For communication and public relations majors, internships are a must. Most students opt to intern semester after they finish all of their classes. However, for us unlucky ones with parents breathing down our neck to graduate so they can stop paying tuition (mianly us “out-of-staters”), we have to intern during our last semester of classes. That mean we have to find an internship in little ol’ Auburn. Not always easy, and not all that many appealing choices.

It actually doesn’t have to be so bad though. In fact, the City of Auburn itself offers plenty of opportunities for interning, especially within the Parks and Recreation department. And get this… they pay!

This semester the Parks and Recreation department has seven communications and public relations interns. Four of the interns work together planning every detail of Auburn CityFest, one works for sports directors, and the other two work with the community programs director.

The CityFest interns work together under the Public Relations Director and Community Arts Director to plan Auburn’s largest, free outdoor festival. CityFest features fine arts vendors, arts and crafts exhibitors, non-profit organizations, food vendors, live entertainment, and many children’s activities. They are responsible for booking entertainment and vendors, creating contracts, design elements for the festival, recruiting volunteers, generating publicity and much, much more. Some of their communications and PR duties include writing press releases, features, newsletters, PSA (writing and recording), and sometimes even making local TV appearance and interviews. Aside from all of their CityFest duties, they are still responsible for general PR for the Parks and Recreation department as well.

The Community Programs director currently has two interns this semester as well. The Community Programs office is responsible for planning all events put forth by the Parks and Recreation department. Some of these events include major annual events like Daddy-Daughter Date Night and the Love Your Heart Run. They also do weekly events like the Seniors Bingo. These interns are responsible for helping in planning and executing every aspect of these events. They also get lots of hands on experience with PR publications and press releases.

The city is always looking for help. If you are qualified, they can pretty much find an internship for you in any department of interest. They provide a wonderful local environment that’s fun and great to work with. Internships can seem hard to find, but sometimes you have got to look right under your nose. Who knew the city could give back to you in such a way!


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