My last day at the Chamber was bittersweet! I was sad but happy to leave because I knew I would be starting a new chapter of my life. My experience at the Chamber was one of the best experiences I have ever had and I feel like I am walking away with so much. I learned a lot about the PR world and a lot about myself. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.
One of the most rewarding experiences I got to take away from my internship was our Thanksgiving celebration at the Chamber. To give thanks the staff from the Chamber went to t
he Boys and Girls club to help volunteer for the morning. It was interesting to see what really goes on at these clubs. We got to take a tour of the facility and see what the kids do and how they learn. It is not just a place for them to go after school, but a place for the children to continue learning. I didn’t look at it like a after school program, but a family. There were so many rooms at the Club where the children could go and play games, do homework, use their imagination, and much more!
After our tour of the facility we all got to help out where they needed our help. I worked with the group of girls in the art supply closet. It was rewarding to be able to help out the Boys and Girls Club in such a small but big way. We got the chance to reorganize the closet and make it easier for the children and instructor to work.
After helping out at the Boys and Girls Club, we went back to the Chamber to help set up for a baby shower and Thanksgiving lunch. It was nice to see the staff work together to create something special for the other employees. There was a Thanksgiving lunch provided for the staff! I am so glad I got to be a part of such a rewarding day!!
My experience at the Chamber has given me an idea of what it is like to try and put on an event. I got to experience some of the littlest tasks that end up meaning the most. This has shown me how hard it really is to put on your own event. For my PR Campaigns class we worked with the Department of Communication and the NPACE Center to create a fundraiser to raise money for the Department. We had no idea it would be as difficult as it is. I went into this thinking it would be a little stressful but not nearly as stressful as it has been. There are so many logistics that take place when you are trying to host an event.
As a group we decided we would create a Tacky Sweater Fundraiser that would bring the community and local non-profits together!! It has been quite a struggle to make everything come together but knowing how the event should be makes it worth it. I can’t wait to see how our event goes!
The past week has been spent on preparation for Time for Art. This is an event hosted by the Young Professionals. The event is part volunteer fair, part silent auction, and part night on the town. The event was November 7th in the Corn Center for the Visual Arts beginning at 6PM with a mix and mingle and a silent auction beginning at 7PM. This gives a chance for all the Young Professionals in the area to come together and get to know one another at such an exciting event. Not only were you able to mingle with other Young Professionals in the area, but you were able to give back to the community and get some fantastic artwork out of it.
One of the things I did for the event was to call some of the Young Professionals to make sure they were aware of the event and to welcome them to YP! I was scared at first to talk to people on the phone, but by the 5th call I had the hang of it. It was interesting to talk to some of the YPs and hear how excited they were for this event.
The next thing I worked on for Time for Art were posters, bid sheets, and post cards. I had to create a poster for each agency that would be at Time for Art. For example, I created posters for Boys and Girls Club, United Way, PAWS Humane, and those are just a few. These posters had to contain all of their contact information on them. Next, I worked on the bid sheets. This was a lot more difficult than I thought. I used publisher and this is not one of my strong points. I had to get the hang of what I was creating and put it together. My next task was to create post cards so that people at the event could take something with them. I created these post cards on PowerPoint.
When it was time to print everything I ran into some bumps. I ended up having to redesign the bid sheets and edit the posters because nothing was going as planned. It was frustrating but at the same time I learned how much hard work and effort goes into something so small.
Can’t wait to see what’s in store next!
Last week I got to experience something I never had before, I got to attend my first real luncheon. This was exciting because I got to step out of my cubicle and see something first hand. The luncheon was a Leadership Alumni Luncheon at the Trade Center. Amy and I arrived around 10:30 to being preparing for all of the guests. The Luncheon started around 11:30 and the program would begin around 12. Although it started at 11:30 people didn’t start showing up until later. There was lunch provided for all the guest that attended.
My job at this luncheon was to sit with Mercedes and check people in as they arrived. We also had to make sure they had a name tag and made sure they dropped their business card in the bowl for a drawing. It was a lot of fun and I’m glad I got to experience this. The best part of the event was the food we got to enjoy! Yummmm
Another one of my tasks this week was stuffing, sealing, labeling, and stamping about 600 post cards to mail out to the Young Professionals about an upcoming event. I never knew stuffing and labeling could take so much of my time! The upcoming event is Time for Art and it where you can give your time instead of money in return for some art. It sounds like an exciting event and I’m sure a lot of YP’s are exciting.
The last thing I worked on last week was creating a Media Alert for Amy and Rob. This was the first time I had ever worked on a Media Alert that would be actually be used. It was exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time! 
There is no such thing as a calm week at the Chamber. There is always something going on that you need to prepare for. The Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce will attend the 20th Annual Inter-City Leadership Conference in Columbus, Oh. This event will take place Wednesday, September 25th-27th. The 2013 Leadership conference brings together Columbus, Ga’s top executives and decision makers. Regarded as the leading “city to city” conference in the state of Georgia, this three day, action packed event will provide us with all of the best practices we need to improve the Columbus Georgia Region.
The “Inter-City Leadership Conference was a program initiated by the Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce in 1994. Approximately 8-100 people attend the conference. Every year, community and business leaders, elected officials and community activists visit a comparable city and examine its successes and challenges in hopes of applying lessons to the Columbus region.
One of the things I had to do for the Inter-City Leadership Conference was to create a press release to send to all the different media outlets in Columbus, OH. In order to create this press release I had to do research on what the Inter-City Leadership Conference was. It was interesting to learn how this conference benefited the Columbus, GA community. Along with a press release I had to find all of the media contacts for the Columbus, OH area.
Just like any other event there is a lot of little things that take place in order for this event to run smoothly.
Some of the other little things I did were help Janeen and Amy with name tags and then make sure that all the pad-folios were put together.
WOW! This was an exciting week at the Chamber. On Friday October 18th, I attended my first Golf Tournament. It was exciting to be out of the office and experiencing something different and fun at the same time. Before the Golf Tournament the week before was spent preparing for the tournament and getting things ready. One of my tasks included creating cart signs and ordering signs for each hole and creating the program. I got to communicate with Sunshine Banners when creating the signs.
There were several different sponsors for this event. The Title Sponsor was Ranger Joe’s and they helped make a huge part of this event a success. Other sponsors included Carl Gregory, Clear Channel, Masterbuilt, Snyder’s Lance and much more!
I was a little worried about rain appearing at the Golf Tournament but it didn’t. Friday morning started off really early, arriving at Ft. Benning at 8am . Amy and I started the day by putting together signs that would be placed on the holes. Next, we drove to each hole and placed each sign. It was fun to be able to ride the golf cart and see the entire golf course. After placing all the signs in their correct location we then begin to help make sure all of the coolers were set and ready to be distributed.
Next on my list was to place the cart signs on the correct cart and distribute flyers and goody bags to each cart. At first Dana and I made a mistake and took off signs that were not supposed to be taken off! I ended up having to dig some signs out of the trash. Not fun at all!!
Around 11 o’ clock people started arriving. My next duty was to sell mulligans for each of the golfers after they registered. The mulligans were $10 a piece and most people would buy several for their teammates.
At 12 o’ clock I was to report to Hole 4, where I would help conduct the Hole-In-One. I had to make sure each golfer was standing in the correct location and they followed the rules. If they did make a hole-in-one they would receive a dodge truck. Unfortunately there was no winner. Maybe next year!
My last task of the day was to help at Par 3 Poker. At this hole we would conduct a card game and the golfers would pay $5 to play. The golfer with the highest score would get half of the pot and the remainder would go to United Way. It was fun to see everyone get so involved in this card game.
My first time helping out at a golf tournament was a success! Hopefully I get to experience more golf tournaments. It was interesting to see the way one was put together and see everyone take part in such a great event,
Who knew I would be using so much Excel! This week was another busy week at the Chamber! My computer skills really came into play this week. After the Inter-City Leadership Trip there was surveys conducted for each day they were there. One of my tasks this week was to take the surveys and gather all the data from them. It really took a lot of patience to go through 52 surveys. I gathered all the data in an excel spreadsheet and then that gave me all the information I needed. Another thing I had to do was create a document of all the additional comments on the surveys. There were so many opinionated people on the trip and some of the comments were a little crazy. I never knew I would be using Excel so much.
The next task I was to do was to create a spreadsheet of the Youth Leadership winners with all of their information on it. The next thing I had to do was a mail merger. I had no idea Excel and word were capable of all these things. I am now able to say I completed my first mail merger. I even got to put them through the postage machine.I learned quite a lot this week and am now very comfortable with Excel!
Just a stack of the surveys I had to go through.
It has been a busy couple of weeks here at the Chamber of Commerce. One of the main projects I was working on was stuff for the BIG event Uptown Screen on the Green. One of the ways I helped out for this event was by making name-tags for all of the VIP guests attending. I never realized how much goes in to making something as simple as a name tag. Each company had one and so did each person attending. The name-tags of people had people like Mayor Tomlinson and Mike Gaymon on the list.
Who knew name tags would be such a time consuming job. I am starting to realize all the little things that go on behind the scenes in order for a event to take place. There is so much more than I ever thought.
The Screen on the Green name-tags turned out to be a success!
Through these past couple of weeks at the Chamber I have experience a lot of different and exciting things. I got to experience something new this week. As an intern I got to attend the radio show that Mike Gaymon does every Tuesday with Clear Channel and PMB. It was a treat because I have only been in our very own NPACE radio studio.
Tuesday, September 10th, I was able to sit in on the radio show and hear what Mr. Gaymon had to say. The show at Clear Channel is live with two radio hosts also in the room. At this particular show he was talking about healthcare policies with someone from their own insurance agency. After talking to him, he talked to Amy who spoke a little bit about the upcoming event Uptown Screen on the Green. She also talked about the Young Professionals and how they have hit their goal of 555 members, which had increased to 557. She talked about the celebration they had the night before in honor of their accomplishment.
After listening to the radio show at Clear Channel, we made our way to PMB where we listened to the same show again but this time it was being recorded to use at a later date. I really enjoyed getting to see the two different radio stations first hand and being behind the scenes. I can’t wait to see what we do with the radio show in the future.
Columbus State University Communication Internships 