Author: jgans

I definitely believe that my learning goals were met this summer. Going into the internship, I didn’t know entirely what to expect, but my main goal was to gain true, realistic experience in a field of interest to me. This covered many fields of interest – among them were social media, graphic design, professional sports, law, public and player relations, and data collection. The realistic aspect to this is what truly made it a unique learning experience. As I explained in my previous blog posts, I have previous social media experience, but never in managing a page that has a real impact on the lives of many people. The content I put out had to be mindful of how it’s perceived so there was a lot of responsibility there.

While I am not completely sure what I want to do in the future, I feel like this internship has started to clarify a general path for me. My growth in graphic design is something I definitely have an interest in pursuing, and my social media experience is something I will continue to utilize. As I approach my senior year, I imagine myself working in a creative environment – whether that is in social media and graphic design or another field like marketing, I am not exactly sure. But I do believe that I want to tie my Psychology and Politics education – which has taught me so much about human behavior – into what I have learned this summer.

This summer I have learned that I am capable of doing more than I once believed. For example, I agreed to get in front of the camera and do an Instagram takeover for the official Brandeis Instagram page, documenting a day in the life of my internship. I never considered myself the most charismatic individual, and never really had the confidence to get in front of a camera. But this internship has taught me to be much more responsible and I have matured throughout it, so I have much more confidence in things like that.

The end goal of my internship is for the organization to become self-sufficient with its social media campaign, and thus may not be available for future applicants. That said, the USL Players Association is a young organization that is growing in prominence, so if an internship does become available it could be very beneficial for both the student and the union. I am really excited to see the USLPA grow and would always be glad to see future interns helping steer that growth. More broadly, unions are on the rise and incredibly important in all fields of business. Getting experience working in unions and particularly with modern day marketing (i.e, Social Media) is supportive of any career path a student goes down.

There are a few things in particular that I am proud of this summer. As I mentioned previously, the Instagram takeover is something that I never saw myself having courage to try. I had fun with that, but my proudest aspect wasn’t one moment in particular. This summer I am most proud of the overall work I did, because of the purpose it that work. Working in a labor union is very personally rewarding. Throughout the summer, I was working to improve the lives of hundreds if not thousands of players, while pursuing to improve the conditions of people that are often overworked, underpaid, and underrepresented. So my proudest moment wasn’t one moment at all; it was the work I did and the cause it went to.

The full video of my takeover can be found at the following link (swipe through many stories before getting to my takeover at the end) stories: https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17947397956270098/

A statement regarding the suspension of a manager for alleged misconduct on players.

A congratulatory post regarding USL Championship club Sacramento Republic FC upsetting an MLS club for the third consecutive to reach the US Open Cup Final.

An announcement regarding the vacancy of the executive director’s role in the USLPA.

My position was mostly what I expected it to be, but not exactly. I did expect to work on the USLPA’s social outreach, which is the jist of it. However, there is a lot more to my work– both logistically and objectively. When I approached this internship, I had different ideas of the goal of this. As with my previous experience, I expected to be attempting to grow the page at all costs. This meant focusing on expanding demographics, creating entertaining designs, and using typical social outreach strategies.

That was until I learned what the goal of the organization actually was. I had to understand the ins and outs of the USLPA, what the purpose of a labor union was, and the legal side of collective bargaining agreements. Once I understood that, I had a more precise grasp on how to run this kind of page. It was not merely about gaining as many followers as possible. It had to be dealt with in a professional manner and used to adhere to the interests of the union itself. This meant using the same format as previously and posting things that are important for getting the message across– not for adjusting to the wider audience that may not be as interested in what the USLPA stands for. Again, this is not about gaining as many followers, likes and comments as possible. It is about how it can help inform and unite those who it is directed towards (mainly players), and how it can be perceived by the public.

The World of Work is more realistic, and comes with more responsibility than university life. In academics, I feel as though everything comes in a natural flow, with work piling up as a professor decides and a more rigid schedule. Though this is necessary in education, it is a disingenuous way to live, as it is not how the real world runs. In my internship, some days are slower and some days are busier. I am faced with some regular and some unexpected tasks. I have a real life responsibility, one that is more than just about getting good grades. The work I am doing can impact the lives of many people, while giving me real life pressures that are an important experience for the future. It gives me a feeling of doing something truly meaningful.

This internship is teaching me some valuable skills, both practical and informational. As I explained above, it is teaching me to adapt to a real world work environment. This is in terms of logistics and time management, as well as dealing with the pressures of things that have a real impact on people’s livelihoods. I am also building out a wider range of skills in graphic design and in my social media expertise. I have extensive experience with social media personally, so adding a professional level to that will make a big difference to me. I also have a unique interest in becoming proficient in graphic design and this is giving me that opportunity. In a world that is becoming more technologically dependent and revolving around social media, all organizations that want to be successful, in any industry, need to have a competitive online platform to promote, brand, and market themselves. Having the skills to do that is not only transferable, but a necessity in the world we live in today.

Again, the social media handles I am running are linked below:

Instagram, Twitter

Some examples of the posts from Instagram and Twitter are shown below:

1. Explain your site (mission, location, type of work, etc.)

This summer, I am interning with the USL Players Association (USLPA). The United Soccer League (USL) is North America’s largest professional soccer organization, which oversees the USL Championship, USL Super League, USL League One, USL W League, USL League Two, and the USL academy. The USLPA is a labor union that currently represents all the players signed to a standard player contract in the USL Championship (men’s professional second division) and USL League One (men’s professional third division). The goals of the USLPA are to advocate for and advance the interests, terms and conditions of its players, to bargain on their behalf, and to increase the popularity of the league as well as soccer as a whole in the United States. I am running the USLPA’s social media platforms (Instagram and Twitter) in an effort to build its outreach and create a content plan going forward once I depart from this internship in August.

2. Describe the projects or tasks for which you are responsible and the impact your work will have on the greater organization. 

Specifically, the mission of this role is not to grow the page to as many followers as possible, but to use it to the advantage of the players association. The social media goal is the same as the organizational goal. I am focusing on two variations of objectives: How to engage players and how to grow a general audience. Engaging players is intended to build unity and collective identity as members of the league. It is also used to teach players about the labor union, what its goals are, who represents them, and to keep them updated about how negotiations are going. Growing a general audience is not about getting as many followers and as much engagement as possible. It is about a public impression of strength as well as growing the brand and interest in the USL. Both of these objectives are meant to be used for leverage in current and future negotiations. The USLPA is continuously fighting to improve conditions of the players, and strength and unity are two very important characteristics for having an authentic and persuasive approach to negotiations. Also, publicly perceiving this strength on social media can apply public pressure on policymakers and organizational leaders in the USL. My goal is to create a social media approach to growing the USL brand and portraying its strength.

3. What are your goals for learning this summer (from your WOW application)?

My learning goal this summer is to gain true, realistic experience in a field of interest to me. I have been involved in administering many social media accounts before, but I have never had control over a page as impactful as this. This will teach me a lot about the legal side of sports organizations, and I will be able to build hands-on skills running a page that can actually impact the lives of players. There is a professional pressure to post exactly the correct graphic, at the correct time, with a perfect caption, because any slip up there can have a consequential effect for the perception of the organization. Having this kind of responsibility will help me navigate this type of operation in the future. Going forward I am very interested in working with social media, branding and marketing for influential organizations, doing graphic design, and potentially working in the field of professional sports. This experience will give me the necessary tools and experience for all of the above.