Written by Scott Fitterer, USA, on his public relations internship in Kolding, Denmark
It has been about 2 weeks since I completed my public relations internship in Kolding, Denmark, allowing me time to reflect on my experience. Also known as advance team work, this internship is open to anyone in our cast and allows that cast member to learn what it takes to prepare a city for Up With People’s arrival. Though I had to be away from my cast for about 2 weeks, I gained a lot of marketing knowledge that will help me in the future.
With every UWP tour, the PR staff members travel ahead of the cast to prepare upcoming cities. This advance team does everything; from finding host families and locations for meetings, to setting up the show facility and organizing community service activities. The opportunity to work with the advance team jumped out at me. Advance work is an amazing way to get involved with all aspects of UWP including admissions, education, the show, and is a great way to connect with the local community.
While the cast was touring both Poland and Germany, myself and Wei (China), the other selected intern, journeyed to beautiful Kolding, Denmark to meet with the advance team to prepare the city. Compared to every other city in our European tour, Kolding was going to be very different.
We have been partnering with Vattenfall, the leading energy company in Scandinavia. 2009 marks their 100th year of existence and we have been helping them celebrate their centennial events. However, our week in Kolding was to be the first and only week of our European tour without any Vattanfall events. This created a unique opportunity for the advance team and me to incorporate more cast-involved activities.
I have nothing but great things to say about Kolding, Denmark. First, Wei and I had a great staff member to work with: Cheryssa Jensen (USA). Next comes our sponsors and host family for the week, UWP alumni Brad and Lene. They provided an unlimited amount of support to Cheryssa, Wei and I. Thank you Cheryssa, Brad and Lene for helping to make my advance work experience a memorable one!
What does a typical day hold for an advance team member? First, no day is typical. Every day holds something new. Our primary goal is to find host families for the cast. Many e-mails were sent to and contacts made with local clubs and organizations introducing the great
opportunity to host one of our 80 students from 22 different countries. My family hosted UWP students in the past and it is such a great chance to pass on one’s own culture and traditions to young adults from across the world.
Our favorite part of every day was meet with the people of Kolding who were able to help us accomplish our goals. Within the first days of our arrival, we were in newspapers and on local television stations. How many people can say they’ve been on television in Denmark?
To me, the best part of being on an advance team is the additional time spent in the city. I loved taking Hayden, my host dog, for walks during the week. I also went swimming in Denmark! My host family was amazing. Brad was a huge Iowa Hawkeyes fan as well as a fan of college football in general. I felt right at home watching football with him. I also ate a typical Danish Christmas dinner complete with raw salmon and pickled herring with curry sauce.
I thought I was having a good time until the cast arrived. It was so great to see them again! Our week in Kolding was almost entirely devoted toward bonding as a cast. We participated in some great community service activities and had fun during Home Team Olympics. Home teams are small groups of cast members and 1-2 staff members. They are meant to be a mini-
support team within the cast. Home Team Olympics are a series of fun games between the groups. We enjoyed a day where we watched movies and snacked on junk food
What a great week! Being part of an advance team was a great experience and I feel so fortunate to have worked with a great team!
