by Willy Franzen on August 6, 2009

Having developed a product that relies on delivering video content, I know firsthand how difficult online video can be. Yes, any idiot can record something and upload it to YouTube for millions to watch, but it takes a significantly greater effort for a company to deliver an even slightly more professional video experience. New York City based The FeedRoom is a company that offers enterprise solutions for online streaming video and digital asset management. You may have seen their software at work on sites like PentagonChannel.mil and BestBuyTrueStories.com. It’s about 14 steps above publishing to YouTube, yet it’s nearly as easy to do for corporate clients who use The FeedRoom’s products, services, and solutions. If I had the budget for some serious enterprise software, I’d definitely The FeedRoom for Found Your Career.
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California,
entry-level jobs,
Massachusetts,
media,
New York,
online media,
software development,
video,
Washington,
web development
by Willy Franzen on August 5, 2009

When I came across Eduventures during my daily search for exciting employers to tell you about, I knew that I had heard of them before. It took me a second to figure out where, but a search through past e-mails showed me that someone I knew who used to work in Career Services at a major university had moved on to a new position with Eduventures, which is located in Boston, MA. That makes perfect sense because Eduventures is “the industry leader in research and consulting for higher education institutions.” People who are familiar with the inner workings of different university functions are essential to Eduventures’ being able to do their job. And what is that exactly? They help higher education institutions develop and adopt best practices through membership research programs and consulting services.
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consulting,
education,
entry-level jobs,
Massachusetts,
research,
sales
by Willy Franzen on August 4, 2009

Last week we took a look at jobs with the YES Network, which was fun for me because I’m a huge Yankees fan. On the day that post went up, I got a direct message on Twitter from Charlie O’Donnell that said, “No SNY?” Since my buddy Charlie is a big Mets fan and the CEO of a very cool career related startup called Path 101, I had to give SNY a look—even if Interleague play, a Subway World Series, and Mets fans’ jumping on the Red Sox bandwagon has soured me on the team from Flushing. Still, the Mets are a big deal, they have a beautiful brand new stadium, and they even have their own TV network. SNY is “a 24/7 regional sports and entertainment television network that features up to 125 regular season New York Mets telecasts.” It’s available “in New York, Connecticut, most of New Jersey and northeastern Pennsylvania,” and it’s also “the official year-round television home of the New York Jets.”
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baseball,
editing,
entry-level jobs,
journalism,
New York,
production,
sports,
television
by Willy Franzen on August 3, 2009

Sometimes I don’t completely get advertising. Take McDonald’s for example. How many people in the US have never heard of McDonald’s? Not many. So what’s the point in advertising? Maybe you can convince some more people to come in to buy off of the Dollar Menu or get more kids to beg their parents to buy them a happy meal, but it seems like McDonald’s would be just fine without any advertising at all. That’s something that the folks at Dallas’ Moroch will disagree with strongly because they are an ad agency that happens to do a lot of work with McDonald’s. And since Moroch’s About page says that they’re really all about helping their clients make more money (usually through advertising), I’m going to take a wager that all of the Mickey D’s advertising that you see has a significant effect on the bottom line. Beyond McDonald’s, Moroch also works with huge brands like Verizon, Walt Disney Pictures, Monster (yuck), and Make-A-Wish. That may sound cushy, but that means that there’s always a constant pressure to deliver spectacular results.
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advertising,
arts,
California,
copywriting,
design,
entry-level jobs,
marketing,
public relations,
Texas
by Willy Franzen on August 2, 2009

Whether or not we’re really going through a green revolution is up for debate, but I can assure you that Marketing departments across the world are taking advantage of the public’s appetite for “green” products. Unfortunately, “green” doesn’t really mean anything. To you it might mean one thing, and to me it might mean another. We assume that something that is labeled or advertised as green will be better for the environment, but how do we really know? That’s where Green Seal comes in. They are Washington, DC based “independent non-profit organization dedicated to safeguarding the environment and transforming the marketplace by promoting the manufacture, purchase, and use of environmentally responsible products and service.” They do this by certifying products that meet their Green Seal standards. By having an independent third party set standards, consumers can actually make informed choices about the products they buy (as long as they’re Green Seal certified, of course).
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biology,
certification,
chemistry,
conservation,
consumer products,
entry-level jobs,
green,
research,
science,
Washington DC
by Willy Franzen on August 1, 2009

Three months ago when I featured the American Lung Association’s Jobs, I mentioned a good friend who is battling lung cancer. From what I’ve heard, he continues to be doing well and fighting for his life. Unfortunately, I recently learned that my grandmother is also facing a battle with lung cancer despite the fact that she stopped smoking before I was born. It’s obviously very upsetting for my family, and we’re going to do our best to get her through this. I don’t usually like getting too personal with these posts, but there’s no better way for me to introduce the American Legacy Foundation. They are a Washington, DC based non-profit organization that “is dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit.” I’ve seen what tobacco can do to people, and it absolutely amazes me that anyone chooses to smoke these days, but many do. It may be their right to do what they want with their bodies but I’m glad that the American Legacy Foundation is working hard to push them towards a smarter, healthier decision.
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advocacy,
communications,
entry-level jobs,
non-profit,
outreach,
Washington DC
by Willy Franzen on July 31, 2009

July 31st is always a holiday for me. Not only is it my Dad’s birthday (Happy Birthday Dad!), but it’s also the Major League Baseball non-waiver trade deadline. It’s a day packed with excitement as winning teams trade away their future for a shot at winning it all this year. I usually spend the day glued to ESPN and MLB Trade Rumors, but this year I don’t think my Yankees are going to make any big moves (mostly because they’re only 1 game behind the best record in baseball). That means that I can sit back, relax, and watch the YES Network since I’m in Connecticut this weekend (which means I left Chicago where the Yankees are actually playing… ugh). The YES Network is pretty much all Yankees, all the time, except for when they show New Jersey Nets games, and because of that, they also happen to be “the most-watched regional sports network in the country.”
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baseball,
entry-level jobs,
journalism,
New York,
production,
sports,
television,
video
by Willy Franzen on July 30, 2009

Next March I’m going to regret not saving this one for my St. Patrick’s Day holiday themed post, but today we’re going to take a look at Lucky Brand. They’re a clothing manufacturer and retailer that is “rooted in rock ‘n ‘roll with a signature sense of humor.” Their About page will tell you that they stand for “independent thinking, individual style and a feeling as authentic as love” and that they’re known for “great-fitting, vintage-inspired jeans;” however, I think it’s much simpler than that. One of their founders came up with the idea to put the phrase “Lucky You” behind the flies of every pair of pants that they made. It was an instant point of differentiation, and I think that it has a lot to do with why Lucky Brand is going strong 19 years after they started. It really is pure, politically incorrect genius. Lucky you…
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apparel,
California,
design,
e-commerce,
entry-level jobs,
fashion,
Hawaii,
human resources,
Illinois,
jewelry,
marketing,
Massachusetts,
Missouri,
Nevada,
New Jersey,
New York,
Ohio,
Pennsylvania,
retail,
Texas,
Washington,
Washington DC,
Wisconsin
by Willy Franzen on July 29, 2009

These days the entry level job search is a lot like a sweepstakes. You send out hundreds of applications (entries), and assume that you’ll never get a response either way. Still, you hold out hope that you’ll win an all expenses paid trip to… a job interview. It’s not a reassuring feeling, which is why you should change your approach (that’s what we teach you here and especially in our course, Found Your Career). Just like there’s a group of people who have figured out the tricks to winning sweepstakes, there’s also a group of people who have figured out the tricks to landing jobs. Today, I’m hoping that you’ll figure out both by pursuing a job with Don Jagoda Associates. They are a Melville, NY based marketing-services agency that specializes in areas that include: Promotion Development; Sweepstakes, Contests & Games; Online Services; Incentive & Loyalty Programs; Creative & Production; Fulfillment; Travel Services; Refunds & Rebates; Premiums; Tie-Ins & Strategic Alliances; Event Promotions; and Hispanic Promotions.
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account management,
California,
entry-level jobs,
events,
marketing,
New York,
promotions
by Willy Franzen on July 28, 2009

Yeserday we talked about jobs at Vann’s, which made me think that we should talk about with jobs at Vans today. The two companies don’t have much in common beyond being homophones of each other, so let’s start talking about shoes. Cypress, CA based Vans was founded in 1966 as the Van Doren Rubber Company. They started out by producing shoes for sports like baseball, basketball, and wrestling, but that didn’t end up working out too well for them; in fact, it led to bankruptcy. They eventually came out of bankruptcy, and then Sean Penn’s character wore a pair of Vans checkerboard slip-ons in Fast Times at Ridgemont High
. That changed everything.
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apparel,
arts,
business development,
California,
design,
entry-level jobs,
fashion,
rotation program,
shoes
by Willy Franzen on July 26, 2009

I doubt many of you would disagree with the assertion that the “mainstream media” has some major issues that need to be worked out. Take the coverage of Michael Jackson’s death. Yes, he was a great entertainer. Yes, the way that he lived his life was totally perplexing. Yes, people are fascinated by him. But did we really need all that coverage? It’s just one example of how our media is failing us, but I’m sure that Free Press would be willing to give you many more examples. They are a non-profit, “national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media through education, organizing and advocacy.” Free Press advocates “independent media ownership, strong public media, and universal access to communications,” and they do this through a number of campaigns: Save the Internet, Stop Big Media, No Fake News, Local Radio Now, Stamp Out Postal Rate Hikes, Save Our Spectrum, Community Internet, Public Broadcasting, Pentagon Propaganda, White Spaces, and Rate the Debates. They’re based in both Washington, DC and Florence, MA, and they’ve been working since 2002 to fix what they call a failing media system.
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administrative,
communications,
data,
development,
entry-level jobs,
Massachusetts,
media,
non-profit,
public policy,
social media,
Washington DC
by Willy Franzen on July 25, 2009

I know that most of us were taught in school that slavery ended nearly 150 years ago, but, unfortunately, that’s not really true. Slavery and human trafficking continue to plague our world, even though most of us aren’t really aware of it. Polaris Project is a non-profit organization is not only bringing awareness to the issues surrounding human trafficking and modern-day slavery, but also combatting them. They do this by “conducting direct outreach and victim identification, providing social services and transitional housing to victims, operating the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) serving as the central national hotline on human trafficking, advocating for stronger state and Federal anti-trafficking legislation, and engaging community members in local and national grassroots efforts.” They’ve been at it since 2002 with offices in Washington, DC; Newark, NJ; Denver, CO; and Tokyo, Japan.
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advocacy,
Colorado,
entry-level jobs,
fellowship programs,
international,
Japan,
New Jersey,
non-profit,
program development,
Washington DC
by Willy Franzen on July 24, 2009

One thing that I’ve learned as I’ve become more familiar with the world of online marketing is that some of the most annoying tactics are some of the biggest money makers. In online marketing everything is about results. If you’re making money, you’re succeeding—even if the large majority of people hate the way you’re doing it. Kontera is a perfect example of this. They’re a San Francisco based online advertising company that “delivers the most relevant In-Text Advertising & Related Information solutions online.” What that means is that webmasters can insert Kontera’s code on their site, and it will automatically create links from the text on their web pages to targeted advertisements. I’m sure that you’ve seen it on the web before, and it probably annoyed you. Still, it works. Kontera is growing at a great rate, and they just secured $15.5 million in additional funding in a round led by one of the most prestigious venture capital firms in the world, Sequoia Capital.
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advertising,
business development,
California,
entry-level jobs,
software development,
web development
by Willy Franzen on July 23, 2009

I’m one of those people who has trouble deciding what to eat. I know it’s annoying, and I know that it reflects poorly on my character. I’m that friend that nobody likes to have, but I’m working hard to get better. It’s not easy. I don’t have a problem with normal decision making, but when it comes to food I shut down. Luckily there are serviced like GrubHub.com that make my life (and the lives of my friends) easier. They’re an online menu repository for every restaurant that delivers in your area. They started in Chicago, which is where they’re headquartered, and they also serve San Francisco, Boston, Washington DC, New York, and Philadelphia. Not only do they give you all of the information that you need to make an informed ordering decision, but they also let you place your order online so that you can avoid that dreaded phone call to order food. Deciding what to eat has never been so easy—unless, of course, you’re paralyzed by choice.
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account management,
advertising,
entry-level jobs,
food,
Illinois,
New York,
sales
by Willy Franzen on July 22, 2009

In the environmentalist’s ideal world there would be no such thing as hazardous waste. Everything would be pure and natural and “green.” Unfortunately, that will never happen (partially because every living thing is its own little hazardous waste factory). How we deal with this hazardous waste is what truly determines the future of our environment. Triumvirate Environmental has figured this out, and they’ve spent the last 21 years building a business that provides “turnkey environmental and hazardous waste management services to clients across four niche sectors; Education, Healthcare, Industrial, and Life Sciences.” They’re based in Somerville, MA with locations across New England, New York, and the Mid-Atlantic, and they also appear to be masters of social media.
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Connecticut,
entry-level jobs,
environmental,
green,
Maryland,
Massachusetts,
New York,
Rhode Island,
sales,
science,
Virginia
by Willy Franzen on July 21, 2009

Have you ever tried mochi? It’s delicious, right? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, mochi is “a Japanese rice cake made of glutinous rice pounded into paste and molded into shape.” Ok, so that doesn’t make it sound good, but when it comes filled with ice cream it’s extraordinary. Now, I’m not sure why Mochi Media chose to name their company after a delicious Japanese treat, but it seems to be working for them. They’re a San Francisco based company that happens to run the largest ad network for online Flash games—they reach over 100 million gamers.
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advertising,
California,
design,
entry-level jobs,
flash,
video games,
web development
by Willy Franzen on July 20, 2009

Buying a product online is easy when you know which specific brand and model you want, but finding the microwave with the largest capacity or an LCD TV that swivels isn’t always so easy. There’s so much information out there on products, that finding specific details that are important to you (but not everyone else) can be frustrating. Wize is a San Mateo, CA based startup that is trying to make online comparison shopping more intelligent. If you’re buying on price, you already have plenty of product search engines that will make your decision easy for you, but who’s going to tell you which washing machine is most water efficient? That’s what Wize is all about. They’re scouring the Internet for all of the information that is buried in reviews and making it easily searchable so that you can choose the right product for you. It’s still in its early stages, but it seems like a pretty cool approach to e-commerce.
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analyst,
California,
data,
e-commerce,
entry-level jobs,
marketing,
research
by Willy Franzen on July 19, 2009

As I tell you every weekend, the non-profit world can never get enough top notch talent. Part of the reason is that the careers aren’t nearly as lucrative as private sector careers, but another part of it is that there are a seemingly unlimited number of non-profit organizations out there. Taproot Foundation solves this problem in an interesting way. They act as a project management consulting service while linking top notch business professionals up with non-profit organizations in a volunteer capacity. They typically work with organizations in the areas of Arts, Education, Social Services, Environment, and Health on engagements in the areas of marketing, HR, IT, and strategy management. I’m always impressed by non-profit consulting services, and this appears to be a pretty cool twist on that model.
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California,
consulting,
development,
entry-level jobs,
human resources,
Illinois,
information technology,
marketing,
New York,
non-profit,
program development,
project management,
Washington DC
by Willy Franzen on July 18, 2009

I never thought that I’d hear the words “city” and “harvest” used together as often as I do these days, but now it seems that every city has a farmers market, urban vegetable gardens, and restaurants with hyper-local cuisine. Oddly enough, City Harvest means something slightly different when they talk about harvesting food. They are “a non-profit organization founded in 1982″ and “the world’s first and New York City’s only food rescue program.” What does that mean? It means that this year they will “collect 26 million pounds of excess food from all segments of the food industry, including restaurants, grocers, corporate cafeterias, manufacturers, and farms.” They’re harvesting anything and everything that they can (as long as it’s up to their food safety standards) to feed New York City’s hungry. It’s a brilliant idea, and the organizations longevity proves that it’s working.
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entry-level jobs,
food,
marketing,
New York,
non-profit,
outreach
by Willy Franzen on July 17, 2009

At some point during my Junior year in college (by the way I’m back at Cornell for the weekend), I got the bright idea that I could wear slippers as shoes. These weren’t flimsy slippers, these were sturdy leather ones with shearling lining. They were made by Orvis (where I interned and had an awesome 50% employee discount), and they were great. I loved sitting in class knowing that my feet were more comfortable than everybody else’s. Then I came back from Thanksgiving break. I was admiring the Christmas lights that my roommates had adorned our otherwise aesthetically unpleasing house with, and I slipped. See, my slippers had flat rubber soles. My feet came out from under me as I fell down a muddy slope. My right hand came down hard on the sidewalk, and I had a broken wrist. I gave up wearing slippers for a while, but when my Mom bought me a pair of UGG slippers with proper soles, I reverted. Now UGG slippers are my go to shoes during the winter, and I’m a huge fan of Deckers Outdoor Corporation. They’re the company behind UGG, Simple, Teva (is it Tee-va or Tevv-a?), Tsubo, and Deckers, and they’re headquartered in Goleta, CA with a location in Flagstaff, AZ as well.
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administrative,
apparel,
Arizona,
California,
collections,
entry-level jobs,
marketing,
outdoors,
product development,
product management,
seo,
shoes,
software development,
web development
by Willy Franzen on July 16, 2009

Take a second and think of your favorite toy growing up. Was it a Barbie? Matchbox Car? American Girl Doll? View-Master? Magic 8 Ball? Rock’em Sock’em Robots? Hot Wheels? Polly Pocket? Even if it wasn’t one of those, there’s a good chance that it was made by Mattel. I’m sure that you’ve heard of the El Segundo, CA headquartered toy company before, but I bet you never realized just how many toys they actually make. Not only do they have some of the biggest toy names in the world, but they’re also behind all of Fisher-Price’s toys. If you always wanted to be like Tom Hanks in Big
and work for a toy company, Mattel is your chance to live every child’s dream.
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account management,
arts,
California,
customer service,
Denmark,
design,
engineering,
entry-level jobs,
Illinois,
international,
Massachusetts,
Minnesota,
New York,
research,
sales,
Texas,
toys,
Wisconsin
by Willy Franzen on July 15, 2009

Good startups create tools that people use. Great startups change the way people do things. Take eBay for example. Yes, people have always bought and sold junk, but eBay enabled people to buy and sell junk all across the world. By expanding the market for your junk, eBay made it worthwhile to sell stuff that would otherwise be collecting dust. San Francisco’s AirBnB hopes to be the eBay for space. Now, they’re not talking about outer space. They mean that spare bedroom that you never use. They want you to rent out your extra space, and they will help you find someone to rent it (read their FAQ for how it works). It could completely change the way that people on a budget travel… or it could be a total flop, but you have to love the idea.
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California,
entry-level jobs,
hospitality management,
software development,
web development
by Willy Franzen on July 14, 2009

I don’t know when wearing sweats started counting as “dressing up,” but I’m pretty sure that it coincided with when Arleta, CA based Juicy Couture became popular. I guess if you’re going to pay a bunch of money for a tracksuit, you’ve got to show it off. Ok, so I can’t say that I love what Juicy Couture has done to popular fashion, but I have to respect it. They completely changed what it means to wear sweats, and they created a new market for high priced, super casual clothing. There’s obviously more to the Juicy brand than just tracksuits, but when I hear the name Juicy, that’s what I think of.
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apparel,
California,
design,
entry-level jobs,
fashion,
New York,
retail
by Willy Franzen on July 13, 2009

About this time last summer I started finding a lot of job and internship opportunities on Twitter. Those were the days when Twitter wasn’t mentioned every 2 minutes on CNN. These days there’s a ton of clutter on Twitter that makes it a lot harder to reliably find interesting employment opportunities. However, I’ve recently been going back to the One Day, One Internship archives to see which companies I’ve featured there on the past that might have entry level jobs now. One of those companies is SHIFT Communications. There was a lot of buzz on Twitter last summer about their internships, and now it looks like they’re hiring at the entry level. SHIFT Communications is a tech PR firm located in Boston, MA and San Francisco, CA. Judging from the firm’s early adoption of Twitter and the fact that they link to 3 of their blogs on their home page, they’re definitely on top of the social media thing. Which is good because tech PR is often happening online.
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account management,
California,
communications,
entry-level jobs,
Massachusetts,
public
by Willy Franzen on July 12, 2009

Last night I enjoyed one of my favorite Summer treats—a Dairy Queen Blizzard. Now, this wasn’t just any Blizzard. This was a Tagalong Blizzard. If you’re not familiar with Tagalongs, then you’re missing out. They are my favorite Girl Scout cookie. And that brings me to the Girl Scouts of the USA, which is a New York City non-profit organization that you probably know best for pushing cookies. Obviously, the cookies have little to do with what the Girl Scouts of the USA are all about, but the funds raised from selling the cookies enable the organization to continue to pursue its mission of being “the world’s preeminent organization dedicated solely to girls—all girls—where, in an accepting and nurturing environment, girls build character and skills for success in the real world.”
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design,
editing,
education,
entry-level jobs,
nationwide,
New York,
non-profit,
outreach,
web development,
writing
by Willy Franzen on July 10, 2009

Who knew that Barnes & Noble owned a publisher? I certainly didn’t, but it makes a lot of sense. If you own the sales channel, you might as well start creating your own product too. That’s why Barnes & Noble acquired New York City’s Sterling Publishing a few years back. It’s allowed them to squeeze more profit out of their dominance in retail book sales. It seems to me that the scope of the types of books that Sterling publishes is expanding, but their main focuses are in puzzles, photograpy, crafts, gardening, and do-it-yourself. If you really want to take a close look at what types of books Sterling Publishing puts out, you can see a list of their imprints with descriptions on the Sterling Publishing About page.
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communications,
editing,
editorial,
entry-level jobs,
New York,
North Carolina,
public relations,
publishing
by Willy Franzen on July 9, 2009

You know about YouTube. You’ve known about YouTube for years. It’s the place to go for online video. There are some competitors that offer some pretty great services, but YouTube is still the default. Now, what if you want to watch live video? Or what if you want to broadcast live video? The Bay Area’s Justin.tv beats out YouTube when it comes to live stuff. You can watch white labrador retriever puppies, live soccer, or some kid in your dorm’s lifestream. The options are pretty much endless. You may ask why anyone would want to sit on a computer and watch puppies, but you’d miss the obvious answer – they’re cute. Actually, there’s an audience for just about anything these days. Justin.tv taps into that. Live video on the Internet isn’t new. There were people doing it in 1996, but the technology now makes doing it much more worthwhile. The question of whether the actual content being broadcast is worthwhile is up to you.
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advertising,
California,
engineering,
entry-level jobs,
flash,
software development,
video,
web development
by Willy Franzen on July 8, 2009

“Go Local” is a pretty common buzz phrase these days. You’re supposed to eat local, shop local, and even study local. To some people this is a new idea, but businesses like Travers Collins & Company have been focusing on working locally for a long time (in their case since 1995). They saw a void in the Buffalo, NY area when it came to advertising, public relations, interactive and investor relations, so they filled it. Judging from the number of times “Buffalo” shows up on their client list, that seems to have been a smart move. They’re now “one of Buffalo-Niagara’s largest locally owned and operated integrated marketing communications firms,” as they have more than 40 employees.
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account management,
advertising,
communications,
entry-level jobs,
interactive media,
investor relations,
marketing,
New York,
public relations