My Experiential Marketing Internship is Better than Yours

Blog - My Experiential Marketing Internship is Better than YoursAlmost everybody is familiar with that horrendous BEEP BEEP BEEP they wake up to every morning Monday through Friday; followed by a morning routine, and the commute to work. Some people dread the mundane routine that they follow day after day, week after week, month after month, but not me. Sure I have a half hour commute to work, but at least I was guaranteed 8 hours of unusual fun ahead of me. Why? Because I landed possibly the best internship any college kid could. Did I 110% love it every single day? No, but those days that I competed in an office hula hooping contest definitely made me love it even more.

When I moved to St. Louis to be an experiential marketing intern at Pro Motion, I truthfully had no idea what it would entail. Would I be getting coffee? Would I be making copies (first few weeks, that copier was my BFF)? Or would I gain valuable experience while learning aspects of the event marketing industry? Well, it’s my last day and I can undoubtedly tell you that not only did I learn a lot that will surely impress my marketing professors and future employers, but I also met a lot of great people and went on some sweet team bonding field trips.

If you couldn’t already tell, an internship at Pro Motion isn’t your typical internship. What I learned most about the event marketing industry: you have to go with the flow. That’s what makes it so exciting to work here. I knew every day I would be doing something different and although it might not be the most glamorous task, it was important to the program and it needed to get done. I definitely wasn’t expecting to hang out in a private airport hangar for a week with the heat index of 105, but that week gave me better insight into pieces of a mobile marketing tour that I hadn’t yet experienced. So, (I cringe at admitting this) I’m actually grateful for that week. Nor was I expecting to be placing multiple Subway catering orders each week for our Enphase Energy Tour, but if it wasn’t for me there would’ve been some hungry people at those events.

There were some weeks that I had to get up at 6 am and not leave the office until after 6 pm. As an intern, I was putting in almost 50 hours some weeks. And even though it isn’t one of Pro Motion’s core values, I think this company definitely follows the “Work Hard, Play Hard” motto. Sure I had to put in long hours, but as a result, I also got to show off my bowling skills at one of my first team bonding events.

The most important thing I learned from this internship is how big of a difference it makes when companies take care of their employees. So it makes perfect sense for Pro Motion’s first core value to be “Employees First Always.” In no way did I expect an “It’s not goodbye, but see you later” lunch, but my second to last day everybody went out to lunch to celebrate the end of my internship. I also wasn’t expecting a pool party at the end of one of the biggest mobile tours Pro Motion has done. But let me tell you, after those long weeks the extra lunches and field trips only made me love my internship even more.   And, I’ve learned so much that will help me in my career!