Prestigious Advertising Intern Program Seeks to Increase Corporate Participation in Celebration of 20th Anniversary

AUSTIN, Texas—Jan. 28, 2009—In recognition of its 20th anniversary, the American Advertising Federation (AAF) Vance and Betty Lee Stickell Student Internship Program, one of the nation’s most selective internship programs for advertising students, is recruiting new organizations to host interns from universities across the country.

The nationwide internship program was established by the Times Mirror Foundation and is administered by the Department of Advertising & Public Relations at The University of Texas at Austin, the AAF and the Los Angeles Times.

Named for Vance Stickell, former executive vice-president of marketing for the Los Angeles Times, and his wife, Betty Lee, the Stickell Student Internship Program fosters learning experiences for the most outstanding AAF college chapter members as determined by chapter faculty advisers.

Since the program’s inception, more than 150 students from 66 colleges and universities have gained experience in the advertising industry working at leading companies and advertising agencies, such as 7-Eleven, BBDO, Coca-Cola, DDB, GSD&M Idea City, Leo Burnett, McCann Worldwide, Procter & Gamble, the Richards Group, Saatchi & Saatchi, Southwest Airlines, Toyota and Wal-Mart.

“Stickell is an honors program that matches only the best, most highly qualified students from around the country with outstanding host companies,” said John Murphy, the Joe C. Thompson Centennial Professor in Advertising and Stickell Internship program coordinator. “Typically, three times more students are nominated to participate in the program than are matched with host companies by our advisory board.”

Stickell Internship program organizers are recruiting media organizations, advertising agencies, and client and supplier companies around the country to host advertising and public relations students in their junior year for 10-week internships this summer.

“The Vance Stickell Internship attracts accomplished, motivated, smart students, who are truly interested in advertising,” said Erica Martinez, human resources director for Slingshot, a Dallas-based advertising agency representing brands such as Finlandia, McAfee and Weight Watchers. “Last year, our Stickell intern played an integral role in our recruiting site for the 2009 interns. The copywriting intern took it upon himself to learn Flash over the weekend in order to bring life to the team's great idea. The result was a terrific mini-site concepted, designed, written and programmed by the 2008 intern team.”

This year’s interns will receive $4,000 for the 10-week internship plus either a $1,500 scholarship or assistance with housing to help defray their living expenses. Members of AAF college chapters who are juniors and will return to school in fall 2009 are eligible to be nominated as their chapter’s most outstanding student by their AAF faculty adviser.

“It’s no secret that The Richards Group uses our internship program as a means for identifying potential full-time contributors,” said Cory Davies, brand management at the Richards Group, a Dallas-based advertising and branding agency with clients that include Fruit of the Loom, Home Depot and the Salvation Army. “Finding passionate, highly qualified interns, such as AAF Stickell Award winners, is crucial to the success of not only our internship program but also our agency.”

More information about hosting an intern is available at http://advertising.utexas.edu/aafstickellinternships/.

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Contacts:
Dr. John Murphy
512-471-1101
or
Erin Geisler
512-475-8071