Interning with StarTalk Radio
When I first began my search for an internship, I sought out positions that dealt with either social media or content management, and it was only until Jeff Simons approached me and offered a position with StarTalk Radio that I realized there was an incredible about of synergy within my skill set. He needed someone with a deep understanding of social media, knowledge of SoundCloud as a streaming platform, ability to write brief copy, and the tools to manipulate and edit audio content. StarTalk's needs fit seamlessly with both the information I had learned from class as well as skills I had picked up in my own time, and Jeff assured me I would be able to further hone these skills as well as build a deeper understanding of how social media functions as a promotional and customer relationship management tool.
As such, I was placed in charge of the StarTalk Radio SoundCloud account and made responsible for both creating and managing audio content on SoundCloud, maintaining communication and relationships with our followers, and assisting with the composition of promotional tweets. While the creation and distribution of the content were my primary responsibility, I was also responsible for the maintenance of our master spreadsheet which tracked our uploads' success and helped us understand what tagging or copywriting points had the greatest effect on viewership, handling these analytics became my primary focus as the internship went on and I learned their influence on our play count. Moreover, I handled incoming messages on social media platforms and ensured all of our fans felt heard from, and made sure to thoughtfully respond to them and try to answer their questions to the best of my ability. Overall, it was a fairly creative position that allowed me to both develop my own voice as well as my own personal taste in content , while also making sure to remain mindful of our fan base and keep the content relevant to them.
