Learning Reflections Round # 5: Oct. 21 - Nov. 3

The last few days here at the Fox Valley Park District flew by faster than the speed of sound. I am not exaggerating when I say this, because so much has been happening around here - special events, video marketing, working on the Winter Activity Guide and so on.

What have I learned during the last couple of weeks?

Video slideshows as a marketing tool
With the evolution of the Internet, the need of graphics, photos and videos is bigger than ever as people often rely on getting the information they need from the organization's website or the social media channels.

Videos are one of the smartest marketing tools out there, according to Agent-EZ-Site. Post a video on Facebook and watch it spread like a fire. From "like' to "like" and from "share" to "share" - you will have tons of people viewing it and then, hopefully, attending the event you are promoting. 

Animoto video maker has been my best friend for the last few days here at the Fox Valley Park District. 

The marketing coordinator for the Fox Valley Park District - Cathy Cronin Schwieger (who also happens to be a children's author) taught me how to create videos using the Animoto software. Since then I have been obsessed with it. I helped Cathy with creating the last two videos, but the video about the fitness centers is entirely my production.










Cool, right?

I also learned that creating a video slideshow is not about patching a few pictures together. It is about telling a story with your video. And this is probably one of the most important marketing lessons that I have learned during my internship - to be creative and interactive, but to also connect with people and to allow room for two-way communication.

Meeting the Publics
Not long ago, during my Public Relations class, the importance of narrowing your marketing efforts toward your publics (also known as your audience) was pointed out over and over and over again. As a marketing intern, I have had the opportunity to meet the Park District's publics more than once at various special events and celebrations. I have also witnessed from a first hand that the Park District takes its audience very seriously. Every email, social media comment or face-to-face encounter with the public is watched carefully with this goal in mind - providing the best possible costumer service.

A great example of how to appreciate the costumers was the week of Oct. 21 to Oct. 27, which was dedicated to the 20th anniversary celebration of Eola Community Center. People were treated with free activities, special offers and giveaways.

Recently, a new playground was built at Eola Community Center, and the Park District celebrated the completion of the playground on Wednesday, Oct. 23. The whole marketing department was there to interact with the community. The celebration included free crafts, refreshments and giveaways. 

From my photos, you can see how the new playground looks now:

The guests feasted on delicious apples.

The marketing department took the opportunity to promote the upcoming special events and programs.

This is me with Parker- the Fox Valley Park District mascot.

For more pictures of the Eola Park Playground Dedication event, visit the Flickr account of the Fox Valley Park District.

Learning Reflections Round # 4: Oct. 6 - Oct. 20

It is hard to believe, but the Fall Semester at Aurora University is almost over. Yay for me as I am graduating in December! Many of my fellow classmates, however, are on the lookout for internships.

Did you know that nowadays finding an internship is almost as difficult as finding a job? Especially unpaid, for-credit internship?

I was surprised to learn that one of my classmates applied for internships at three different companies. One company declined her application, and the other two never responded.

According to Simon Pullin of milkround.com, a website specializing in opportunities for school grads and job seekers, there are at least 100 applicants per internship for the hottest job fields – IT, marketing and business. Read more about the fierce competition for lending the right internship in this article.

And if you are an Aurora University student from the Adult Degree Completion Program, and if you are on the brink of pulling your hair out as a result of your fruitless attempts to find the right for-credit internship, please don’t give up! The counselors from the Career Center will give you great tips on how to find the internship that is right for your professional growth. They will also advise you on how to manage the insanity of balancing job, family and internship, but don’t expect miracles. You will (many times) struggle to keep it together, and you will count the days until graduation comes and saves you from all the learning experiences associated with being a college student.

With this being said, now that I am half-way through my internship at the Fox Valley Park District, people ask me all the time if it is worth completing an internship instead of just taking a class. Without a doubt – yes.

For those of you who have asked me how I have found my internship – I am hoping that this post will help you a little bit when it is time for you to begin the hunt for the right internship.

I remember how it all started. Several months ago, Dr. Toby Arquette and I were discussing potential ideas for my senior capstone project. I wanted to work on a PR related project. He suggested that a not-for-profit organization would be the best fit for my ideas. As I was sitting in Dr. Arquette’s office, I knew right the way which organization I wanted go with – you guessed it right – the  Fox Valley Park District. It was a no brainer – I had a great personal experience with various of their programs. And for two years my son attended preschool at the Eola Community Center. Two happy years, during which my little boy learned his colors, his ABCs and his numbers – while I was sitting comfortably  in the lobby – waiting for him, browsing through all the fliers, brochures and activity guides of the FVPD – with absolutely no idea that some day I will be working on those activity guides as a marketing intern.

But let’s go back to my senior capstone project. I met with Jeff Long, public relations manager at the FVPD, shared my ideas for my assignment with him, and had the chance to meet some of the people from the marketing department. I was impressed by their friendliness and professionalism. When it was time for me to search for an internship, I decided to ask Jeff if it would be acceptable to complete my internship at the FVPD. With the approval of Human Resources Department, he said yes.

As the saying goes, the rest is history.

And now, Dr. Arquette, after addressing my classmates, I will go into details of what I have learned during the last two weeks as an intern, as I know that this is what interests you the most.

Since I am half-way through my internship, I decided to go back to my original learning objectives and to cross out the ones that I have already accomplished. This will help me to concentrate on the goals that I still need to work on during the next few weeks.

Accomplished Learning Objectives

• Improve my communication interpersonal skills - During my internship I am in constant communication (face-to-face, emails) with superiors, staff members and costumers of the FVPD. I am striving to interact with them in a positive and productive manner. I am also learning the language used in public relations/marketing, and I am completing assignments by the requested deadline.

• Expand my professional network - I am creating new professional contacts by working on group projects, such as the Winter Activity Guide. I have also had the opportunity to participate in the special event Zombie Invasion 5K, during which I helped with bag checking and with giving information to people to make sure that the event runs smoothly and that everybody has a scary good time.

• Expand my social media experience  - During the last few weeks, I have been updating the Flickr account of the FVPD. Almost 10, 000 photos grouped into 46 sets are in there right now! Not bad for starting from only 75 photos. And when I see that some sets have received more than 700 views, I know that my work had made an impact and that I have contributed to the marketing department of the FVPD. Facebook is on the agenda for the next few weeks.

• Improve my research skills  - I have researched the social media channels used by the FVPD competitors, such as the Bolingbrook Park District and the Naperville Park District in order to see what I can learn from them and to implement it in my future internship's efforts.

• Spreading the word about the FVPD special events  - I updated the event calendars of Oaklee's Family Guide, TribLocal and Daily Herald with information about the upcoming special events for the months of October, November, December, January and February.

Learning Reflections Round # 3: Sept. 23 - Oct. 6

Today marks the beginning of a new month -  October -  which means that I have been a member of the marketing team at the park district for exactly 36 days (yes, I've counted them).

When I started, it was still summer, but as I am writing this, I can see that the trees outside my window have turned into a gorgeous row of orange, yellow and brown. Autumn has come.

The arrival of fall has changed the atmosphere here at the park district as well. No more concerts in the park, bug fests, ice cream socials and splash bashes. Instead, it is time for pumpkin weekends, Halloween family nights, haunted houses and of course – for zombies. Tons of information about the upcoming special events can be found on the Fox Valley Park District website.

But let’s go back to the subject of zombies. The Zombie Invasion 5K that took place on Sept. 21 turned out to be one very successful event. After the race, people took pictures with the zombies, listened to music, had food and warmed up by the bonfire. How do I know all of this? I was there.

Have a look at the photos from the event on the Fox Valley Park District’s Flickr account!

And here is the latest update of my learning adventures at the Fox Valley Park District:

Winter Activity Guide Updates

Even though fall has just approached, this week we officially started working on updating the winter activity guide with information about the upcoming events, classes and services. The information that ends up in the activity guides must be absolutely correct. Many people pitch in with the creation of the activity guides, and lots of editing and proof reading takes place.

More information about the importance of the activity guides and the work that goes into their creation and updates will follow as I am sure I will have more learning curves to report about in the next few weeks.

Press Release

Another first for me was writing a press release for an upcoming event: Dinner Theatre with songs performed by the musical group TRiO.

Jeff Long, public relations manager for the Fox Valley Park District, edited the press release and prepared it for publishing. That day I had a class Writing for Communication and I decided to show both versions to my classmates. It made for a good discussion during the class break as we were just learning how to write a press release.

Zombie Invasion 5K

There is so much to be done before a major special event, such as the above mentioned Zombie Invasion 5K. Social media promotion, press releases, not to mention the huge amount of time that goes into planning and organizing of the event. Volunteers are extremely helpful when it comes to the park district's special events. They are always willing to lend a hand, but they need to know what to do. 

Last week I spend few hours helping Anna Kish (Community Athletic Liaison at Fox Valley Park District) with proof reading, printing and laminating the instructions she wrote for the many volunteers who helped out during the Zombie Invasion 5K. Here is a snap shot of just a few:

And here is the fun part: I volunteered to be the bag check person for the event, which gave me the opportunity to communicate with people directly and to learn about their expectations of the race and of the event as a whole. Bag checking was offered for a very first time during this year’s Zombie Invasion 5K for a small fee. Once again, listening to people’s opinion has proved to be priceless for the purpose of improving the park district’s services. I know that for next year, some changes will be implemented in order to provide people with a better service.

The photo below captures a moment I will treasure forever. This is me with Dawn Hartman (Senior Marketing & Communications Manager at FVPD) and Cathy Schwieger (Marketing Coordinator at FVPD).