This year is the year of interning, to date this is my (count's fingers) 4th work experience and it was by far the best. In September i'm progressing into my third final year of university, which is actually pretty scary yet very exciting, so this summer, after what seems like fifty thousand (no actual exaggeration) phone calls/ emails / letters later; i arrived at Loaded.
(here comes all the fancy magazine jargon)
Your first impressions of Loaded magazine maybe some what horrified, scantily clad girls and fast cars? No thanks. Think again, Loaded magazine was the cornerstone of the men's magazine, it featured the ever hip 90's lad - think blur and Brit pop. When the first issue of Loaded was published, by the brainchild genius James Brown, it didn't include many naked ladies, it catered for music, entertainment and a basically a downright good laugh. Roll on from 1994, the Loaded lad has moved on, bar the additional pages of (nearly) naked women, there are also pages dedicated to style, in-depth features and relationships. Not just straight up sex, but relationships and women. The Loaded lad aims for a stable relationship and wants to please his girlfriend, sure they will have a good nose at a half dressed 22 year old from Portsmouth, but the Loaded lad treats women with respect. In the office next to the large plastic penis and a rather dirty pirate flag, there hangs the Loaded Mission statement with final point being: We at Loaded respect women, and this is demonstrated throughout the whole editorial content.
I had no idea what to expect.
The Highlights of the Week
I turned up at the IPC towers on Monday morning feeling pretty nervous, i had already interned in the same building whilst at Hair so i knew my way around the large glass tower. And luckily, my friend Abby was interning at TV Times for the week too - just incase we needed emotional support in the ladies loos. After receiving my pass, i aimless wondered around NME, Nuts, Uncut offices (cringe) until i finally got there. The office is jumbled desks with atleast ten full time employees, ranging from the art desk, editorial and picture desk. My first impressions was how friendly the whole team were (all men may i add) they were all so down to earth and friendly. I was seated at my desk, which housed a half drunk bottle of cider and a book that had a knife comming out - i didn't ask.
Each morning there was a team meeting, which resulted in one guy ringing a bell, you know the ear-deafening church bells that they have for the playground in primary schools.. They would discuss what pages needed to be working on, what leads needed chasing up and various deadlines. After a couple of rude jokes later i was set to task by researching various features and jokes. I don't particularly want to go into detail about what content will be covered in the magazine, as this issue they were working on was the September issue, and who knows a sneaky journalist from FHM may read my post.. unlikely but still. Yet a regular feature was a jokes page, where i trawled the internet finding the most weirdest and funny jokes! Apparently i have quite a knack of finding rude jokes..
Another key job of mine throughout the week was researching various topics, whether that be facts and background for a feature, or random facts, trivia and background information needed for on celebrity interviews or even just searching for suitable feature stories. One story was based on a model from Bolivia who has recently become a politician, what a transformation aye! I was asked to research her, but trawling the net only provided me with the same old stuff. I asked the News editor what to do: 'have you tried calling her?'..'well, she lives in Bolivia'..'yes, so?' So after a major breakdown in panic and a very friendly chat with editor he gave me lots of tips on sussing out information and research - something i havent been able to put into practice at uni. Luckily, the research i already had was enough, so i was left to draft the copy needed (eee! - i'm excited to see where if it gets printed).
The Publisher (whose role is to deal with the business side of the magazine) asked me to create an advertising pitch for the magazine, which is odd because a) thats big responsibility to give to an intern whose been there three days which could potentially cost you an advertising contract (£££) and b) that's his job. So after the Editor, found out he promptly gave me a new task to work on a new feature. This will be along the lines of 'What women want, that men have,' and i was asked to come up with various ideas, this was so fun and it was even funnier to read the lad's list of what they want that women have - i can't wait to post it!
Overall my time at Loaded was the best experience i've had to date, even if it was only a week - to cut along story short:
- Two editors had long chats with me about where i want to go in life, what i should do after uni annd they both offered to be interviewed for my dissertation (RESULT).
- All the guys were so friendly and down to earth, i really felt like i fitted in and they were so approachable.
- I got to actually contribute to the magazine, where as i've only worked behind the scenes for other mags, i truly felt i was actively doing something - actually learning and improving my skills.
- And the best thing? They invited me back! And this time, they want to set up an interview, where i (yes me!) would get to interview some one - and i don't care if it's Lucy from Dorset and her double DD's!
Tomorrow, i will be delivering this little present - and some more chocolate goodness to the Loaded lads to say thank you for having me! Unfortunately i didn't know how to Fed Ex beer?
Thanks for reading, i hope you enjoyed this post and it wasn't too long, maybe i should do a post on a guide to Interning? I do have some more stories, but i'll save that for another post.
And a final point, i basically need to get a job at IPC when i finish uni basically because the canteen is like a restaurant and the women's magazines have monthly sales where they sell off beauty and hair bits for a £1! If thats not good enough reasons to work there, then i don't know! (I'll post what i managed to buy from the beauty sale in another post)
