A+Day+in+the+life+of+a+Marketing+Director

=A Day in the Life of a Marketing Director= =Wednesday, October 22, 9:00 a.m.=

=Kelley Gibson= =Inside Out Consulting= =By: Jennifer Lewis=

A Day in the Life of Kelley Gibson
Driving through the city is not my favorite thing to do, but it did not matter today. I was on my way to Inside Out Consulting, where I would be job shadowing Kelley Gibson, who was the Senior Account Executive for the firm, and our day was filled with things to do. After I went through the hazard of the parking garage and finding a suitable spot, I got out of my car ready to start my day.

The office building was located in a much larger building filled with all kinds of other companies. Quiznos was one of the other companies that called this building home. The room I was looking for was right on the first floor, the very first one I saw.

When I walked into the office, I saw a blonde-haired woman sitting at a desk, and she greeted me warmly. “Hey, are you here to shadow with Kelley? My name is Kelly too, but I’m not the one you’re looking for. I’m Kelly LeMay,” she said. She seemed casual but nice and that made me feel much better about the day. I was worried that the atmosphere would be uptight and I wouldn’t fit in.

When Mrs. Gibson arrived, she seemed a little flustered. She was attempting to juggle her coat, two bags, and a cup of coffee. Mrs. Gibson asked me if I was Jen, and then we just dove right in. She was very chatty, and she told me about her life and family. After a quick tour of the small office building, we went to a press conference at Rutter’s.

We got in Mrs. Gibson’s car and drove for about fifteen minutes to get to the location of the conference. Mike’s Nut Shop had burned down a year ago, and they had just rebuilt at their new location. They wanted the public to be aware that they were back in business, and since today was National Nut Day, it was the perfect opportunity.

Once we arrived, Mrs. Gibson and Mrs. LeMay marched in and introduced themselves. They had already met, but the way they conquered the room was great. First, the owner and his wife, Paul and Paula Stoeckle, from Mike’s Nut Shop told me some of the background information of the re-opening. Then, we put together the media packet for the conference that the press would be receiving. We all stood and chatted for a little while before the press conference started.

First, the public relations person for Mike’s Nut Shop made some general announcements, and then Mr. Stoeckle began talking. He told the story of how an explosion burned down their old store location a year ago, and how even an explosion couldn’t destroy the company that had been around for 107 years. “We wanted to freshen it up and show our customers that Mike’s Nut Shop is doing well,” Mr. Stoeckle said.

Afterwards, members of the press began to ask questions, while we took some pictures. Mrs. Gibson was also asked some questions. Mike’s Nut Shop had brought along boxes filled with individually wrapped bags of nuts for us to pass out to the customers at Rutter’s. “Happy National Nut Day!” said Mrs. Gibson, “Would you like some nuts?” The majority of people did. We walked around the store and out by the gas pumps for about fifteen minutes, then we got back in our cars and drove back to “home base”, as Mrs. Gibson called it.

Once we got back to the office, Mrs. Gibson gave me a more in-depth tour. I went in the back and saw their stock room, which looked like something you would see in the set department of a movie or a play. Whatever kind of event they would be hosting; there would be enough supplies for it.

I also saw the upstairs of the building, which is where they keep one of their desks, along with their mailbox and the phone. I met the people that shared the floor with them, and they were all very nice. I saw the desk, and learned how to get the mail and retrieve the voicemail and email messages.

By this time, it was getting close to lunch, and we had a client meeting. We were going to be meeting with Jennifer Pitts, who is the Marketing Coordinator for Susquehanna Bank. We went to the Farmer’s Market for lunch, specifically a sandwich shop where many business meetings take place.

We walked to the restaurant from the office and when we arrived, Mrs. Pitts was there waiting for us. We sat down and Mrs. Gibson introduced Mrs. Pitts and me. The reason for the meeting was because they were planning to have a music festival in the summer, which took place last year. Last year, Susquehanna Bank was a sponsor, and the meeting was to see if this would happen again. They talked about how it went last year, what will be different this year, and they agreed to be in contact.

They also discussed other topics like friends, and Mrs. Pitts asked me about my career plans and told me about her daughters, who also go to Central. The food was delicious, and although I didn’t say much during the business part of the meeting, I still feel like I learned a lot.

When we got back to the office after lunch, I went to deliver mail at the Post Office with one of the interns. After that, I sat down with Mrs. Gibson as she told me the history of the company. Kim Walsh started inside Out Consulting in 2001, who is now the president. Her mission was to highlight the great place of York as a special events coordinator.

After some time, and when the company got off the ground, Mrs. Walsh hired Mrs. Gibson, who now does proposals, city events, and brings in some of her own clients. She says that she is always planning a future event, “I’m always in the planning stage,” she said.

Some of her responsibilities are Account Representative for the City of York, where her responsibilities are to solicit new members, and handle all public relations for other clients.

She said every member of their company has a specialty, and part of their job is to combine their individual skills. “If someone needed a design done, they would ask Kelly (LeMay), and then we would partner up. We’re like the A-team,” Mrs. Gibson said.

She said the setting for the average day is in the office, doing planning and coordinating, but whenever there is a meeting or an event, they will attend. She said they are in and out of the office normally, and it is hard to say when they will stay in and when they will leave.

When discussing the field of marketing and public relations, Mrs. Gibson said that it is a very broad area to get into. She said there are so many specialties you kind of have to start broad, and then narrow it down later. “You need to keep in mind what you want to do at all times, then see if your experiences change your mind,” she said.

She believes the salary depends on where you start, but she determines it to be around $30,000. She says the field is becoming much more popular, “There’s a boom in folks wanting to do special events for their companies, it helps to set them apart,” she said.

“My favorite part of the job is the writing, that’s my passion,” Mrs. Gibson said, “But I love my job, doing special events is another.”

Analysis
1. The shadowing compared with the research I did earlier in the project as I expected it to. The research I did was very broad, since the field is such a large one. I think it was a great experience to be able to witness the activities that they do firsthand, and try to picture myself doing it day-to-day. Of course, doing something in real life is different from doing it on paper, but it was different than I thought. I expected everyone that worked there to be very serious, but they were all friends and had fun together, and worked hard to make sure I felt included in the conversation. 2. What surprised me most about the day was how much time we spent outside the office. I know that this was an unusual day, and that normally the day consists of planning, but I was surprised how many different projects they took on. It seemed like a lot going on for not many people working in the office. 3. This experience has definitely encouraged me to enter this field. Everything I have done this year up to now, including this, has only increased my dreams for this career. I am still not sure what I will go into specifically, whether it will be marketing or journalism or public relations, or a combination of all three, but I know that I will find the perfect job for me, and that this experience has helped me greatly.

Thank you Letter
October 29, 2008 Dear Mrs. Gibson,

Thank you so much for allowing me to job shadow you on October 22. It was a great experience, and I had so much fun.

My favorite part of the day was the press conference, and talking with the press from the newspapers about what we were doing. I also enjoyed the client meeting and talking with the clients about the plans.

I also loved seeing the office and what you do on a daily basis. It was so cool seeing the storage room, and looking at the albums of past events.

Thank you again; this experience has really helped me determine that I want to pursue this career.

Sincerely, Jennifer Lewis

Photographs


Kelley Gibson and Kelly LeMay, for Inside Out Consulting, take pictures of the press conference at Rutter’s on October 22, 2008 for Mike’s Nut Shop.



Kelley Gibson passes out free bags of nuts after the press conference for Mike’s Nut Shop on October 22, 2008. The nuts were honey-roasted peanuts, and were given out to get customers to go to the new location of the shop.



Kelley Gibson and Kelly LeMay demonstrate their daily tasks at Inside Out Consulting on October 22, 2008, which consist of planning and executing events for the city of York.



Two interns at Inside Out Consulting work at their computers to help the directors plan events on October 22, 2008, in the office building.