WNED: The Intern Experience

By Adam Lipozwicz, WNED Corporate Communications Intern

First things first; welcome to “WNED: The Intern Experience!” My name is Adam Lipowicz, and I am currently finishing up my third week as a marketing communications intern at WNED in downtown Buffalo. There are a few things I want to talk about today, and what better place to start than with a little background on myself.

1: This is me. Dressed for success.
I am currently a junior undergraduate Business Administration major at the University at Buffalo, with a concentration in Marketing, as well as a minor in Sociology. I'm actually from Long Island, and live in a town only a few minutes outside of New York City. Suffice it to say, Buffalo winters feel exponentially colder to me (or so I've told myself) than to native Buffalonians. Other than that, I seem to fit right in, being of Polish descent and having hardly a hint of the stereotypical Long Island accent in me. Then again, you won't ever hear me calling soda "pop," so that may give me away.

2: Jones Beach on the southern shore of Long Island, where I think of going during those 20 degree days.

Anyway, more on myself some other time. The main purpose of this blog is to provide an inside look at my personal experiences as an intern here at WNED. So the first topic is... DRUMROLL... how WNED first crossed my radar and what about them specifically made me want to intern with them. Let's start out with a statistic. At the University at Buffalo, there are over 2,000 undergraduate students enrolled in the School of Management, 2,432 to be exact. This was my first cue that helped me to realize something very important; I needed to expand my learning experience beyond the classroom. This realization lead me to begin the search for marketing internships in the Buffalo area, a broad search to say the least. That being said, I still had a few specific things that I was looking for to help narrow the field. First and foremost, I did not want to intern at a place where my daily workload would primarily consist of making and or getting coffee for employees. If I wanted to brew coffee, I would be interning at Folgers or working at Starbucks. Basically, I wanted to do work that actually mattered, and that would help me gain real-world tools and knowledge that I could use in the future. Second, I wanted to be challenged and to have variety in my daily tasks and objectives. Finally, I wanted to find an internship at a company that made an overwhelmingly positive impact on its customers; an impact that could be seen in people or society, and not just as a number or dollar value.

Truth be told, I was breaking one of the main rules when it comes to applying for an internship; I was being too selective. Just as I was about to broaden my search, I kid you not, I came across a job posting for Western New York Public Broadcasting. Not being from the area, I had little knowledge of the company, but was immediately intrigued after reading the description and skills they were looking for. Tasks included blogging, media tracking, enhancing digital guides as well as a variety of other duties. Logically, I visited their website. I saw the logos of PBS, NPR, & BBC. Simply put, I was sold. I wanted to be a part of an organization that made it Their mission "to enlighten, inspire, entertain and educate all who tune in." And, three weeks into this great opportunity, as I write my first blog post, I am THRILLED to be a part of them.

*I stumbled upon an old spot for WNED from back in 1987, posted below. Always fun(ny) to look back at the past, and who doesn't love a catchy jingle? Watch today's slightly more modern programs here.

That's it for today. Thanks to everyone who read, and I'll leave you all with these words of wisdom... apologies for the lighting.