CAFME in NYC: Who's Who

Get to know the CAFME members who traveled to New York City to meet up with Ed2010!

Alexandra Brawley is a senior photojournalism major and creative writing minor at UNC-Chapel Hill. She is the photo editor of Kaleidoscope, UNC-CH’s popular fashion magazine, and is the owner of Location Designs, LLC, a company that provides on-site photography to be produced as artwork for commercial sites. This past summer she interned in the photo department at Brides magazine, which was an absolutely amazing experience! Alexandra has also been a staff photographer at The Daily Tar Heel, and has interned in the photo departments at Wrightsville Beach Magazine and Lumina News, local publications in her hometown. Growing up at the beach, she loves all things outdoors that are near or on the water.  After graduation this May, Alexandra is moving to NYC where she is determined to land an awesome position at a fashion, lifestyle or travel magazine!

My name is Alison Ives and I am a sophomore journalism major from Charlotte, North Carolina.  I’m specializing in reporting and am also pursuing a minor in creative writing.  I write for a Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill joint publication called Rival and a men’s fashion and culture magazine called Anatomy.  My ambitious but decidedly attainable career goals place me in New York City once I graduate in 2013.  I hope to write for a fashion, entertainment or lifestyle magazine full-time and publish poetry at my leisure.  Although my journalism foundation is in writing, I also have experience in photography and graphic design.  I am a proud member of the UNC dance group, Blank Canvas, and the UNC magazine organization, Carolina Association of Future Magazine Editors.

Alyssa Bailey is a sophomore French and journalism double major at UNC-CH. She is concentrating in Editing and Graphic Design for her journalism sequence. Hailing from Ellicott City, Md., a suburb between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Alyssa has interned at three area publications, two of them national: Girls’ Life magazine, USA WEEKEND magazine and Washington Post Express. She currently writes for Girls’ Life magazine as an online contributing writer and has written for Washington Post Express as a contributor. On campus, she is a designer for The Daily Tar Heel newspaper and Kaleidoscope magazine. Before coming to UNC-CH, Alyssa spent her freshman year at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she worked on the copy and design desks of their newspaper, The Diamondback and as style editor of the school’s student life magazine, Unwind! This summer, Alyssa hopes to intern at a major magazine in New York City or Washington, D.C. When she’s not working, Alyssa loves jogging, baking cupcakes for friends and channeling Glee’s Emma Pillsbury’s fashion.

March 23 Recap: Skype with Lucy Zhang

 About Lucy:

·         Assistant Marketing Manager at People Magazine and People Style Watch, Time, Inc.

·         Interned at Rolling Stone, US Weekly, Men’s Journal

·         A Conde Nast intern at brides.com

·         Then went to Time, Inc. and worked at Sports Illustrated and Time magazine

·         Works on the business side of the magazine—marketing

Questions:

If I want to work with a magazine and work on multimedia marketing, how do I find internships?

Look under publishing internships on magazine websites, they will place you under a business sector. Or contact an HR representative and ask how you can get an internship that is specific to your interests.

As a freshman, how do you get an internship with little experience?

I applied through UNC to my first college internship. I was really lucky that this internship was posted and that I got it. Network with anyone you can think of, ask around.

What was your major in the J-School?

I was a business major and I majored in marketing. I was an advertising minor in the J-School.

I’m a PR major but have a lot of interest in writing for magazines. Any advice about explaining my path when I apply to magazines?

Say you have social media experience and that you want to apply it to another position. Play up your knowledge. Conde and Hearst are such big companies that it’s not hard to jump around if you start off in marketing and want to move to editorial. Magazines aren’t what they were a year ago. It’s important to be knowledgeable that it’s not just the print edition anymore. We talk a lot about tablets and how we can change. There are so many different places you can enter now. Take that into account and be aware of how things are changing. 

March 16 Recap: Skype with LaToya Evans

About LaToya:

·         Graduated from UNC in 2008

·         Always enjoyed writing, was inspired by Andre Talley of Vogue to work in magazines.

·         Got an internship at a magazine that closed before her internship started and was put at Cosmopolitan instead.

·         Met the editor in chief of Cosmopolitan, Kate White who took her from the fashion closet to the features desk

·         Never took a journalism class before her Cosmopolitan internship but was gutsy and proactive

·         Started a freelance career after her freshman year, became a freelance writer for Glamour

·         Went on the JAFA trip as a sophomore

·         Got an internship at Vogue after meeting them on the JAFA trip

·         Also interned at CosmoGirl the same summer

·         ASME intern at Real Simple in 2007

·         Interned at Vanity Fair after talking to the editor for a year

·         Now does PR at IBM

Tips:

·         Be proactive but be smart about it. LaToya cold-emailed editors for magazines that she was interested in and had informational interviews every week. But be aware. You think these are great opportunities, but be smart about it and use tact and think about it in the sense that magazines are competitors.

·         Be humble and be a team player. Even if you want to benefit yourself, be conscious of how you come off. You want to work toward the success of the publication.

·         Make as many friends and contacts as you can. You’ll go further with this than with bylines and resume builders.

·         Freelance in college—even if it’s local, even if you don’t get paid a lot.

Questions:

How did the transition go from magazines to IBM?

I really started considering my options as a real adult and considering bills. I started applying for PR jobs…I just simply changed my mind from magazines. IBM was a better offer. It gave me the chance to do something I hadn’t done. My dad said to me, “what is the point of doing something forever if you’ve already mastered it?”

Out of your internships, what was your most memorable experience, good or bad?

Vogue would be my most memorable because it really was the opportunity and the internship of a lifetime. To have that amazing experience and see a world that you’ve never seen before is something you never forget. Even today, I think, “Wow I worked at Vogue.” Cosmopolitan was the biggest learning experience because it was the first.

What is your advice to us as far as diversifying our skills but not spreading ourselves too thin?

Don’t get all of your experience in one area. You don’t know yet what you’ll do later. I never had experience in PR. Use the local agencies and publications, do those internships in the different areas you’re not sure about. Do them during the year or do virtual internships so you can dedicate your summers to what you’re really interested in. Be more focused. Don’t just go for the resume fillers. If you’re in an organization that takes up a lot of time but doesn’t have a lot of benefits, drop it. The most meaningful things and the things that benefit you (like freelancing) are what should take up your time.

How do you talk to and network with people or alums?

Mentoring is a mutual relationship. Each party has to benefit each other. Ask questions, ask for contact information. But don’t be just about getting the business card, have a conversation with them. Relationships require maintenance.

Apply to be a CAFME officer!

Positions available: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Special Projects Coordinator

Deadline to apply: Friday, April 1 by 5 p.m.

How to apple: Send your resume and a cover letter explaining why you want to hold the desired position and how you could benefit CAFME in that position. Send these two materials in an email to carolinamagazines@yahoo.com. You do not have to be an official member of CAFME to apply or to be elected. 

PRESIDENT

Responsible for:

·         Making sure everything runs smoothly at all times

·         Running the meetings, planning meetings, lots of emailing and coordinating

·         Making the organization “official” at the beginning of the year

·         Sending e-mails at least once every two weeks with updates and meeting information

·         Keeping (safe) all CAFME documents

·         Coordinating meeting topics and putting together handouts

·         Checking the Yahoo e-mail account on a consistent basis

·         Helping with recruiting efforts every semester, Fall Fest

·         Delegating tasks to exec, organization and admin to everything

·         Serving as the face of the club, representative of the J-School

·         Keeping in touch with Cafme and other alum in the industry

·         Planning and leadership for the annual NYC trip, Pace Trip, Raleigh Trip

·         Attending each meeting

VICE PRESDIENT
Responsible for:
       ·         Serving as the right hand to the President 
       ·      Assisting in running weekly meetings
       ·      Assisting in all things administrative  
       ·      Running any meetings the President cannot attend  

       ·      Leading any trips the President cannot attend
       ·      Booking all meeting locations and times
       ·      Helping with making the club official and working with SASO
       ·      Helping with recruiting efforts, working with faculty
       ·      Finding and organizing speakers for meetings 
       ·      Maintaining contact with Ed2010 and serving as a liaison
       ·      Contributing to brainstorming with the exec team - very involved with planning 

              &  new ideas
       ·      Checking with the President and offering suggestions for infrastructure 

              improvement 
       ·      Planning and leadership for the annual NYC trip, Pace Trip, Raleigh Trip
       ·     Attending each meeting

SECRETARY

Responsible for:

·         Helping the president and vice president

·         Editing and contributing to handouts for meetings

·         Helping with recruiting efforts

·         Keeping track of attendance of weekly meetings/prize winners

·         Taking detailed notes of each meeting

·         Posting meeting recaps to the CAFME blog

·         Maintaining the blog, any other websites

·         Brainstorming meeting topics and speaker ideas with the executive team

·         Writing thank you letters to speakers

·         Attending each meeting

TREASURER

Responsible for:

·         Providing the organization with necessary funds to operate (mostly includes printing money, some food money, some travel money, and gift money for speakers)

·         Must take and pass the treasurer's test

·         Keeping tabs on the CAFME account in the Student Union (which, yes, has money in it)

·         Keeping track of money collected from dues, cashing checks from dues

·         Applying for funding each semester, any subsequent funding requests

·         Contributing to the exec planning

·         Attending each meeting

SPECIAL PROJECTS COORDINATOR­

Responsible for:

·         Helping the president and vice-president

·         Reserving spot and organize booth for Fall Fest, J-School Orientation and other events

·         Helping with recruiting efforts

·         Daily/weekly keeping up the Twitter and Facebook with helpful links

·         Creating FB events, sending out messages, interacting with members through social media

·         Taking photos (just a few snapshots) for the FB page

·         Live tweeting a few quotes at the meetings (if guest speaker)

·         Publicity on campus – t-shirts, events, J-School relations, Intern Panel, Networking Night

·         Attending each meeting

**Despite the different duties each position is responsible for, officers must at all times work together toward the goal of improving and expanding the organization. Officers will be expected to contribute thoroughly.