Kelley Pettus

Log of Work Completed at ACVB

 

During my internship, I was required to keep a log of what tasks I completed and how these tasks related to my goals. This is the log I turned in on March 21. For a word document, click here.

 

Time Frame: 1/22/2014 – 3/21/2014

Hours Worked in log period: 110

 

 

Tasks and/or projects completed:

 

• Conducted background research for upcoming yearly Marketing Plan: I collected other company’s and CVB’s marketing plans and map representations of their cities to put together a folder of thorough background research in helping ACVB to create their 2014-2015 Marketing Plan.
   

• Created a document for and logged Fulfillment: The ACVB likes to track who requests their Visitor Guides and how many. I created a document and logged all of the requests from the beginning of this fiscal year (October 2013) to present. I update this weekly.
   

• Created a document for and logged True Austin Requests: The ACVB’s blog gets a lot of requests about what visitors should do as well as other miscellaneous questions. I logged all the requests for this fiscal year with a count for different question categories to see what was requested most. I also compiled common responses to questions to better fulfill the needs of visitors in the future. I update this monthly.
   

• Press Kit Updates: The ACVB restructured its press kit to include new categories and remove redundancy. I created documents for new categories and updated older documents. The press kit was then re-uploaded on the website for media. The new documents on the website are updated weekly.
   

• March Leisure Newsletter Content: I wrote a content piece about West Austin for the Visitor Newsletter that was sent out in early April. After researching, I tried to convey how visitors could best get a local experience at various locations in West Austin, focusing on dining and outdoors. I now have a content piece to add to my portfolio.
   

• Assembling Press Kits: I assembled several boxes of nearly 1,000 items to be mailed to the company’s largest media and trade show of the year in Chicago in the upcoming week. I had to request items, count, and package them to be sent economically.
   

• Creating a list of needed images for gallery: The ACVB is updating its image gallery for both in-house and online media requests. I reviewed the company’s current photo gallery and created a “wishlist” of needed photos.
   

• Adding new members and partner information to CRM system: I created nearly 1,000 entries for members and partners in the CRM System (Simpleview) from business cards the PR Coordinator had collected. The new listings allow the Sales and Marketing teams to communicate with members and partners much more quickly (with the click of a button.)
   

• Organization of ACVB collateral: The ACVB was disorganized in terms of physical marketing collateral, a mess that spanned 2 rooms. I was tasked with organizing the collateral and creating space for a newly hired Marketing Coordinator to sit. The materials are now organized so that the new Coordinator has her own cubicle and the materials are neatly located in drawers based on convenience and need.
   

• Million Dollar Pitch: A well-known journalist requested a specific pitch about how to spend $1 million in Austin in 3 or 4 days (ideally around SXSW.) I assisted the PR Coordinator in researching prices for various hotel buyouts and store buyouts, contacting individual luxury businesses. I then compiled the information into a spreadsheet to send the detailed info on how to spend that green over a long weekend.

 

 

Projects in Process:

 

• Biweekly blogging: I blog biweekly for the ACVB’s Austin Insider Blog, which profiles places where visitors can get a “local” experience. I have written 2 posts that are currently published and 2 that will be going up in the next week. I also have one due this coming week. The blog allows me to have a variety of content to add to my portfolio.
   

• Press Research: The ACVB has 2 important press familiarization trips coming up. I have begun researching the journalists for the PR Coordinator so that she has a better idea of the reach the journalists will have, particularly the international ones. I should finish this up this week.
   

• Calendar updates and image requests: I work daily in Simpleview (ACVB’s CRM system) to respond to image gallery requests and calendar requests. I update the company calendar with both requested items as well as with information from members and partners.
   

• Photographing for ACVB: ACVB is updating its image gallery, and with my photocommunications minor my supervisor has asked me to participate in helping bolster the gallery. Based on the image “wishlist” I created, I am going out to photograph different locations in Austin.
   

• Individual appointments with ACVB colleagues: I have set up appointments with various ACVB employees both in my department and in others to have a one-on-one and better understand their roles. These meetings begin this week.
   

• Marketing Plan: While the background research for creating a better-designed marketing plan is complete, the marketing plan itself is not. The marketing department will be meeting in about a week to discuss the first draft of the marketing plan, and interns will be helping with the edits.

 

 

Skills Developed/Enhanced:

 

• Writing: Through these projects, I have enhanced my writing for content pieces like blogs and newsletters. I have also enhanced my ability to write for travel-specific pieces.
   

• Researching: Through these projects, I have learned better keyword searching, and I have also learned to just call a company when I have a question. Usually questions are answered much faster when I can get someone on the phone, and they tend to provide me with more information than a website would offer.
   

• Tracking: Through these projects, I have learned the importance of tracking requests. Tracking as a process rather than retroactively is much more efficient, and it also allows the company to see changes over time and to better understand the needs of the people they serve.
   

• Organization: In a department that had recently fired 2 people for their mismanagement of both digital and physical collateral, it became a necessity to be able to organize things as quickly and accurately as possible in my first few weeks as an intern. It has also been necessary to implement processes to maintain this new organization so that mismanagement does not occur again.

 

 

Goals Completed:

 

• Biweekly blog posts: I reached this goal by producing content that was suitable for the ACVB’s visitor blog. I alternate with the other marketing intern so that a blog post is created once a week.
   

• Learning to use ACVB’s CRM system: I have worked daily in the CRM system Simpleview and have met with my supervisor to understand all the functions and subfunctions available in the system. I have had reinforcement through practice daily.

 

 

Goals in Progress:

 

• Understanding how ACVB works as a whole: I currently have meetings scheduled beginning this Friday. I will conduct one-on-one interviews with members of my own department as well as other departments in the ACVB to better understand their roles. I currently attend the weekly marketing department meeting, but talking to each person individually will give me a deeper understanding. In particular, I have had networking lunches with three of the company’s dept. managers and continue to receive advice from them on an informal basis.
   

• Better understanding what drives traffic to a successful blog post: I still discuss this weekly with my supervisor. With my biweekly blog posts, she gives me advice on what might be a catchier title or how to make my blog posting more concise. She helps me to share it on the company’s various social media outlets to drive more traffic to it. This is something we will continue to discuss with each content piece I create.

 

 

Questions, Challenges, Accomplishments: 

 

• Challenges: One major challenge at ACVB has been attitudes. There is one coordinator in particular who tends to shirk her duties on interns, and my supervisor has talked to her about this. She treats the interns and her colleagues as though they are not her equals, which is really frustrating and just not an appropriate attitude in the work environment. Learning to work with her amicably and setting boundaries (saying no when necessary) has become an important skill in this environment. I have had previous challenges with some inappropriate comments that were made in the workplace by other employees, so overcoming negative attitudes is definitely something that I have worked on.
   

• Questions: With the one coordinator that tends to shirk her duties, I am wondering if ACVB does not need another coordinator to help out. I don't think the marketing department could function without its 2 interns, so I’m wondering if I should propose the idea to my supervisor. I’m also wondering how I could even position that conversation in a way that wouldn’t be perceived as attacking a colleague’s work.
   

• Accomplishments: I feel like my biggest accomplishment at ACVB has been having a content piece published in the newsletter. The blog has a variety of contributors, but creating content for the newsletter is much more competitive. I was also given a more creative topic than most in the newsletter, focusing on the West Austin experience. I was allowed to do a lot with this, and I appreciate the independence my supervisor gives me to accomplish my goals while working at the ACVB.