The summer after junior year of university, college students across the country race and network to be able to find that perfect summer internship. My name is Max Weiss, a third-year advertising student at the University of Florida who had the generous opportunity to work and learn from Rich Davis here at ThinkSpark this summer. Unlike most advertising agencies ThinkSpark operates fully remote, which before my start date I posed as something that might limit me from getting a full scope of the business. This sentiment could not be further from the truth.
In an age where most businesses are abandoning office buildings and turning remote, this specific internship opportunity offered some insight on how to work remotely and some of the pros and cons of doing so. I’ve learned how important communication is, and how this tool is vital to keep a company up and running. Working for a remote company, and not having your coworkers right next door has forced me to keep who I work with in the loop on projects I’m working on. This type of environment has forced me to keep better track of what I’m doing, and who I need to update when I reach them.
Next, I noticed how important the attention to detail is when presenting to clients and making pitches. This past week I was working on a presentation for a NLP Logix for their upcoming AI innovation conference. Before I started I met with Rich and Evan to discuss a game plan. They both emphasized on how to get the color to match and to make sure this presentation had an overall professional look. Going through these motions helped me get a better scope on how the creative process works, while also instilling lessons that I can carry with me throughout my professional career. Most of the work thus far has been mostly intern grunt work: fulfilling social media posts, editing websites and sitting in on calls. Up to this point, I have had the privilege of not only working within a single department, but getting to understand how a 10 person run company operates and what challenges they go through day to day. I’m very eager to see what else Rich and the team has in store for me this summer, and can’t wait to apply the lessons I’ve learned to any avenue I may pursue in the future.
