My experience as an intern in the Marketing and Communications department of the Kaboom Animation Festival was enriching in ways I am bound to remember. And be the preparation for the festival as exciting and skill-enhancing as it was, I believe the best part about my internship was getting to experience the festival itself.
Now, let’s take it at the top. What was it that I did as an intern in preparation for the festival? I created and adjusted the copywriting material for our festival program magazine, social media posts, website, and newsletters, I helped identify target groups for different Kaboom programs and ways to reach them, and communicated with outside partners with the purpose of promotion. I enjoyed it immensely and the work environment was so creativity-enhancing and newness-oriented that I was allowed to explore different tasks and various ways in which to complete them freely. For instance, with the copywriting material, while there was always a template or examples for me to draw from, I was at all times permitted to be original and take my writings in a different direction. What is more, whenever I expressed my desire to explore some other tasks – as, for instance, when I informed my superior that I would like to learn to work in WordPress so I could help with the implementation of my texts on the website – I always felt heard and was provided with the opportunity to try.
Was the period of time leading up to the festival the best of my internship? As good as it was, no. The festival itself stole the spotlight. Allow me to set the scene: the first six days in Utrecht, in a beautiful, chic little cinema in the city center, the next four in Amsterdam, in the splendid Eye Filmmuseum. Between the 24th of March and the 2nd of April all Kaboom employees, collaborators, and interns breathed animation. Our enthusiasm the days before was bubbling up, but so was our anxiousness. Would everything run smoothly?
In the Marketing and Communications department, our strategy for the festival was sound. The tasks had been divided beforehand and I was in charge of creating copywriting material for several daily social media posts and conducting interviews with members of the audience. We tried to get the Kaboom magic across through every social media post and tried to get the audience to feel the joy of animation in the same intense way we, the members of the staff, did. For me, it was a true delight to get to talk to the attendees and get a sense of how they were experiencing Kaboom.
Throughout the festival, we worked long hours but were provided with lunch and dinner, and we were encouraged to attend the screenings that we were interested in. After having written about certain movies and programs months in advance, my curiosity was piqued by many of the events the festival had to offer, and I was thrilled that I got the chance to experience them.
Above all, working with the other Kaboomers was a real pleasure. We worked side by side, but we also enjoyed everything that the festival had to offer together. We attended parties and danced, we relied on each other when our tasks got at the time overwhelming, laughed, and welcomed long lunch breaks together. It was an intense, memorable, fulfilling experience that I am bound to remember and cherish!
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