A Philly Ad Girl turned Philly PR Girl
Second semester senior year… Sounds scary doesn’t it? Well that’s because it is. All of a sudden you come to the realization- wow. Temple University isn’t forever. I have already finished all of my gen eds. My friends are talking about jobs and moving away. And graduation is coming up- FAST.
My name is Jenna Baldino, and I’m an Advertising major in the Lew Klein College of Media and Communication. I have a concentration in Media Planning and Account Management. For me, graduation seemed like it would be the end of my life. Becoming a real person and finding a job is scary! I decided what I needed to do was inch my way into the real world with an internship. Being that I already had an internship in advertising, I decided to try something new, and a little outside of my comfort zone. I got an internship with Philly PR Girl (PPRG), a public relations & events firm. The office is on 13th and Walnut and I work three days a week. PPRG works with clients ranging from health and wellness, to restaurants and entertainment. Getting this internship was the best decision I could have made for myself, and college career. I learned so much and have gained so much experience, which I will be taking with me when I leave.
At Philly PR Girl, I hold the position of Marketing Assistant. As the Marketing Assistant I write, edit, post, and promote Philly PR Girl and our clients and events. I assist just about everyone in the office! This position is not limited to just one task, and, through my internship, I’ve worked on many projects and learned so much.
During my time as an intern, I have been the main person working with our two clients, Optimal Sport 1315 and Hand and Stone Logan Square. These two accounts are mine, and through working with them I write, create content, and promote and post for them. By working with these clients, I mainly come up with their monthly media schedule. I create Tweets, Facebook posts, Instagram posts and Insta Stories. I write all of the content before the first of the month and then send them to company for edits and approval. To make the social schedule, we use Excel, mapping out what content will be shared. I write, come up with ideas and create all of the graphics for these account. Upon approval, I schedule the posts. I learned how to use Buffer, Hootsuite and Facebook scheduling to do this. Before the month starts, I already have the entire month of content planned. At the end of the month, I work with our Social Media Director, Jessie to look at metrics and make the social media report.
Another main project I work on is the Philly PR Girl Blog. I am a blog contributor, which means I help post, write and create content for the blog. At PPRG, we use WordPress. I now am proficient within WordPress and post weekly blogs. I also am the main writer for This Week In Philly. TWIP is a weekly blog, posted every Monday, sharing all of the events happening in Philly that would be fitting to our demographic. I do research to find the events, and then, write a small summary and compile all of this into one. I also write a tweet relating to each individual event to be shared on the PPRG Twitter, which is schedule through Buffer. Writing this blog is my favorite thing I do at PPRG, because I feel like I’m finally in tuned to everything going on in the City!
Along with the clients and blog, I also help with events. PPRG has two upcoming events, with which I have been helping. Mind Body and Bubbly is coming up, and has been a semester long project for which I was fortunate to be on the team. MBB is a health and wellness fair. This event will be having over 30 local venders dealing wellness and beauty from Philadelphia. The other event I have been seeing come together is PhotoPop. PhotoPop is an interactive photo exhibit that will be open all summer long at The Bourse in Old City.
I truly am grateful for having this internship at PPRG. I have learned to use so many programs and have improved my writing and editing skills. This internship has given me connections with so many people within and outside of the office. I feel as though this was a great stepping stone and I feel confident in my skills and experiences that I have gotten here and am excited to use them in wherever I go after college.
This is super interesting! I have heard a lot about PhillyPRGirl and I know that it’s a great agency doing great work! It’s always a great experience when you can get your hands into a lot of different fields and work with many different people from whom you can learn a multitude of things. As someone who is also working in the same fields, I can sympathize with the need to learn quickly and multi-task. Thanks for the insight!
Hi Jenna, I loved reading your blog post. I have met multiple people who have interned for Philly PR Girl and I have heard nothing but extraordinary things about the firm! It seems like you have really enjoyed your time there and have learned a lot of valuable lessons. It also seems like you were able to dip into a lot of different aspects/projects during your time there which is great for your future career! Great Job!