I had a good time in Minnesota this week. It was really nice of Thomson (and Ken) to fly us out there to meet all the new MIT interns and learn about opportunities from the VPs and managers.
Tuesday morning, Matt and I caught our plane at the San Jose airport. It was good that the airport is so much closer than San Francisco, but we still estimated that it would only take us half as long to get there as it actually did. Well, we arrived at the airport entrance exactly on time, but we had no idea that the long-term parking would be another 10-15 minute drive down a seemingly never-ending driveway. Plus, after we parked, we needed to catch the bus back, which was just as long.
Anyway, we made it there with plenty of time, so we were ok. We had a 1.5 hour flight to Pheonix, an hour layover, and a 3.5 hour flight to Minneapolis, so we arrived at the hotel at 6:00 Central Time. This was the exact time that Todd was supposed to pick us up for dinner, so we were a little late.
On Tuesday, we had dinner at the Bonfire Grill with Todd, Neil (VP of Content), Michelle (another intern from last year who is working in DC this summer), and Rachel (F/ASIP Coordinator from MIT). I had walleye and steak.
Afterwards, Todd took us back to the hotel where we tried to get to sleep so that we would be able to get up in the morning. Getting up at 7:00 is like 5:00 here, so it was tough. Michelle had to call me at 7:40 so I could get out of bed.
Once we got to Thomson on Wednesday, my day was packed. The three of us first met with Bill, an intern who is considering an internship at another Thomson location next summer. Bill is going into his sophomore year at MIT, and he’s originally from the Twin Cities area.
Next, I met with the VP of CRM/eCommerce, Elizabeth. She and I talked about what I’m working on this summer and how it’s possible to move between areas in Thomson and to keep getting exciting, challenging projects. She herself has worked at many companies, but has spent more time at Thomson West than anywhere else because it’s constantly engaging.
After Elizabeth, I met with Cary, VP of Applications Technology. We talked a lot about the tech industry in general and he told me about how Thomson recognizes people who excel and work hard, which is how he became the youngest VP in Thomson history. Another thing I thought was interesting about Cary is that even though he hasn’t written code for the company in almost ten years, he still does little projects in his spare time to keep abreast of new developments and just because he enjoys it so much.
Cary’s office is right next to where I worked last summer, so I took a few minutes to visit some of my previous coworkers. They said that my code is still there and has been a foundation for more work, which makes me feel good. They also told me about a reorganization that’s going on right now, so some of the team leads and managers that I worked under last summer now have slightly different jobs.
Next was lunch with Michelle and Matt, and I had the chance to catch up with Kevin, one of the guys that I went running with during lunch last year. He says he hasn’t kept it up as much, but Brian and Kurt are still going strong.
In the afternoon, Matt and I had a meeting with the VP of FindLaw that we set up. He was really friendly, and I appreciated that he made time for us in his schedule at the last minute. We were able to ask him about what he would like to see from our project and what the benefit to the company would be. This was a very enlightening half hour.
Finally, I met with Ken. We talked about Silicon Valley for a while – he lived here, so he had all sorts of suggestions of things that I should check out before I go back to school. There were a lot, so I don’t know if I’ll get to all of them, but I’m going to try. Also, this is the meeting in which we talked more specifically about possibly working for Thomson next year, but since I haven’t made up my mind yet, I don’t think I can write about it on this blog. I will say that I’m definitely considering it, since they’ve shown that they’re willing to work hard to help me find a job that I can be really excited about.
Finally, I went back to Todd’s office and met Sam, another intern at Thomson this year. Todd, Sam, Bill and I talked about a lot of stuff, from photography (Todd and Sam are really into it and have taken some beautiful photos) to DDR and AJAX. We also picked up our tickets for Valley Fair from Todd before Matt finished his meeting with Ken.
Bill drove Matt and I back to our hotel to get ready for the amusement park, then all four of us – Bill, Sam, Matt, and I – hopped in Bill’s car and took off. We ended up getting a little lost on the way, but that was alright, since it was sprinkling and we all had a good time talking with each other. By the time we found our way there, it had stopped raining, but absolutely no one was left in the park. So, as it turned out, we could go on any ride we wanted without ever waiting in line. We did everything in the park at least once, and many of them two or three times. I’ve never felt sick after an amusement park before, but I was feeling a little queasy on the ride home after so many rides in quick succession. It was a great night.
Thursday morning, we met with Rachel again to tell her about how our summers were going and our impressions of Thomson as a place for MIT students to intern. This meeting went well, and I hope she got a lot out of it. After that, I talked to a friend of mine who started full time last summer and worked with me a lot while I was interning there. Joe has been there a year now, so I wanted to see how everything was going. He’s been working hard and doing really well, so I think that’s a good sign that Thomson recognizes that drive even in first year employees. Also, outside of work, he bought a house, so we talked about his experiences with home ownership for a while as well.
Thursday afternoon, Thomson took all the MIT interns and many of the managers to see a Twins game from their box. I’m not such a big baseball fan, so I spent most of it talking to people. I met Taja, Jose, and Jordan (the other three MIT interns that weren’t at Valley Fair), and I spent some more time talking to Elizabeth and other older people. I enjoyed myself (and I enjoyed the food…).
Finally, Ken drove us back to his country club for one last dinner in Minnesota. Just like last year, the food and service were wonderful. The conversation, too, was really interesting, and I was impressed at how well I could follow what people were saying around the whole table. Sometimes with ten people, the table ends up splitting into multiple sections that each can only follow their own conversation.
We flew back to San Jose on Friday and discovered that it was Hot. Of course, the first thing Matt and I did was run out to the pool for a swim. This was the first time I had gone swimming in my pool (I’ve been swimming this summer, just not in the pool here), and it felt really nice. Next we went out for dinner at a Thai restaurant. The calamari was the best I’ve ever had; it was so tender that it almost tasted like lightly fried white fish instead of calamari. For dinner, I decided to go with the traditional Pad Thai, since I haven’t had it for a while. It was good, but I think now that I’ve had my fill, I’ll get something with peanut sauce next time.
After dinner, Matt and I were both pretty tired, so we just came back to the apartment. He went right to sleep (to get up early this morning for the British Open, of course), and I worked on the computer for a little while. I uploaded a few more photos and added some features to my summer map, so check it out if you wish.
