First, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has sent in applications throughout February for theBME World Tour Intern Contest. I appreciate the effort that all of the applicants put into their videos and for taking the time to help me get to know each and every one of them as best as I could through their videos! Some were really fun to watch and others were a bit painful!
With Jen’s help, I’ve compiled a list of the finalists. I’d like you to watch their videos and then vote at the bottom of the videos. Vote for your FAVORITE 4 applicants! You’re only allowed to vote once. This will help me to figure out who the readers of BME want to see out there on the road with me. The winners of the poll won’t automatically be the winners of the contest but it will definitely help to show who the BME community wants as well as who can get the most people over to BME and voting for them!
I have been working on the logistics and may possibly end up choosing two teams to go out with me because it’s been too hard to narrow down just to four interns! These are the cream of the crop. They’ve either got great talents as writers, photographers or video editors or they just have some supremely awesome quality about them that came through in their applications or video. I really wish I could take them all! Help me to narrow it down because lord knows I can’t fit 18 of us in one suitcase!
Voting closes March 1st at 12:01am PST. I’m hoping to announce the winners on March 1st so we’ve only got a couple days to get those votes in! This will get reposted daily until then!
Ed
Thaddeus
Megan
Chez
Richard
Darah
Kaelahbee
Alberto
RobW
Timothy
Ari Oh
Kristen
Ferg
Adrian
Stewart
DeseRae
Jens
Nae
Now that you’ve watched the videos, VOTE for your favorite 4 applicants. Pick the 4 people you’d want to see out on the road together! Help them get out there by casting your vote! Remember, voting closes March 1st at 12:01am PST so get your friends voting for you!
Comments
158 responses to “The real FINALISTS are..”
Well, it was worth a shot.
i thought this would not be polled by random non-BME and accounted full BME IAM member contributors, i think this should be left up to who YOU think should really go. But lets see how the race turns out at the end of voting.
rachel said that the winner from the poll won’t automatically be the winner. it’ll show her what the community wants and will help her decide.
BME Internship Audition Video by Ari Oh from Ari Oh on Vimeo.
what i meant o say is i think ari’s video embeds… but i guess it doesnt!!!
vote for chez!
what about nae!?
Darah all the way!
Ceci: Thank you for actually reading the post. I appreciate it a lot.
I’m just asking for feedback because the people that I might like might be totally different than what the community at large might want to see since we’ll be doing a lot of heavy community interaction.
Norm wants me to put together an all girl team, or apparently a “no model lookin’ dudes” team..
Oh my gosh I am so flattered and thrilled to be part of the pool with other amazing finalists! I swear I saw some Vimeo videos embedded here on the blog a few days ago but let me know if you need me to put it up on YouTube so it can be embedded more easily.
Nae doesn’t have a spot on the poll! That’s who my fourth vote would’ve been!
Sara: I see her just below Jens.
Also, for some reason the vimeo videos won’t load at all for me anymore so if someone wants to copy the embed code for those three links then email them to me, I’ll add them to the post so all the videos are on the page.
There have already been 220 votes since I posted this and it hasn’t been up for very long at all!
shame nae’s vid wasnt up earlier, it was really good. she woulda got a vote!
nae is adorable!
OMG! It’s up to us?! This is too much responsibility!!!
i didn’t see nae’s video when i vouted either 🙁 bullocks.
Ahhh This is so exciting! Thanks Rachel (and all of BME!) Good luck to everyone that made it into the Finals! Regardless of who goes, it’s going to be an amazing tour to take part in or watch from ModBlog!
I’m seconding Kaelah! This will be great to see as it progresses. I really hope you guys do this again in the future 🙂
Fuck yes Timothy!
I have an enormous set of things to say. Rather than votes, I have feedback.
Here are my votes based on the videos alone (and I haven’t taken into account factors of other things I know — or don’t know — about the people, as well as other things like the history that you may work better with guys than girls in general). I would like to say that I think going with four, let alone eight, people is a huge mistake (although I agree that there are many good applicants). I think that it makes more sense to use a small team, and instead of spending money on salaries, spending it on travel and otherwise making this project bigger.
I liked everyone on one level or another and it was hard to say “no” to anyone. What a wonderful bunch of applicants. And sorry, they sort of get shorter near the end as I ran out of energy. I haven’t bothered spell or grammar checking any of this because it’s taken too long as is.
** Ed ** [UNSURE, PERHAPS STRONG YES]
There’s something about Ed that I can’t quite put my finger on, as if he’s a little too eager to say the right thing or something? But Ed seems extremely bright, competent, mature, and well spoken, and has made a great, very convincing video that makes his case well and is appropriately illustrated and edited as well. I think Ed has the potential to take a larger and long-term role at BME than this job as well, and as I said before this should be considered. If you find someone that’s right for the BME, it would be nice if they could stay for good. He runs a (sort of) competing site which is both a good thing and a risk and conflict of interest — and I’d say this in general about him, that Ed has such an impressive resume that I’d have some trust issues that he’s too big for the job and might take what BME could offer and use it more to his own benefit than BME’s. But Ed is great, and perhaps the most all-around impressive applicant… But I’d have real worries that he’s over qualified and all the baggage that comes with that.
** Thadeus ** [NO]
Personally I think rather than shooting for four (or eight) employees you should hire less people (leaving more money both to dedicate to this project, and also to come visit your daughter for example), so I think that employees that are able to do all aspects of the job should be prioritized. I’m not sure that Thadeus fits this category. I’m sure he’s a good photographer and a nice guy, but he seems kind of boring and I don’t find his video very inspiring or even particularly revealing, and he says pretty much nothing about body modification other than “I have tattoos and I like tattoos”. The only advantage to Thadeus is what’s not in the video, that you know him already and get along. But from the video he should not even have made the finalist list. He doesn’t even say what makes him a good photographer or what his attitudes or motivations or anything else are. Just says over and over that he likes it. I strongly vote against him, based this video.
** Megan ** [WEAK YES]
I like Megan’s photo work and I like how she was able to express her thoughts about her likes, influences, and photography (unlike Thadeus, who was totally unable to express himself verbally), as well as her thoughts about body modification. She’s also funny and quirky in the video (which is quite well edited) without being irritating — this is always a fine line — and the application is generally well put together. All in all I feel fairly neutral on her but I like her. I think she’d be a solid addition to the team.
** Chez ** [NO]
How did she do the subtitles? I love that! But what I didn’t love is that there’s basically nothing in the video that tells me anything about her that’s relevant to body modification or the job. So I have to vote no, and complain that I wasted ten minutes on this person. Boo!
** Richard ** [VERY STRONG YES]
Anyone that begins with The Crazy World of Arthur Brown is starting right in my books, and shows a sense of humour that I like, and I appreciate the “jack of all trades” position. The video is hilarious, and he’s really well spoken (minimal “ums” and “likes” and “i means” that most people suffer from) and seems to have a really good attitude about life, and a lot of applicable knowledge and experience that works well for this job. I enjoyed this video a lot and would love to see what he can do. Brilliant.
** Darah ** [YES]
As I said before, I liked her video and thought she came off as intelligent, mature, and competent, with obvious respect for the job. I also like that she got her video in early, and I think promptness reflects well on her. Darah seems very level headed and I feel like she would tackle interviews with a sense of fairness and open-mindedness. She really reads as a very capable journalist that would portray her subjects with honesty. A little dry and professional perhaps, but I think that’s more just being very focused on clear articulation. I have no doubt that she could do a good job, although I think she’d be strongest in writing and in more academic interviewing, perhaps in a BMEradio type project.
** Kaelahbee ** [SOLID YES]
Kaela seems very likable and the accent and her presentation is charming (and her dog is awesome — but will that be a problem?), and I think she could be a super personality if used for video interviews at conventions and so on. Not that I think the applicant should be judged on their look, but Kaela has a great look, and her bubbly personality could make her a really nice spokesperson for BME while doing interviews, and she has a very good travel resume, so I think she could be relied upon to be sent on missions to do interviews and coverage either on her own (perhaps with a videographer), or with a full team. Good attitude, and her history with blogging and so on shows that she would be capable in all that’s being asked of her in this job.
**Alberto ** [NO]
This video didn’t particularly pull me in, and I almost shut it off before it get started. I suspect Alberto is better than the video makes him seem, and that he’s probably an interesting character, but the video doesn’t strike me. Too much “ummmm….” and it seems like some more effort into scripting and thinking about how to present himself should have been put in. The montage of his photos at the end was promising though and it looked like superb work.
** RobW ** [WEAK NO]
Holy moly can this guy talk. There’s an element of a funnier Phil in Rob I think, and he’d probably be a solid person to bring along as a gopher sort, but I’m not sure that he really jumps out at me. Rob might be good to bring on to staff ModBlog — I’d consider giving him a shot at that, and maybe for a podcast tie-in to that as well. But I don’t think he’d be my choice for the tour, sorry.
** Timothy ** [SOLID YES]
Timothy has been a part of BME for a long time and I think everyone knows that he would be quite solid at the job. He reminds me of a MuchMusic VJ or something, so I guess that means that I think he could tackle the jobs that exist on the tour. He has an excellent and complete knowledge of the subject and of the community and has long shown his loyalty and involvement with BME. I think you could quite confidently use him for this, and I think you know that. Timothy also has the advantage of being a known quantity — there is no gamble here. He would be a good choice. He also has such a broad range of skills that I think you could put him into pretty much any job at BME — technical or creative — and I don’t feel like he’s committed to his own projects strongly enough that there would be a conflict of interest.
** Ari Oh ** [WEAK YES]
I think she has a rich set of skills that would apply nicely, but nothing really jumps out at me. She speaks with clarity (although with lots of “ums”) and seems to have a good head on her shoulders although she’s still young (and reads as such), and has a decent attitude about life and has a lot of potential… But I don’t feel super pulled-in to this interview even though there’s nothing wrong with it.
** Kristin ** [YES]
First, I appreciate her going to some effort on the video, which is also well edited — not many people seem to have done that. She’s extremely well spoken (for all I know she’s reading from a teleprompter), seems crazy smart and very, very, talented, and I’m quite sure she’s a great writer from. I don’t know if she’s right for the tour, and she may well be, but I think she should be strongly considered as a writer for the site, doing interviews and written coverage for BME. But I don’t think that she’d be ideal for things like video interviews and live coverage — although her ability to design and edit them is superb. All in all though I’m sure you would be very happy with her.
** Ferg ** [NO]
Ok… I think the world of Ferg. He’s brilliant and creative, but he’s uncontrollably independent and too strong-minded and driven to do his own thing to have as an employee. Amazing guy, but not right for this. If you were going to work with Ferg you’d be better off sponsoring him for an independent production of some sort. He’s capable of doing the incredible, but in my opinion he’s not capable of working for you or even particularly on a team.
** Adrian ** [NO]
For starters I’m afraid that I would, for various technical and convenience reasons, recommend — in general (as you may know there was a Russian that I liked) — that you hire either an American or a Canadian. I feel that’s more than a little unfair, but I would eliminate someone from the UK. But this video doesn’t particularly inspire me. Seems like a nice guy though.
** Stewart ** [NO]
He definitely fits the profile of a BME community person, but he doesn’t jump out at me either, sorry. There’s nothing in this video that inspires me. Sorry, I know I’m not giving it a lot of time but having gotten through this many I know there are better options. Again, seems like a nice guy and I like him, and I hope he keeps working. I also think that the person/people chosen should be multi-talented rather than primarily just a photographer or otherwise one-dimensional.
** DeseRae ** [NO]
Oh, gosh, this is really unfair, but I don’t think she’s at all marketable, and someone doing work where you are a part of the presentation that’s important. The video is a bit of a downer and not that interesting.
** Jens ** [WEAK NO]
I don’t know if this is currently the case, but historically BME has strong competition in Germany, even though Germans speak decent English, so there’s a good argument for hiring a German, to say nothing of the fact that Jens has a set of skills that’s unique and sets him apart from the other applicants. I think that if you wanted to take the tour in the direction that only he can serve, that he would be the best choice, but it’s my feeling that for now you should choose a safer path for this tour. But you should definitely put Jens aside for perhaps working with in the future.
Molly #17! I didn’t realize you are THEEEE Molly! And when I say THEEEE Molly, I mean Molly from LJ/Empires! Eeeep! HEYYYGURLLLL!
GO NAE!
Oh, and now that Nae has been rightfully added…
** Nae ** [YES]
I’m too tired out to write fully on her but I think Nae is like Timothy in that she’s a known quantity and has long since proven her ability to do this job, so really, it’s just for Rachel to decide if she thinks that Nae is the right fit for whatever team she ends up building. But obviously Nae is capable.
Why wasn’t I up at the same time as everyone else? I wasn’t there when I checked this morning but just got a message on IAM saying ‘congrats’… I’m really excited to be considered with all of these amazing people!!! Good Luck everyone!
can i get an up top?! anyone?!
nae?!
thanks for picking me 🙂 oh i’m taking photos of a pull/suspension this weekend. get this party started early.
Darah stands out so far above the crowd, I’ll be flummoxed if she doesn’t get in.
And will people please *read* posts properly?!!!! Man…..
I agree with 24. But I preferred Ed > Darah.
After some entries in Ed’s blog, it was evident that he has tubular writing skills and is very computer literate.
My choices (Not like anyone cares. But I do!) were Ed for writing position, Timothy for videographer, Megan for photographer, and Richard for the “jack of all trades type”.
Autobots, roll out!!!!
Errr #25, and(after reading*).
#20 Kaelah: Yeah!!! It’s so cool to see someone I’m familiar with on the internet get the opportunity to do this (as much as I wish I’d been chosen, haha). Good job, lady, and I wish you the best of luck! You best be posting some epic Empires updates if you get chosen, haha.
Richard Kennedy is adorable! I could eatttttt him up!
Why does Shannon keep posting? He no longer has anything to do with this site at all!
Thank you Shannon! I appreciate it! 😀 As far as my dog being a problem, It most certainly wouldn’t be! I live with my boyfriend and 3 very capable roommates and they all love Georgia as much as I so she will always have caring hearts looking after her!
Good luck everyone!
#28 Molly: You betcha! I’ll actually HAVE something to blog about! haha
good luck, everybody!
Mitch – So he’s not allowed to read it or have an opinion?
I don’t necessarily agree with all of Shannon’s feedback but I certainly respect the insight and opinion he has on the candidates.
Mitch, this site is to some extent my “legacy” and on this particular subject I feel like having my voice be heard. Obviously it’s not my decision, but I would be disappointed to see the site employing people who I feel it shouldn’t. In addition, I have a fair amount of experience with the specifics of working for BME.
Rachel/Jen/BME-
When this gets reposted daily, are all of the votes going to reset?
It seems that you arent picking people for specific roles, rather just people, and going to fit them into whatever you need?
As usual, anything that gets put on Modblog becomes insta-beauty contest. Calling someone “unmarketable,” seriously?
Trying to answer from my phone at the doctors office.
Shannon: thanks for your email. Will reply when I get home.
Nae: I added you about an hour or so after the post went up. I had multiple windows going and that was an accident.
As far as voting goes, it wont be reset daily. The same poll will be used all week.
As far as the positions, I know what roles the individual applicants have applied for. I don’t really need/want feedback on the specific roles but the vibe that readers get from the videos. That is why I’m posting them with just their videos and names. I have significantly more material/information on each applicant than what has been posted here.
I’m not sure where the confusion lies but the whole point is about this being a group project, not something where I’d send these people out solo. There is no world tour if people just cover their local areas. That changes the concept completely.
This is also a short duration internship, not a long term job hunt. There aren’t “big salaries” being wasted that could be used to expand the project. THIS IS THE PROJECT.
More when I get home. Please vote!
in response to shannons comment. subtitling was super easy. you just upload a word file of the audio via YouTube. also, I didn’t include my relevence to bme or other qualifications because that wasn’t a requirement for the video. Rachel said she wanted insight into ourselves and like I said in the video, the paperwork submitted with the video details my experience. the video is only there for everyone to get to know me and my travel habits.
thanks for the feedback!! if anyone has questions regarding my qualifications, feel free to contact me via iam!
Seriously,vote for Chez, she has mad experience everyone!!
Congrats to the finalist. Extremely grateful that I’m even in consideration, especially since I come off as an awkward dork in my video. But that’s only because I am an awkward dork.
Good luck to all!
Rachel – No worries! I’m not upset or anything, I was just confused and bummed out at first! Things happen! I’m just happy to be considered (and to apparently have an awesome following!!) for this opportunity! And I apparently love exclamation points!
Shannon and everyone else who voted for me – Thank you for your support! I appreciate it a lot 🙂
It seems that this whole opportunity went from being exciting and different to a legitimate popularity contest. I saw a slew of applicants that had great audition videos and were more than qualified, but seemed to have been overlooked. Personal preference of course, but I can’t help noticing.
“Norm wants me to put together an all girl team, or apparently a “no model lookin’ dudes” team..”
This quote alone is the most disappointing of them all. There were SO many great male applicants. Why have them audition at all if Norm is looking for the Charlie’s Angels of BME?
marketable? i wasn’t aware i was auditioning to become a product. that’s insulting.
moreover, i apologize if my video was a “downer.” i’m not sure why, other than that i make an awkward video, and i guess one of my goals is to, you know, help suicidal people maybe not be suicidal?
i should also note that, while my skills do not lie in making audition videos, they DO lie with the written word and the printed image.
in our applications, we were asked for links to our work, and i provided many. how come the video is the sole offering strangers are given to vote on as evidence of my value to the BME world tour? had i known that none of those things would be seen, i would have spent more time talking in my video about the fact that i’ve interviewed the likes of tori amos and tegan quin, or that i’ve photographed sting and journey and jay-z. i would have spent more time delineating my qualities as a photographer and a writer instead of speaking directly at the camera to give the viewer a sense of my character itself.
i think these are valid concerns. sure, some of those videos are cute and quirky and i totally want to be best friends with some of those people, but they don’t present the whole picture in the same way that the information we provided on our applications does.
Wow, just realized i sat here and watched every video. Pretty awesome stuff! I really like all of the videos, but i would say something about what Stewart said stuck out to me. As well as Darah, her video was nice. They were both simple as well.
Megan, I need to get in touch with you because I think i am in love. really,.
Since we know winners, I want to say something too.
At first, I want to say big “thank you” to BME and personally to Rachel for this great idea (or probably it’s better to call it “project”?)! And although I see no Russian guy in the short list, I feel that I got something good and useful from this competition. Now I know my weaknesses better (of course my biggest problem is English which is probably good, but now it’s clear for me it’s not good enough for this tour) and this knowledge will help me in fighting against them.
At second, I truly appreciate Shannon’s sympathy to me. Maybe next time I will be good enough for similar projects!
At third, I wish good luck for all these talented people and I’m sure that they will do incredible job during these 3 month!
And at last, I will provide any possible help to Rachel and Co when this tour will reach Moscow! Just let me know!
From under 80 cm of pure white russian snow,
Sergey “Tyler” Popov.
Amy – Norm is Rachel’s SO. Rachel will take the most qualified. It’s a joke, more or less, though I’m sure Norm would prefer if no good looking men accompany Rachel. I doubt Norm is looking for Charlie’s Angels of BME but rather made a joke to Rachel about not taking hot guys with her.
Ultimately the final call is Rachel’s. I’ve given her my opinion, based on the applications themselves as well as the videos. She knows who I have nothing but a resounding NO for and who I have strongly suggested YES for.
I think in some cases the votes are probably reflecting the person’s appearance rather than the content of their video. Such is the nature of the internet but how the applicants are handling what is essentially the reality of being a part of ModBlog (which is what this job entails) says tons.
The videos are here to show everyone who the finalists are and to see what the readers of ModBlog think. As Rachel clearly stated, the results of the poll do not mean those are the people chosen, it’s just one more thing that she can use to consider who she’ll take because believe me, this is incredibly hard! As it is, I’ve got 5 or 6 choices for 4 spots. I’m just glad Rachel has to make the winners announcement and not me because I’d probably cry.