My internship placement is with the Buffalo Urban Development Corporation (BUDC). BUDC is the city’s not-for-profit development organization leading revitalization through projects and initiatives that seek to promote investment. Prior to this internship, I was fortunate to intern at two for-profit organizations, so I was excited to learn about the similarities and differences with regard to marketing communications needs and strategy. Thus far, I have had the opportunity to ghostwrite a piece for a sponsored section within a feature issue of a business newspaper. I had previously ghostwritten a speech for COM 330 and I felt that the assignment acquainted me well with the mindset one must adopt when writing in the voice of someone else.
In the meantime, I have been assisting with various grant requests that I am learning involve similar strategy as found throughout the public relations field. The same questions that are necessary for developing a public relations strategy are also at work in grant requests such as “What’s on the minds of the people reviewing this application? What’s important to them, etc.?” A difference that I have observed at this internship is that in a smaller organization there is less “division of labor.” In my past internships, there were individuals focused solely on public relations, graphics, internal communication and so on. The need to be multifaceted is a must and something I strive to improve upon. My next project is to develop communications for an upcoming retail initiative for the holiday season. This will entail writing news releases, social media content, and media relations. It’s been a busy past couple of weeks, but it has proved to be a rewarding and enjoyable experience!
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