I am
learning that there is never a dull moment in the PR industry. At my
internship, it seems as though just as we finish up one project, we have at
least four more waiting in the wings. That on top off a plethora of events makes
for a fast-paced and entertaining work environment. I am also learning
something else: I absolutely love it.
It feels
amazing to know that I have picked a major and field that I enjoy so much. In
honor of confirming what I already knew, (always trust your gut ladies and
gentlemen) I have decided it is time for another internship update.
Recently, I
got to work an event that I was very excited about. It was for our client Nest,
which I have written about multiple times before. To jog your memory, Nest is
the children’s enrichment center in Center City, Philadelphia that offers
classes and playtime to children from ages 6 months to 6 years. Nest came to
Gloss looking for some more exposure and traffic among the Philadelphia
community.
To help
achieve this goal, Gloss put together an event called Best of Nest. The goal of
the event was to invite local “mommy bloggers” to Nest for an afternoon of
interactive presentations, classes, and play and in return, have them blog
about it. I thought that this was an amazing idea. The bloggers were invited to
bring their children along so that they could enjoy all that Nest has to offer.
The day of
the event, I worked check-in. My job was to sign in the bloggers who RSVP’d and
add any newcomers to the list. I then had to direct them upstairs where the
first “event” was taking place.
The first
thing on the agenda was an informational session with the owners and managers
of Nest, where they explained the services Nest had to offer. Next, all
attendees were invited to participate in Nest’s music class. There were two
instructors, one who sang and played guitar and another who led the dance
aspect of the class. I got to watch the class and it was so cute. All of the kids were having a blast, dancing, singing, and
playing with the abundance of toys. The bloggers seemed to be having a good
time as well. After, everyone attended a cooking class. The final part of the
event was a complimentary lunch and playtime in the play space.
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| Nest's indoor play space Source: nestphilly.com |
Overall, I
think the event went very well. The children and bloggers seemed to have a
great time while Nest showed off their incredible services. I was really
excited to attend this event because I think it shows what PR is really about.
We got to show off our outstanding client and spread the word to a larger
audience. I honestly see myself doing events like this in my future career.
Aside from
events, we have been hard at work in the office. It seems that the theme of the
past couple of weeks at Gloss has been big projects. The first project that we
(the other interns and I) had to tackle was for The Garces Family Foundation. The
Foundation was founded by renowned
local chef Jose Garces. According to its website, The Garces Family Foundation
is a “nonprofit organization that is committed to serving the Greater
Philadelphia community by improving the health and education of the
underprivileged immigrant population.”
 |
| The Foundation's logo |
This October, The Foundation is
hosting its 2nd Annual Garces Family Foundation Gala. The gala
invites prominent local figures and businesses to enjoy a night of food and
cocktails, made by other celebrated local chefs. The proceeds benefit Puentes de Salud and the Garces Family Foundation. There are several different
ticketing packages and options depending on how much a person or business wants
to contribute.
Our job was to send out the
invitations. We had to go through the relevant pages of the Philadelphia Business Journal, which lists Philadelphia’s most prominent companies and
people, and find the correct contact to address the invitation to. This may
sound easy, but let me tell you, it was not. We had to call hundreds of
businesses, searching for the right person and name. My script went something
like this:
“Hello
my name is Brooke and I am calling from The Garces Family Foundation, which is
a nonprofit organization. I am looking to send a sponsorship packing and I was
looking for the correct person to send that to.”
A lot of people had no idea where to
direct me, which was frustrating. Many times, I had to navigate through phone
trees and be transferred several times. If it was a big company, I could often
find the Director of Marketing or Human Resources online, which made it easier.
After collecting all of the necessary contacts, the other interns and I had to
staple, fold, stuff, address, and stamp hundreds
of envelopes. After about a week, we sent them out. It felt amazing to
finally send the invitations because our hard work paid off.
We moved right from that project to
another project involving a nonprofit organization. This time, we were working
for Living Beyond Breast Cancer, which “empowers all women affected by breast
cancer to live as long as possible with the best quality of life.” At Gloss PR,
we are planning the organizations annual Butterfly Ball. LBBC’s website
describes The Butterfly Ball as follows:
Living Beyond Breast Cancer’s annual gala,
The Butterfly Ball, is held each fall in Philadelphia. This black-tie event
raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for LBBC’s programs and services and
includes a live and silent auction, dinner and dancing. This year the Butterfly
Ball will be held on October 12, 2013 at the Hyatt at the Bellevue.
The Butterfly Ball is a fundraising
opportunity as well as a chance for us to honor women for their courage,
strength and compassion.
A few weeks
ago, I sent out letters to local restaurants and bakeries asking for donations
of
 |
| LBBC's logo |
“Hello my name is Brooke and I am calling
from Living Beyond Breast Cancer. A few months ago, we sent out a letter
regarding donating to the silent auction for our annual Butterfly Ball. I was
wondering if you received the letter and if so, if you had the chance to review
it.”
Again, this
is easier said than done. In the vast majority of cases, the correct person to
speak to is a manager. But at many places, especially the restaurants, the
managers are not in until nighttime, when we are out of the office. This leaves
us with a lot of places to call back. Additionally, a fair amount of businesses
are claiming they never received the letter. In this case, I ask for the email
address of the owner or manager and send them all of the information online. I
have yet to get an email response. This task is frustrating and time consuming,
but I know that the other interns and I will work hard and get it done.
In other
news, I have found that my boss is trusting me with more important tasks. The
other day, she came to the unofficial intern table, explaining that a man from
an iPhone and Android app keeps calling her and asking her to meet for lunch.
She didn’t really know what he wanted and she picked me to call him back, talk
to him, find what he wanted, and report back to her. I was proud that she chose
me to make this call because I think it shows that she feels that I know how to
deal with potential clients.
A similar
thing happened last week. I always check the messages and email both of my
bosses reporting who called and what they want. This week, my lead boss was out
of office. I emailed her the messages and she replied and told me to call back
two callers. One was a friend of Gloss’, but another was a potential client. My
second-in-command boss kept telling me how impressive and good it was that my
head boss wanted me to call them back. It feels good to know that I am trusted
and respected in my workplace.
I am
interning for about three more weeks before I go back to school for my junior
year. I am actually really sad that I have to leave Gloss and that my
internship is ending because I love it so much. But, I guess it’s a sign that
you made the right career choice when you don’t want to leave your job.
P.S. We recently found out that The Spring Festival won the Best of Philly award for Best Outdoor Festival. This is a huge deal among the Philadelphia community and I am SO proud of Gloss PR and Rittenhouse Row for winning the award and for their hard work for putting together The Spring Festival!
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