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I'll admit it. I'm a huge fan. It's cool, smart and not blatantly self promotional (for what it is). It took a minimum investment, an attention to detail, a cool url and a press release to give fifteen people a leg up in a brutal job market.
Next time don't use flash though.
The world of interns is not about getting coffee anymore, it's more about keeping the advertising agency afloat. This unpaid labor is cheap, plentiful and all but off limits to the best and the brightest. Why hire a college graduate when you could have them intern for a year? It's an easy way to cut costs in a down economy.
Plus, the rise of social media has caught most of the industry with their pants down. Interns with familiarity of the tools and systems are a serviceable stop gap until bigger minds can be brought to bear on the strategy behind community integration. It's never good though when "The VP's kid is on that Facebook all the time, we should hire him!" is the primary reason for bringing a person to work with you.
This is an absolutely brilliant PR push for Crispin. Not to mention a socially savvy one. It's a creative spark and one that is sure to set off a fire.
Here's some gasoline to help take the site to another level:
1. Ditch the flash. It doesn't work effectively with SEO, looks clumsy and is irritating to any and all web savvy users.
2. Reach higher. Don't rely on the cool idea alone. Yes, you'll get picked up by the trade press. But if you have a more attractive hook for 3rd party viewers? Who knows how far your press will travel.
3. Increased Individuality. As set up currently, you can't share information about individual interns. While this is probably by design, the functionality needs to be in place to reach out in a more constructive and useful way.
4. Seed, Seed, Seed. Why even put a Digg button on a page if you're going to self submit the page? PR/Social influence seems to be an afterthought.
5. Less microsite. More hub. As it stands currently this site is merely a destination. It could be so much more if given a little social horsepower. Start by tying in multiple platforms, pull more dynamic data into the site (much like CP+B's main page) and start a movement. If all goes well? You could have a hell of a property on your hands with people clamoring to be featured on the site (regardless of affiliation).
Helping people does matter. It certainly doesn't hurt if you gain some press hits and a few leads from it either though.
Side Note: Interning has always been a mystery to me. I never was able to partake in one during college because I had to actually make money during the summer. It wasn't a picnic, 9-10 hour days running a front end loader at a transfer station (dump) while destructive isn't terribly fun.
Sadly, I actually ended up taking a pay cut after college and losing most of my benefits in my first "real" job. Looking back, I still think I made the right decision.
Photo Credit: http://www.pleasehire.us/
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Comments
12.08.09
Stuart,
While I agree with everything you write here (especially about flash), I wonder if this would be as effective for these few people if they followed your advice. Since this site is limited to CP+B interns, they are the only ones who will get the bump from this cool idea, and if they created a movement out of it they may end up with a hit on their hands, but they may be less likely to get jobs as more people's resumes end up on their movement site.
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