BOLD Alumni Speak On Their MAIP Experience and Why Current Members Should Apply
On October 11th, BOLD had the pleasure of hosting a panel on the Multicultural Advertising Internship Program (MAIP) that occurs every summer. Alongside BOLD’s current president, the agency welcomed back three fellow alumni to discuss their journey with MAIP. This gave the members the opportunity to learn about an internship and why they should apply.
To kick-off the night, Camille Garcia, BOLD’s current president, applied to MAIP as a junior during the Fall of 2021. Within the program, she was placed with Dentsu as an Account Management Intern. Throughout her time there, she was able to work with companies such as Brita, Kingsford, and Hidden Valley Ranch. After Garcia’s quick recap on her experience, she continued her presentation by explaining what MAIP is, their requirements, and showed an informational video from their website. Since this section of the night was very detailed, members of the agency were given an outline as to what the application process consists of and the benefits of doing the internship itself.
Moving along, BOLD welcomed Alejandra Chahine who graduated in the Spring of 2022 with a degree in Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communications. During her time at FIU, Chahine was an Account Supervisor, Account Executive, and a former Director of Public Relations for the agency. Through MAIP, she was placed at Porter Novelli New York as a Public Relations intern. Alejandra Chahine’s work was fully remote and her internship led her to work for Lilly Alzheimer’s Disease and Cytokinetics. In her day-to-day, she would do a lot of media monitoring, research, attend meetings, ask questions when in doubt, and attend MAIP activities. Following her experience, Chahine discussed the benefits of being in MAIP which includes having a large network pool and it is a potential way of landing a job afterwards. She is now an Assistant Account Executive working remotely for the Atlanta branch and is still working with pharmaceuticals.
Atiya Pitaktrakul, the former Director of Culture for the agency, graduated in the Spring of 2022 with a PRAAC degree and a minor in Hospitality Studies. She was highly involved within FIU as she was also a communications intern for CARTA Dean’s Office. Within MAIP, she was placed with the Ad Council as an Account Management Intern. However, the company gave her the title of Campaign Development Intern. Unlike most agencies, the Ad Council is a non-profit that utilizes communication to promote different messages. Pitaktrakul’s experience involved spring training, doing a summer project, networking, and even an all-paid trip to New York City. Within her role, she would attend internal and external meetings, work on campaign briefs, and would mainly work alongside the New York team. At Ad Council, she work on three campaigns which are Love Has No Labels, High School Equivalency, and Seize the Awkward. After finishing MAIP, Pitaktrakul took a small break and will be starting a permanent position soon.
To close off the night, Paola Fernandez gave the agency her insight from being an Art Direction intern for Dentsu. Fernandez began her presentation by showcasing some artists that inspire her. This includes people like Paramore, Tyler the Creator, and Beyonce. Being creative has always been something important to her and it is part of who she is. Originally, Fernandez aimed for a Graphic Design role, but was given Art Direction which was slightly out of her comfort zone. At Dentsu, she worked on three accounts which were Bravo TV, SYFY TV, and Kroger. Afterwards, she was added into the Totinos account as they needed more help. Paola Fernandez’s day-to-day included brainstorming after seeing the creative briefs, keeping up with trends on social media, and having to focus on gen Z as the primary audience. Alongside, she mainly used Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Pro, would submit deliverables, and helped create presentations. Throughout the MAIP internship, Fernandez learned many valuable lessons that she will take with her moving forward.
All four of the guest speakers for the night offered the agency’s members a different insight into what a MAIP internship could look like. This was a great way to see how the same role can differ depending on the agency itself. The night ended with an engaged Q&A session as the members got the most of the panel BOLD held. It was an amazing way to welcome back BOLD alumni and have them encourage the agency for their future endeavors.
Click here to connect with Alejandra, Atiya, and Paola!
BOLD is a student-run strategic communications agency at Florida International University. Click here to learn more.
Written by: Jefrany D’catry, Director of Public Relations