Interning In the Sports World: Peoria Rivermen

I had about 800 things on my plate when the Peoria Rivermen fell into my lap. I knew I wanted to work in hockey and I was advised that to work in that field, I needed to get some experience on my resume asap! (Thanks for the advice Heidi ;))

But…Did I really have time to add another thing to my plate? I was taking 17 credit hours, working part time, and balancing several different extracurriculars. Naturally, being the ambitious young woman that I am, I knew I had to get the Rivermen on my resume! I scheduled an interview and a few days later I became the Peoria Rivermen Marketing and Sales intern. Has a nice ring to it

This internship was one of the most eye-opening and incredible experiences of my life thus far. Keep reading to learn more about the highlights!

I Started the Rivermen Snapchat!

One of my favorite marketing gurus, Gary Vaynerchuck, has raved about Snapchat even in its early days. Once I looked over the Rivermen’s social media, I instantly knew that platform would fit perfectly in the company’s social media strategy. So I sat down with my boss, gave him a crash course in Snapchat, and then was given the freedom to get creative!

I took hundreds of snaps during my time with the Rivs. Trust me, it was really hard to pick which snaps were my favorite. I took videos too but unfortunately, they won’t upload correctly to WordPress. I took a lot of inspiration from the Chicago Blackhawks Snapchat as well as using my own creative ideas. Snapchat quickly became my favorite creative platform for this organization.

I Met Some COOL People!

One of the best moments of my internship came when I was given the opportunity to escort and attend to Jamal Mayers and Jim Cornelison. Another intern was asked to take on this role, but knowing how much I would give for an opportunity like that, he suggested that I was given the honor! (Shoutout to Joey! I will be forever grateful.) For those of you that don’t know Jamal is a former Blackhawk and Jim is the national anthem singer for the team. I’ve had the pleasure of hearing Jim sing the anthem live 3 times now…and it is nothing short of spectacular! Here’s a video of him singing right before the last game of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2015. Note: it is a tradition for fans to cheer during the anthem while in the Madhouse on Madison.

I, unfortunately, got no pictures with either of them that night. They had been signing autographs all night and I didn’t want to bother them. I had met Jim while I worked for the Peoria Chiefs and mustered up the courage to ask for a picture then! I’ll get a pic with Jamal when I’m working for the Hawks ;).

I Passed On My Love For The Rivs

I knew at some point the season would come to an end and thus so would my internship. It was a sad realization that I would have to move on from one of most fun internships I’d ever had but I spread the word about how incredible this opportunity was. I had a few friends approach me about their desire to work with the Rivs and I was thrilled to help them out. I am happy to say that they are officially interns for the Peoria Rivermen and at least appear to be enjoying it as much as I did (Ashley and Kalah, I hope you’re loving it there!)

I definitely miss that chapter of my life immensely. I learned more than I would’ve thought possible during my time there. From day one, that organization made me feel at home. I was treated as an equal, given an outlet for my ideas, and given the opportunity to enhance my skills. I will be forever grateful for the Peoria Rivermen organization.