Intern Diaries: MLive MichFit
May 2008-December 2008
There is no joy quite like working from home. In the case of my internship with MLive, all of my work was done from home, including several phone interviews conducted in my pajamas. I think fleece pants really inspire me to do my best work.
Between my athletic background, past internship experience and flexible college student schedule; blogging about Michigan health and fitness for MLive was an exciting position for me. I delivered a mix of news—like introducing the new walkstations at Steelcase, AARP results on the fittest and fattest cities in the state, and various health and fitness events statewide—and service pieces—like healthy recipe ideas, at home workout ideas and what to look for when choosing a gym.
Most of all, I tried to motivate. I raced more often than usual and invited readers to join me at registration time. I challenged readers to take the 100-push-up challenge with me and my family. Hey, my 50-something year old dad can knock out 50+ pushups, what’s your excuse?
I had a pretty casual relationship with my editor at MLive, who I was never actually able to meet despite writing two posts a week for him. I knew he was busy with other things, and I felt comfortable with my self-sufficient method of brainstorming, writing and shooting photos.
The biggest challenge was finding a way to appeal to a statewide audience from my little desk. I expanded my research to alert reader to health and fitness events in different locations and kept the tone of my workout and recipe related posts broad enough to appeal to other Michiganders.
The cherry on top of my MichFit blogging experience was covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics…from my living room in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. I did my best to localize the Olympic hype by reaching out to Michigan athletes before the games. What I ended up with was a handful of interviews with local Olympians from a rower to four-time multi-sport Olympian, Sheila Taormina. My interview with Taormina made the Mlive.com front page during the week of the Olympic Games.
Each post felt like a challenge to bring better and better content to readers, I loved it. Unfortunately after a few months of blogging, budget cuts at MLive shut me down. I hung up my well-worn pajama collection and put on my dress pants in hunt of my next opportunity.
Links to my favorite MichFit content:
9/6/08 | Fall favorite foods; my Panini-cracker snack | MichFit link
8/18/08 | Michigan athlete profile: Sheila Taormina, pentathlon | MichFit link
6/30/08 | Train with me for 100 push ups by August | MichFit link
6/23/08 | Do more than whistle while you work; workout! | MichFit link
There is no joy quite like working from home. In the case of my internship with MLive, all of my work was done from home, including several phone interviews conducted in my pajamas. I think fleece pants really inspire me to do my best work.
Most of all, I tried to motivate. I raced more often than usual and invited readers to join me at registration time. I challenged readers to take the 100-push-up challenge with me and my family. Hey, my 50-something year old dad can knock out 50+ pushups, what’s your excuse?
I had a pretty casual relationship with my editor at MLive, who I was never actually able to meet despite writing two posts a week for him. I knew he was busy with other things, and I felt comfortable with my self-sufficient method of brainstorming, writing and shooting photos.
The biggest challenge was finding a way to appeal to a statewide audience from my little desk. I expanded my research to alert reader to health and fitness events in different locations and kept the tone of my workout and recipe related posts broad enough to appeal to other Michiganders.
The cherry on top of my MichFit blogging experience was covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics…from my living room in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. I did my best to localize the Olympic hype by reaching out to Michigan athletes before the games. What I ended up with was a handful of interviews with local Olympians from a rower to four-time multi-sport Olympian, Sheila Taormina. My interview with Taormina made the Mlive.com front page during the week of the Olympic Games.
Each post felt like a challenge to bring better and better content to readers, I loved it. Unfortunately after a few months of blogging, budget cuts at MLive shut me down. I hung up my well-worn pajama collection and put on my dress pants in hunt of my next opportunity.
Links to my favorite MichFit content:
9/6/08 | Fall favorite foods; my Panini-cracker snack | MichFit link
8/18/08 | Michigan athlete profile: Sheila Taormina, pentathlon | MichFit link
6/30/08 | Train with me for 100 push ups by August | MichFit link
6/23/08 | Do more than whistle while you work; workout! | MichFit link