Name and Year: Alexa DePasquale, 2012 Hometown: Locust Valley, New York School: College Place of Employment: Mr. Youth Social Media Agency
Street: What exactly is Mr Social Media Agency? Alexa DePasquale: It's a marketing agency that focuses on word of mouth and social, interactive, and experiential marketing.
Street: How did you get this position? (Through Pennlink, independent application, a family friend, etc) AD: Through Pennlink.
Street: Paid/unpaid/credit? AD: Unpaid but we got a nice bonus at the end!
Street: What sort of work did you actually do? AD: I was part of the Brand Development team and I assisted in the development of new business pitches, created social scrapes, analyzed?competitive brands, identified insights to drive development of social media marketing strategies, and interacted with prospective clients
Street: Anything you would recommend doing as preparation for this internship? (classes/books to read/things to study) AD: Start to read about the industry through e-newsletters or different websites/blogs. You really need to get a feel for the pulse of what's happening in social media, what brands are using the digital sphere effectively, what new trends are happening etc. Places to start are Adweek.com, mashable.com, Online Media Daily, and Twitter.
Street: What did you gain from the internship-- professionally or personally? AD: Professionally I gained industry knowledge that can't be learned from a textbook. It was such a hands-on experience and I was able to fully participate in projects and have my opinion valued. It was great to interact with all the departments of the agency and learn about their different responsibilities. Personally, I further solidified my passion for branding and new business development, and I honed my teamwork skills.
Street: What was the best part of working there? Any perks? AD: The office was originally located in Chelsea Market so it was awesome to have a lot of choice of food for lunches. When the office moved to Park Ave we had a barista and weekly breakfast on Thursdays. I'd say most importantly, we had an incredible group of interns who were all extremely talented in our own ways and we became very close after the 10 weeks.
Street: Any cool or particularly memorable experiences? AD: When the office closed for good in Chelsea Market before the move to Park Ave we had an office wide slow clap at noon that was filmed. It was definitely one of those moments that you say, "Wow this is a sweet place to work." At the new office during downtime people would play videogames or foosball. We also had a fun office party mid-way through the program. Cool moments at Mr. Youth are pretty common. Advertising Age just voted Mr. Youth as the #2 Best Place to Work and it truly is an extraordinary place.
Street: Did you meet any notable people? AD: Everyone. All the employees and interns are extremely entrepreneurial and total go-getters. It was such an intellectually stimulating environment and it was great to be surrounded by so many creative and innovative individuals.
Street: Would you recommend it to other Penn students? AD: Absolutely!
