It is a
brisk winter day. I fix my hair and look down at my own interpretation of
“business casual.” It will have to do at this point. I search the building that
my GPS led me to for some type of signage. There it is. Gloss: Public Relations, Marketing, Events. I take in a deep breath
and try to shake out my nerves. As the wind blows a cold gust past me, I
finally muster up the courage to head up the stairs and meet with the people I
am possibly interning for.
While this
nerve-racking, fateful winter day was months ago, I remember it like it was
yesterday. Looking back, it is hard to believe that an entire summer has passed
and I have completed my first internship and with that, my first step into the
professional world. I have come very far since that cold day that I first set
foot in the office and I am proud of everything that I learned and
accomplished.
It is hard
for me to believe that I am about to write my final Internship Update. Even
though these past few weeks were my last, things at Gloss did not wind down.
Despite the fact that I started a month before the other interns, they all
ended two weeks before me. I was able to choose my start and end date and I
wanted to get as much experience out of my internship as possible. Therefore, I
decided to work until the week before my vacation. It felt a
little weird to be alone in the office again. While I do love to work alone
sometimes, assignments that were split between four people were suddenly all
placed on me. On top of that, there were two events coming up.
The first
event was sponsored by Kids in Center City and located at The Market and Shops
at Comcast Center, which is one of Gloss’ clients. I have worked a KICC event
before, so I knew that this upcoming one would be cute and entertaining. However, I did
not know how stressful it would be. The stress surrounding the event started before the actual affair did.
The week
before, my boss emailed me asking to order the costume for the character meet
and greet. We decided that the event would be Strawberry Shortcake themed, with
a special appearance from Strawberry herself. While ordering the costume was
not hard, it was a little stressful because I knew that if I messed something
up, the main part of the event would be ruined. Thankfully, I followed all
instructions and successfully got Strawberry to the event.
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| Where in the world is Strawberry Shortcake? |
Next came
the most stress-inducing trip to Target of my life. My boss explained that at
the event, there would be a scavenger hunt. We would place a Strawberry
Shortcake themed toy or prize at each food station and have the children go
from place to place, getting their checklist stamped along the way. At the end,
there would be a prize. It was up to me to buy the toys for each station. My
boss simply instructed me to “get 13 Strawberry Shortcake or strawberry toys
and a Strawberry Shortcake book that [she could] read to them if we run out of things
to do.” Well, it turns out Strawberry Shortcake’s popularity peaked in the 80s.
I scoured the shelves of Target for something, anything Starwberry Shortcake related. Nothing in the toy section.
Nothing in the party section. Nothing in the clearance section. It seemed as
though Strawberry had been completely wiped out by Lalaloopsy and Dora the
Explorer. I had just about given up on finding toys for the scavenger hunt and
decided to go look for a book. I was shocked to find a Strawberry Shortcake
picture book in the elementary reading section. I snatched it up like it was
the last book on Earth. Just as I was calling my boss to report that Target
does not carry any Strawberry Shortcake toys, I bumped into a cardboard aisle
display. I looked down and literally gasped. Through some divine intervention,
displayed in front of me was a stack of Strawberry Shortcake coloring books. I
frantically counted, thinking it was too good to be true. As if it was a gift
from above, there were more than enough. I grabbed 13 coloring books and
another just in case, and walked out of Target triumphant.
While the
event was nowhere near as stressful as the toy hunt, it was not a walk in the
park. I arrived a half-hour before it started as I was instructed, but I really
needed more time. I had to untie and display around 100 balloons and it turns
out, that takes time. I started tying them individually to the worker’s chairs,
but that took too long and I was on a race against the clock. I resorted to
tying them in groups because children started arriving and asking for balloons.
If I learned anything at this event, it is that kids are VERY excited by
balloons and that purple is the most popular color among children ages 2-7. My
boss and I were attempting to untie each individual balloon, but I realized
that it took too long and suggested just cutting each balloon from the chair.
This was much more efficient. For the rest of the time, my boss was
circulating the room and running the event while I was assigned to work the
balloons and give out the scavenger
hunt prizes. This was very hectic and I realized we could have definitely used
another intern to help. Nonetheless, I got through it and the event was a
success.
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| The costume successfully arrived and greeted children. |
For my
final week, I switched gears. At the office, we were planning
Rittenhouse Row’s Meet the Concierge Night. This was a networking event for the
concierges at Philadelphia’s chicest hotels and the Rittenhouse Row business
members. The idea behind the event was basically concierge speed dating. Concierges
would sit at their assigned table the entire night while the members from each
Rittenhouse Row business would circulate the room and introduce themselves and
explain their business to the concierges. The businesses were also instructed to
bring a gift for each concierge.
My
assignment for the week was to get concierges to RSVP for the event. Even
though the invitations were sent out a few weeks ago, the majority of hotels
either did not respond or claimed to have never gotten the invite. I had to call
every major hotel in the city and explain the event to the concierge and try to
get them to attend. This required a lot of voicemails, calling back, and
emailing, but I eventually reached our goal of 25 concierge attendees.
Then it was
time to do some “damage control” as my boss put it. We originally told the
Rittenhouse Row members who RSVP’d to the event to prepare for around 60
concierges. It turned out that each hotel was only sending one concierge,
making the final count roughly half of what we originally said. I was
instructed to call all of the members on the RSVP list and apologetically
explain the situation and make sure that they plan accordingly. My boss feared
that some members would be mad, but everyone I talked to was very gracious
and understanding.
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| The gift bags that Rouge brought to the event. |
The night
of Rittenhouse Row’s Meet the Concierge Night was also my last hurrah as a
Gloss PR intern. Walking into the Radisson Warwick Grand Ballroom, it hit me
how upset I was that my internship was ending. I realized how much I was going
to miss my adventures at the office and working these awesome events. I decided
to make the last one count. Another intern was coming back to help work this
event. One of us was to work registration while the other was to greet the
guests and instruct them where to go and what to do and basically “make the
event run smoothly,” as described by my boss. She decided that she wanted me to greet
people. I was excited because that meant I would be able to witness the actual
event that I put so much effort into planning.
When guests
came in, I had to ask whether they were a concierge or a Rittenhouse Row
member. If they were concierges, I would direct them to their assigned table. If
they were members, there were multiple options. Restaurants bringing food for
the concierges were to bring their supplies to a closed-off part of the room and
set up there. Stores could either set up camp at one of the tables in the front
of the room or simply carry all of their gifts at once. I then told them that
they could mingle around the room as they please, introducing themselves to the
concierges and promoting their businesses. All of the members knew to bring
only around 30 gifts, which meant that my job was done. There was also an
amazing turnout, which meant that my other assignment was successful. My boss even
stated how happy she was with the way the event was going.
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| Rittenhouse Row's Meet the Concierge Night as it started to wind down. |
At the end
of the event, I sadly hugged my boss goodbye and she thanked me for being “terrific.”
I received a lot of praise from both of my bosses this summer and it felt amazing
every time. I think that when you love what you are doing, you just want to do
your best. I know that sounds cliché, but that is exactly how I feel about my
internship and the PR world as a whole. I worked extremely hard this summer and
could not have asked for a better internship or experience. My time at Gloss
PR taught me to be passionate about your career and that you truly do get out
what you put in.
