Winner: Raymond Liang
Intern, YMCA
If you’re going to be an intern, it’s important to make sure you make the most of the time you spend with an organization and contribute to that organization’s success. Raymond Liang did just that with the YMCA of Greater New York. Liang, a student at New York City Technical College majoring in communications design, was instrumental in the YMCA’s revamping of its video, multimedia and social media.
Having launched his own videography and photography business, Liang had the necessary tools to tell the Y’s story visually. Those skills especially came in handy when Liang helped launch the Y’s 160th anniversary campaign.
Liang directed, shot and edited the campaign’s introductory video with the YMCA’s president and CEO Jack Lund. In addition to his work on the anniversary campaign, Liang helped launch the video elements for the Y’s new “Experts Bureau.” He also provided video highlights of the Y’s day camps. And most notably, Liang played a key role in the Y’s effort to catalogue and consolidate 10 years’ worth of video and photography, making media requests more efficient. The impact Liang made on the Y this summer led him to be able to continue to work part time at the Y during the school year.
What did he take away from his summer PR experience? “Not to give up in any way and to take your education as far as you can,” he says. —Jamar Hudson
Honorable Mentions:
Andrea Summers, Account Executive, Adfero
Kate Urbach, Intern, Havas PR