Marketing/ PR Internships: Intern Profile

As part of our marketing/pr series, we thought it might be a good idea to profile a real human intern who worked at a legitimate NYC marketing firm. So take a second to meet Jason Ridenau, an intern-emeritus at Agency.com, a Madison Avenue Interactive Marketing Agency that's part of the Omnicom Group...

Jason: I came across them in the newspaper last spring when I decided I was interested in learning first-hand about advertising before it comes time to start looking for full-time work. I also worked for NBC Digital last fall which made me interested in the internet and how it's become this mega-medium for communicating with people all over the world. Agency mainly designs online campaigns for big established companies like British Airways and E*TRADE. After a couple of interviews over the phone and in the office, I decided this was the best fit for me.

The most valuable aspect of my internship was the opportunity to meet people and learn about the working world outside my circle of professors and relatives. Whether it's in advertising or zoology, I think everyone stands to gain from getting out there. My day-to-day was hardly ever the same and was more or less what I made of it. The longer I was there, the better I get to know people around the office, what it is each person does exactly for the company, and how I can make the most out of my time in the office. When I decided to make the rounds and ask my coworkers about the backgrounds, interests, and decisions that led them here everyone I spoke with, from client services to creative and even the CEO, was happy to meet with me.

There are some aspects of my day though that became routine and were mostly for my own knowledge, things like checking e-mails and the Media and Advertising section of the New York Times. Most of my time was spent aggregating research into summaries and reports for the strategy team that say things like "68% of 18-24 year olds check their MySpace profile more than twice a day." One of the highlights of my internship was definitely this meeting I helped organize between Agency and TBWA, Agency.com's parent company, on how brands are using online media to communicate with consumers. Agency.com's senior planner combined my material with his own and I got to present in my own words how I believe online communities like Facebook and YouTube are the future of brand communications.

The bottom line is, I think, that internships are what you make of them and are important insight into the value of relationships in the working world. After almost three months at Agency.com , I learned a lot about the advertising game and established contacts that I know will be helpful in the future. I also felt extremely valued which, as any intern can tell you, is a big deal! I want to say one word to you. Just one word....Plastics.

We have mixed feelings about the final line of Ridenau's little vignette, but the truth is, and maybe this has something to do with marketing in general, but even people who haven't even graduated are always referencing The Graduate in this line of work. Just like with dudes who used to say true story, or with the same dudes who now say "cool beans," some things arise in marketing where you can't help but just say 'whatever!'

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