A Celebration to be Remembered
What an exciting time at USA TODAY NETWORK!
This past Thursday (June 29th) we celebrated our two-year anniversary as #oneNETWORK. The occasion was marked by a special Town Hall held at headquarters in McLean, VA and livestreamed across the NETWORK, all of which was followed by network-wide birthday celebrations.
To start off the Town Hall, Bob Dickey, President and CEO of Gannett, opened with an exciting announcement: a day off on July 3rd! While I love working here, it’s always nice to have some extra down time.
Dickey, along with other members of the Gannett Executive Leadership Team, focused on the company’s three-year strategy for the bulk of the meeting. Dickey noted that “our vision is to be the daily destination for all of our communities, whether for content, great journalism, or advertising,” a view that requires USA TODAY NETWORK to “be so engaging that people will seek us out as a part of their everyday routine.”
As a summer intern, it was exciting to witness such a special day for the company. My time here has been marked by incredible experiences, friendly faces, and lots of free food (shout out to bagels, donuts, and snack alley). The days are always action-packed and this is a busy time of year for the NETWORK: in the short weeks that I have worked here, I have been able to experience our OnPoint Employee Awards, a special presentation by Ken Burns, several interactive events held by the internship program, an anniversary celebration, and a handful of department-wide social events.
I began my internship roughly six weeks ago, meaning that my time here is about halfway over (time flies when you’re having fun!). What I have loved about my job is that every day has been something different and no day looks the same, a characteristic that allows for great flexibility. For example, my job as a Corporate Communications intern lies within the marketing department (my team focuses on public relations, internal and external communications, and corporate events), yet I attend the daily editors’ meetings in the newsroom every morning to gain greater perspective of our big upcoming stories. It is the flexibility that our NETWORK provides combined with the amazing people here (shout out to Alessandra, Chrissy, Lauren, Laura, and Amber!) that have made this job so enjoyable.
Every day I have learned something new and challenged myself. Although the halfway point of my summer here has come and gone, I have already come away from this experience with invaluable knowledge about the industry that will stick with me as I move forward in my professional career. The most important lesson I have learned so far while working at USA TODAY NETWORK is just how powerful a network is in this industry. While the USA TODAY brand has been around for the past four decades, the news industry has been rapidly evolving and as a NETWORK we are able not only to keep up with these changes but sustain ourselves and evolve as a leading media company.
I can’t wait to see what is in store for the second half of the summer!
