My Internship - The Big and the Bright

Advertisement banners on fences along Konrad-Adenauerstrasse
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So the title might be a bit odd, but as you can see from the picture, the advertisement banners are indeed big and bright....and did I mention incredibly annoying to put up? I always knew I was short, which most of the time I have no problem with and actually find pretty amusing at times too. But somehow my height seems much more of an obvious disadvantage as opposed merely a humorous sidejoke when it comes to putting up these massive banners on the higher-than-a-small-person fences that surround the construction site.

Background story behind these brilliant but massive nuisances:

The entire construction site is enclosed by the usual barrier fences (a very safety-conscious invention) which someone decided would be perfect to double over as an advertisement medium for firms. Not only do local companies get to tell you how great their sasuages, paints, tire services, etc. are, but we get to make money by renting them places along the fence and printing off the aforementioned banners, which are basically glorified heavyduty screens. They think they're cool because they've had paint laser-printed on them to make a pretty picture. It's a brilliant idea, but massively annoying for me, who has to help put them up. It's really tricky for a short person like me to carry those things, let alone put them up, especially when the wind makes them into large sails....Let me say, I much prefer my job as it relates to them in the OFFICE as opposed to outside.

As far as work with the advertisement banners "inside" is concerned, I have learned a computer program, CorelDraw, which I use to edit the plans when the fence gets changed. I take the plan and up-date it and a list in Excel so anyone at a glance can see the different firms we have advertised around the site. I also help Frau Mittnacht, the woman in charge of publicity and organizatin, return e-mails for her, and follow up on phone calls requesting information on the banners, how much they cost per quarter, positions open on the fence, etc. On the finance side of things, I write up the billing statements for the firms who have already signed up for a banner and quarter (s) and then give them to Herr Neukamm, the bookkeeper (among other thing), who looks them over before getting the obligatory signatures and letting me mail them off.

Hanging banners outside, playing with computer programs, editing tables, writing bills.....All in a day's work!

~E.