Our last media visit is today and it’s with Hearst Italia, Italy’s leading magazine company. We sat down in one of their meeting rooms as they talked about the structure of the company. Presenters included editors-in-chief for Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, and Elle.
We got to hear from Lisa, Cosmopolitan’s fashion editor. Her presentation interested me the most because I love clothes and fashion and learning about how she gets to choose the outfits, the models wearing the clothes, and even the photographer she’ll be working with. In another life (or perhaps the later future?), I am a fashion editor for… I don’t know….? Nylon magazine?
We also got to tour their building and see the floors that each of the magazines work within. While on one of the floors, I saw this book that said “baguette” and as a bread enthusiast I needed photographic proof.
They were kind enough to have so many employees take time to tell us about their jobs and what their tasks included. We got to see how magazine pages are laid out and how each office is decorated in a different way. There was even time to see their beauty supply closet, which is where they choose the different products to promote for certain issues. They even went as far to demonstrate how it gets from the closet floor to the magazine spread.
After the visit, we were given the option to return to the city center for lunch and free time or to go back to the hotel. Knowing that once I got back to the hotel I wouldn’t be leaving because of how tired I was, we decided to go back into the city.
I got to get food from that Italian fast food spot that most of the group went to on our first day in Milan. I described it as a larger and more delicious hot pocket.
The rest of the day we spent shopping. It was difficult trying to find a shop that was affordable and not one of the high-end stores with designer brands that none of us could afford. We all had individual gifts for certain people that needed to be taken care of so we tried to find stores that would contain the items we needed to buy. I was definitely shocked by how many American brands were present in this giant shopping area.
Our final meeting time for our last group dinner was 6:30PM so around 5:30PM we decided to head back to the hotel. Since many of us were in the city, it was up to us to find our way back to the hotel. Serena told us which bus to take back and what stop to get off from, but I was still very worried. Thankfully I had an app on my phone that worked while we were in Italy so we were able to successfully get back to the hotel.
When we’d all met up again, it was another reflection session where we talked about our favorite media visit and cultural experience. Feeling stressed under pressure, I talked about how great the experience was at Burston-Marstellar and how cool it was to be a part of the radio broadcast at Rai Milan. I’m sure there’s more I could’ve talked about, but there were 40 of us that needed to speak.
The restaurant we were going to for dinner was really close by so we walked over and had a two course dinner and dessert. Afterwards we returned to our hotel and started to pack for the flight back to Pittsburgh. Dinner was really enjoyable. It was a nice bonding moment for us and Serena sat with us again so we got to bond with her too.
I wish packing didn’t have to take so long and I didn’t have to worry about forgetting something.
I’ll see you tomorrow Pittsburgh…