Day 2: Mid Day Shenanigans

Hello from Denver,

Today marked my first full day as a CNN intern and it started off with an illegal bang. I was able to get a lot of sleep last night which was refreshing, and since I could wake up a little earlier, I decided to check out some possible mass transit routes for me to take to the Pepsi Center. The bus is always a cheap means of transportation, however it would take me about 40 minutes to get there from my house, so I decided to give the light rail a try. I walked 4 blocks and then came to the light rail stop, and as I approached a train pulled up, so I rushed and hopped on in, but little did I know I had missed an essential part of the light rail process.... paying.

I got on the train and cruised for a few stops. I tried my best to not look too much like a tourist or out-of-towner, but I gave it away as I stared blankly at the rail chart of stops. After a few stops, I still had no idea of where I was going, except that I was going downtown. I started noticing some commotion at the back of the cart and saw two transit inspectors giving a man a ticket because he had hopped on without purchasing a fare card. Yikes. I realized that I needed to get off the train fast, so I shifted up the cart a little bit more hoping that before they got to me, I would have a chance at a getaway. Fortunately, after a few minutes, a stop came along, so I briskly left the train and tried to act like I was on my way to work. It was a close one. CNN has arranged a shuttle service to and from the Pepsi center to their hotel of employees, and fortunately the other workers were able to get the shuttle to come pick me up too. Hopefully the shuttle driver can keep it up when things get crazy around here starting next week.

I walked into our office on the second floor of Brooklyn's and began my day. I went throughout the Pepsi center posting CNN direction signs to our RF room (radio frequency) and our suites and VIP stations positioned in the upper balconies of the center. After that I actually went to pick up the big tuna of our operation here Dave Bohrman, as well as some EP's (executive producers) and other program directors, Guy and Renee were there names. I met them and helped escort them into the center where we walked around the convention floor, specifically our CNN platform, and I helped a cameraman while we shot a "behind the scenes" interview with Dave and a CNN reporter. We continued our walk of the platform, and then the head executives and directors used myself and some others to map out the anchor layout of the platform. Basically, we set up the chairs for where John King, Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, and Gloria Borger will be sitting, and I got to sit in their chairs and pretend to be an anchor as the cameramen and the directors mapped out the best shooting scenario. It wasn't a big deal, but it's fun knowing that my butt has now sat where Anderson and Wolf will be sitting. It's only the middle of the day, so I hope to see some more fun times later. Look for another post tonight.