ella's blog

     On Sunday afternoon, we closed The Holiday Spectacular. I learned a lot being an assistant stage manager(ASM), and I'm still debating on whether I like it or not. I really enjoyed it when I understood what was going on, like once we had the entire show planned out and I knew exactly what transitions needed to happen. But when I was still trying to figure it out and didn't have a clue what I was doing, it was a little stressful. But I think I would enjoy it more if I did assistant stage manage again as I would have more of an idea about what I am doing.      I learned a lot about the importance of a backstage crew and everything that they do for a production. A show literally cannot run without tech. There are stage managers calling every light, sound and action that needs to be happening during a show. There are people on rail that lower backgrounds into the space, or they bring drops on and off. There is a run crew that brings set pieces on and off. P...

     Working through these Simternships has shown me that there is a lot more to social media marketing and posting than one would think. It is important to be posting on all social media networks, even if they aren't very popular, because they can still gain traction. But for the more popular ones, posting more frequently is very helpful.      I found out that I was very good at the organic social posts. I got first place for all of the first three Simternships. I looked at the stats a lot to help me with the time of day and the days of the week. And what to post. It made a lot of sense to me when it came to how those posts worked.      When it came to the other two sections, paid social posts and social media influencers, they didn't really make as much sense to me. No matter what I did when it came to the social media influencers, I didn't really make much money, or have as much reach. I did a bit better on the paid social posts, but looki...

 Thanksgiving break was much needed for all of us, but I can't help feeling like it wasn't much of a break. I feel like I packed so much into one week, where I managed to exhaust myself and not come back as refreshed as I had hoped. Almost every single night of break I hung out with a group of my friends, or my family. Also, due to The Holiday Spectacular, I didn't get home until Sunday night. On Monday night, I saw Wicked with my friends Laini and my mom. It was incredible. I wasn't expecting to cry and I totally did. If you haven't seen it, go watch it. It will change your life. On Tuesday night I hung out with another of my friends, Swati, went shopping with her and then went to her house for dinner. My days were also filled with appointments like the doctor, the chiropractor and my hair stylist of course. I got my hair toned darker and got my bangs redone as well. On Wednesday I met one of my best friends, Amelie, for lunch. She wasn't home for very long so ...

      So, to be completely honest I did get my movies mixed around. I got The Social Network and The Social Dilemma mixed up. I really like the movie The Social Network so when I realized that wasn't what we were watching, I was a little disappointed. If you haven't seen it it is about Mark Zuckerberg and how facebook was created. But it isn't a documentary, it is just a movie telling the story of the creation of Facebook. But The Social Dilemma has definitely been an interesting watch.      The Social Dilemma talks about the dangers of social media and how companies basically manipulate us into being addicted to our phones and apps. There are interviews of employees who used to work at some of these companies and can attest to the way that things are run. They send notifications to keep you on your phone and use psychology to keep you addicted.  There were a mix of interviews and staged scenarios to get their point across in this documentary....

  On Sunday, we went into tech for the ONU Holiday Spectacular! For those who don't know what a tech week is, it is the week before a show opens where all technical elements are added, like lights, sound, set, costumes, hair and makeup, props, etc. All the actors have been running the show for a while now, so this week is a time for the tech crew to practice what they do and for the actors to get used to all the new elements as well. On Sunday, rehearsal was about 11 hours. I got there at 11:30 for the crew meeting and we started to set up. I left that night around 10 or 11pm. We had an hour break for dinner and we periodically took ten minute breaks throughout the rehearsal as well so the actors and crew had time to sit down, drink some water and, you know, take a break.       It was a very long day and I was exhausted by the end of the night. As an assistant stage manager, I am in charge of stage left, or SL. I had to learn about where all the set pieces we mo...

      I'm sure all of us use Tik Tok, or have used it at some point. It is such a popular social media app now, and they really have optimized marketing on the app! I know so many people that have bought items on Tik Tok Shop, just because someone makes a video about the product and adds the link to that item on Tik Tok Shop. Lots of creators also do PR hauls of what companies send them, or they make videos about what skincare and makeup products they use, or what clothes they like or even what food brands they like. Brands don't even have to ask creators to make videos or sponsor them, some creators just do it all on their own because they like to share their favorite products. And to be completely honest, I'm more likely to buy something someone recommends on Tik Tok if it isn't sponsored anyway. If a creator is passionate about it, they really do make me want to buy that item.      I've also noticed that Tik Tok is a much more informal place for brands. ...