I learned one of my biggest lessons of the professional world this week. Scratch that. I learned one of my biggest lessons period this week. As a college student, it is easy to become acutely aware of deadlines to the point of obsessive compulsion. Of course, that makes sense; with papers, tests, work, and extra-curricular activities to account for, time is basically the most important thing that a college student possesses. In my time at Pegasus I have learned that the work world is no different when it comes to time management. What I have also learned this week is that, as important as it is to plan, plan, plan, sometimes it is equally important to be able to set that mindset aside in order to think on your feet and get things done.
Laura Soldati (with The L Agency) and I had a great time at the media preview for Capitol City Opera’s “The Abduction from the Seraglio.”
Last Wednesday, I had the wonderful opportunity to have my first Skype meeting with Laura Soldati, who runs her own PR firm, The L Agency. She was seeking help promoting Capitol City Opera’s performance of The Abduction from the Seraglio to be held in Oglethorpe’s own Conant Performing Arts Center. However, when she told me that the production was set to premiere on March 27th, I couldn’t believe my ears. That was only a week and a half away! We had 10 days to not only decide what kind of audience we wanted to appeal to, but to also come up with a plan for reaching our audience AND execute that plan. With help from fellow Peg, Leah Garrett ’18 and University Communications Director, Renee Vary, we were able to think on our feet and come up with two awesome new audiences to appeal to: local families and Oglethorpe students experiencing opera for the first time.
Over the next few days, Leah and I were able to create and distribute fliers on campus as well as talk with soccer moms in Brookhaven who were very interested in a night on the town. Leah worked hard to make sure that campus TV’s had ads for the opera and that the University’s social media outlets reflected our excitement for the event. We were even able to put together a tabling event on campus to promote the opera to current Oglethorpe students.
Last night I attended a media preview of the opera and I saw stars Megan Brunning, Matthew Talley, Caitlin Andrews, Will Green, and Marcus Hopkins Turner command the stage with their beautiful voices and finally met Laura in person. I finally got to see the show that I had been promoting all week. Not only was the opera beautifully staged, but the music was sensational.
Being a Pegasus Creative intern entails a lot of interesting work. We write news articles, edit videos, conduct interviews, and help promote events on campus. However, sometimes, because we are busy doing all of that, it is easy to disassociate with how real our jobs are. This isn’t a class and there’s no grade. The work we do and the content we create is for more than a professor, it is for the world to see. This is real life and sometimes you don’t get to plan it months in advance. So, when it hits you, you have to be ready to fall or run. This week Pegasus taught me to run. I can’t wait to see what I learn next week.
-Heather
