Marketing Internship at Radius CoWork: My Experience at Erie’s Coworking Space
/My name is Laure Harmand, I am from France and I spent three months interning in Marketing and Communications at Radius CoWork and Wërkbot Studios in the heart of Downtown Erie, PA. In this blogpost, I want to go back on the reasons I chose Erie and Radius for my internship, and what I found and learned during this experience.
Discovering Erie, its culture, and Radius CoWork
At the beginning of 2018, while I was studying for my Business Management Master’s Degree in France, I decided to take a gap year before starting the second year of my degree in order to fulfill a lifelong goal of mine: study abroad in the United-States.
As an Economy and Business Management student, and being passionate about North American culture since forever, traveling and settling down in America for a middle-term was one of my ambitions. I wanted to explore the country with a new lens and explore my field of study with different academic and professional perspectives.
So, thanks to the partnership between my University in Lille, France and Gannon University in Erie, I traveled to the land of Uncle Sam in August 2018 to complete an exchange University program there for a semester.
I admit that I had never really concentrated my attention on the state of Pennsylvania, let alone on the city of Erie, which I had never heard of before. But after doing some research, I found out that it was (surprisingly!) located on the shore of Lake Erie, and that it is actually the fourth largest city in Pennsylvania.
So there I was in Erie, PA, fresh off the plane and ready to start a new adventure on the campus of my new adoptive University.
But I must say that my first impression of the city was not really the one I had expected… Because, even though Erie is the fourth largest city in Pennsylvania, it does not necessarily give that impression. At first sight, the first thought that came to my mind was, “Where have I landed?!”.
Fortunately, once the emotions and the adrenaline of being in a new country and beginning a new journey started to fade, the apprehension of living in a foreign environment went away, and it quickly became easier to acclimate to the Erieite life!
I had the chance to be happily and enthusiastically welcomed by Gannon University, but also by the Erie community, which happens to be very caring, open to sharing and considerate of its members.
Over the months (or should I say “over the encounters I had”), I naturally developed a profound attachment and a deep affection for this place, one so different from my home.
Thanks to the exceptional people I met, whether they are Erie natives or not, I discovered a new approach to the world (and, simultaneously, to myself), as well as a community spirit far more pronounced here than anything I had experienced at home in France.
One of the communities that caught my attention the most was Radius CoWork’s, which I randomly found out about while I was working on one of my Universitary projects back in October 2018.
After some research about the business and meeting one of the cofounders, not only did I learn about the concept of coworking, I also discovered Radius’s community of coworkers and realized that it was a true hive of entrepreneurs, freelancers, and remote workers who share a common workspace, their ideas and projects, and discuss their passions and ambitions.
Marketing and Communication Internship: Why Radius CoWork ?
When I visited Radius I loved the values of sharing and of mutual aid that reign within the space through its members, and the socio-economic dynamic they generate with both their individual and collective activities, to the city’s benefit. As a matter of fact, many local businesses and business events are hosted at Radius or took shape there.
Radius CoWork provides working space, open to anyone, that boosts creativity and learning. It is a major asset that makes the city more attractive by encouraging growth, business development, retaining talent, and supporting a diverse community (plus, it is a virtuous cycle).
Keenly intrigued by the world of coworking, I naturally thought about Radius when I started looking for an internship to complete my gap year program.
After contacting the co-founders in order to apply as a Marketing and Communications intern (the field of competence I wanted to improve), I passed an interview with one of the two, Sean Fedorko, who happens to also be the Business Development Manager at Wërkbot Studios, a Marketing Agency specialized in the digital field.
So, after formulating my expectations for the internship and what I was looking for in terms of missions and learnings, he introduced me to Wërkbot Studios and its domain of expertise: the design, development, and management of digital marketing content, as well as branding and communications strategies management.
On this basis, we then built an internship program that answered both the needs of Radius and Wërkbot, as well as mine: a three months internship at Wërkbot Studios to work on their Marketing Strategy and help with the projects they develop and manage for their clients, with service deliveries to Radius CoWork to develop their Marketing and Communication Strategy for the year 2019.
An inspiring experience, factor of personal and professional growth
At the end of April 2019, I returned to Erie, excited to be back and impatient to start this new adventure.
During my first weeks of internship, I began by working on Radius’ Marketing strategy, then looked into the development of Wërkbot's. As a number of new projects were coming in force both at Radius and Wërkbot, I also participated in the realization of Marketing content for both organizations and their clients.
Today, stepping back from my internship experience in Erie, I can affirm the following points
I still love Erie so much!
Its potential is enormous, and won’t stop growing thanks to the projects initiated by the city and its communities. I’ve been impressed by all the people coming together to discuss, reflect, and act together for the benefit of the city.
Radius is much more than a shared office space:
The organization provides the resources (network, warm social and professional climate, etc.) its members need to work, create and learn.
The actions Radius supports and carries out all converge on the same goal: the success of Radius’s members.
It conveys the values of sharing (which is the foundation of coworking) and mutual aid, and strategically connects people between each other.
Working for Wërkbot and Radius means integrating a welcoming and mindful team, which is also attentive to the needs of its interns and employees, both in terms of skills development and personal fulfillment.
Living abroad implies some challenges and frustrations:
The language barrier (in my case) makes communicating more difficult, slows down the work rhythm and, sometimes, holds productivity back.
Culture shocks can be brutal: in addition to the overwhelming feeling of a new lifestyle, we also have to adapt to all those things about life (the most superficial ones as well as the more important ones) that we are used to doing differently.
An opportunity to seize!
This type of experience offers a large number of personal, academic, and professional possibilities that are a colossal advantage on the labor market, but mostly for one’s own fulfillment. It is definitely not the easiest option, but the difficulties encountered also represent opportunities to learn and grow as a person.
Wërkbot Studios enabled me to explore the work of Digital Marketing and see the organization of a team around the elaboration and management of strategic projects, which I also had the opportunity to contribute to.
At Radius CoWork, I autonomously worked on strategic development coworking projects, but, above all, I observed and got inspired by the members’ willingness to share a space where everybody comes to contribute to one another’s success and happiness.
As I packed my bags to go back home to France, I was glad and grateful I could live such an experience.
Leaving Erie and saying goodbye to all Erieites is not easy, but I left inspired and with new ideas in mind: I want to import Radius’s dynamic and values with me in France.
And as I was in my second year of Master’s Degree with a major in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, I considered launching my own entrepreneurial venture, with the ambition to create something that serves the local socio-economic development and contributes to the flourishing of its users.
A huge “thank you” to Wërkbot Studios, Radius CoWork and their team, as well as to the members of the coworking space, for their welcome and everything they offered me!
by Laure Harmand, July 2019