Self Evaluation #1

Responsibilities and Duties

My supervisor has put me in charge of a variety of tasks. I feel like he looks at me like the leader of the three video interns and he trusts me to get things done. He delegates a lot of the responsibilities and tasks to me because he knows I won’t let him down. I see this not as a burden on me, but as a good thing. It gives me confidence to get the tasks done knowing that he has full faith in me. I accept and enjoy the challenge of being a leader in our department. I was a little shy about it at first but I am more comfortable with it as time goes on and I learn more duties.

Working Relationships

My supervisor and I have a good chemistry. Despite the fact that I am 5 years older than him, I give him the respect he deserves as he is my first line supervisor. I think my age and knowledge/experience is a good reason why he looks to me to lead other interns. I like working for Jon, he is good at what he does and he knows a lot about Video Production, so I am all ears when he shares techniques that he uses. I take in all the advice I can from him and hope to put that knowledge to good use when I get a job after my Internship.

My relationship with co-workers is pretty good. As a Video Production intern, I don’t have much interaction with the front office employees because their offices are downstairs, while we work up in the Press Box. There is one problem I have been having though. One of our video interns tends to spell a lot of things wrong and doesn’t go over her work, which is frustrating to me since I am the one who has to double check it and fix it. I try to help her as much as possible and constantly remind her to double check herself before submitting things but it doesn’t seem to help or get through to her. I try to keep my frustration to myself and just see it as a learning experience because I know that it’s part of the job. I have contemplated talking to my supervisor to talk to her about going things over before she submits them, but I don’t want to make it seem like I am throwing her under the bus or trying to make it seem like I am better than her, so I just let it go.

Our other video intern just started on May 16^th and she is great. She does her job well and makes sure things are done properly. I have been mentoring her along since I have been doing the Internship for much longer than she has. She’s been a nice addition to have and makes our daily prep work easier since there are now three of us video interns.

Learning Objectives

I feel as though I’ve learned much more than I would have expected. I think I have gained the knowledge and tools to be successful in Video Production once this Internship experience ends. So far, it’s been a great experience and I see myself as an asset the Binghamton Mets organization.

SUNY Cortland Program

A few of the classes I took at SUNY Cortland have helped me during my learning process of this Internship. The classes that helped me the most were Information Technology in Sport, Applied Information Technology in Sport, Practicum I & II, Digital Video Analysis and Independent Study (Sport Videography). Looking back on my first semester, I took Ticketing in Sport instead of Sport Videography and wish I could have done it the other way around but what’s done is done. 

Career Objectives

I have not yet quite reached the halfway point of this internship, but so far it has helped me to learn a lot about video production and minor league baseball operations. I have learned more than I would have expected so far and only hope to keep progressing in this field. I also know that Video Production can be used in a variety of different places, not just sports. So, my options are wide open once I finish this internship. I would prefer to stay in sports but if a lucrative job offer came available in something other than sports then I would definitely consider the possibilities. I would really love to get a video related job in Bowling but the sport isn’t growing much and my options there might be few and far between. I have also considered working for the UFC. I think my current internship with the Binghamton Mets learning Adobe Photoshop and Premiere gives me a chance at landing a video job with them. Time Warner also has video/graphics jobs available that I have looked at and considered as possibilities.

Conclusions and Recommendations

So far I have enjoyed my experiences interning for the Binghamton Mets Video Production Staff. I would recommend it to current and future Cortland students who are interested in learning graphics and video. I am not a huge fan of the rollercoaster type schedule (working 80 hours one week and then 20-30 the next week), but I have gotten used to it. I would prefer a steadier schedule, but I know I cannot be picky being new to the sport industry. I may be older (30) than most of the new graduates looking for jobs, but I also know that I still have to put in my time in the field before I can get a better and more consistent type schedule. So with that being said, if someone cannot handle working 10am until 11pm/midnight then this internship is not for them. But all in all, it’s an excellent internship, with great people to work for and with. I would definitely recommend it.

Self Evaluation #2

Responsibilities and Duties

My responsibilities and duties have not changed much over the course of the internship. Since my last evaluation though, I was able to do camera twice which was a good change of pace. Everything else was pretty much the same thing day in and day out. I just became more and more familiar with the equipment we used and the way things were run.

Working Relationships

My supervisor and I continued have a great working relationship. He would tend to overreact to small mistakes anyone made during game but none of us took it personal. I think it’s something he could work on, but it’s not my position to let him know. Besides that, everything was great and the workplace was very laid back.

My relationship with the other two video interns was good as well, although sometimes rocky with one of them (Jess). My working relationship with Carly was better than with Jess. Carly did everything asked of her and did a good job at it. Jess did not respond to us at times and showed a lack of commitment to the job. So that affected us because we needed to pick up the slack. It’s unfortunate, but it is something I have experienced before in the workplace. We were filming a new ground rules video and Jess refused to help out. We actually spoke to our supervisor about it afterwards and he said he would speak to her about it but I don’t think that talk ever happened. I am not sure why she took the Internship since she stated multiple times that she doesn’t like baseball. But nonetheless, she did do a good job when she put her mind to it. My whole internship experience may have went better with someone who was more committed and someone who enjoyed baseball, but I made the best of the situation because I know it’s something that happens in the real world, and there’s nothing I could change about it all. I just had to make it work to the best of my ability.

Learning Objectives

I feel as though I learned much more than I would have expected. I had jobs and responsibilities that I did not know I would’ve had when I first took the internship. I see that as a good thing though. I think I gained the knowledge and tools to be successful in Video Production, if I decide to stay in the field. It was a great experience and I saw myself as an asset the Binghamton Mets organization. I hope they echo those thoughts.

SUNY Cortland Program

A few of the classes I took at SUNY Cortland have helped me during my learning process of this Internship. The classes that helped me the most were Information Technology in Sport, Applied Information Technology in Sport, Practicum I & II, Digital Video Analysis and Independent Study (Sport Videography). Looking back on my first semester, I took Ticketing in Sport instead of Sport Videography and wish I could have done it the other way around but what’s done is done. 

Career Objectives

I think this internship has helped me in many ways. It gives me experience in the sport industry, which will helpfully allow me to get my foot in the door with another team, company or organization. I am still undecided on if I want to stay in Video or move onto something else. I have applied for a variety of jobs, full-time and internships, local and out-of-state. My best lead right now is an Internship in Florida with IMG Academies. It is unpaid, but they provide housing and meals. I would be working with former Cortland Sport Management student Greg Abdallah. I would be doing video related stuff, but not production. I would also be using Dartfish which I used in some of my classes previously.

Conclusions and Recommendations

I enjoyed my experiences interning for the Binghamton Mets Video Production Staff. I would recommend it to current and future Cortland students who are interested in learning graphics and video. I am not a huge fan of the rollercoaster type schedule (working 80 hours one week and then 20-30 the next week), but I got used to it. I would prefer a steadier schedule, but I know I cannot be picky being new to the sport industry. I may be older (30) than most of the new graduates looking for jobs, but I also know that I still have to put in my time in the field before I can get a better and more consistent type schedule. So with that being said, if someone cannot handle working 10am until 11pm/midnight then this internship is not for them. But all in all, it was an excellent internship, with great people to work for and with. I would definitely recommend it.