On Monday, February 6, 2023, I began my internship with the Sussex Preservation Coalition, a local assembly of like-minded groups, organizations, and individual citizens, dedicated to educating, advocating, and working toward policy change. Their primary goal is to preserve and protect our local environment and wildlife, by fostering dialogue, action, and proactivity. Believing that everyone can help and reinforcing the idea that anyone may join their ranks, the SPC promotes that they have no barrier to entry. Throughout the duration of our working together, my job was to help them reach a broader audience.
 

My primary goal as an intern for the SPC team was to develop, produce, and edit a podcast for their group. This included writing and presenting a podcast proposal, educating the team on production logistics, and doing my best to provide the board members with all of the necessary tools needed to ensure that they have the ability to continue the podcast once our time together was over. I shared my knowledge and experience regarding which equipment and what environment works best for recording, the differences between microphone types, and headphones, which purchases are more important for a starting podcast, and which could be put off for much later. I also shared some of the best sites for hosting and recording interviewers as a new startup production.  
 

The technical skills I used included cleaning up several audio files from different sources which were recorded in different surroundings. This sometimes presented a challenge and its own difficulties. Unfortunately, different conditions sometimes produce a range of background noise, obstacles with volume leveling, and overall audio quality in general. I used my familiarity and experience to remove as many imperfections as possible, even out dialogue volume among multiple speakers, and weave them together with the chosen music to produce a cohesive product, representative of the SPC’s mission. One of the members mixed the intro and outro music by herself on Garageband, this gave me a much greater idea of what they were looking for, as far as mood and tone, but it was up to me to find the music bed and numerous animal noises to serve as transitions when needed. 
 

Artistically, the coalition asked me to create a logo that could be used for stickers and decals. I was given a very loose sketch of what they wanted, which was a great help in pointing me in the right direction. I used my skills with Adobe Illustrator to develop multiple versions, submitted them for review, and made corrections over several stages before we were finally able to narrow the last three versions down to exactly what they were looking for. Additionally, when I had time and hadn’t been given anything specific to do, I took it upon myself to propose the idea of my creating a number of colorable images that could be downloaded from the site or sold as promotional materials. These pages would each consist of a local animal and contain relevant information regarding scientific names, population status, and habitat. The board members seemed to have loved the idea and thankfully I was able to illustrate a half dozen coloring pages as well as a cover for them before my time was up. They also seemed to appreciate the fact that I took the initiative and came up with my own ideas.
 

Aside from doing research in order to explain the logistics of podcast development and production to the board members, most of the skills I used were ones I’ve grown comfortable performing throughout my time as a Communications major or practices I’ve instituted in my personal life. With that said, if there was any advice I’d like to give to the next intern working with the SPC, it’d be this. Be confident in the skills and techniques you’ve learned. If there are things you don’t quite remember how to do, take advantage of the numerous resources and teachers on campus. Our instructors are always willing to lend a hand if need be. Also, don’t be afraid to share your own ideas, keep the lines of communication between you and your supervisor open and converse often. Relax, as the artistic asset, we often know more of what can and can’t be done in the time allotted to us than our clients do. Sometimes this is a point of tension, but communication goes a long way. I made sure to establish early on a realistic time frame required to schedule guests, record interviews, and eventually edit everything together before the finished episode can be published. Lastly, enjoy the experience.
 

The Communications program has done an absolutely amazing job preparing me for this internship and whatever may lie ahead in my future. It provided me with capabilities I never considered would be a part of my artistic arsenal. While many of our classes are somewhat introductory and teach us as many of the basic skills in each medium as they can, in the short time we’re given, we get out of them what we put in. In my case, it has provided me with a broad range of techniques in various communicative pathways, and taking part in this internship has helped me realize just how far the program has helped my skillset grow.
 

My role with the SPC was largely as a podcast developer/producer and audio editor, with a smaller role as an illustrator and graphic designer. The lessons I’ve learned about how to use Adobe software like Audition and Illustrator have compounded my comfort and confidence using both programs, which made me much more aware of what I was capable of doing for the Coalition. Going forward, while I initially enrolled at Delaware Technical Community College to improve my skills as a writer, I also see myself taking on future jobs as a video/audio editor. As I’ve said, I now have a much broader range of skills at my disposal and aside from my primary dream of being an established author, I also hope to build a body of work as a freelance creator and producer.    

 

~ Sheldon Fisher 

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