I can’t believe that this summer is already over. This has been such an amazing internship experience that truly made this the best summer ever. When I turned in my badge on Friday and said goodbye to all of the awesome people I’ve met this summer, I didn’t want to believe that my internship was over.

#NASMlove and #teamNASM are hashtags that the Air and Space interns have taken to using on social media, especially within our NASM Summer Intern group on Facebook, whenever something really cool happens that has to do with our internship. For a while, I refrained from using them due to denial that hashtags are now on Facebook, but as I reflect on this summer, I realize that the sentiment these hashtags represent are just too true not to use.

It’s crazy to think that one minute I could be at my computer writing pitches, and then 5 minutes later I can be in a crowded museum checking out an exhibit, taking a tour with tourists from all over the world or listening to an astronaut speak. I have these awesome “is this real life?” moments on a fairly regular basis, and I’m sure that my fellow interns do as well. It is because NASM is such a cool place to work with such amazing opportunities to learn and experience new things that makes this one of the coolest summers of my life. #NASMlove

I have loved being able to work with all of the people at NASM. The people in the Communications department have been absolutely amazing to work with and the way that the museum embraces its interns made NASM such a great environment in which to work. I am so proud of all of the work that I did this summer and the work that other interns and departments did as well, including a new exhibit, the announcement of a major temporary exhibit focusing around a work of genius by da Vinci and a variety of events at the museum. #teamNASM

Before this internship, I never really would have considered working in a museum, but after this summer, I think that working for the Smithsonian would be such a fulfilling career path. I love that the Museum has helpful information that can be of great use to the media and that makes the communications efforts of the museum organic and the relationship between the museum and reporters real and true. And what’s amazing about the Smithsonian family is that so many people I worked with at NASM started as interns. To be able to return to NASM in a year or two would be a dream come true. So hopefully, it’s not goodbye, it’s see you after I have a degree! #teamNASM #NASMlove

You’ve been able to hear all about how I pitched the stories for my Hometown Stories project and I am happy to tell you that I had a lot of success! When I first started the project, my office told me that the intern last year had a lot of luck and got four stories placed and that was the current record to beat. And I started getting nervous that I wouldn’t do as well and that I would be a disappointment. It turns out, I had no reason to be nervous. I actually ended up getting 17 placements with more still to come! I got a few photo credits in some of the articles and I was so happy that I was able to get some of the interns the recognition they deserved.

You can check out the story placements here: http://amystamm14.wordpress.com/smithsonian/

Things were really busy in the NASM Office of Communications my last few weeks because we were gearing up for a major announcement: for 40 days a da Vinci masterpiece will be on display at the museum. Da Vinci’s Codex on the Flight of Birds is a notebook filled with Leonardo da Vinci’s musings on the flight of winged animals and also the idea of human flight. The codex will be displayed in September and October in the Wright Brothers gallery right by the Wright flyer, the first plane and the start of a century of flight advancements.

We created a video announcement that was sent to our media list and it has gotten great pick up. I mean, how often do you get to see a da Vinci in the United States? Not often, so it’s pretty big deal. It was exciting to be here while the announcement was being brainstormed and put together. And I’m excited to come back and see the exhibit during Fall Break.

You can read the article in the Washington Post here.

Last week when there was a lot going on in Communications, I was tasked with writing a press release about a Super Science Saturday event focused on Helicopters. I communicated directly with the education department to gather information about the event and drafted the press release before sending it on to the Media Relations Specialist. She did her edits and then it had to go to the Castle (all-Smithsonian administration) for their approval. It was cool being able to try my hand at a press release that would be released to the media.

The release can be read here: Super Science Saturday

It was picked up by the Associated Press who wrote an article on. That AP article, in turn, was picked up by a bunch of different news organizations including WTOP, Yahoo! News and strangely enough a paper in Ottawa, Canada. It was also picked up by the Washington Post which can be read here: Washington Post Article

A few days ago, I was the only one in the Communications office for a few hours, because most of my co-workers were at a meeting at the Italian Embassy. As I was working, the phone rang. I usually don’t answer this number because it rings through to all of the other phones in the office as well and one person in particular usually answers that number.

But I was the only one there, so I of course I answered it, “Communications.”

It was a reporter from the Christian Science Monitor. “I’m hoping you can help me, I’m working on an article about the Curiosity rover and I’d really like to speak with someone about NASA’s benefits from the Curiosity mission.”

This is usually the point at which I say “I’m going to transfer you to the head of media relations” and then it’s out of my hands. But like I said, I was alone in the office. As I was trying to figure out what I should do: if I should take a message, email the appropriate person who handled media requests or just transfer him to her voicemail when he said “my deadline is 4pm.” It was a little before 2 at this point and I knew they wouldn’t be back for at least an hour. So I took his information and told him I’d try to get someone to give him a call. But where to start? I’d never done this before and I honestly didn’t even know what the protocol was.

So I spent the next 10 minutes running around the museum asking different people who was the expert in NASA and the Curiosity and sent from one Space History intern to a Space History curator who sent me to a CEPS scientist who sent me to the next office over to another CEPS scientist. Luckily, he was willing to give the reporter a call.

It was a bit of a whirlwind half hour or so but it was fun problem-solving and conquering this on my own. And luckily, when my co-worker got back she told me that I had handled it correctly.