New York, New York

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During fall break 2012, I went on a media tour to NYC with the University of Central Oklahoma mass communications department. While orignally I was drafted by two fellow students that would later drop out of the trip , I am glad I decided to take the trip. Experiencing New York for the first time was an incredible experience and I cannot wait to return.

I usually judge a trip by how many pictures I forget to take because I am having a good time and how many souvenirs forget to buy. On this trip I returned with just a t-shirt for my daughter and a coffee cup. I also wish I would have taken more pictures.

Our journey to the big city started at Will Rogers airport around 10:30 , many of us had met only once or twice. One thing that will bring a group together is people watching, especially in an airport. We bonded over colorful outfits and obvious first time travelers.

We arrived in the New York around 9:00pm after a day of traveling we could see the city lights as we landed. The city would wait for another day, we stayed in the Comfort Inn outside of the city. Some people explored and others went straight to bed. Over the next few days we would take tours of Clear Channel Radio, IRTS, the Paley Center, and CBS. We would also see the 9-11 memorial and hit Broadway.

The next day we loaded up our luggage and headed to the Barclay Intercontinental which would be our hotel for the remainder of the trip. http://www.intercontinentalnybarclay.com/

The first stop on the media tour was Clear Channel Radio, being a public relations major I felt like this would be my least favorite. This tour turned out to be one of my favorites. It started off with a little chaos. We were stuck on the elevator for a small amount of time. After we were "rescued" the tour began. Clear Channel had just finished up the iheart radio concert in Las Vegas, while I may not be interested in actual radio production, entertainment events are something I love. We were able to go into the iheart radio theatre to see where they have small events and how they are planned and setup. The tour gave me a new perspective on the radio industry.

After the tour we went to the 9-11 memorial. The memorial was something that I had been wanting to see. Everyone has their own memories of how that day happened and how it impacted their lives and everyone elses'. The memorial is personal for me. I did not know anyone in the buildings, but in the Oklahoma City bombing I did and had an uncle who was a first responder. While the two are different it still brings back things from that day. Walking through the memorial there is stillness in the area, outside the city moves at a fast pace , but inside you remember to breathe and be thankful.

Saturday we started our tour at IRTS which is located next to the Ed Sullivan Theatre. Joyce Tundryn, the president spoke to us about the foundation and her career. She also gave us time to ask her different questions regarding the different fields we are all going into. We also learned recieved information about the IRTS internship which is among the top 10 in the country.

After IRTS we went to the Paley Center. This tour was also a favorite, we watched old presidental campaign commercials. I have been interested in political campaigning for years and it is a field I have been thinking about as a career. It was interesting to see others reactions to campaigns such as the Daisy commercial from the Johnson campaign or the first campaign I like IKE.

Friday night it was time for Broadway, while all of the media tours were interesting Broadway was the thing I was looking forward to the most. I have only attended shows in small venues such as the Civic Center in Oklahoma, plus a girl always likes an excuse to dress up. We went to see Newsies which was fantastic. I have a list of shows I would like to go back and see.

Saturday was our last full day in the big city. We went to CBS for a tour. Mike Sims, a UCO alumni gave a tour of several studios. We started in the CBS Evening News studio and saw the control room. We then went in the CBS Sports studio. We met Spencer Tillman who played for the University of Oklahoma. We were there right before the OU/Texas game which made it even more exciting....by the way OU won. The last studio we went into was the CBS Morning Show. CBS was an incredible tour because of all the history. Walking into the building you immediatly see items including the chair from the first presidental campaign to be broadcasted, which was Kennedy and Nixon. The halls are lined with pictures of famous broadcasters, guests and pieces of history that were captured on film. CBS was home to one of the most influential broadcasters in history, Walter Cronkite. Inside the Morning Show studio the orginal map that was behind Cronkite in his broadcast hangs on the wall.

Saturday afternoon we were done with all of our media tours and spent the afternoon watching the game and exploring the city. By chance the Yankees were in town playing in the playoffs. I attended not only a Yankees game, but a playoff game. I also learned that night to never leave a game early. Yankees were ahead when I left, but Derek Jeter was injured during the game and the Yankees ended up losing.

After being on time every day , Sunday morning my roommate Rebecca and I slept through both of our alarms. We woke up to our phones ringing and a knock on our door. We made it to the airport on time to make our flight, but I would have been okay with staying in New York a little longer. After a delayed flight in Atlanta we finally made it back to OK. I had an amazing experience and cannot wait to go back.

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Photos

Peyton
I bribed her with M&Ms for this picture

Room View
Rebecca and I stayed in a room on the top floor.

Lobby of Barclay
Before Broadway