The end… but only the beginning…

With my final days in Washington now behind me, and only memories to guide me, I write to you today to let you know what to expect from your time in D.C. My time in our nation’s Capital was intriguing, educating and invigorating. I honestly learned more than I ever could have imagined and will take home with me a vast amount of knowledge that I believe will benefit me for years to come. I have also had the opportunity to meet so many great people, many of which I truly hope will be in my life for years to come.

My final week in Washington was perhaps the best of them all. My internship with Swanson Communications reached its pinnacle at a seemingly appropriate time; when I had gained as much knowledge and learning experience as possible. On Tuesday of this week, I was able to travel to New York City and Philadelphia for press conferences to promote the upcoming Bernard Hopkins vs. Kelly Pavlik bout in October.

I traveled with my boss, Kelly Swanson, via train to NYC where I was able to see first hand the behind the scenes action that goes into that 30-second clip you see on SportsCenter. I have an unhealthy fascination with New York so it was awesome to be able to get my fix of the Big Apple. After our press conference, I was able to ride in the same Escalade as Bernard Hopkins and his entourage. I cannot explain to you how crazy cool it was; you want to talk about access!

After boarding the train at Penn Station, we traveled to Philadelphia for the second press conference. Again, the experience was extremely valuable and I could not be more grateful to Kelly for taking me along. The whole day made my summer. This week, I also made a point of going to the National Zoo just to check it out. If you have this opportunity, take it, it is a pretty cool place.

Thursday was not only my last day at Swanson, but also my birthday! Kelly took us all out to lunch at a nice restaurant near McPherson Square. If I could remember the name, I would recommend it to you. I believe it was “Mama” something or other (or maybe Miss Bee’s?).

Friday was a relax and pack day for me, I tied up some loose ends in D.C. and attended the McCain Volunteer Appreciation Night in Arlington. There was an awesome turnout and we were treated to a little surprise during the evening. Senator McCain’s Campaign Manager, Rick Davis was speaking to us when his phone rang. Unexpectedly, the Senator himself was calling so of course, Mr. Davis put a microphone up to the phone while it was on speakerphone. It was a small surprise but enlivening none-the-less. If you have the chance to volunteer for a political campaign, no matter what your views, take it. The experience of serving a cause greater than one’s self interest is honestly a humbling and awesome feeling.

Today, I said goodbye to my family who have been so accommodating and understanding. I am sure it was not easy to live with my schedule and me for 11 weeks. I am very grateful for all they did for me. I cannot put it into better words than that.

Finally, I want to give you a few pointers for your time in Washington so this is how I will close. I hope you have as great of an experience in D.C. as I did, and I wish you well. If you would like to continue reading random thoughts by me, you may view my personal blog at http://www.ethanheverly.blogspot.com/. I had a great time sharing My D.C. Experience with you and I hope you enjoyed it as well.

Best,
Ethan

Must do’s/check-list

• First and foremost, carry an umbrella! Seriously, even if you don’t think you’ll need it, bring it! This philosophy saved me more than once, which will reduce your dry cleaning.
  
• Smart trip cards for the Metro are great, but… if you intend on exploring a lot, or are coming from a longer distance, go with the $39 7-day pass. You’ll save money. It’s a paper card which isn’t as convenient, but trust me, it won’t cost as much. The paper cards become deactivated if placed near a credit card, or maybe even a cell phone, which can be a hassle but I believe it’s still worth it.


• Speaking of Metro… the Metro is very sophisticated and easy to use. If you are bringing your car, I still would recommend Metro over driving. Parking is crazy expensive and driving is nearly impossible during rush hour.


• When you arrive in D.C. use one or two days to become acquainted with the city and your route to/from work and to/from TWC. Then add time for rush hour on the Metro because inevitably at some point there will be a break down and you will be late.


• Keep up on your portfolio throughout the summer. If you are in the Mass-Comm program, this will be easy because you are required to turn assignments in on semi-regular basis. However, if you are not Mass-Comm, I have heard people say they wish they had done a little each week. Assembling a good portfolio takes a considerable amount of time.


• Attend networking events. There is something on The Hill nearly every night and often there are happy hours with D.C. organizations or political campaigns. This is a great way to meet people and become involved.
  
• Bring an umbrella!


• If you want to see everything, spread it out over the ten weeks, don’t save it all until the end.


• You can get to Baltimore, New York and Philly fairly easy and inexpensive, you might consider doing this for a weekend.


• If you want to get into the White House, Capitol or Treasury, contact your Senator’s office now!! They have someone who can assist you with this process. The White House can often take six months but if you start now, that time could be only weeks. Also, your Senator has a breakfast once a week that you can attend.


• Bring an umbrella!
• Get business cards. Vistaprints.com offers 250 for free (plus shipping).
• Guys, bring light suits!
  
• Just to give you an example of what networking and civic engagement can develop into, I have been brought on with Senator McCain’s campaign as the McCain Student State Coordinator for Montana. I will be working for the Campaign back home and, if elected, have the potential to work in The White House. All because I volunteered for the campaign.


• Have fun and good luck and bring an umbrella!

Putting off the inevitable...

Well, the time is almost here! With only a little over a week to go, I have been finding myself trying to do and see as many things as possible. Last week I finally made it to Arlington National Cemetery; what an experience that was. If you have the chance, or desire to go during your time here, I definitely recommend going. I visited last weekend and spent hours walking around seeing the different monuments and historical places Arlington has to offer. The experience was very humbling and helped me understand that from great sacrifice comes great liberty. If you go, you cannot help but think about the hallowed grounds upon which you walk.

Over the course of the next eight days or so, I really hope to be able to visit the National Zoo, and see the various monuments on the mall. Believe it or not, I have not been able to do that yet. When you arrive in Washington, I suggest doing as many of these in your first few weeks as possible because once you really get into the groove, it is easy to become distracted.

As I mentioned in my last post, the Affliction: Banned event my company (Swanson Communications) was promoting went really well. Next week, we will begin promoting another fight, this one boxing. The fight between Kelly Pavlik and Bernard Hopkins will be in September, but we will head up to New York and Philadelphia next week for a press conference.

Last night was my final class with The Washington Center. To be honest with you, I actually enjoyed the course. It was not like your traditional college course where the professor lectures and you take notes. Our class was mostly discussion based, and although there was a text to read, the opportunity to converse with others in a learning environment seemed to foster more connection with the real world. I personally enjoy the discussion setting more than a lecture format, but maybe that is just me.

Finally, as I close in on the final week of this experience, I look back and try to understand what to take from my time here. As I do this, I realize that it is entirely possible that what this internship and semester in D.C. has done for me may not be something that I can qualify on a resume or with a short snippet. I believe that it has helped accomplish something greater. I do not want to say that it has helped me "find who I am," mostly because that would imply that I was lost before. But in a certain way, my time here has helped mold me into someone that I would like to think is a little bit better than when I arrived. Hopefully that will prove more beneficial than a certain skill.

Until next time…

.e

Nearing the end...

As my ten weeks in Washington comes to a close, I continuously find myself reflecting on the summer and wondering where the time has gone. I realize that may sound like a cliché, but truth be told, it is entirely true. I can guarantee you that from the day you arrive in Washington, you will just want time to slow down. Of course, this is dependent on your own attitude.

If you decide that you want to make the most of your time here, and that you are going to make the best out of every opportunity, then my guarantee fits. If you choose an alternate route, I have no words of wisdom for you, as that's the way I chose to approach my D.C. experience. I am compiling a list of “do’s and don’ts” for my final post that will better address this issue; however, let me share one really big one with you now. It is simple really and it happens to be another cliché: expect the unexpected.

I can promise you that there will be things about your trip to Washington that you will not have anticipated and may catch you off guard--for better or for worse. The most important thing I have learned from this summer is to roll with the punches (sorry for all of the clichés today) and view everything from as many angles as possible. If you go into your internship, your Washington Center class, or even your civic life expecting one and only one outcome, you will be caught off guard. I know I was. I had this image ingrained into my mind of what Washington was going to be like, how my office was going to operate, how class would go and what I would do with my free time. As I try to remember back to that initial anticipation, I honestly cannot recall what that looked like in my mind.

You should approach your upcoming experience with a positive attitude and view it as a valuable experience not matter what the outcome. Of course there are going to be things about your time here that you will not enjoy, or you may be unhappy with, but if you focus on what you can ultimately take away from the experience, you will have made the most out of the situation. My internship is a perfect example; we had this huge media tour (13 cities in 10 days) planned for the Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather rematch and a few weeks before we were to leave, Mayweather retired. Can you imagine my disappointment when the whole thing was cancelled? And again, next week I was supposed to go to New York to a press conference for another fight. Again, one of the boxers had to postpone it because of an injury, so of course the presser was cancelled. Both of these are big unexpecteds, but I have tried to take something positive from the experience; you have to do that to keep your time here relevant. Roll with the punches.

I think that is enough Dr. Phil talk for this post. Moving onto something lighter, this past week has been a fun one. The Affliction: Banned event that my company was working on was a huge success last week. The Honda Center in Anaheim sold out and the gate sales totaled over $2 million. My work on this project was to provide support to my boss and supervisor (who were actually at the event in Los Angeles). I had compiled a media list, which I used to send press releases and media alerts regarding the pre-fight events as well as the fight itself. There was way more behind the scenes action than I ever imagined.

On Saturday, I went to an Orioles game in Baltimore, which was very exciting. I am not an Orioles fan but I was for the night as they were playing a team from my division, the Tigers (I am an Indians fan). Camden Yards is a great ballpark with a unique backdrop and I would probably have to say it is my favorite MLB venue so far. The game was absolutely crazy. The Tigers jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first and the Orioles came back to tie it. There were 3 more lead changes and by the 9th inning, the Orioles tied it again sending it to extra innings. They won on a walk-off home run in the 10th. It was my first extra-innings ballgame and it was absolutely awesome. I am still hoping to be able to make it to a Nationals game before I head home.

That is about it for this week. I hope I was able to provide you with some insight that may be valuable towards your upcoming time here.

Until next time…

.e

My take on the 2008 election thus far...

My annoyance and my pleasure with American politics are the endless angles and points of view that are out there. On the one hand we want a vast variety of ideas and approaches to our political system--The Washington Center, for one, is nonpartisan and brings in speakers of different political persuasions. On the other hand, our disagreements tend to lead to division because our truths, morals and beliefs are so rooted within that we become self-centered and forget about working for the common good.

The reason I chose to write about this subject is because this week I noticed something that has furthered my support for Senator John McCain for President. Prior to my arrival in Washington, I was one of the ever-popular and sought after "uncommitted independents." I would argue that we independents are courted harder and more often then an eighteen year old cheerleader going to the high school prom. Until recently, I was only leaning towards McCain and even though I now consider him my top choice, (and note this) I realize that there is plenty of time prior to the election and I should be open to "change"-ing (man I am sick of that phrase) my decision.

Over the course of the last week, I have followed Obama and Senator McCain and noticed one distinct thing about them both. Senator McCain is a seasoned old vet while Barack increasingly appears more "green" (pardon the environmental comparison). The problem I have developed with Senator Obama and his rock star following is that any criticism of him is misconstrued as either demeaning or racist. I just want to say to these people: "seriously, don't be so narrow minded! The man is running for President, he is inexperienced and the fact of the matter is (and should be) that he needs to be tested and ready for office." If Obama is elected, untested as he is thus far, I for one do not want him folding like a deck of cards under the first true test. The man has never passed a piece of legislation in his life and I need to see or hear something other than beautiful words that can make up for that inexperience. It is not a black or white thing, it is a matter of political immaturity and I find it to be a giant question mark on Obama's resume.

Observing Barack over the past few weeks, I have also noticed something that CNN and Fox News are picking up on; he is shifting towards the center. The move that Obama's campaign is making is both predictable and necessary if he is to win in November. Fact: Obama has a 97% voting record with the party line and he is one of the most (if not the most) liberal Senators in the U.S. Senate. Fact: Obama said he would begin the process of ending the war in Iraq on day one of his Presidency. Fact: Obama initially opposed NAFTA. Fact: Obama initially opposed FISA and was for the D.C. gun ban. All of these facts are open to the public as have been the Senator's shifts on these same topics in the last couple of weeks, so the question arises; why should Barack Obama go unchallenged on these? Why is it not okay to question the Senator's character based on the seemingly opportunistic flip now that he is courting me and the millions of other independents? The answer is simple: He is running for President, thus everything he says, does and thinks should be open to scrutiny. Let's not even get into the Rev. Wright saga.

My concern as it relates to this issue, is not only with Obama, although, more so him than Senator McCain; Obama has been in the Senate for only three and a half years, and for one and a half of those he has been running for President. In this time of crisis and chaos I do not choose to look towards and empty message of "hope" and "change" but rather experience and a record of cooperation. John McCain has his problems with immigration and the economy but he seems to be a straight shooter, honest and open with the American people about his plans for America. Senator McCain has adjusted his stances on topics such as immigration and taxes but the glaring difference is that McCain's stances were based on a time when they were acceptable. With gasoline at $4.23 a gallon, higher taxes are no longer an option. McCain has altered his perspective on immigration citing a reflection of the wishes of the American people, which I tend to respect more than the apparent political opportunism of Senator Obama's shifts. And if that is not enough, Senator McCain has full heartedly supported a new strategy in Iraq which has now been adopted, supported and successful in that country. What is Obama's new stance? He will now confer with the Joint Chiefs for advice. What happens if they say we need to stay longer? He has already "committed" to pulling out despite success. So then what Senator? This my friends, is what I call political opportunism at its finest.

What you can take away from this excerpt into the political mind that is mine is this: If Obama wants the vote of this independent, he must act quickly and act like the "change agent" he claims to be. I am tired of people whining that Obama is being unfairly criticized. If you try to talk policy and opinion with a radical Obama supporter, you are branded a racist or resistor of (look out, here comes that word again) change. No Sir/Ma'am, I fully support change. I support John McCain's form of change that brings a real plan and despite what fanatical Obama groupies may say, that does not make me a racist, that makes me an optimist and if you truly do your homework and strive to make an informed decision instead of getting caught up in fancy rhetoric, you may just see where I am coming from. My friends, this is not tee-ball where no one really wins and there is no loser. We are faced with endless defining moments and issues of our time, both at home and across the globe and I for one want someone I know I can trust, and I know is experienced enough under tough times to lead our great country. I am not one to stand idly by and follow the popular opinion that is the Obama rock star movement. This is real people, wake up.

Until next time...

.e

The Capitol, The White House & Serena

This week I chose to delay my post a bit because of my schedule. I had so many exciting activities to do that I wanted to be able to share all of them with you. This has probably been my most productive/exciting week or ten days in Washington. As I mentioned in my last post, I traveled to Ocean City, NJ for the July 4th weekend, which was an awesome experience. I found myself thinking about how we get too caught up in our day-to-day lives to appreciate our friends and family let alone the historic places in this country. During our trip to O.C., we passed through a very small town in Delaware where they were having an Independence Day parade. This was definitely small town America as the parade consisted of no stoplights, a fire truck, a police car (possibly 20 years old) and some horses. However, [apparently] the whole town turned out for the five-minute trip down Main St. For a moment I honestly forgot what it was like to be from (at least for the summer) a thriving metropolis.

Monday I completed a portion of our TWC requirement by conducting my informational interview. For those of you who are just considering The Washington Center, you will have to do the same. Through a friend of mine (who used to work at the White House), I was put in touch with Margaret Hoover who is the great-granddaughter of President Herbert Hoover. If you wiki Margaret, you will find that she has served as a deputy press secretary for a Florida Congressman, worked for the White House, the Department of Homeland Security, and is a Fox News contributor. Margaret was more than kind as she took nearly an hour to speak with me about my potential career and the steps that she has taken to get where she is today. I came away from the interview with a firm understanding of the path I may need to take should I choose a similar career. Needless to say, the interview was extremely beneficial.

Tuesday, I went with Kelly, my boss at Swanson Communications, to an event in downtown D.C. One of our clients, The Southeast Tennis Learning Center had teamed with World Team Tennis for the inaugural season of The Washington Kastles. The Kastles are the newest franchise in the sport where tennis meets football or soccer. The fans are encouraged to cheer and make noise, which is different from your grandfather's tennis. Serena Williams is the most notable player for Washington and again, it was quite the experience to stand on the same court as her. While I did not get to meet her, a ball from her hit me. She knocked the ball across the court; the other player missed it, and it bounced off a planter and nailed me in the leg. Of course I kept the ball, I find it to be quite the conversation piece.

Wednesday, I attended a breakfast with my Senator, Max Baucus, on Capitol Hill. You may know that back home I interned for Senator Baucus and while I had met him before, it was definitely an experience to be able to speak one-on-one with him. If you are into politics at all, I would urge you to do the same. It is my understanding that every U.S. Senator has these breakfasts and all you have to do is call their office a few days prior.

Following my breakfast with Senator Baucus, I went on a group tour of the Capitol Building, which was completely captivating. We were not able to go into the chambers because at the time of our visit they were in session, but we were still able to see quite a bit. En route to Capitol Hill, I passed the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress. They sort of snuck up on me and I found myself fascinated at their size and design.

Yesterday, I finally was able to take a tour of the White House, which has turned into the highlight of my summer thus far. Again, if you are interested, just contact your Senator's office but you should do so quickly because often you may have to wait three to six months. While you really do not get to see that much of the White House, it is still quite the experience to walk down the same hallways and through the same rooms as our Presidents, past and present. You are not allowed to take cameras into the White House but cell phones are allowed so of course I had to bend the rules a bit and was able to snap a quick picture on our way out.

Finally, my placement with Swanson Communications has been interesting this week. Our work on Affliction: Banned has been fairly intense and seems to be coming to a head as the event is now less than a week away. Unfortunately I will not be able to go to L.A. for fight week but I have been told that we are about to begin another project. While I am not exactly sure what the new project entails, I am told that a media tour is involved. It looks as if I may be able to go to New York but am still unsure about the other cities. As my time here in D.C. winds down, I am constantly looking for ways to remain as involved and relevant as possible. I want to make the most of the next four weeks and build on the knowledge I have already gained.

While next week does not look as packed, I think it will still be rewarding mostly because I will be participating in my civic engagement. I have decided to volunteer for John McCain headquarters. I do not want to get too into depth about my political beliefs in this post (that post is coming soon), but I consider myself to be an independent and that being said, until recently I was undecided on whom to support. In the past couple of weeks, I have developed some serious concerns and issues with Obama and unless those are resolved before November, I cannot see myself voting for him. But again, more on this soon… now is not the time, although I will give you one tip; you know how they say, politics and office do not mix? Well there is a reason they say that, I would definitely heed those words. I look forward to sharing with you next week and hopefully you are gaining something from my experiences here in Washington.

Until next time…

.e

We the people

I don't want to make this week’s post about my internship, but rather about the city that has come to inspire me. I will briefly discuss the weekly topics just to give you an idea of my progress, but I want to focus mainly on the spirit of this Independence Day week.

In my earlier posts, I mentioned that Swanson Communications has been retained to promote the Affliction: Banned MMA event July 19th in Anaheim. Our progress on this event has allowed me to gather a more firm understanding of the behind-the-scenes action in the making of a "mega-event." I have come to learn quite a bit in the last week or so; there is so much more than I could have ever imagined. My main task has been compiling a media list for the event so that we can inform the appropriate contacts around the country of Affliction: Banned in order to receive coverage. Sometime this week we will send out a press release to this list and then the real fun begins. I am excited for the week of the fight because it is jam packed full of interviews, conferences and promotional activities that I can only hope will reflect the hard work and effort we have put into this.

Back to D.C. itself. Appropriately enough, this week has further inspired my American pride. I do not think there is anything quite like D.C. and Independence Day. Unfortunately I will not be in Washington for the 4th, as we are going to Ocean City, New Jersey, but just walking around town this week, I have seen an abundance of American pride and love of country that I do not think I have seen anywhere else.

Of course you can tell the tourists who are here for the celebration because they are all wearing American flag shirts or a red hat, blue shirt and white shorts. As corny as that may sound, you cannot help but smile when you see it because it is definitely quite the demonstration.

Everywhere I look, I see something that reminds me of the history of this city and this great country. After visiting the Department of the Interior earlier this week, I walked a few blocks over to The Washington Monument where I got a crazy awesome view of the city.

After visiting the Monument, I walked up 15th Street, past the Treasury and many other historic buildings. I ended up stumbling upon the site of the very first political campaign which made me think about all of the people who have passed through these same streets only years before. Certainly my path has crossed one they once took. Surely I have been standing in a place they once stood. If you care to think about that sort of thing, this city gives you plenty to ponder.

Moving on, this next week promises to be absolutely chaotic… in a good way. Tuesday I will be conducting one of my informational interviews with Margaret Hoover (President Herbert Hoover’s great-granddaughter). Wednesday I am having breakfast with my Senator, touring the Capitol building and having dinner at the Washington Center. Finally, Thursday wraps up the excitement with my long awaited, much anticipated tour of the White House. I am expecting next week to be a blast. I look forward to telling you about it.

Until next time…

.e

White House or Bust!

One of the requirements for my internship through The Washington Center is to set a realistic set of academic, professional, civic and personal goals. I will not bore you with the details of all of my goals, but I will share with you that one of my personal goals was to get to visit The White House. I have been trying and trying to get my family and myself a tour and finally on Monday, I received a call that we will be able to tour 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. on July 10! I am extremely excited about this opportunity because the waiting list can often take up to six months to be approved. Luckily for me, I was able to utilize my connection from my prior internship with Senator Baucus’ office in order to cut the timeline nearly in half! I only wish I could take photos inside The White House for all of you to see.

Continuing on the political scene, this week I was able to participate in a networking event for Senator John McCain. You should know that I consider myself an undecided, right-leaning moderate, independent. That would be the politically correct way to say that I am not certain about who I will support for President but as of right now I am leaning towards McCain. The reason I say ‘leaning towards’ is because I like to keep an open mind about this sort of issue as I have found that when you truly keep a ‘open mind’, there are a wide variety of things that can influence your stance and help you make the right decision.

I am not the type of person to jump on the bandwagon or follow the rock star movement because everyone else is. I believe in educating myself rather than listening to someone’s opinion or general consensus. Given this standard, I have been committed to making my vote on the issues and currently given John McCain’s experience and voting record, he has it.

Moving away from politics, the workplace got a little more interesting this week. Over the weekend I was able to attend the Safeway BBQ Battle, which was possibly the largest block party BBQ I have ever seen. There were roughly 10 blocks of Pennsylvania Ave. blocked off for BBQ restaurants competing in the “Battle”, as well as games and vendors. I got my goatee trimmed by a master barber from Chicago, ate at Famous Dave’s and brushed my teeth at Aquafresh… all on Pennsylvania Ave. It was crazy! All of this was to benefit one of our clients, The Boys & Girls Club.

Saturday I was introduced to another new aspect of work with Swanson Communications. We are now working with Affliction clothing and their upcoming MMA (mixed martial arts) event on July 19 in Anaheim, California. My current job is to pitch the event to the top newspapers, television and radio stations in the country. This event is arguably the greatest MMA event ever to take place as six of the fighters are among the top ten in the world! As if that is not enough, Donald Trump has partnered with Affliction and is actively promoting the event. Be sure to watch July 19; I think it will be awesome!

Well, that basically sums up my week. Hopefully next week I will have more exciting information for you…we are nearly half way through the summer and it is starting to fly by! Check back soon…

Until next time.

.e