As a freshman, I found myself surrounded by an overwhelming amount of new opportunities. Looking back on my first semester at Syracuse, my experience interning at Hill Communications on the Global Nomads Group team stands out as the most enriching. This hands-on journey introduced me to the fundamentals of Public Relations, and the rewarding feeling of satisfying the client.
Taking on new experiences may be just as daunting as it is exciting. However, with the right team, challenges become chances to do something great. I was privileged to work alongside Account Associates, Melanie Izurieta and Sophia Becker, and Account Executive Marissa Dworken. Alexis Peng led the way not only as Account Supervisor, but also as a great mentor introducing me to the world of PR.
Together, the team and I were able to solidify the message of Global Nomads Group, and better represent their mission of becoming a thought leader in global education. Our objectives included emphasizing GNG’s strides towards global youth education that highlights social-emotional development. Moreover, we sought to expand awareness of GNG to reach new audiences and grow an educator following with media partnerships.
Through background research, we were able to construct a project and strategy plan in order to develop the key message of GNG and strategize the work that we would tackle for the rest of the semester. By Week 5, we created a target persona to better understand the target audience of educators, form a media list of influencers and bloggers to reach the target audience, and began drafting pitch emails to the contacts on the media list. During the last weeks, we closed with content calendars for GNG’s Instagram and Facebook and created mockup templates using Canva. We also formulated a blog editorial calendar with ideas, created blog writing templates, and drafted completed blog posts to mold the future of GNG. It was a pleasure to see the foundation that we have built to help GNG move forward in its next steps to becoming a thought leader in education.
Outside GNG, my fellow first year students and I worked with Chelsea Stern to build our skills that would help us with the work we were doing with our brands. Through these mini-projects, I learned how to develop a budget for a project plan, write a press release, and pitch ideal partnerships. Though the time spent inside the lecture halls are valuable, the lessons learned gain their true value when they are applied to real-world practices. Getting the hands on opportunity to construct these projects and execute them with my team was truly amazing. After submitting each mini-project, I received helpful feedback from Chelsea that would assist me in improving the work I did with Global Nomads, and my team.
Overall, my time this year at Hill Communications has been one of learning and growing. The team and I are excited to continue our journey knowing that great teams produce great results.
If you are interested in knowing more about Global Nomads Group and their mission, please visit the website, Instagram, and Facebook.
