Internship Trip Memo: Meeting with a Musical Artist

As it is not in the class budget to take a trip or travel to a conference, and we are in a global pandemic, we are going to be imagining that you have been hired for an internship at the record label of your favourite musical artist. You now need to take a business trip.

Your first job is to travel to one of the following locations and venues to meet with your chosen artist (who you will ‘work with’ for the term) to consult with them about the upcoming release of their latest album (please pick their latest release or an upcoming release) and subsequent promotional stops in three major cities (chosen through their consultation) in which the company has allotted a small budget.

On this initial trip, you will be attending a concert (in one of the following venues and cities, based on what you know of their fan base) and meeting with the artist to learn about their upcoming album and to discuss options for a small, three city promotional tour.

Note: You are not attending the three-stop promotional tour, but are discussing the potential future plan in your memo/report (that you are reporting back to your label).

Though this is a virtual trip (which you can imagine is pre-pandemic or present day) you will estimate your travel costs to your location (from your home), including expenses during your time away as though you actually (physically) attended the one event/concert and met with your selected artist. Be sure to consider if you would be sent for a one-day event or if your trip includes other relevant activities (e.g., scouting locations, meeting others, etc.)

The locations and venues that you can select for your trip are:

Los Angeles: Staples Centre OR Orpheum Theatre

New York: Madison Square Garden OR Hammerstein Ballroom

London: O2 Arena OR Roundhouse

1. Which venue did you travel to to meet your artist? What is the capacity of the venue?

2. What is the name of your artist’s upcoming album?

3. Which three cities were selected in your discussion for promotional stops? Will these be media focused? In-store meet and greets?

Performances? What is your projected (rough) budget for this plan? When will this promo tour occur? 

4. What problems did you encounter on the trip? What problems do you foresee with your initial promotional plan? What do you need for the upcoming short promotional tour from the label? 

Please respond to these questions in an internal report format (i.e., memo format) addressed to me or the head/president of your record label (noting their name and position).

Note that the element of your trip report that talks about what you did should be written in past tense (e.g., I flew from Vancouver to London to meet Drake in concert at the 02 Arena The flight costs were I went to We discussed) with your plan in future tense “We believe that an exclusive meet and greet in Toronto would be the best use of resources as it is Drake’s hometown”).

You are not going on the three top promotional tour, only discussing your rough plan (as discussed with your artist during your trip). 
Assignment Details 

To complete this assignment, you will need to be creative and draw again on your summary skills, as well as your ability to explain your perspective clearly, efficiently, and objectively. You are required to include some additional research to justify your responses as it relates to your artist and venue.

Begin by assessing the rhetorical context (i.e., purpose, audience and occasion) of your assignment. You may wish to review these concepts in Meyer (2017).

Some brief, additional research is required. Acknowledge the following (not necessarily in this order):

The location of the event where you met your artist and where non-attendants can see a recorded version of your artist.

The name of the artist who you traveled to see and why 

The report’s focus should be on the relevant points you are taking away from your trip– don’t just broadly summarize all the content. Focus on the questions asked of you on p. 1 of this assignment sheet.

Review APA citation if need be (additional resources to be posted on Blackboard).

Carefully consider your format. What types of features could you include in your memo to make it readable and “skimmable”? Use the information you have read in our textbook to guide you. For more tips, review the Ch. 11 textbook coverage of informal, informational reports and trip reports, as well as the grading chart to follow.