I woke up very excited to go to the Hearst. Not only am I a fan of so many of the companies and magazines they work with, I knew we would be sitting at a panel with Kenya Hunt, who I am a huge fan of. Not being able to grab breakfast I left the hotel, hoping the walk wouldn’t be too bad. It was a pretty nice day out, and Hearst was close, and they also had pastries and fruit, which was a great way to start the day. We met with Sophie Wilkonson who showed my group around the building and taught us so much about what they do.
We met with a videographer and producer, Alex Harring, who works with Cosmo on all their social media videos, some of which I had ever seen. The small studio was home to so many different things, from product shots to interviews, to makeup tutorials. It was so interesting to see how versatile the space was and how Alex was able to do so much. We saw where people worked, and how this office space is very forward thinking.
After that, we got to sit down at a panel that was all about engaging audiences with Kenya Hunt, Matt Hill, Amy Lane, and Jess Edwards. These people, who seem to be at the top of their game, have created amazing careers and were all editors or digital editors. They spoke of the importance of capturing your voice and learning how audiences respond. They also said they often ask their audience exactly what they want from them. I loved hearing what these people had to say to a group of students.
We got to hear about The Nest from the business development director Julian Linley. which is basically a think tank that invites a few people in house and out to come up with solutions the magazines run into. The Nest has created magazines, online media, and more. These solutions are created and set forth from Hearst which runs with the ideas, and a lot of them seem to be making a profit. So far 10 of the new projects have been implemented.
In this time we also heard from Sophie and Misty from Elle and Cosmopolitan about how they work through their photo shoots. All the ins and outs of these cover shoots, or even just photos for one page. They talked about casting, where to shoot, styling. I was very interested in this because I love planning all the little details of things.
Finally, we made our way over to Good Housekeeping where so much is done in a very small space. The Good Housekeeping test kitchen is where they not only test each recipe three times, but they also hold cooking classes. There is also an event space with an amazing kitchen. From there we headed downstairs to see if we could get a Good Housekeeping seal of approval. This space has a room dedicated to washing machines, vacuuming, hair care, and so much more. the walls were lined with laundry detergent, dish soap, laser hair removal tools. I would have never guessed that this was the process for a product to get a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval, and a lot of products are tested on Hearst employees.
Overall this was an amazing day and has taught me so much about things I would have otherwise never learned. I’m glad Hearst took all this time to show a group of Point Park students around. Now back to the hotel to pack and get ready to head to Windsor!