Internal Perspectives

Every student of public relations understands the importance of internships for early career development. Most, however, don’t realize how much the rest of us enjoy having interns in our office.  Aside from all the heavy lifting they do, interns keep our office buzzing with energy, an endless stream of questions and genuine excitement.  They remind us why we got into this business and what it was like when we were just getting started.  One such intern was Madeline Koch, an exceedingly bright, hard working young woman who we were very fortunate to have as our colleague.  Madeline has achieved great career growth since her time with SP+A, and she recently agreed to tell us a little about her internship experience.

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My name is Madeline Koch and I am a recent graduate of the Scott Phillips + Associates, Inc. intern program. Today I am working as Director of Communications for Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development. I am originally from Minnesota and decided to return home when I graduated from Loyola University Chicago in 2009.

During my time as an intern with Scott Phillips and his team, I was responsible for writing and developing media tools such as press releases, media advisories and pitches, and worked first-hand to increase visibility for our clients. The most interesting part of my work as an intern for SP+A was the variability in its clients – I remember pitching to publications like the New York Times around the holiday season for one of our clients that tracked retail numbers and on the same day calling a trade magazine on customizing queue lines at airports – both of which had distinctly different media strategies.

As a boutique, SP+A gave me the opportunity to work directly with both clients and the media, allowing me to learn the important balancing act behind media relations that I still use today. As an intern, my cube was always very close to the associates and well within earshot, so I was constantly nervous to speak to reporters while keeping my voice down AND not say anything dumb. Though I went through the first phase of my internship not knowing if I managed to accomplish either of these things, I remember the first time Scott Phillips (president and founder) gave me my first confidence booster; he said I had a natural gift of speaking to people over the phone and helping them feel comfortable with the topic I was pitching. #win

Throughout the rest of my time at SP+A, I became confident in my abilities and continued to expand my knowledge of PR. In addition to the flexible work schedule I enjoyed, I was also invited to the team’s holiday parties and social gatherings. Needless to say, it was a great place to work because of the experience, but what really made the internship wonderful were the people I had a chance to interact with each day.

With this reason in mind, I’d advise any incoming interns to take full advantage of being around the associates: knock on their doors and ask them questions – don’t be shy. The greatest benefit to working in a small firm like SP+A  is the increased opportunity to interact with a few of the most experienced PR professionals in Chicago (and elsewhere).

Of course, you will also work in the same building as Maggianos…which is nice too (yum!)

Madeline Koch is Director of Communications for the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).  Prior to her role at the state, Madeline was Manager of Government Affairs for Comcast in St. Paul, Minnesota. Madeline graduated from Loyola University Chicago in 2009 with bachelor degrees in Journalism and Political Science. She currently resides in Minneapolis.