Ryan Terry

Professor McKee
Advanced Internship Course

Semester Final Paper

Interned with the United States of America Snowboard and Freeski Association


Introduction:
My knowledge of the United States of America Snowboard and Freeski
Association stems back to the days I first began snowboarding at age six. After
speaking with USASAs Jennifer Langille (Communications/Social Media
Coordinator) and Pete Davis (Executive Director) at the Champlain College job fair
in the Fall, I knew this was the internship opportunity for me. Interning for the
United States of America Snowboard Association became my first priority. I didnt
rest until I was hired; following up with resumes on a weekly basis. I knew that my
skill set would be exactly what the association was looking for this season. The fact
that I am very comfortable with posting/managing across all social media platforms,
search engine optimization, understanding analytics, and promoting material
digitally and tangibly, made me the perfect candidate for the internship.
Snowboarding is my life passion so there is no other industry I feel more attached
to. This was prevalent not only in my resume, but in my dedication to the position.
Simply put, I made it very clear to the USASA that I was the man for the job.

About the USASA:
The USASA is proud to be able to represent the recreational and competitive
interests of amateur snowboarding and freesking in the United States. Their goal is
to promote safe, fair, and most importantly, FUN events while fostering a
competitive spirit in the snowboard and freesking athletes. This is a nonprofit
association with very limited staff on payroll.
The USASA holds hundreds of ski and snowboard events across the country
every winter. Those interested in competing in the events must pay a flat fee at the
begging of the season to become a member. As a member, you receive points for
every competition you take part in depending on how you place. These points
decide a members national ranking as they compete throughout the season.
Depending on a members ranking at the close of the regular season, they may be
invited to compete in the National Championships. There are several age-groupings
for any age to compete, with different competition-styles offered in each.

Roles and Responsibilities:
At the beginning of the semester, I spoke with my mentor to establish a
learning contract that outlined my responsibilities as a newly appointed intern of
the USASA. The first goal set was to carry out in-depth market research and analysis
of the association and its sponsors. This included supporting the USASAs efforts to
turn around end of season reports back to their sponsors, as well as assisting with a
brand analysis report that I could present to our executive board of directors at the
end of the semester/season.
My second set of responsibilities included evaluating the USASAs digital
presence across platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, as well as
carrying out a full audit of the associations website. On top of evaluating their social
media profiles, I additionally supported the associations efforts via Twitter and
Instagram. In carrying out these responsibilities, I was asked to highlight areas that
could use improvement and suggest ways of doing so. These tasks made up the
majority of my time interning for the USASA.
Lastly, the USASA board of directors invited me to travel to the associations
premier event of the season, the National Championships, at Copper Mountain in
Colorado. Considering the amount of preparation and manpower that goes into
carrying out such a large-scale event, the association needed as many helping hands
as possible. I was asked to assist the team anyway they saw fit. This included
capturing plenty of media content of the competitors, courses, and resort as a whole,
as well as coordinating all of the associations social media profiles, and plenty of
other tasks.

My Day to Day:
On a daily basis I posted content to the USASAs Instagram and Twitter
accounts. This content included everything from organic USASA posts, sponsorship
promotion, news/updates, contests, and giveaways, with the overall goal of
engaging and increasing followers. At the beginning of the semester, I established a
weekly schedule to make sure I was covering all deliverables. Certain sponsors of
the association required more than just a weekly post. For example, I carried out a
photo shoot to produce content for the introduction of a weekly Go-Pro Posts of the
Weekend contest. Every Sunday I asked our followers to post their own
photos/videos from the weekend to Instagram, and tag Go-Pro and the USASA in the
post. The following day I would choose a few of my favorite user posts to repost
from the USASAs profile; praising their photography skills and getting them some
publicity in the process. This quickly caught on amongst our social media
community as the number of posts increased exponentially on a weekly basis.
The most important contest I managed however was for Verizon Wireless.
Verizon supplied the USASA with 15 indestructible smart phones to help boost our
promotion of their brand. They asked that I create a contest with the only
stipulation being that it had to be based around the indestructible aspect of the
phone. The rest of the contest specifics were entirely up to me to decide. Talk about
trial by fire! John Hoover, an account director from the ad agency Graffy Inc,
suggested that I design a flyer to help promote the contest. Mind you, I have
practically no design experience what so ever. Having to create a flyer made me
even more nervous diving into this project. As I began brainstorming ideas for the
contest and designing a flyer, the concept gradually built in my mind. I would ask
followers on a weekly basis, for the extent of the season, to post their
indestructible moments whether it be photos or video to Instagram and include
the hashtag I created, #indestructiblemoments. I would then choose a winner or two
each week based on how extreme their posts were. I have to say when this contest
was all said and done, I was very proud of myself. I took on a large project with very
broad requirements that forced me to step up and take charge. This was definitely
one of my greatest accomplishments while interning for the USASA.
One of the greatest experiences interning for the USASA came at the end of
February when I traveled to Park City, UT with my family and friends. While there I
had the opportunity to meet with my mentors cousin, the VP of product
development at Skullcandy Inc. I was invited to take a tour of the office building and
learn about the brand. During my visit I discussed my position with the USASA, and
met with key employees of the company that I would be in touch with in the coming
weeks. I made sure to prove myself as a valuable asset to any team. This was one of
the many doors USASA opened for me.
As the month of March approached, my efforts became more and more
focused on preparation and promotion for the 25
th
Anniversary of the USASAs
National Championship. As I previously stated, this event is the biggest of the year
and takes months of preparation. The association needed as much help as they could
get! They invited me out to Colorado for the full six days of the event; taking care of
all my travels and rooming. Once my flights were booked I was ready to head west!

Nationals Week:
First off, my time at Nationals was an experience that I will remember for the
rest of my life. It may have been the busiest and most hectic Ive been in awhile, but
the lessons I took away from that trip will greatly benefit me on my career path for
the rest of time. Rather than highlighting every important moment of the week, I
have included my daily itinerary.
(6:30AM) Wake up and prepare for the day.
(7-8AM) Breakfast powwow with to team to discuss areas of interest for the day.
(8-9AM) Get up on the hill and figure out where I need to be. Make sure my
equipment is charged and ready.
(9AM-2PM) Once practice begins, first posts of the day hit our SM outlets,
highlighting the days areas of interest. I travel from course to course, capturing
photos/video of the competitors. I try to interview at least a couple competitors
from different divisions and disciplines. During the day I am gathering as much
content as possible, while picking out the most important to share across our social
media outlets. My posts end up being a mix of competitors, courses, and sponsor
content.
(2-4PM) Afternoon powwow with team to provide publicist with content for the
daily press release. This is where the interviews come into play. We cover the
highlights of the day and share important information to establish well-
rounded/detailed content. If anything is missing at this point in the day we still have
time to get back out on the mountain and take care of it.
(4-6PM) Coverage of the awards ceremony is taking place. This includes a ton of
photos, videos, and interviews. Sponsor placement is key. Several posts hit the social
media outlets highlighting some of the big winners of the day.
(8-9PM) Coverage of the nightly rail jam competition takes place. SM postings
include highlighting the events standout competitors, medalists, and specialty
award winners.
The amount of professional connections I was able to make in Colorado was
outstanding. I even had the opportunity to interview and snowboard with Sochi
Olympian and long time idol of mine, Chas Guldemond. I am certain that the
connections I made while at Nationals will greatly benefit my career hunt in the
coming months.

Closing Thoughts / My Impact:
My greatest accomplishment while interning for the USASA was being able to
build their Instagram community by almost three times the baseline count. Once I
found my voice within the community and established a consistent posting
schedule, the associations follower count sky rocketed; picking up as many as 200
followers in one week. When I originally began the internship I set a personal goal of
raising USASAs Instagram following from 640 followers to 1,000 followers by the
end of the semester. When I reached that goal in the first month, I set a new goal of
doubling followers from the baseline value., making the count 1,280. Again, I
reached my goal in a little less than two weeks. The last goal I set to strive for the
rest of the semester was to reach triple the baseline value, or 1,936. As the
Instagram follower count increased, so did the rest of the profiles values. This
included a sizeable increase in average likes, comments, and general interaction.
The USASA board of directors are very impressed with my efforts in building the
community to what it is. This provided me valuable experience that will be
incredibly useful in future jobs. I now feel very comfortable with managing online
communities.
The most important lesson I took away from this internship is how to
properly manage multiple projects at a time. As an intern, employees of a business
often see you as a free hand to throw task after task at without any real
understanding of your workload. In the beginning I quickly found myself
overwhelmed with the amount of responsibilities thrown at me. I didnt know how
to approach everything in a timely, orderly fashion. But after reading Chapter 2
Time Management in our Marketing textbook, and discussing as a class the ways to
properly manage your time in the workplace, I was able to take on my demanding
workload with a clear head. The time management strategies I used included
making a schedule, staying consistent in my postings, and performing weekly
reviews to find areas that could use improvement.
My internship with the USASA absolutely flew by. It feels like just yesterday I
was talking with my mentor about what was expected of me in the coming months.
The combination of my day-to-day responsibilities, and my trip to Colorado, has put
me in a great position entering the business world in just a few weeks. I cannot
thank the association enough for opening so many doors for me, in an industry I live
for. Its true that when your hearts in your work, the quality shows.