A journey across the pond
Hashtags on Twitter, photos on Instagram, posts on Facebook all relating back to this concept of #internlife.
If you have a look at them, they’re quite funny – depicting that intern life is all about picking up people’s trash, running to the store for the office 20 times a day, being forced to enjoy doing all the mundane activities, yet I would beg to differ. As an intern myself, I can confidently say that everything is simply what we make of it. I have been an intern now for the last 2 months or so, and I love it. Let me show you what my #internlife looks like.
About a month ago, I approached the directors of SHARP with a crazy idea. I am originally from the Bay Area, located in Northern California and was heading home for 10 days. I knew that we had been trying to get in contact with Airbnb for a while now, and so then it hit me – the headquarters are located right across the Bay Bridge in San Francisco. The idea was to put something together and deliver it in person to Airbnb. Within a week, we had to come up with something creative, eye-catching, engaging, and whatever it was had to be effective.
My CV is in the form of a plane ticket. Clever, huh? Hence moving across the pond. Travel is something I find essential in fostering inspiration and personal motivation. Airbnb’s recent campaign #belonganywhere screams just that – there is beauty in everything surrounding travelling and meeting new people. As a team, we decided to put together a “first class” plane ticket and a passport to Yorkshire for 3 team members who work at the HQ in San Francisco. It was a project that was thought of and put together within a week – needless to say it was very exciting to be a part of. Along with the passports and tickets, I brought three CreativiTEA’s – our way of saying “hello” to prospective clients. It is a small package that includes a SHARP mug, SHARP branded tea, and a little card that has a little bit about the agency. The CreativiTEA’s were to be dropped off as a follow up a week after I presented the tickets and passports.
When I arrived home, I went across the Bay Bridge that Monday morning to drop off the goods. With their office being on a central street in the city, there is absolutely no chance of finding parking. So, I had to put on my emergency lights, park on the side of the street and run in; hopefully to not be turned down. I was a little nervous walking into their headquarters, feeling like I was dressed a little too casual for the occasion. I met the woman at the front desk, Alexa, who was quite nice and assured me that she would send up the tickets and passports to the correct people. I then proceeded to ask awkwardly if I could take pictures of their building space. Whether or not she actually sent them up, I have no control over. Although a lot of positive things have come from this trip to Airbnb. Not only did I get to visit home and see all of my family and friends, but I also got the chance to be a part of something bigger than me.
Intern life isn’t so bad, is it? Being given the opportunity to be a part of a project like this and being trusted to get it done has been a great experience. Oh, and to all my fellow interns, I would like to share one piece of advice that was shared with me recently by a mentor of mine. That is, “you can do whatever it is that you want to do, regardless of whatever whoever says”.
Ps. I have just heard that the CreativiTEA’s have officially been dropped off as our follow up – cross your fingers we hear something back!