I <3 ReadyTalk
August 13th, 2010 by bo.bandy@readytalk.comThis post was contributed by Taylor Britt, one of ReadyTalk’s awesome summer interns. Find out what being a ReadyTalk intern is all about.
Well, my summer internship in the marketing department at ReadyTalk is winding down, and I thought I would share a few thoughts on my experiences before I leave to start school.
Unfortunately, I feel like I will never appreciate my job in the future because I’ve been so spoiled by my time here. No dress code, flexible schedules, runs at lunchtime, a kitchen with a drawer filled with chocolate… I won’t be holding out for this anywhere else. However, besides giving me unrealistically high expectations, this company’s culture has made me an admirer of its management. The company thrives off of relationships with its customers, and I think this is only really possible at a company where its employees are authentically happy to be there. I know this sounds like a marketing gimmick, but I’m absolutely sincere, and I think that it’s great that they’ve found a niche where they can take advantage of a win-win situation like this.
I got to work on a bunch of different types of projects this summer and I think I worked on something with everyone in the department, which was cool because I got to see a wide variety of different roles people play in marketing. I doubt I can remember everything I did, but some things are: Updating ReadyTalk’s Wiki, cleaning up trash in a park in downtown Denver, researching the healthcare market, analyzing demographics on webinar attendees, doing competitive analysis on webinar series, rebranding PowerPoint slides for a company that resells our product, packing in random order 5000 coffee sleeves, folding boxes and sending out packages full of ReadyTalk swag, helping analyze ReadyTalk’s compliance with government contracts, updating ReadyTalk’s marketing collateral (Whitepapers, testimonials, and case studies), and setting up a YouTube channel for ReadyTalk.
I also got to help out on ReadyTalk’s new recruitment video (see it on YouTube) although most of the credit for that project ought to go to my fellow intern Kelly King. Never once did I make anyone coffee, which makes me worry that I may have missed out on the “full internship experience.” We also got to spend one afternoon at a Rockies game (the stadium is only a few blocks from our office.)
I think my biggest regret about my summer is that I never brought my dog to work. I would have had to drive down here instead of taking the bus, and he would have gone completely insane all day, but so many people do it here that it seems kind of shameful that I never once brought him in.
While I probably won’t miss the bus ride to work, the building that ReadyTalk’s office is in is really cool. Although it’s probably not actually this old, the worn brick walls and weird metal pipes and rivets on the walls make me think of 19th century prospectors or something like that. There’s also a really nice bookstore downstairs. The main downside of the building that the elevator frequently breaks down and traps people or the elevator door almost crushes someone, but fortunately I managed to evade this over the course of the summer. By this metric, as well as all of the interesting stuff I did and great people I got to work with, this summer was a success and I really appreciate having had the opportunity to work here.
Thanks to Taylor for all his hard work this summer. We wish him the best of luck at the University of Colorado and will let him bring his dog by the office any time.
ReadyTalk interns hard at work.
As I sit here and reflect about this experience 2 weeks later a few key things come to mind. The first one is “just do it”. Say it out loud, make that reservation, buy that ticket, climb that mountain. People ask me “how do you do these special things?” I just did them—no magic involved, just go do it. 
It finally came time to summit. I was lucky and got the typical altitude-related health problems out of the way early—others on my team weren’t so lucky. With 4 of the 5 of us suffering a nasty respiratory infection, we woke up at 2:00 a.m. on summit day, coughing and hacking be damned. I was giddy and glad to hike in the darkness. One hour into the hike, one team member had to turn around. We pressed on and were treated to a sunrise I’ll never forget. Before I knew it, I was roped up and on the headwall approach to the summit ridge. This is what I’ve been focusing on for months. I have to say it felt good to stand at 19,000 ft. and look up a 45 degree pitch and say “I can do that. Just a 100 ft. from the top, my climbing partner, John was pulling on my rope and was flying up the last pitch. I had to overextend myself and take huge steps to keep up. I was toast. What’s it feel like at 20,000 ft.? Try 30 minutes on a Stairmaster with your mouth and half your nose taped shut. 
Yesterday, I talked about the leap of faith I made in signing up for a trip to Nepal to climb above 20,000 feet. Six months out…
Do you have something that you’ve dreamed about most of your life? This journey began when my Mom came across the list of the “10 Things I want to do when I’m older” that I made when I was in junior high. One major unfinished task on my list stood out: Climb Mt. Everest. Considering I’m married, have a 2 year old son, a pregnant wife, a full time job; I decided to scale it down to something that could fit into my busy life. After some deliberation, I decided getting over 20,000 feet was a nice compromise.
