Every year around 20 students are chosen for the prestigious Vance and Betty Lee Stickell Student Internship program, a program process that is so selective that, in fact no University of Memphis student has ever received it.
That all changed when Aidan Porter was one of the few selected for the Vance Stickell Internship through the American Advertising Federation this year, placing him to intern at BBDO in New York City, America’s most awarded advertising agency for the summer.
“The American Advertising Federation program does this every year,” Porter said. “Dr. Utt nominated me to apply for it and up until this year no one from the University of Memphis has ever gotten it before. We are really putting the U of M on the grid.”
Since 1989, the American Advertising Federation Vance Stickell Internship selects around 20 students in the United States for their 10-week Student Internship Program at major U.S. media organizations, by placing students in big cities and a chance to work among professionals. While living there, interns will receive $4,000 as a stipend for their work within the 10-week program.
“It hasn’t hit me yet, it’s crazy to think about it,” Porter said. “I’m still in shock. It’s such a dream come true. I don’t think it will hit me until I step on that plane or step into New York City and see all of the buildings. I’ve never been to New York before.”
The Vance Stickell Internship, named after the former Executive Vice President of Marketing for the Los Angeles Times, Vance Stickell, aims to help students get their foot in the doorway with advertising professionals and make those professional connections. Throughout this internship, students will be taught how to understand the process of advertising and as well as the business side of it.
Porter already qualified as one of the outstanding students nominated, with accomplishing backgrounds as an intern at Signature Advertising and his role as President of the Student Advertising Federation, also known as Student AdFed, at the University of Memphis. With a passion for advertising, he’s put in a countless hours of outside work to make this new internship achievement possible.
“As an intern at Signature Advertising I get a hand in everything from contributing ideas to ads, sitting in on meetings, and going on errand runs,” Porter said. “I am getting to see the way an agency works, I’m getting a feel for how everything goes.”
Not only that, Porter and the students of the Student AdFed at the University of Memphis are leaving on Thursday to compete in the National Student Advertising Competition. They are presenting the advertising campaign they created for Pizza Hut. They’ve been working on it since August.
“This all didn’t get placed in my lap,” Porter said. “I went out and got it. If you want something bad enough go out and get it.”
Porter hopes that through his experienced background and his internship with BBDO, that maybe one day he could start his own agency. But for now, he likes to let life take it’s own course.
“Working within advertising, it’s creative, and gets you to think outside the box,” Porter said. “One day you could be working with a University like the U of M and another day you could be working with a pharmaceutical company. I’m less likely to get burned out on it.”
