Evan Gundlach, music business, universal, twin cities

Well its been awhile since last time I wrote here but I went out of town down to Kansas to visit my family that I only get to see once a year. I had a really good time, but I wasn’t upset to come back and keep interning. This week I did some online research about radio stations that have had artists appear live. I had to go online and see if I could find an archive of some kind to see the past guests. It sounds a lot easier then it actually is but I found quite a bit of new information. We are getting the information and adding it into our artist appearance database. With this database we then can see which radio shows give the biggest boost on record sales. Since we have radio, TV, and award shows we can also see which type of shows give the biggest lift. Once I got a lot of the research I just cleaned up the database fixing little errors. The music meeting on Friday was cancelled so no new music but it was still a really fun week and I’m glad to be back.

Jon Johnson - The Firm - Beverly Hills: Goodbye Firm

After 3 short months my time at The Firm has come to a close. My final day was this past Tuesday, and I can say that it was one of the most memorable days I've ever had there.

I spent a healthy 12 hour shift covering the same desk I had been covering for about a week, and I was able to talk with almost all the employees that I've gotten to know over the past 3 months, and say goodbye. There are not enough good things that I can say about everyone over there. To all those employees that are at The Firm: I would like to thank you for everything that you've done to teach me, and the words that many of you spoke about me on Tuesday were more than flattering.

I wouldn't change a thing about what happened at The Firm, and I wouldn't trade the experience for anything else. The knowledge and insight that I've gained are invaluable, and so are the contacts that I was able to get.

As I type right now, I am only a few hours away from leaving the apartment and going to the airport, effectively ending the McNally Smith Summer intern semester (I'm the last one in the apartments-Traci is coming back though). I can't wait to get back and share all of the great stories and lessons that I've gained over the summer.

I dunno if I'm going to do another post or not, we'll see....

Cole Hendricks - Final Thoughts

Hey everyone,

Well it's my last night in LA for a few months. I have decided to come back and finish my last semester of schooling. The House of Blues has told me they will rehire me if I wish to return after my graduation.

This summer has been so amazing and so beneficial. The amount of things I have seen and experienced while working and just hanging out in LA has been so much. Even when times were tough, I knew I had to stick through it and that it would pay off in the end. I have had so much fun in Los Angeles working in a top notch urban recording studio and working at the House of Blues right on Sunset Blvd. Working with some of the biggest acts out in the media right now has taught me how the industry works when it comes to production and live sound. I learned that the studio life is not glamorous as an intern but I was able to learn how commercial studios are run. In the end, this summer was well worth it and I would suggest everyone to take up this opportunity if presented with it. I mean who doesnt want to live where it only rains twice in three months. Thank you McNally Smith for the opportunity.


Cole Hendricks
Audio Engineer

Traci @ Key Club, LA-- Music Business: Its so hard to say Goodbye...

Hey all,

Last week held my last two days at Key Club, which means this is my final post for the summer of 2008.  

I know it is common to ease out of work in your last few days, but I kept going strong.  We had a busy week for Jumbotron ads, where normally we might have 2 or 3, this week we had 5... I know it is only 2 more, but it still is a lot for just one week of ads.  I spent most of Monday organizing those and updating the ad schedule.  I also did some demo listening for Carrie.  

Tuesday was my last day, so there was actually a decent amount of things I was asked to do before I walked out the door.  I started off the day finishing the demos for Carrie, sending out the last few Jumbotron ads from the day before, and researching/photocopying press pieces for Zach in PR.  Hollie and Kerry took me out to a farewell lunch at Rainbow, which was a lot of fun, and I learned that I need to stay more up-to-date on current events.  After that, I had just a couple of things to do, and then I said my goodbyes.  

I learned a lot from the people at Key Club.  It was a great environment, and since it is so small, you really get used to seeing those people everyday.  We will hopefully stay in contact and work together in some way or other down the line.  

The reason Tuesday was my last day is because I have decided to stay in L.A. and continue to pursue my career.  Since the job hunt is on now, we thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a little extra time to look, as there are currently no openings at Key Club.  This summer offered an amazing journey from student to young professional... one I hope you (students) all get to experience.  A big thank you goes out to all those involved, and to you for reading.  

Until we meet again,

Traci Larsen, Music Business & Vocal Performance

Key Club, Summer 2008

Jon Johnson - The Firm - Beverly Hills: 2 days left

It's weird to think that I only have 2 more days left at The Firm. All of the great people I have met and had the opportunity to learn from, and all of the fun experiences I've had with my fellow interns and mailroom staff.

This past week was mostly filled with desk coverage. From about the last forth of Tuesday through Friday, I filled in for an assistant who had been injured. The experience was unique compared to all other opportunities to cover desks. It went fairly well on Tuesday and Friday, okay on Wednesday, but if I had the chance, I would definitely take back Thursday. But that is all behind me, and I can only take it as a learning experience, which is what it was.

I really can't complain at all about the opportunities I've been given at The Firm, I have had more desk coverage than any other intern, or trainee (paid employees) has had during my stay. Each time I have sat on a desk, I've learned something useful, whether it be directly about the music business, or something about myself.

I pretty sure I've stated this before on my blog, but if I haven't, even better. Every McNally student with some ambition to do something in the music business needs to come out to Los Angeles. The pace is just so much faster than anything I've ever experienced in the Twin Cities.

Stay tuned for next week. I'll probably split up my blog into two or three parts like my fellow bloggers. I know I don't ever disclose too much on this blog, and so I might just be a little more personal about what I've actually done out here in LA.

Maybe

Traci @ Key Club, LA-- Music Business: and now, the conclusion of our episode....

Hey all!

I don't know if you noticed, but I have tried to have a running TV/Hollywood theme throughout most of my posts... because we're in L.A...... moving on.  

The last of this little mini-series of late posts is from last week, which essentially revolved around... WRAP PARTY! (yet another reason for my attempt of a TV theme) The photo to the right was my Hollywood look of the evening, and since we were asked to adhere to the strict rules about cameras at the House of Blues, the only one I have.  However, there was a professional photographer there, so the school should have some soon.   

The summer wrap party was in the Foundation Room at House of Blues, which was beautiful, and was attached to a large patio.  The venue was great, and you should all go at least once while you are here... but not until after you go to Key Club...

The night was great, getting to mingle with your mentors, peers, and alumni, as well as other professionals in the industry, and if you are lucky you walk away with a few new contacts and friends.  We had presentations to our mentors about half-way through the evening, thanking them for everything they have done for us throughout the summer and presenting them with certificates/plaques.  All of the guests at the party also got these really cool, artsy pins with the McNally Smith logo.  There was food and drink and great conversation.  I could have gone all night long talking with some of the great people I got to meet.  I also got to catch up with some of the people I met at the L.A. Women in Music event I went to, including Michael (the guitarist), and Leanne, the president of the organization.  It was a fantastic night filled with great experiences.  I was sad to see it end... or to see them cleaning up around us as we stayed after we were supposed to, still talking.  

The next day, Zach and I went to Venice beach in the early evening to walk on the beach and have dinner before he had to head back to the airport.  It was wonderful getting to see him out for the party, and start making plans for his L.A. internship.  We had dinner at C&O Trattoria at the beach, which is a delicious Italian restaurant. 

So that you are not confused, I did work as usual during this week, but I figured you would want to know about the party....  

Peace,

Traci

Traci @ Key Club, LA-- Music Business: Busy Busy Bee

Hello all!

I know you have been anxiously waiting for parts 2 & 3 of the previous blog, so I will shoot them off back to back today!

When last I wrote, I had told you about the hectic event week at Key Club.  The week that followed (July 28-August 3) was a little busy, but a little quieter.  We had Oakley come in and kick off the X-Games with a star-studded private party that was a smash!  We also had radio stations in, KLOS and KLSX, for daytime live broadcasts, which is something we do occasionally.  

KLSX was hosting a Battle of the Bands to find bands to play at...I believe it was the station's birthday party, or summer bash.  It ran until early afternoon and ended with one of the host getting "kidnapped" by some of the fans.  One of the many fun things about that was that for lunch, all of us from the office got to order food from the club restaurant and had the option to see some of the bands while eating.  I have to say, between having to sample the appetizers for the L'Oreal show (a request made by our executive chef so that I would know what I was serving, not just me stealing food...), and having lunch I have to say, our food is fantastic!  Plus it is a lot of fun to watch the bands from up in the mezzanine section where our restaurant is located. 

KLOS had a live morning show broadcast with Foreigner as a special guest for which they had a radio giveaway for tickets.  Foreigner was in town for a concert later that night or the next night, so this was kind of a special day.  It was finishing up when I got in that morning, but as far as I know there were no complications.  

Those were the work highlights of the week.  Over the weekend, the McNally "Team" (Debbie, Isreal, Sarah, Zach Taylor, Harry and Alice, and Chris Osgood (no, not the goalie)) came out for the annual Summer Wrap Party, which I will discuss in the next blog.  The interns hosted a little BBQ for our meeting at Meadows about the party with Debbie, Charley, Isreal, Ashley, and Warren as our guests.  Except for a little problem with the grill (no fires, I promise), it went well and everyone left full... hopefully.  

So that was pretty much that week.  Now, on to last week.... can you handle the suspense?

Peace, 

Traci