The Application

An internship in account services is almost unheard of in the advertising industry. Lets face it, who wants to put a student in with their clients, a setting in which all the deals are made; where the agency sells their services to the client. Can you trust the inexperience of a student?
One day, determined to make the most of the Career Fair at The Art Institute of Portland, I run into an account manager from Grady Britton representing the COLABORATORY internship offered for Summer 2008 by Portland Advertising Federation. After talking with her about the opportunity that COLAB offered I was stoked. I had to work that afternoon and presented the opportunity to my bosses and told them I may need six weeks off for the summer. They didn’t quite understand all that I was trying to explain, but they could sense my excitement. The rest of the day went by in a blur as I couldn’t stop thinking about how exciting it would be to get accepted.
After writing, editing, editing, and editing the application (special thanks to Bram Pitoyo @brampitoyo for his help with the layout of the work samples) I was ready to mail in the application. As soon as I dropped it in the mailbox there was a very slight feeling of relief and an even stronger feeling of desperation. I felt that at least one more chance to edit the application probably would’ve been a good idea. It was like an OCD obsession I had with making sure everything was exactly how I wanted to present myself.
Now started the long waiting period (extra long since I found out, right after I mailed my application, that the deadline for submissions had been extended).
The notification deadline came and went and I hadn’t heard anything. By this point I was feeling pretty bummed. I figured that I hadn’t gotten in so I was trying to figure out what my next plan should be. Then I heard from a friend that the notification period had been extended for another week! I still had a chance of getting in! More waiting.
I was at work when I saw a missed call from Hallie Janssen from Anvil Media, INC.letting me know that I had been accepted into COLAB and I needed to call her back immediately to accept the invitation. STOKED!!
Since then, I have eagerly, and somewhat nervously, anticipated the start date of the internship. As the date draws nearer (July 7th, 2008) I have received the COLAB survival guide that told me I’ll be working at Ascentium for the first two weeks, then HMH, and then Anvil Media, INC. From what I have researched and heard through others, all three agencies have varied personalities and produce exceptional work. I am really looking forward to working with these agencies, experiencing their different cultures, getting my foot in the door and, as students like to say, getting real world experience.
Check back as I will keep you updated on the experiences of my amazing opportunity this summer.