3 marketeers - an intern's story - part 2
*me hard at work at the BRSC photo booth at the Christmas Parade (pre hot dog)
Day 1 of my marketing career started no differently than the mornings before it. I completed my usual exercise routine and began to make necessary preparations for the day ahead. The difference was that today I was not preparing for an enjoyable stint on the couch interrupted by short spasms of study or library trips as my college years had gotten me accustomed to. Today I was going to stake my claim as a marketing graduate armed with groundbreaking theories fresh from university and a shed load of enthusiasm. I packed my bag with some textbooks and my personal diary containing my affairs. As I am a firm believer that you can learn success from successful people I was keen to jot down anything that maybe of use to an aspiring marketer.
The day itself was full of different and interesting tasks all revolving around the Bermuda Road Safety Council (BRSC) holiday campaign. Rachelle and I went to meet the coordinator of the Santa Parade in order to book our stall allotment, research the props and locate the Candy Canes. We had trouble securing our pre-arranged spot at the parade and it seemed the coordinator was happy to put us back in the parking lot off the main drag! After watching Rachelle expertly negotiate our way back to prime position I whipped out my notebook and asked if there was anything I could take from the experience. Wisely she retorted 'get everything in writing' and thus my first lesson was learned.
Later that day I was asked to write my first press release EVER. I deleted the first draft and learned the hard way to always 'save save save'. Lesson #2. Later it was approved and posted on Bernews. (http://bernews.com/2011/11/holiday-road-safety-campaign). Having got over that minor hiccup I was informed that my ability to write press releases surpassed some former Varks, and as my chest filled with pride was told English was not their first language! - Small victories.
Day 2 again was a whirl of activity and I was kept busy with proof reading our in house business cards, cutting newspaper advertisements and meeting a client, Mr. David Minors. Rachelle and Rebecca had gone to meet a client in the afternoon and returned after a more stressful meeting than they had anticipated. Sensing the opportunity I asked what lesson could be learned and so was lesson #3 - 'you can't win them all.'
The parade itself was a success, with our booth generating significant interest and the BRSC slot in the parade displayed the banner Krystal made which worked out nicely.
I took the opportunity to sample a hotdog and was told 'it didn't need condiments' when requested, as the 'Italian sausage' was fantastic. Looking back I can't help but feel a nice bit of mustard would have been a perfect end to my first 'on-site' experience.
That Monday we had a status meeting with the Senior Designer Jamie where we ran through some logistics for the coming week. I was then asked to proof read a brochure and noticed that an 's' needed to be a 'c'. Happy in the knowledge I had proved my worth and the client was happy I was content with another productive day.
On Tuesday I was asked to write another press release for the BRSC and was trained by Rebecca on how to make administrative changes to the company website. On Wednesday Rachelle had gone away which left Rebecca pretty snowed under so I took it on myself to utilize my free time and tackle the massive stack of newspapers I had to sift through. As I was cutting out various ads we had created I thought that this was an appropriate ending to a frantic first (technical) week (Thursday - Wednesday) in marketing.
I knew I had read widely behind the subject of marketing, attended university and researched many case studies - but something told me that these field lessons would be my most valuable learning experience yet.
To recap:
Lesson #1: Get everything in writing
Lesson #2: Save, save, save!! (documents not money)
Lesson #3: You can't win them all.
