Christine Giamattei ’10

It was hard to leave and say goodbye to everyone yesterday at BKI, but I was glad that all of my projects were closed out and that I taught Judy how to use our survey system and to do our e-mail reporting. I was only at BKI for 2 months, so it was weird making sure my boss knew how to do the things I was doing every day! I’m really going to miss Judy and sharing HC experiences and stories with her. We are definitely going to stay in touch! There isn’t an opening for a marketing position yet, but Judy was saying that the company does need to create another marketing position (especially as BKI expands). Judy also said she’d be in contact about this prospective job throughout the year and when I graduate in May. It was a good feeling to know that they liked me and the work that I did and didn’t want me to leave! I am still going to be writing some of the articles for the BKI blog whenever they need me to. 

I am really going to miss BKI and New York City, my home away from home for the past two summers (thanks to Holy Cross!). Here are some things I am definitely going to miss…

-being able to train for the marathon in Central Park
-reading the free (and decent) newspaper, The AM New York on the train every day
-buying my honey-dipped doughnut from the guy by the subway (who always has my doughnut ready!)
-working on complex projects at work that my supervisor says are on a “MBA-level”
-visiting NYC landmarks such as Bryant Park, Brooklyn Bridge, and the High Line
-walking around NYC’s neighborhoods, each one unique – Tribeca, Soho, the Village, Upper East Side, Chelsea…
-hanging out with my friends from Holy Cross also interning and living in the city
-going to a job I really enjoy!
-rooming with my best friend Amanda on 31st and 9th (home for 2 summers!)
-going out to eat at least once a week (doesn’t happen often at home!)
-writing features articles for the BKI blog
-shopping in SoHo
-walking the 15 minutes from the Clinton-Washington subway stop in Brooklyn to my office every morning

This list could seriously go on forever! The best days of the summer were definitely July 3rd/4th. On the 3rd, Amanda and I got brunch at the Loeb Boathouse then rowed a boat on the lake in Central Park. On the 4th, I ran in the park and spent a fun 4th with my Holy Cross friends in TriBeCa and on the Upper East Side. Such happy memories!

Last night I met up with about ten Holy Cross kids. It was a great night and I loved catching up with my friends before we head back to school in a month. My parents drove into the city today to help me pack up my things… so sad that 406 W 31st Street will no longer be my address. Tonight I’m going to take the train in from my aunt’s house in Pleasantville to spend one last night in the city with my friends! Then I have a bus back to Boston for Sunday afternoon… And though I am sad to be heading home, not knowing if or when I’m coming back, I couldn’t have asked for a better two months in a great city.

So today is my last day at Brooklyn Industries… I’m still in a bit of denial, and can’t believe it’s actually over. It’s weird to think that on Monday morning I won’t be catching the 8:45AM A train into Brooklyn, that I won’t get to see my friends in the city next week, and that I won’t be doing all of the things I love here. I really don’t like thinking today was the “last time” I was going to do this… the “last time” I was going to do that. I’m not so great with goodbyes and I don’t like when good things have to come to an end!

Yesterday was my final presentation! It came together very well, and I was feeling good about explaining the results from the survey (though I did get a bit nervous right before!). Many people ended up coming, and the power point, analysis, and recommendations were very well received! I know the results will initiate a lot of dialogue in the office, as BKI plans marketing, merchandising, financial, and production strategies for 2010. All in all, I am so happy this was my summer-long project – I literally started researching how to formulate a customer survey on the second day on the job back in June! I learned so much about market research, consumer trends, and even practical skills like using power point and excel and wording questions to get effective answers. Amazing experience. I’m extremely grateful to Judy (HC Class of ‘01!) for trusting me with such an important project and for helping me through each step of the way.

Where would I be without Holy Cross?! Without Holy Cross and being a part of the “Holy Cross family,” I would not have spent 2 summers living in interning in New York City. We are truly blessed to have such a strong alumni connection. Besides getting to work with two incredible alums at Starwood Hotels last year and Brooklyn Industries this year, being involved with SGA and clubs like Pre-Business has allowed me to be able to talk with a lot of alums over the past three years. All of them sincerely want to help current students, and are willing to give advice, answer questions, and discuss anything from interviews to resumes to graduate programs. They’ve definitely helped me figure out what I want to do for my future career. Some day, I’m hoping to “pay it forward,” and offer an HC student an internship at where I work! I’ve come to find that’s what HC is all about… paying it forward and being a person for and with others (I know that is corny and probably cliche, but I honestly believe it).

Last night I met up with Colum and Chris, and another HCer Theresa who was visiting the city! Theresa had been studying abroad last year in France, so it was great to catch up with her! We ate dinner at this fun Mexican restaurant called Calico Jacks. It was also Amanda’s last night in our apartment… very sad. She’s actually going to be moving all of her things home today and then coming back to live with her aunt in Brooklyn and continue working for two more weeks. Lucky! I’ll probably post a couple more times about how today and the weekend go! I couldn’t imagine not being with my friends one last night in NYC on Saturday so I booked a bus ticket back to Boston on Sunday afternoon. I’m so happy I have one last weekend!

The last two days at work have been so busy… I haven’t even taken a 5 minute lunch break… can’t stop working on this customer survey project because I’m trying to finish it before my last day on Friday! I’ve been going through all of the data from the surveys to put into the power point. Yesterday, I created about 30 charts in excel/power point, showcasing particular responses and comparing the results between the store survey and online survey. Power point kept freezing since there are a lot of slides and a ton of information on them, so it was challenging to get through all of the charts I had to do. However, this morning I only have 2 charts left to do! Then the power point will basically be finished, and Judy and I will go through it and start to make recommendations and ask questions like “What does this mean for BKI?” Today I also have to assemble a handout with all of the open-ended responses to the survey questions. There were literally thousands of open-ended responses (I did read through all of them!), so they couldn’t all be put into the power point presentation. Hopefully the managers and the rest of the BKI team will have some time throughout the next month to read through the responses/questions that are applicable to their departments.

A little insight into the customer survey and the results… one of the most important questions asked in both surveys was, “On a scale from 0 to 10 (10 being the most likely), how likely is it that you would recommend BKI to a friend or colleague?” This question is getting at the Net Promoter Score, which was introduced in 2003 in the Harvard Business Review as a tool companies can use to gauge customer loyalty and relationships. Based on the numbers they enter, customers are categorized into 3 groups: promoters (those who enter 9-10), passives (those who enter 7-8), and detractors (those who enter 0-6). The percentage of detractors is subtracted from the percentage of promoters to get the score. According to the Review, a score of 75% or better is considered a very high score. I calculated the percentages and overall scores from the numbers BKI customers entered – BKI has a good score for both the store and online surveys! These scores will no doubt generate a lot of discussion during my presentation. 

Last night, Judy and some of the other ladies in the office took me out to celebrate my last week at BKI. It was so nice getting to talk with everyone and sharing stories about the city, BKI, and life in general! They are the best and I am going to miss them. Tonight, I am meeting up with my cousin John and his girlfriend Meg who live outside the city in Connecticut. We have reservations at Dos Caminos, a great Mexican restaurant on the East Side, just outside Midtown. I’m excited for the Restaurant Week menu, and I love Mexican food!

On Friday after work, I went to the Brooklyn Industries store in Chelsea and got a bunch of Brooklyn-related t-shirts for my family and friends – I can’t wait to give them out! My mom is especially excited to wear her Brooklyn tee. Later on, I did a little bit of shopping in Rockefeller Center and then met my friend Liz down by West 4th Street. We walked around the West Village (which is such a cute neighborhood… with many bakeries!) for awhile, trying to find the perfect restaurant. This is one of the best things about NYC – you really don’t have to have a plan or know what you want to do or where you want to go in order to end up having a good night! There are so many restaurants, parks, and activities everywhere you go – even walking up and down the city streets is enjoyable! I love that about New York. Liz and I ended up finding a delicious Italian restaurant that had an extensive menu and decent prices. We were sold.

The next morning, I slept in a little, ate breakfast, and got ready for my last run in Central Park. I’ve been so lucky that training in the park has worked out for me. I was nervous about training for the marathon here – I wasn’t sure I’d have the time, or if the weather would cooperate, or if it would be safe to run by myself in the city. But each Saturday I’ve really looked forward to heading up to the park to run. With so many people out and about on Central Park West on Saturday afternoons, the run is never boring. When I go back home for the month of August, I’ll be running up and down my beach, so it will be very different than running here. This past weekend, I ran my first half-marathon! 13 miles! It was a big accomplishment, and I guess now it’s all “uphill” from here… next weekend is 14 miles, then 15… Pretty soon it will be October 18 and I’ll be running 26! I have to say I am both nervous and excited thinking about it, but I’m glad some good friends will be there running with (more like, ahead) of me.  

I let myself sleep late the next morning – I was exhausted from the run the day before and the busy work week. It was a gorgeous day in NYC, so I made sure I took advantage of most of the day and sat out and read at Bryant Park for several hours. It was perfect and I’m going to miss this park as well. After a crazy passing thunder/hail storm in the early evening, Amanda and I walked up 9th Ave to go out to dinner. Again, we weren’t really sure where we were going but found a tiny “Mom and Pop” Italian restaurant only 7 blocks away. I had the most delicious pasta. Since we were trying to fit in one last “roommate” dinner, we also decided to go out to dinner tonight, as both of us are booked for the rest of the week. This time, we walked down 9th Ave and ended up in the Meat-packing District at a place called Vento. We got to sit outside and both got the restaurant week fixed dinner special that came with an appetizer, entree, and dessert! I can’t believe it was our last meal as roommates in NYC this summer! How quickly time flies…

me and liz in the west village

bryant park!

Finally, the customer surveys closed yesterday, and I’ve been able to start going through all of the responses to about 75 questions between both surveys. It was definitely advantageous to offer 2 surveys (since some of our customers can not shop in the store), so we’ve been able to understand how customers who do shop in stores view store merchandise, service, window displays, etc and also how online shoppers view online products and the website design (which of course will be scrapped when the new site launches in November). Some questions were applicable to both the in-store and online customer and were asked in both surveys, while other questions were specific to only one of the surveys. However, it has been a challenge to sort through these questions and responses and build conclusions – especially because the day I will present my power point to the managers, CEO, and president is next Thursday. It can get confusing at times, but I’ve been challenged to stay focused on each question. My supervisor Judy has even said this work is on an “MBA” level and that I’m BKI’s own data analyst… and let’s get serious, with thousands of responses and numbers in my head, I feel like I’m earning an MBA through this project!

For example, I’m tallying answers, grouping certain responses, highlighting open-ended responses, and calculating percentages (somehow and luckily, those days in high school Algebra aren’t far from my mind). I’ve been alphabetizing answers, creating charts in excel, and putting together this power point with graphs, numbers, and important feedback. Hopefully, it will generate a lot of discussion both during my presentation and after. One of the most important things is making recommendations for BKI’s future, based on the analysis of this research. Considering BKI is moving towards further expansion (through the new website and opening new stores) in the next couple years, it was necessary to do this comprehensive survey at this point. Since I’ve been going through all of the research, Judy and the rest of the team have already been picking my brain about how customers responded to certain questions! I’m going to leave them a very large (300 pages!) document with all of the charts, responses, and open-ended remarks to both surveys. Judy has even asked me to teach her and a couple of the marketing people how to use our survey system and how to gather the answers to questions and make them readable. There’s just so much good information! It’s been a lot of work, but I’m honestly enjoying all of it! I like hearing what people have to say about certain things. In all, a great experience and skill-set too, if I decide to go into business.

Tomorrow’s Friday and I’m looking forward to going to BKI’s sample sale at the office tomorrow, where there will be reduced items for us to purchase – one of the perks of working for a clothing company! I’m hoping to pick up some good Brooklyn-related t-shirts for my family – also hoping it’s sunny in the afternoon so I can sit outside at my favorite Bryant Park for a couple hours after work!

This week at work, my customer surveys were finally sent out to the thousands of people on our e-mail list. Judy and I decided it would be better to create 2 surveys – one for people who mainly shop in our stores and one for those who shop on our website (since there are only stores in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Chicago, and Portland, Oregon right now, BKI does a big online business). As of Friday, we had about 950 survey-takers! On Wednesday, I will begin going through all of these responses, formulating marketing strategies and recommendations for the company, and putting together a presentation that I’ll make on my second-to-last day. It’s exciting to read some of the responses to the questions, and understanding what customers think and want. This survey project is great experience in market research as well. The BKI blog is going well too – I love writing features articles on the small businesses around NYC that we are collaborating with in our summer giveaway. All in all, work has been so enjoyable! Judy has even been talking to me about possibly free-lance writing for BKI (for the blog and press releases) when I’m back at HC this fall! It would be great to keep writing for BKI after my internship ends – especially since I know I won’t be ready to leave BKI or NYC in 2 weeks.

City life is the best! There are so many incredible things to do here… for example, on Tuesday night I met Amanda at the subway after work and we headed to the Meat-Packing District, which isn’t too far from us on the west side. It’s a gorgeous area of the city, and the cobble stone streets and sidewalks remind me of Boston. Amanda and I walked around a bit to find a good place for dinner, and we ended up at Los Dados, a delicious open-air Mexican restaurant. After dinner we walked across the street to the High Line, a new park that opened last month. The High Line had once been an elevated railway that took the dangerous trains off the west side’s streets, but it closed in the 1980s when trains went underground – now it’s a beautiful and unique park that has incorporated the old rails with flowers, trees, wooden benches, and pretty scenery, as it overlooks the Hudson River. Once we saw the sun set over the river, we went to Billy’s Bakery (also one of BKI’s partners for the giveaway) on 22nd Street for some fantastic cake… the perfect end to a night out in the city!

Friday after work I was hoping for some sun so that I could sit out at Bryant Park again for a couple hours… but it was cloudy so I went to SoHo and shopped for a bit. Later on, I met Amanda at the movie theater right around the corner from our apartment to see the new Harry Potter movie! I’ve read all of the Harry Potter books (even waited in line when the 7th book was released at midnight 2 summers ago), and was very much anticipating this movie. It was so good, and I want to see it again! I was happy we went to an early movie, and I got a good night’s sleep for my run the next morning… 12 miles again! It was easier than last week, so hopefully 13 (half-marathon!) will go just as well next week! My younger sister Julie visited me this weekend, and I met her at the bus stop around the corner later in the afternoon. She wanted to walk around in Central Park, so we did that for a couple hours and then put our name in at Serendipity for dinner. The wait for a table was over an hour, but so worth it – we split the tortellini primavera (to-die-for) and frozen mint hot chocolate… thanks Mom and Dad for picking up the tab! After Julie and I met up with my cousin Courtney, who was on the Upper East Side for a friend’s birthday. It was a fun night, and I was happy to spend time with some of my family!

This morning, Julie and I woke up early and got brunch in Chelsea and then took the train into Brooklyn to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge! I had never seen the bridge before, though I wrote my research paper for my Gilded Age America history class last semester on the opening day celebration for the bridge in 1885. We walked across the entire bridge, which had nice views of downtown, midtown, the Manhattan bridge, and the Statue of Liberty. Julie wanted to see Dylan’s Candy Bar (the best candy store in NYC) and she got some treats to take home with her. It was sad when she left, and made me miss my family even more. Luckily I will get to see everyone soon since I’ll be home for all of August – also bittersweet! This week I’m looking forward to doing more fun “city” things after work, and trying to fit in everything else I wanted to see and do here!

at the high line!

dinner at serendipity with my sister

brooklyn bridge!

With my weeks and weekends in NYC numbered now, I’ve been so lucky that each weekend has been a blast. On Friday after work I headed up to Bryant Park for a couple hours to make some phone calls, read a magazine, and soak up the sun… it was the perfect way to start out the weekend. Later on, I stopped at Magnolia Bakery (my new favorite place!) and picked up a box of their delicious cupcakes to share with everyone at Chris’s apartment that night, which of course was a good time. We had planned to go to the Upper East Side, but we ended up at a popular spot in midtown that plays 80s music – so fun. On Saturday night, I took the metro north train up to Bronxville to my friend Ty’s house. He was having a summer gathering, and I was so happy to see a lot of my Holy Cross friends who were there. I was especially excited to catch up with my friend Kayla, who’s going to be my direct roommate next year! As a side note, I can’t believe that it’s almost senior year and I am still meeting great people who are in my year… HC may not be as small as it seems! Speaking of senior year, I am SO excited to head back to school in late August. There’s a lot to look forward to – living in Carlin with my friends, setting up lawn chairs on the Kimball quad on Sundays (props to Greg and Colum for that idea), starting my position as chief of staff for SGA, going to my great history classes, running the marathon, finding a senior ball dress, and celebrating my birthday in September. The list goes on and on… I can’t wait!

Sunday was the day I dedicated to running. Since I’m up to 12 miles now, it takes almost the entire day to get ready for the run, take the train to the park, actually do the run, and get back to my apartment and recuperate. I was running for about 2 hours and 20 minutes. How crazy is that?! I’m so close (1 mile away!) from being able to run a half-marathon, which I will do the weekend after next. I’m fortunate that 4 of my good friends are training for the same marathon as well, and we’ve been comparing notes and advice.

Today at work I was part of a 3-hour long internal meeting to go over different aspects of the new website, which will be taken to our web designers. Judy and I did a lot of research on websites, and decided what we want/what would be best for our site. The meeting was successful, and we came to agreements on how the new site will be set up. There’s still a lot of research to do and agreements to make. Other than that, I have another big project I am working on, which I couldn’t be happier about! I am going to be writing blog features on the companies we are collaborating with for our summer giveaway series that promotes shopping locally. Basically, I’m writing profiles on the 12 companies we’re partnering with – from bakeries to bookstores to stationary shops. The articles include how the companies started, what they do, what makes them special, and even some pictures and quoted responses from the owners. There will be one company featured on the blog every day for the next 12 days, which you can find here: http://www.brooklynindustries.blogspot.com/.

Happy Monday, and enjoy the week!

chris, me, and colum... my nyc buddies

I had a sort-of revelation at work today… I know (or at least I think I do…for now at least!) that I want my future career to be focused on writing. I sincerely enjoy writing for the BKI blog, especially the stories on great upcoming events around the city – check out the ones I wrote about Sunday’s High Line Festival uptown and Pool Parties Summer Concert downtown, both of which will be featured tomorrow. I love figuring out how I’m going to say things in a way that will “grab” readers. I can so see myself writing for a newspaper or a magazine, and am even entertaining the thought of going for my masters in journalism at Columbia next year. Today was clearly a big day for me if I’m thinking about life after next May.

The last couple days at work have been dedicated to a power point for our inter-office discussion on the layout and functionality of our new website. I’m a nerd, but I LOVE these kinds of projects (I always looked forward to designing posters and tri-boards and creating slideshows for homework assignments) so this assignment is perfect. After scouring the web for good fashion websites, I put together over 100 slides for the meeting tomorrow with examples of these websites and explanations of how and why other companies set up different areas of their sites. For example, we’re brainstorming about a “BKI Community” page that could include our great blog, an “as seen in” section, office favorites, “behind the design,” an “about us” section, videos, photo galleries, news and events, and even a “create your own t-shirt” section. I can’t wait to see the site when it’s completed in November.

Life outside internship is awesome. New York City is more and more becoming my second home! I’d urge all underclassmen reading this to apply, apply, apply for internships through SIP next year – there are so many opportunities in NYC that you won’t get anywhere else. Opportunity combined with thousands of fun things to do in the city will make it your best summer ever! Last night, Amanda and I went down to SoHo after work to do some shopping, grab dinner, and just walk around – a perfect night in the city. This weekend one of my best friends and roommate next year Kayla is coming to visit and a few of my other friends who live north of the city are visiting too! On Friday a bunch of us HC-ers are going to meet up on the Upper East Side again. I’m so excited and it will be a blast! Other than that, I will also be running 12 miles this weekend, which I’m aiming to do in under 2 hours and 10 minutes. Have a great weekend!

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend and got to spend time with family and friends! On Thursday night, Amanda and I met up with one of our friends from high school Liz (who’s living in the NYU dorms this summer) and went to get the “famous” cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery in the West Village, which were delicious. Since we had Friday off from work, Amanda and I got brunch at the Central Park boathouse and then rented a rowboat to go out on the small lake in the park. I’ve always wanted to do this, and it was such a great (and cheap – $12 per boat) thing to do in the city.

On the 4th I got to sleep in and go for a run in the park – I’m up to 11 miles now! It was great to see so many people out and about and wearing red, white, and blue. Later on, I went down to Chris’s apartment in Tribeca to watch the fireworks from downtown in Battery Park. They were great! After, we met up with Colum and a couple other HC-ers on the Upper East Side. All in all, it was a fantastic 4th of July, despite being away from my family. I love New York City. Yesterday I visited my aunt, uncle, and cousins who live just north of the city. We hung out by their pool at their country club and it was so great to spend time with them.

Today is back to work, and there are a few major projects I am finalizing this week. The customer surveys are just about ready and will be put up online in the next couple days. The customers will have ten days to complete the survey (and receive a discount and chance to win a $500 gift certificate) and then I will have about two weeks to go through the information, write a summary, report, and recommendation, and make a presentation to Judy, the managers, president, and CEO with my findings and suggestions on my last day of work on July 31st.

When I get home tonight, I’m going to finally post some pictures!