By: Sofia Randazzo
This past summer, I got hired as a PR Intern for PARC-Plymouth Arts and Recreation Complex.
PARC is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit located in Plymouth, Michigan. Since its opening in 2015, PARC has been the Plymouth community's go-to place for theater, art, music, dance, culinary, education, fitness and recreation events for all ages provided by over 50 groups. PARC's aim is to lease office, studio and rehearsal space to organizations that offer a wide range of activities.
My biggest project during the summer internship was to help promote the theater inside PARC, the Jack Wilcox Theater. The theater isn’t just used for plays; it is also used for recitals and concerts, and as the theater seats are retractable, the space can also hold meetings, parties, receptions, fairs and more.
I helped market the theater through the use of graphic design, content creation, cover letter creation and contacting local theater groups, dance teams, photographers and private schools to see if they were interested in potentially renting out the theater for their events.
To begin with design and content creation, I created digital flyers to send out via email, a graphic for PARC’s digital billboard, designed the email cover letter as well as produced visually appealing social media posts showing off events that have been happening inside the theater. I also had the job to scan the PARC website and come up with ideas on how to advertise the theater better, as their website is the most popular source for potential customers to visit.
As for contacting companies and organizations, I had to do extensive research to find which organizations are close by, if they already have event space for themselves, if they were the right fit for renting the theater, etc. I created the cover letter on Canva and wrote a brief overview of who PARC is, what the Jack Wilcox Theater is, what it provides and why we think it would be a great fit for them. I sent out about 20 cold emails to organizations of different backgrounds around the city of Plymouth and Canton, and ended up successfully recruiting a theater group to rent the Jack Wilcox Theater as a place to hold their plays.
I learned a lot throughout the three months I spent working as the PR intern for PARC. The most important thing I learned working in PR is that it takes time and consistency to see results. At the end of my internship, I was disappointed I was only able to recruit one organization through my hard work. But I kept reminding myself that big results don’t appear overnight, especially for a nonprofit in a small city. I set up PARC to continue the habits I started for them and guaranteed that if they remain consistent with the cold emails, visually appealing graphics and advertising weekly on social media, new faces will be coming in asking about availability for the theater.
I am super thankful for the opportunity I had with PARC. Being their intern, I strengthened my skills in social media management, graphic design, writing, planning and content creation, all of which will heavily benefit me for my future career in PR.