Internship Work Summary

I have recently completed my internship at Colorblind Studios at 1476 Franquette Ave. in Concord, California. The owner of the company, Randy Gallerin, opened the studio on November 15^th 2003. Before that, he had been teaching drum lessons out of his garage for more than ten years when he decided to turn his dreams into a reality. He always had dreamt of a place where musicians of all ages and skill levels could come together to practice, record, rehearse, and even take lessons. Also, he wanted to have a space to hold special events and concerts, as well as a place to further educate upcoming and experienced musicians alike. His business is rapidly expanding, and the studio itself has expanded to nearly twice its original size in the past three years.

Currently at Colorblind, there are five rehearsal rooms available to rent, complete with a lounge and lobby area. There is a bathroom and soon-to-be kitchen along with this, and plenty of storage space for equipment. The rehearsal rooms are all available for bands to rent out for practice or recording sessions, and it is also possible to schedule school field trips or special events such as birthday parties at the studio. When bands are not recording or practicing, Randy and his staff teach private 1-on-1 lessons by appointment.

I worked mainly in the marketing department and with customer relations. Randy Gallerin, owner of Colorblind Studios, wanted me to do everything I could to promote his business. I used social networking sites to post advertisements for upcoming concerts/events at Colorblind Studios, as well as gain more contacts such as bands that may be interested in recording/rehearsing sessions. Through the use of these websites, I actually got many responses from bands wanting to rehearse, and I even booked a concert at the studio.

Another thing I did was to post advertisements on Craigslist, Yahoo! Yellow pages, and a few other websites. The idea was so that you can type in “music lessons, concord” or any other combination of related words (drum, guitar, bass, lessons, rehearsal space, etc.) Colorblind Studios’ website was one of the first links to pop up. In the end, it worked pretty well and almost always his website pops up as one of the first 20 links.

Also, Randy had me revamp his website. I made some minor changes, and fixed a lot of broken links. I changed a few of the pages and modified the original layout so that it is more pleasing and easily accessible.

On top of all the computer work, I answer the phone whenever people would call. I did my best to answer questions and directed them towards his website whenever possible. I made some appointments, and even scheduled a few new clients. When people were in the studio, I helped set up drum kits for lessons and even did some work on one recording session. I took money when it was time for people to pay, and handled the incoming finances for the days I was working.

As far as my educational relationships between New Tech High and Colorblind Studios, I am able to draw many parallels when reflecting on what I have done. At Colorblind, I was forced to work with musicians to solve problems on how to utilize certain space and fix technology that didn’t want to comply. Like in school, working with a small group was essential. When I was answering the phones I had to use my presentation skills to sell myself as well as his business. I did a lot of work on computers with networking and marketing/advertising and had to problem-solve many online situations.

I became much more technologically literate through my work at Colorblind Studios. I also improved my collaboration skills due to the fact that I had to work with people and make compromises. I had to use my critical thinking skills to solve problems, along with my oral communication skills to communicate and market effectively.

My use of technology was almost constant. I used computers on a daily basis and had to learn how to work with some recording equipment. Also, using the phone can even be a challenge sometimes! I helped Randy fix his computer and showed him some useful programs for future marketing plans.

I liked my internship and the internship program. It was intellectually challenging and I was allowed to use my own initiative to get things done. I would recommend a similar internship to another student interested in working someday in the music business, or anyone who wants to learn skills necessary to operate a recording studio whilst still working in a clean, friendly environment. The internship affected my career goals by giving me experience in the field that I one day hope to be a part of.