A Summer Intern's Experience - Jake Crumbaugh

As the summer ends, I keep on telling myself “Thank God I interned this summer at USDP.” Countless social media posts reveal that summer interns have difficulty finding tasks, sit bored for 8 hours a day, and don’t really learn anything in the end. At USDP on the other hand, I almost felt like a full time employee during the whole course of my internship.

How I got started at USDP

I found USDP at a business fair last fall. Immediately after hearing David Brecount talk about the importance of culture, creativity, and thinking outside the box at a digital advertising agency, I was hooked. I’ve always been interested in pursuing a marketing career ever since I watched the TV show Mad Men and this was a chance to finally make my aspirations come to fruition.

After several discussions with team members at USDP, I started working remote part-time during the fall of 2021 through the Spring of 2022. After learning a bunch throughout both college semesters, USDP invited me to work in person (in Cincinnati!) during the Summer. And of course, I accepted excitedly and was glad to finally meet everyone at USDP in person.

Right when I arrived, every employee was extremely welcoming and made the transition from college super easy. I quickly got to know everyone I was working with and I was constantly asked out to lunch or coffee. It was obvious that the senior partners of the company hand selected each and every single employee to cultivate the perfect workplace environment. Negativity and office gossip was completely absent from workplace discussions. Because of this, there seemed to be a constant optimism circulating around the office. And, if I had any difficulty completing a task, everyone seemed to enjoy helping me out. Any intimidation that you might find at larger companies was completely absent from this amazing workplace. These were not just great employees- these were great people as well.

What I liked the most at USDP

My favorite part of interning at USDP was the design, digital ad, and marketing teams’ openness to new ideas. During brainstorm sessions or marketing meetings, my input was always valued and sometimes implemented into client/internal projects. Even with more abstract ideas, such as revamping the company YouTube account and creating a Super 8 film, USDP approved the projects quickly since they thought it could improve the company’s outreach.

Additionally, I had the freedom to choose which types of tasks I wanted to focus on during the course of my internship. In the beginning, I mainly focused on web design and content entry which I wasn’t naturally inclined towards but I still enjoyed the work nonetheless. Moving forward, I was given digital marketing tasks such as keyword research, SEO, copy adjustments, and StoryBrand set up. These tasks required critical thinking and creativity to reform client websites, improve user experience ,and company outreach.

With the launch of my YouTube project for digital advertising tutorials, the internship took a drastic turn in the variety of my work load. Rather than focusing on web design or digital marketing, I was now learning how to operate a Black Magic Camera, set up professional lighting and the best way to script YouTube videos. Additionally, presenting during video shoots greatly improved my ability to articulate my ideas and speak more clearly on a daily basis. And after these shoots, I shadowed the Associate Creative Director on how to edit in softwares like Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve. The hands-on shadowing with an expert made my learning curve much better compared to the typical YouTube tutorial learning I was used to.

My Projects

USDP Projects:

• Shadowed Creative Director
• Created Youtube Content
• Wrote Blog Posts
• Filmed a Super 8 marketing Film
• Learned how to use various editing softwares
• Produced an email marketing blast

Client Projects:

• Wrote Copy for Clients
• Assisted with SEO Research
• Built Ads in Google/Facebook/Instagram
• Participated in brainstorm discussions
• Designed Websites in Wordpress

What I’ve Learned about Myself

Because of this Internship at USDP, I’ve now learned what I’m most passionate about in the advertising industry and what skills I want to further develop. I’ve found that I became more inclined towards video production and editing throughout this internship, and I want to possibly pursue a career in those professions. Even more importantly, I’ve gained many friends and become a more well-rounded person throughout this internship in Cincinnati.

Honestly, this has been the most fun I’ve ever had during a summer. Thank you to the partners and employees at USDP for an unforgettable internship experience!