Last week marked the beginning of an incredible journey as I started my internship in the Cause Marketing and Philanthropy Department at Aflac. We’re located in the CSC building behind the tall Aflac tower off Wynnton Road in Columbus, Georgia.
I cannot express enough how excited and blessed I feel to be working in a department that does so much for our community, as well as have the opportunity to work within a company that made the Top 100 Best Companies to Work For list from Fortune Magazine in 2012. The caliber of people there is incredible, and I am so excited to dive head first into this internship.
My first day was last Thursday, September 13. Below you will see a collage of pictures from my first day. I had a cubicle set up for me, equipped with balloons, a computer, a phone, and all the essentials to work in the department (pens, project planner, files, highlighters). I was so excited!
My first task of the day was to head over and get my badge made, as well as obtain a parking pass. These are both essential if you want to get and remain on Aflac’s campus. I had to wait for an ID to access my computer, so while the tech department was working on my login and e-mail address, I got busy with some filing. Our department handles all things associated with the Aflac Cancer Center inside Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. If someone within Aflac donates to the Cancer Center, which is a huge percentage of employees, the donation goes through our office first. Our field agents use writing numbers to donate money to the Cancer Center, and they can choose how much comes out of their check each month over the course of six months. We have individual donation forms for each agent who chooses to donate. These forms are also used at Aflac events where there is a silent auction or something similar where proceeds go to the Cancer Center. Since it is a tax write off for these agents, we have to keep the forms for at least 1 year after their donation. The yellow folders you see in the photo above hold all the donation forms that needed to be sorted and filed. This was a meticulous task, but one that will make our lives a lot easier in the long run, especially if an agent needs a record of his/her donation.
My department is also responsible for the Macy’s Duck Campaign, where we have the Holiday Duck in about 700 Macy stores nationwide. Before I arrived, Aflac held a contest within the company for 4 trips to New York City to walk in the Macy’s Day Parade by the Duck balloon. Their travel and accommodations will be paid by Aflac. Their airline reservations had already been made, but their hotel rooms needed to be booked. I worked with the Travel Department within Aflac to accomplish this for our 4 lucky employees and their spouses. This is just another wonderful thing about this company; they give back to their employees as well as to our community.
After making those reservations, I got busy working on our Cancer Hospitals list. Within the Macy’s Holiday Campaign, we have a Santa Believe Bus that travels across the nation stopping in 26 cities in 26 days giving out Aflac ducks to children battling cancer. Along with the Macy’s ducks and the Santa Believe Tour, we also partner with several children’s hospitals around the nation and provide them with ducks to distribute to their patients. I had to compile a list of regional and state sales coordinators that corresponded with each children’s hospital (whichever RSC or SSC was in the same area as the children’s hospital).
There are several hospitals we partners with, so that task will be awaiting completion when I return tomorrow. I can’t wait to tell everyone all about my experience working on the Macy’s Holiday Campaign as well as several other projects we’re working on. I have a conference call with Macy’s in the morning, as well as some other details to sort out about advertising and marketing. I will share the rest with you next time!
Columbus State University Communication Internships 