Weekly Rundown: Week 2

After taking off Monday because of Labor Day, I put in a lot of work in the office this week. I came in every day except for Monday, and worked a total of 14.5 hours, bringing me to a grand total of 27 hours completed for the internship.

This week I was able to complete most of the goals I had established for myself. I updated the spreadsheet the advertising artwork we had on file, and even though I have compiled most of the artwork, there is still quite a few advertisers that I do not have artwork from. Considering the fact that the deadline to get the program finished is fast approaching, I really need to make sure that I let everyone in the office know which ad's I am waiting on, so they can communicate that to their clients.

For the most part, my experience gained from this internship consisted mostly of producing the program, and reviewing advertising/corporate sponsorship contracts. This week however I received some first had experience in corporate sales. My first "sales assignment" was to call a potential sponsor who had been difficult to get in contact with. It was my first time calling someone with the intent of selling them something. Even though I was told he wasn't interested, it was still a valuable experience, and better yet, my biggest experience would come on Friday.

Because this is the tenth season of FireAntz hockey in Fayetteville, the front office decided to make a special offer to potential corporate sponsors. This deal, named "The Fire & Ice Package" includes 4 tickets to 14 different games, an eighth page ad in the annual publication, and a chance to win naming rights to the Crown Collesium for the hockey season, all for $990. Obviously the front office is making a big push, and wants to sell as many of these packages as possible. On Friday of this past week, I was given the opportunity to shadow Account Executive Erika Taylor as she made stop-ins at various Fayetteville merchants. This was the first time I had done something like this, and I learned a ton from Erika. We went to around five different businesses, and the varied in types of visits. Some were expecting us, some had some familiarity with the FireAntz, and some were simply cold calls. Seeing how Erika Taylor interacted with the potential partners showed me how important it is to be personable in sales.

Overall this week was very beneficial to my experience. I was able to achieve my goals set for myself from last week, as well as fulfill the expectation the FireAntz staff had for me and my internship. During this next week, I want to get all the advertisement artwork in and have them on file, and also hopefully get another chance to shadow a member of the FireAntz team as they go on sales calls. Also keep a look out for the next post, I've been brainstorming ideas for intermission contests and I'm going to post some of the ideas. Also I'm in the process of writing the first installment of my Evolution of a Program series.

As always, thanks again to all the member of the FireAntz organization for this great opportunity, and I plan on continuing to work hard, and prove myself.