marketing

Welcome to Mary Free Bed Marketing Gabrielle Vernon!

The expectation of something special         

Working with non-profit organizations is something that I have always been passionate about ever since my experience at a feeding center. Having the ability to communicate a message to an audience that isn’t familiar with an organization or company is very fulfilling to me. My way to communicate a message comes through a sector of advertisement called film and video.

February of 2017, was the first time that I’ve ever heard of Mary Free Bed, a client of mine was telling me a success story that one of his family members had at the rehabilitation hospital. After researching a little more about the non-profit rehabilitation hospital, I found that the atmosphere was friendly, warm and inviting. Definitely different from any hospital that came into my mind. Mary Free Bed is a place that doesn’t evoke nerves and instead provides a comforting environment for patients, staff, and volunteers.

Gabrielle VernonI found out that a marketing internship is offered to college students. Being a Grand Valley State University student, I fit the ‘student’ status criteria. However, I didn’t major in marketing, advertising, or public relations, and that made me very nervous to even apply. It would be a little over 6 months later that I would work up the nerve to just submit an application.

Early August 2017

I lean back in my chair and let out a huge breath of air. I’ve finally submitted the application for the marketing internship through Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital.

I remember feeling relieved that I could possibly be one step closer to working with such an amazing organization that really cared about helping people. Of course, there was always that voice in my head filling my mind with self-doubt because my major focused on a different sector of advertising and marketing. But I knew Mary Free Bed was the one place that I wanted to intern at, I had to have faith that I could be a part of the organization and start to make a difference.

It didn’t take them long to give me a call back to set up an interview. Nervousness and excitement were an understatement. This was my shot and I had to shoot it. After completing the interview, I realized that the marketing department wasn’t just a team, they were a family. They had each other backs and tackled challenges as one. Since I could remember, I’ve loved working with teams and brainstorming ideas that gave everyone an opportunity to contribute.

Early September 2017

I do a little dance after hanging up with human resources because I was just offered the Marketing Internship.

My expectation for this internship is that it’ll be a special experience in my life that will shape more of my future jobs to come. I get to be a part of the family and contribute innovative ideas to help promote the advancement of Mary Free Bed. I expect to learn quite a lot in these next three months. I want the ability to provide excellent communication, enhance my writing and social skills, and contribute to video ideas. I want to be able to understand marketing, advertising, and public relations much more and provide my skill set that I have learned throughout college.

I am so thrilled to be an added player on the Mary Free Bed team and I know that this experience will lead me down a road to success and personal achievements.

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Welcome to the Mary Free Bed Marketing Dept. Sarah Pontbriand!

Sarah_PontbriandAs I begin my internship at Mary Free Bed, I am very excited to take as much opportunity as I can! I am headed into my senior year at Grand Valley State University and after having a couple internships in the past, I was determined to find another that would be new, challenging, and something that interests me. Non-profit organizations and the health care industry have always been intriguing to me and I am thrilled to be at Mary Free Bed!

I first heard about the marketing internship at Mary Free Bed from my friend and classmate, Lauren who was the previous marketing intern. We spend a lot of time together as students in campus organizations such as GVSU’s student-run Public Relations firm, GrandPR, and the University’s chapter of PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society of America) in which we are both actively involved in. Lauren talked highly of her internship at Mary Free Bed, about how awesome the marketing team is, and let us know that they were looking to hire a new intern. I knew a little bit about Mary Free Bed at the time because Ben, New Media and Communications Specialist at Mary Free Bed, spoke to students on the health care Public Relations panel at our 2017 PRSSA Regional Conference right here in Grand Rapids. Hearing about how rewarding, yet different than any other the industry is had sparked my interest early on.

When I initially think about Mary Free Bed, things that come to mind are nurses, doctors, patients, and rehabilitation. Though all of those things are a big part of it, learning about “behind the scenes” of an organization is my favorite part. Even going to new employee orientation, I had the opportunity to see the values of Mary Free Bed, the standards for different employees, and some of the efforts that go into the reputation of the hospital. Getting to experience more of what goes into an organization and hospital like Mary Free Bed is something that is not easily understood from the surface, but makes a gigantic difference to the impression it leaves on its visitors.

For the duration of this internship, I have high expectations for myself. I hope to gain insight on the marketing aspect of the health care industry, discover more of what I would like to do, and build relationships with colleagues and the community. I am determined to apply the skills that I have learned throughout years in the classroom and my experiences as well as learn many more things that I can apply in the future.

I am a PR geek! I love getting the community engaged, putting together campaigns and processes to do so, and keeping up with social media having target markets in mind. All of those things come with a lot more enjoyment when it is for something that I am passionate about. The sense of community and care for patients that Mary Free Bed carries with it is so exciting and I am PUMPED to be a part of it! Restoring hope and freedom will never get old.

 

Welcome to Mary Free Bed Lauren Staff!

LaurenStaff.jpgThrough my first three years studying advertising and public relations at Grand Valley I was dead set on finding internships and a career at a public relations firm where I would work with various clients every day. This summer, when I visited a patient at Mary Free Bed it hit me that I want to work somewhere that puts hope and faith in individuals the way Mary Free Bed does, and where truly meaningful relationships are built. While visiting this patient I got to see the way Mary Free Bed changes individuals’ lives and I knew it was something I wanted to be a part of.

Today is my first day, and after meeting everyone and walking around the campus for almost two hours it was made clear that I am going to get a valuable experience out of this internship. After only the first day I can tell that all the employees stand strong behind Mary Free Bed’s mission, and feel passionate about the work they do. Over the next three months I want to strengthen my writing skills, learn more about health care, and gain the passion that Mary Free Bed employees have. But what I am most looking forward to, is building relationships with co-workers, other interns, and patients.

During my interview, Betsy (Media Relations/Writer) told me that the best days are the ones that she gets to go into the hospital and interact with patients and their families. Ben  (New Media/Community) told me stories about patients that he has been able to create relationships with that last even after that individual left Mary Free Bed. In marketing storytelling goes a long way, and the patient stories that are told by Mary Free Bed are truly amazing. It’s because of these strong relationships that Mary Free Bed is able to be communicate with everyone in an authentic, hopeful, and emotional way. Just by watching the patient story videos that are posted on Facebook, it is evident that Mary Free Bed gives patients an undeniable level of hope that anyone would be proud to say they helped provide…I mean, who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?!

Whenever I try to give a succinct explanation of what public relations professionals do to a friend or family member, it always end up as someone thinking all I do is “play” on social media all day. Yes, social media is a huge part of marketing and PR, but I know that there is much more to it than just that. In an internship or job it’s so easy to get lost in the busy work and day to day tasks, but I think this internship will show me that the work I enjoy doing can actually make a difference in the world and in individuals’ lives. I know these next three and a half months are going to fly by but that they are also going to be full of amazing, unique, and fulfilling experiences. WOOO!

Welcome to Mary Free Bed Nicole Coughlin!

Nicole Coughlin

I would like to give a warm welcome to Nicole Coughlin, new marketing intern at Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital. Back in my own college days, I had several internships (Anderson University PR office, Butler University SID office, Indianapolis Indians SID office, the list goes on) and I truly love to have an intern to both teach and learn from. I like to ask my interns for a few words at the beginning of each semester as to what they would like to learn, experience and see. Nicole’s new intern blog follows below.

What do I want out of my Mary Free Bed marketing internship?
By Nicole Coughlin, Cornerstone University

Public relations is not a career you can practice just thinking about in theory, it’s active, you need to be able to have a goal and work towards it. In school we make campaigns and get all excited about them just to give it to a professor and walk away from it. It’s sad. I am ready to create something and then do it.

I want a chance to get my hands dirty and really learn what public relations is truly about. Create things that will be seen by the public, influence perception, and cause action. I want to see in real time how people react to social media posts, instead of hypothetical numbers. I am excited to take the things that I have been practicing in school, like blogs and social media posts, videography and finding target markets, and see how what I know holds up in the real world. I want to see how the different marketing appeals actually play out in real world situations as opposed to looking at other companies examples and thinking backwards through the process. I want to work on the preparation of a campaign and then actually be able to see it through.

I am also excited to dabble in things I haven’t had the opportunity to yet. The idea of being able to work on a website, something that is so necessary to a company, is exciting and nerve racking all at the same time, but in a good way. I am also excited to work with designing posts and images like on the T.V screens throughout the building. Right now I just want to be able to work on as much as possible.

I saw this internship online and was so impressed with all of the areas that I would get to help with. Even just within the description it talked about having a chance to write blog posts, help with different social media sites, get to work with the website a little bit, and more that I can’t even remember off the top of my head now. It seemed like a challenge that I was ready to take on.

I want to learn these things but I am most ready to learn all the things that I don’t even know are an option to learn at this point. Even just the ins and outs of what happens like seeing how an idea goes from someone mentioning a story to completing it and finding where the most effective way to share that I’ve heard from all around that you learn more in an internship then ever possible in school. I am just ready to take the next step towards reality in this way.