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Internships take center stage

2015 BEM Tabletop Tradeshow
2015 BEM Tabletop Tradeshow

By Ismael Salgado, Marketing and Communications Intern

Traditional summer internships usually end when the school year begins, but at Wake Forest University School of Business, they can also impact our students’ experience in the fall. Business and Enterprise Management (BEM) students demonstrated their experiences in comprehensive, project-based summer internships at the 2015 BEM Tabletop Tradeshow held September 17.

This summer 94 students held internships in 17 states, including New York, Colorado, Florida, Texas and California. Six internships were overseas in England, Germany and China. Students also represented more than 90 companies such as Bank of America, Deloitte, DISH Network, FedEx, Food Lion, JP Morgan, Major League Baseball, PepsiCo, and Volvo. Internships were held in areas that included advertising, public relations, finance, banking, consulting, marketing, retail, social media, sales, analytics, entertainment and fashion.

This is no walk in the park. The BEM internship requires weekly check-ins with faculty members. This year faculty members Robert Gemmell, Adam Hyde, Amy Wallis and Pete Woods helped guide the students through their summer experiences. The seniors also complete specific assignments, write a reflective essay, and demonstrate their accomplishments at the tradeshow.

“I gave recommendations to DISH Network for how they can improve their digital communications,” said Smith Collett (’16). “I would hope that they can actually use my recommendations going forward to improve their business and the way that they market to existing customers. My internship proved to me that Wake has prepared me well and I can tackle anything in a corporate environment.”

Crafting informative booth presentations, students presented what they learned and projects they accomplished over the summer to students, faculty and judges. On hand were several employers who had hosted student interns, to see the experience come full circle.

Dennice Morelli, operations manager at Bob King Automotive Group, praised intern Vince Ward (’16) for creating a process to better market new and used vehicles online. “He helped us streamline this process so we can get more vehicles online more quickly,” Morelli said. “That’s what it’s about in the car business nowadays. Most shoppers are looking at their vehicles online prior to coming to the dealership.”

Judges visited each table, and students presented their internship results. The students with the best presentations win awards.

SHOWSTOPPER PRIZE – $500.00

  • Taylor Erling – AvreaFoster

SPOTLIGHT AWARDS – $250.00

Research

  • Emily Strother – Edge Research

Creativity

  • Emily Bandyk – L’Oreal USA

Professional Presentation

  • Vince Ward – Bob King Automotive
  •  Nick Ladd – Handshake – Stryder Corporation

Organizational Skills

  • Frances Neal – EY
  • Ella Ryan — EY

View our photo gallery:
BEM TableTop Tradeshow 2015