by Alison Stewart

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Work Perks

As of 1:45pm EST on Wednesday May 16, 2007, my first 54 hours of working for NPR and the BPP have been jam packed. I have been to 10 meetings in 2.5 days. I have three more today.

I have filled out HR paper work and sat in on a broadcast of All Things Considered but had to leave the room because of a real or imagined need to sneeze.

However, crossing over from fan to colleague is what takes most of my energy —
that and remembering names.

So first impressions: People here are dedicated. The offices are very tidy. There is lots of spirited discussion. Luke is a great office mate — sorry the photo is bad — I took it with my cell phone.

Odd impressions: NPR plays on the speakers in the restrooms.

A fan's impression: My delight when I realized the voice at the other end of a table was indeed Andrea Seabrook!

Gracious impressions: Michele Norris allowing me to shadow her all day while she had pieces to write, interviews to conduct and managed to pick up the phone to notify someone that, oh ... Jerry Falwell might not be well.

Grand impressions: Because there is a convention of police officers in town one of the few hotel rooms available: The Watergate. And because the guy at the front desk was a news junkie, he upgraded me to The Presidential Suite. (No lurking ghost of Nixon, though.) I thought he was kidding until I walked into a hotel room bigger than most NYC apartments. It included 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, full dining room table and a bed that was so high I had to take a running leap to get under the covers.

I also scored some really cool pens. (See photo)

Work impressions: Our staff has doubled. There are now four of us. We need to decide on a name. Also, this show is going to be so great to build. And somehow we all found time to view this video again and again. Warning...this video DOES NOT end well for the small child involved. View at your own risk. It is SOOO wrong. And.....if you know this kid or how to contact his parents we want to know....first, is the kid ok? Then, how can we get a hold of the parents to have a chat? Let us know if you know.

Gotta go to another meeting!