One Day, One Internship » communications

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

Willy Franzen — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 15:48:28 +0000

I live in Chicago where politicians and ethics go together like chocolate chip cookies and ketchup. After living here for a few years, I’m constantly noticing problems (like gang fights at the beach and 3 foot deep potholes) that are clearly the result of many years of inadequate and often corrupt politicians. I actually find it shocking that anyone under 30 (or over 30 for that matter) has any faith in or hope for politicians anymore. There have been way too many scandals. I guess that’s why Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington was started in 2003. They’re a Washington, DC based non-profit that is “dedicated to promoting ethics and accountability in government and public life by targeting government officials — regardless of party affiliation — who sacrifice the common good to special interests.” Oddly enough, the Wikipedia entry for CREW mentions that many of their donors are liberal groups and that most of the members of Congress whom they target are Republicans or conservative Democrats. Since corruption and unethical activity don’t follow party lines, it seems as though CREW might not be living up to its mission of acting “regardless of party affiliation” (which, in my opinion, isn’t the ethical and responsible thing to do).

Will You Join the CREW?

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is very much a legal organization, as they use the following tools to “force officials to act ethically and lawfully and to bring unethical conduct to the public’s attention”: Litigation, Freedom of Information Requests, Ethics Complaints, IRS Complaints, Federal Election Commission Complaints, and Requests for Investigations. If CREW finds politicians behaving badly, they will find a way to make them pay. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington’s current projects include identifying the country’s worst governors, identifying the most corrupt members in Congress (we have 2 of the top 15 in Illinois), and a state by state ethics breakdown. The thing that I really like about Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is that they’re not only good and finding and acting information, but they also do an excellent job of presenting it. They don’t issue boring reports—they build engaging websites that make consuming their research enjoyable. If you like what you see at CREW, then you should check out their Internships page. They have unpaid internship opportunities for both undergraduate students and law students. The undergrad positions are in operations and research, and you can find the full descriptions on CREW’s Internships page.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington?

Etacts

Willy Franzen — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 15:10:31 +0000

Despite all of the buzz about social media, I’m still convinced that e-mail is the most effective way to communicate with people online. Unfortunately, e-mail can become a headache very quickly. I probably get somewhere between 50 and 100 messages a day, and I sometimes find it overwhelming (but feel free to add to it if you have a question – willy@onedayonejob.com). I don’t know how people who get way more e-mail than I do are able to deal with it. There are lots of e-mail productivity tools, but most of them don’t work for me. I was starting to get desperate for a better way to manage relationships through e-mail, and then I came across Etacts. They’re a really young startup based in San Francisco, CA, and they built an e-mail tool that is exactly what I always wanted. I even went through the hassle of moving all of my accounts to Gmail just so that I could use Etacts. Their web-based software goes into your e-mail archive and pulls out a ton of data, then it gives you a simple interface where you can see things like who your top contacts are, how many messages you’ve traded with them, how long it’s been since you contacted them, and a few more simple features. You can even tie in your AT&T phone bill, although I haven’t figured out how to make that functionality work yet.

Grow Your Relationships

Etacts is so clutch for me. It helps me remember people that I’ve forgotten. I can follow up on conversations that I had six months or a year ago without having to dig through thousands of e-mails. That may mean scoring a new ad deal or getting a success story from a reader (send me your One Day, One Internship success stories!). E-mail is the lifeblood of my business, and Etacts makes the data hidden in all of my e-mails much easier to digest. You can probably find some great uses for Etacts when it comes to managing your internship search. It will help you remember which employers you need to follow up with, and it may help you rekindle some relationships that provide great networking opportunities. Etacts has built an amazing product, and it’s only in its infancy. They have a shot at being a really great company, and now that they have funding, they’re starting to hire. They have a bunch of job openings on the software side, which means that they’d probably take on a Software/Web Development intern; however, the one internship they have posted right now is for an unpaid Community Manager. It looks like a fantastic opportunity to play a big role in building the Etacts brand.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use Etacts?

Enterprise Community Partners

Willy Franzen — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 16:41:32 +0000

Chances are that housing is and will be your biggest expense for most of your life. It’s one of our most basic needs, so it makes sense that we spend a lot on it. Unfortunately, housing markets don’t react quickly to changes in demand, so we often have situations where housing becomes unaffordable for many who wish to live in an area. This may be ok when it’s some posh area of town, but what about when people who have lived and worked in area for years can no longer keep up with the real estate prices? Enterprise Community Partners is a Columbia, MD based non-profit that addresses these problems by creating “opportunity for low- and moderate-income people through fit, affordable housing and diverse, thriving communities.” They want to help people living in poverty “move up and out,” and they do this by helping to develop “a diverse mix of affordable and market housing options, access to jobs and social supports, and a strong commitment to the environment and civic participation.”

Join the Enterprise Community

Enterprise Community Partners has been doing their work for more than 25 years, and their site is full of information on what they do and how they do it. You can read about their Programs, Policy Work, Financial Products, and Local Work. They also offer a ton of Information Resources so that you can learn more about the organization and its work. Since 1982 they’ve helped to “develop over 240,000 affordable homes and invest over $9 billion throughout the United States,” so they’re operating on a scale that few other non-profits are. Once you’ve had a chance to check out the links above, you should take a look at internships at Enterprise Community Partners. They have a few opportunities, all of which appear to be paid. These include positions like Communications Intern, Foreclosure Intern (Washington, DC), and Research Intern (Los Angeles, CA). Take a look at them and see which make the most sense for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about Enterprise Community Partners?

EarthShare

Willy Franzen — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 15:21:25 +0000

I remember selling wrapping paper at my Dad’s office to support my elementary school. I’m sure his employees felt pressured to buy from me so I could win some stupid prize. What a terrible way to raise funds for a school or non-profit—it’s such an intrusion. But what if there was a great way to give money to great causes while at work that wasn’t quite so pushy? There is, and it’s called EarthShare. They’re a Bethesda, MD based non-profit that helps other environmental conservation focused non-profits raise money. They do this by giving employees (at any company that participates) the choice to have funds automatically deducted from their paychecks and donated to either specific member charities or a general EarthShare fund that is distributed amongst all of EarthShare’s member charities.

Do Your Share

In my opinion fundraising is a huge distraction for all non-profits (except maybe for EarthShare). Their number one priority should be focusing on achieving their mission, not getting more money to support their mission. EarthShare takes some of the fundraising burden off of their member charities through their payroll integration. Being an EarthShare member organization has some pretty serious benefits, which is why they have extremely strict eligibility criteria. If you’re interested in working at a non-profit that is focused on taking an innovative approach to fundraising and supporting other organizations that protect our environment, then you need to check out EarthShare’s internships on Idealist. Right now they’re looking for an unpaid Environmental Non-Profit Outreach Intern. It looks like a pretty cool opportunity, so check it out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you donate through EarthShare?

TerraCycle

Willy Franzen — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:48:08 +0000

I have my big annual fishing trip coming up next week, which means that I’m starting to go through my mental gear checklist. One thing that I’ve been looking for is some sort of pack to carry all of my stuff when I’m on the river. I used to use a vest, but it’s no longer doing the job. In my search for a perfect pack, I came across a company called Recycled Waders that makes gear out of old waders (waterproof boots that go up to your chest to keep you dry while standing in the water). I’m pretty sure they’re too small to have any internship opportunities right now, but luckily I found a company (from a reader e-mail) that takes a similar approach, but with a much larger audience. They’re called TerraCycle (based in Trenton, NJ), and they turn trash into stuff. You can get an insulated cooler made out of Skittles bags. Or a kite made out of Oreo wrappers. Or a tote bag made of Capri Sun pouches. It’s all about making “affordable, eco-friendly products from a wide range of different non-recyclable waste materials.”

The New Alchemy

TerraCycle got its start when Tom Szaky to pursue his passion for worm poop. Yes, that’s right. TerraCycle was founded as an organic fertilizer company that used worms to process compostable material. They’ve kept their green focus but have moved towards less crappy product offerings. Here’s a video rundown of what TerraCycle does and how it all works.

One of the things that I really like about TerraCycle is how they collect the garbage that they turn into products. They put together Brigades to collect specific types of trash. People on the brigades (you can join one) can turn in the garbage they collect to non-profits or schools, and TerraCycle makes a donation in return for the collected garbage. It’s brilliant. If you like what TerraCycle is doing, then you should give their Internships page a look. They have a number of unpaid opportunities posted including: Operations/Logistics Intern, Product Design Intern, Business Development Intern, Product and Market Development Intern, Graphic Design Intern, Licensing Intern, Video Intern, Public Relations Intern, and Sponsored Waste Intern. The application instructions vary for each position, but you can find it all on TerraCycle’s Internships page.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own any TerraCycle products?

The Balsams

Willy Franzen — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:31:33 +0000

One of my least favorite things about the “real world” is that summer doesn’t automatically mean vacation. Unless you’ve gone into teaching, you’re expected to keep showing up for work every day like it’s the middle of February—even if it’s totally beautiful out. The good thing is that “real world” summer usually lasts from May through early October (at least here in Chicago). Even though you have to keep going to work, your summer isn’t regimented by school’s start and end dates. This means that interning gives you the worst of both worlds. Anyway, we all know that summer is really all about vacation (not internships), and for many that means hitting up a resort like The Balsams in Dixville Notch, NH. In the summer you can play golf or tennis, go kayaking or mountain biking, take a hike, or just relax. In the winter there’s skiing, sleigh rides, snowshoeing, snow mobile races, and I’m sure fireplaces to warm up near. It’s an old school New England inn with modern luxuries and fine dining. I’ve never been there, but I know the style—and I like it.

Take a Trip to The Balsams

Hopefully you’re not mad at me for getting you all excited about the prospect of a luxury vacation when you are freaking about vacationing on your parents couch while they head to Europe without you because you didn’t land an internship. Obviously, the reason that I’m telling you all about The Balsams is that they have internship opportunities; in fact, they have a job/internship opportunity that lets you enjoy all of the luxuries of a vacation at The Balsams while getting paid to do it. They’re looking for an “Inn-Bedded Resorter” to live The Balsams life for a summer and report on it. For 2 months you’ll get $2,500, a room in the hotel, 3 meals a day, and free reign of the resort. Your job will be to liveblog/tweet/facebook your life with a variety of technological and social media tools at your disposal. How can you not get excited about a job application that asks you about your proficiency in areas like Fly Fishing, Dancing, Alpine Skiing, Making Cocktails, and Bird Watching? It’s pretty much the ultimate opportunity for someone interested in PR and Social Media. However, if you’re more into the Hospitality Management side, there appear to be other internship opportunities available at The Balsams (although they don’t list them specifically). You just need to check their for all of the info and the application. There’s even a Culinary Apprenticeship Program. If you have vacation on your mind, check out The Balsams and see how you can find a way to stay with them.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever stayed at The Balsams?

Social Science Research Council

Willy Franzen — Sun, 30 May 2010 17:03:28 +0000

Since college I’ve been fascinated by social sciences. Before then I didn’t realize that you could apply the scientific method to gain more understanding about nearly any topic in the world. Now that I spend lots of my time focused on things like marketing, career development, and writing, I know how important it can be to base your actions on research or the results of experiments. Obviously, social science goes far beyond those areas, and can have huge positive effects on many of the problems that are facing our world. That’s why the Brooklyn, NY based Social Science Research Council exists. Their mission is “to lead innovation in the social sciences, build interdisciplinary and international networks, mobilize knowledge on important public issues, and educate and train the next generation of social science researchers.” By supporting the field of social science, the SSRC helps all kinds of decision-makers make better informed choices about pressing issues.

Research the SSRC

There are thousands of non-profits that deal head-on with the challenges facing our society, but the SSRC isn’t one of them. The SSRC provides the academic foundation for other non-profits to take actions and do more effective work. As the SSRC About page puts it:

The SSRC is guided by the belief that justice, prosperity, and democracy all require better understanding of complex social, cultural, economic, and political processes. We are committed to the idea that social science can produce necessary knowledge—necessary for citizens to understand their societies and necessary for policy makers to decide on crucial questions.

The SSRC supports social science in a variety of ways including programs, fellowships, publications, and grants. If you’re also fascinated by social science, then you should check out internships at Social Science Research Council. They have a number of unpaid opportunities posted including: Communications Intern, Religion and the Public Sphere Program Intern, and Web Production and Communications Summer Intern. Check out the descriptions for more info on how to apply.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about the Social Science Research Council?

Just Vision

Willy Franzen — Sat, 15 May 2010 14:14:23 +0000

Sometimes you need a little recognition to keep working hard at something. Yes, we glorify those who keep persevering in anonymity, but there’s almost no better way to motivate someone than to recognize him or her for a job well done. That’s exactly what Just Vision is trying to do for “Palestinian and Israeli civilians working to end the conflict.” The media rarely talks about them. It focuses on the violence and the conflicts. This is typical of the press—the people who behave badly get their message out, while the people who keep quiet and do the right thing have to beg for a little bit of coverage. Just Vision, which is based in Washington, DC, is an organization fully focused on shining light on the positive news stories about Israeli and Palestinian civic leaders who are working for peace. Just Vision does this with the goal of making these leaders more “visible, valued and influential in their efforts.”

What’s Your Vision?

What’s really interesting about Just Vision is that they didn’t just jump into their work right away. Before they launched in 2003, they spent two years consulting with “nearly 500 Israeli and Palestinian leaders in nonviolence and peacebuilding to learn about their work, their successes, failures and lessons learned.” After learning a lot about they people whom they’d be working for, Just Vision launched with the goal of shining light on the “thousands of ordinary Israelis and Palestinians stepping forward to end the bloodshed, preserve human rights, promote reconciliation and build a sustainable, free and secure future for all.” One of the main ways that they do this is by producing and distributing films. What I really like about Just Vision is that they remain so focused. They could easily stray into working directly on the peace process, but they’ve continued to stick to their one big idea—advocating and publicizing for the people who are already doing the hard work. If you are drawn to this idea, check out Just Vision’s Internships page. Right now they’re looking for interns in Development, Media, General Internship, Translation, and Fact Checking. All of the positions are unpaid, and there are options to intern remotely, or in Washington, DC; New York, NY; or Jerusalem, Israel. You can apply by sending a résumé, writing sample and references via e-mail to: volunteer@justvision.org.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think about Just Vision?

ON24

Willy Franzen — Fri, 14 May 2010 17:07:39 +0000

You’d think that a company that was founded in 1998 and survived the Internet bust was started with a pretty solid idea, right? Or maybe they came up with a great idea that allowed them to adapt as the economy changed. It may be hard to judge the quality of the ideas that led to ON24, but there’s no doubt that the people behind the San Francisco based company have been persistent. According to Wikipedia they started as Newsource with a focus on being a “distribution center for Internet-based video press releases.” Then they pivoted in 1999 to become ON24, “an online financial news streaming media source.” Neither of those ideas seemed to work out, but the technology behind them seemed to be what kept the company alive. In 2003 it all finally came together as ON24 “introduced a web-based video publishing platform that enables users to self-produce live and on-demand webcasts.” The 3rd time was a charm, as that’s what ON24 continues to do to this day.

Always On

Webcasting is now a lot easier than it was in 2003, but it’s still amazing how hard it is to do it right. There are plenty of free or cheap solutions out there, but questionable quality isn’t acceptable for the ares that ON24 works in—Demand Generation, Corporate Communications, Continuing Education, Life Sciences, Publishing, and Government. They truly work with some of the biggest names in the world like IBM, Pepsico, Intel, Dell, BP, HP, Motorola, and plenty of others. The ON24 offering that might be most relevant to you would be a virtual career fair, although I’m still not sold on the idea. Now, ON24 may not be a new upstart that is developing disruptive technology, but they’ve shown an amazing amount of perseverance. Who knows if they’ll have to change things up again, but so far they seem to have finally found the right market for their technology. If you want to be part of what ON24 is doing, you can check out their Jobs page and their Job listings. There’s only one internship posted and it’s for a paid Marketing Intern. It looks like a pretty cool opportunity, and you can apply online.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever attended a virtual event run by ON24?

Spectrum Communications

Willy Franzen — Wed, 05 May 2010 15:58:12 +0000

Today is your last chance to vote for the World’s Best Internships on InternshipKing.com! Help us find a winner.

I bet there aren’t many of you out there who are deciding between an internship in science and an internship in public relations. There just isn’t a lot of overlap between the two fields in terms of subject matter and in terms of people. However, Washington, DC based Spectrum Communications has carved out a significant niche in the areas of science and healthcare public relations. They’ve put together “a team of self-acknowledged science geeks and health policy wonks,” and these geeks and wonks obviously have a strong background in public relations as well. This is important because PR in the fields of science and health is extremely complex. With “sophisticated concepts and often restrictive regulatory environments” it’s easy to make mistakes, and that could cost a client millions of dollars. Spectrum Communications has been around since 1996, so you have to think that they know what they’re doing.

Range the Spectrum

If you’re wondering what kind of work Spectrum Communications does, you’re in luck. They have a number of case studies available on their website. You can read about how they helped a pharmaceutical company recruit for a clinical trial of a new Alzheimer’s drug or you can check out how they helped make microbes appeal to kids. And if you want to get to know Spectrum Communications even better, you can check out their The Full Spectrum Blog. And if you like what you see, you should obviously check out internships at Spectrum Communications. Although that page says that the deadline for Summer internships is April 1st, they actually have an opening for a paid Digital Intern this Summer. You can apply for that (or a future internship) here, and you can check out Spectrum’s Intern Testimonials here.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Spectrum Communications?

Millennial Media

Willy Franzen — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:42:48 +0000

I hate the term Millennial when it’s used in the same way that Generation Y is. A lot of career advice these days is focused on generational issues, but I just don’t buy into it. Yes, old people and young people have different attitudes, but that’s nothing new. There are way more important things to be talking about, which is why I get visibly irked when the word millennial comes up. (And I’m proving my point right now by being a 25 year old grumpy old man.) My bad attitude should explain why it took me a second to warm to the idea of Millennial Media, which is a Baltimore, MD based mobile advertising company. By millennial, they mean next generation/futuristic, so they’re ok in my book. The company apparently has the largest mobile advertising network in the country, and they claim to reach 83% of the U.S. mobile audience.

The Mobile Millennium

It’s very clear that mobile advertising is growing at an amazing rate. Cell phones used to be terrible platforms for marketing messages, but we’re suddenly seeing that change with rich technologies on smaller devices. Getting ads on your phone may not seem all that desirable, but when you realize that it’s subsidizing all those cool, free sites, you have to agree that it’s worth looking at some ads to use Google or whatever other site on your phone. And with location based services popping all over the place, mobile advertising is actually going to be useful soon enough (Foursquare has already netted a free appetizer, a free cupcake, and 10% off of Berry Chill). So how do you get in on mobile marketing while it’s still kind of early? You head for Millennial Media. They’re an industry leader, and they’re already working with big name publishers like ABC, MTV, The New York Times, Digg, and more. And to get a closer look at how their platform works, you can check out Millennial Media’s Case Studies. If you like what you see, you should head over to Millennial Media’s Internships page. Right now they have three internships posted: Brand Communications Intern, Operations Coordinator Intern, and Operations Analyst Intern. You can apply online for any of these positions, and there’s no word on whether they’re paid or not.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you pay attention to mobile ads?

GSD&M Idea City

Willy Franzen — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:42:50 +0000

This morning I was reading a blog post about why interns should be paid (which goes nicely with my article on the legality of unpaid internships), and I noticed that the guy who wrote the post happens to work at an ad agency that pays its interns. Since paid internships in the ad industry are always in demand, I figured that GSD&M Idea City was worth a look. I learned that they’re based in Austin, TX (I feel like a lot of companies that are hiring right now are based in Texas), and that they are one of the bigger names in the industry. In fact, from 1987 until 2007 they were “one of two agencies that held the Wal-Mart account” according to Wikipedia. That means that they helped “build Wal-Mart from $11 billion in sales to $312 billion.” The agency has since moved on, but their client list continues to impress.

Live in Idea City

Another cool thing that I learned from Wikipedia is that GSD&M stands for the agency’s founders’ initials or “Greed, Sex, Drugs, and Money,” which all can be key factors in an advertising campaign. There isn’t much detail about the company on their website, but you can take a look at the work that they’ve done for clients including AT&T, BMW, American Red Cross, John Deere, Southwest Airlines, and quite a few others. It’s great stuff, and if you’re an ad nerd, you’ll love it. Assuming that you do love their work, then you’ll probably want to check out the GSD&M Idea City Careers page. Right now they have 12 internships posted, and they’re all for Fall 2010. That’s right—getting a highly sought after internship requires planning ahead. That doesn’t mean that you can’t find a last minute Summer internship, but if you want the best opportunities, you should be looking at the Fall already. The internships at GSD&M Idea City include opportunities in: New Business Development, Studio Art, Information Technology, Account Service, Broadcast Production, Communications, Creative, Creative Project Management, Graphic Design, Marketplace Planning, Media, and Media (Chicago, IL). You can apply for all of the positions online, so get to it before it’s too late to apply for a Fall internship.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you been to Idea City?

YES! Magazine

Willy Franzen — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 13:10:32 +0000

The magazine industry is kind of an ugly place to be right now. Don’t get me wrong, there are still some great internship opportunities with periodicals, but the iPad hasn’t saved the industry yet. The problem is that most magazines rely on selling ads to drive revenue since subscriptions almost never cover costs. Unfortunately, ad dollars are moving online where performance can be easily measured. Additionally, many companies have cut back on advertising during the recession. But what if you worked at a magazine that didn’t have to worry about selling ads. At YES! Magazine, that’s exactly how it is. They are a Bainbridge Island, WA based non-profit magazine “that supports people’s active engagement in building a just and sustainable world.” Subscriptions cover about half their costs, and the other half is covered by donations. Since YES! Magazine doesn’t need a profit margin, they can operate way more efficiently than for-profit magazines.

Just Say YES!

YES! Magazine publishes on a quarterly basis; however, they update their website much more frequently. I’ve never seen a copy of YES! Magazine, so I can’t tell you too much about it, but I do know that they focus on issues like Peace, Social Justice, the Environment, the New Economy, and Happiness. Their tagline is “Powerful Ideas, Practical Applications,” which seems simple but effective. It sounds as though the goal of YES! Magazine is to influence your thinking in a way that gets you to go out and change the world. Also, it appears that Danny Glover reads YES! Magazine along with some other famous people that I’ve never heard of. If you like what you’re hearing, then you may want to check out internships at YES! Magazine. Right now they’re looking for unpaid interns in Editorial, YES! Online, Media and Outreach, and Education. Apparently they can talk the talk on social justice, but when it comes to paying interns, they can’t walk the walk. (One of you should submit an article to them on how ridiculous that is.) You can find instructions on how to apply in each of the individual postings.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read YES! Magazine?

Corporation for Enterprise Development

Willy Franzen — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 15:47:07 +0000

It’s tax time, which means that I’ve spent some time looking over my records from last year. This year is already looking better than last year thanks to a sponsor on One Day, One Job. Hopefully it will mean that when I do my taxes in 2011, I won’t consider myself a “low-income entrepreneur.” But if I still do, I’ll at least have the option of getting some support from the Corporation for Enterprise Development. They’re a Washington, DC based non-profit that is “dedicated to expanding economic opportunity for low-income families and communities.” The program that I’m alluding to is the CFED’s Self-Employment Tax Initiative, which helps to provide free tax preparation services for people like me (though I haven’t actually taken advantage of any of these resources). That’s just a small slice of what CFED does, though. Their broader goal is “working at the local, state and federal levels to create economic opportunity that alleviates poverty.”

Watch What Develops

What’s interesting about CFED is that their programs span across many different interest areas. They help people with tax preparation, they work to make manufactured housing a more practical option, and they manage Individual Development Accounts, which are “are matched savings accounts that help people with modest means to save towards the purchase of a lifelong asset. “CFED’s “think-do-invest approach grounded in community practice, public policy and private markets” is unique because it focuses on creating opportunity, not providing assistance. It’s about teaching people how to fish, not giving them fish. If you want to be a part of it, you should check out CFED’s Internships page along with their Idealist page. They’re looking for individuals with “excellent writing skills and fact-gathering, research and analysis experience,” and they’re willing to pay you for those skills. CFED offers internships in Applied Research, Communications, Federal Policy, Innovation, Programs, and State Policy, and you can apply for any of these positions online.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about CFED?

AEG

Willy Franzen — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:00:18 +0000

I swear that half of all college students want to work in sports and entertainment. Unfortunately most of the job and internship postings you’ll find in those industries are actually scam internships. Getting a position at a legitimate sports and entertainment company is not easy, but with AEG you have a shot. They call themselves “one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world,” and although that sounds broad, it’s a good description. AEG operates in a number of business areas including Facilities, Sports (Teams and Events), Music (Events), and Merchandising. They own/control arenas like the STAPLES Center, Conseco Fieldhouse, and the Prudential Center, while also owning professional sports teams like the LA Kings and Los Angeles Galaxy (can you tell that AEG is based in Los Angeles?). They’ve also “promoted tours by artists including Britney Spears, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, Christina Aguilera & Justin Timberlake, The Dixie Chicks, Yanni, Paul McCartney, Usher, Kanye West, Prince, Rod Stewart, Bon Jovi, Nickelback, and PopTarts Presents American Idol.” And that’s not even half of it. AEG is a major player in sports and entertainment, and a great place to start a career.

Join AEG’s Team

Describing AEG’s business in a few paragraphs isn’t easy, so I guess that the best way to put it is that if it has to do with sports or entertainment, they’re probably involved in some way. That means that AEG offersinternship opportunities in a wide variety of areas. They actually have a halfway decent job search function on their site, so you can narrow things down by AEG Company, Area of Interest, Location, or Facility—they also let you sort the jobs so that you only see internships. Right now they have 18 internships posted in areas like Communications, Community Relations, Graphic Design, Hispanic Grassroots Marketing, Charitable Foundations, Sales & Marketing, Marketing, Mascot Marketing, Player Development, Premium Services, Special Events, Sponsorships, Production, Public Relations, Sales & Marketing, Ticket Operations, Video Production, and Youth Development. All of these positions appear to be unpaid, and you can apply for any that you find on their site through their online application process.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about AEG?

Trumpet

Willy Franzen — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 14:00:30 +0000

Today is my half birthday, which has nothing to do with trumpets or creative agencies, but I thought it was worth noting in case you want to buy me a present. Trumpet says “Don’t Advertise. Connect.” So that’s what I’m trying to do. Connect with me by buying me a gift. Anyway, Trumpet is a unique creative agency. They’re based in New Orleans, LA, and they typically work with startups, launches, and turnarounds. Since those are exactly the kinds of businesses that New Orleans needs right now, they’re a perfect fit for the city. Trumpet offers holistic strategy guidance that goes beyond advertising and touches on areas like “product development, social or digital strategy, publicity, events, design or sponsored content.” They really aim to touch all areas of the businesses that they work with.

Trumpet Your Abilities

If you want to take a closer look at Trumpet’s approach, all you need to do is look at their work. They’re another company that was named to Fast Company’s list of “The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies,” but it wasn’t just for their work as a creative agency. Since they work with so many startups, Trumpet has decided to raise $3 million in capital to invest and work with early-stage companies. They are now an agency with a spin off incubator. If you’re intrigued by the story and you like the work, then you’ll probably want to consider an internship. They don’t have anything posted on their website, but I found this posting on Work NOLA. It says that they’re hiring mostly on a project basis, but that full-time isn’t out of the question. If you would describe yourself as any of the following, you should reach out to them:

digital artists
writers
designers
environmental design
product design/development
analytics/crm
art directors
public relations
social media
project managers
production supervisors
strategists
researchers
anthropologists
Interns

To apply, “email a cover letter summarizing what you bring to work everyday along with your resume to erin@trumpetgroup.com.”

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Trumpet?

The Second City

Willy Franzen — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 13:31:58 +0000

I know how tough finding a great internship is, so I’m not going to pull a prank on you. It would just be mean to tell you about some awesome internships and then say that they don’t exist. Instead, I’m going to stick to what I’ve done for the last two April Fools’ Days and introduce you to some internships with a humorous side to them. Two years ago we took a look at Motley Fool, and last year it was College Humor. This year we’re going to check out The Second City, which is “the leading brand in improv-based sketch comedy.” They have theaters in Chicago and Toronto, along with Training Centers in those cities and Hollywood too. The Second City is also where famous comedians like Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd, Harold Ramis (Ghostbusters!), Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey, Steve Carell, and Chris Farley cut their teeth. (My buddy Jason Seiden also did a little work at their Training Center.) It is the place for comedy, and it’s all located a mile up the street from where I live.

These Internships Are No Joke

I’ve been to a Second City performance, and I thought it was pretty good (although I expected a little better). That’s the way that improv comedy works though. Some nights are good, and some aren’t so good. Beyond the theater, The Second City does a ton of improv training. Some people do it to pursue a career in comedy or acting, others do it for fun. Some people do it for personal development, and it wouldn’t be bad for the internship search. If you can walk your way through an improv skit and get some laughs, then a job interview should be a piece of cake. If that interview is with The Second City, then you might really need that improv training. Right now they have Administrative and Communications internships posted right now. The positions look great (although it doesn’t say whether or not they’re paid). The only catch is that if you land the internship, I’m expecting some free tickets. The Second City also occasionally holds cast auditions, so if you’re serious about comedy, that’s the way to go.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you seen any Second City performances?

The Reinvestment Fund

Willy Franzen — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:20:50 +0000

I grew up in Fairfield, CT, which is next to a city, Bridgeport, that is always aiming for “revitalization.” They’ve talked about a building a casino for years, and they even built a minor league baseball stadium. It’s hard to say whether that has helped or hurt, but it seems that Bridgeport is at least doing a little better than it was a decade ago. I’d imagine that the real reasons for improvement have come from smaller projects that are more in tune with the city’s communities’ needs. These are the kinds of projects that The Reinvestment Fund invests in in cities in the Mid-Atlantic. They are “a 24 year old nonprofit financial lending institution with a strong social mission” and offices in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, DC. They started out as a small community development organization, and they’ve grown to become something much bigger.

Reinvest in Yourself

So far the Reinvestment Fund has invested nearly a billion dollars in capital into economic development projects. The results speak for themselves, as TRF has helped create:

532 businesses

18,590 housing units

28,870 charter school slots

45,755 jobs

8.2 million square feet of commercial space

2.7 million MWh of clean energy – enough to power over 290,000 homes for a year!

It may not sound as sexy as a baseball stadium or a casino, but The Reinvestment Fund is all about finding “the point of impact.” That means that they’re looking for the place where they can get the most bang for the buck. They want to maximize the opportunity that they create for both individuals and neighborhoods regardless of what might be popular. If you’d like to help “build wealth and opportunity for low-wealth people” while revitalizing communities, then you need to look no further than The Reinvestment Fund’s Internships page. Current postings include two paid part-time Policy and Information Services positions along with a general call for Student Interns. These internships are offered in the following areas: Lending, Policy and Information Services, Real Estate/Urban Planning, Real Estate Development, Finance, Marketing & Communications, and Information Technology. I’m not sure whether these are paid, but you should check out the TRF Internships page to get all of the application details.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about The Reinvestment Fund?

RKS

Willy Franzen — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:00:49 +0000

Apparently the hot dog is a killer. Who knew? I had heard that the preservatives in hot dogs might cause cancer, but I read yesterday in this Fast Company article that the American Academy of Pediatrics recently “called for the redesign of hot dogs” because of the choking hazard. One of the Academy’s doctors even went so far as to say that, “If you were to take the best engineers in the world and asked them to design a perfect plug for a child’s airway, you couldn’t do better than a hot dog.” The article went on to discuss how RKS, a Thousand Oaks, CA based industrial design firm, was playing with ideas on how to redesign the hot dog. That’s a big task to bite off, but RKS was able to come up with some pretty cool concepts in their brainstorming. It shows why they can claim companies like Apple, Coca-Cola, Nissan, and HP as clients.

Bite Off More Than You Can Chew at RKS

Despite their work on sausage design (did I ever mention that I took a Meat Science course in college?), RKS actually isn’t usually focused on food. While they seem willing to work on any type of project, their areas of focus include: Product Definition, Consumer Research, Market Analysis, Brand Strategy, Brand Communications, Industrial Design, Engineering, Prototyping, Human Factors, User Interface, Manufacturing Liaison, Packaging Design, Web Design, Channel Strategy, and Experience Design. RKS says that they “create designs that harmonize function, aesthetics, and emotions,” and that’s the key to what they call Psycho-Aesthetics®. Those are all nice words, but to really see what it all means you need to look at RKS’s portfolio and case studies. The RKS website is filled with great information about them, so you should definitely spend some time getting to know what their business is about. Once you do that, you can check out their Careers page. They don’t post any positions on there, but they do allow you to apply for a job in the following areas: Industrial Design, Design Strategy, Graphic Design, Engineering/Innovation, Project Management, Model Shop, and Business Development. They also allow you to select Internships—my guess is that you could probably intern in any of the aforementioned areas. I’m not sure what it takes to get an internship at RKS (or whether the positions are paid), but you can be sure that you have to be very good at what you do. In addition to their web submission form, you can also reach out to RKS about employment opportunities at careers@rksdesign.com or by contacting Amalia Azzam Human Resources at amalia@rksdesign.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How would you redesign the hot dog?

Organic

Willy Franzen — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:16:28 +0000

I hope the title of today’s post didn’t make you hungry, because we’re not talking about internships in organic food. Organic is a San Francisco based interactive marketing agency with a brand that has gained a lot of keyword competition over the past 16 years. Yes, people were eating organic back in 1994, but the word wasn’t nearly as common as it is today. Doing research on Organic is tough because the organic search results (excuse my SEO pun) have all kinds of other stuff in them (at least they own Organic.com). Either Google needs to get inside my head to discern my intent, or Organic is going to have to hope that artificial packaged, processed foods go back in vogue. Ok, enough of my ripping on their name—Organic was ranked by AdWeek as the #1 interactive agency in 2007. That fits in perfectly with my impression of Organic from browsing their website and looking at their work. In fact, I’m blown away by how good Organic’s website is. It’s easy to use, it’s full of information, and it’s gorgeously designed. Their corporate mantra is “Exceptional Experience,” and they certainly live up to it.

Live Organic

I’ve found that interactive agencies sometimes go too far with their websites. They get too fancy and end up making an unusable piece of garbage. The way Organic has built their website shows that they’re good at what they do. Beyond San Francisco Organic also has locations in New York, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Toronto. The company’s clients include Bank of America, Jeep, Nike, Guitar Center, and plenty more. I could tell you more about Organic, but you’re much better off visiting their website, because it does a great job of telling their story. Organic even does a great job with their Careers site—they even make a usually crappy applicant tracking system look good. The interesting thing about Organic is that most of their 40 job openings are at pretty Senior levels, but they do have a number of postings (one for each location) for their paid Summer internship program called “The Farm.” There are opportunities to work in areas like Delivery / Project Management, Creative, Technology, Strategy, Media and Marketing Intelligence, and the whole program looks awesome. They only want rising college seniors and recent grads, but if you fit the bill, go ahead and apply online.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Organic’s name?

Academy of Natural Sciences

Willy Franzen — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 15:59:01 +0000

For most of us museums are just places to go to visit for a day and to learn something new. We rarely think about what is going on behind the scenes, but we should. At many major museums there is also a significant research function. A perfect examples is the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, PA, which sounds like a research institution, but it also runs a museum. In fact, The Academy is the “oldest natural science research institution and museum in the New World” according to Wikipedia. The Academy has been at the forefront of biological and earth sciences since its inception, and it continues to promote public education in those areas. Just to give you an idea of the scale on which they operate, their collections include more than 17 million specimens. That’s crazy!

Internships for Naturalists

One thing that is severely lacking on the Academy of Natural Sciences website is a solid About page. I had to head to Wikipedia to get a full idea of what they do, so if you’re interested, be sure to do a little extra research. The Academy has a great history, and its place in Philly reminds us about how Philadelphia used to be America’s most influential city. It’s amazing to think that The Academy is now approaching its 200th anniversary, and if you want to be able to celebrate it with them, you’ll want to get your foot in the door with an internship. Their Internships page shows a few positions including Botany Department Intern, Environmental Biogeochemistry Intern, and Undergraduate Research Fellow, while The Academy’s Idealist page shows Museum Public Programming Intern, Museum School Programs Intern, Museum Communications Intern, Explorers Camp Intern, Outside-In Children’s Museum Intern, Live Animal Center Animal Care Intern, Dinosaur Education Intern (my favorite), and Museum Marketing Intern. I’m not sure why there’s no overlap between the two, and it seems that there is a mix of paid and unpaid positions. The application instructions vary by internship, so look at the specific postings for more info.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever visited The Academy?

National Football Foundation

Willy Franzen — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:52:12 +0000

It’s Super Bowl Sunday, which means that it’s time to talk about internships in football (we’ve featured NFL internship in addition to a few other cool opportunities). Since it’s our practice to feature non-profits on the weekend, I started browsing around the NFL’s Join the Team site, which features all of the league’s charitable work. One of the things that I came across was the Play It Smart program, which partners “academic coaches with student-athletes in order to, ‘take a student-athlete’s passion for sports and intense dedication to their team and transform it into a force for greater good in their lives.’” It’s a partnership between the NFL Youth Football Fund and the National Football Foundation. I decided to focus on the latter, as they’re exactly what I was looking for—a football related non-profit. The organization’s full name is The National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame. The Foundation is located in Irving, TX, while the Hall of Fame is located in South Bend Indiana. The organization’s mission is “to promote and develop the power of amateur football in developing the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, competitive zeal and the drive for academic excellence in America’s young people.”

Touchdown at National Football Foundation

Although the National Football Foundation occasionally works with the NFL, they’re an independent organization that is really focused on amateur football. I’m a big fan of organizations like this and National Coaching Fellows that work to improve achievement at the intersection of athletics and academics. Unfortunately, the National Football Foundation’s About page, so you should probably rely on their Wikipedia page for more info. You’ll see that the organization was founded in 1947 “by General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army Black Knights football coach Earl “Red” Blaik and journalist Grantland Rice.” You’ll also find that their current chairman is Archie Manning, the father of Colts’ QB Peyton Manning. Just as it’s hard to find information about the organization, it’s nearly impossible to find information on their internships. I did find a note about an internship program in Morristown, NJ with the College Football Hall of Fame that runs year round and focuses on communications, public relations, media, marketing, and journalism. Unfortunately this blurb links to the NFF’s main Internships page, which no longer exists. As of now you’re not going to find and current internship postings, so you should try using their LinkedIn Company Profile to do some research, and then use the Foundation’s Contact page to reach out to them.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Whom are you taking? Colts or Saints?

AD:60

Willy Franzen — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:59:37 +0000

I’m not sure if it’s a trend yet, but it seems that more and more creative/interactive agencies are moving away from client work and spending more time developing products. 37signals used to be a web design agency, and now they develop web-based applications that help people get things done. Brooklyn, NY based AD:60 appears to be taking a similar path. They’re still putting a strong emphasis on their client work, but they also seem to have a lot of interest in developing their own products. The agency’s offerings include Web Design, Website Development, Mobile Technology, Marketing & Advertising, and Consulting, while their current internal projects include MyBankTracker.com and BankTwitter.com.

You:60

AD:60′s name comes from the philosophy that you often only have 60 seconds of opportunity and that “the best ideas and concepts can be communicated through the rapid visual medium without compromising quality.” Although they don’t have a portfolio to show how they’ve expressed this philosophy for clients, you can see it in MyBankTracker and BankTwitter. I like BankTwitter because it’s such a simple concept: it pulls in tweets about the customer service at different banks. You can easily browse these tweets to see which bank will best fit your needs or how you can fix a problem that other people are having with your bank. MyBankTracker is a bit more complex, but it still shows how strong visuals make all the difference. The goal of the site is to provide an “interactive financial information hub featuring bank reviews, financial news feeds and consumer-driven financial help,” and it does just that. If you like what you see on both sites, you should take a look at this PDF that gives the full scoop on AD:60 (the PDF has already been updated to include an iPad in it!) and then
head over to their Internships page. Their internships are paid, and they’re looking for Software Engineers, Designers, and Marketing/Advertising/Communications types. To apply for a position, reach out to them at jobs@ad60.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of MyBankTracker and BankTwitter?

The Aspen Institute

Willy Franzen — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 16:25:08 +0000

I don’t usually do this, but this is important. I find many of the non-profit internships that I feature on One Day, One Internship on Idealist.org. It’s the best resource for non-profit internships on the web, and it’s a non-profit itself. The organization is in trouble right now, and they need money. If they’ve helped your internship search in any way, go to their home page and make a donation—I just did. Even $5 will help.

If Aspen is known for anything, it’s known for skiing and affluence. In 1945 Walter Paepcke, a Chicago businessman, was so inspired by the town’s natural beauty that he wanted it to be known for something else—”as an ideal gathering place for thinkers, leaders, artists, and musicians from all over the world to step away from their daily routines and reflect on the underlying values of society and culture.” He started by organizing events in Aspen like “a celebration of the 200th birthday of German poet and philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,” and then he founded The Aspen Institute. It started as a “forum based on the writings of great thinkers of the past and present,” but now it’s evolved into something more. It is now a non-profit organization that fosters “values-based leadership” and provides “a neutral and balanced venue for discussing and acting on critical issues.” It’s certainly an ideas-focused organization, and it is now headquartered in Washington, DC with offices in Aspen, CO and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

Happy Goethe-Day

Although it may sound as though The Aspen Institute is light on action, that’s not really the case. Their focus is on taking action to bring people together to discuss big ideas. The organization has four main modes of operation: they put on seminars; they provide young leader fellowships; they run non-paritsan policy programs; and they put on public conferences and events. What it really all comes down to, though, is promoting dialogue and the sharing of ideas. If that sounds like something that you could get behind, then you might want to consider an internship at the Aspen Institute. Right now they’re looking for 2010 Summer Interns in their Aspen office, but the deadline is today! Additionally they have the following internships available in their Washington, DC office: Communications/Public Relations Internship, Development Internship, and Council of World Leaders Internship. They don’t seem to mention whether or not the internship are paid, so you’ll have to investigate that yourself. You may also want to look at The Aspen Institute’s Leadership Programs for fellowship opportunities.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about the Aspen Institute?

Grafik

Willy Franzen — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:56:10 +0000

Design matters. It’s the reason that Apple can sell devices that essentially do the same thing as those of their competitors for a significant premium. It’s the reason that you choose to trust one website over another. It’s the reason that you buy brands. Yes, functionality matters too, but that’s a given. Grafik gets it. They’re an Alexandria, VA based integrated marketing agency that appears to put a heavy focus on visual design. Their main service offerings are brand strategy, integrated communications, and interactive marketing, but it’s very obvious from looking at their website (and their name) that graphic design is a key part of what makes Grafik successful. Browsing through a gallery of their work only confirms this.

Are You Grafikly Inclined?

My one beef with Grafik is that their website puts design way ahead of function. They may impress with design, but their use of Flash makes it impossible for me to link to specific pages. Additionally, their Clients page has some sort of flaw that makes the content disappear almost immediately. Still, the experience on Grafik’s website is impressive—it explains why they have clients like the AARP and Accenture (I was able to spot those before the list disappeared). You’ll have to browse around their site to get a feel for what they’re all about. After you do that, you can navigate to their Careers section by clicking the About link; however, you won’t find their internships there. You’ll find them on Grafik’s Facebook page. They only have one opening now, but they don’t say what they’re looking for—I’d imagine it’s a Design Intern. The position is paid, and you can apply by sending a cover letter, résumé, and link to your portfolio to careers@grafik.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Grafik’s website?

Thumbtack

Willy Franzen — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:00:01 +0000

I’m sure that many of you use Craigslist to find internships. As much as it can be a great resource for college students, I have to say that I find it weird that people looking for internships and people looking for “casual encounters” are using the same website. There’s just something sketchy about Craigslist. That probably explains why many people are reluctant to use the site to find local service providers. Can you trust a plumber, tutor, masseuse, or pool guy if you find him or her on Craigslist. Maybe. But how will you know for sure? That’s where Thumbtack comes in. They’re a San Francisco based startup that is taking a page out of Angie’s List’s book (maybe they should have “list” in their name) by providing an online marketplace for local service providers, but they’re doing it for free. Free is great, but the real key feature on Thumbtack is the fact that they provide “twelve ways to verify the identity and reputation of every provider.” That way you don’t have to worry about your plumber getting his house calls and his casual encounters mixed up.

Thumbs Up for Thumbtack

I could keep doing my best to describe Thumbtack to you, but I might as well let them do it through their 90 second elevator pitch on YouTube (e-mail readers click through to watch).

Now that you have an idea of what Thumbtack is all about, let’s talk about their internships. They don’t have any posted on their Jobs page, but their co-founder Jonathan Swanson did send me a note about two unlisted positions that they’re hiring for.

The first is:

Exciting Early-Stage Web Startup Seeks Programming Intern

Compensation: Equity + Meals

We’re looking for somebody with a good grasp of the foundations of programming and who has worked on a project outside of class. Working knowledge of PHP is preferred, but we will consider work in other languages.

We work in a small team of seven, and you will be collaborating with our lead developer. Our company is growing quickly and we have lots to do. There will be plenty of opportunities for real work. A good fit could lead to an offer for a full-time position.

Thumbtack is a well-funded, energetic, young start up located in San Francisco. We have a great office with views of the Bay and a private chef schooled at Le Cordon Bleu cooks most of our meals at the office.

For more information about us, please check out thumbtack [dot] com. In your email, please tell us why you’re interested in working at a startup. careers [at] thumbtack [dot] com.

And the second is:

Exciting Early-Stage Web Startup Seeks Marketing Intern

Compensation: Equity + Meals

We’re looking for a smart, hard working, upbeat person who will help with our customer service and marketing. You must be a self-starter and able to work independently. You’ll work directly with our Director of Marketing. Your work will be project-based and will range from brain storming marketing ideas or handling customer calls and emails to delivery of flyers around San Francisco or chasing down email addresses of journalists. Must be willing to cheerfully do rote tasks when necessary, but we’ll happily expand your responsibilities if your performance merits.

Thumbtack is a well-funded, energetic, young start up located in San Francisco. We have a great office with views of the Bay and a private chef schooled at Le Cordon Bleu cooks most of our meals at the office.

For more information about us, please check out thumbtack [dot] com. In your email, please tell us why you’re interested in working at a startup. careers [at] thumbtack [dot] com.

The company sounds pretty cool, so give them a look. I’m not sure if the positions are paid or not, but if they’re not, you can make up for eating lots of food cooked by their private chef.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you tried Thumbtack?

MMG Mardiks

Willy Franzen — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 16:09:53 +0000

Yesterday I mentioned that I hopped on a plane on Saturday. My destination was Aruba. I’m here now, and I’m enjoying 90 degree temperatures, lots of sunshine, beach volleyball, and hopefully some excellent fishing opportunities. It’s not hard to be convinced to head for a tropical destination in December, but choosing the right place can be a tough decision. That’s why it’s no big surprise that resorts and tourism boards invest a lot in public relations. Competition for tourist dollars is fierce, so firms like New York City based MMG Mardiks are often in high demand. They work with names like the Colorado Tourism Office, Sarasota and Her Islands, Hertz, Regent Hotels & Resorts, and The Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino (not where I’m staying). MMG Mardiks also has locations in Kansas City, Ft. Collins, St Louis, and South Florida, which probably allows them to better serve clients in various locations.

Travel Public Relations with MMG Mardiks

Travel public relations and communications seems like a pretty cool field, and MMG Mardiks does it all. They provide “expert strategic counsel in traditional and digital media relations, branding, event marketing and crisis communications.” If you’d like to get beyond the buzz words and see some actual work that MMG Mardiks has done, you need to look no further than their case studies. You’ll get a good feel for how they operate and what kind of placement they can achieve for their clients. If the idea of interning in Travel PR excites you, then take a look at MMG Mardiks’ Internships page. I’ve heard that their paid internship program is excellent with real work opportunities that lead to full-time employment and that the company employs a lot of people in their 20s. Additionally employees get to travel to great places relatively often, so maybe you’ll get to make a trip to Aruba too. Right now their site is a bit out of date as it still mentions Fall opportunities, but you should probably act quickly if you’re interested in Summer or Spring opportunities. You can apply by e-mailing a cover letter and résumé to Carla Brown at cbrown@mmgworldwide.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which of MMG Mardiks’ clients do you most want to visit?

Doctors Without Borders

Willy Franzen — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 12:50:00 +0000

I was traveling yesterday, so I scheduled yesterday’s post and hopped on a plane. Little did I know that my server would somehow forget to do what I told it. Sorry! If you’re looking for yesterday’s post, you can find it here. (Or if you’re reading by e-mail, just scroll down.)

There are a lot of people who aren’t very thrilled with healthcare in the United States. Yes, it can be atrociously expensive, but at least we have access to pretty much any medical procedure out there. Whether it’s something very basic or something that has never been tried before, the US certainly has the medical infrastructure to get the job done. There are plenty of countries in the world where even the most basic medical care is out of reach, and there are other countries where basic medical care becomes out of reach due to a crisis. That’s where New York City based Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) comes in. They provide “aid in nearly 60 countries to people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe, primarily due to armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, exclusion from health care, or natural disasters.” Doctors Without Borders does this by recruiting both medical and non-medical personnel to travel abroad to offer a level of medical assistance that is well beyond what is typically available.

MD Not Necessary

You don’t have to go to med school to make a difference through Doctors Without Borders. There are plenty of opportunities for lay people to get involved and make a difference. Here’s a sample of the work that Doctors Without Borders does:

In 2006, MSF medical teams gave more than 9 million outpatient consultations; hospitalized almost half a million patients; delivered 99,000 babies; treated 1.8 million people for malaria; treated 150,000 malnourished children; provided 100,000 people living with HIV/AIDS with antiretroviral therapy; vaccinated 1.8 million people against meningitis; and conducted 64,000 surgeries.

If that sounds like the kind of work that you’d like to be involved with, then you should head over to Doctors Without Borders’ Work page. You can learn more about working in the field, or you can take a look at their Paid Internship opportunities. They offer internships three times a year, and the deadlines are January 8, 2010 for Spring Internships; April 15, 2010 for Summer Internships; and August 2, 2010 for Fall Internships. Their internship positions include Access Intern, Development Intern, Editorial Intern, Executive Intern, Field Human Resources Intern, Foundations and Corporations Intern, Human Resources, Systems Intern, Major Gifts Intern, Marketing Intern, Planned Giving Intern, Press Intern, Program Intern, Public Events Intern, and Web Intern. You can find full descriptions on the internships page, and you can apply by sending a résumé and cover letter to internships@newyork.msf.org with Subject line: (Internship Title – Term). They’ll even let you apply for multiple positions, so be sure to send a separate application for each if that’s what you want to do.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Doctors Without Borders?

Casey Trees

Willy Franzen — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 15:00:50 +0000

Although it may seem bad that millions of trees are cut down every year for Christmas, the truth is that most of the trees are farmed and are a completely renewable resource. Most. It was not the case with the tree that some frat boys that I went to school picked out. Their foyer had extremely high ceilings, so they picked out a very tall tree from the front of someone’s yard. They cut it down, loaded it up in their truck, and sped off. Unfortunately for them, someone spotted their plates and called the police. The cops saw the tree through the fraternity house’s windows, and they nailed the culprits. Whoops. What’s the point of this story? Trees are important, and they face lots of risks. In forests trees are often left to do their own thing, but in urban environments they need a little help. That’s what Casey Trees does. They are “a Washington, DC based not-for-profit dedicated to restoring, enhancing and protecting the tree canopy of the Nation’s Capital.” Whether they’re planting trees, protecting against development, or fixing damage done by idiot frat boys, they’re doing their best to reverse the “trend of tree cover loss in the District of Columbia.”

Oh, Christmas Tree… Oh, Casey Trees

It’s amazing how complex Casey Trees’ work gets. It’s not just about planting seeds and pruning branches. It’s about a broader movement to ensure that trees continue to be an integral part of the DC landscape. As they put it:

Casey Trees plants trees, trains people to become Citizen Foresters, engages thousands of volunteers in tree planting and care, teaches students in District schools about trees, monitors the city’s tree canopy and provides guidelines for better planting space design so trees will thrive in the city.

It’s a perfect organization for the forestry types who aren’t quite ready to give up urban pleasures. If that’s you, then you need to check out the Casey Trees Internships page. They’re typically looking for people who have strong skills in Urban Forestry, Arboriculture, Ecology, Landscape, Architecture, Public Policy, Communications, Community Outreach, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Mentoring. The only specific internship opportunities that they have posted right now are for high schoolers, but I’m sure that you’ll get a little more information on their internship program if you reach out to them.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Where’d you get your Christmas tree?

Brooklyn Academy of Music

Willy Franzen — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:02:48 +0000

When did Brooklyn become the cool place to live? It’s definitely trendy, and I think a big part of that has to be the borough’s unique culture. It’s pretty artsy, which is why it makes sense that it’s the home of “America’s oldest continuously operating performing arts center,” Brooklyn Academy of Music. BAM was founded in 1861 and is still going strong—they had an attendance of more than half a million people last year. Although they have the word academy in their name, BAM’s mission is “to be the preeminent progressive performing and cinema arts center of the twenty-first century, engaging both global and local communities.” That’s not exactly what I think of when I hear academy, but maybe that’s why they usually go by BAM.

BAM BAM!

Performing arts isn’t really my thing, but if you’re into it, BAM is the perfect place to intern. They have a diverse set of programs that span a wide array of interests. It’s hard to believe that they’re continuing to be at the forefront of performing arts after nearly 150 years of operation. If you’d like to be part of BAM’s History, then check out their Internships page or their internship postings on Idealist. Right now they’re looking for a Spring interns, and the positions are paid. BAM actually seems to have more detailed job postings, but they’re pretty well hidden on their website. You can find them here, where you’ll learn that BAM’s internships are paid and offered in areas including Archives, Cinematek, Government & Community Affairs, General Management, Web Marketing/Digital Media, Education and Humanities, Public Relations & Communications, BAMart, Marketing, Development, Fiscal Department, Sponsorship, Special Events, and Grants. You can apply for any of the positions by sending a cover letter and résumé to HRresumes@BAM.org..

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever visited BAM?