Augustine Golf Course PR and Markerting #3

July:

Wow the summer has come to an end! As I finish my internship and close a chapter in my life by leaving Virginia and moving down to my new home in North Carolina. I look back at this summer and at everything that I accomplished with my internship and all the things that I learned.

This last month was filled with a wedding on every Saturday with tournaments during the weeks, so Tracey and I had our handfuls. But we kept our heads on while we finished up last minute details when it came to weddings and crazy nervous brides.

The middle of July I helped Tracey plan two more weddings and which seems to be a fun Sweet 16. Tracey brought me in on this meeting especially so I could help the girl find things that she liked by having a girl somewhat closer to her age then her mother to understand what she was looking for. So I knew what she wanted when it came to bright colors and fun décor ideas. Although I won’t be able to see the Sweet 16 through since it’s at the end of August and I will be back at school with all of you! It was exciting to be a big help in what this girl wanted and to give her great ideas. She really made me feel old planning her Sweet 16 when I'll be 21 in August! I know the event will be executed perfectly.

Before I left Tracey and I sat down and updated the books I created so they include:

• Floor plans
• Menus
• Bar menus
• And information details

The end came to a closing and I finished my last wedding at Augustine Golf Course. It’s very sad to leave such a great staff that I got along with so well and some of my now good friends. Tracey and I had a great summer full of laughs and nice long talks about life as we worked.

Tracey is leaving Augustine Golf Course to further working in the wedding business by looking to open her own company with her good friend Heather who is a wonderful wedding cake maker. They will be an unstoppable team with their great ideas and crazy personalities. Tracey offered me a job working in the Marketing and PR for the company when I graduate when she gets it up and running, so the trio will be back together ready to make the venue great!

I said my last goodbye to the best summer job I've had the past 2 season, maybe one day I'll go back but until then that chapter is closed! 

Augustine Golf Course PR and Marketing #2

The fact that I have to think all the way back to June just blows my mind because I feel like we were just there! It came and went so fast.

Work in June:

The start of June was great! With the increase of tournaments and summer weddings start opening up Tracey and I got busier and busier. When not working on Sales and Marketing, I helped Tracey with the little things around the course. 

She just acquired a new position at the course being the Head of Food and Beverage Department. Her job now entails being in charge of the whole kitchen plus staff along with now booking and dealing with special events that people would like to be held at the course. She does the job of three people, and without a doubt she does a fantastic job with what little background she has in it.

 She was the reason why I loved coming to work every day and still hung around after I was off the clock. Being able to come to a job that you like to do is great. The joke around the course is that I’m Tracey’s “mini me”, and honestly I took pride in that because I knew that I could never do as good as a job as she does. If someone had a question or needed help and couldn’t find her they came to me, and I was able to redirect them on what to do. I learned that all from her. Working with her and knowing what she likes and how she likes it done is the key to a good work environment and knowing what needs to be done without being told or asking what to do.

When it came to promoting Tracey put me right to work making flyers to put on the websites and all over the club house promoting Happy Hours and Brunch which occurred all the time!  

Among not only doing busy work on the computer, we had multiple meetings with brides that I was able to sit in and Tracey asked my opinion on certain details and what we should do in regards to making things up to the bride’s expectations. We were able to go above and beyond what the brides wanted because we wanted to make her day as special as possible.

With all the crazy on having to get every thing down for wedding without missing certain times and what needed to be done when on the day of, Tracey and I got created. We came up with binders that I put together check list and filling in the details of the weddings. The list containing items like:

·      When the wedding is

·      # of people attending

·      Who was catering/what is the meal/what time is served

·      Champagne toast/ are we providing

·      What time are vendors coming

·      What color linens/are we providing

And so much more but I won’t bore you with the details. So much goes into wedding and I was able create those pages so the staff know what they should be doing at all times so they don’t have to be directed constantly. Honestly, the book was a success I made two copies each containing tall the information needed for the big day!

I was lucky enough to not go through all the details and set up for each wedding and events, but I was able to work them too. I was able to see everything come together from the beginning to end which made it all worth it to me to see all the hard work come to life.  Along with working with some great friends along the way!

Up next the final month July!

Augustine Golf Course PR and Marketing #1

So I have some catching up to do since my internship just got finalized! 

My name is Caroline Spignesi I’m going to be a senior in college at Bloomsburg University this coming fall and I’m very excited to see what is in store for me! I am a Mass Communication Major with a Minor in Marketing. As some of you know I used to in Virginia, so I was lucky enough to do my internship at Augustine Golf Course in my neighborhood before we moved down to Charlotte, North Carolina this past week! I was the first intern that the company has ever had, so they are excited to try it out!

Oh the month of May! Finals week came and went nice and smoothly, thankfully! As a finished up at school I had another task on my hands which was to go pack up my apartment and drive all the way back to Virginia to start my internship! After being home for couple weeks I went into work to start my first day!

End of May:

As I went into work that day I went in not wearing my normal summer uniform from past summers, but now I was in business casual wearing my flowered sundress ready to see what was in store for me.

That day went into to Tracey’s office my (my boss) and she went over everything that we were going to being this summer in Sales and Marketing along with a little PR. My job every day entitled updating all of the social media pages about events that would be happening that week at the clubhouse, tournament updates and specials for wedding bookings! We wanted to get our company out there as much as possible in the community because Augustine has the opportunity to be something great!

That day Tracey informed me of a Bridal party that would be happening in the coming weekend and I was going to help set it up and sit in on the meeting for the final details of it to get any final request to be made.

My first event went great! We had it on the porch with a mimosa and wine bar along with a buffet breakfast. The event was only 50 people, but I was able to jump right in with Tracey and we set up the whole thing. Everything went super smoothly and the bride said the service and set up was excellent. She said that she was going to pass our name along for future events. That was our goal at Augustine to go above and beyond for everyone so they will return and bring their friends and families in for other events.

 As the work for the summer keeps coming in I’m excited to see what is next for me with this internship!

Penn Highlands- The End

Things have been calm at the hospital since my last blog.

I worked on collecting information and organizing it for a website for our plastic surgeon. It took a few days to understand how the information needed to be set up, but it will be pretty cool to be able to look at the website when it's finished and say that I wrote some of the copy for it

Our biggest fundraiser for hospice is the annual Chili Bowl. I created a news release, radio commercial and took a picture to help promote the event. I also got to tour the radio station while the lady in charge of hospice recorded an interview.

I also got to work with the graphic designer and create two other brochures. And also made a list of posts that can be shared on the Penn Highlands Facebook at later dates.

I wrote a news release for the volunteer coordinator to tell the community what the volunteers at the hospital do and also to inform them that we are in need of volunteers.

My final article for my internship was about BBQ Safety. I worked with the hospital dietitian and created the article. It was fun because after I wrote the article I made my boyfriend and my brother pose by the grill so that I could include a picture with the article.

Since I’ve been finished with my internship for a few weeks I’ve been reflecting on my time spent at Penn Highlands. I truly believe that my Williamsport Crosscutter internship falling through was the best thing that could have happened for me. I loved every minute of my internship and I learned so much. I really enjoyed getting to work with people who work in different departments of the hospital. Not only did I learn about PR stuff I also got to interact and learn about different things that happen in the hospital. Amy taught me a lot about how to write for a paper and about AP format. This internship has me extremely excited to graduate in May and pursue a career in public relations.