The ISD was created to help connect students in the Tampa Bay area with employers in all different Marketing and Advertising roles. With students being able to switch table to table every twenty minutes everyone was able to learn about each company and find if they had a match or not. At the end there was an additional twenty minutes added for students to attend the table they found to fit them the best to show some more interest and have any final questions answered.

Allow me to sum up this event in only two words informal & formal. Let me explain, for people heading into their first meeting with employers or professionals it can be a bit intimidating however, that was not the case at all for the ISD. Ad 2 was completely spot on with the name of this event because it felt exactly like speed dating. Every company hosting a table was very personable and not only did they explain what they were looking for in an intern, but they were more than interested to hear what the students had to say as well. With that being said, remember you are still presenting yourself to these companies, so you do not want to cross the line as too informal. A good way to visualize this is “business casual”, be yourself but also be professional.

“If you can’t advertise yourself, what hope do you have of advertising anything else?”

~David Ogilvy

Whether or not you found your match the ISD was a great way to network and make connections for the future. Getting your name out there is half the battle. For students looking to get their feet wet in the advertising world this is a must attend event. Absolute worst-case scenario you learn about the industry, but along with that floor comes the high celling of potentially finding your perfect match and landing a spot for the summer. As for organizations moving forward, I would love to see more agencies get involved.  You never know who you might come across in this crazy world, maybe you’ll find the next Bernbach.

SIGN UP, YOUR MATCH AWAITS…

-Matthew Gross