Doing an internship can be intense. You need to get used to a busy schedule while learning a set of new skills and dealing with setbacks and other hardships you might encounter. Furthermore, you have to adjust to the social setting as a new employee of a company which may lead to some awkwardness at the beginning of the job. While these things are indeed difficult, there are also many fun, valuable, and exciting parts about doing an internship. In this blog post, I want to share some of the best moments I had during my internship at Luxor Theater, and hopefully, by doing so I hope to excite future interns to start their new job.
Introduction Luxor Theater
The Luxor Theater is a large theater company in the Netherlands founded in 1917 in Rotterdam. As of today, they have two theaters which creates the opportunity to provide the public with entertainment and makers with chances to showcase their creative work. I worked as a marketing and communication intern, and I worked alongside a creative marketing team.
Creating a marketing campaign
Theaters want to promote their new theatre season and its shows from mid-June to September. Luxor Theatre promotes the new available shows through a campaign. This includes designing an online advertisement, a flyer, posters, and a promovideo. Our team started brainstorming in March and we met up every two weeks to discuss possibilities and ideas. My supervisor advised me to actively engage in the meetings and told me not to think about limitations but to focus on creative ideas. We came up with the idea to create stickers related to the new shows with the slogan: “What show sticks with you?” (Original: “Wat blijft er bij jou plakken?”). I had a lot of fun coming up with ideas and I felt very proud of the result. This process is something that will stick with me and has given me a guideline for future projects.
Behind the scenes look
I spent my days usually behind a desk. However, as an intern, I was curious about what a show and the preparation looked like behind the scenes. I asked the duty managers of the theatre if I could join them on a show night and they gladly accepted. I was shown how guests are greeted at the beginning of the evening, I took a look at what a customer service job entailed before a show, and how the duty manager communicates with the workers to ensure the guests have a great evening. I was allowed to go backstage to see the performers in their dressing rooms, which was very exciting. As a bonus, I was able to watch the show, in this case, Birmingham Royal Ballet, for free.
Thursday lunch
Every Thursday two workers from the company would provide lunch for the entire office staff of Luxor. This was a great bonding moment for workers and it gave an easy opportunity to talk to coworkers from a different team. I brought tortilla wraps and fresh ingredients to make your own wrap, which was a great success! Not only did I eat a great meal every week, but I also grew a stronger bond with my colleagues during these lunches.
I hope this made you a little more excited about doing an internship. Good luck!