Escape Rooms & Copywriting
Hey, guys! My name is Mary Watson, my favorite color is green, and I’ll be graduating with a Bachelors in Advertising this winter.
Since August, I’ve been interning with Steel Owl Productions, a small creative agency in Philly. Steel Owl specializes in gamification – cool!… What is that? Gamification is simply turning content into game form for enhanced engagement and learning. Many corporate companies have hired Steel Owl to write/build escape rooms – like Procore. You’ve never heard of Procore, and I didn’t know who they were before this internship. I suppose this would be my first lesson for students looking at jobs and internships; you’re probably going to come across work for companies you’ve never heard of, and are not initially interested in. Only so many 20-year-olds get to do work for Glossier or Nike. Do NOT be discouraged if you’re writing or designing for a company with less mainstream-cred. In fact, I think I had more of an awesome experience with my internship than if I worked with some big name – which brings me back to Steel Owl and Procore.
So, my internship is with Steel Owl, who was hired to write and plan an escape room event for Procore – a construction management software company based in California. This event was designed to train employees on how to better sell their product. Beyond writing copy for in-game content, I gained experience hiring talent, taking notes during meetings, managing emails, conducting company research, digital design, and event management. I gained all of this experience, AND I got to fly out to California to help with the event. I never imagined doing work for a construction management company, but I’m so fortunate for the experience this internship has granted me.
While it seems corny and sounds like an easy answer, my favorite part in all of this was working with a team of people, going through difficult work, getting over the hump, and celebrating with new-made friends.
This experience taught me that I enjoy working with a team. As advertising is a very collaborative field, I know that I can look forward to a career with my degree.
(The cover photo is of my roommate, who I was fortunate enough to hire as a game host for the event in CA).
Hi Mary, thanks for sharing your experience! Steel Owl Productions sounds like such a unique company, and your work on the Procore escape room project is super inspiring. It’s awesome to hear how you gained so many valuable skills, from writing and digital design to event management, all while discovering how much you enjoy collaborative work. Flying out to California for the event must have been such a rewarding experience, and it’s clear that this internship has set you up for great things in advertising. Wishing you the best!