Gemvara Internship: Day 5

Friday was the final day in my first week at Gemvara and it went really well. I had a break through with the theme I've been working on, we finally got back into Pinterest after being locked out for 3 days, and we're continuing to get increased amounts of followers on Twitter. I had my leftover Chinese food and steamed green beans for lunch, and it was quite kick ass if I do say so myself.

But the most exciting thing about Friday was my very first Gemvention. This is a Gemvara weekly tradition where we stop work at 2, push all of our desks together, and work on a project that we wouldn't normally have a chance to work on that is just a little something extra of awesome. A couple weeks ago, one of the guys made a Gemvention ring that they actually ordered for the whole team. And this week the same guy worked on an iPhone case with the Gemvara logo and a gemstone insert with all different colors. Hopefully they order that too because I would totally use one. My project this week at Gemvention was making jpegs of Gem Facts, one of the themes I've been working on. They turned it really well and everyone else really liked it too. I was pleased.

Unfortunately, Gemvention ran a bit long and I missed my 510 train back to campus, so I took the 6pm one that got me back at 7. Since I biked to the train in the morning it wasn't a big deal, although since it was uphill, I seriously thought I was going to die. But I made it back, watched the Greys Anatomy season finale (omfg!!!) and went over to Christy's for a movie and dinner. Friday is chalked up as a success. :)

Gemvara Internship: Day 4

Wednesday night, I participated in a research study for sleep apnea which was interesting. They hooked me up to a bunch of different monitors and basically just monitored me sleeping. It was kind of cool actually because I had my own room with a tv and on demand and they put me to bed at 10pm so I got some much needed sleep. :) The worst part about it was definitely having to sleep on my back the whole night.

Yesterday at work I worked primarily on the blog. My first post was on the Cannes Film Festival which started on Wednesday. The piece talks about Marilyn Monroe as the figurehead of this year's festival and the unpublished photos of her that will be showcased during the festival and then tour worldwide afterwards. More stunningly, the festival's sponsor Brochard designed a jewelry set inspired by Marilyn featuring over 200 diamond carats. The bearer was kept secret until the opening ceremony Wednesday night. For more read the blog! Blog.gemvara.com

Then I worked on some posts for #gemfacts our new theme initiative featuring weird and interesting facts about the gemstones and metals that we use in our pieces. #gemfacts will start next week with our introduction of Alexandrite.

On the fun side of things, I usurped the yoga ball belonging to the girl across from me to sit on. It's a lot more fun to sit/bounce on and it's supposed to help build core muscles and better posture. The office is also currently obsessed with juggling and we got some juggling balls in the mail so everyone was learning. It was also the judgement day for the office-wide beard growing contest. The winner had a 13 mm long beard after one month of growing it out. The Experience Team (which I am a part of) went out to lunch because one of the graphic designers is leaving today to move out west. I had a grilled chicken sandwich with tomato, lettuce, pesto, and asiago cheese. All of my favorite things. With a side of gazpacho. Also my favorite. It was absolutely incredible. I was so pleased. :)

I'll have to say that one of my favorite parts of Gemvara is the kitchen. I know it's silly but they keep it fully stocked with snacks and pop and a crazy awesome selection of tea. Although I still depend on my Orange Peoke every morning, when I get to the office I drink filter water, Hibiscus Pomegranate tea, Jasmine green tea, and one Dr. Pepper. Deliciousness. They also conveniently stock my favorite rice crispy treat bar: double chocolately chunk. Yummmm. :) I also thoroughly enjoy the casual but cute/trendy dress code and the popularity to sit on the ground. I'm just a fan of the culture overall. I couldn't be happier.

Gemvara Internship: Day 3

Yesterday was day 3 at Gemvara and I learned a lot more about my role in the social media scheme. I work a lot with Pinterest and Twitter and in my personal life I use these as distraction and procrastination, but now I'm on the other side of the glass. Now, I'm the curator of the procrastination, so I have to think of what people want for their distraction, not just what I would want as my own distraction. That was kind of a cool breakthrough for this internship. I also learned about the blogging process and you can see my very first Gemvara blog post go up tomorrow! I solidified themes for each day to be implemented starting today! I say in on a strategy meeting of what our goals should be and idea generation of tactics to improve the company and reach via social media. Through the things we talked about, I am even more excited and proud to be a part of this awesome company.

So long for now!

Gemvara Internship: Day 2

The second day of my internship! I had a lot to do today, working on a Pinterest Board for Graduation, which turned into a fiasco when Pinterest banned me for thinking I was spam for pinning too quickly. Then I focused on Twitter. I researched some interesting links to post, different strategies to roll out on Twitter including themes, fun facts, and inspirational quotes. We're also trying to increase our range of followers on Twitter ( @gemvara !!) so I looked into different strategies for that. Overall, it was really exciting and I really got the feeling of working in a start up. There are 10 other interns showing up this summer and I am really excited to meet them, I just want them to get here already!! I also really enjoy that my area of the office has officially become the juggling area. Different coworkers juggle and pass back and forth, it's fun to watch, and I have to admit I am kind of jealous. Freshman year of high school, I had to juggle in gym class and my teacher almost failed me, we agreed that if I could juggle three scarves, I could pass with a C. I just barely made it. But I like the environment at Gemvara and will update you about tomorrow!!

Dream Internship: Day 1

Yesterday was my first day as an Experience Intern at Gemvara (aka dream job)! Gemvara is an online custom jewelry company. You can log on the website and pick your favorite style of any piece of jewelry then customize the metal and gemstones. Each piece is made to order (business school- supply chain fantasy) and hand-crafted just for you. It's a very cool business model and I am super excited to be working hands on a start up that is having such exponential growth. As an Experience Intern, I am working primarily with social media and how people "experience" the brand. Today, I came into the office and got to work on content and different things Gemvara should post about (if you have any idea, please let me know!!), managed the Pintrest account and created a board for Graduation Gifts, and brainstormed ideas to make Gemvara's Twitter more robust by increasing followers and engagement with the followers. So far it's been a really cool experience and I am excited to continue on and keep updating you on what's going on!