Shannon McQuillan

MUZU Portfolio
January 7- May 14, 2015

Table of Contents
Week 1....................................................................................................................... 3
Week 2....................................................................................................................... 4
Week 3....................................................................................................................... 5
Week 4....................................................................................................................... 6
Week 5....................................................................................................................... 7
Week 6....................................................................................................................... 8
Week 7....................................................................................................................... 9
Week 8..................................................................................................................... 10
Week 9..................................................................................................................... 11
Week 10................................................................................................................... 12
Week 11................................................................................................................... 13
Week 12................................................................................................................... 14
Week 13................................................................................................................... 15
Week 14................................................................................................................... 16
Week 15................................................................................................................... 17

Week 1

Complete Introduction Section: See on page 1 of Internship

Journals Description and Assignments

Answer the weekly question(s) and respond.

o What are the key events and features of this experience?

Summarize your tasks and what you are learning for the week. What
connection does the experience have to your personal or
professional goals?

MUZU overall is a fairly new company, starting about seven years ago in
2008. Therefore networking is extremely important. In order to network
effectively my first task was finding editors of newspapers and putting their
contact information in a shared excel file. This is done so later on my
colleagues can access the contact information quickly.
My other task is content management. Content management consists of
going through the content that the company is receiving from major
distributors. The content that MUZU is receiving from other companies is
music videos and popular culture news videos. My main task is to identify
the key features and tagging artists in the video, and then distributing the
content in multiple countries, finally, looking at videos that have potential to
go viral.
In accomplishing my goals I would say that this week was the first step. Being
placed in a business atmosphere and conversing with colleagues was a
completely new experience. More so, I got a taste of what the business world
is like and how people behave in the business world.
Over all, I believe that it is slowly helping me to decide if I feel ready to be
placed in this setting in the next two years of if I feel the need to continue on
with my education.

Week 2

First Video Due: See Assignment In Portfolio Information

Answer the weekly question(s) and respond.

o What assumptions are you making about the people involved in this
experience, including yourself?
o What did you observe about your behaviour and actions and those of
others?

Summarize your tasks and what you are learning for the week. What
connection does the experience have to your personal or
professional goals?

The assumptions that I am making from the people involved in this experience is
that they are social and hard-working. The environment itself is very playful. The
room is very open with a ping-pong table and decorative couches along the ends of
the walls. They dont have standard desks for working, instead two large tables with
employees all around it. This makes it easier for conversation to flow throughout the
room. Throughout the day employees ask each other for opinions about videos to
upload to the site or recent news updates. Conversation always seems welcome.
The employees seem to really enjoy their job and enjoy each others company. The
job itself does not seem to stress anyone out. All the employees know the tasks
they need to get done and do so. As stated that it is a social environment, however,
conversation seems to be productive and in line with the companies objectives.
The assumptions that I am making for myself is that I can handle whatever they
throw at me. They are very helpful and are open to answer any question I have for
them. As I get further into it I may be able to do more things but for now it is just
understanding the basics of content management.
My behavior so far has been timid. The environment itself is unlike any environment
I have ever been in. This is because a majority of the companys employees are
international. Getting to know how to interact with people from different cultures is
something I havent dealt with before. There is someone from England, Spain,
France, Poland and Ireland so everyone has a completely different background.
Being timid I think is how I am responding to the new experience and trying to
figure out how to act appropriately around my colleagues.
This week I learned about uploading videos, google analytics and furthered my
understanding of content management. Out of the three, I believe google analytics
will help me in the future. I have never used google analytics and learning about it
opened my eyes to many possibilities. This is because many business today use it
and it crucial to understanding data and using it effectively.

Week 3

Learning Plan Draft Due

Answer the weekly question(s) and respond.

o What does this experience point out to you about you own attitudes,
biases, or preferences?
o What are you learning about yourself through this internship?

Summarize your tasks and what you are learning for the week. What
connection does the experience have to your personal or
professional goals?

The experience at MUZU has really opened my eyes to finding out how I respond to
diversity and what kind of career I would like to have in the future. The company
that I work at is international. There are employees from all over the world whose
second language is English, which I find very unique. This makes things a little
though because sometime I have trouble understanding them and sometimes they
have trouble understanding me. Although everyone speaks English
miscommunication is a factor that may contribute to errors made in the future. But
looking in to my future career path I would love to work in an area similar to the
MUZU environment. Since it is so international there is so much to learn. From the
difference in work ethic to the style of music they prefer, everyone seems to be
unique and willing to share their culture.
After this week I think keeping a positive attitude is key. Getting to know one
another and seeing how they respond to diversity helps with understanding one
another. Which I find new and exciting, that is why I would want to stay in an
international environment.
This week I am learning how to interact with collages which is important. It is
important because it is not something you can pick up in the classroom, you must
experience it. A lot of the employees are young and fresh out of college. Because
some of them are so close in age with myself remaining professional is key. I think
that they and I have done a good job remaining professional and our conversations
in line with the companys objectives.

Week 4

Answer the weekly question(s) and respond.

o Reflect on your cultural experience; think about an attitude or opinion,
a social situation, learning a new word, a new food and response in one
or two paragraphs. Do not limit yourself to these examples.
Describe the experience
How did the experience make you feel?
What did you learn from it?

Summarize your tasks and what you are learning for the week. What
connection does the experience have to your personal or
professional goals?

At the company my cultural differences is very apparent. Many employees are from
all over Europe. At first I was intimidated but as time goes on I have become more
comfortable. What I have found is that I share in the same ideals as my coworkers.
We are all working in the interest of the company. I do not feel as though anyone is
competing against each other but working together as a team. I was learning about
digital marketing today with Peter, my Irish coworker. As we were working he was
having trouble with a program so he walked across the room and asked Alek, Polish
worker, who graciously helped him out. Everyone is willing to set time aside to help
because that is in the best interest of the company.
This experience makes me feel happy. I am glad that I work in such a friendly and
social environment. It doesnt make it seem like work or a job. This is my first time
in Europe and truly meeting people from different cultures. I see them twice a week
for 16 hours total. So I really feel like I am getting to know the other employees.
The biggest challenge that I face is not that we speak different languages is that we
use different phrases. A common Irish phrase is How you getting on? When I was
first addressed this question I had no response, I didnt know how to respond. This is
the biggest communication challenge I feel that I have faced.
This week I have learned about more about online marketing. Peter has been
showing me the strategies of online marketing. They use google AdWords. So far
each week he teaches me a little bit more about the program itself. This week I
made a list of the top 40 songs and next week the plan is to go through those songs
and make an ad campaign.

Week 5

Learning Plan Final Due

Answer the weekly question(s) and respond.

o How does this experience contradict or challenge your academic
knowledge?
o What, if anything, do you feel uncomfortable about in this situation?

Summarize your tasks and what you are learning for the week. What
connection does the experience have to your personal or
professional goals?

This experience had made me have reflect on my previous knowledge and make
decisions based on that. I work for a music company and my task this week was to
build playlists for the US. It sounded easy but when I started I faced many obstacles.
One was to build a playlist sorority girls would listen to. In order to do that I had to
do research on sorority websites and look on Facebook to see what my friends who
were in sororities were into. It became very stereo typical. But I had to reflect on
who I knew that was in sororities and just think about how I would access that
information. Therefore this allowed me to think in the eyes of the customer and get
creative on how I would do that to appeal to that particular audience/consumer.
In the situation the only things that make me feel uncomfortable is that the
music I am choosing doesnt correspond what the company is looking for. It is hard
to figure out what taste in music people like. So when I am making playlists for girls
in a sororities or one for a pre-rugby game warm-up I am unsure of what they boss
is looking for. It is very ambiguous. Therefore research is important but at the end of
the day it is determined whether the consumer will listen to it or not. Through this
the phrase numbers dont lie really meant something. This is because I able to
access to who watched the music videos and if they shared/liked the video. So the
numbers determine if the playlist was a success or not.
What I learned this week was how to build playlists and make them Go live.
This is very important part of the company. Playlist are what keep people on the
website therefore generating money. I think learning how to manage and post
things on the site will be important for my future career. This is because a lot of
advertisement is done online and through social media. Therefore, having an
understanding of how it works is important.

Week 6

Go back to Week 1 and fill in information on the organization that

you did not know for the Introduction at the beginning of the
internship.

Answer the weekly question(s) and respond.

o What are you learning about yourself? About others? About the world
around you?

Summarize your tasks and what you are learning for the week. What
connection does the experience have to your personal or
professional goals?

This week learned how important it is to take what I have learned in college and
apply it into my internship. This week I learned how to make a blog. I had learned
code in CIT 110 that really helped me out. Without knowing how use code I would
have been struggling in making the blog post. Because of the previous knowledge I
had I was successful in the task and my advisor was pleased with me. The blog went
live on the website on Thursday the fifth of March. It was really rewarding seeing my
contribution on the companys page.
I have learned that I can speak up without a problem in the workforce. If I have a
question I am capable of finding a solution through the help of others or my own
will. But what I have learned about other people in my work place is that they
genuinely want each other to succeed and feel welcomed. Every time anyone walks
in or out of the door they are acknowledged with a warm smile.
I am learning that the world around me is a busy place. It may seem like people
scattered everywhere but these people are also individuals with their own life.
Working right new Grafton Street I see it all. I see the homeless, working class,
tourist, and many kinds of people. All these people who have their own life set out
for themselves. I sat at lunch on Thursday people watching. A man about 20 was
handing out fliers. Most would walk by ignore him others would stop and chat with
him for a while. Later on I see a man in a business suit also about 20 creep up
behind him and startle him. It appeared to be on of this close friends. They chatted
for about 20 minutes and the business man went on his way. The man handing out
fliers continued to do his job until I left to head back to work. I learned and saw that
everyone goes their own ways in life, in this case jobs, and you can still have a good
laugh and catch up with a friend every once in a while.
This week I learned how to make a blog post and research artists. I continued on
with my research. I stumbled upon some companys while doing my research of
some that I may want to work for in the future. But I am getting more comfortable
and vocal in the work place which will help me in the future.

Week 7

Answer the weekly question(s) and respond.

o What emotions and thoughts does this experience trigger in you?
o What are you observing about your work environment? If you could,
what are two things you would keep and two things you would
change?

Summarize your tasks and what you are learning for the week. What
connection does the experience have to your personal or
professional goals?

The emotions that trigger me through this experience is reassuring. I feel that I am
preparing myself for the future. Often times I think about my future career and get
anxious. Having this internship makes me feel that I am taking a step forward in the
right direction. I am learning and touching on the surface level of what I will be
doing in the future and I feel confident in it.
Things that I am observing in the work environment is often people eat at their
desks. It is accepted in this company to do so. I think it is because a lot of them like
to leave early therefore eating throughout the day and skipping their lunch break
allows them to get off earlier.
I also have noticed that people are in and out of meetings all day. Sometimes they
email back in forth or on the phone. What I find interesting is to see when they
decide to meet in person or online. I think this is an extremely important to figure
out which one would be more effective for a few reasons. One of the reasons is that
employees get mad if a meeting could have been through email. Others are if
someone is late to a meeting due to traffic. But either way learning and seeing this
is very interesting.
Two things that I would change about my environment is that I wish I had a desk
and a computer to use. I currently sit at a table where my leg is wedged in between
the leg of the table. I wish there was a computer anyone could use that is fast. I
currently use my laptop and it doesnt have a cord to connect to the internet,
therefore it is slow.
I like how open the environment is and how the space is used. The room is open and
a majority of the group is open. The space of the room is effective because its open
enough and easy to walk around in despite the amount of people in the room.
I am currently using excel. I am learning how to use it effectively. The more I am
using it the better I am getting at it.
This experience is bringing me closer to my goals because it is helping me get a
grasp of an overall business atmosphere. This is important because when I do start
my career I will not be shocked. Also getting to interact with coworkers is helpful
because I am working on holding professional conversations with them.

I have also been a little sick this week, nothing contagious. But it has taught me
about handling a cold in the office environment. It often times was uncomfortable
but using tissues and washing hands constantly is important for sanitary reasons
and respect of my coworkers.

Week 8

Answer the weekly question(s) and respond.

o You will soon have to represent this internship on your resume. Write
three bullet points about this internship now, while it is fresh in your
mind.

Summarize your tasks and what you are learning for the week. What
connection does the experience have to your personal or
professional goals?

This week was a unique week for me. I had one day considering that Tuesday was
St. Patricks Day and it is a bank holiday. The other unique aspect was the CEO
called me into his office discussing if I wanted a full time job there. I told him I would
consider it and let him know on Tuesday. I think that this would be a great
opportunity for my future goals. It will really submerse me in the working world. I
would have a new role in the company and an important one in fact. He told me I
would be working the United States media including the Facebook and Twitter page
and I would be compensated for it. He said that I would also have to go through a
trial period to see if I can handle the job. He seemed excited but also assured me
that there was no pressure to stay if I have to head back to the US.
This experience really made me feel confident that I am doing a good job and
makes me look forward to the future in my possible career in this field.
The tasks that I did was managing content, writing code for blogs, and going
through news feed seeing if the content was relevant to the companys goals.
For my personal goals this week I felt like I was taking a step in the right direction. I
feel as though I am more confident talking and asking questions to coworkers. Being
vocal and confident is important. I feel a lot more confident in the work environment
this week.

Week 9

Second Video Due: See Assignment In Portfolio Information

Answer the weekly question(s) and respond.

o What gaps do you recognize in your knowledge and/or skills related to
this experience?
o What is a challenge you have been presented with? How did you
handle it? What, if anything, would you do differently if presented with
the challenge again?

Summarize your tasks and what you are learning for the week. What
connection does the experience have to your personal or
professional goals?

Some of the gaps that I recognize is that I am not confident on my work. Sometimes
I am unsure of what I should do even though I am doing everything right.
Excel is something that I would like to get better at. There are so many short cuts
and cheats that would make working with excel so much easier. I use excel when
working when finding editors for online newspapers and I take down all of their
contact information.
I think the biggest challenge is staying focused when I am looking for editors.
When I look for editors or writers for newspapers or blogs often times their news is
celebrity news which I find interesting. Therefore staying on task and not getting
distracted by the news article is something I struggle with.
This week a Russian intern came. I taught her my job because she is going to
take over for me. It was cool teaching her all I knew. It made me realize how much I
have learned the past two months about content management and the company
dynamic in general.
Working with the Russian intern has taught me how to communicate with
employees especially when it comes to training them in. It takes a lot of patience
and understanding. I also felt confident in teaching her the ropes with helped a lot.
But this will just help me in the future when I may have to train others in when
coming to the company.

Week 10

Answer the weekly question(s) and respond.

o How would you describe this internship to an adult relative (e.g. aunt
or uncle) using only three sentences?
o If you were describing it at an interview, what would you tell them?
o What are the differences between those descriptions?

Summarize your tasks and what you are learning for the week. What
connection does the experience have to your personal or
professional goals?

If I was describing this internship in three sentences I would stay: Working at MUZU
has given me a look into the international business world. The company is fill many
types of people with many different origins: from vocal British business men to quiet
French computer technicians. The internship has taught me a lot and opened my
eyes to many career opportunities.
In an interview I could tell them that I worked at an international Music video
website that displayed content to all over Europe and the United States. My job
there was that I managed the content coming in through all over the world as well
as managing the United States social media for the company.
The difference here is that in the interview I am trying to sell the company more and
leaving it a little vague. This is because in an interview setting you want to sound as
though you can transfer you skills that you have learned over to the company you
are interviewing for.
This week I had a conference call with a man named Andy from London. He showed
me how to post things on Facebook and Twitter was well as managing the US front
page. It was very helpful. What was nice too is that he added things on to what I
already know. I really feel like over this internship I have really learned how to
navigate throughout the page well. There are many layers to the site and it really
just take time getting used to.

Week 11

Answer the weekly question(s) and respond.

o What have you learned from the tasks (about yourself or more
generally)?
o How does this cultural experience fit into your personal and
professional goals?

Summarize your tasks and what you are learning for the week. What
connection does the experience have to your personal or
professional goals?

Lately I have been working on the Twitter and Facebook accounts for the USA page.
What I have learned is to edit, edit, edit. This is because I write the posts in the
morning and schedule them to be posted through the day and night (keep in mind
the 6 hour time difference from Ireland to Iowa). Therefore a post I make in the
morning may change by the end of the day whether it is because the company has
a new idea for the day or I have made a grammatical error. So what I have learned
is that my ideas change from morning to evenings. Also I could read over a post
hundreds of times in the morning and not catch a mistake until I see it in the
evening.
The cultural experience has fit into my goals by getting know other
backgrounds. I got moved desks and I currently sit by a French student. Talking to
him and getting to know him more fits my personal goal.
In terms of my professional goals I am learning that the more familiar I am
with a task the quicker I get it done. Last week it took me and entire work day to
complete the social media tasks I was assigned to do and by this week it took me
about half the day.
This week I am learning more about efficiency and getting to know the social
media sides of things. Social media is becoming major in companies today. How the
media is distributed to the consumers reflects the company and their image.

Week 12

Answer the weekly question(s) and respond.

o What connections did you expect to find between your classroom work
(USA and Ireland) and the real world of the workplace?

Summarize your tasks and what you are learning for the week. What
connection does the experience have to your personal or
professional goals?

Some connections that I have found is that everyone is willing to help each other
out. In the classroom if I did not understand something the person next to me would
help me until I understood. The same is with the work place. I had trouble making a
channel on the website and Andy who works in the London based helped me out via
email until I understood. Also the person next to me is from France and had trouble
sending an email, he was looking to CCI someone and couldnt figure it out. I
explained to him that when using Outlook CCI is actually BCC. Together
everyone helps each other out in the work place as they would in the classroom.
This week I was learning how to work the companys Pinterest page. It should have
been a somewhat easy task however I am not a Pinterest user so it took me awhile
to get adjusted. What this is helping me with is adaptability. Learning how to use
different social media sites and creating an image for the company is extremely
important. Learning how to adapt and try to keep the same image while adjusting to
the social media cultures that changes from site to site is something important now
a days.
This week I feel very confident in my work. It defiantly is coinciding with my career
goals. This is because I am interacting with coworkers with more confidence than I
was in week one. I was on my own most of the day and once I finish a task I would
carry on with the next one. This really showed me that the more you are in an
environment the more confident and knowing your role. Week one I was having
trouble understanding the role I had in the company and this week I finally
understood it.

Week 13

Answer the weekly question(s) and respond.

o What are you doing during the break?
o How is this contributing to your international experience?
o Describe a cultural experience with the same questions as Week 4.

Summarize your tasks and what you are learning for the week. What
connection does the experience have to your personal or
professional goals?

During lunch break I walk around for about an hour and eat. I am normally a pretty
active person so having an hour off for lunch is nice. I enjoy being outside and
stretching my legs so often time I find myself walking around St. Stephens Green
during lunch break.
This contributes to my international experience by getting to know the culture of
City Centre and all the types of people there. There are many tourist, businessmen
and international students that hangout most in the park. Therefore I find that
seeing different types of people interact in certain ways is very interesting.
This experience really makes me feel happy. I enjoy every minute of it. I got to work
at a reasonable hour, stay on task, and get what I needed to do done successfully. I
learn that I am prepared for the work force and no job that I have been faced is
beneath me nor is it above me. I am capable of doing the tasks assigned and I
should do it with more confidence because my supervisors have been pleased with
my work.
This week I made social media posts on Facebook and Twitter. I also wrote a blog on
John Lennons glasses being auctioned off this week. Writing for the blog was
interesting. I had to do a lot of research and condense the information because
customers that view our website like short and concise articles. So I got all of the
information I believed I needed for the article and that viewers would like and
condense! Condense! Condense! I learned a lot about writing blogs mostly by doing
and looking at how other websites make supplemental blogs.
I think this goes online with my career goals. In the future I will have to research and
summarize the information as effetely as possible. As the future come people are
preferring summarized articles with just the details therefore learning how to
condense information is important.

Week 14

Answer the weekly question(s) and respond.

o How have your expectations and reality been the same or different in
the international setting compared to what you might find in the US?

Summarize your tasks and what you are learning for the week. What
connection does the experience have to your personal or
professional goals?

The office was a lot less intimidating than I originally thought. I remember going into
the office and being extremely nervous and unsure on how to act. But working with
people from all over Europe I have found everyone very welcoming. Although
because of cultural differences people respond to situations differently. For example
one of my female Spanish workers will see something she really likes and everyone
in the room can hear and tell that she is over joyed by the large smile and gasp she
makes.
I feel that the US setting is a little stricter than the Irish business setting. For
example workers come in between 9 and 10 and never seems to be consistent.
Whereas I feel that the American business world is a little more punctual and would
be coming in a little before 9 so that they can start work right at 9. I havent
personally been in the American business world so this is just based off of watching
my parents go to work.
This week I learned about using my creativity to make blog posts. My last few years
in school I felt as though my creativity was being pushed aside because I was
learning topics that needed to be learned. But I never seemed to use my creative
side until this experience. I really enjoyed this aspect. It is something that I may
want to pursue in the future.