Tag Archives: management

In Their Own Words: Catherine Charnov ’13

“In Their Own Words” is an ongoing series featuring the experiences of Middlebury students at their summer internships. This summer Catherine Charnov ’13 interned with Universal Records in New York City.

What did you do?

This summer, I interned in the A&R department of Universal Records in New York City. I had previous experience in music marketing, publicity and management but really wanted to understand how musical decisions are made and how artists are found. This internship was the perfect opportunity. Every day, I researched unfound and upcoming talent using online resources and sales charts to present, with a formal report, to my boss for review and the possibility of further research or analysis. I was also in charge of compiling airplay charts and lists of top artists world wide, monitoring sales spikes and online fan bases. I also got to help with miscellaneous tasks such as making CD labels and inserts, setting up instruments and stage equipment in their showcase lounge, and creating manifests for disc filing. We were also sometimes allowed to watch artists’ showcases and critique unreleased singles in listening sessions. Every Friday, representatives from different departments, such as digital marketing, the TV sync team, international dept., sales, etc., would come and speak to the interns for around an hour about what their department was and how things worked. This was extremely helpful in terms of solidifying my understanding of the company as a whole and how each piece of the larger whole fit together. Middlebury prepared me for this internship by teaching me to be timely, responsible, and eager to learn. Not much of what I did this summer could have been acquired in a classroom setting because everything was so hands-on and practical.

What did you learn?

An example of what made this internship meaningful to me was when I got to congratulate Florence + The Machine on her newest album going platinum. She came into the office and we got to present her with a gold plaque etc. It was great for me to realize not only the side of an artist’s manager, AIR representative, and sales team but also how much time and hard work the artist must put in to achieve such great successes. I was honored to be a part of Florence’s celebration. The thing I learned the most from this internship was how hard you have to work and how much you have to really want it to get anywhere in the music business. In A&R in particular— if you are behind the signing of one top-selling, amazing artist, you are golden and automatically promoted. However, if you do not get that lucky, it seems that only persistence and patience are the keys to success.

What are your plans for the future?

I think this internship will greatly impact my future career plans because before this summer, I was wondering if A&R would, after my experiences in other parts of the music business, be a better fit for my interests, and it turned out to be perfect. I would be very happy to get a job after graduation working at Universal Records of for the A&R department of another record label. I love working directly with the musicians and the music they create.

Think this experience sounded pretty cool? Check out opportunities like this and more on MOJO.

DISC Workshop Follow-Up

As a follow-up to this week’s DISC workshop, here are some links that Sheila Andrus has collected from the Manager’s Tools website to help us delve further into how DISC can be useful in the workplace.

DISC basics http://www.manager-tools.com/docs/DiSC_Basics.pdf

How to use DISC to be Effective Everyday http://www.manager-tools.com/docs/BeEffectiveWithDISC.pdf

There are several podcast resources available to you to support your application of DiSC:

The ‘D’ in DiSC - http://www.manager-tools.com/2006/03/the-d-in-disc

The ‘i’ in DiSC - http://www.manager-tools.com/2006/04/the-i-in-disc

The ‘S’ in DiSC - http://www.manager-tools.com/2006/05/the-s-in-disc

The ‘C’ in DiSC - http://www.manager-tools.com/2006/06/the-c-in-disc

Improve Your Feedback with DiSC - http://www.manager-tools.com/2006/02/improve-your-feedback

Greetings in DiSC - http://www.manager-tools.com/2009/06/greetings-disc

Simple DiSC, Delegation, and Project Management, Part 1 - http://www.manager-tools.com/2009/06/simple-disc-delegation-and-project-management-part-1

Simple DiSC, Delegation, and Project Management, Part 2 - http://www.manager-tools.com/2009/06/simple-disc-delegation-and-project-management-part-2

To be a better communicator, you have to be willing to change. Here are four simple changes you can make:

High D: Smile and slow down

High I: Slow down and ask more questions (and listen to the answer!)

High S: Shorter sentences, less questions

High C: Smile more and choose to be effective rather than right

Each of these changes will reduce conflict and tension and will increase understanding (which is what communication is all about).

- The Manager Tools Team

Changes at the Helpdesk

There have been some changes in the Helpdesk structure that I would like to make you aware of. First, after managing the Helpdesk for over two years, Jim Beauchemin is taking a break from management and stepping into a Senior Technology Specialist role. Jim will join the team of Nate Burt, Mack Roark, Brian Foley, Lisa Terrier and Chris Tangora (who will join LIS in January). Each of the Senior Technology Specialists takes a leadership role at the Helpdesk and shares the duties of working with users in Service Requests, or second tier support. This is the group that takes on the issues that cannot be resolved during the initial phone call, walk in visit or email. In addition, each has unique projects for which they are responsible. Jim has had a tremendous impact on our complex equipment inventory and distribution process, and he will continue to shepherd those important functions, as well as continuing as a system administrator for Heat. Jim will continue to bring leadership and his excellent process management skills to the Helpdesk.

I will be assuming the management of the Senior Technology Specialist group and Service Requests, in addition to my role as Area Director for User Services.

Joe Durante, who joined LIS last year, has been supervising the Student Consultants who work at the Helpdesk. I am delighted to announce that Joe has been promoted to Helpdesk Manager – Call Center and Walk-in. Joe will manage the staff who receive initial Helpdesk calls, emails and walk in visits and resolve as many as possible during that initial contact. Joe will also continue to lead and build our Student Consultant team. Joe brings strong management experience to the management team of User Services, and I am so happy to have him in that group.

We are currently recruiting applications for the open Senior Technology Specialist position recently vacated by Dennis Hadley, and so will continue to see the team grow and evolve.
Please join me in congratulating Jim and Joe on their new roles.