By Brooklynn Loiselle, Intern
I cannot believe that I am already over halfway through my internship at The Hoffman Agency. Over the past month and a half, I have had such an incredible time and have gained such valuable experiences in the PR industry.
The most important thing I have learned is the value of building relationships with the media. It is so easy to send meaningless pitches to reporters in an attempt to have them cover your client. However, it takes a true PR specialist to learn how to craft a narrative surrounding your client that will engage and entice the reporter to learn more.
Our CEO, Lou Hoffman, gave me some incredible advice, which is applicable to pitching and to the overall PR industry. He said to find a story in everything you do. These stories make your announcement or pitch engaging, which will result in coverage. I think of a friend telling me a story — I only retell their story or ask to hear it again when I find it interesting. I keep this thought top of mind when drafting work for my clients.
So far, my favorite part of this internship has been the people that I work with. Everyone at Hoffman is so kind, accessible and excited for you as an intern. They really want to help you succeed. There have been so many times when I’m working on a new type of project, and I am unsure what to do. My teammates are there in a moment’s notice on Zoom, IM or by phone to help me with any kinks. Their constant communication and accessibility help me to stay productive while working from home.
However, your coworkers aren’t just there though for work-related projects; they are all there for life. One of my favorite mornings at Hoffman was one Friday morning when my email was blowing up, which is strange for a Friday morning. I tentatively check my inbox to find that I had been added to a thread discussing Taylor Swift’s new album, Folklore, which had just released the night before. The small email thread meant so much to me, because it showed me how my coworkers wanted to get to know me on a personal level.
As far as a favorite project goes, I am very proud of my work on the Nautilus’ coverage report, News Pulse. For this project, I monitor for our coverage from media and social media influencers, create images for each piece of coverage and generate a report to be shared with employees at Nautilus. I loved that the project resulted in a tangible asset that I can show others.
To anyone looking to start out in tech PR, my best advice would be to jump right in. Tech can be very difficult to understand, especially if you are not actively working in it. However, I love it because I learn something new every day. I never thought I would be able to have a conversation about 5G, SD-WAN or digitalization, but now I can because Hoffman encouraged me to dive right in and be as involved as possible with my clients.
I am so excited to see what I will get to accomplish in the second-half of my internship — and I am also still holding out hope that I will get to set foot in the office soon.
