Week One

WVU Business Incubator

For my first week with the WVU Business Incubator, I interned for 10 hours. Although I was showed around when I first interviewed, this time, I was able to go to my own cubicle (which is huge), and get my computer log-on.

When the managerial paperwork was completed, my first task when I went in on Tuesday was to determine my schedule for the remainder of the semester. At first, I thought this would simply be Tuesday from 1:30 to 6:30 and Thursday from 12:30 to 5:30. Sounds simple, right?

Well, Dusty informed me that I should write down every Tuesday and every Thursday and the exact amount of hours I will work. He's a smart guy - I really liked this idea. I wrote down the hours for every Tuesday and every Thursday for the rest of the semester, and I saw that certain days conflicted. For example, I can't work on Election Day (Nov. 2) because WVU is closed.

So, I have my entire schedule for the internship, and we have worked out the exact number of hours I need. I'm happy I won't have to be frantic when I realize something falls on a Tuesday or Thursday because we have back-up days, and I have already allotted for the days I know I won't be available. This gives me a great sense of ease, and I put it in this nifty calendar format that I think Dusty appreciated.

On Thursday, Dusty and I talked about a list of tasks I can begin. I'm very excited because they are all very interesting - such as creating a document that transfers rights of a song from one party to another, helping a nonprofit develop bylaws and a marketing plan for an up-and-coming company. These are all new to me, and I just want to jump in.

We decided, however, to begin with a social media project. A woman wants to begin a community blogging site for women who suffer with breast cancer. Her mother had breast cancer and documented her journey with the disease in a series of journals - this is what inspired the girl to create this community type of therapy. To begin, she needs a working "terms and conditions." (To protect the privacy and so the site wouldn't be held accountable for private information). I spent hours researching various sites' terms and conditions that are similar to what this site would be, such as other community blogging sites, Facebook and Twitter. I have complied these into about a 50 page document, and I believe I will be whittling these down and taking the portions that apply to use to make a working document for this new company.

I think there are a lot of fun things planned (fun, that is, according to an English/Journalism major), and I am ready to really get cranking the second week.