Cube Life vs. Lab Life

By: Toni Thanas, Global Communications Intern

Toni Thanas

Cube Life

“Did I just hear what I think I heard?”

“Yes, I believe so,” my cubicle-mate responded. 

What I heard was a swear word—one so bad that it would permit a trip to the principal’s office if we were in high school.  But we’re not in high school, we’re just living in a cubicle world.  

The reality of a cubicle world is that everyone within a five cube radius can hear what you are saying.  Even when you think you are whispering.  

This is my first full-time, 9-5 internship, complete with my own computer, email, phone extension, and the coveted cubicle.  My only prior cubicle experience has been through watching the movie Office Space, so I knew virtually nothing about cubicle etiquette when I started on my first day.  

I went to set up my voicemail and hung up right away because it required me to record a greeting.  I didn’t even want to use the name-only option.  It just felt so strange talking when I knew everyone would be listening.  

But as the week progressed, I realized everyone else did not share this apprehension.  People are not shy about talking on the phone (or using the speaker phone option either, actually I think it is the only way people in corporate America communicate).  So, although it took me a while to get used to it, I finally warmed up to using the phone.  

When you are not listening in on other people’s phone conversations, the weird, eerie silence is hard to deal with.  Literally the only sounds you hear are your own typing, the air conditioning, and the printer every now and then.  But this was easily fixed with a subscription to Pandora and some headphones.  Now I hear the Lady Antebellum station all day long, pausing it only when I leave my desk.

My cube.

Which brings me to leaving my desk…quite possibly the most awkward thing to do while living in a sea of cubicles.  Everyone, and I mean everyone, knows when you go to bathroom, when you take a trip to the bev station, when you leave for lunch, when you come back…you get the picture.  

Similar to the phone situation, I was at first hesitant to leave my cube—but then I realized it was: 

1. Impossible to stay in my cube for eight hours straight.
2. Everyone else was doing the same thing. 

News flash: people take breaks!!!  

We can’t sit and stare at computers all day long, we would go crazy!  It’s only natural to get up and venture around at least once a day.

After almost six weeks of it, I’ve decided working in a cubicle is not such a bad thing.  I’ve decorated mine nicely and brought in the necessities like lotion, hand sanitizer, etc.  I have even made it like my room at home with a designated junk drawer!  

My junk drawer.

All in all, I would say cubicle life is definitely an acquired taste, but once you get used to it, it can be kinda fun!

Lab Life

Some of the other interns are getting an entirely different Starcom experience with the intern computer labs.  It is exactly what it sounds like…allow me to bring you back to high school again, it’s exactly like those computer labs.  

Travis Ziemke spends his days in the third floor lab.  He explains it best what the experience is like.

Travis in the intern lab.

3 white walls, 1 mustard-colored wall, 9 work stations, and wait for it…not a single window. This is the Intern lab on the 3^rd floor. But if you were to call this room boring, you would be completely wrong.

Whether it’s taking breaks talking about how dope the DMB Caravan was, making plans for the weekend,  showing off our newest free water bottle from a vendor lunch, commenting on how fast our internship is going or cranking Rebecca Black on Friday afternoons, there is always something going on. These are just some of the reasons that our lab is just one of our favorite parts of 35 west Wacker.  

Some of us only work here for a couple days or weeks at a time, while others only come down for a couple hours to complete their latest project assigned from our supervisors.  Not me, I have been here since day one. I had the option to sit in a cubicle and experience that side of Starcom, but I chose to make the intern lab my home and enjoy the company of the other interns. I am in the back corner just sitting, watching and enjoying the atmosphere of the lab.

Yea, I’m probably making it sound like all fun and games, but in reality we actually get a lot of work done. We use each other to bounce ideas off of, ask those stupid questions when our brains are fried, and even gossip with each other the latest news from the media world. We also get a chance to see what other interns and their teams are up to, which makes for an even better overall experience for us. 

From what I hear, the cubicle life sounds fun with all the gossip and cool decorations and such, but come down and visit us in “the dungeon” and we will prove that differently.

Each and every intern has a unique experience in their time at SMG, even down to where they work.  

Whether it is a cube, a lab or a pod, everyone’s experience is what they make of it.  And so far mine(in my cube) has been great!

Mulching, Litter, Sunburns… All Part of the Job!

By: Colleen Moore, Research Intern

Colleen Moore

Last Thursday Chicago Starcom employees took to the Chicago area parks to do some clean-up and give back to the community in an event called Starcom Serves.  

Starcom Serves is a company-wide day of service where employees take a step back from their email, Blackberrys  and media math to volunteer with a Chicago-based non-profit. In a time of economic instability and the negative connotation of Corporate America, it is great to be apart of a company that sees the importance of social responsibility. 

The day hectically began in Starbar, the bar on the 21^st floor, as employees donning bright blue t-shirts and smelling of sunscreen met with their teams and filed out to buses to hit the streets. The research team (my team) headed off to Montrose Park on Chicago’s north shore to help Friends of the Park, the non-profit we teamed up with, to clean/restore the park as well as lay mulch around the trees. 

After a fabulous demonstration on mulching trees (mulching should be spread out in the shape of a saucer, not a mound) our team took to it. With the brawn and back of a few fellow gentlemen manning wheelbarrows of mulch, the research team put our back into it and raked and shoveled all day long. 

Once a few hot hours had passed and the mulch piles began to dwindle, it was time for a tasty lunch of sandwiches, chips and cookies (my favorite part). Lunch also allowed some time to wander Montrose Park and take in the beauty of Lake Michigan. Like many people on my team pointed out, Montrose Park is a hidden gem in the city, where you didn’t even feel like you were in Chicago.

For the remainder of the day, the teams supported the litter pick-up efforts on the park’s lawns and beaches. Many of us followed the dunes and even stumbled upon a bird sanctuary. 

As the event came to a close, teams packed back up in buses and headed back downtown to partake in refreshments and food in the Leo Burnett room. Though I headed home early to tend to my sunburn, I was thrilled that I was able to spend a day of work outside and also discover a part of Chicago that would have never found! 

As an intern, Starcom Serves not only provided me with an opportunity to meet new people in the company, but also allowed time for my team to bond. Hard work, a great group effort and lots of laughing helped the day pass by quickly. 

Even though we have only been interns for a little over a month now, I can see how quickly I have slipped into the nine-to-five slump where you almost start to forget why you are here and why you love what you do! 

It’s crazy how an afternoon outside spending time giving back and making new friends can bring a new, fresh perspective to my internship. With this restored energy I find myself with a new skip in my step as I wander around the office. I hope all the interns are feeling the same!  

It's Always Sunny in Detroit

By: Michele Danno, Media Planning Intern

Michele Danno

Coming into this internship, I found myself approaching two negative stereotypes: the culture of Detroit and corporate office culture. As an out-of-towner who has never worked a full-time office job before, I was apprehensive about both of these situations. However, my fears were allayed after just a few hours in the office and a number of friendly introductions.

To my pleasant surprise, I enjoyed the environment both inside and outside Starcom’s office walls. Outlined by vast windows that overlook Detroit’s bustling business district and the scenic Canadian/American divide, Starcom Detroit is both literally and figuratively a sunny and inviting place. 

The office’s laid back culture is reflected in its vibrant and eclectic decor – miscellaneous posters, toys, photos, and trinkets collected by GM team members. 

How you decorate your workspace, and yourself, is pretty much up to you, as the “dress code” is just as informal as the office’s cubes. There is no such thing as “casual Friday,” as every day offers workers the opportunity to dress how they feel. 

Needless to say, the uniformed button-downs, bland polos, suits, loafers, etc. that stereotypically define office culture have been replaced by jeans, colorful dresses, and sandals at Starcom. 

This random-yet-charming character gives the Detroit workplace an air of uniqueness that represents team members’ diverse duties and varied personalities. Although we all work for the same two clients – General Motors and Harley Davidson —employees are broken up by brand into smaller teams based on individual specialties and areas of interest. 

However, these divisions are blurred, as everyone pretty much works – and plays – as one big office family.

Whether you’re a member of the Chevrolet, Buick, Harley, finance, human resources, or custodial department, it is understood that you’re included in every office event and outing.

Everything from Bagel Mondays, to pot-luck lunches, to kickball games, to happy hours, make the workday a little more enjoyable and the office a relaxed and friendly place to spend Monday-Friday. Even as a “lowly intern,” I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself invited to free Tiger’s games, concerts, and a variety of other “rep events” with my Starcom family. I guess doing work has its perks!

Overall, the Starcom Detroit office’s laid-back atmosphere and informal work environment have given me an enlightening perspective on the once-dreaded “real world” that I will enter once I graduate in May. 

Turns out, fun doesn’t have to end when college does, and I cannot wait to see where this experience takes me!

Everything's Creative...Even the Clothes!

By: Mariel Nardi, Broadcast Activation Intern

Mariel Nardi

As I prepared for the start of my internship at Starcom, I double-checked my New Hire Paperwork Checklist the night before my first day. Being Type-A, as I’ve found most SMG employees are, it was imperative for me to ensure that everything was completed, in order, packed and ready to go for the following morning. Once that was settled, I decided to set out my clothes for the first day. Remembering the SMG Employee Handbook, specifically the document titled “Dress Code Policy,” I was torn between following my interpretation of the policy and falling back on what I had always assumed; which was that in order to make the best impression, a suit should be worn. I vaguely remember my mother telling me “No one will ever fault you for dressing too nicely, but if you aren’t dressed nicely enough…”

So I erred on the side of safety and re-ironed my suit for the next day. When orientation commenced the following day, I noticed that only a handful of the other interns had made the same judgment call. I caught a glimpse of each of them, at one point or another, eyeing the other interns with jealousy…for it was 95 degrees outside on our first day and we regretted not having expressed ourselves in a more comfortable, but no less professional, manner.

As the day progressed, I saw that most of the interns, like the full-time employees, were dressed casually, relatively speaking. Girls were wearing everything from jeans to sundresses to high heels to flats. Boys were wearing everything from polos to collared button-downs to jeans to pleated slacks.

While everyone was dressed differently, SMG employees had one thing in common: they were all expressing their individuality in a tasteful, semi-casual manner that truly reflected the youth and diversity that SMG is known for.

By the end of the day, I realized that my one-size-fits-all paradigm about suits and the workplace didn’t quite fit into the Starcom mold, per se.

From that day forward, I came to know and love the SMG Dress Code Policy and exploited it at every chance; wearing sundresses or jeans and cute sandals, refusing to put that suit on again, unless the circumstances called for it. The unique dress code at SMG has allowed me, the other interns, and all of the employees to express ourselves in a way that is tasteful and comfortable while representing the lively culture at SMG.

               

Below are photographs of some SMG employees who aren’t shy about their love of the Dress Code Policy.