After last week's telemarketing experience I had to finish my third script. I came to work with a mission, I was going to start and finish this because that is what I am there to do.
I crack open the book and started reading. Unlike the other two scripts, it was much easier to do research on one person rather than a made up person. The person in question was Captain David Porter of the USS Essex.
I hit a real home run with the book that I got. It also focused on the foundations of America's Navy, which an origin story more presentable. I finished my research and script with an hour to spare!
Once I was finished I did contact updates on the computer system. I finished that as well before the day was over.
Overall, extremely productive day and I was proud of the work I did.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
July 20: Telemarketing
Now that I have two scripts completed it's time to get to work on the third. I stopped by the library before work to pick up a book that I put on reserve. While I was waiting for the library to open I met a lady who talking to me about the differences between East and West Coast. It was a strange and interesting conversation but I got my book and headed to the museum.
I crack open the book, which is about the USS Essex, and the boss asks me if I can do something else for her. Without thinking I say "What do you need me to do?". I am handed a list of people and phone numbers.
I am supposed to call these numbers as a follow up to the membership letters that I sent out a couple weeks ago. Calling all these numbers was a truly daunting task; I have no idea how telemarketers can do this day in and day out.
I don't know how many phone numbers I called but I only got one person who wanted to renew their membership immediately. I did however get many people who flat out refused and they often gave me an explanation as to why. Many of these didn't believe in the direction that the museum was heading (less focus on nautical history). One person said that the new building would obstruct their view. Go figure.
I didn't get much research done but I did get to experience a completely different side of what it takes to make a museum function.
I crack open the book, which is about the USS Essex, and the boss asks me if I can do something else for her. Without thinking I say "What do you need me to do?". I am handed a list of people and phone numbers.
I am supposed to call these numbers as a follow up to the membership letters that I sent out a couple weeks ago. Calling all these numbers was a truly daunting task; I have no idea how telemarketers can do this day in and day out.
I don't know how many phone numbers I called but I only got one person who wanted to renew their membership immediately. I did however get many people who flat out refused and they often gave me an explanation as to why. Many of these didn't believe in the direction that the museum was heading (less focus on nautical history). One person said that the new building would obstruct their view. Go figure.
I didn't get much research done but I did get to experience a completely different side of what it takes to make a museum function.
July 14: Having Some Fun in Preview Center
When I opened the sliding glass door, I pushed a bit too hard and discovered that the door opens more than I originally thought. I asked Sara if I could keep open so I could have a view of the fun zone and harbor.
The answer: "No".
I gotta say that this one of the slowest days I have ever experienced.
UNTIL a group of girls came through asking if they could take pictures of what we have. I said of course and asked what they were planning. They were preparing for a scavenger hunt within the harbor and wanted to use the museum as a stop. I give them a quick tour so they could pick out things that they wanted to use. They eventually picked the octant that we have on display and the submarine display.
Two hours later, the scavenger hunt must have started and I had several groups come in and ask if I knew where an octant. I usually pointed to it because it sits near my desk. Having all these different groups come in looking for stuff was pretty cool.
And donations are still low...
The answer: "No".
I gotta say that this one of the slowest days I have ever experienced.
UNTIL a group of girls came through asking if they could take pictures of what we have. I said of course and asked what they were planning. They were preparing for a scavenger hunt within the harbor and wanted to use the museum as a stop. I give them a quick tour so they could pick out things that they wanted to use. They eventually picked the octant that we have on display and the submarine display.
Two hours later, the scavenger hunt must have started and I had several groups come in and ask if I knew where an octant. I usually pointed to it because it sits near my desk. Having all these different groups come in looking for stuff was pretty cool.
And donations are still low...
July 13: Family Fun Zone Friday
As promised I did in fact buy a costume for the whaler the day before.
I show up to work on time only to find that no one is here. So I decided to walk around the fun zone, it was interesting for me to see all the different shops get ready for the Friday rush. Eventually one of the other employees let me in and I started reading over the script. Even though I did the research and wrote it, I read over it a lot.
The boss comes in and tells me that they a costume ready to go for me. I have to admit the one they picked out was a lot better looking than the one I got. To my pleasant surprise I also learned that were other props for me to use: two different kinds of harpoons (one flu and toggle) and a real whale skull! It was a minke whale skull, a minke whale is the second smallest baleen whale. And that skull was heavy!
I spent the day doing some basic work while reading over the script. I also found pictures of whales and whaling ships on the web to help people get a better visual of what whaling might be like.
It turns out that the whole Family Fun Zone Friday was a big deal. There were lots of volunteers, games, a magician, and a juggler. It drew a pretty big crowd but the most interesting thing was a tv crew talking to people about the event.
Eventually they interviewed me. I should have the link below (I believe 7min is where my interview starts)
http://newportbeach.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=45&clip_id=1590
I like to think I did a good job. And it proved to me that I am doing something beneficial for the museum.
I show up to work on time only to find that no one is here. So I decided to walk around the fun zone, it was interesting for me to see all the different shops get ready for the Friday rush. Eventually one of the other employees let me in and I started reading over the script. Even though I did the research and wrote it, I read over it a lot.
The boss comes in and tells me that they a costume ready to go for me. I have to admit the one they picked out was a lot better looking than the one I got. To my pleasant surprise I also learned that were other props for me to use: two different kinds of harpoons (one flu and toggle) and a real whale skull! It was a minke whale skull, a minke whale is the second smallest baleen whale. And that skull was heavy!
I spent the day doing some basic work while reading over the script. I also found pictures of whales and whaling ships on the web to help people get a better visual of what whaling might be like.
It turns out that the whole Family Fun Zone Friday was a big deal. There were lots of volunteers, games, a magician, and a juggler. It drew a pretty big crowd but the most interesting thing was a tv crew talking to people about the event.
Eventually they interviewed me. I should have the link below (I believe 7min is where my interview starts)
http://newportbeach.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=45&clip_id=1590
I like to think I did a good job. And it proved to me that I am doing something beneficial for the museum.
Friday, July 27, 2012
July 7: A Different Crowd
Gallery Attendant Day!
Back in the Preview Center!
Every time a person or group of people come in, I usually have a predetermined script of what I am supposed to say. And as the summer has gone on I been making little alterations to make it more user-friendly. I believe it works, making the gallery tour a bit more pleasant.
Now that summer is in full swing I had a lot of younger people (teenagers) come through the gallery. I always try to get the most foot traffic through the gallery but by the look of it they really don't seem to care too much. Once in a while a group will ask me what's inside and they take a 'real' look around.
And donations are lower than usual. I'm not too thrilled about that but I gotta keep trying.
Back in the Preview Center!
Every time a person or group of people come in, I usually have a predetermined script of what I am supposed to say. And as the summer has gone on I been making little alterations to make it more user-friendly. I believe it works, making the gallery tour a bit more pleasant.
Now that summer is in full swing I had a lot of younger people (teenagers) come through the gallery. I always try to get the most foot traffic through the gallery but by the look of it they really don't seem to care too much. Once in a while a group will ask me what's inside and they take a 'real' look around.
And donations are lower than usual. I'm not too thrilled about that but I gotta keep trying.
Friday, July 13, 2012
July 6: Office Work and Costumes
In the morning I asked to continue working on sending membership renewal letters to members of NHNM. It wasn't hard work just extremely time consuming.
After I finished sealing, stamping, and mailing off these letters I made a terrible mistake...
I asked "what else do you need me to do?"
Turns out that some (excuse me- many) product order forms needed to be filed in the books. I had to alphabetize the order forms and put them in the appropriate binders. Once again, it was quite time consuming but I know that I helped.
The boss asked me if I was available July 13 after regular hours to work "Family Fun zone Friday". I said that I was free and would be happy to help out. The boss wants to me to be the first to try the script I wrote, the whaling script to be more exact.
Not what I expected but I think it will be fun to try out my own script. I'll know what needs to be changed if something doesn't feel quite right.
I was also asked to go find a costume for my character, Thadius, before Friday. I immediately responded "Don't worry I will not procrastinate and not buy it the day of. I'll buy it the day before".
July 3: Antique Shop
I have lived in Newport Beach my whole life and there is one building I pass everyday when I go to work. I decided that I need to check this place out, it's called Vallejo Maritime Antique Gallery. I happened to walk in during closing time, I explained that I'm an intern at the Nautical Museum. They turned the lights back on and I was able to take a look around.
I have never seen so many model ships of different scales in one location and they all have a price tag. More importantly in the back (I mean way back in the corner) they had two prisoner of war ships for sale. The two ships had excellent craftsmanship and in excellent condition, just like the one we have on display HMS Kent. The two ships were for sale for $16k and $21k. That's a lot of money for bones!
The shop owner told me that making these ships was common for prisoners (nothing better to do). One of my biggest questions about these bone ships is how do they give it color? Especially a bright blue and red. He explained to me that they used berries to give it some coloring.
Overall, a very interesting experience to see these ships when I believed they were extremely rare.
June 30: A Different Approach
And I'm back at the Preview Center. Maybe the upper management likes to put me there. Because of my radiant personality?
Early in the shift I had a group of seniors (they were obviously in some kind of group program) come through the preview center. I told them about the preview center and how the museum hopes to expand with more interactive exhibits. They gave generous donations and told me that they understood what it takes to properly run a museum.
After the group left, one manager came in to talk to me. I told the manager that I already made quite a bit of donation money. Then she asked how do I get people to donate more money or more frequently than some other staff members. I know that there is a script I should follow when people come in but I altered the script to be more user friendly. The script (or flashcard taped to the computer) seemed to be very bland for me. If it's bland for me, I imagine other people think similarly.
She agreed with me and told to keep doing what I do 'cause it works.
After lunch I was transferred to the SMP. (You won't hear complain about that transfer). I got some donations but one group asked me for a tour. One has asked me for a tour before and I was very happy to give them a tour. I enjoyed giving the tour and I explained how I am creating scripts about some of the ships in the gallery.
They thanked me for the tour. Giving that tour was the biggest highlight for me that day even though I made $30 in donations.
Early in the shift I had a group of seniors (they were obviously in some kind of group program) come through the preview center. I told them about the preview center and how the museum hopes to expand with more interactive exhibits. They gave generous donations and told me that they understood what it takes to properly run a museum.
After the group left, one manager came in to talk to me. I told the manager that I already made quite a bit of donation money. Then she asked how do I get people to donate more money or more frequently than some other staff members. I know that there is a script I should follow when people come in but I altered the script to be more user friendly. The script (or flashcard taped to the computer) seemed to be very bland for me. If it's bland for me, I imagine other people think similarly.
She agreed with me and told to keep doing what I do 'cause it works.
After lunch I was transferred to the SMP. (You won't hear complain about that transfer). I got some donations but one group asked me for a tour. One has asked me for a tour before and I was very happy to give them a tour. I enjoyed giving the tour and I explained how I am creating scripts about some of the ships in the gallery.
They thanked me for the tour. Giving that tour was the biggest highlight for me that day even though I made $30 in donations.
Friday, July 6, 2012
June 29: Script #2 and Office Work
When I first arrived at the office I found my two co-workers and the boss having a meeting in the conference room. I was going to start doing research for script #2 but the boss asked me to join them. They were discussing potential themes for this upcoming Halloween. The big challenge was giving the event a name, the trouble with the name was that the name had to be cute enough to attract families with little kids and sound scary enough to get the Halloween portion across.
We had lots of ideas but none them were really that good. My personal favorite was "Shadows at the Sea" other runner-ups were "Harbor Haunt" and "Nightmare on Bay Street"
After doing some more research on Clipper Ships I started and finished my second script. This script is about a woman, Ruth McDaniel, who traveled to San Francisco on a Clipper called Young America. I think this script has a bit better flow than the first so a potential revision may be needed.
I am getting to know my co-workers better and I learned that one of them really likes the Alien series and really enjoyed the recent release Prometheus. I thought thus was really cool because I am a fan of the series as well.
Today really felt like a full work day I even had to make copies...
We had lots of ideas but none them were really that good. My personal favorite was "Shadows at the Sea" other runner-ups were "Harbor Haunt" and "Nightmare on Bay Street"
After doing some more research on Clipper Ships I started and finished my second script. This script is about a woman, Ruth McDaniel, who traveled to San Francisco on a Clipper called Young America. I think this script has a bit better flow than the first so a potential revision may be needed.
I am getting to know my co-workers better and I learned that one of them really likes the Alien series and really enjoyed the recent release Prometheus. I thought thus was really cool because I am a fan of the series as well.
Today really felt like a full work day I even had to make copies...
June 23: A Little More Responsibility
This Saturday I was asked to work the Preview Center again. I have mentioned earlier that this gallery is donation based unlike the East Wing.
In previous weeks, I have been able to get the museum more donation money than average. I feel like I am truly contributing to the museum. This Saturday I am supposed to monitor two excel programs: 1) if there are groups of four or more I supposed to learn how they heard about the museum (for marketing purposes) 2) keep track of how many people come through every hour.
It turns out that a vast majority of visitors are passer-bys who are visiting the Balboa Fun Zone. The Fun Zone is a bit touristy so many have never heard of the museum.
And I had a new personal record for total donations: $23.
I hear that the museum record was $35. At the rate that my donations are going hopefully I can break this record.
In previous weeks, I have been able to get the museum more donation money than average. I feel like I am truly contributing to the museum. This Saturday I am supposed to monitor two excel programs: 1) if there are groups of four or more I supposed to learn how they heard about the museum (for marketing purposes) 2) keep track of how many people come through every hour.
It turns out that a vast majority of visitors are passer-bys who are visiting the Balboa Fun Zone. The Fun Zone is a bit touristy so many have never heard of the museum.
And I had a new personal record for total donations: $23.
I hear that the museum record was $35. At the rate that my donations are going hopefully I can break this record.
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