Meeman 901 Strategies Internship Fall 2023

During my time working with Meeman 901 Strategies, I had many different working experiences. Content creation, working in small groups, blog writing, graphic design, web design, and more were all skills I utilized frequently. Since I am a Global student, I was unable to participate in any in-person events such as the KQ Communications Agency Tour and the Choose901 Agency Tour. However, I still feel as though the work I completed is representational of the path I plan to take once I graduate.
Starting off, there were five blog assignments that needed to be completed throughout the semester. Mainly, I focused on different advertising techniques and agencies to work for after graduating. My blog topics were as follows: Britney Spears Advertising Career, Tide Commercials Over the Decades, Dove’s Eating Disorder Awareness Campaigns, Top 5 PR Agencies to Work For, and Top Paying Public Relations Careers. I researched each topic extensively while curating content for each blog. This included videos, stock photos, GIFs, etc and took up many hours of my time.
Primarily, I spent a lot of time on uploading blogs to the Wix website. This required me to match the current brand kit and adding writers to each blog. Each Monday and sometimes on Fridays, I would upload one or two different blogs to the website, and then I would send the link to the appropriate Slack channel. I worked closely with Maddie Bobbitt and Matt Martin to schedule and delegate the blog postings.
Each day, I would check my email and Slack to see if I needed to pay attention to any important updates. Often, we would use Slack to discuss weekly meetings. Each Monday and Wednesday at 11:30 AM, there were meetings to keep everyone on task that I attended as often as possible. These meetings were optional for Global students, but the inclusion allowed me to feel more connected with my peers and Professor Marks. Because I was responsible for Meeman’s Veteran’s Day post, I highlighted Prof. Marks Naval service and book. There were a couple of times where content I created for Meeman was not used due to time constraints or other factors. I would update my timesheet daily to reflect the hours I spent on different work for different clients.
With PRSSA, I utilized Canva and Loomly to create graphics relating to dues, the ICON conference, evergreen content, and more. To match the brand, this required me to look back at months of social media posts to align my work with the brand. On Google Drive, I would keep the Brand Kit pulled up as I worked to stay within color and font standards as well as occasionally using the logo. I also utilized a lot of stars and digital elements in each post. One of my favorite posts was a carousel about what PR actually is, and it included the definition, various careers, and skills needed. I was incredibly disappointed to have to miss out on the ICON conference, but this was because I did not know to plan for it ahead of time. I spent a lot of time brainstorming various ideas for content, but I mostly created reminders about membership dues.
One experience I will not soon forget is the Beyond the Classroom seminar hosted by PRSSA that had Brandi Boyd as a guest speaker. During this seminar, I asked as many questions as I could about how to better find a position in the industry and learned that mass applying for positions is difficult as well as a few other tips..
I also spent a lot of time working on my resume and online portfolio. Using Chat-GPT, I updated each of my previous job descriptions to reflect results I had attained on top of my normal descriptions of responsibilities. I researched several various videos and recommendations for improvements to make to my brand and color resume.
Because of the improvements to my resume, I interviewed with the Milan Mirror Exchange for an associate editor position. Sadly, I did not get hired for this position because I have not graduated yet; however, this experience taught me a lot about applying and interviewing for a career in the public relations industry. I had a phone interview, in person interview, and a trial article that ran in the Veteran’s Day edition. I interviewed several local veterans to find out more about their stories to highlight their accomplishments publicly. It was an interesting experience for sure!
On LinkedIn, I focused on changing my biography, updating my class history and skills, and interacting with other professionals by adding them to my network. Networking with other individuals has been important because Breanna Datuin from Rhodes College reached out to ask me for an interview because I am now a bit of an expert on LGBTQ+ issues in the State of Tennessee, specifically around Jackson. I answered her questions with as much relevant information as possible, and we had a phone interview that helped with her paper. I have also completed the Learning Wix LinkedIn Learning Certificate, which is apart of a no-code series. As a result, I greatly improved my personal Wix site and portfolio. Next semester, I plan to purchase the full domain.
Because this course was set over 15 weeks, I blocked out ten hours each week to dedicate to content creation and other work. This helped me stay on track without experiencing burnout or becoming overwhelmed. It also gave me plenty of time to complete my work without rushing. In turn, my content was improved in comparison with previous work I have done with West Tennessee LGBTQ+ Support.
My time with Meeman901Strategies has been an incredibly memorable experience that had allowed me to look beyond the classroom setting towards the future of my career. Experiencing a wide variety of practical applications of my skills as well as seeing how to interact with clients has taught me a great deal of information and skills that I will take with me for years to come.