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June 18, 2009

Chamber getting help from summer intern

By MARYANN DREAS

Register-News

MT. VERNON — Crystal Harris hopes to get more out of her summer vacation than sun and fun. As a new intern at the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce, Harris has been gaining professional experience by helping organize the office, beautify the Web site and create advertisements for chamber members.

Harris, a native of Centralia, is completing her internship required for graduation from SIU-Edwardsville in December. As a major in mass communications with a concentration in advertising, she explains she is expected to be a jack of all trades. “What I really want to accomplish later in my career is to be an art director,” Harris said.

Since June 1, Harris has put her communications background and her artist critique to work making flyers, banners and publicity for the JCCC and its 460 members, which include local businesses, banks, organizations and individuals.

“If I can use my skills to help them out a little, then I’ll feel like I’ve accomplished something,” she said. One of her recent projects includes publicizing the “chamber dollar,” a winning draw incentive to encourage locals to “shop it here” in Jefferson County, as the campaign says.

When she is not marketing, Harris is cleaning up the chamber’s Web site and updating the filing system for chamber members. She also answers phones, which she admits is challenging because she sometimes cannot answer caller’s questions. “I answer the phone and feel like a phone book,” she laughs.

These administrative jobs need to be done, says JCCC Executive Director Brandon Bullard, who explains that the chamber has been understaffed recently because it has endorsed more projects. Bringing Harris into the office has helped Bullard organize and focus on the chamber’s eight councils, while Harris manages advertising for members. “I like to create work,” Harris said, “as long as I get to do something pertaining to my field.”

After graduating, Harris hopes to move to St. Louis and produce advertisements that are more creative and less sex-focused. “I want to change the face of advertising,” she said. “My goal is to get rid of the ‘sex sells’ theme. I don’t know if I will, but it doesn’t hurt to try.”

She wants to give young girls better role models by raising the standards of advertisers to a more artistic and less vulgar level.

Harris finds herself drawing on her communication knowledge and TV broadcasting and radio classes. In Edwardsville, she lives in an apartment and works at McDonald’s and enjoys going to Shenanigans Bar & Grill. But the most she can muster up this busy summer is enough time to “decompress” when she gets home from the chamber.

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