Public Relations & Event Planning

Position: Strategic Campaigns Intern
Student: Government Senior, UTNY Participant

 My internship is at BerlinRosen and I found the internship with the help of UTNY. My duties consist of media monitoring to help everyone stay on track with current news, creating and updating press lists of journalists to pitch to, and creating, editing, and reviewing op-eds and press releases. My favorite thing about my internship is being able to connect with like-minded people over issues I'm passionate about.

Summer 2023

Position: Social Media & Events Intern 
Student: Human Dimensions of Organizations Sophomore 
Betts & Co Events is an event planning company based out of Austin, Texas. I found this  internship through a friend who previously interned for the company and now works there full time. As a social media and event intern, I manage and create social media posts for multiple outlets such as Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. I carefully go through wedding and event galleries to find photos that best capture the details and big moments from each event. After sifting through the photos, I put the 
photos or videos together to create a post, in which should tell the story of the event. My favorite thing about the internship is that I have a lot of creative freedom. My assignments have become a huge creative outlet for me and I really enjoy getting to manage Betts & Co’s social media. 

Position: Intern 
Student: Human Dimensions of Organizations Junior 

Betts & Co. Events is a smaller company based in Austin, Texas. Betts & Co. Events plans mainly weddings but also some events such as bridal showers and birthday  parties. Taylor Betts started the company, and she has a team of three other event planners and designers. I found this internship through a friend who mentioned that Taylor was looking for summer interns. My job as a summer intern is to contact vendors for events via email. I also create design boards which are a PowerPoint laying out our vision for an event based on the client's wishes. I also keep track of new leads and clients looking to use our company. I love this internship because it is very detail oriented yet highly creative. It is gratifying when your vision comes to life, and the client is happy. 

Fall 2022

Position: Event Planning Intern

Student: Economics Junior

This fall I am interning with Bett & Co Events, an event planning company locally based in Austin that primarily handles weddings. I found this internship through a friend who couldn’t make it to an assisting gig she had offered me. It was because I picked up this assisting job, that I met the owner of Betts & Co who I hit it off with. Following that day, the owner told me about an internship program she often grabbed students from UT for. Since being accepted as an intern, some of my responsibilities have included creating design inspiration through design boards that are presented to clients and used for determining what items need to be sourced for a particular event. Vendor sourcing is another major part of my internship, as it is essential to ensuring all of the necessary materials are acquired from outside sources. Other responsibilities have included social media postings, client onboarding, shadowing meetings, and various other administrative work. My favorite part of this internship so far has been developing relationships with coworkers and vendors! I love the opportunity to get to know new people!

Summer 2023

Position: Intern 
Studen: Economics Junior UTNY Participant 

CPS Events at The Plaza is the event planning team of the iconic Plaza Hotel. This team at the hotel handles all events that are in the large event spaces including the Grand Ballroom, the Terrace Room, The Oak Room, and more. Originally, CPS Events did not have an internship position available. However, I emailed the general manager and requested an interview to see if they needed any help  this summer. Additionally, I included my resumé for his review. By reaching out multiple times, CPS 
Events created a position for me. Throughout my internship, I have shadowed professionals during events, site visits, and tastings with clients. Furthermore, I have taken inquiries from potential new clients, audited databases, and created menus for events. My favorite thing about the internship so far has been creating connections with my team and seeing the variety of events that goes through such a historic hotel. 

Summer 2016 

Position: PR Intern
Student: Sociology Junior
I worked for a company called "Elizabeth and James" -- a womenswear label in New York City that was founded by Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. The brand is huge and is sold around the world, but the company is much smaller than one would expect. I worked as the PR/Marketing intern and I was part of a team of 3, including myself, that run this branch for E&J Globally. A "Day in the Life" as an intern here requires a lot of hard work, focus, and time management. Hours are from 10am - 6pm but usually I would usually finish around 6:30 or 7. In the mornings, I caught up on emails that were received (typically from international retailers/stylists) overnight, and prep any orders that needed to be sent out or picked up in the first few hours of the day. My main jobs were sample management, sample tracking, email communication with retailers and stylists, and compiling press clippings at the end of the week. This job requires a lot of responsibility and organization, as I sent many packages to international destinations with the only sample of certain pieces of clothing that were ever created. Like I said, Elizabeth and James is a small company. Ready to Wear was just brought in house by Mary Kate and Ashley and every employee has taken on a bigger workload to compensate. Because of the small teams, every employee has an important job and has duties that are taken seriously and that are very needed. The work environment is very friendly and relaxed, but chaotic at the same time. There is a lot of work to be done and not a ton of people to do it so there is a very logistical mindset throughout the entire office of "just get it done" and somehow, everything always does get done. Working in a closer environment allows for everyone to get to know each other better, and it is nice to build relationships with people from not only your team, but other teams across the label.

Fall 2018

Position: Project Management Intern
Student: Sociology Junior

I interned with the Girls Empowerment Network (GEN) as their Project Management intern this semester. My main objective was to help plan and organize their annual We Are Girls conference in Austin. However, I did many other tasks including, but not limited to, outreach, communication, and information collection. Although I only worked with GEN for a short time, I really admired the environment and staff. I would love to work with them in the future when they have open positions available.

The Girls Empowerment Network is a non-profit organization with a mission to ignite the power in girls by teaching them the skills to thrive and believe in their ability to be unstoppable. They work with girls in grades 3-12 to encourage their success and confidence. Throughout my internship, I got to see this mission in action, especially because I volunteered with a group in addition to interning. There are intern positions available with the Girls Empowerment Network that involve direct service in addition to the one I did and other office positions.

Some skills I gained were assertive communication in a professional setting and detailed event planning. I also learned more about the inner workings of a non-profit organization, which was my main goal. I have volunteered with non-profits for many years, but it is not the same as seeing firsthand the daily tasks that come together to make the organization successful.

My day-to-day tasks usually centered around preparation and logistics for their annual We Are Girls conference. Some of the tasks I performed were creating lists of potential speakers for the conference, picking up supplies for speakers, writing reminder letters to girls to attend the conference, and awarding scholarships to girls and their families. If you have a passion for girls’ empowerment and wish to gain experience in the nonprofit world, I would definitely recommend interning with GEN.

Summer 2016

Position: Entertainment Public Relations Intern
Student:  Undeclared Junior

This summer I worked as an Entertainment Public Relations Intern in West Hollywood, California at a company called East 2 West Collective.  I worked under all of the publicists in the office and would complete a wide variety of assignments from them on a day-to-day basis.  I had to do some grunt work such as completing hundreds press clippings of our celebrity clients when they were mentioned in the media, and then updating and maintaining their virtual press kits.  I was assigned many research projects that required me to create targeted media lists, targeted celebrity contact lists, etc. Each research project was something fun and interesting for a specific event, movie release, award show, talk show, etc. I got to learn how to handle clients on red carpets and go to events and TV appearances that we arranged for our clients such as, the Teen Choice Awards, The Late Late Show with James Cordon, Maxim’s Hot 100 release party, and many more. I learned so much about not only becoming a publicist but the entire entertainment industry and how things work.  I never once made a coffee run and was always doing something that was related to Entertainment PR. The office is very laid back, friendly, collaborative, and comfortable. Everyone who worked there was very approachable and was always trying to help me learn. I got to wear ripped jeans and vans to work, unless we had a client meeting or event to go to, which was also a huge plus.  Overall it was a great place to work and learn if you’re interested in entertainment and PR.

Summer 2017

Position: Public Relations Intern
Student: Rhetoric and Writing Junior

This summer I was a Public Relations Intern for Paula Biehler Public Relations. Paula Biehler PR is a hospitality PR firm. Our clients are primarily Austin based restaurants. When I would arrive in the office in the mornings around 10, my supervisor Chelsea would ask me to help her with whatever she needed. I would normally star by doing a media placement search. A media placement search consisted of looking for media mentions of any of our clients. From an Instagram post, to a news story, if someone said something about our clients I would copy and paste the link and send it on to Chelsea. After helping with research, occasionally I would be asked to help make a social media calendar for one of our clients. This was my favorite! I would be assigned a client then go look at their previous Instagram posts to get an idea for the tone the captions should have. I would then go into the master folders with pictures of food, drinks, and interior, and pick the pictures I wanted to use. I would compile all the pictures onto a Google doc and then create captions to go along with the picture. The Google doc would have the date for the post, with posts being three times a week for a month. This was cool because every now and then I will go to the Instagram of one of the calendars I did, and see one of my posts. It makes it more real! If I wasn’t helping with social media calendars, I would help with even postings. If one of our clients had an event, I would get all the information for it and submit the event to various news publications, like Eater Austin, Austin American Statesmen, K-Eye News, etc. That was a job that was very important to get right because the success of the event was based on my clarity in the submitting it. Some days I was doing more calendars or just event postings. Or some days I would help run errands. This internship gave me a taste of what a PR career is like, I didn’t do anything the girls that worked there didn’t/wouldn’t do themselves. 

Fall 2020

Position: Assistant Account Coordinator
Student: American Studies Senior

The PR Boutique is a public relations agency based in Texas with offices located in San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas. They have a team filled with many experts that help to provide media relations, event marketing, community or influencer outreach, social media management and graphics and web design referrals for various clients located in major cities of Texas. They are a smaller public relations agency so their clients get to create a more personal connection to them instead of dealing with the larger public relations firms. They put their clients in the spotlight by creating relationships with digital, print and broadcast journalist and community influencers. These relationships that they continue to create help make sure they each of their clients' businesses remain in the spotlight and don't get forgotten.

I was able to find this internship by connecting with an old friend from camp. I had been researching the company and wanted to see if they had any internship opportunities available. I later found out that one of my counselors from when I was little worked there and so I reached out to her asking about their internships. While interning at the PR Boutique I had a wide range of assignments that I had to do. I wrote blog posts for a variety of clients and also for the company's website. I researched restaurants in Bee Cave, TX and made a spreadsheet listing all of them which helped create the "where you eat" page on the visit Bee Caves website that was being developed. I also had to contact various clients located in San Antonio, Austin and Houston to see when/if they had the editorial calendars and media kits available for 2021.I enjoyed doing that task because I got the opportunity to build relationships with some of the heads of the advertising agencies at those companies. I also had to work on a project pertaining to a new retirement community near the domain. While working on that project I had to research churches, doctors, and non profit organizations that would give information about the retirement facility if they were searching for pastoral care. Another thing I got to do was create event listings in major newspapers and online websites like Do512 and the Austin Statemans for one of our clients even coming up, BuzzFest2020. The most recent project I got to work on was creating a spreadsheet and researching to find the latest Austin based influencers. I had to research all over instagram and find family based and lifestyle influencers with between 30k-100k followers to be listed. My favorite thing about this internship was being able to learn about so many different things that I had no prior knowledge about.

I enjoyed being able to work closely with the other members of the PR Boutique and to build relationships with them. I loved this internship because if I was ever confused, I could always ask questions and not feel embarrassed by asking silly questions. I liked how I got to work with a lot of different clients and not just one particular company.

Fall 2022

Position: Content Marketing Assistant
Student: Psychology and Women's and Gener Studies Senior

 I found the Content Marketing Assistant position for Extended Education Ventures through Handshake. The duties and responsibilities include tracking ad campaign deliverables in Excel, and composing ad by writing copy and creating media for Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. I also help audit websites through Marketo, and edit the blog It’s Your Career. I am also in charge of creating UTMs for URLs so we can track the progress of campaigns. My favorite part about this internship is it’s hybrid, the supervisors are very nice and supportive, and I am never bored. I always have a lot of work to do. I am not a marketing major, yet I have learned so much about the field and now have great hands on experience to talk about in future interviews.

Fall 2018

Position: Project Management Intern
Student: Sociology Junior

I interned with the Girls Empowerment Network (GEN) as their Project Management intern this semester. My main objective was to help plan and organize their annual We Are Girls conference in Austin. However, I did many other tasks including, but not limited to, outreach, communication, and information collection. Although I only worked with GEN for a short time, I really admired the environment and staff. I would love to work with them in the future when they have open positions available.

The Girls Empowerment Network is a non-profit organization with a mission to ignite the power in girls by teaching them the skills to thrive and believe in their ability to be unstoppable. They work with girls in grades 3-12 to encourage their success and confidence. Throughout my internship, I got to see this mission in action, especially because I volunteered with a group in addition to interning. There are intern positions available with the Girls Empowerment Network that involve direct service in addition to the one I did and other office positions.

Some skills I gained were assertive communication in a professional setting and detailed event planning. I also learned more about the inner workings of a non-profit organization, which was my main goal. I have volunteered with non-profits for many years, but it is not the same as seeing firsthand the daily tasks that come together to make the organization successful.

My day-to-day tasks usually centered around preparation and logistics for their annual We Are Girls conference. Some of the tasks I performed were creating lists of potential speakers for the conference, picking up supplies for speakers, writing reminder letters to girls to attend the conference, and awarding scholarships to girls and their families. If you have a passion for girls’ empowerment and wish to gain experience in the nonprofit world, I would definitely recommend interning with GEN.

Summer 2023 

Position: Intern 
Student: Human Dimensions of Organizations/ Business Minor Junior 
The company I am interning for this summer is MML Public Relations, which was founded in 2001 by Merritt Loughran with the goal of being a boutique public relations, events and marketing firm based in Los Angeles. Since then, they have also opened an office in New York and have excellent teams in both locations. MML works with many beauty and health companies, some of which include Dermalogica, Codex, Monika Blunder Beauty, NYX Cosmetics, and VERB Haircare. I heard about this internship from a friend who did it last summer and absolutely loved her experience working there. On a day-to-day basis, my duties as an intern includes organizing and creating spreadsheets, assisting the showroom officer, 
organizing social media outlets and providing support for events. I love so many things about this internship, but my favorite part would probably be my ability to use a creative outlet on projects and to apply things I’ve learned in my 3 years of college so far to everyday tasks, such as all the help MIS (Management Information Systems) gave me for working in Microsoft Excel or how HDO (Human Dimensions of Organizations) helped me with communication skills in a professional setting. 

Summer 2016

Position: Entertainment Public Relations Intern
Student:  Undeclared Junior

This summer I worked as an Entertainment Public Relations Intern in West Hollywood, California at a company called East 2 West Collective.  I worked under all of the publicists in the office and would complete a wide variety of assignments from them on a day-to-day basis.  I had to do some grunt work such as completing hundreds press clippings of our celebrity clients when they were mentioned in the media, and then updating and maintaining their virtual press kits.  I was assigned many research projects that required me to create targeted media lists, targeted celebrity contact lists, etc. Each research project was something fun and interesting for a specific event, movie release, award show, talk show, etc. I got to learn how to handle clients on red carpets and go to events and TV appearances that we arranged for our clients such as, the Teen Choice Awards, The Late Late Show with James Cordon, Maxim’s Hot 100 release party, and many more. I learned so much about not only becoming a publicist but the entire entertainment industry and how things work.  I never once made a coffee run and was always doing something that was related to Entertainment PR. The office is very laid back, friendly, collaborative, and comfortable. Everyone who worked there was very approachable and was always trying to help me learn. I got to wear ripped jeans and vans to work, unless we had a client meeting or event to go to, which was also a huge plus.  Overall it was a great place to work and learn if you’re interested in entertainment and PR.

Summer 2017

Position: Public Relations Intern
Student: Rhetoric and Writing Junior

This summer I was a Public Relations Intern for Paula Biehler Public Relations. Paula Biehler PR is a hospitality PR firm. Our clients are primarily Austin based restaurants. When I would arrive in the office in the mornings around 10, my supervisor Chelsea would ask me to help her with whatever she needed. I would normally start by doing a media placement search. A media placement search consisted of looking for media mentions of any of our clients. From an Instagram post, to a news story, if someone said something about our clients I would copy and paste the link and send it on to Chelsea. After helping with research, occasionally I would be asked to help make a social media calendar for one of our clients. This was my favorite! I would be assigned a client then go look at their previous Instagram posts to get an idea for the tone the captions should have. I would then go into the master folders with pictures of food, drinks, and interior, and pick the pictures I wanted to use. I would compile all the pictures onto a Google doc and then create captions to go along with the picture. The Google doc would have the date for the post, with posts being three times a week for a month. This was cool because every now and then I will go to the Instagram of one of the calendars I did, and see one of my posts. It makes it more real! If I wasn’t helping with social media calendars, I would help with even postings. If one of our clients had an event, I would get all the information for it and submit the event to various news publications, like Eater Austin, Austin American Statesmen, K-Eye News, etc. That was a job that was very important to get right because the success of the event was based on my clarity in the submitting it. Some days I was doing more calendars or just event postings. Or some days I would help run errands. This internship gave me a taste of what a PR career is like, I didn’t do anything the girls that worked there didn’t/wouldn’t do themselves. 

Fall 2020

Position: Assistant Account Coordinator
Student: American Studies Senior

The PR Boutique is a public relations agency based in Texas with offices located in San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas. They have a team filled with many experts that help to provide media relations, event marketing, community or influencer outreach, social media management and graphics and web design referrals for various clients located in major cities of Texas. They are a smaller public relations agency so their clients get to create a more personal connection to them instead of dealing with the larger public relations firms. They put their clients in the spotlight by creating relationships with digital, print and broadcast journalist and community influencers. These relationships that they continue to create help make sure they each of their clients' businesses remain in the spotlight and don't get forgotten.

I was able to find this internship by connecting with an old friend from camp. I had been researching the company and wanted to see if they had any internship opportunities available. I later found out that one of my counselors from when I was little worked there and so I reached out to her asking about their internships. While interning at the PR Boutique I had a wide range of assignments that I had to do. I wrote blog posts for a variety of clients and also for the company's website. I researched restaurants in Bee Cave, TX and made a spreadsheet listing all of them which helped create the "where you eat" page on the visit Bee Caves website that was being developed. I also had to contact various clients located in San Antonio, Austin and Houston to see when/if they had the editorial calendars and media kits available for 2021.I enjoyed doing that task because I got the opportunity to build relationships with some of the heads of the advertising agencies at those companies. I also had to work on a project pertaining to a new retirement community near the domain. While working on that project I had to research churches, doctors, and non profit organizations that would give information about the retirement facility if they were searching for pastoral care. Another thing I got to do was create event listings in major newspapers and online websites like Do512 and the Austin Statemans for one of our clients even coming up, BuzzFest2020. The most recent project I got to work on was creating a spreadsheet and researching to find the latest Austin based influencers. I had to research all over instagram and find family based and lifestyle influencers with between 30k-100k followers to be listed. My favorite thing about this internship was being able to learn about so many different things that I had no prior knowledge about.

I enjoyed being able to work closely with the other members of the PR Boutique and to build relationships with them. I loved this internship because if I was ever confused, I could always ask questions and not feel embarrassed by asking silly questions. I liked how I got to work with a lot of different clients and not just one particular company.

Summer 2017

Position: Production and Set-Up Intern
Student: Rhetoric and Writing Junior

My first duties, and they are things I have found typical of many internships, are housekeeping tasks like unloading the dishwasher and taking out the trash. I then check my email to see what work has been sent to me to do that morning. My office communicated primarily through email since we are based in Boston but much of the work is shared with the New York office, which is where I have been working.

In a typical day; I assist with vendor research and pricing, venue research and deck creation, as well as venue visits. When we have events I also help with the installation and execution of events. I have learned a lot about the event planning industry and the various aspects that go into creating large-scale events, especially aspects that are not normally thought about.

Spring 2018

Position: Event Assistant Intern
Student: English Senior

Interning at Strong Events is a very rewarding experience especially since every day is different. My job title is Assistant Event Coordinator, and what is most enjoyable is how my entire day could change with just one email or phone call. Overall my internship involves assisting 3 lead event coordinators with planning events and attending event setups and breakdowns. Typically I work four to five days a week depending on how many events there. I arrive at the office at 9am on a Tuesday morning and check-in with all three coordinators to familiarize myself with their schedules for the week and gather assignments from each of them. After that, I set up at my laptop and work until 3pm depending on what assignments I am given. I am often assigned to research into an event theme in which case I seek inspiration photos of props we could fabricate, furniture we could rent to match their theme, and/or artwork that our artists could paint. Sometimes I assist with making proposals to send to clients when small rentals arise. This involves gathering pictures of our rentals, including the price for the product, and scheduling pick up and drop off times that are convenient for both our company and the client. If there is an event setup during work hours I often attend with a lead coordinator. Usually our events take us downtown where there are large venue sites. I usually leave work at 3pm but it doesn’t stop there. On the weekends I normally assist in event setups at early hours of the morning and event breakdowns at late hours of the night. A setup involves being familiar with the site layout and leading the build team by showing them where things should be placed. This can take anywhere from a few hours to multiple different days. Breakdowns take about half the time of the setup and are usually very swift. The work I do is very enjoyable and no two days are ever the same which is what makes it so thrilling.

Summer 2019

Position: Public Relations & Events Intern
Student: HDO Sophomore

I spent the summer of 2019 interning at the Riviere Agency. The Riviere Agency is a boutique public relations firm located in the Financial District of New York City. The Riviere Agency primarily does work within fashion however, they are open to working with whatever company that may need their services. The Riviere Agency’s location in FiDi puts them in close proximity to big time fashion media corporations such as Condé Nast and Refinery 29. They are located on Fulton Street, right down the street from the World Trade Center which was cool to walk by every day. The Riviere Agency’s mission is to provide services to brands who want to better their public image or need assistance in trying to alter the brand’s reputation. My job at the Riviere Agency was as a Fashion PR and Events Intern. As a Fashion PR and Events intern, I do a lot of assisting and preparation on major events such as Miami Fashion Week, New York Fashion Week, and Paris Fashion Week. Other responsibilities include putting together press clips and press releases, creating social media calendars, acting as a liaison between the agency and influencers/bloggers, and smaller administrational duties such as taking care of the mail and running errands. Here is a general overview of what my day as an intern at the Riviere Agency looked like:

12PM – Get into work. I sit at my desk, take out my laptop and get settled in. Lori (CEO and Founder), Nicole or Maseera give me a run-down of what I need to do, and I get right to work. The first thing I work on is checking emails. Because most of our events are back to back, the intern mailbox is constantly filled with event RSVPs and inquiries.

1PM – Lunch time! Usually we all grab a quick lunch together and bring it back to the office.

2PM ­– Send out the mail, run any necessary errands and go through the inbox a little more.

3PM – Back to work. I start working on press clips to send out to clients. It’s important to get the press clips done as fast as possible so that recaps and highlights from shows or events don’t become old news.

5PM – Research. In a normal day I spend about an hour researching influencers and bloggers to add to our Master Blogger List which is a huge compilation of contacts. I also take this time to sort the list. On top of researching influencers and bloggers, I look for cool restaurants, bars and clubs in New York City that could be a potential event venues.

6PM – Wrap up and go home!

Summer 2017

Position: Event Coordinator Intern
Student: American Studies Junior

A day in the life at Will Milligan Events is different every day. Event planning is a diverse work site because you are dealing with multiple different clients. One day you could be planning a huge, dazzling event for a tech company and another day you could be sitting at your desk for eight hours and run errands.

Every day I would meet with the WME employees and we would discuss the upcoming events for the week. I would fill out detailed spreadsheets for each event to make sure we have everything prepared for that. Each day I would be communicating with potential vendor sites through email and phone calls. Usually every day we had an event for the lobbying firm we worked inside of, BGR. That would involve staying late for a fundraising dinner or reception for politicians. While it could be stressful to stay past hours, it was important to due this due to the fact that this is what event planning is about. Going into event planning one has to know what they are signing up for. Events happen after regular work day hours usually and someone working in the event planning business has to be prepared for that.

There would be lulls throughout the day around lunch but I got the opportunity to walk through downtown D.C. and explore my surroundings which was an amazing experience. This internship has made me think about the true possibility of living in DC. I would highly recommend any college student who want to be an intern during the summer to live there. While it feels as though most people are working on capitol hill, there are a wide variety of jobs offered in the city and I think everyone should see that experience.

Summer 2019

Position: Public Relations & Events Intern
Student: Human Dimensions of Organizations (HDO) Sophomore

I spent the summer of 2019 interning at the Riviere Agency. The Riviere Agency is a boutique public relations firm located in the Financial District of New York City. The Riviere Agency primarily does work within fashion however, they are open to working with whatever company that may need their services. The Riviere Agency’s location in FiDi puts them in close proximity to big time fashion media corporations such as Condé Nast and Refinery 29. They are located on Fulton Street, right down the street from the World Trade Center which was cool to walk by every day. The Riviere Agency’s mission is to provide services to brands who want to better their public image or need assistance in trying to alter the brand’s reputation. My job at the Riviere Agency was as a Fashion PR and Events Intern. As a Fashion PR and Events intern, I do a lot of assisting and preparation on major events such as Miami Fashion Week, New York Fashion Week, and Paris Fashion Week. Other responsibilities include putting together press clips and press releases, creating social media calendars, acting as a liaison between the agency and influencers/bloggers, and smaller administrational duties such as taking care of the mail and running errands. Here is a general overview of what my day as an intern at the Riviere Agency looked like:

12PM – Get into work. I sit at my desk, take out my laptop and get settled in. Lori (CEO and Founder), Nicole or Maseera give me a run-down of what I need to do, and I get right to work. The first thing I work on is checking emails. Because most of our events are back to back, the intern mailbox is constantly filled with event RSVPs and inquiries.

1PM – Lunch time! Usually we all grab a quick lunch together and bring it back to the office.

2PM ­– Send out the mail, run any necessary errands and go through the inbox a little more.

3PM – Back to work. I start working on press clips to send out to clients. It’s important to get the press clips done as fast as possible so that recaps and highlights from shows or events don’t become old news.

5PM – Research. In a normal day I spend about an hour researching influencers and bloggers to add to our Master Blogger List which is a huge compilation of contacts. I also take this time to sort the list. On top of researching influencers and bloggers, I look for cool restaurants, bars and clubs in New York City that could be a potential event venues.

6PM – Wrap up and go home!

Fall 2022

Position: Meetings and Events Coordinator Intern
Student: Human Dimensions Organizations (HDO) Senior

I work at Strategic Association Management (SAM). I found SAM through the Moody College Online Career Fair in early 2022. I work on the meetings team as a Meetings and Events Coordinator Intern. At SAM, I assist with managing 5 major associations by analyzing data and helping to establish corporate governance through board and committee management. I also plan meetings and conferences for 6 major companies that house over 2,000 people each. I analyze companies and create meetings, and events plans through on-site logistics that deliver high-quality programs with streamlined costs, maximized revenue, and increased member participation. I also work to establish policies and procedures and execute the daily operations for our clients. My favorite thing about the internship is definitely the people that I get to work with and our client base. I love being able to attend conferences with my team and see all of our hard work pan out in real-time.

Spring 2018

Position: Event Assistant Intern
Student: English Senior

Interning at Strong Events is a very rewarding experience especially since every day is different. My job title is Assistant Event Coordinator, and what is most enjoyable is how my entire day could change with just one email or phone call. Overall my internship involves assisting 3 lead event coordinators with planning events and attending event setups and breakdowns. Typically I work four to five days a week depending on how many events there. I arrive at the office at 9am on a Tuesday morning and check-in with all three coordinators to familiarize myself with their schedules for the week and gather assignments from each of them. After that, I set up at my laptop and work until 3pm depending on what assignments I am given. I am often assigned to research into an event theme in which case I seek inspiration photos of props we could fabricate, furniture we could rent to match their theme, and/or artwork that our artists could paint. Sometimes I assist with making proposals to send to clients when small rentals arise. This involves gathering pictures of our rentals, including the price for the product, and scheduling pick up and drop off times that are convenient for both our company and the client. If there is an event setup during work hours I often attend with a lead coordinator. Usually our events take us downtown where there are large venue sites. I usually leave work at 3pm but it doesn’t stop there. On the weekends I normally assist in event setups at early hours of the morning and event breakdowns at late hours of the night. A setup involves being familiar with the site layout and leading the build team by showing them where things should be placed. This can take anywhere from a few hours to multiple different days. Breakdowns take about half the time of the setup and are usually very swift. The work I do is very enjoyable and no two days are ever the same which is what makes it so thrilling.

Summer 2017

Position: Event Coordinator Intern
Student: American Studies Junior

A day in the life at Will Milligan Events is different every day. Event planning is a diverse work site because you are dealing with multiple different clients. One day you could be planning a huge, dazzling event for a tech company and another day you could be sitting at your desk for eight hours and run errands.

Every day I would meet with the WME employees and we would discuss the upcoming events for the week. I would fill out detailed spreadsheets for each event to make sure we have everything prepared for that. Each day I would be communicating with potential vendor sites through email and phone calls. Usually every day we had an event for the lobbying firm we worked inside of, BGR. That would involve staying late for a fundraising dinner or reception for politicians. While it could be stressful to stay past hours, it was important to due this due to the fact that this is what event planning is about. Going into event planning one has to know what they are signing up for. Events happen after regular work day hours usually and someone working in the event planning business has to be prepared for that.

There would be lulls throughout the day around lunch but I got the opportunity to walk through downtown D.C. and explore my surroundings which was an amazing experience. This internship has made me think about the true possibility of living in DC. I would highly recommend any college student who want to be an intern during the summer to live there. While it feels as though most people are working on capitol hill, there are a wide variety of jobs offered in the city and I think everyone should see that experience.