11月. 22, 2021

Alumnus giving back to Northwest by sponsoring advertising internship

作者:Edidiong dong- bassey，通讯助理

三十年来, 凯文·富勒顿, a 1988 和记棋牌娱乐 alumnus and the creative director of Springboard Creative, has supported students studying communication and mass media. 今年秋天, he further supported students to launch the Bearcat Virtual Agency. 

“I wanted to do something for the students in the communication and mass media department where they could work together as a team on real work, work in different roles with a real client and also be directed by someone who’s a professional within this field,富勒顿说. 

去年夏天, 富勒顿和雅克·拉默, 和记棋牌娱乐大众传媒高级讲师, connected to discuss other ways Fullerton could help students in the 传播与大众传媒学院 开启他们的职业生涯. 他们的对话构想了Bearcat虚拟代理, 一个10周, two-credit hour internship that mirrors other advertising and marketing agency internships, giving students an opportunity to gain profession-based experience in the industry.

今年秋天, 实习生和TJ Roberts一起工作, 亲属咖啡馆的老板, 发展咖啡馆的品牌和数字形象. Kinship café is a Black-owned startup coffee shop located in Kansas City, Kansas.

The team of interns converged weekly in a Wells Hall room converted into a meeting space just for them. It features a video conference table where they can discuss branding strategies with Fullerton and present ideas to Roberts. 变焦, Slack and other digital communication tools help the team coordinate efforts from their remote locations.

“The pandemic led me to see how we could do it because there were months my designers were working completely from home, 所以和记棋牌娱乐开始使用变焦和Slack,富勒顿说, 谁的机构设在堪萨斯城. “I found that I can have more interactions with students and help them out in more ways than before.”

Cailey Hartenhoff, 来自Council Bluffs应用广告专业的大四学生, 爱荷华州, understands that synergy between a team and client is important to any agency’s operations. As BVA’s account coordinator, she maintained communication between the team and Kinship Café.

“I’ve never been an account person and have the opportunity to communicate back and forth with the client, 这真的很酷,哈滕霍夫说. “I get to learn all this new stuff about how to communicate and establish deadlines.”

恩典斯蒂芬斯, 普莱森特维尔大学公共关系专业的大四学生, 爱荷华州, 了解信息可以成就或破坏一个公司的成功. 作为该机构的文案, she took responsibility for crafting the words and messages within the café’s tagline and website.

“I found a new passion for copywriting that I probably wouldn’t have without this internship,斯蒂芬斯说. “凯文很棒，这是一次独特的学习经历. The environment that we have is one where I can speak my mind because Kevin cares about our opinions, and he’s giving us all the work just like a full-time job would, 我真的很感激.”

Kyerra威廉姆斯, a senior and Kansas City native majoring in graphic design and studio art with an emphasis in drawing, 是该机构的平面设计师吗. She created logos and other visual elements that align with Roberts’ vision. She noticed improvement in her digital art and communication skills during the internship.

“I’m getting used to talking to my teammates,” Williams said. “Getting their input on what they think about certain things is helping me get used to the client, 我可以解释为什么我在工作中做了一些事情.”

Maddisyn峡谷, 来自King City的数字媒体专业大四学生, 密苏里州, 是该机构的网页开发人员吗. She will graduate in May 2022 and is excited to begin her career as a web developer or user experience designer.

“This internship will definitely help me obtain a future career because it’s going to be a huge part of my resume and portfolio,库姆说. “Northwest has allowed me to network with so many amazing people.”

除了Bearcat虚拟代理, Fullerton has lent his expertise to the AdInk advertising club, 西北学生传媒, and the 传播与大众传媒学院’s curriculum advisory committee during the last 30 years. He also offers career advice to students and reviews portfolios and resumes.

Fullerton’s commitment to helping students stems from his experience at Northwest. As an undergraduate student, he was a journalism major with a minor in graphics communication. 他是《和记棋牌娱乐》的设计师, editor-in-chief of the 1988 Tower yearbook and a member of the student advisory committee.

As the Tower yearbook celebrated its 100th edition this past year, Fullerton realized he had worked with almost all of the students contributing to the yearbook since he graduated.

“我很高兴能够帮助学生, 很高兴和他们一起工作, 看着他们成长, 没有什么比看到他们成功更让我高兴的了,富勒顿说. “It’s more fun to see a student I helped do well than watch myself do well. 我从中获得的快乐比我成功时更多.”  

Lamer encourages other alumni who want to give back to Northwest and help students to use Bearcat Virtual Agency’s on-campus model to pilot internships with other academic departments at the University.

“I think it can be across disciplines for profession-based learning,” Lamer said. “We have a lot of graduates who are in high positions in companies all over the country and world. They have the power and ability to set up a program like this, 所以我认为这是一个很好的模式, 而且很容易实现.”

For more information about the Bearcat Virtual Agency, contact Lamer at jplamer@sh-fyz.com or 660.562.1618.