by Ashley Fong
Photo credit: Emma Chang
My internship with Summer@Eastman this past semester has been filled with lots of learning and smiles. From meeting new people in different departments outside the office to building email lists and creating content timelines for social media, the internship provided me with many learning experiences over the course of the semester. I worked with Dr. Sylvie Beaudette, Summer@Eastman Director, and Andrea Schuler, Summer@Eastman Program Coordinator, to prepare for the upcoming 2020 Summer Session.
One of my favorite things about this internship was tabling at the annual Upstate New York Music College Fair. Every year, high school students from across upstate New York visit Eastman to learn more about college music programs and speak with representatives at the fair. I was able to talk to many people about all the summer programs Eastman has to offer. It’s exciting and encouraging to see lots of young students interested in participating in our programs!
Upstate New York Music College Fair, October 10, 2020. Photo credit: Sylvie Beaudette
While working as Summer@Eastman’s Marketing Assistant intern, I was introduced to facets of marketing I hadn’t known much about before. In addition to making content for Summer marketing, I learned about all the logistics, budgeting, and planning needed in order to make advertisements possible. (There are so many ways you can advertise, but it must always be done on a budget!) I also learned about the differences between advertising digitally on websites, physically on pamphlets and programs, and even audibly on the radio.
As part of my internship, I also researched summer programs at other schools and institutions. It was interesting to learn about all the different types of organizations and summer programs that exist for each instrument and style of music. As a harp performance major, learning about all these different organizations has made me more aware of the music world and allowed me to see more outside my niche of harp.
I also enjoyed learning how to choose photos and content to build the actual advertisements for the summer programs. Many factors are involved in content selection: it is not only important to have content that is relevant to the program; each ad should also convey inclusiveness, diversity, community and represent everything that Eastman is in addition to music. Thinking about these factors while searching for ad photos for a summer program such as trombone choir really makes a difference: an ad with a carefully-selected photo will convey much more than an ad showing only a photo of a trombone.
I have had an amazing experience working at my internship this semester. I was able to learn so many things that I didn’t know going into it. Before this internship, I thought marketing was all about creating content and planning when to release certain advertisements, but considerations like budgeting and messaging are just as important. This internship has definitely taught me how to be better at program marketing, but it has also taught me that positivity and kindness can bring joy to not only your work but to the people around you as well.
Ashley Fong is an Eastman School senior, majoring in Harp Performance. Ashley also works as Summer@Eastman’s Marketing Assistant intern as part of Eastman’s Arts Leadership Program.
At the Lyon and Healy harp factory in Chicago. Photo credit: Yumiko Endo Schlaffer