"Try walking in my shoes"

"Try walking a mile in my shoes," she says.

"Sorry, high heels aren't really my thing."

It's been a bit since I've posted up about my adventures in the pageant world. Since Shanghai, I visited Michigan with Rima Fakih, miss USA, for her official homecoming since winning the USA pageant. It was a crazy experience, but it was a lot of fun. I got to meet her family and friends, her dog, get a tour of her hometown of dearborn, and attend several large events held in her honor. She also received the key to the city of Dearborn. The last day of the trip was spent at the ballpark, where Rima threw the first pitch at a Tigers game. I got to be out on the field and shoot some images. Fun little trip for sure.

The next major event was spent in Nassau, Bahamas for the 2010 Miss Teen USA pageant. Both Matt and I attended this week-long extravaganza of shooting, editing, and producing a live webcast that ended up being viewed by over a quarter of a million people. During this we also each produced a package for the web and a package for the webcast. I got the experience of being kicked by a dolphin tail several times while shooting with both the former Miss Teen USA Stormi Henley, as well as several of the contestants at the Atlantis resort. I was also yelled at by a sea lion.

Our first production on-location was by far the most complicated, and was the introduction to the entire webcast. Matt, as well as Colin and Tom from MUO ran three-cameras and I ran sound as Stormi ran around the Atlantis resort. It was a lot of fun, and ended up being quite a bit of work for me as it was very windy and audio was often pushed to the side during production. Lots of audio foley and post-editing.

In the end production went well, and we managed to get an hour here and there to relax in the lazy river and hot bahamas sun. Lots of work for sure.

Kamie Crawford (Miss Teen Maryland) was crowned the new Miss Teen USA, and we've been running around all over the place working with her and all her publicity events. She's a really fun girl, and you will start seeing many videos that we produced showing up on http://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialMissTeenUSA.

Next up we go to Las Vegas, Nevada for most of the month of August. Doubtful that we'll have time to post up on the blog as we are scheduled to produce over 100 web videos in the course of 2 weeks, and then produce three live webcasts. Yeah.

-Jeff

Matt Goes To India

Hello Readers,

We have been swamped here at MUO the past few weeks with Jeff going to Shanghai and Detroit and myself going to India. I just returned from India this past Monday, and I must say that it was an incredible experience. This internship is better than anything I could have dreamed of. The purpose of the trip was for Miss Universe to travel around India with Sanjana Jon in order to raise HIV/AIDS awareness. We went to several locations and met a ton of new people. At many of the places we went there were countless members of the press and media. I had to fight tooth and nail against swarms of Indian press to get the shots that I needed. We did several interesting things including: interviews in which Miss Universe (Stefania) cooked and tried Indian cuisine, a trip to the India Gate, a few photo shoots, and even two fashion shows held in honor of Stefania's tour for HIV/AIDS awareness.

Stefania and her travel manager (Roston) were awesome in assisting me on my first trip. I have learned SO much. Working with a “Universal” icon, if you will, has truly opened my eyes into what is certainly the life as a member of the professional media and/or press. I’ve learned that it is not easy to balance professionalism and courtesy while still getting the shots you need to put together an interesting, informative piece on your subject matter. In addition to these things I have learned first hand, the stresses and pressures of working in this type of a time constrained environment. An environment in which the action never stops, and in which you always need to be on your toes and on top of your game. There is no possibility of pick up shots later, because, well, you'll be on the other side of the world. This trip has also granted me experiences that I will remember for the rest of my life. It would take pages to express all the moments that touched my life on this trip. Not necessarily moments that changed my life, but moments that I got to experience. In the places we were staying there was no real “culture shock,” or noticeable extreme poverty. In fact, I truly believe from what I have heard and the people that I have talked to on my adventure, that within the next 10-20 years, India will be one of the worlds most dominant super powers, possibly even stronger than the United States. They have the knowledge, the will, and most importantly, the numbers to turn themselves into one of the most economically profitable countries in the world. This is my humble opinion, but time will tell.

Next on the to do list will be the Bahamas for the Miss Teen USA Pageant, then off to Los Angeles for a few days, and then the Miss Universe Pageant in Las Vegas for the better part of August.

Here are a few photos of me doing my thing in India:

Jeff Goes To Shanghai, China

I'm going to do this the easy way, and follow a chunk of text with a chunk of pictures.

Week three of this internship I was shipped out. I spent the last week in Shanghai, China with Miss USA Rima Fakih. The 2010 World Expo is being held in Shanghai, and Rima was invited by the USA Pavilion to host the USA National Day celebration and make several appearances around Shanghai and the Expo.

Due to some flight complications I was flown out a day early, and got to hang out in Shanghai an extra night. I took the time to wander around some places near our hotel. There was a massive mall across the street, and when I say massive, I mean 12 stories tall and hundreds and hundreds of stores. Then when the sun set I noticed the real Shanghai. I knew china was technologically advanced, but the lights blew my mind. LED lights lined every building, road, and tree. I snapped a few pictures, and went back to the hotel. We are bunked up at the Ritz-Carlton Shanghai Pudong. The hotel had been open nine days before we showed up. I think I'm the first person to sleep in that bed. It was awesome, huge, and nice. Probably the nicest hotel i've ever stayed at.

Some history of Shanghai I learned over the trip, is that Shanghai has been more or less built in the last 20 years. And they are constantly building. Looking out the window of the hotel, I can see five buildings in construction. It's nonstop, and they keep getting taller and taller.

In the morning I went to the airport with a few USA Student Ambassadors to pick up Rima and Esther, MUO staff. We shot a bit of footage at the airport, and checked in at the hotel for the night.

Official day 1 was spent touring Shanghai with Allison, our USAP coordinator, and Joy (USAP staff). We visited the highest observation deck in the world, located on the 100th floor of the Shanghai World Financial Center. The whole place was like a spaceship, and then the view was incredible (picture below). We then toured around the old side of the river, which was still fairly urban.

Day 2 we headed to the World Expo. We stopped by the USA pavilion for Rima's introduction to the media, a couple news interviews, and then a photo op with all the USA pavilion staff. We then went to a few country pavilions. Our tour consisted of France, Germany, Lebanon, and China. My favorite was Germany, followed closely by China. The german pavilion showed Germany very well, and you could get a good sense of what life in Germany is like. Landscapes, gardens, arts, and then technology and industry. Everything was covered. Plus the germans took us to the VIP room after the tour where we relaxed in the air conditioning. The chinese pavilion was technology heaven, with a massive projection wall with a large animation of an ancient chinese village. There were fake trees filled with LED lights, and then real plants with soil-less nutrition covering the ceiling. There was also a really cool film depicting three generations of Chinese life, projected on four massive screens. Three on the wall, one on the ceiling. Crazy stuff. The Chinese also took us back to the VIP area of their pavilion, and explained some of the behind-the-scenes of the making of the video, and the pavilion itself.

That night we attended a dinner party at the home of TV personality and businesswoman Yue-Sai Kan. She is very well known in Shanghai, and does a lot of business in America as well. Let's just say that this party was well-attended. Harry Conick Jr. was in attendance, as well as the former secretary of state Madeleine Albright and several other White House staff members. I can check "get stopped from filming by the secret service" of my list of things to do before I die.

The next day we visited a couple more pavilions, including the official USA Pavilion tour, and the Saudi-Arabia pavilion. This day also was USA National Day at the Expo. Every country gets a "national day" where they can parade, and hold special activities and shows to display the country. Rima started the day by riding a float in the parade, led by the University of Southern California Trojan marching band. It was hot, and I was running back and forth around the parade getting the shots I needed. By the end of the parade I was a sweaty mess. But so was everyone else. I felt real bad for the marching band. I know how hot those uniforms get, and the weather was miserably hot. Despite the heat, Rima had a lot of fun. She danced around and waved to the crowd. There was an American dance troop on the float behind her blasting pop music, and at one point they wandered up to her float and starting dancing with her. It was a good time and made for good video.

Post-parade, it was time for rehearsal for the nights performance. When we showed up the marching band was on-stage, and Rima was asked to guest-direct one song. Without hesitation she obliged, and ended up doing it in the actual show as well. Rima and the translator didn't get a chance to rehearse their opening dialogue on-stage, and went backstage quickly to get as much practice in as possible. After a quick wardrobe change and some makeup, Rima was ready to go. A couple more run-throughs with the translator, the lights went down and they went on stage. Everything went smooth as butter. The event was well-received and Harry Conick Jr.'s performance was really entertaining.

The last day was made up of visiting a hospital and discussing breast cancer and treatment with several doctors, and then attending a 4th of July event for American EXPATs (Expatriates) in China. Again it was miserably hot, but Rima had a good time hosting a watermelon eating contest, and taking pictures with everyone.

In closing, the trip was an amazing experience, and considering it was part of an internship it was unbelievable. I have so many people to thank and I can't name them all, but I really want to thank Miss Universe president Paula Shugart for allowing me to be a part of the program and visit China.

So.... photos?

The blue dude is named "Haibo" and is the mascot for the 2010 Expo. He was everywhere.

Rima purchasing some tea.

(For more of all of this, visit my personal blog at http://blog.jeffkolada.com. Sorry OU people,

but this software is kinda difficult to use. I use wordpress, and am able to do alot more, so I

post more there.)

See you in Shanghai!

The second week at the Miss Universe Organization was very similar to the first. Lots of editing, organizing, graphic design, etc. I've designed a bunch of "promos" for the Miss USA website (the graphics that run on the top of the screen, linking to videos), as well as edited a few. I also have done a bit of shooting, going out to a disclosed globally-known feather-craftsman's shop and filming Miss USA have a makeup lesson with a world renowned makeup artist.

I'm starting to get used to everything, but still working through some kinks. I'm really going to have to work through them fast, as I leave on sunday for Shanghai, China for a week with Miss USA. We will be at the Shanghai World Expo until July 3rd. I'm going to keep this post short, but expect an extended one during/after the trip. My cameras will be in hand at all times, so I'll have some pictures.

-Jeff

Week 1 at MUO

The first week of work at the Miss Universe Organization has been really fun, and I can tell I am going to enjoy the next 6 months. Everyone at MUO is really great, and the office atmosphere is very relaxed. Everyone seems to enjoy what they are doing. Day 1 both Miss Universe Stefania Fernandez and Miss USA Rima Fakih wandered into the New Media department to chat with Colin our boss, and we (Matt and I, the new interns) were introduced. Teen USA Stormi Henley was hanging around for most of wednesday, and after saying hi to us, threw on a remarkably realistic wig and wandered around the office.

All of the work we’ve done so far has been in front of a computer. Installing software, rendering video, converting video, organizing video. We’ve each had our hand at a bit of video editing as well. I cut together a web video for Miss USA, about her photoshoot with photographer Fadil Berisha (viewable here). Matt cut together a video blog with Miss Universe that we shot before she and USA went off to Rwanda for a week or so. That should be online monday. We also had some time to play a mini round-robin tournament of connect four.

Outside of work, we’ve been doing some wandering around NYC. On Sunday before we started we made the venture out to the corner of 9th and 34th, home of the infamous B&H Photo/Video. This megastore is the mecca of video and photography nerds, with every product imaginable sitting out on shelves for you to play with, and eventually purchase. There are salespeople in every isle, and every person is extremely knowledgeable and helpful. On this trip I managed to hold myself back from impulse buys, and purchased the things I was planning to buy.

Mariana from work organizes random outings to do every couple weeks, and on tuesday she wandered into our office and asked “Does anyone want to go fencing on thursday?”. Not to pass up on an opportunity like this, we agreed, and last night we wandered down to a fencing studio off of times square. We got an hour-and a half lesson on fencing techniques, and got to fence each other for the last half hour. It was actually really fun, and I learned a lot about the techniques and rules of sabre fencing.

So at the end of week 1 I am thoroughly enjoying my experience in NYC, and I can’t wait to start traveling and shooting with the girls

Chapter 1: Lost in New York

Hello Friends and Family,

Many of you may be wondering how this whole Miss Universe Internship started for me, and how I got on board. I couldn't believe the opportunity myself when I first heard about it. I suppose it all started with a few short conversations with my friend (and co-intern) Jeff Kolada, and Nicole Little. That is all it took for me to become interested in the Miss Universe Organization, and the internship they offer to Ohio University students biannually. Before I knew it (with a lot of help from Tina Stewart and Beth Novak) I was sending in my application, and receiving emails about my starting date.

Jeff and I arrived here the morning of June the 12th with bins full of personal belongings, hearts full of excitement, and not to mention, no real place to live. We are currently staying with Jeff's Aunt and Uncle, and his two cousins David and Jacob, all of which have been overly accommodating and extremely friendly. Their house is in Flushing, Queens, which is about a 45 minute commute from where we work on the corner of 56th st. and 6th Avenue in Manhattan. After a weekend of readying ourselves and becoming familiar with the city, Jeff and I started work on Monday. We were introduced around our humble little office, high up in this beautiful skyscraper, and were put to work almost immediately. My task: piece together an intro for the Miss Teen USA pageant. A pageant that airs to hundreds of thousands of people, mind you. I set to work ripping DVDs of past pageants and slowly but surely compiling all of the "crowning moments" from 27 years worth of Miss Teen USA pageants. This piece will eventually be part of the opening of the actual Miss Teen USA show. We also did a video blog for Miss Universe on the first day which should be published to the Miss Universe youtube channel within the next couple of days. Everyone here at MUO has been very friendly and helpful getting me started. I can't wait to get to know everyone better.

There is quite a bit of travel on the horizon for Jeff and I. Jeff leaves for Shanghai, China on June 28th, and theres possible trips to India, Detroit, and the Bahamas (among a few other possibilities) for me before the actual Teen USA pageant in the Bahamas near the middle of July. Following the Teen pageant, Jeff and I will be sent off to Las Vegas for just about the entire month of August. Needless to say, having never traveled abroad, I am ecstatic.

This city is nothing short of awesome, and this internship is nothing short of an amazing gift. Being able to get up and come to a place like this every morning to do what I love, is honestly a wonderful dream come true. A dream I will enthusiastically continue to blog about for those interested.

Kevin McCallister survived a few days alone by himself in New York. So this next six months should be a breeze for me, right? Fortunately for me, I'm a few years older, and hopefully, a few years wiser than my childhood idol, and I can not wait to embark on the journey that has been laid out in front of me.

<-- Me with Jean-Claude Van Damme in Prague. Bloodsport was not discussed, but JCVD was.

Dear Readers,

I would like to begin this go-round by correcting an error in my last blog entry concerning Roustam Tariko. Mr. Tariko is not a chocolatier. He is, in fact, a businessman who has had dealing in the importation and sale of chocolate. According to Wikipedia, a chocolatier is someone who makes confectionary from chocolate. Curiously, this is different than a chocolate maker who creates chocolate from cocoa beans and other ingredients. Childhood viewings of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, featuring a great performance by Gene Wilder, had lead me astray in my chocolate definitions, for that, I am sorry.

Speaking of Russia, the video featuring Miss Universe and her visit to Russia is up on the Miss Universe website. It is available to view here

My video detailing Stefania’s adventures in Panama and the Czech Republic is currently awaiting final approval. We traveled to Panama for a Sony event for the countries South American vendors. 3D TV people, it’s gonna be big. The trip was quick and before we knew it we were back on a plane. We flew from Panama City to Houston, Texas and then from Houston to Frankfurt, Germany. Germany is not without their sense of humor as their airport is filled with bratwurst, sauerkraut, potato salad and soft pretzels with mustard. We dined like Kaisers. The plane trip from Germany to Prague was only 45 min and was refreshing following the non-sense of crossing one and a half continents and an ocean.

Prague is a beautiful city as anyone who has been there, or has read about it, will tell you. The Miss Czech Republic pageant that our group was attending was being held in an ancient looking factory. The inside, however, was done up in grand fashion for the evening. The idea behind the event was putting something glamorous into something ugly, much like Megan Fox in the Transformers movies. The event was intense and featured Fear Factor challenges for the contestants to complete and a stage element that shot flames into the air during the swimsuit competition giving audience members a visual metaphor laden performance. Stefania announced and sashed the new Miss Czech Republic immediately following Jean-Claude Van Damme kicking a bottle off the hosts’ head. If that sounds ridiculous check out the video that will most likely be posted tomorrow on www.missuniverse.com.

The trip home was smooth sailing as I was bumped up from coach to first class due to overbooking. The amble foot room and my chairs uncanny recline mode gave me a one-way ticket to R.E.M town. When I awoke to find myself in New York, I realized what teleporting would feel like if it were real. If you are wondering, you feel slightly groggy and have a kink in your neck.