Intern Errands

Last week I opted to work instead of taking any time off for spring break. I initially thought that there would not be much for me to do but I ended up staying very busy. Throughout the week I ran many errands to “The Cage” across the street. “The Cage” is actually a storage facility for many of the departments of the City of Phoenix that is located directly across the street from City Hall. I find myself venturing across the street numerous times throughout the week to pick up different items that are requested by the committees. For example, last week I had to go pick up 42 easels and prepare the Taiwanese flag for an exhibit that is being put on by the Taipei committee.

In addition to all of the errands, I worked diligently on the newsletter. In fact, I came pretty close to completely finishing the first draft. All that was left to add were a few bios of new commission members. Considering the fact that Friday, March 30 is the deadline for me to submit the final draft to the print shop, I think I have managed my time very well on this project and I cannot wait to see the finished product.

Newsletter and State of the City Address

As I have previously mentioned, one of my long term, and in a sense most important duties has been to develop the newsletter for Phoenix Sister Cities. I have been working hard to polish up the quarterly newsletter and hope to have it completed in the next couple of weeks. I have included in it numerous events that have taken place throughout the course of FY 2011-2012 and I am very excited to get it printed and sent out to the over 400 members of Phoenix Sister Cities. Some of these events include the Hermosillo Band and Bugle Corps performing in the St. Patrick's Day Parade a couple of days ago, the Matsuri Festival, several different fundraisers for city committees, and the Youth Ambassador Exchange Program, to name a few. Currently, the newsletter stands at around 15 pages and each page contains brief articles and pictures that I had to track down from various committee members and volunteers in order to incorporate them into the newsletter. Needless to say, a few of the items in the newsletter have been easier to develop than others. This is due to the fact that some of the individuals that I have tried to contact regarding content information have been slow to respond or have not replied to my requests. Regardless of some of these difficulties, the newsletter is coming along just fine and I hope it will turn out great!

While I was working on the newsletter the other day I received an email from a representative in the mayor's office. The email was an invite to attend the State of the City Address on April 11th. It technically wasn't an invite due to the fact that this yearly address is an event where the public is encourage to attend, but nonetheless, it was invitation to reserve a seat at the address. Additionally, I was informed that I will have the opportunity to ask the mayor a few questions after his speech. Apparently, my supervisor was nice enough to set up a "shadowing opportunity" for me after I told him that I am interested in pursuing a career in local government. I am really excited about this opportunity and I definitely can't wait to share the experience with you all.

Peyton Manning

I’m not sure how many of you are into football, let alone sports in general, but I think this has been an historic week for the sport of football. On Wednesday the Indianapolis Colts released 4-time MVP Peyton Manning on the eve of when Peyton was due a $28 million bonus. I didn’t get to watch the press conference on TV but I did listen to it live on the radio and I would be lying if I told you that I did not tear up listening to his farewell to the Colts organization and Colts fans everywhere. It almost goes without saying that it was a really emotional press conference that followed his 14 year stint in Indy.  Regardless of how I feel about Indy letting him go, I’m really looking forward to this next week when a lot of teams are set to make their case to acquire Manning. There’s been a ton of speculation about where he might end up but if I had to pick three places I would like to see him end up, I would say Denver, Arizona, or Miami. Here’s why.

Denver: Having just moved here from Colorado where I did my undergrad, I would be lying if didn’t admit that I have developed a soft spot for the Denver Broncos in my time up there. I really like to see them win because when they win all my good friends are happy, and when they lose all my friends hate everything in life. In my opinion, with Denver’s defense already dominant, Peyton would turn Denver into an AFC powerhouse. Even though I am a HUGE fan of Tim Tebow and I appreciated everything he did this year, I think he belongs in Jacksonville.

Arizona: Three words- We Live Here! Bring him here to Larry Fitzgerald and Early Doucet.

Miami: The only reason I have Miami on here is because my good buddy is a really big fan of the Dolphins. He is really, really mean when the Dolphins lose, which, in recent years has pretty much been all the time, so I know it would put him in a good mood for life if Peyton were to take his talents to South Beach.

Hermosillo Committee Meeting

As a part of my internship, it is required that I pick a city committee and attend their monthly committee meetings. I recently attended the Hermosillo committee meeting and I met a lot of great people. Even though I did not take down the official minutes I did take minutes down for myself in order to get some practice and report back to my supervisors and colleagues at the staff meeting. The Hermosillo committee is definitely one of the busiest committees and it was interesting to hear about all of their upcoming events and activities. The most interesting item on the agenda was the status report about the establishment of the Hermosillo Burn Center in response to the terrible tragedy that occurred in a Hermosillo daycare center in 2009. Tragically, 49 young children perished in a fire and those that survived will need care and surgeries for years. Since there are no burn centers in northern Mexico, Phoenix Sister Cities is currently working to help establish a Burn Center. As of now, there are approximately 12 sets of nurses that are being trained at the Maricopa County Burn Center and will eventually make their way down to Hermosillo. Needless to say, it was very good to hear that significant progress is being made in the establishment of the Burn Center and I cannot wait until the project is completed.


You can read more about the Hermosillo Fire Relief Fund and how to donate at
http://phoenixsistercities.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=121&Itemid=199

PSC Website

In recent weeks, my role has significantly increased in terms of the Phoenix Sister Cities website maintenance. Prior to this internship, I can honestly say that my experience in maintaining a website and doing other web-oriented tasks that require a certain technological savviness has been at a minimum. However, I have learned a lot in such a short period of time. I am constantly having to update the calendar by adding and taking out events. In addition, I am constantly adding pictures, biographies, and random teasers on the home page that link to other pages within the website. I encourage all of you to venture to phoenixsistercities.org and just browse around for a bit. It is a really neat website that describes all nine of the sister cities and the committees that go hand in hand with them. There is also information on becoming a member of sister cities. There is also a calendar (yes, the one I always update) that lets the public know about when the monthly committee meetings are and where they are held. They are open to the public and citizens are encouraged to attend. For example, the monthly committee meeting for Hermosillo, Mexico is held the second Tuesday of every month. However, since the second Tuesday of February was Valentine's Day, the meeting was pushed back a week to tonight (2/21/2012) at 6:00 pm at Rico's Grill. At the end of the day, the skills I am picking up through my time at this internship are proving to be invaluable and will benefit me greatly in my future career.

Board of Directors Meeting

Last week, myself and the other interns were invited to attend the PSC Board of Directors meeting. The meeting took place on the first floor of City Hall and dinner was provided. It was a really interesting experience as I learned how the meetings are conducted, how the agendas are laid out, and I was introduced to all of the commission members of the various sister cities. There were a few commission members that I had previously met but nonetheless, I shook a lot of hands that night. One of the main topics on the agenda was the upcoming delegation visit to Ramat-Gan, Israel. The commission members discussed the trip in great detail. They also spent a significant amount of time discussing funding. Since WorldFest 2011 was cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances, funding has become that much more of an important topic due to the fact that a large portion of funding comes from the profits made from WorldFest each year. All in all, it was a neat experience to be involved in the meeting and I am appreciative of the opportunity.

The interns and I also had the opportunity to meet with the two management interns at the City of Phoenix last week. They provided us with insight on their day to day tasks as they jump around from department to department throughout the course of their year long internship. If I remember correctly, one of the interns began her internship with the City Manager's Office, is currently in the Budget and Research Department, and next month she will transfer to SkyHarbor to spend the last few months of her internship.     She also described the application process to become a Management Intern. After listening to how beneficial the program is,  I can honestly say that I look forward to next year when I will be eligible to apply for the Management Internship Program at the City of Phoenix.

PSC Newsletter

This week I have been working on the initial stages of developing the quarterly Phoenix Sister Cities newsletter. The Spring 2012 newsletter will include numerous events that have occurred and will occur between the months of October 2011 and March 2012. Some of those events include the Ennis 5K Run & Walk, the Great Canadian Picnic, the Chengdu Performance at the MIM Theater, and the Matsuri Festival. Until now, I have never developed a newsletter but I have quickly become acquainted with Microsoft Publisher and am well on my way. On Monday, a meeting was held to determine the content and layout of the upcoming newsletter. Newsletters from previous quarters were presented to me and I was given guidance on what to avoid and what approaches to possibly take. In addition, I was provided with the email addresses and phone numbers of committee chair members in order to contact them to request pictures and brief articles regarding their respective events that will be incorporated into the newsletter. All in all, it was a great meeting and I feel well-equipped and confident about pursuing this project. The newsletter will take a couple of months to complete and be mailed out but I am excited to see how it will turn out.