Written by: Aaron Smith
My name is Aaron Smith and I am from Suffield, Conn. This past summer I took part in an internship with the Travelers Championship, located in Cromwell, Conn. I learned of the internship opportunity a few years ago during a Sport Business Association meeting, and decided to apply for the position last fall. I took part in an extensive hiring process that included submitting a recommendation, cover letter and resume, being brought in for an interview and having been told to create a presentation that was due 24 hours after the interview. A month later, I received an email congratulating me on having been accepted into the Travelers Championship internship p
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My internship was different than other summer internships in that it started in late January. I began working in the championship’s Hartford office as a member of the sales team. Working directly under both Directors of Business Development, I was charged with a wide variety of tasks throughout the semester. These responsibilities ranged from simply sending emails and making calls to hundreds upon hundreds of prospective partners, to researching new clients, drafting presentations and offering my valued opinions and suggestions on ways to make the tournament more successful. Once we moved out of the Hartford office and down to the tournament site in Cromwell, my responsibilities were widened to include setting up the tournament, traveling with my supervisors to attend meetings with partners and serving as the tournament contact for several events during tournament week.
This internship was an invaluable hands-on learning experience and one that taught me a great deal about the sport industry that I did not and could not have already known. An event the magnitude of the Travelers Championship demands unbelievable amounts of preparation. All of the staff and interns must be willing to put in extreme amounts of time and effort for it to be a success. When all was said and done, my personal reward was an incredible feeling of accomplishment, and the assurance that I was on the right career path. I feel very strongly that I want to be a part of a professional sport organization in a sales or marketing role, and I could not be more ready to further my education this year toward that goal.