HEY! I'M WALKING HERE!

THURSDAY

My trip to New York has been everything I could have hoped for. I’ve been having so much fun that I haven’t had time to blog about it, sorry! Let me catch you up to speed on all of the crazy cool things I did yesterday. 

I was up and ready by 7:15 a.m. which in itself is an amazing accomplishment. I didn’t want to waste any of the time I have here, so I hit the New York streets bright and early. I was on a mission for an authentic NY bagel for breakfast, and it didn’t take long to find one. I loved strolling the streets and soaking up the busy atmosphere of the morning crowd. Plenty of people were stopping at the newsstands to get the morning paper. This reminds me that I need to do this before I leave. You can’t go to New York City and not get a copy of the New York Times, especially if you work for a newspaper. 

I got back to the hotel in time to sign up for one of the last spots for a media tour, a session where you and a group are taken to see the headquarters of a big media corporation. I got to go to the Hearst building where Hearst Media Corporation is headquartered. They are one of the biggest media corporations in the world and they own the biggest magazine in the world, Cosmopolitan, as well as Food Network Magazine, Elle, Esquire, and several others. This was definitely one of the coolest things I’ve done so far. We were taken to the executive level which has the best view of the city. Click on the gallery below!

Then, we got to tour the floors where Good Housekeeping is created. There is an entire floor dedicated just to research! We passed rooms that are made for testing any household product you could imagine, so that the reviews in the magazine are thorough and trustworthy. We also got to see the test kitchen where chefs will research and create every recipe that is published in the magazine. I was really impressed by this whole floor. Then we got to go see the editorial floor where editors designers and writers all work together to create the magazine. The magazine just went under a design relaunch, so it was cool to discuss the idea behind that. It’s my dream job to work on the production team for Rolling Stone Magazine, so I loved being able to see behind the scenes on how a highly successful magazine is put together. And, they sent us home with a copy of the latest issue of Good Housekeeping that hasn't been sent out to racks yet. Way cool!

---

Back at the convention, my group and I got to mingle with a Yik Yak executive who was thrilled to see how we feature posts from their app in our paper. He kept a copy to show to all the students stopping by their tent, so it was awesome to get that kind of promotion! We got some of the coolest Yik Yak swag too, and I know my brother will be jealous of the socks. They even slipped us a limited edition gold Yik Yak pin which we all got way too excited about. It was fun to network with some fellow Atlantans. I also got a lot of compliments on the name badges I made for my group!

Lunch took place at an authentic NY deli. I had a huge salad that I had no hopes of finishing, but it was delicious. Every place we’ve eaten so far has been fast paced and super busy. The people taking your order speak really fast, so you have to pay attention and be ready with your order or else they’ll brush you off. I’ve gotten the hang of it though, even if I’ve had to change my ordering habits quite a bit. I’m used to being able to ask a lot of questions and request ingredients be taken off (like onions, ew). But here, you don’t really have time to be picky and the people who run the restaurants don’t have time for it either. I feel pretty accomplished that I’ve gotten the hang of it.

For my afternoon sessions, I went to one that featured speakers who are designers for the sports section of the New York Times. I loved the presentation on why white space is important in design. Especially with sports stories, where readers want to see more than just game recaps. I enjoyed networking with other people and seeing what they do with their paper. A lot of people I talked to, including one of the speakers, were really impressed with how The Sentinel uses alternative story forms and infographics in the sports section to make our information pop. I’ve always favored the sports section, and I’m excited that our work is impressive to other people. I went to another session on making the most out of student media with a guy who fell into a job at ESPN. He touched on a lot of awesome things, but the part that stuck out to me the most was how he emphasized appreciating the time you have in student media. 

Get the Most Out of Student Media with @mgwalks from ESPN. #CMANYC15 pic.twitter.com/Kg32tQDd7u

— Becca Morrow (@BeccaJune12) March 12, 2015

I’m dying to graduate and I’m really looking forward to my future, but I know I’m going to miss student media more than anything else at KSU. I have less than two months left, and I don’t want to be so focused on the future that I miss out on the experiences happening in the present. Awesome advice, thank you Matt.

Once everyone was done with sessions for the day, we regrouped and decided to head out to explore Greenwich Village, an area full of rich culture and laid back, open minded people. I really dug the atmosphere, much more than the Times Square. If I ever moved to New York, I'd live in the Village for sure.  One of my favorite things has been walking around on the streets. I have a really fun group of people with me and we've been laughing at all of the awesome New York-isms that we've overheard people saying. 

We took the subway down and came out right near the famous Comedy Cellar, a venue where comic greats such as Robin Williams, Louis CK, Jon Stewart, Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld and countless others have performed. Brittany and I walked down in the middle of a show, but the bouncer was really nice and let us sneak in late. We had a perfect view of the stage, laughed constantly, and the whole time Brittany and I kept giving each other "are we really freaking here right now?!" looks. That will probably be the highlight of this trip, it was just beyond awesome.

After that, we caught up with the rest of our group at a jazz club where we got a few rounds of drinks, started a dance movement that got the whole place hopping, and even got on stage with the band. The band came and sat with us to thank us for being so into the show, and we thanked them in return for showing us some fusion funky jazz, and we convinced them to come to Atlanta for some shows because as far as I've seen, no one else in Atlanta gets down like that and its about time they did. 

We trekked to a nearby pizza place where we grabbed some slices. I didn't think I'd like New York pizza (I'm a deep dish fan at heart) but the thin crust allows for the greatest (slightly drunken) invention I've ever come up with; the pizza sandwich. I doubt I'm the first person to fold a piece of pizza in half but I might be the first to equate it to a sandwich. Overall, we had an awesome adventure and I plan on going back to the Village at least one more time before the trip is over.

Unexpected things that happened:

• I asked a Starbucks employee for directions to a different breakfast place and he didn't hate me for it. People in New York are way more helpful and friendly than their reputation lets on.
• Dov Davidoff high-fived me after his set at the Cellar. It was awesome because I've been laughing at his stand up for years and he was even funnier in person.
• Street food vendors will rip you off if they can tell you're not a local. I paid $8 for two hot dogs, mostly because I was starving, but there aren't any prices listed and someone in our group said a person before us got them for $2 each. Meh. 

I've got one more night left in New York and we don't have anything planned after dinner, so it sounds like it'll be a spontaneous kind of night, which I'm all for. Check back tomorrow, and read my updated post (with more pictures!) from Day 1.