Last summer, I interned in Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey’s office on Capitol Hill. I had a lot of eye-opening experiences as a legislative intern. Working with the senator’s legislative correspondent for energy, agriculture and the environment, I was fortunate to be assigned to such a significant set of issue areas for my home state.
Although I worked for each of these issues, I especially took an interest in our energy work and made sure to attend as many energy briefings as I could.
The work was the first I did in terms of summarizing the contents of congressional briefings. However, I found this to be a fascinating part of my role and took on responsibilities in all three of these issue areas. In splitting our duties among the three of us on this issue set and reporting to only one staffer, certain aspects of my time on the Hill were very little like my time so far here at Bravo Group.
I performed a number of the same tasks that I do here, but there was always a precise schedule in the senator’s office and work was not required on the fly nearly as often. Some of this had to do with the number of interns in the office, as I was one of 17, and specific division of duties. Here at Bravo, assignments pop up frequently and often need immediate attention. As a public relations intern, I’ve noticed that although my standard work includes organizing and sending news clips as expected, it also includes work much like what I did as a legislative intern for Sen. Casey.
With my responsibilities extending further than that of a standard public relations intern, I’ve had the pleasure of dipping my feet into a few different pools and helping clients from multiple angles. While I have an idea of what my day looks like generally, this often changes based on many moving parts.
Because of this, some days can be unpredictable and challenging. One day last month, I got in the office to find an email telling me to tune into a hearing held by state Sen. Gene Yaw regarding pharmaceuticals in waterways, switched gears to post news clips to our internal teams for clients and then made a time-sensitive newsletter for a client on a crucial Pennsylvania hearing coming up within the hour.
I’ve found that this isn’t much different from how full-time Bravo employees constantly jump in on projects outside of their defined roles and often move from one field to another in rapid-fire sequence. This dynamic explains how the firm’s collaborative nature works.
In contributing work in research, digital and marketing, government relations and advocacy, I’ve noticed a sharp difference from my last internship, where the media interns and legislative interns served wholly different functions. This free-flowing essence is what allows this company to do what is necessary for the client effectively and efficiently. I am excited to continue helping with a diverse span of projects while working toward client goals the Bravo way.
Tory Santucci | Pittsburgh Public Relations Intern
Image: inspiringfuture.pt
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