…or what I learned as a Marketing and Communications Intern at Mary Cariola Center

This month’s Guest Bloggers are Eve Jeanty and Kaylie Bodmer. Eve is a Senior at the State University of New York at Brockport and Kaylie is a Junior at the University of Buffalo. They spent the past few months working with Mary Cariola’s Marketing and Communications team and wanted to share their insights.

From Eve Jeanty…

At Mary Cariola, the marketing staff takes pride in helping each other succeed through their daily tasks as a nonprofit organization. Mary Cariola is not just a school, it is a strong community for people of all ages, ethnicities, and races to help each other and those in need.

**Marketing and Communications Interns Kaylie Bodmer (l) and Eve Jeanty (r) attended the United Way of Greater Rochester Non-Profit Summit.**

While being a Marketing and Communications Intern at Mary Cariola, I learned valuable information for my future career. Examples are media buying, implementing exceptional public relations strategies and the importance of branding your company to targeted audiences.

When I eventually create my own brand, I want people to recognize my professional values as being respectful, quality over quantity, intellectual and reliable. I would not trade my experience at Mary Cariola for anything else. The marketing team is caring and charismatic.

Anyone interested in the field of marketing should absolutely look into starting off at Mary Cariola! You will see how influential and inspiring the staff is while gaining a priceless advantage for your career.

From Kaylie Bodmer…

I applied to the Marketing & Communications internship at Mary Cariola Center with the hope that I would get an opportunity to work for a well-known local non-profit. What I did not know was all the amazing things Mary Cariola Center had in store for me. As an incoming Junior at the University at Buffalo, I wanted to gain hands-on experience and get a feel for marketing. The idea of diving right in was beyond intimidating, but the team made it seamless.

On my first day, I attended a meeting with team members. In that meeting I was asked my opinion directly by the CEO. From that moment, I knew the experience would be unparalleled. With the help of the team and my amazing mentor, I was able to immediately have a voice and partake in a vast range of projects. I got to do it all from event planning, research projects, posting for our social media, creating flyers and posts, assisting with commercial shoots, and giving feedback in meetings. Being a hands-on member of several projects and displays made me feel both connected and educated while making a difference.

I was also able to attend agency events which I would never have had the ability to do without this internship opportunity. I attended the United Way Nonprofit Summit, the annual Eat, Drink, and Be Mary event, and our night at Innovative Field. Throughout these events, I met many members of the community while being exposed to so many aspects of the field.

As the summer ends and I look back at the past couple of months, I can confidently say that the experiences and knowledge I have gained are beyond valuable. Learning about things like crisis communication, public relations, media buys, marketing, and much more are irreplaceable pieces of knowledge. The way that I was able to be so involved in my learning leaves me confident that I will never forget the things I have come to know and the people I have had the honor to meet. I cannot thank Mary Cariola Center enough for everything they have given me this past summer, and I am beyond excited to be able to utilize all the experience I have gained.