I’ve mentioned before that if you want to see me act like a hungry, tired five year old, just take me furniture shopping. I’ve only been banned from one furniture store, but that was nearly 20 years ago, and I’m sure the picture of me taped to the cash register no longer looks like me. Now I know why a lot of stores have treats available for kids (usually the sugar high hits by the time the family is gone). One store that I actually kind of like is Design Within Reach. The spaces are usually pretty small compared to other furniture stores, and they have really unique stuff. Design Within Reach is headquartered in Stamford, CT, but they have stores all across the country (and most of their internships are in stores). I always thought the “within reach” part of the name meant affordable, but stuff at Design Within Reach is pretty expensive (though they’re much lower than a lot of other places). Apparently “within reach” means “authentic modern design” that is “not found elsewhere” and is “in stock.” That last one is a big deal. There’s nothing more frustrating than plunking down a huge amount of money only to hear that your couch will arrive in 3-9 months.
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Massachusetts,
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New Jersey,
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retail,
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Wisconsin
Experiences make for the best (and the worst marketing). All of those commercials about transporting Olympic athletes can do nothing to change my opinion after my experience with United last night. They strung me along with delays, their website failed repeatedly, and I spent an hour and a half on the phone to get a flight 24 hours later. There’s nothing like the live experience to shape your brand associations. That’s why Situation Interactive centered their business around it. They “are among the leaders in creating award-winning digital strategies for top entertainment and media brands worldwide.” Obviously the New York, NY (and Los Angeles, CA) based agency focuses on creating amazing experiences–and they tend to do it for clients who are way more exciting and way less likely to make you mad than an airline.
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sem,
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web development
I saw The Dark Knight Rises on Sunday. It was awesome. I only go to 2 or 3 movies a year, but I’d totally see this one again. Thankfully Christopher Nolan decided against having Batman in 3D (I absolutely hate 3D movies–they make my head hurt), and chose IMAX as a superior alternative. If I’m going to see it again, I might as well get the full IMAX experience. For those of you who don’t know, Wikipedia describes IMAX as “a motion picture film format and a set of cinema projection standards” that “has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems.” IMAX is also the name of the company behind the technology. They’re based in Mississauga, Ontario, but they have some U.S. based jobs and internships, so I thought they were worth looking at.
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unpaid,
video
It’s easy to take Google for granted, but the ability to find almost any piece of information in less than a second is pretty extraordinary. Google’s biggest problem is also its biggest strength: depth. It’s easy to get overwhelmed or distracted by all of the information. Sometimes you need a more focused tool–especially in educational settings. That’s what Gooru is all about. They’re a Palo Alto, CA based non-profit organization that is “organizing free, online education resources into searchable collections, accessible from any web or mobile platform.” By combining machine learning technology with human curation, Gooru is able to provide a resource for students to find what they need without the distractions of other search engines.
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writing
I’ve heard rumors that in other countries you can watch the Olympics live and without an insane number of ads. While I’m pretty frustrated by the tape delays, I don’t think the ads are so bad. It’s not the Super Bowl, but I’ve seen some really excellent Olympics focused spots (my favorite is the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S III ad with the passing of the torch). I’m not sure which agencies are behind which ads, and I’m not even sure Doner has done any Olympics focused ads, but they certainly work with the kind of companies that might be Olympic sponsors. They’re based in Southfield, MI, and they provide brands with “constant energy, unwavering vigilance and a devoted belief in staying fresh.” Doner is currently doing so for names like Chrysler, Jeep, Chiquita, Arby’s, FIAT, and Minute Maid.
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web development
I love having a car. I’m actually surprised at how easy it is to live in a city the size of Chicago with one, but it does come with headaches. Parking has been a nightmare lately because of street work, and there was the time someone pooped in our car’s door handle (I wish I was making this up). While you could use Zipcar or even Uber to get around, the best situation is to have a friend who will let you borrow his or her car whenever you want. But what if your friends are carless or, even worse, you have no friends? That’s where Wheelz comes in. The San Francisco, CA based company (sorry, I know that’s 3 this week) is the AirBnB for cars. Basically it’s peer-to-peer car sharing/renting.
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California,
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I’ve been pretty lazy in terms of fashion lately. It’s been ridiculously hot in Chicago, and I have no interest in wearing anything but shorts and a t-shirt. I can get away with it because I usually work from home, but if I didn’t I might go to Chictopia for inspiration. I know Chictopia, which is based in San Francisco, CA, sounds like a place that a 14 year old boy circa 1992 would dream of, but it’s actually “the ultimate online destination for trendsetters to be inspired, socialize, and share in fashion.” It’s certainly targeted more towards women than men, but they do have stuff for the guys (it’s chic as is in “sheek” not “chick,” I think). The end goal is to “democratize fashion by giving everyone a voice.”
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Unhelpful Google results are often the sign of a business opportunity. I started One Day One Job because I was frustrated with the junk that turned up when I’d search things like “entry level jobs” (there’s still a lot of junk out there, but I’m doing my best to bring more quality to the results). Though I’ve never researched leasing an office, I hear that doing so is even more frustrating than looking for a job online. (I just searched for an office in my neighborhood, and the #1 result looks like it’s from 1995.) 42Floors is a company that wants to finally bring the $25 billion office space/commercial real estate market online in a proper way. They’re based in San Francisco, CA, which couldn’t be a better place for this kind of business to get its start (the Bay Area is the only market they cover right now).
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real estate,
sem,
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web development
Yesterday we looked at InterAction, a non-profit organization that brings other non-profits together to work towards common goals in international relief and development. Today we’re going to look at another non-profit that helps other non-profits. It’s called FSG, and they’re a “consulting firm specializing in strategy, evaluation, and research” with offices in Boston, MA; Geneva, Switzerland; Mumbai, India; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; and Washington, DC. They were founded in 2000, and they are constantly working “to develop more effective solutions to the world’s most challenging societal issues.” They approach problems with four key ideas: Catalytic Philanthropy, Collective Impact, Shared Value, and Strategic Evaluation.
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strategy,
Switzerland,
unpaid,
Washington,
Washington DC
If you’re like most internship seekers, you’re mainly using job boards. Go where the internships are, right? Not exactly. I’m a strong believer that looking for companies is more important than looking for internships. I explain why in Foundation 3 of our free job search prep course. If you just look for internships that are posted on job boards (or even companies that have intenrships posted on their own site), you’re going to miss out on great opportunities. Sometimes you just need to think about the products that you like, and investigate who makes them. For instance, I occasionally enjoy coconut water. I’ve tried a number of brands, and El Segundo, CA based ZICO tastes the best to me (but only the Natural flavor). I’m not one of those people who believes coconut water is magic, but I do think it makes a far better sports drink than Gatorade.
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food,
food merchandising,
Internships
There are two ways that I like to judge PR and marketing firms. I like to look at the work that they do for their clients, and I like to look at the work they do for themselves. I’m not sure if one is more important than the other, but I think it’s kind of ridiculous if a firm doesn’t do a good job communicating their brand. VSCPR is “an award-winning strategic public relations and digital marketing boutique founded in 2002” that does a fantastic job with their messaging. They’re based in San Francisco, CA with offices in New York, Mumbai, and London. The VSC in their name stands for visibility, strategy, and creativity, and the company calls its people “the pyromaniacs of PR.” Their website certainly exudes all of those things.
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Last weekend we took a look at International Rivers and how they are ““at the heart of the global struggle to protect rivers and the rights of communities that depend on them.” While rivers are my favorite body of water, they aren’t by any means the only ones that that are essential to the livelihood of nearby communities (and it’s not just communities in the developing world that are so dependent on bodies of water). That’s why we’re going to take today to look at a non-profit organization that aims to protect a single watershed. Heal the Bay is devoted to protecting and reviving Santa Monica Bay, “the centerpiece of Los Angeles’ beach culture, and the geographic center of the LA region.” They’re based in Santa Monica, CA, and they’re focused on both the aesthetic and economic reasons for healing the bay.
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program development,
science,
unpaid
If you’re like me, your phone is your life. It’s not that I use it all the time like some people–it’s just that nearly everything important to me is accessible through my phone. The only possession more vital to my everyday life is my laptop. I back up my phone regularly and use Apple’s Find My iPhone, but I could probably do more to protect my phone and all of the information on it. Lookout Mobile Security is a San Francisco, CA based company that is “dedicated to making the mobile experience safe for everyone.” They offer a complete suite of software and cloud based tools to ensure that your investment in your phone (mostly what you have on it) is as protected as it can possibly be.
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systems administration,
web development
Communication is one of the most essential skills in the job search. If you can’t communicate your value to an employer, you won’t get hired. Most people use words to communicate–some do better when they’re spoken and some do better when they’re written. And some do better with pictures. Those are the types of people who should work at JESS3, a Los Angeles, CA (formerly Washington, DC) based “creative interactive agency that specializes in the art of data visualization, adding context and meaning to the exponentially growing world of data around us.” They’re another company that I learned about from Inc. Magazine’s 30 Under 30 list of America’s Coolest Young Entrepreneurs. The company is actually run by a couple (Jesse and Leslie), which must make for an interesting dynamic.
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Yesterday I came across Inc. Magazine’s 30 Under 30 list of America’s Coolest Young Entrepreneurs. Apparently I wasn’t cool enough this year, but I’ll leave my hard feelings aside because this list is an amazing source for interesting companies with exciting internships. While the list certainly skews towards tech, my favorite from the list is as old school as you can get. It’s a fungus startup–mushrooms to be exact. Most people stick to store bought mushrooms because eating some mushroom that you found growing in your yard could be deadly (or psychedelic), but store bought mushrooms often leave something to be desired–especially when they get slimy. Back to the Roots is an Oakland, CA based company that allows you to enjoy the freshly picked mushroom experience with a product that you can buy in a supermarket.
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green,
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Internships,
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Minnesota,
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New Mexico,
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Tennessee,
Texas,
Utah,
Washington
I had some pretty awesome after-school activities when I was a kid. I played baseball and basketball, but I also did some sort of space/science class and participated in Odyssey of the Mind. Then there was the time on the computer, which didn’t seem all that important, but ended up shaping my career. Time out of school can be extremely important for educational outcomes, which is why BOOST Collaborative exists. They are a San Diego, CA based non-profit that “is committed to creating opportunities for change in educational and social services agencies serving youth in the out-of-school time hours.” While most organizations in this space focus on working directly with kids, BOOST Collaborative focuses on working with the people who work with kids.
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training
While I love the word isthmus, there’s no doubt in my mind that if I had to pick a favorite geographic feature, it would be rivers (and my favorite river is the Au Sable in Michigan). A lot has to do with my fly fishing addiction, but I’m continuously amazed by the power of moving water. It’s no coincidence that so many of the world’s greatest cities formed along rivers–they really are the lifeblood of civilization. It’s easy to forget this when your water comes out of a faucet and the fish you eat is grown in a pond, but there are still people across the world whose lives are completely intertwined with the rivers they live along. International Rivers is a Berkeley, CA non-profit organization that is “at the heart of the global struggle to protect rivers and the rights of communities that depend on them.” There are all kinds of threats to rivers, but dams are often the biggest ones. Many consider hydroelectric power to green, but they overlook the consequences of stopping the natural flow of a river.
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green,
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Internships
Have you ever had a nasty cut, scrape, or blister that didn’t quite need stitches but needed more than a band-aid? I’ve had plenty, and my go-to remedy is New-Skin. It’s super painful to put on, and it smells terrible, but it does the job. While New-Skin is a great at home solution, it’s not meant for surgical situations (at least as far as I know). There’s a whole class of surgical sealants, and Neomend is an Irvine, CA based company that is innovating in the space with their Progel technology platform. It’s “a resorbable hydrogel with a unique, accessible molecular structure that makes it ideal for development of novel medical devices like surgical sealants and adhesion barriers.” Hopefully you know what that means, because I don’t.
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One of the best things to happen to me when I moved to Chicago was that I found a volleyball meetup group. It was a great way to make new friends, get exercise, and improve my skills. Another was when I stumbled on Jelly Chicago, a co-working group. I really lucked out with both. Finding fun group activities isn’t usually so easy–especially if your interests don’t align with the types of groups that already exist. Lifecrowd is a company that is trying to make social group activities happen more often. They’re based in Santa Monica, CA, and they’ve “developed a community to connect those who want to pursue trying new activities with Hosts who want to share their knowledge or skills with others.”
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Yesterday we talked about how One Acre Fund is helping people escape poverty by giving them access to technology that makes them better farmers. Today’s non-profit also fights poverty with technology, but they’re using the power of the Internet to give people in countries like India, Pakistan, Haiti, Uganda, South Africa, and Kenya access to more robust economies. Samasource is based in San Francisco, CA, and they have a technology platform that brings “dignified, computer-based work to women, youth, and refugees living in poverty.” Outsourcing and offshoring often get a bad rap, but you rarely hear about how life changing the work can be for the people who get it. (I’m also convinced that outsourcing is a significant net positive for those of us who live in the countries with robust economies.)
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If you asked me if I like pop culture, I’d say yes without hesitation. I’m pretty good with trivia from the 90s and 2000s, but I’m not sure if I like pop culture anymore. Either I’m a little bit smarter, or our society is a lot dumber. I say that, but then I go and watch reality tv… and I literally just clicked a link to a NY Daily News article about a Dutch artist who turned a stuffed cat into a remote control helicopter (I refuse to link to it). Pop culture is like a drug, and BUZZMEDIA is a dealer. They are based in Hollywood, CA, and they’re “the web’s fastest growing entertainment publisher reaching more than 100MM monthly pop culture, music and celebrity enthusiasts worldwide.”
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beauty,
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fashion,
human resources,
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marketing,
music,
New York,
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recruiting,
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style,
unpaid
Walking around a museum and looking at stuff is usually boring for me. It’s just too passive. I like museums that are hands-on and offer experiential learning opportunities. I’ve never been there, but The Exploratorium in San Francisco, CA looks like my kind of museum. It’s focused on art, science, and human perception and based on the premise that “following your curiosity and asking questions can lead to amazing moments of discovery, learning, and awareness, and can increase confidence in your ability to understand how the world works.” The Exploratorium looks like a truly amazing place to visit, and they even offer all kinds of in-depth web content for those who can’t visit.
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unpaid
If there’s a driving holiday, it has to be Memorial Day. I didn’t spend much time in the car this year, but last year I was in a nasty traffic jam coming back from Michigan. The jam was exacerbated by some buffoon who decided to block off a lane for at least a mile by driving slowly (it was closed for construction ahead). If only there was a way to contact him and let him know that he should read Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us). Then he’d know that full lane utilization with a zipper merge at the obstruction is the most efficient way to deal with a lane closure. BUMP is a La Jolla, CA based company that wants to create “the world’s largest communication, marketing, and safety network” by connecting license plate numbers with online profiles.
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sem,
seo,
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social networking,
software development,
unpaid,
user experience,
web development
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve wanted to spend as much time as possible enjoying nature. Along the way I’ve learned a lot of stuff without realizing it. For instance, I can tell you about the the entire lifecycle of mayflies or the spawning behavior of salmon. Yes, I’ve read about those things to supplement my knowledge, but you can’t really understand how it all works until you see it in action. That’s the premise that NatureBridge is based on. They’re a San Francisco, CA based non-profit that has spent the last 40 years introducing “1 million young people to the wonder and science of nature in the world’s best classrooms—our national parks.”
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outdoors,
science,
teaching,
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I’m a big fan of magazine lists. They can be a great tool for your internship search, and I’m not just talking about the “Best Place to Work” lists. One list that you may not think to use but you should is the Forbes list of The World’s Billionaires. Take a look at what the world’s most successful people have done to get where they are today–it might just lead you in some interesting directions. Forbes is a company that is best known for its lists. The New York, NY based publisher goes by the motto “The Capitalist Tool,” though that sounds like something a NATO protester called me this weekend (just kidding). But seriously, when you hear the name Forbes, you think money, right?
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New York,
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web development,
writing
If you haven’t heard something about the Facebook IPO in the past few days, you must have had a really good weekend. What annoys me about successful startups is all the knockoff attempts. A lot of people think that a good idea is enough to build a business on, so they copy the successes and usually fail miserably despite having a “good idea.” A much better approach is to take inspiration from the big successes and apply what you learn to a more focused niche. Doximity has done exactly that–they’re a social network for doctors and healthcare professionals. The San Mateo, CA based company has picked a great market in that a big part of being a doctor is communicating with other doctors. It’s also a market with amazing monetization possibilities.
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It’s easy to think of the developing world as having completely different problems from the ones we have in the U.S. But when you look more closely, you start to realize that the link between poverty and a lack of good education is consistent across the world–our inner cities and the developing world have similar problems that require similar solutions. buildOn is a non-profit organization based in Stamford, CT that aims to break “the cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and low expectations through service and education” by “putting youth in service and building schools in developing countries.” Most non-profits either focus on education abroad or domestically, buildOn is unique in that they believe that they can better solve both problems by working on them at the same time.
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I get a ton of PR pitches every day (I just got another one while I was writing this). They typically range from very bad to downright terrible, so I either ignore them or send a nasty reply asking the person to remove me from their list. I checked my e-mail archives, and I’ve never received a pitch from anyone at Sparkpr, but my guess based on their reputation is that they’d actually take the time to send me a decent pitch if it was appropriate. They’re a San Francisco, CA PR firm that was started in the late 90s “at the height of the Internet explosion in Silicon Valley.” They’ve maintained their close ties to the tech scene through the ups and downs, and they’ve won a ton of awards along the way.
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united kingdom
I know some people who research their purchases to death. They end up never buying anything because new versions of the products come out before they can make a decision. It’s a never-ending process. I’m all for doing my due diligence before buying something expensive, but I try to make it as quick as possible. FindTheBest is a site that makes comparing anything super easy. They’re a Santa Barbara, CA company that offers “a powerful tool for making quick and informed decisions.” Whether you’re looking for the best breed of dog for your lifestyle or the best financial advisor in your area, FindTheBest offers you just the facts “stripped of any marketing influence.”
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paid,
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web development
When I was in 9th grade I had to take a Health class. One day our teacher had us write letters to our future selves. She told us that she’d send them to us when we graduated high school. I never saw that letter again. I guess I’ll never know how I’m stacking up against the expectations of my 14 year old self. While many lessons from health class seem trite at the time, they can have life-long beneficial effects. Unfortunately, many public schools can’t afford to offer health education. This is a big problem because “teenagers today are engaging in risky behavior at alarming rates, harming their bodies and their futures.” Peer Health Exchange is a San Francisco, CA based non-profit organization (but they’re working across the country) that fixes this problem by recruiting, selecting, and training “college student volunteers to teach high school students a comprehensive health curriculum.” My sister is one of these volunteers, and she’s had a wonderful experience so far (which is why she has been bugging me to feature PHE).
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public health,
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