Wineries, Ghosts, and Harry Potter by Nicole Raisch

Nicole Raisch is the winner of our 2010 Internship Competition with this wonderfully crafted piece about her experience interning for one of Seattle’s top PR firms.  The entry captures the essence of what a great internship should be like, and how  advice on how to take initiative to ensure you make the most of your internship experience.  Kudos to Nicole for her stellar entry — hopefully with the $500 in prize money you will be able to treat your boss to coffee next time you meet!

Wineries, Ghosts, and Harry Potter

By Nicole Raisch

Did I catch your attention in the first line? Among other skills, that’s exactly what I learned to do successfully during my summer internship at GreenRubino.

GreenRubino is an integrated marketing agency based in Seattle, Wash. that focuses on connecting with audiences rather than straight selling. I spent my summer as the public relations intern for GreenRubino’s public relations department.

For three months, I wrote press releases, media alerts, and biographies in addition to managing calendar listings, press coverage and media contact lists for various hospitality lifestyle clients including hotels, wineries and tourism groups. I learned how to write succinctly, search and manage press coverage for clients and create catchy titles whether it is about a winery opening or a Paranormal Conference (Yes, I wrote a release about ghosts).

But the most important lesson I learned during my internship can be applied to any internship or job: initiative will earn you more responsibility.

Throughout my time at GreenRubino, I learned to not just go above and beyond but actively search for opportunities to demonstrate that I don’t just come into the office everyday to check off tasks and eat the doughnuts in the kitchen.

The story: One of my main responsibilities was to write press releases. After writing a few dozen, I started to realize that as an intern I wasn’t going to be given the responsibility to pitch and send out the releases to the media.

One day I wrote a release for which I knew the pitch hadn’t been written yet – the opportunity! I seized it and drafted a pitch on my own and sent it to my boss. My boss was impressed and sent the release back with a few edits and as a result, I was entrusted to send out the pitch.

I didn’t need to write my own pitch. I didn’t need to ask if I could send it out. But I saw an opportunity to take initiative and I was rewarded with more responsibility: After drafting that pitch and asking to distribute it, I was entrusted with more pitches and got to participate in client meetings and brainstorms.

Therefore…

Assigned Intern Work + Initiative  = Responsibility + Recognition

As a result of exercising initiative I got to work on a creative, fun project at GreenRubino: A hotel needed creative ideas for a November package. I helped the team create a Harry Potter premiere package with themed cocktails (The Dementor and Hedwig’s White Russian), fun activities for kids which included a real-life game of Quidditch and a welcome gift complete with Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans.

My boss and her boss were impressed not only by my extensive Harry Potter nerd knowledge but by my ability to create a workable, creative public relations pitch – the recognition!

In summary, actively seek out the opportunity to demonstrate initiative whether it is an exciting project or fetching coffee can prove invaluable to any internship experience and earn any intern lasting recognition.