Name: Lizzie Brown
Location: Sono Wharf, Norwalk, Conn.
Major: Business/marketing
Company: Coastwise Boatworks is a full service boatyard in business since 1976. The company sells, repairs, transports and stores boats.
Job Description: Brown, who says she's been around boats since she was born, spent most of her internship observing how the business runs, so she could make suggestions about how to improve it. "It was being managed poorly," she says. "There was no direction and nobody knew who to report to." Brown's organizational diagnosis recommended that managers be named in specific areas such as sales, so other employees knew whom to report to. Not exactly a novel concept, but one that Brown felt necessary if the company was to advance from a small company capable of storing 70 boats in the winter to handling more than 300. She also helped create an advertising campaign to spur sales of high-end, customized boats aimed at two markets: boat owners looking to upgrade and those wanting to downsize. She also helped create a new company Web site.
The Experience: When the 'job' was offered to take boats out on the water so people could see them, Brown jumped at the chance. "I went out a lot on the boats. It worked out nicely on the weekend," she says. But it wasn't just fun. The idea of bringing the product to customers worked well, as Brown found that groups of boaters often anchored near each other creating an easy opportunity for marketing. "A lot of people were like, 'What kind of boat is this? It's nice.'," she recalls.
Some of the concepts Brown encountered on the job were ones she recalled from some of her marketing classes. "It was a situation where I was seeing things I'd learned in my classes, but hadn't completely understood until I was dealing with them," she says. "The internship was based in marketing, so we were trying to figure out our target market. We started out with the idea selling it to people as 'the kids are done with college, so you should treat yourself to something,' We found that people wanted to downsize, but still keep the quality since these are a status thing for many of them."
Future Plans: Brown says that although the pull of the ocean and the boat business may be too strong to resist forever, she'd like to work in other areas of business such as corporate event planning.
Name: Andrew Gilson
Location: Zuma Beach, Malibu, Calif.
Major: Sociology/business
Company: The Malibu Makos Surf Club puts on summer camps for people interested in surfing and other water sports. The company describes itself as "a group of trained lifeguards, watermen and women, surfers, snow boarders, skateboarders, and teachers who formed in 1991 to provide expert supervision, instruction and training in various ocean and beach activities for adults and children."
Job Description: Although he was hired do a little of everything from daily invoicing to communications to secretarial work, Gilson spent a lot of time with campers and their parents in a mentor/customer service role. He also helped develop an employee handbook and the company's mission statement. In his analysis of the club for Miller, Gilson pointed out some inconsistencies within the business, which he recommended be run more like a corporation rather than a mom-and-pop store.
The Experience: Going to Zuma Beach in Malibu for work every day speaks for itself. Gilson, who grew up in New York, Los Angeles, London and Malibu, has worked at the club for the past five summers. Gilson's longtime friend Tom Corlis, a former lifeguard, started the club a decade ago and asked Gilson if he would help with the business side of the company since he was surfer at heart and was happier dealing with that side of the operation. Gilson says he loved interacting with the campers, many of whom were children of Hollywood actors and actresses. "It's a pretty amazing enterprise," Gilson says. "Tom grew up surfing in Malibu, which is considered the birthplace of surfing, and understood the area and the people. Working there was great and allowed me to watch the business grow from around 50 campers to many hundred."
Future Plans: "The camp definitely helped me with my networking and communication skills and showed me what it takes to run a business. I'm a pretty creative person and am good at selling things, so I'd like to be able to use these skills maybe in communications or advertising or start a business of my own."
Name: Carrie Howe
Location: South Burlington, Vt.
Major: Business/marketing
Company: SecurShred is a Vermont company that specializes in the disposal of documents such as customer lists, price lists, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, medical files, personnel files and handwritten notes. Its clients include banks, corporations, hospitals, colleges and government agencies.
Job Description: Howe, as a global sales and marketing assistant, spent months completing two in-depth applications aimed at expanding SecurShred's business. The first, a General Services Administration application, put SecurShred on a national registry for organizations needing federal documents shredded. This involved explaining the company's management philosophy, describing what the firm does, listing top clients, writing technical factors, and getting performance evaluations from clients. The second application involved finding out what it would take to do business in Canada - a market SecurShred wants to tap into since it is the only company in the region certified to perform the highest level of federal document shredding. This involved finding information about temporary work permits, truck permits, registering SecurShred as business in Canada, and talking with the consulate about work authorization and a host of other issues.
"Basically, I had to find all information about doing business in Canada," Howe says. "I had to write a paper that explained why we wouldn't be taking business away from Canada. It was a really good experience. I'll hear back by end of the year. I'll be very disappointed if they get rejected. I want every detail right and worried I left something out.
The Experience: In addition to her efforts on the applications, Howe did some cold calling, filing, answered phones and worked a booth at a business conference. "I learned a lot from the whole experience of being in a business setting. I started out in marketing and answered phones and did some filing, but it's still a good experience. Some days it wasn't fun filing papers for an hour, but it's part of every business. It lets you know what you want to do and don't want to do."
Future Plans: Howe plans to go to Chile and work for an American marketing firm. "Any kind of business experience I can get is helpful," she says.
Name: Sarah Ratcliffe
Location: Burlington
Major: Business/marketing
Company: Fuse Marketing is a youth culture marketing agency that connects brands with mass youth audiences through sports, music, fashion and other relevant cultural interests. Services include brand consulting, event marketing, communications, research and creative services.
Job Description: Ratcliffe started in consulting, but eventually migrated to the events department where she helped plan a post-event party for EMS Sports at the NORBA National Mountain Bike Series at Mount Snow. She also helped EMS with its "Raise the Roof Tour," which consisted of a bus with a climbing wall and other promotional materials touring around New England. Ratcliffe put together the PowerPoint slides for the tour. She also worked in the warehouse where she was responsible for gathering promotional products from Pepsi, Mountain Dew and other sponsors for giveaways. "I loved the whole experience," she says. "I got a good understanding of how marketing works. It was valuable to be able to put some of the concepts I learned in class to use at work."
The Experience: As freestyle skier, soccer player and hiker, working with fellow athletes was the perfect work situation for Ratcliffe. Although she didn't get to participate in any work-sponsored sporting events, Ratcliffe did play sports with fellow employees after work, something she thought helped create closer co-worker relationships and a better workplace environment. "People worked hard and got done what they had to do, but at the same time the environment was laid back and everyone enjoyed work. I think a lot of that had to with the fact that they hire people who like outdoor activities. We got together outside work and played softball and other sports and I think that helped everyone get along at work."
Future Plans: "I love sports and would really like top continue working in the sports action-related field," she says.
Article by Jon Reidel, first appeared in theview, Sept. 07, 2005