1. Final Internship Reflection
MY EXPERIENCE AS PART OF THE DOUGLASS
RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE MEDIA TEAM
By Jaclyn Weisser
School of Communication and Information Class of 2015

2. Brief Overview
 Worked “virtual shifts” running the Douglass Residential College
(DRC) social media accounts including Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, and G-mail
 Had weekly in-office hours that allowed me to work with my
supervisor directly
 Worked on the Social Engagement team under a student
manager with 3 other team members to run campaigns
 Adapted to company culture by learning the professional/specific
style of posting in the DRC style
 i.e. my posts became more specific to the social media platforms they were
intended for. When I posted to Facebook, we kept in mind that the alumni
would be our main audience. With posting to Instagram, the goal was to
create a visual collage of Douglass campus and events for students. Twitter is
used for creating conversation and reaching out to current/prospective DRC
students

3. Expectations
 I had expected to do more for the team in general
 I had expectations of working on several campaigns for different
deans/Douglass event planners but only ended up working on one
campaign during the semester
 Live-coverage of Douglass events a few times a semester
 Now I understand that when working in a large team, not all
projects are able to go underway as planned
 Sometimes there’s a goal for a project that falls through
 Sometimes only so many people can work on a project at once
 for example, my student manager Kristen had my team work on the Yule Log
campaign (posting in anticipation of this traditional Douglass event) but we
realized it was more of a one person job. We communicated as a team effectively to
decide who would officially run the campaign while the rest of us would work with
her providing extra assistance when necessary
 I learned the importance of stepping back when not everyone can take on a
leadership role. Doing so creates a more efficient team more likely to get a project
complete than having “too many cooks in the kitchen”

4. Why did I choose this internship?
 I chose this internship because I’ve always loved
social media and wanted to learn how to use it in a
professional environment to represent an
organization
 I stand for the values of DRC including women’s
leadership, academic excellence, and diversity
 The opportunity to gain interning and social media
skills while working for an organization that aligns
with my values was the perfect place for me to grow
professionally

5. Academic Classes
 Hyperlocal Newsroom
 Hyperlocal Newsroom was a journalism class I took in fall 2014 that proved to be very
helpful with this internship
 This class allowed for the students to both launch and write for a New Brunswick/Rutgers
online news site which also included blogs
 We incorporated social media and promoted our site through Twitter and Facebook
 We had to be professional and concise just like with my current internship
 I also learned about working in a team, sometimes from remote locations, which is a very
similar set up to my internship
 Because we only have bi-weekly meetings, a lot of DRC Media Team work is done virtually
 Hyperlocal newsroom helped prepare me for this because we had to do a lot of work outside of
the classroom to keep the news site running, just like the DRC social media accounts need to
stay active
 Through this class, I learned about effectively communicating with a group to get a task done,
which was very applicable in my internship
 Even when you can’t be face-to-face with all members of your company or team, its important
to stay in contact to complete tasks or work through conflicts
 For example, I was supposed to cover a Douglass event Monday but realized I had a conflict.
Through an app called GroupMe, a group messaging app that the DRC Media intern use, I
was able to communicate with my group and find someone able to cover the event for me

6. Typical Day in the Office
 Because of the unique set-up of my internship, it’s hard to describe a typical day in the
office
 My responsibilities included being in-office one a week, a 12 hour virtual shift, and bi-weekly meetings-
IF all of these were to fall on the same day for me, this is what a typical day “in the office would look
like”
1. As part of my virtual shift, I’d be responsible for checking the G-mail and seeing if any requests for posts
have been put in, posting to DRC Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter
 I learned “graphic design” through a website called Canva that allows me to make nice looking posts
with text for Instagram that are aesthetically pleasing as well as informative.
2. In office, I am responsible for the same social media tasks as listed above, as well as helping the
supervisor directly with any immediate tasks which sometimes included running out last minute to an
event to cover it
3. Covering an event includes live-tweeting, posting one Instagram post, and one Facebook post
 With a lot of practice, I learned effective event coverage is about quality over quantity- it’s more
important to tweet quotes and moments of substance that every single that happens at the event
4. Bi-weekly meetings
 This was when face-to-face communication occurred and were able to catch up and make sure we were
on the same page- each meeting would start with the managers letting us know if changes were being
made, what important events were coming up, and certain changes in the style of posting
• For example, we were instructed to avoid putting fliers on Facebook because it doesn’t make the Facebook page look
very aesthetically pleasing. We then learned how to make the same information look nicer with use of Canva to be
posted on social media
o We then broke up into individual teams- mine being the Social Engagement team- where we were assigned specific
campaigns and able to discuss ideas with each other

7. Challenges and Accomplishments
 My biggest challenge was learning how to adapt to an
internship that was not face-to-face but mostly
virtual
 Sometimes it was hard to step back when I felt like I
was doing “nothing” productive for the team
 Time management and communication skills were
sometimes challenging
 My biggest accomplishment was running the
campaign for “An Evening with Debra Zimmerman”

8. An Evening With Debra Zimmerman
 Because I had expressed my interest in feminist
media, I was put in charge of the campaign for the
event “An Evening with Debra Zimmerman”,
Executive Director of Women Make Movies and soon
to be the Laurie chair at Douglass
 I had hands-on experience drafting a campaign
 I drafted the campaign, got it approved, was able to
interview Debra Zimmerman herself, and live-tweeted
the event

9. An Evening with Debra Zimmerman
Outline of
campaign
proposal
Sample
graphic
designed on
Canva used
for the
campaign
Instagram post
from the event

10. Skills Developed
 Time management
 Because of the unique set-up of this
internship, time management was
essential. It was up to me to
remember my virtual hours,
planned ahead if I knew I’d be busy
during my shift- also had to plan
for events that I was responsible
for attending and covering.
 Interpersonal
communication
 Working with a team within a team
helped me to work on my
interpersonal communication- it
was important to be on the same
page as everyone even when we
weren’t physically in the same
space. Technology like G-mail and
social media like GroupMe and
Facebook helped make
communication possible. I think
this is important because as we
enter the digital age, there are
going to be more experiences
working with team members and
coworkers through technology that
mediates communication.
 Goal setting
 When it comes to setting a goal, I
learned the importance of how
time management comes into play
and that not all goals can be
achieved and you have to accept
that and move on to a new goal
 For example, when drafting a
campaign, it was important to
stick to the times and days I
had planned because people
(including Deans) were relying
on me to promote their event
effectively. Additionally, I had
the experience of a goal falling
through. I had the opportunity
to interview Debra
Zimmerman for the Douglass
website, but after sending it
through the editors, it still was
never finalized and shared. It
was explained to me that
“sometimes these things just
happen”- while I was
disappointed my efforts did not
have any tangible results, it
was still a good learning
experience in many ways. I got
to interview an important
person, write the story for the
interview, and then learn that
not all things are able to be
carried through.
 Professionalism
 I learned how to use social media
professionally (this includes quality
photos on Instagram, not “over-tweeting”
during live coverage of
events, making sure Facebook
posts are relevant to both current
DRC students and alumni, making
sure all posts were appropriate and
represented DRC’s values, and not
over-using emojis)
 I also learned about working within
in team and how professionalism
applies even when not in the office-this
includes simply reading and
replying to e-mails in a timely and
professional manner
 Being responsible for tasks and
projects that other people are
relying on you for is another
important element of
professionalism I learned.

11. If I could do it again…
 I will be continuing my internship next semester as
this is a full-academic year internship
 This time, I will be more prepared with the skills I’ve
learned and the experiences of the challenges I’ve
overcome
 Additionally, I have been made public relations
intern
 I’m going to learn how to write press releases for DRC while
working directly with my supervisor as well as gain more “in
office” experience as oppose to virtual

12. Career Field/Industry
As a result of this internship, I learned about the career
field of journalism, media studies, and social media.
 Sometimes when you write things, they don’t always get
published but you have to keep going!
 Communication is important in all fields, especially when
working in a field like journalism that may have you
doing work virtually from a computer
 Even when you work virtually, sticking to deadlines is extremely
important. Even if no one is in your face telling you to keep up with
your work, a group of people is still depending on you.
 Social media is extremely powerful in how a
company/organization is represented.
 Being able to run social media effectively and professionally is an
important skill as the world enters a “digital age.”

13. Goals
 Short term goal
 After graduating in the spring, I’d like to find an entry-level job
or paid internship within the media industry
 To accomplish this, I plan to send my cover letter and resume to
Jax Media, a fairly new media company that produces my favorite
television show “Broad City”
• Long term goal
• I plan to write television, blogs, and run social media for
feminist organizations/networks/companies
• I want to find an internship (like Jax media) that will help me get
my foot in the door. I want to start my own blog or vlog in the near
future to produce creative content to share.