Last Wednesday of Fall Semester!

Hello fellow interns!

I hope you are all surviving the hectic times of finals. It is always so easy to get overwhelmed and bogged down by the end of the semester that we forget how much we have accomplished these past weeks! I was reflecting on not only this semester but my time with Robert Roe. I have been so blessed and fortunate to have this opportunity and to work with such a devoted, dedicated, and inspired woman like Naseem. Throughout this entire experience so far she has been a boss and friend, keeping me motivated and working. I am always inspired by her constant drive and motivated ideas. I am still trying to be sure I am doing just what I need to be doing to best help and further the store. I absolutely love social media and customer service so I hope to continue to help build those two things in the New Year!

Today I will be dropping off more presents that my sorority of Alpha Phi helped supply the adopted family with. When we adopted the family I knew we wanted to spread the word: so I contacted the McMinnville news register to run a story on it, as well as emailed all of Greek Life about it. I hoped that we could inspire people to give back this holiday season! I was happy to see that many people genuinely wanted to help out and give back! I will be dropping off more of the presents today, and I am so excited to make a difference this holiday season!

I worked this past weekend both Saturday and Sunday. Sunday was extremely slow which is frustrating - I want to be able to move more inventory! I want to brainstorm ideas to keep inventory flowing and make Sundays a bit more lively!

I hope everyone is doing well with their finals, and ready for a lovely break!

See you in 2013!

Thanks,

Olivia

More Cupcake updates

Hello all,

Happy holidays to everyone! This week at Cupcake was like all other weeks working there.  I worked Tuesday from 2:30-6.  It was pretty slow so I was able to get a little bit of studying in done.  But we got new inventory in which was exciting.  We were able to get another box full of our super popular neck warmer infinity scarves.  Also in 2 new colors, deep purple and blue!  Those things sell so fast it's unbelievable! But other than the few new items, Tuesday was like most other Tuesdays.

I also worked on Saturday from 2-5 instead of the usual 11-5.  This was because Sam and Sara worked in the morning due to the fast that it was Cupcakes, as well as all of 3rd streets, Holiday sale.  We had $10 all outerwear and there was music and cake pops.  The store was all rearranged and it was super busy when I arrived to help.  Usually from 3-5 on Saturdays it's pretty slow, but not yesterday. There were constantly people coming in and out of the store all the way up until the store closed! I really enjoyed being there for the huge Holiday sale and being so busy all the time.  Even though I had finals to study for I like working for a little bit during the Holiday sale for a break from finals studying.

So Saturday was really fun and I enjoyed seeing so many people in Cupcake. Cupcake also got second place for the best window display on 3rd street! I love the window display in Cupcake. It's just a Christmas tree that is all decorated in fun girly ornaments that are for sale.  It's good advertising and it is super cute!

Well that's about it. Good luck with finals!

~Hannah Duge

Willamette Valley

Hi All,

WVMC is going well. I'm pretty much doing the same duties each time, just with different patient interactions. On Sunday night I sat with a patient who was going through alcohol poisoning. He also was a little mentally not there but I was helping the nurses by distracting him so he would stop trying to walk away while his IV was still in. At first I was a little nervous, not knowing anything about him, but overall I enjoyed having that much patient interaction. Today, three different prison inmates and an overdosed male was in the Emergency Department. I was noticing a theme with myself: I was scared when I saw these people. I think the hand cuffs and jumpsuits were just sights I don't typically see everyday, just as I don't believe I've have many interactions with drug addicts. I made sure to watch what room they were in and to not have interactions with them. That is a huge difference between my pre-nurse practitioner self and the nurses. They treated them like every other patient, giving them as much care as the next person. I was too scared to even walk by their rooms. It really made me think of how I will be dealing with people from all backgrounds as a nurse and nurse practitioner. I am sure it is something I will get used to with time, but as for now, I'm not. I really like to be consciously aware of thoughts and impressions so I can watch them shift through my continued experience.

Good luck with finals everyone and have a great break!

Happy Holidays from Robert Roe!

Hello fellow interns!

I can't even believe that we are starting another 'finals week' with the holidays fast approaching. With the official winter break countdown in play and classes wrapping up it is easy to forget what the holidays are really about. Giving back. At Robert Roe, we have decided to highlight the true meaning of the holiday season by adopting a family in need, and starting a Giving Tree!

My boss and I knew that giving back to the McMinnville community would mean a lot not only to us, but to our customers as well. We had discussed getting as involved as possible to give back, and we are really proud and excited with what we are going on! We adopted a lovely local family that is dealing with cancer this holiday season. They are six lovely children all under the age of 11. In our store we have ornaments with each of the age and interests of the children and parents. We are encouraging anyone interested in making a difference this holiday season to come in and pick an ornament from the tree with a name on it! Each child and parent has an interest that can easily be found in many local stores - and we would love to get presents for every member of the family. It is our hope that we can make a difference in this family's holiday season, as they are going through the unimaginable. We would love to see everyone come out and help spread the holiday cheer with us!

We also are a part of the Giving Tree charity this season! On our tree we will hang blank gift cards to local businesses such as Walmart and Grocery Outlet. We would love people to come in and take a card to fill it with as little or large of an amount as they want! These cards will then be brought back to Robert Roe and distributed throughout the community to families in need.

This week I have been working on organizing those, while also getting ahold of the McMinnville News Register in hopes that they will share our story and spread the word about the great causes we are working with this season! We would love the community to rally behind these groups and help us make a difference!

I am also thrilled to announce that Robert Roe will soon be carrying one of my favorite things - fabulous hair ties and headbands from Mane Message! I have been working with the designer of these awesome items throughout the week and organizing our order. Can't wait to get them in!

That's all for now! Happy Holidays everyone, and good luck with finals!

Olivia

Cupcake Update

Hey all!

I am super happy that it s finally the holiday season! Cupcake recently put up their Christmas tree and decorated it with lots of fun and girly ornaments, ribbon, and bows which are for sale!  I worked at Cupcake this week on Tuesday from 2:30-6 and again yesterday from 11-5.  This week, at least when I was working there was pretty slow.  This Saturday was slower than most because of  Linfield's football game.  But even when it is slow I like being there working.  Sam gave me a project to do about a 2 weeks ago which I completed last weekend.  It was to go to 4 different boutique type shops on 3rd street that then write about the comparisons and differences between that store and Cupcake.  I also wrote about how the store was laid out, the atmosphere, the prices, customer service, and my general thought about the store.  I went to Accessory Appeal, Yamhill Country Dry Goods, Mes Amis, and Red Berry.  My favorite store was Accessory Appeal.  I love jewelry and the clothes there were more my style.

This coming weekend on Saturday December 8th, it's a holiday shopping day so I was told Cupcake was going to be very busy which is exciting because that's when I will be there working so I will get to witness a lot of the action.  Both Sam and Sarah will be there too. I feel like I am going to learn a lot that day and I am looking forward to being really busy.  I like keeping myself busy with customers so it should be a lot of fun.  I am also looking forward to continuing my internship during Jan term because I only have classes 3 days a week which means I can get more of my hours done in January and work more full days.

I still really like working at Cupcake and so far everything is going well!

~Hannah Duge

Yamhill County Mission Final Blog

            It is close to the end of the semester and I feel like time has flown by! I have enjoyed my internship so much and am sad to see it end. I do hope to still go volunteer every once in a while however. This week at my internship was crunch time. The big project I had been working on all semester is being tested this week. The week before Thanksgiving was the first week that I was really out in the community with the formal letters and brochure I had been working on. This week I split my time fairly evenly with time at the shelter and out raising awareness about the Mission. I have really enjoyed seeing success through the people at the shelter. This week one of the boys staying here with his parents finally got put back into school. His mom had to home school him for a while until they found a place at the mission to stay.  It was exciting to come back this week and hear about school—he was really excited that he had made so many friends already.  I got to help him with his math homework (multiplication) and it was pretty incredible how good he was getting at it. His parents have been working very hard the past few weeks and it has been a pleasure to be able to be apart of their lives from when they first arrived at the Mission to now where they have enough money saved to move into their own place. Their story and many like them encourage me to put my best effort into the project before me.

            It was very intimidating going up to business owner’s and churches asking if they would sit down and let me present a little about the Mission to them. I thought that people would be much more receptive to listening and helping out—but surprisingly quite a few people did not even want to sit down and talk to me but rather just leave the information on their desk. I had to learn to be confrontational and firm without using excessive words to make it worth people’s time. Overall, it was a great experience to go through, although hard.  In any career situation I need to have the ability to be strong and not afraid of talking to superiors, patients, and families even when they might be busy to hear me.

            Excited to finish up the semester and am thankful for the internship experience I have had with the Mission. 

Back from Break!

Happy Holidays, interns!

I can't believe how quickly this semester is flying by...the fact that we just celebrated Thanksgiving and Winter Break is just around the corner seems crazy to me! I definitely missed Robert Roe while I was home, however I took the time off to gather some new ideas for the store! With Christmas coming up, I thought that some smaller more 'gift' geared items would be a great addition to the store. So I spent my break looking through various new candle designers, scarves, mittens, etc. I swear I don't know how my boss was able to find such perfect inventory for the store because it is such a process to find something that fits just right! However it is such a cool aspect of working and interning at Robert Roe - I love feeling like I could find the next best seller for us! So far, the search continues. I want to find a candle that is a great, clean smell however with a price point and packaging that would attract women throughout the community for the holidays. 

Speaking of Christas...Naseem and I are starting to decorate the store! Since our colors are black & brown I knew right away that I would want to decorate our small tree in ornaments ranging from those colors. We luckily had the same vision of wanting to keep the tree classic yet fun. So far so good! And in the spirit of giving, my lovely boss decided that we as Robert Roe should host a toy drive or canned food drive out of our store front. We thought it would be such a cool way to get involved and give back to the community while getting into the Christmas spirit! We are currently looking into local organizations that would like our time and space! We can't wait to get involved and really try to make a difference! 

I hope everyone had a lovely and safe Thanksgiving break!

Olivia 

More Yamhill County Updates

I have been doing a lot of the same over the past couple weeks - importing paper files that were somehow missed during our big transition into the new Odyssey system. Since I am not in any specific department (criminal, civil, probate, traffic, etc.) I have the time to go through these documents with the Court Operations Supervisor.

The court staff, particularly judges, have been very thankful to have me, especially since this is such a tedious but highly important task. I have determined the root cause of the error that did not allow these thousands of court cases to import correctly into the Odyssey system - these cases are all ones with post-judgement documents or exhibits in the file. There are pictures included in files like these, stored in a standard JPEG format. The JPEG format confused the Odyssey system and it kicked back all of these cases. Now it is just a matter of individually uploading these files to their proper cases. The batch transfer of court cases that happened in June apparently did not recognize the JPEG format, so the files must be done individually.

Unfortunately, there is no more efficient way to do this. I am constantly looking for ways to improve efficiency, but it turns out that I must upload these files one-by-one. Thankfully the uploading process is a quick one. I have been doing this for the past week and will likely finish this project by Wednesday of this week.

Conclusion for Fall Term

Hi all,

As we wind down the semester, I am sure most of us are concluding our internships for the Fall term as well.  With my internship I finished up this past weekend.  The weekend was a mixture of regular work at the tasting room, and our last event for the fall.  The event that we had was a great experience personally for me.  It didn't turn out as planned, and was not a huge success as we had hoped.  Although it was a shame that it didn't completely work out, compared to other previous events that we had earlier in the semester which were a huge success, it was a great comparison for me.  It let me see and reminded me that even the best intended ideas and plans, in this case for the event, can turn out to fail or at least not meet one's expectations.  This will be good to keep in mind as I continue my internship into the spring term.  

Focusing on spring term with both the normal work and all the events that I have helped with, they have been great first hand experience.  I have started to learn the ins and outs of the winery and this knowledge will help me transition into the spring.  I will be able to apply what I have learned so far towards marketing and event planning which will be what I will focus on. 

Good luck everyone with the end of the term and finishing up your internships for the Fall.
Stephanie

SOL Republic

Hey fellow interns,

My name is Robby Richardson and I am going to be interning with SOL Republic. SOL Republic is a new face to the headphone industry. It is a Wilsonville based company that began in August of 2011. Its purpose is to provide an affordable, durable and great sounding headphone. It's main competitors in the market are the Beats by Dre Headphones and the SkullCandy Headphones. I will be assisting in the marketing and sales department by travelling to our national retailers, which currently consists of BestBuy, Apple, FYE, Guitar Center and FredMeyers, and setting up listening stations of our headphones to help develop the brand name and share the company's story. In doing so, I hope to help sell some extra units off the shelf as well. This helps SOL Republic develop stronger relationships with its retail partners. I will also be travelling to local events around the state where we have sponsorship opportunities to further develop the brand. I look forward to reading about all of your internships and the progress you make in your professional careers.

Robby Richardson

Robert Roe Blog # 4

Hello Fellow Interns!

This past Monday I got the opportunity to host the Women of Willamette event at Robert Roe. The Women of Willamette is a group of female business owners that gather to network, exchange business ideas, and generally discuss owning and operating a business in this area. Robert Roe got the opportunity to host this event on Monday evening. We saw this as a great experience to introduce Robert Roe to influential women and host our first of hopefully many social events. This was a great experience for me because I got to help plan and even host this event. We served Maysara Wine and La Rambla appetizers, everything for the event was planned to a t! That is, until my boss's father underwent open heart surgery and she realized she would not be able to leave his hospital. That meant that I had to step up and host the entire event! I arrived to Robert Roe at 4:30. I helped the caterer set up, organized the store, set the stereo system up, prepared the store, and opened our doors at 5:30! While only 20 women had RSVP'd directly to us, we had over 50 show up! It was a great turn out. I did my best to host and mingle, getting the chance to introduce this group to Robert Roe. I gave a quick speech about Robert Roe and how excited we were to host this event and spread the word about our store. I was thrilled at how successful the event was! We sold plenty of inventory and received so much praise and best wishes! Overall, this was a huge step and great opportunity for me! While I was really nervous to host this event without my boss, I was thrilled at the outcome. I felt that Robert Roe was a huge hit, and loved getting the chance to step up and represent my business in the best way possible. I look forward to hosting more events like this in the future!

Willamette Valley Medical Center

So for the past few weeks I have struggled to find the right times to be at WVMC that were productive interning hours. I changed around my schedule a bit, and have finally found a good combination. For the rest of the semester, I am at WVMC for a few hours early Thursday afternoon and a few hours later Sunday night. I like to stay useful, and my previous longer shifts had more standing around than actual work. Now, instead of finishing my tasks and standing around the last hour, I am busy through out the entire shift and I am much happier. On Thursdays I am typically doing more "task" type jobs, whereas Sunday nights are busy and there is more medical related experiences for me to potentially observe. Come Jan. term, I will be working many more hours so I am hoping to find more tasks to stay busy. In the ER, I am cleaning out rooms, restocking rooms and medical carts, and talking with patients to see if they have any needs. My favorite tasks have certainly been chatting with patients and hospital employees. That is where I have been getting the most interesting and useful experience that pertains directly to my desires of being a nurse practitioner. I hope to soon be trained to also intern on the medical/surgical floor so that I can switch back and forth if I'm lacking tasks.

To answer these questions..a little late. :)

• What role do costumes or trick-or-treating play in a business?: I was really interested in asking the nurses how Halloween night was in the emergency room. Surprisingly, they said it wasn't too busy. I would have loved to be volunteering that night. While it is sounds awful that I would want the ER to be busy, that is when I can have the greatest chance of seeing the fast-pace ER environment.
• How did the organization where you are interning deal with Halloween? The nurses and ER doctors probably braced themselves. I would imagine any holiday creates an increase in ER visits. Some seem to thrive on the rush with every ambulance arrival but I am sure, ultimately, no one wishes the ER to be busy.

Only 4 more days until break!!

Cupcake Post #3

Hey Interns!

This week while interning at Cupcake Couture was mostly the same as last week. I worked there on Tuesday from 2:30-5:30 and on Saturday from 11-5.  My class schedule is so packed those are the only times  I can be there. While working at Cupcake this week I practiced making transactions more and keeping our products stocked in the store. But what happened more this week than last week was that multiple times this week I had to go to the display window and pull clothes from out there for customers. This is not at easy task. To get to the display window I have to basically throw myself over this wall and squeeze through this extremely narrow spot then walk around all of the mannequins and decorations making sure not to knock anything over.  And this is all being done in the window so I'm sure the people walking around outside or the people in the coffee shop across the street loved this little performance. But I am a people pleaser and like to make the customers happy.

But Tuesday are still pretty slow when I am there so luckily I manage to get some homework done when no one is in the store. I like working Saturdays more because it's just more fun and I get to see more people.  So far so good while working at Cupcake. I haven't messed up or made any huge, life altering mistakes fortunately.  I have got more into a rhythm when making sales which is good.  I still really like working there and my boss just gave me my internship project that's due in a couple weeks.  I have to go to 4 other stores on 3rd Street and compare that store to Cupcake. Doesn't sound to bad. Can't wait to start it.

So that's what is good in the life of an intern at Cupcake :)

~Hannah Duge

Rescue Mission Update 11/12

I have been at the shelter for a few weeks now and time has flown by. I blogged last week about a project I had been working on and this week is no different. I met with the executive director of Gospel Rescue Mission and we brainstormed ideas for the brochure. One thing I learned from that meeting is the term “branding” in a company. Every company is recognized by their logo but more specifically color, fonts, and phrases. When you see a providence sign you don’t even have to read the sign to recognize the organization. Similarly, when you see a green symbol you can recognize Starbucks a mile away. The shelter is trying to have the similar approach. To get their name out there and to have members of the community recognize them and their visions they are working on unifying what gets sent out the public. The mission sends out flyers, brochures, emails, newsletters, etc to the community and they are working to make everything branded. Their specific colors are red and purple and they use cobalt font. Their logo is included on everything sent out and has a short statement about the mission and has the same colors and fonts. When I am working on my brochure to raise money for the shelter, I have to keep in mind the companies “brand”. This week my goal was to have the brochure close to finished so next week the brochure will be done, the letters/ contracts to give the businesses will be done, and I am planning on meeting with an owner of a bank to start out! I am excited to bridge the gap between the community and the shelter. It will be exciting to see all the work I have been putting into this project pay off at the benefit in January.

On another note, this week at the shelter they needed a staff member on duty to supervise. It was a great experience to be in charge of what was going on. I learned a lot of leadership skills in leading people older than myself that I can use in my job as a nurse; in nursing I will have to direct people older than me what to do while in the hospital and at home. It was great to talk and get to know some of the people staying there and help people fill out FAFSA, find rides to where they need to go, and figure out solutions to situations some of them are in. It is encouraging to see someone get back on their feet in a matter of a few days, job and apartment included.  Since Thanksgiving is coming up, a lot of work is going into preparing meals and getting blankets for the holiday. This is why it is crucial to start involving the community with donations and partially why I am going out into the community this week.

This was what the last week or so has looked like for me, excited to see how the upcoming weeks turn out as the semester wraps up! I hope to fulfill my learning objectives, so far so good! :)

November at Vista Hills

Hi all it's Stephanie again,

Things have been busy at Vista Hills and are continuing to be busy.  Over the past few weeks I have had the opportunity to start learning about the production of wine, wrap up the wedding season, and start the holiday season with planning and preparing for Thanksgiving events.

With all of the activities I have been learning the ins and outs of Vista Hills.  One area in particular that I have working at, is the serving and selling wine in the tasting room.  The tasting room can be a lot of fun, but also challenging at times too.  I am putting a lot of my communication and persuasion skills to good use, but there are also times when working in the tasting room can be difficult because I don't always know the background information with the wines that we serve.  Thus addressing questions that I receive from customers is not always an easy task, but no matter what I am always honest with them if I don't know an answer to their question.  I usually mention I can find out the answer and in the meantime I fall back onto my communication skills and mention other things I do know about the wines, or have learned.  Of course I know all the interactions in the tasting room help me develop my marketing skills and help me learn about some of the best ways to interact with customers.

Besides the tasting room, as mentioned we have been preparing for numerous events for Thanksgiving.  This has been a great opportunity to have a better understanding of what is involved with planning events, especially since I am interested in pursuing event planning.  As I have discovered event planning is one of the key areas where wineries sell their products.  At this point I have been working on the preparations for our upcoming events. By the end of next week I will have experienced the whole process of planning, implementing, staffing, and wrapping up our upcoming Thanksgiving event.

Till next time,
Stephanie

Robert Roe Blog # 4

Happy November fellow interns!


I can't believe how quickly time has flown by this semester. It seems like I just signed on to work and intern at Robert Roe, and now I am approaching my fourth month. I am thrilled to report that business at Robert Roe is picking up! It seems that more and more customers are finding our location, loving our inventory, and appreciating the fashion we carry. It has been a really rewarding experience to help Robert Roe grow. I firmly believe that with my involvement in Greek Life and constant interaction on various social media sites I can bring in plenty of Linfield customers. I have been so pleased to see how many of my Alpha Phi sisters have come in to Robert Roe, sharing in my excitement.

Robert Roe feels so cutting edge, and despite the fact that we are a small business technology advancements are at the ready for us! Instead of using a cash register we are Robert Roe use an application and little device called Square. It is a company that allows anyone to register their business - no matter the size - and charge people for their services. We use an iPad and the Square app to charge people, which really streamlines our look and organization. As the only employee of Robert Roe I have loved using Square as it allows me to store each and every clothing item along with pictures of the piece and price. That way, I always know the exact price without having to worry. It also takes away the hassle of figuring out the discounted price for Linfield students (10 percent off!) as it is a set button. This is the first clothing store I have ever worked at that makes this process so easy, and so streamlined!

As an intern for Robert Roe I have discovered that people are much more inclined to comment, like, and share photos I post about the store via Instagram as opposed to Facebook. I am not sure why this is, however I believe that like Square Instagram allows for users to be much more streamlined and organized. As opposed to the constant overwhelming newsfeed of Facebook. Instagram allows me to post single pictures of looks, pieces of clothing, or our space with a simple description. I would like to start a Twitter for Robert Roe, however I am still unsure how to do so without seeming too much like 'spam'. We want Robert Roe to stay on people's minds but in a positive way - not an annoying one!

Yamhill County Updates

We are making some definite progress over here at the Yamhill County Circuit Court - most all of the major glitches that the Court experienced with the Odyssey system have been worked out. Now we are focusing on becoming entirely paperless.

The last major glitch that I was responsible for fixing was determining how to make certain elements of "ported" cases from our old Court software confidential. When old cases were ported to Odyssey from OJIN, none of the court documents that were supposed to be marked confidential actually were marked confidential. Court-ordered psychiatric evaluations and the like should not be visible to the public, so this was an issue that staff needed to handle quickly.

I ended up having to compile a list of all cases that included any type of "report." I then went through each case to determine if the attached reports would be deemed confidential or not, and made appropriate adjustments. Though I was able to sort through the list fairly quickly, it was extremely inefficient. There was no way to isolate confidential reports from reports that can be viewed by the public, so I had to spend the afternoon ticking-and-tying cases. This would not have had to have been done had the error not occurred during transfer of court cases. Being the pilot court for eCourt and Odyssey, we expected these types of glitches. I have come to the realization that Yamhill County is meant to be a learning environment, though these errors have been frustrating. We will, of course, report on all the trials and errors we have experienced so that other courts may learn from our experience before they decide to "come online" with eCourt.

I believe that Josephine County is next on the list of early-adopter courts, with a scheduled "go live" date of June 2013. We hope that Josephine County will be able to avoid the same errors and frustrations that Yamhill County did.

Hello!

Hello everyone,

My name is Alec Greenaway, I am a transfer sophomore student here at Linfield. I was recently hired as an intern for U-haul to be in charge of their U-car share program located on campus. My main job is to get people to use the two cars that we have, other tasks include washing them, checking the oil, etc...

Anyways, I am very excited to see how this internship works out, and I am equally excited to learn about everyone else's experiences with their own internships.

Cupcake Post #2

Hey there!

So what role do costumes or trick-or-treating play in a business? 
How did the organization where you are interning deal with Halloween? 
And what is an appropriate age for kids to stop trick-or-treating?

Ok well costumes and trick or treating can be a large roll in a business during Halloween.  I think maybe wearing costumes and having candy available to give out to trick or treaters can bring in potential customers.  If  it is a small business or a new business that isn't well known yet it may help get their name out to the public.

This week at Cupcake Couture, there was a bowl of candy out by the cash register for children to keep them occupied while the parents were shopping.  Whenever a child came into the store I would always offer him/her some candy (with the consent of the parents, of course). 

For me, I think the appropriate age to stop trick or treating is 11 or 12 years old because you are almost a teenager and mostly trick or treating is done by 5 year olds. It would be awkward to trick or treat when you are 12 when everyone else trick or treating is around 5 or 6 years old.


~Hannah Duge

End October/ Beginning of November Post

Shelby Lawrence @ Yamhill County Gospel Rescue Mission 

• What role do costumes or trick-or-treating play in a business?
• How did the organization where you are interning deal with Halloween?
• What is an appropriate age for kids to stop trick-or-treating?

-I think Halloween is a great time for businesses to outreach into the community. It gives them a great opportunity to advertise and put out a good name for themselves. When businesses open their doors to trick-or-treaters it is a safe, fun environment for the family that encourages them to come back. Likewise, costumes are a great way to lighten the mood and make the business a fun and free environment for that day. 

-The organization I work with did not dress up with Costumes for Halloween (however, the children staying at the shelter did dress up). The Kids that are staying at the shelter went out trick-or-treating and brought back a bag for everyone to share. It was a fun atmosphere to see the kids dressed up and excited about Halloween. The staff also got a chance to share pictures of their kids and families to the people at the shelter. I was there the day after Halloween and it was a good topic of discussion for the people there. 

-I think that there is not a definite age to stop trick-or-treating. I would not feel comfortable as a college student to go out and knock on doors. I stopped trick-or-treating when I was in middle school and I think that by high school you are too old to be trick-or-treating. I still don’t know where I stand, I would still give candy to anyone who came and knocked on the door :)

Happy November bloggers!

I know that mid terms are happening and there is a general level of stress around campus.  So let's take a little break from our usual blogging this week and discuss more fun topics.  Please discuss the following:

• What role do costumes or trick-or-treating play in a business?
• How did the organization where you are interning deal with Halloween?
• What is an appropriate age for kids to stop trick-or-treating?

Take a deep breath.  Know that you are getting experience that you need to help you in the future!

My best,
Kristi

Robert Roe Blog # 3

Happy Halloween, fellow interns!


I am excited to announce that at Robert Roe we are making moves - starting to carry new designers and bring in even more looks! It has been such an exciting process so far. I have gotten the opportunity to express my creative side via helping with the website layout and in store design. I really look up to my boss for how confident and excited she stays despite the roller coaster of emotions and trials that come with opening a new store. Being the only employee and intern, I feel like I have a lot of responsibility in the best possible way. I want Robert Roe to succeed so badly, and I am thrilled to see the progress we are making.

Right now we at Robert Roe are figuring out what kind of smaller, non-clothing items we can bring it to sell around the holiday season such as candles. The minute I heard Naseem wanted to carry any type of candle I was thrilled - I am a total candle girl! Love them. I have my own favorite brands of candles that I instantly suggested to Naseem, and we are continuing to search because we want the very best for Robert Roe! It is difficult to find the perfect balance between a reasonable price, beautiful designer, unique quality, and clean packaging that would make the candle brand a perfect addition to Robert Roe. While it may seem like a simple and quick process to find a new selling piece for the store, it really isn't! We aim to carry only the best at Robert Roe; we want to bring a whole new side of fashion to McMinnville! We made a commitment to carry unique designers and pieces and we will continue to do so!

I am really excited about the new experiences and opportunities that are happening at Robert Roe this upcoming month! On November 12th Robert Roe will be a spot for the Women of Willamette event. This is an organization that recognizes and brings together local female professionals and independent business owners to discuss and celebrate accomplishments as women in business! I am thrilled to announce that my boss, Naseem Momtazi will be recognized for Robert Roe. She is truly an inspiration and someone to look up to as a young female making her way in the fashion world!  On November 14th Robert Roe will hosting an event for the Young Professionals club - which is a Linfield organization! As an intern I will get the chance to help plan and orchestrate these events at Robert Roe.

As always, I am trying to pump up our facebook bag and Instagram! We have just started using FourSquare at Robert Roe in hopes that customers will check in and spread the word! I can't wait to see what new opportunities this will bring about.

Thank you for reading!

My name's Hannah Duge and I'm a shopoholic...

Hello Interns!
        My name is Hannah Duge and I am a sophomore at Linfield College. I am a marketing major or possibly an International business major (haven't declared anything yet). But I am definitely a French minor.  As the title of this blog said...I am a shopoholic so it was very easy for me to jump on the opportunity to intern at Cupcake Couture clothing boutique on 3rd St. in McMinnville.  I have always had a love for fashion and clothes so I thought getting the opportunity to learn more about working in retail and marketing in a setting that I am very used to would be fantastic! It is also going to force me to learn more about self restraint and self discipline so I don't spend all my money on clothes.
         My boss, Sam, is super nice and taught me how to make sales and work the cash register this week. She also showed me around the store and where each product is supposed to be.  I learned how to open and close the store. We practiced making sales and refunds by doing fake transactions and I learned what to do in different types of situations.  I have never worked in retail before but Sam is really understanding and patient with me luckily.  I am having so much fun talking to the customers about clothes and accessories! 
    I work Tuesday afternoons and some Saturdays but my first learning experience was last Thursday for Cupcake's annual student night, when Linfield students get 20% their purchase.  This was the first time I watched Sam work the cash register when we made a sale.  But Tuesday was the first day I made my own sales and worked the cash register by myself! I feel like once I get into a good flow or rhythm making transactions will be a lot faster and smoother, but for now I go slow and make sure I don't make any mistakes.  
     So, so far so good with working in Cupcake and I can't wait for Tuesday to practice more!

À bientôt!

~Hannah Duge

Robert Roe Blog # 2

Happy Fall, fellow interns!

Fall marks my absolute favorite season not only for McMinnville but for fashion! Robert Roe is stocked with gorgeous, cozy fall sweaters and fabulous colored denim - some of my favorite pieces for the season! Yesterday I got the opportunity to help create Robert Roe's very first look book which is essentially an online catalog of pulled fall looks. I asked one of my sorority sisters to join me as a model for these looks. I absolutely adored getting the chance to wear some of my favorite Robert Roe looks for the look book. It was definitely a new experience for me; trying to figure out the best way to 'model' the outfits for customers! My boss Naseem pulled many of the looks but allowed me to help style myself and the other model, Sarah. The pictures and looks came together great, and once we done with the shoot I edited all of the pictures and uploaded them to our company Instagram. I find that Instagram is more 'to the point' versus Facebook. It allows users to simply upload a single picture as opposed to an entire album that often gets overwhelming for viewers. I am proud of the way the look book came out, and I hope everyone loves it as much as I do! We are hoping that by advertising and styling these pieces it will inspire customers to come shop with us. Often with fashion it can be difficult for people to see certain items such as a pair of jeans or a blazer and imagine how to make an outfit out of that. We are hoping that the look book takes away that worry! We paired together plenty of great looks for fall that will inspire customers! It was a unique hands on opportunity which is one of the main reasons I love my time at Robert Roe.

My boss allows me to have plenty of input for the store. She encourages me to research new and upcoming designers, unique brands, and fabulous looks that I think would fit our image for Robert Roe.  Despite my past experience in retail Naseem allowing me more freedom to make choices for Robert Roe is a new thing for me that I love and look forward to exploring further. I really feel like I am part of Robert Roe's future, and that is a cool feeling. I can't wait to see

Want to check out our look book for fall? Please do! Follow Robert Roe on Instagram @ robertroe

CP&D October 20th

This week the Capital Planning department has been very busy. I have yet to meet with CLS because some of the department’s priorities have shifted due to the president’s approval of a campus wide space analysis. Part of the work at Capital Planning is prioritizing usable space at Linfield. Over the course of a decade our school’s departments might look significantly different than they do now - for example, many student don’t know that Newby and Pioneer both at one point in time housed the chemistry department before Murdock Hall was built. In fact, many of the old structures on campus have been used for various departments over the years. This is because Linfield is constantly undergoing expansion whether it’s physical or interdepartmental - this is why we need a Capital Planning department. Like an architect, CP&D brings to life the visions of people such as the trustees, but always in most efficient way possible.

Currently we are taking inventory of all classroom space in order to prioritize and consolidate departments. This means I get to work with many of the blueprints of campus buildings – some dating back as far as the 1930s. That being said, I am in the process of learning how to read blueprints and calculate net-usable square footage of classrooms for each hall. It looks like this will be a lengthy task but my work will go before the board when our supervisor meets to discuss future plans. 

-KC

Hello from Vista Hills Winery

Hi my name is Stephanie Raso.

I am a senior at Linfield and a Communication Arts major.  As of a few weeks ago I am now interning at Vista Hills Winery.  I am excited to be working at Vista Hills and to lean more about the wine industry.  Last week the winery hosted a huge party for club members, which was a huge success. It was great to be a part of the event, because my focus with this internship will be Event Planing and Marketing.  Of course I will also be working in other areas of the wine business as well.  This weekend I will have the opportunity to start learning about the production of wine.  Harvesting and production are currently in full swing for the wine industry, and I am eager to take the opportunity to learn more about both aspects. 
I look forward to blogging about my experiences, as I continue down this internship path.

-Stephanie

Meet Olivia Uphoff!

Hello fellow interns!

My name is Olivia Uphoff. I am a Political Science Communication Arts double major attending Linfield College. I am a senior with a love for fashion and social media, like most girls my age. However, I am lucky enough to be able to combine those two loves as an intern for Robert Roe: McMinnville's newest boutique!

 Robert Roe opened in August and is owned by my dear friend and boss, Naseem Momtazi. Opening this store has been a life long dream of hers, and as a friend it has been such a touching experience to be able to watch Naseem's dreams come true! That being said, as an employee and intern at Robert Roe I have taken on the responsibility of marketing Robert Roe not only to Linfield students but to the McMinnville community as well. I truly believe that this beautiful town was in great need of a store like Robert Roe. We carry unique, one of a kind designers and great pieces that will unleash anyone's inner fashionista!

I just started working at Robert Roe this month, but I am positive that this will be a great learning experience with a ton of hands on opportunities! I can't wait to get started.

ROBERT ROE NOW OPEN!
Sat & Sun
11-5 pm and by appointment
RobertRoeClothing.com

410 NE 3rd Street Studio # 10

Gospel Rescue Mission 2nd-3rd Week

Hello All!

These past few weeks at Gospel Rescue Mission have been amazing. The first week I shared I was feeling awkward, not knowing my place yet. The second week there all of that changed; I feel welcomed like family. It has been a great opportunity to learn from not only the staff there but also the residents. Now when I walk into the mission I know people by name and they know mine. I've noticed that since being there many misconceptions I (and most people have) about homeless shelters are changing. Many people picture someone who is homeless as a drug addict, dirty, and not productive. When Cheryl (my supervisor) was telling me about how the mission got started, she told me that many of the houses near by opposed the mission moving in. They thought it would be unsafe, noisy, and dirty. However, after getting to know many of the people at the shelter and seeing their lives I don't see or agree with the stereotype. Fire capacity allows around ten females and ten males to stay at the shelter at one time. Eighty percent of the people staying at the shelter are going to school, working or a combination of the two. One women that is staying is moving out in a few days because she is working three jobs now and is finally able to afford her own place. These people are motivated individuals and know what is important in life. Although the situations that have brought them to the shelter are not ideal, the way they have completely changed their lives in just ten days amazes me. When I was there last Tuesday night a volunteer came to do the night shift (11:00 PM to 4:00 AM) and as I was getting to know her she shared that a year ago she had to stay at the shelter with her son. She came back to volunteer her time because of how much help the mission was to her. 

With these people in mind, I got right to work on some long-term projects for the mission. The first project in mind, was to try to line up vaccinations for the people at the shelter. I wanted to combine my nursing major in the internship and have found many connections between the two. Being here has inspired me to possibly volunteer my time as a nurse at an open clinic to help people in need of health care. Witnessing first hand the need for these adults and children has helped reinforce why I chose nursing in the first place. While here, I want to try to make connections with health clinics in McMinnville to help residents at the shelter. I started by writing a formal letter that my supervisor signed and called pharmacies around town. It was a little discouraging to not get calls back or have people say that they cannot donate the shots--but I want to find a way to meet them half way. Maybe they could cut the cost in half and we could fundraise the other? These are still questions that I will be working out the next few weeks. Another project I am working on is for an event in January they will be hosting called "Soup for the Soul". This auction will raise money for the shelter and will encourage community involvement. I have been contacting businesses and designing a pamphlet that I hope to take to business owners by the end of October/Early November. Lots to do, not very much time to do it i. I am looking forward to seeing what the result is! 

Finally!

Finally, I was able to start interning today at Willamette Valley Medical Clinic. After spending some time "shadowing" another Linfield student who volunteers at WVMC, I learned my duties consist of checking out rooms to see if they need any supplies/cleaning up, talking with patients- asking if they have any needs, and being there for any requests by nurses/doctors. Although I have an evening shift, which you would imagine would be a busier time in the ER, I was warned at the beginning of my shift today that it had been a slow day. I was okay with that; looking forward to just getting to know my way around the place! Well that didn't last long. A few minutes later, a cardiac arrest patient was being transported in. I watched from a close distance as doctors and nurses from all over the hospital responded to the code. I'm sure they all knew exactly what they were to do, but from an outsider's perspective, it looked like mad chaos. Probably about 15 people were crammed into a small patient room with more nurses running in. The CPR and shocks lasted for over 20 minutes, but it was successful! I was able to help clean up the room with nurses, talking with them about what had happened. They way they talked about it seemed to be an enthusiastic rush they feel every time a code is called. To me it seems scary and intimidating to be in such a situation. Already I was thinking today how I would not like to be an ER nurse. Of course, that feeling could change. Besides observing, my favorite part of today's experience was talking with one particular patient. She was the first and only patient I was able to ask if they needed anything. We ended up talking for about 30 minutes, until the end of my shift and the end of her stay at the hospital. I quickly realized she just wanted someone to talk to. She reminded me of my grandparents: able to fully recreate stories with amazing details and have every story end with a life lesson. I love talking and hearing stories from especially older generations. There is so much to learn from them. She wanted my name and made sure to tell me that "we would see each other again soon...she was sure of it." I certainly wouldn't mind...  

CP&D October 10th

Last week I was able to attend a business meeting with my supervisor and representatives of a small company that manufactures extremely efficient LEDs (light emitting diode). I’m sure every linfielder has, at some point, noticed our campus’s acorn shaped lanterns at night - these lanterns are equipped with CFLs, which has become most common, environmentally-conscious’s choice  on the market. However CFLs are not the most efficient lighting method in terms of lifetime and energy. I felt very lucky in that, rather than listening to an astute sales-pitch, I was given a brief yet knowledgeable lecture on the history of America’s lighting market and the technological development of the LED.

After some research to confirm what I was told, it turns out that LEDs use half the amount of kWh that a typical CFL uses during an entire lifetime, and while putting out significantly more lumens! As I have mentioned in my first post, part of my job at CP&D involves balancing Linfield’s utility bills for electricity usage. Although lighting accounts for a relatively small portion of Linfield’s utility bill, the implications for society are enormous! What if we could replace every light bulb with an LED? If one Megawatt powers about 1000 homes for an hour, then how many megawatts could we save in McMinnville by cutting the cost of lighting in half? These were some questions running through my environmental mind after the meeting. However the cold reality of economics seems to be a lesson revisited in my subject quite often – despite the efficiency of the technology the determining factor is if costs fall within the consumer’s advantage. I say ‘advantage’ because for larger organizations a project may fall within the consumer’s budget but not advantage. That is, there must be a payback period small enough to entice an upgrade. 

  Currently campus transition to LED’s does not look promising, however with rising energy demands the proposition could become very popular depending on the market within just a couple years. I will be meeting again with representatives of this company next week to do a physical inventory on campus with my supervisor. I'm very curious to see where it goes from here. 

-kc