Allisson Siebenberg COMM288

Journal: Week 1 (1/27/14- 1/31/14)

During my first week of my internship I was thrown directly into work. This was

different than the first internship I had where I learned about the company more and then

began doing “real” work. On my first day I did some background research on the center,

but not very much. I spent a majority of my time helping the Center prepare for the first

Health Literacy Maryland Annual Meeting on January 31, 2014. I created PowerPoint

slides and nametags for the more than 100 people that had preregistered. The Center was

originally expecting around 50 registrants. The Center also asked me to prepare tweets

for the day of the meeting, and to live tweet the meeting,

My second day of work was also not a typical second day of an internship. The

Center was running their first annual Health Literacy Maryland meeting. Health Literacy

Maryland is a coalition of individuals that are committed to bettering Health Literacy in

Maryland. All different types of professionals attended from doctors, psychologists,

communication professionals and dentists are in the coalition. This reminded me that

healthcare involves all different professions. I had forgotten about areas like oral health

and thought of “general” health.

I arrived early for the meeting to help set up and prepare. I was in charge of

helping on-site registrants. Then as the first half of the meeting began I was asked to take

pictures and record b-roll. I was in charge of recording the panelists and I also live

tweeted during this time. For the last half of the meeting, there were three task forces. I

was in charge of taking notes for one task force on a large sheet of paper in front of the

room. I was assigned to the communications focused task force because of my major. It

was great to hear these professionals giving ideas and using terms that I have discussed in

classes. For example, we were making a communication plan and people were discussing

SMART goals, objectives and strategies. This was interesting to hear because I will be

creating my own communication plan in one of my classes this semester.

Journal: Week 2 (2/3/14- 2/7/14)

During my second week of my internship was more of an intro week or “first”

week. I spent a lot of time reading resources they sent me such as, “CDC's Guide to

Writing for Social Media” and “CDC's Health Communicator Social Media Toolkit.” I

also began environmental scanning for the Center and created a Google Document to

share with other employees. I began creating an outline for website post. During this

week of my internship I learned new things about the Center and how they operate. For

example, I learned how they write and post to their website. I learned how the Center

tries to stay on “top” for SEO and health literacy.

Journal: Week 3 (2/10/14- 2/14/14)

During the third week of my internship I wrote information about myself for their

website. I wrote a one-paragraph bio and a picture. I began creating an outline for the

post about the Health Literacy Maryland meeting. During this week I discussed with

another Center staff member how I could organize and plan my environmental scanning.

We decided a Google doc would be best and could be shared across the Center. I created

this and began inputting information that should be shared for the rest of the semester. To

find more environmental scanning I also set up several Google alerts and followed

several blogs and websites.

I also read previous blog posts so I could get a tone for their writing and began

my Health Literacy Maryland meeting post next week. For this post I began downloading

the panelist materials, video clips and images. The second day I typically work the

university was closed due to inclement weather.

Journal: Week 4 (2/17/14- 2/21/14)

During the fourth week of my internship I created more tweets to be shared. I also

began writing a follow-up article for Health Literacy Maryland meeting based off of my

outline. I learned how to use their blog site, which is WordPress. I also found out they

don’t typically allow people to post comments.

I created another posting the Center does called Research Roundup. They share

three articles with their publics and then give them the key findings. For this I was given

three articles by another intern and had to find the important parts from them. I

environmentally scanned both days this week. I scheduled tweets through a site called

Twuffer. I had never heard of Twuffer before, but it allows you to schedule tweets ahead

of time, sort of like HootSuite.

I posted a “Research Roundup”. For this the other intern found three research

articles to share and my job was to find the main point and a key finding. After

submitting it to a supervisor, we met. The key finding I found was more of a “so what”

and my supervisor thought my communication standpoint was a better idea than a key

finding. From now on we I will be finding a “so what” instead of a key finding. It felt

good to contribute my views from a communication-focused education.

Journal: Week 5 (2/24/14- 2/28/14)

During the fifth week of my internship I felt as if I was gaining more responsibilities

each day. I created and sent detailed emails to listservs and the registrant lists from

Health Literacy Maryland meeting.. I began writing another Research Roundup. This one

was slightly harder for me to do because I did not necessarily agree with the articles the

other intern had choose, but I respect her opinions and realized that she picks what she

thinks is important. I also began looking for a campaign of the month for the website.

I was asked to find as many tweets as possible a week. So, I searched my

environmental scans for good articles to share. This week was very interesting because I

was asked to send out two mass emails to the registrants of their Health Literacy

Maryland registrant list. We had crafted an email that I had sent out, to only realize one

of the PowerPoint’s was not activating links. Because of this we had to craft an

“apology” email and send it out once we resolved the issue. This week was full of work

and interesting.

Month One: Overall

My internship is giving me both professional and personal value. From a professional

standpoint I am helping the health literacy field as a whole, as well as the Center itself.

When I helped the Center run their first annual Health Literacy Maryland it allowed the

meeting to run smoother. For example, when I helped a task force room it allowed one of

my supervisors to focus more on what the members were saying while I writing down

notes. It allowed her be able to act as a better moderator. I also allowed the Center to

focus on running the meeting by being one of the interns that helped registrants check in.

Doing this allowed the Center employees to focus on the meeting itself and making sure

everything was ready, rather than signing members in. The posts I created over the past

few weeks helped the field of health literacy as whole because the posts I create help

keep anyone who searches for health literacy to stay updated.

My internship is giving me personal value as well. It has taught me how much I

enjoy working in the healthcare field. I have found that I thoroughly enjoy the people that

I work with. They all seem to share the same values and interests in healthcare that I

have. Working in the healthcare field allows me to feel like I am making a difference. I

don’t have to be directly working with a patient or doctor to make a difference, I can be

writing a blog or social media post to connect with someone.

My internship is connecting to my major as well. It has shown me that my public

relations class will have a great impact on my career. My News Writing for Public

Relations class, which was one of the hardest classes I have taken, has helped me in all of

my internships. My writing is clearer and more concise. This class has also given me a

creative flare.

Another connection I have seen, particularly in this internship, is through the

diffusion theory. The diffusion theory is a about how ideas and messages spread

throughout society. I realize that through the posts I am creating some are being slowly

diffused throughout the community. I recognize that it sometimes takes time for people to

get messages. I also realize that it sometimes takes other organizations to share our

messages for it to reach the broader community. Not every person is going to search for

health literacy. It sometimes takes their doctor, or an organization point it out first.

Journal: Week 6 (3/3/14- 3/7/14)

This week I learned about a blog the Center posts every few months, Bonnie’s

Blog. Dr. Bonnie Braun writes a guest blog for the Center. For this I was asked to edit

and post it. I enjoyed this because I enjoy editing. I also was able to utilize Photoshop to

create a banner for the New Affiliate Faculty for the center. I was able to create a new

and fresh look for this banner.

I created a Research Roundup, as I do every week. This week I was told that

between me and the other intern we should aim to have ten tweets go out from the

Center’s Twitter a week. I created a post that discussed an upcoming webinar that the

Center’s Director, Dr. Aldoory was guest speaking in. This week I created one for the

week of April for the Healthy Schools Campaign. For this I reviewed the campaign and

explained what they do well and how it relates to health literacy.

I also received a new job dealing with their video archives. They have several

videos were they feature important people in health literacy. I was asked to go over these

hour-long videos, transcribe them and then create a new video with their previous format.

Journal: Week 7 (3/10/14- 3/14/14)

During this week I created new postings, such as Research Roundup and

published my first campaign review. This was a very interesting task that I was proud to

complete because I was able to review an entire campaign, but had to make it into a short

blog post. I also was able to create another banner this week for the Healthy Schools

Campaign. I learned how to place the banner on the website and add a clickable layer.

The rest of my week consisted of researching and sacnning for articles to share for

the next two weeks. I found several articles to share via social media for the next few

weeks. The passive way they taught me to environmental scan was not working well, but

also actively scanned and found more useful articles. I found one about a program the

Center helped implement. I also began writing blog posts for upcoming weeks.

Journal: Week 8 (3/24/14- 3/28/14)

This week I was able to begin the video archive project for the Center. This was

somewhat interesting to me because I will be using my video skills. I am transcribing the

video and then choosing the clips to insert into their premade format. I never realized

how demanding transcribing an hour to two hour long video could be, especially if the

person has a thick accent.

As the week after Spring Break it was very demanding coming back to so many

emails. Luckily, I had already made several of the postings for this week and did not have

to complete them all. I created a Research Roundup post and also scheduled more tweets

for the following week.

Journal: Week 9 (3/31/14- 4/4/14)

This week I was able to do more work with the Center’s blog. I posted several

posts. Some of these included, Research Roundup and Clip of the Week. I was able to

complete and post the Campaign of the Month Post and banner. The banner was

interesting for me to work on because although the campaign of the month gave a graphic

for a banner, but I had to make it viable for the website, which means making it myself.

Last week I had created a post for National Public Health Week because the

Center is having a table at stamp. For some reason, someone else had posted it on our

website this week. This was a miscommunication because the posting was meant for the

week of and not the week before. I had to go and edit the post to make the wording and

referencing dates correct.

As I do almost every week I found more Tweets for the Center to share. The

tweets I scheduled during this week were particularly different because we have National

Public Health Week and it is National Minority Health Month. I was able to take tweets

from these two organizations and use their crafted tweets, as well as create some of our

own

Through my environmental scanning I found a Huffington Post about health

literacy. It was very interesting and shared a lot of useful information. I shared this via

the Center’s Twitter. I also found information to share on the site for upcoming weeks,

including clips of the week, which has been a struggle to find sometimes.

I created and evaluated a campaign of the month on National Minority Health

Month and I created a banner. During this week I created several postings for the next

week because on April 8 I will be working a School of Public Health event. These

postings include a summary on a webinar, a Clip of the Week, a summary of Tax Credit

Tool and a post on a podcast.

Month Two Overall:

I continue to find that my internship is giving me professional and personal value.

Writing countless blog posts is going to have a large impact on my professional career. It

is reminding me and teaching me to be clear and concise with my words. I think that the

Research Roundups are helping me with my analytical skills, because I have to determine

the most important points. Creating banners is allowing me to use my creativity more.

The more banners I create, the more creative I am becoming.

I think that the video archive project will also help me in my professional career.

The video archive project gives me over an hour worth of recorded material. After

watching and transcribing the video I have to decide what is most important and what

should be shared with our publics. I have to find what is most important, add transitions

and make sure it is all in a video that is less than 10 minutes.

I also find personal value in my internship because it is reaffirming that I enjoy

working in the healthcare field. It’s showing me how to interact with people with

different backgrounds and different personalities. I think this is an important skill to have

in both your professional and personal life.

I continue to see connections to my various public relations classes. In my News

Editing for Public Relations class we learned how to use InDesign and Photoshop

correctly, which is a task I use almost weekly. Currently, in my Specialized Writing for

Public Relations class we are learning about new media. The concepts and skills that I am

learning in this class are teaching me to write more effective blog posts and tweets for the

Center. I now have a more consistent “organizational tone.”

This month I found that we in a way are using the Agenda Setting Theory via the

Center’s Twitter we share various articles weekly. We aren’t telling our followers what to

think, but giving them things to think about. Which is what the agenda setting theory

does. By sharing these articles I wonder if people would ever look into these issues and

things that we share if we had not shared them. This makes me feel as if my work has an

impact and can spread awareness in the field of healthcare.

Journal: Week 10 (4/7/14- 4/11/14)

On April 8 the School of Public Health at the University of Maryland hosted

“Public Health Research at Maryland Day”. This event was incredibly informative and

interesting. I was able to be at the Center’s table and inform table visitors about what we

do. I was also able to walk around and learn about research that students and professors

conducted for their classes for the School of Public Health.

I was able to complete a research roundup post and find more tweets this week. I

created a post about Public Health Week and the events we hosted. I also created a post

and tweet for an educational session the center is holding on May 10.

Journal: Week 11 (4/14/14- 4/18/14)

This week I posted previously written postings including the Clip of the Week, a

post on comics and health literacy post. I also began creating a banner for the educational

session on May 10. I also helped fix a major problem. The Center had printed out

hundreds of flyers to distribute for focus groups for one of the research studies they were

running had a big error, the phone number was written wrong. If this hadn’t been caught

it would have ruined their entire plan. The other intern and I went to fix this, but did not

have the original flyer. We only had the final PDF. She could not edit it on her computer,

but luckily I could with an application I downloaded from the University of Maryland’s

OIT and we were able to edit the flyer before any more were sent out.

I was given the opportunity to work on the video archive project again. I have

almost completed transcribing and can soon begin to piece it together. During this time I

was also asked to create a logo for Health Literacy Maryland for their orientation packets.

This was fun because it allowed me to work with the other intern more and share ideas.

Journal: Week 12 (4/21/14- 4/25/14)

This week I was able to post the banner and blog post for the event I was working

on. I updated and found tweets to share. I was also able to publish three of the planned

posts for the week on my first day at the office this week. I published a Clip of the Week,

an Affordable Care Act post and an event post. I have found that my attention to detail

has helped me greatly in writing these posts and publishing them on time. I also was able

to work on the Research Roundup this week.

Because I will be out one day next week, I began working on next week’s work

earlier. I wrote two posts, one PatientsLikeMe and a Clip of the Week. My organizational

skills have allowed me to be successful and prepared when I am not going to be in the

office. These skills allow me to not be stressed because I am prepared.

I was also able to be proactive in finding a campaign of the month for May. One

of my supervisors and I had not discussed it recently, but I knew it was coming up and

found one, and she excitedly approved of it. The new campaign of the month is based off

of the fact that May is Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month. I am

analyzing SPOT Skin Cancer™ campaign.

I was able to create the draft for this post this week. I also began creating a banner

for the website. I was able to finish transcribing a video for the video archive project and

begin working on putting it together as a video in iMovie.

Journal: Week 13 (4/28/14- 5/2/14)

This week I was only at the Center for four hours, but I managed to get a lot of

work done. I was able to receive feedback and edit fours pots. I then was able to actually

post the following posts: Clip of the Week, Campaign of the Month, Research Roundup

and one about a new research program by PatientsLikeMe. I was able to set up the new

banner on the website for the Campaign of the Month.

I completed my environmental scanning and made new tweets for after I leave the

Center. This week I was also able to schedule a Thunderclap tweet. A Thunderclap

message is when another organization makes a message for social media platforms and

you share it. You choose to participate in it and then they send it out a certain time. With

a Thunderclap the same message is going out at the same time, by a lot of different

people and organizations, which in theory will make a lot of “noise” or “thunder.” This

thunderclap was for National Women’s Health Week.

I created a post about some of the graduate students that work at the Center for

awards they won. Lastly, I began working on redesigning a Center worksheet.

Journal: Week 14 (5/5/14- 5/9/14)

This week I was able to finish up my time at the Center by completing various

tasks. I created and posted more blog articles including, Research Roundup and the Clip

of the Week. I was also able to find more tweets for the center to share after I leave. I

actually ended up creating enough for the entire month of May, which I hope will take

some pressure off the other staff.

I published my last two postings this week. I was also able to complete two

important projects, redesigning a center worksheet and putting together the video for the

video archive project. These two projects took up a majority of my last day of work. It

felt great to be able to contribute to the Center every week, and especially this week with

these two large projects.

Month Three Overall:

As I finished my time at the Center, I was sad to leave. I realized how much

personal value it gave me. It was a great experience and really solidified that I want to

work in the healthcare industry. I enjoyed coming to work here and all of the work I was

able to complete. This internship has allowed me to strengthen my writing and editing

skills and I am very appreciative for that. One of my supervisors helped me become even

more detail orientated with my writing, and I’m very grateful for that.

From a professional standpoint I think this job has strengthened my

communication skills as well as writing. I also feel more comfortable working on

websites and completing environmental scans. These two skills I will be able to take with

me as I move on to a full-time job after graduation.

I think because I have written in different tones for this internship I will be better

suited when I get a full-time job. I have been able to write about different aspects of

healthcare and for different audiences. When talking to one of my supervisors we were

discussing how the schedule I made for the website shows my time-management skills.

She was explaining how when I go job hunting I can use this as an example showing both

organizational and time-management skills.

Through my internship I found it very rewarding that the skills I have learned in

my classes, I was able to use during my internship. Particularly, my writing and graphic

skills that I learned through News Editing for Public Relations and News Writing and

Reporting for Public Relations. I have enjoyed my time both as an intern at the Center

and as a public relations student at the University of Maryland. I am very thankful to

have been able to have an internship within the university system.