Hello, my name is Mary Vasilopoulou and I am a second year Communication-Science student.
As a part of my course, I had to do an internship for this semester and I chose to do my internship at the new breed PR and communication company Baby (formerly known as Bam-works), which is made up of a small team of creative people with background and knowledge in the world of fashion and communication. Initially to the internship, fashion and PR were some of my primary interests due to some programs from my course, as Persuasive and Corporate Communication, so I found this chance as an opportunity to dive into a world that interests me and gain insight on it.
Baby is a PR company based in Amsterdam, with a vast list of creative retail companies, such as New Amsterdam Surf Association, Dr. Martens, G-Star Raw, Yume-Yume and POP Trading Company. While being an intern there, I had to perform some creative tasks such as:
- PR Strategising
- Media relations and tracking
- Community building and
- Curate the partnerships with creative people
- Event Assistance
One of the highlights of my internship was our Dr. Martens x AA Magazine event, for new footwear collection launch event. Baby was in charge of the guest list for the event, and to make sure that the event ran smoothly. We checked in every guest, gave them greetings and instructed them inside to the floor where the event was taking place in, where they found they were free to perform in a scrap-booking event with magazine stickers and much colouring and drawing . This was my first work event, and I was very interested in the balance that we found between work and fun, as although we had a lot of details to take care of.
Although my position as an intern, I had the opportunity to experience the dynamic world of fashion PR, brainstorming sessions, PR strategising, event coordination – all of these needing the team to possess a fast-thinking problem solving approach, while also being creative. I was surprised about the Baby team’s ability to come up with disruptive PR strategies for their clients, while also being able to maintain the brand’s individual identity and vision. However, I also performed some l day-to-day tasks, which included the management of shared documents, tracking of media for seedings to influencers and stock management had to be translated into excel sheets as well as physically taken care of, as well as reporting the performance results of our actions yo all our clients, in form of reports.
During the period of my internship I have learned lot. I now have a considerably better grasp on the field of fashion PR than before, and have gathered insights about the Dutch fashion scene. Furthermore, I had the opportunity to gain and develop some graphic design kills in Photoshop as I had to create visually attractive media for editors. Besides that, I have also gained a lot of interpersonal communication skills, by networking with our guests, creative acquaintances and clients. With this being my first office job, it is understandable that I had my doubts regarding the environment and field I would experience, but also about my performance in the field. Some tips for whoever is planning to start their internship soon, are that you need to start looking for your opportunities early, be openminded and have a positive energy. If you are correct by being eager to learn, listen and cooperate you yourself will have fun in your environment.