The Interns Get to Work
Welcome to the second edition of the Fall 2011 Intern Blog!
It’s been a week since the last intern blog and we have accomplished a lot! Last week we welcomed Ashley, the Eyewear Intern, into our ranks, had an amazing Lunch and Learn with Candice the Chief Giving Officer, and continued working with our teams! We’ve also been working together on a couple of big projects. Lauren, the Campus Club Intern and my wonderful desk mate, spearheaded a project to promote Start Something That Matters events at college campuses around the country. Blake, the founder of TOMS, wrote his new book, “Start Something That Matters,” as a guide to help create people meaning in life and work. The goal of these campus events is to provide a forum for college students to ask themselves and their friends what matters and to inspire them to follow their dreams.
A group of interns banded together to help Lauren create and test two installations that students can use at their events. Some interns cut out and spray-painted a stencil to create a poster, while the other half of the intern team worked on a multi-media project putting up clothes lines and attaching pictures, signs and handwritten goals.
Meghan, the Environmental Design Intern, and Eric, the Brand Design Intern, work together to create a Start Something That Matters poster.
Katelyn, the Retail Marketing Intern, works on the clothes line project.
Working outside on the projects was really fun; especially brainstorming ideas inspired by starting something that matters! Our best idea? A grocery bike delivery service for the elderly. I can’t wait to see what students across the country come up with at their events!
Another big event for TOMS happened last Sunday at the Abbot Kinney Festival. Strategic Partnership/ Marketing Intern Brittany was the point person for the festival! Here is Brittany’s perspective on the event!
On day 3 of my internship my manager, Rachel, sat me down to tell me that she was passing the responsibility of planning the Abbot Kinney Festival booth to me. I was now in charge of everything – coordinating all the supplies for the event, teaching all the interns about the festival and eyewear as well as the general set up of the event. Rachel gave me the general guidelines of the event and what had already been planned. My role was to ensure that the event went off without any hiccups.
While the days leading up to the Abbot Kinney festival were hectic, I knew that I had all the necessary components of the event on my checklist and had confidence in the TOMS family and my fellow interns to pull it off. On the day of the festival we set up the booth on the corner of Broadway and Abbot Kinney and prepared ourselves for a great day.
Brittany, the Strategic Partnership/ Marketing Intern, at the booth she helped create at the Abbot Kinney Festival in Santa Monica, CA
As the festival became more crowded TOMS fans streamed past the booth expecting to see shoes, but were surprised to see the new eyewear. TOMS interns were able to teach people about TOMS new One for One effort and show off the cool shades. Not only did we have eyewear to try on and buy, but we had a photo booth! TOMS fans and TOMS interns took the opportunity to have some fun with prop eyewear and take a few pictures.
TOMS Interns in the photo booth! Meet Ashley the Accounting (A/P) Intern, Lauren Campus Club Intern, and Meghan the Environmental Design Intern.
It was a challenge being the point person for this event because I was in charge of all the logistics, training the other interns who staffed the festival, and making sure all of the product got back to the appropriate department before I wrote the event wrap up document. I was really happy to receive positive feedback from TOMS fans, my fellow interns, and my manager. The event was a success and a great way to start my incredible internship experience!
These two events barely scratch the surface of what the Fall 2011 Interns have been up to - check back next week for more updates!
Alyssa
