Whatdya know!?  My last week of internship business was filled with a combination of EVERYTHING I’ve learned in my 13 1/2 weeks here.  To recap (in long wordy sentences):

Last Monday was video shoot day with Robert Sharp Advertising and BBM Studios on a PSA.    I was a grip meaning I was basically an assistant offering help on the set wherever I could.  This meant setting up and tearing down the equipment, cord wrangling, test subjecting, and reflector/bounce holding.  It was quite the learning-ful day because I was able to witness the use of a dolly and a diffuser and sandbag thingies!   Now I know it sounds kinda simple and you’re wondering why I’m stoked to be telling you this but you’d totally get it if you were me and adored this kind of work!  Plus I got to play with a pretty puppy so all was good.  (Click here for a few photos of the day)

A MABU newsletter printing excursion filled most of the rest of last week.  First there were some “appropriate postal sizing” issues and after (we thought) all that was sorted out BUBBA insisted on teasing me.  At first he acted as though we were best pals then he continued to beep alarmingly at me with the notification “I have a paper jam! Fix me! Fix me please so I can continue being your beloved BUBBA!”  [insert a mischievous BUBBA grin and smirk]  So I spent the rest of the day attending to his paper jams.  Did I mention I had 625 of these things to print!?  What turned out to be the problem was a fuser issue and once the fabulous Laurie changed that out BUBBA was good as new!  (Yay and kudos to Laurie!)  He was finished printing the newsletters in no time after that and onto cutting, scoring, folding, and final counting.  We finished but alas all good things came to an end when our Pre-sorting pals informed us that postal guidelines had changed and our newsletter printing hard work was deemed bulk price unmailable. We’ve figured it out, but your August 2009 MABU newsletter may be a a teensy bit later that usual.

This week I was back to my basic MABU routine.  The only difference was that it was final exit presentation time for me and my fellow interns at U-Mary.  It was stressful stuff compiling 3 years of class, design, photography, video, journalism, public relations, public speaking and elective work into a neat little three ring binder.  Add a 10 minute speech telling the faculty “I’m ready for the ‘real’ communications world” and a posterboard presentation set-up and it’s due to give you some serious all-niter type work.  In the two days away from MABU, setting up and preparing then actually doing all the presentations, I finished.  WE finished.  It was an odd feeling to be done with all that school work but I’m definitely prepared to get out into the world and show y’all what I’ve got!

So here it is.  My last day as your blogging intern.  It’s sad but exciting too because come next week I will be an official (part time) MABU-ian. That’s right! I get to join the MABU crew and continue learning and working and loving my job.

When it came to my internship at MABU I was captivated by the opportunity to learn a huge variety of services and skills.  From enhancing my forte of photography to doing a bit of graphic design to being a cord wrangling video shoot fool to writing this blog, I was exposed to how an agency deals with projects. I learned how my ability to do a variety of things is a strong quality to have in this industry because our lovely communication-ey world is changing to incorporate all aspects of the things we do.

Now its time for the MABU intern’s final thank you’s:

To All MABU-ians…a BIG thank you for everything you’ve ever helped me with and taught me.  There’s truly so much you’ve given to me and for that I am forever grateful.

To Mike who gave me a chance to gain a bunch of advertising and marketing knowledge.  And for giving me a job right outta college. 

To Sarah Franke who helped (and continues to help) me with my writing and for keeping me busy with groovy projects.

To Benny, we didn’t get to work on a whole lot of projects together but the photo shoots were fun and you always made me smile no matter what kind of day I was having

To Laurie, you were always willing to help me and offer much needed printing advice and were patient and awesome with training me with all the print room gadgets.

To LaRae, working with my sister wasn’t a problem, in fact daily hugs and carpooling was fun!  But aside from the sisterly kudos, thanks for being there to tell me how life at MABU is and what to do whenever I got stuck and was too shy to admit it.

To Luke who inspired me to be more creative, ambitious, and out-of-the-box and who offered design advice and tips.

To Cecil for putting up with my lack of website-making knowledge but took the time to help me understand what was what in the web world.

To Nicholas (aka Nick), the super cool techy gadget dude that I didn’t work with as much as everybody else but who was a helpful force to be reckoned with.

To Nancy for complimenting my writing and giving me more confidence in it, it means a lot coming from a former English teacher!

To our freelancer Mike Kramer who shared photojournalistic lifetime stories and encouraged me to take on the world and see and experience all I can in my own life.

And finally to Zander, Sammy, and Alex, we’re all in the same boat with the learning and the new MABU-ness but you were awesome people to know and work with all the same.

My internship here was a perfect match and it has been a lovely summer.  Now next week, get ready to meet the Official MABU Blogger…Me!  That’s right, you can’t get rid of me that easily.  I start my new job here as a Marketing and Communications Coordinator on Monday, where I get to continue my work at MABU as an official employee but until then have a great weekend my lovely MABU blog readers!

I’ve posted about the New MABU-ians but I can’t forget about the old(ish) crew.  I refer to these people in the blog and you probably don’t even know who the heck they are.  It’s a good thing I’m here to help you put faces to the names!

Mike Mabin.  Agency MABU President, Founder, Big Boss Man.  He’s the most chillaxy boss a person of the creative mind could ask for.  Mr. Mabin knows what he’s talking about and knows what he’s doing.  The MABU office is laid back but productive and he’s gathered up quite the lovely crew.

Nancy Mabin.  Vice-president, Office Decorator/Prettifier, Candy Dish Filler-upper.  She does a whole lot more that keep our tummy’s filled with tasty treats, she’s the keeper of the finances and supply closet.  She’s our vital resource to keep the office running smoothly with all the things that MABU needs.

Luke Graner.  Creative Director, Jack of All Trades Guru, Go-to Advice Giver.  He’s the creative type who dabbles in and has become knowledgeable in a variety of services that MABU has to offer.  From marketing and branding to website troubleshooting he helps us all out.

Sarah Franke.  Account Manager, Task Giver, Crew Organizer.  She is the smiling face you see when you first walk through the MABU doors.  She handles numerous accounts and keeps the crew busy with project assignments and updates.

Sarah Benson.  Marketing and Advertising Project Manager, Media Buyer, Super-Bubbly, Makes Ya Smile, Office Chick.  We call her Benny and she is the media buying lady.  She is also has mad chops with the writing and the businessy/accountsy stuff.  Plus she’s the best phone talker in the world!

Laurie Hulm.  Marketing and Communications Project Manager, Bubba Whisperer, Print Room Lady.  She is the one in charge of all things print and is the only one who knows all of BUBBA’s quirks.  Like the rest of us Ms. Laurie is a Jill of all trades who helps with designing, event coordination, media buying, and of course printing.

LaRae Laundreaux.  Digital Media Specialist, A/V Geek, and Treat Connoisseur.  She is the Final Cut Pro Pro plus she has mad Motion skills.  Her design work is off the bee’s knees and she’s got creativity up the wazoo! (Is “wazoo” appropriate for the MABU blog??? Hmmmm…)

Cecil Roth.  Website and Graphic Design Project Manager, Go-to Web Guy, Man Cave Supervisor.  He’s one of the web guys in the basement who gives answers to all of our not-so-web-savvy questions.  He’s the public face of our websites meaning he gets to meet with clients and explain how MABU websites work.

Nick Kramer.  Website Developer, Web Code Master, Techy Gadget Dude. He’s another web guy who does all things CSS,HTML, Flash, etc, etc.  He knows more about all those codey things than I ever will.  He’s also a groovy podcast-er and DJ DJ…DJ DJ.  (a Transplants song of the same name just played in my head for a moment there.)

DeAnne Laundreaux.  Communications Intern, Photo Gal, Multi-skilled, MABU-Odd-Jobs Resource.  You must know me by now…I’m your blogging intern who has kept you enterntained with delightful reading material these past few months.  Alas my time at MABU is almost up and of course I’ll post final intern thoughts on my last day but for now…READ THE BLOG…YES I’m USING ALL CAPS BECAUSE YOU TOTALLY SHOULD READ THE REST OF THE BLOG!  Ok I’ll stop yelling now.  Peace yo!

To quote Mike, or rather to quote one of his art professors, “the way to be creative is to “flip and redefine” the situation.  Turn things upside down and you’ll see things from a different angle.”  This is one way on how to get over those pesky creativity brain blockages that we’ve all experienced.

Currently, I can’t get over a designing block.  I’m stuck in a designing rut and I need to get out of it.  The innate skills are present (and maybe this is a case of the “it’s-just-not-good-enough” wiggins)  but nothing I design is blow your mind right outta this world Fantabulous!  It’s just not.  Thus the reason for this blog.

Whether you’re sitting at your desk, staring at the computer screen, hands poised and ready to type.  Or in a studio staring at a blank canvas with a paintbrush in hand.  Or in whatever place you are, doing whatever it is that you do… it’s all the same.  You’re brain has shut down and nothing works or looks good and useful.

You can be a writer, a designer, a musician, a whatever, it happens to the best of us and sometimes you need to step back and re-evaluate your project.  And other times you need to dive right in with no direction and see where the project blindly takes you.  I was curious about how my co-workers deal with creativity blocks.

Here are a few of my findings.

Sarah Franke, writer.  “It always helps to step away from the project, then come back to it later to try to clear your head.”

Sarah Benson aka Benny, “To get through a creativity block, I just start working…I usually will generate some ideas as I get going. If I still have a road block, I will look to others at the Agency for another perspective and to give me input/ideas.”

And my personal favorites from Alex D.’s list:

“1. Do 1980 dance moves to the song “High Voltage” by Electric Six.

2. Do some laps in my man sized hamster wheel (which I guess doesn’t make it a hamster wheel if it’s man sized!?!?)

3. Stair Aimlessly into my work for however long it take the work to yield to my creative genius.”

So there you have it.  A few tips from the MABU shop about how to get over your blocks and get going on those neato projects and put those groovy ideas that are sloshing around in that brain of yours to use. 

Despite my overly used quote-age of a Bowie song, there have been “ch-ch-changes” a-brewing at the MABU shop.  Last week you met BUBBA, today you meet our newest employees and freshest faces.  They are absolutely faaaabulous daaaaaahling!

Kim Ross, Account Manager.  Ross hails from Gaithersburg, Maryland and is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA.  She’s been with MABU since 2004 and assists in the development and implementation of high-value marketing and outreach programs, especially in the areas of earned media and event planning.  During her visit she was the office hugger (Yay!) and continues to be the all-around groovy PR lady she is.

Alex Duppong, Website Developer.  Duppong is a North Dakotan with mad chops at techy support.  He’ll be working on programming for websites and other internet-based solutions.  In fact, during these few weeks since he became a MABU-ian, he’s already learned all of MABU’s super secrets to web development and content management. How’s that for extreme “chops”-iness!?

Alexander Mabin aka Zander aka Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Expert.  Zander is back in Bismarck during his collegiate summer break from Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, MD.  He’ll be working on search engine optimization, writing and project coordination for websites and print projects.

Samantha Presti aka Sammy aka Job Shadow Intern.  Sammy was with us for a couple of weeks in July and also hails from Maryland but is a Cantonsville lady. She job shadowed and created a new website design and updated the upcoming August edition of the MABU newsletter. Sadly Miss Sammy has already come and gone in a flurry of learning eagerness and total Awesomeness but she still deserves kudos on the MABU blog.

Team MABU is expanding its go-to horizons with new peeps and lots of talent.  And who better to benefit from all these changes, than you my bloggy reader?

And now…back to that Bowie song…la deeeee da deeeee da…ch-ch-changes!

(oh! and I’ve not forgotten about that creativity block tips blog…its in the fingertips just waiting to be finished and posted.)

In you’re readings of the MABU blog by the fabulous MABU intern you may have wondered, “Self, who is this ‘BUBBA’? and why do these MABUians talk about him so much?”  You wondered, we’ll tell ya! BUBBA stands for “Big Unlimited Business Building Apparatus.”  Simply put BUBBA is our printer.  He’s a big hunk of a machine taking up a whole room in our office.

Most of the MABU crew know BUBBA quite well.  A few staff jokingly said “BUBBA!?  Who’s BUBBA!?” when I sent the BUBBA poll around the office.  But all in all, BUBBA is an important part of the MABU crew and he’s helped us all out in some way or another.

Example! Laurie is the BUBBA Whisperer and she said, “On most days me and Bubba are good pals.  Our relationship has grown a lot in the past year from just printing the occasional email or proof to now printing pretty much everything. I have learned a lot about his little ‘quirks’ and likes/dislikes.”

Sarah B. (or Benny as she is known to the rest of us) has a slightly different relationship with BUBBA or as she says, “If it’s not an 8.5” x 11”, one-sided flyer, I’m scared!”  and thus stays away from him.

A normal day for BUBBA consists of making copies and printing the everyday tasks of the crew.  But when he gets a big job to print such as 500 flyers or 250 booklets or 1000 business cards, he’s good-to-go!  It may take him a little time to be prepped and ready for the work by the meticulously, detail oriented Laurie but once he starts he’s quick and efficient.

What happens after the printing, BUBBA doesn’t worry about.   It’s the MABU crew who takes the time to ensure that all projects printed on BUBBA are printed, cut, counted, and packaged perfectly.  Super big projects are sent to other printers but we do have the option of printing a vast majority of print jobs on-site.  If you have a question about our (or rather BUBBA’s) printing abilities give us a call at 701.250.0728.  Or drop one of us a line…contact info on www.agencyMABU.com.

BUBBA may seem like a simple piece of machinery that brings fabulous on-screen pixels to life with full CMYK papery goodness but he ought to have his own bio on the MABU website because he’s just as groovy as the rest of us! (Ooooh!  Good idea!  I might have to pitch that one to Mike.)

Up next, Creativity Blocks and What the MABUian’s Do To Break ‘Em!

I’m in the process of creating a new logo design and to get some design inspiration I looked up some logo websites and researched some books on logos.  What I found was something quite interesting.  That thing was, that in a world where design influences and fun fonts are easily available to all of us designers, there is the chance that a logo you’ve created will look very similar to a logo that someone created 10,000 miles away from you.  You may have gotten an idea from some random swooshy flip on a random webpage and used it without even thinking about it.

The rants about logo-stealing were, in my mind, quite valid but at the same time questionable. Because how can you possibly know all the logos that exist in the entire world and create something completely new and free of influences of these freeware shapes and fonts and stuff.

Here at MABU, the logos we create are very neat.  I see some of them around town and am in awe that someone in our little quirky office created that.  So I suppose my real thoughts boil down to the fact that logos are logos.  They are little bits of design work that brand a company.   And MABU has your back in creating a one of a kind logo (or we will sure try).

Next up on the MABU Blog, Meet Our Newest Employees (and interns), BUBBA, some tips on how to get over a  creative block, and a preview into office MABU featuring all of our new MABU Mugshots.  (I totally sound like a news reporter reading this aloud but hey, its kind of fun!)

I was thinking today as I was busy tweaking designs and creating an ad and updating information for Medcenter One’s Savor the Flavor program booklet, how much more time I would spend on projects if I were to do it the old fashioned way with paper, scissors and glue and whatever else they used way back when designing was treated like a meticulous artwork.

The same basic design concepts exist but nowadays all we need is a computer and Creative Suite and we’re good to go. We hardly touch a solid printed piece of a paper and when we do its at the very end of the process. Just once I’d like to experience what it was like to design a tangible piece of work using the process of days past.

But alas, we are reveling in a world of electronic signals and do-dads. Where a clicking mouse and keyboard shortcuts control all. Where it makes everything quicker but far less like art. I think a good mix is where we should be. Using pieces of texture and feeling a really nice piece of paper or card-stock. Appreciating the smell of ink. The sound of cutting a piece of paper. Sensing a design coming together instead of simply staring at a screen and relying on technology to bring your design to existence. We have more freedom to create the used-to-be impossible so we might as well respect it right?

I’m not sure where this blog is going but its just another random thought from yours truly. Toodles!

It’s what I do best. Well MABU covers the ProAd part…the Guerilla photo part is all me.

This morning I had a really awesome photo shoot on location at a Bismarck gift and art gallery shop. Their website is in-progress and so we took photos of the products they will be selling. I forgot to grab all the nifty new photo equipment that I am learning to use, quite quickly I might add, with my instinctual photographer chops, so I resorted to my old photo-taking knowledge. It was real guerilla-esque photography…we used a makeshift background and went to town under nice, bright lights and no flash. I must say…it worked.

Thus I’m torn. Do you need all the fancy equipment? Or can you shoot guerilla style and still get great shots? I’m leaning more toward a point of view that supports having the basic skills in order to use what’s available to create a fantastic set of photos.

Next, up…internship notes. I’m actually learning stuff. This “stuff” isn’t what I can necessarily cross off of my Internship Goals List but it sure can be filed under the “street smart” category. Or more specifically “office smart”. I’ve gotten quite comfy here and have learned a ton from all my co-workers. It’s quite nice.

MABU Mugshots continued today with our brand new staff members. The return of MABU Alex, the new web guy Alex, Intern Sammy (sorry if this is spelled wrong), and our D.C. affiliate Kim. It was a fun, full house here at MABU today and the day flew by! We’re going to be the best in the biz with a team like this.  As the photographer on this update-photos project for all purposes MABU, I had a great time getting to work one-on-one with my new co-workers. They were quick, less than 5 minute photo shoots but it was still nifty.

In the introductionary mini-meetings the new crew had with the old crew, I realized that we make a pretty darn great team. Our specialties are varied but we manage to work together quite well. ClientSpot, our new online project management system, helps in keeping our projects straight and although we use it a lot we still manage our projects in person, face-to-face.

Technology can be a great thing and we wield it well here at MABU but there’s still nothing better than good, old fashioned talky meetings.