Interning with the Akron Racers

  This summer I was a PR and Media Relations intern for the Akron Racers, which is a national professional fastpitch softball team in Akron, Ohio. I worked with a group of five other PR and Media interns. Our key roles were to generate buzz around the Akron Racers and their upcoming season. We were in charge of weekly blogging, day-to-day social media posts and other projects that were assigned by the general manager. During games, we took care of posting on social media accounts, specifically Twitter and Instagram as well as crafting the game story that would be posted on our website and the leagues website.

The key lesson I learned from this internship is not being afraid to fail or do something wrong, because whether you like it or not, there is a possibility of it happening. I went into this experience not knowing anything about sports or the industry. My main goal was to learn about things I knew nothing about and I achieved that goal. Now, I know what it takes to work down to the wire during a no hitter game and what to write for the game story. It’s more than play by plays, it’s the in depth details that matter.

I also learned to take risks and step up and ask for work. I have an interest with graphic design but never thought I was good enough to create things for an actual client. The Racers gave me the opportunity to design different posters and promotional materials for them that were posted online for their thousands of followers to see. It was an amazing feeling seeing my work being used to get people in the door to watch games.

The biggest piece of advice I have for future student interns is to make the best of every experience and step outside of your comfort zone. Taking the internship with the Racers was a huge leap of faith for me and I’m so glad that I spent my summer with them. In a cool turn of events, I was asked by my boss to stay on with them as a graphic designer during the off-season and into next year!

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