INTERNSHIP
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From June 2020 - December 2020, I served as a Marketing & Communications Intern at Ericsson, a multinational networking and telecommunications company. Throughout this internship, I was given hands-on experience in marketing, public relations, and communications, building upon my skills and preparing me for my career. Below are some major tasks that I oversaw throughout this internship, which was extended through Dec. 2020 as I simultaneously completed my academic studies.
#humansofericsson Campaign
During my internship, one major responsibility I had was leading the #humansofericsson internal campaign, inspired by the website and Instagram account, Humans of New York.
With this campaign, I crafted inspiring, and often entertaining, video stories focusing on a variety of employees within the company on Yammer and the Ericsson intranet for all of the company to see. Each week, we had a chance to show the "human-side" of our colleagues outside of the office.
Aside from reaching out to potential video subjects and meeting with these fellow employees 1:1 to discuss video details, I also played a role in crafting the communications plan & strategic prompts that one could use to guide themselves in making their video, which is linked below. In addition, I crafted unique and personal captions as well for each person to use for their Yammer post.
In short, what is typically a multiple-weeks process, I worked with each employee that made a video every step of the way, from their initial pitch to approvals from HR to final postings.
To the right are also 2 examples of videos I had pushed out internally as part of this campaign, as well as an article composed for the Ericsson intranet to promote of the campaign and the strategic prompts provided to the subjects.
#humansofericsson Example 1
Caption: As a Black woman, it was a priority for me to work for a company that was empowering and supportive of my identity while also being willing to address a need for change. Since joining Ericsson, and especially during these challenging times, I have felt that I can bring my whole-self to work every day, and I can confidently say that I could not be more proud to be part of the Ericsson family and have shared that within my personal and professional network.
I wanted to share a video showing a bit about me and how my journey is tied to the #humansofericsson campaign, and I encourage you to do the same and share your story using the #humansofericsson. Join the campaign!
Want to learn more about my story? Ask me!
#humansofericsson Example 2
Caption: At the Ericsson office in Plano, TX, some people know me as a member of the MANA Supply Team, but more of you may know me as the guy who brings his toys to work! Since 2015, I've been able to share my passion as an action figure collector with my Ericsson family by setting up displays in the office.
I often get asked why I build these displays, and the answer is an easy one: I just want to make my colleagues happy and escape the stress of work, even if it's for a few moments. The telecom industry is highly competitive and can become intense and stressful, and sometimes we forget that we're human and need a break once in a while.
I wanted to share a video showing a bit about me and how my journey is tied to the #humansofericsson campaign, and I encourage you to do the same and share your story using the #humansofericsson. Join the campaign!
Want to learn more about my story? Ask me!
#humansofericsson Global Internal Communications Team Presentation
Eventually, following the push-out of over 20 videos internally within the North American offices, the Global Internal Communications team at Ericsson eventually caught wind of the campaign and was interested in expanding it at the company on a global scale.
With that, my colleague and I were asked to present the campaign to the global IC team, based in Sweden, so that they may gain more information on it and learn the inspiration behind it, its purpose, reception to it, and the next steps for it. The presentation that I created for this can be seen on the right.
As an intern, I was very proud that something that I had worked so hard on throughout my time at the company had gained recognition from the Global Internal Communications team and that they were interested in the work we were doing.
Ericsson 5G Distributed Innovation Network
Press Release
At the beginning of my internship, I was recruited by a team member of mine to assist in writing the press release for Ericsson's new 5G network. After 3 months of writing, back and forth editing, and approvals, the press release was finally published and can be seen on the right. Working on this assignment, I was able to gain real experience by seeing what goes into writing a real press release for a wide audience.
Following the push-out, the press release received coverage from various news outlets:
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RCR Wireless: Ericsson deploys 5G network near Texas HQ to run real-world use cases – Catherine Sbeglia, 9/4/20
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Light Reading: Ericsson switches on its own 5G network in Texas HQ – 9/3/20
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Converge! Network Digest: Ericsson activates 5G on its own campus in Texas – 9/3/20
Note: Links originally attached in press release are not available in PDF.
Ericsson & Girl Scouts Alliance Communications Plan
Since 2018, Ericsson North America has partnered with the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas with a commitment to give young girls genuine STEM experience. Over the last 2 years, the Ericsson/Girl Scouts Alliance has grown from engaging ~350 girl to ~10,000 girls.
In order to raise the necessary funds to further expand the partnership, I had the responsibility to build a strategic communications plan to reach this goal, which can be seen on the right.
Ericsson Leadership Team
Social Push E-Mail
Each week, the Ericsson Marketing & Communications team releases a Social Media Push e-mail to the entire North America organization, including the leadership team. This weekly e-mail consists of links to selective Ericsson and industry-related related items, along with captions, for members of the organization to share on their personal social media channels and promote the company if they wish to do so.
One of my tasks as a Marketing & Communications intern was to compile these items and their links, as well as create captions.
Some of the e-mails that I created can be seen in the screenshots attached here.
Ericsson Veterans Alliance
Suicide Awareness & Prevention Month Article
With September being Suicide Awareness & Prevention Month, the Ericsson Veterans Alliance launched a campaign to recognize the vast number of veterans who lose their lives to suicide, as well as the devastating reality of suicide as a whole in our country.
In order to promote the campaign internally, I was asked to compose an article that highlights the actions of the Ericsson Veterans Alliance Suicide Awareness & Prevention Month campaign and to highlight their mission as well. In addition, I also included the resources that Ericsson provides for those who are struggling with mental health.
The article can be found on the right.
"About You" Internal Articles
Within my team at Ericsson, I conducted a series of "About You" internal articles. Each article, formatted as a Q&A, focused on a different Ericsson employee and highlighted both their work and personal lives so that their colleagues can get to know them on a deeper level.
During my internship, to create the articles, I came up with the questions and asked them to the featured employee, as well as editing their responses
To the right are two of the articles that I put together for for this series and were published internally.
GSMA Thrive Internal Coverage
GSMA Thrive North America is a virtual event that explores the potential of data in the realms of 5G, AI, IoT in the future of innovation and experience.
Each year, representatives from the Ericsson leadership team speak at this event and present to thousands of members of the telecommunications industry.
One of my duties was to assist the Internal Communications team in the coverage of this event by sharing updates with the Ericsson North American employees on Yammer. An example of my coverage can be seen on the right.
Equality Act Article
Earlier in the summer, Ericsson signed on to the Human Rights Campaign Business Coalition for the Equality Act.
In order to promote Ericsson's support of the Equality Act internally and to express support for the LGBTQ+ employees at the company, I composed an article that highlights Ericsson's signing onto the coalition.
To write this article, I reached out to several relevant members of the Ericsson community to gather quotes from them to be put into the article, including members of the Ericsson LGBTQ&A employee resource group and members of the company's leadership team.
The article can be found on the right.
Mentoring Survey Article
As each employee arrives at Ericsson, they are provided a mentor to help them ease their transition into their new company.
With supporting employees being such a major priority at Ericsson, the company put out a survey for the employees to take so that they may provide feedback on the mentoring program.
In order to promote the survey, I was asked to compose an internal article sharing details of the survey and the reasoning behind its issuing, in hopes of increasing the number of employees who fill it out.
The article can be found on the right.
Social Media Posts
One of the tasks that I was responsible for as an intern was crafting various social media posts for Ericsson's verified North American office accounts.
To the right is an example of one of the social media posts that I crafted and was shared on the company's official Facebook page.
In order to compose this story, I attended the virtual event and pulled information, such as quotes, to be used in the text for the post.
