Rewarding Experience Earns $1,000 Scholarship
Thursday September 6, 2018 | Filed under:
I enjoyed a very exciting day recently signing $1,000 scholarship checks for three college students who wrote winning essays on the 2018 ASI Internship Program, which attracted a record 308 interns from 240 supplier and distributor companies – an 85% growth from last year!
Blake Bellar of Ligon Marketing (asi/254233), Grace Glessner of Glessner Promo, and Rachel Ludwig of Creative Promotional Products (asi/170669), spent the summer working in our industry and, as their essays prove (click here to read them in full), they learned a lot. I’m hopeful that once they graduate they’ll consider a career in the exciting, creative field of promotional products. We as an industry would definitely benefit from their enthusiasm and fresh take on marketing to a new generation.
The program (#ASIInternshipProgram) grew out of conversations with members who told me they didn't hire interns because they didn't know how to recruit and hire them and didn't have time to train them. We launched it in 2016 and supply the interns with training webinars, free access to our ESP® technology platform, attendance to our Chicago trade show, a gift pack, a certificate of completion and the chance to compete for a scholarship by writing about what they learned through their internship.
The free training and tools help to alleviate concerns over not having enough time to devote to training newcomers to their company and the industry, and the scholarship provides an incentive for the interns to share what they learned through the essays.
The ASI Summer Internship Program is free to ASI members who hire one or more interns to work at their company for the summer. It's one way we give back to the industry, encouraging new energy and ideas and helping to set the stage for a new generation of promo professionals.
For information on joining the 2019 ASI Internship Program, please contact ASI Marketing Manager Christine Shaw at cshaw@asicentral.com.