Austin Gilbert

Responsibilities

During my internship this summer, I was responsible for performing multiple duties at the Gateway. This included assisting with the setup and teardown for all of the events that were held at the hotel. The different types of events that I worked at included conferences, conventions, and even weddings. Along with that, I provided both Serving and Bartending service to the guests that were attending these events. Having learned these multiple new resposibilities during my internship was very impactful because I was able to gain a number of skills that I can now apply to my future career.

Accomplishments

Personally, my greatest accomplishment during my internship experience was when I was able to bartend a wedding on my own at the hotel. Bartending has always been a side skill that I have been wanting to learn and perform, so it felt good to start my experience at my own internship. This accomplishment in particular is a skill that I'm going to be able to carry on with me into my future career, so that's why I feel that it was my greatest. Another accomplishment that comes to mind would be when I was able to set up multiple large buffets for over 100 people on my own. This was during one of my first couple of weeks in my position, so it was something that I felt I was succeeding with during my internship.

Learning experience

The first great lesson that I learned from my experience during my internship this summer would be to never be afraid to ask questions when you are unsure about what you are doing. I think that it's important for other students to understand that their manager is there to help them and wants them to succeed just as badly as they do, so you can't be afraid to communicate when you are confused about your task or duty. I was able to quickly learn so much right at the beginning of my internship this summer because I was confident in asking for help, which helped me learn so much more in the long run. Another lesson that comes to mind that I gained through my position was that you have to be on your feet and ready to move around a lot in the event industry. I found myself in multiple scenarios during my position where I was having to scurry around the room of whatever event I would be working on, because you are never able to expect how busy an event is going be and what the attendee's needs are going to be until it starts.

What advice would you give?

A piece of advice that I would have for future students in Event Management would be to get any kind of experience you can early on in your college career, so you can learn more about the industry quicker, and also because it will help you decide what kind of work you want to do in the future with your major. Iowa State has so many campus event opportunities that they offer directly to students all of the time, so I think getting involved would be the best step in order to help you progress in the space. Another piece of advice that I have would be to meet and talk to other students in your classes, so you are able to hear about new career opportunities that you might have missed out on before.