Working for the St. Patrick's Day Parade provided me with significant experience in event planning, connecting with media and local officials, public relations writing, volunteer engagement and crisis communication. Everybody I worked with in the parade and the SBAWVC was incredibly helpful and made for a great internship that I have no doubt helped me towards kicking off a post-graduate career.
What I wish was different
Regrettably, my tenure coincided with the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, and as a result the parade I worked on never came to pass. This is certainly not the fault of the organization, only bad timing, and even this unfortunate circumstance proved to be a valuable lesson in crisis communication as the rest of the world worked to figure things out as well. I look forward to the day when the parade will be able to come back.
Advice
Don't be afraid to ask questions! As one of my first serious postings in my field of study, there were naturally times where I felt somewhat out of my depth. With the support of my colleagues, though, I was able to perform my role to the best of my ability and produce satisfactory results.
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Marketing and Special Projects Manager
September 2018 • Boston, MA
What I liked
I was initially hesitant about having an unpaid internship, I began to realize how great of an opportunity this was. From the learning experience I was gaining to the business connections I was making this internship has proven to be extremely valuable.
In addition to this, it surprisingly did not take up much of my time, I was still able to manage my time successfully between my other job, school work, and social life.
What I wish was different
I would say the one negative about this job was that the organization was lacking in personnel and this tended to stretch people thin in terms of workload. Fortunately they are heavily expanding the internship program to ease the workload for everyone and become even more productive.
Advice
I would say that like every organization or business, communication is key. This is a very small organization that is working tirelessly to manage and operate one of the biggest events in New England every single year. There are a lot of moving parts that work together and communication is a fundamental tool in that process.
