2017 PR People Awards — Intern of the Year
Winner: Delaney Lanker, HP
Delaney Lanker is HP’s communications lead intern. She works alongside HP Inc.’s media relations professionals and owns a piece of the holiday outreach program for HP’s consumer product line of printers and PCs.
Lanker was tasked with drafting pitches, researching media targets and conducting outreach to lifestyle, travel and parenting magazines. In less than a month, she placed HP product Sprocket with Travel & Leisure, which has a print audience of 6.3 million, in their December 2017 issue.
As an intern for HP, Lanker helps plan and execute HP events, volunteers for projects and leads team assignments. She leads by example, showing HP’s other summer interns—many of whom have never had a “real” job before—best practices for taking notes in meetings, writing blog posts and asking for feedback.
A senior at Northeastern University, Lanker was a PR intern at New Balance Athletic Shoe before HP. She coordinated with magazine, online and television media to feature New Balance products, authored press releases and helped plan and execute products and giveaways for press events, including the Boston Marathon and New Balance’s Press Preview.
Lanker also worked at 360 Public Relations, where she was an intern on the Healthy Living Team, working with clients such as Ball Corp., Krusteaz, Peapod and Nasoya. She also has done part-time work during at John Guilfoil Public Relations, where her clients consisted of police and fire departments as well as nonprofit organizations.
Honorable Mention:
- Sarah Mondello, Drake Community Press—Sarah Mondello is an adept problem-solver, sometimes finding solutions before anyone realizes there's a problem. Mondello kept pace with an intense round of editing lasting several weeks—all while juggling a very full load of coursework and extra-curricular activities. And she did all of this with a high level of professional polish in her materials, presentation and attitude. In a short time, Mondello's senior leaders began to rely on her astuteness, flexibility and know-how the way they would with more seasoned staff.
See all the winners and honorable mentions for PR News' 2017 PR People Awards.