Monday, March 31, 2014

Eleventh Week

This week was relatively quiet at the Center for Conflict Resolution. This week my work consisted primarily of uploading and digitizing the professional photos taken at the 2014 Gala. While my work at CCR was light this week, my schedule continued to be full while I juggled not only my work and school work but also two interviews for jobs following graduation. I hope to be able to post next week with good news, time will tell.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Tenth Week

Hello all,

This week, following the successful Gala, I completed my main project at the Center for Conflict Resolution. My main project with CCR consisted of the digitization of the Center's plethora of training aids, sample mediations as well as memorable events involving the organization. By digitizing all this material I have not only eliminated the numerous boxes of antiquated VHS tapes, but also made the material available to all of CCR's mediators wherever they have access to the internet, therefore enabling CCR's mediators the ability to refresh their training in specific situations. With both the Gala successfully pulled off and my digitization project accomplished, my internship with the Center for Conflict Resolution is winding down, just as my search for a full time job begins to amplify. In the coming weeks I will be wrapping up my internship with Mac and the rest of the staff at the Center for Conflict Resolution and hopefully transitioning from school and part time work to a full time position. 

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Ninth Week

This week was the Center for Conflict Resolution's 35th annual gala. Everything we had been working on for the last 2 months since I began the internship went off without a hitch. The event was spectacular and offered me a small glimpse into the world of non profit fundraising on a far larger level than I had previously worked on. Throughout the event, I met lawyers, law professors, judges and many many more, it was certainly a productive evening for my own personal networking. Hopefully this networking as well as the experience I have built through my work at CCR will pay off for me as I enter the job market in the coming weeks.

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Eighth Week

As the 35th Gala approaches, the tasks have increased tenfold. I have taken on the additional task of creating a powerpoint presentation highlighting the Center for Conflict Resolution's three decade history while also showcasing our impressive statistics of cases mediated over the past year. In conjunction with this I have added a comprehensive list of the items available for the silent auction and showcasing some of the more prestigious items available. I have continued my previous duties and have done my best to make myself instrumental to CCR during my time there. This coming week is the Gala as well as my 28th birthday. I hope all goes smoothly and this experience continues to shape my professional life and further demonstrate how important and valuable I can be to an organization as I prepare myself to enter one of the most difficult job markets in the last century. 

Friday, February 28, 2014

Seventh Week

This week I assumed the role of training assistant for the Center for Conflict Resolution while the current training assistant was on vacation. During this time I acted as the central nervous system of sorts for the Center for Conflict Resolution, greeting mediation trainees, mediators, and parties arriving for mediation while also consolidating rsvp's from sponsors and guests for the Center's 35th Anniversary Gala. During this time I have further honed my ability to multi-task working on several different projects at once while also doing my best to support the rest of the staff with their duties and daily tasks. While in this new position for the Center for Conflict Resolution, I have achieved a more substantial understanding of the organizational scheme for the Center as a whole as acting as the central hub of the center. Furthermore I have become extremely interested in mediation after speaking with several mediators conducting a training exercise after seeing the varying careers and backgrounds of individuals and also speaking with them regarding the career paths available to one with a mediation background. One of the most fascinating is an individual that used his experience in mediation to get into contracting work in which he offered mediation services between Afghans and the US Military in Afghanistan. In discovering this my decision to establish the foundation of my mediation skills and training with small scale domestic conflict resolution has been assured and will undoubtedly create a strong base before for me to build upon in the future. 

Friday, February 21, 2014

Sixth Week

This week was my first week without direct supervision. My direct supervisor had a week long vacation planned prior to my hiring as an intern. So while he was enjoying a tropical beach I was braving the blistering winds and continuing my work. With that in mind, I spent the early portion of the week preparing thank you letters for donors to our 35th annual gala's silent auction as well as updating all the documentation in order to maintain accountability of said gifts and confirm the gracious responses were issued to the parties concerned. For the remainder of the week I continued my quest for organizational supremacy in which I began screening the Center's training simulation videos published on YouTube in order to provide applicable titles and descriptive statements so as to further provide casual viewers, mediators and trainers the proper context for each simulation. Hopefully my supervisor is impressed with my initiative in his absence and the continued progress on the organization and consolidation of the Center's volunteer database as well as their gala records from the last ten years. Until next week...

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Fifth Week

In the last week my work has focused upon the administrative requirements of planning a gala like the 35th annual gala the Center for Conflict Resolution is throwing on the 13th of March. During this time I have been focused upon the etiquette and procedure involved with thanking sponsors for gifts for our silent auction as well as creating and preparing formal invitations for more than 100 guests. In doing this surprising amount of clerical work in support of the gala I have learned a number of things. The first being the wide and elaborate world of etiquette especially that focused upon formal invitations to an event. Shockingly there is an order in which invitations, brochures, leaflets and return envelopes are to be placed within an envelope.  Second I have been enlightened to the staggering amount of accountability surrounding each and every gift for the silent auction from its arrival to its cataloging to its valuation and then storage before the event. Over the coming weeks the preparations for the gala are expected to heighten even more as the day looms closer, I look forward to each new challenge that presents itself in the coming weeks.