analysis services, like Spredfast, to geo-fence cities all over the world and find the best reaction videos in response to important moments of a match.

Finding the most appealing content for a World Cup highlight requires a nuanced familiarity with FIFA broadcast law and firm knowledge of what reactions will be the most fascinating for soccer fanatics and novices alike. My job was to be a digital “hype man” for fans seeking to live vicariously through the buzz of cities like Zagreb, London, and Paris.

Collaborating with some of the industry’s brightest minds has given me wisdom I’ll cherish for years to come, especially as sports information becomes an increasingly digital enterprise. There is a new paradigm in the sports media landscape — one predicated on the emotions of the fans, conveyed through the limitless possibilities of social media. I hope to continue to develop this affinity for sports media and push the envelope with my next opportunity.

SHARE