Junior lands dream internship with Colts

Growing up, children often dream about having exciting careers when they become adults. Some want to be doctors or lawyers. Some dream of becoming singers or actors. Others, like junior Kevin Anderson, dream of being involved in professional sports -- yet not many are lucky enough to live their dream.\nHowever, after his internship with the Indianapolis Colts this summer, Anderson, a sports marketing and management major, is one step closer to living his dream. \nAnderson spent his summer working for "Colts In Motion," a program that travels around the tri-state -- Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois -- area to promote the Colts and rally fans for the upcoming season. \n"The underlying goal of the 'Colts In Motion' program is to reach as many parts (of the area) as possible to spread Colts cheer and help the fans keep high energy in the summer," he said.\nThe program gives fans free Colts gifts and an opportunity to win Colts tickets. While the group traveled to a variety of locations and met with many audiences, its target audience was children. \n"We want to create a younger generation of Colts fans," Anderson said.\nThe constant traveling required a lot of careful planning, and Anderson had numerous responsibilities. He had to work out all of the logistic details of each trip, from talking to event planners to coordinating events with the Colts cheerleaders, who appeared at "Colts In Motion" events. He was also responsible for updating the program's Web site and filing reports.\nIn addition to arranging visits to different events and doing paperwork, Anderson also had to drive the "Colts In Motion" truck and trailer to the events. \n"We traveled to over 40 different events in Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois," he said. "I went a little over 6,000 miles in three months. I'm not a big road trip guy. Six thousand miles is a lot of miles. ... It can be a little frustrating, especially when you are driving a 45-foot vehicle that's difficult to control at 1 o'clock in the morning after a 12-hour day."\nOn several occasions, the program traveled to multiple events in one day or was on the road for several days at a time. Coordinating these successive events proved to be Anderson's greatest challenge. \n"When you are coordinating with many different types of people from different venues, keeping (everyone) on the same page can be very challenging," Anderson said.\nWhile most events were designed to promote the Colts, there were some designed to give back to the community. Anderson said these events were the most fun.\n"(We) traveled to Columbus, (Ind.,) along with 12 cheerleaders to Camp Atterbury military base and spent two hours with a troop entirely made up of Hoosiers and Colts fans soon to be departing overseas," he said. \n"A two-hour break from military life for these soldiers was a good chance for them to put aside any negative thoughts or frustrating feelings and have fun with their favorite sports team. Having 12 cheerleaders on a military base didn't hurt things, either," Anderson said with a laugh, pulling out his photo album.\nDespite the long hours of traveling and planning, Anderson said he truly enjoyed his internship and is grateful he had this unique opportunity.\n"This internship confirmed that I want to remain in the sports industry, but it educated me on the many different areas of the industry that I was not already aware of," he said. "It prepared me with simple business environment skills, such as (the knowledge of) what happens in large sales meetings. It also gave me the opportunity to watch full-time employees interact with their clients." \nAnderson said he had the freedom to direct the program without too many advisers looking over his shoulder. \n"When you have the freedom to run a program on your own, you run the risk of making more mistakes," he said. "You not only make mistakes, but you learn how to resolve them and make sure they don't reoccur."\nThough Anderson did much of his job on his own, he still worked closely with other members of the Colts' full-time staff and some volunteers.\n"The two men that I spent the most time working with were Matt Gonso and Will Brown," he said. \nGonso is currently the MBNA account manager for the Colts, and Brown is a sophomore at Depauw University who volunteered his time to help Anderson on the "Colts In Motion" trips.\n"Matt Gonso was the very first 'Colts In Motion' intern, who, thankfully, allowed me to share his office since I had an overwhelming amount of questions, concerns and fears," Anderson said. "Matt taught me every detail about the entire program and my experience would have been extremely difficult without his guidance."\nBrown, who volunteered his time to travel on the majority of the trips, assisted Anderson with setting up and tearing down displays.\n"I enjoyed working with Kevin," Brown said. "He's a goofball, and it took me a few days to get used to that, but everything was good. I think we learned a lot about cooperation, and when you're on the road as long as we were, you get time to talk about a lot."\nAnderson and Gonso also developed a close relationship.\n"Kevin was an exemplary employee for the Colts," Gonso said. "In my opinion, the 'Colts In Motion' internship takes more responsibility than any other Colts internship. Kevin took the bull by the horns (and) rolled up his sleeves. He could've coasted through the motions, but instead, he got involved and learned the things it takes to make it in the sports marketing industry."\nAnderson noted how lucky he was just to get this internship because he not only got paid for doing what he loved and working with people he enjoyed being around, but he also earned academic credit for it. \nInternships like this are not prolific, and Anderson attributes his success in getting his internship to the connections he made several years ago. \nIn high school, he met the manager of the Indianapolis Ice hockey program who later became vice president of sales and marketing for the Colts. He gave Anderson the opportunity to shadow different Colts employees during his junior and senior years of high school. \nEarlier this year, Anderson learned about the Colts internship positions at a sports marketing conference sponsored by the Indiana Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse and submitted his application. He believes his prior involvement with the Colts gave him an edge over the other applicants.\n"My advice is don't take anyone you meet anywhere for granted because you never know who will get your foot in the door," Anderson said. "I had no idea that four years ago introducing myself to a minor league hockey general manager would help me get an internship in the NFL years later."\nAnderson also emphasized the importance of applying for many internship positions. \n"I would encourage you to have at least two internships because (each) one is different and you are bound to learn different skills," he said. "Apply everywhere because I applied for eight different jobs, and the one I got was my last interview."\nGonso also gave advice for future interns.\n"Practice interviewing (and) get comfortable speaking with superiors about yourself and your achievements," he said. "Stay positive. If it's your dream to work in sports marketing, keep working hard at it. If you want it bad enough, you'll get what you want. Don't settle for a lackluster dream."\nGonso said internships with the Colts are very hard to get. \n"As an interviewee, you don't want to be bothersome but you want to be noticed," he said. "It's a fine line you have to walk."\nAnderson thinks it is helpful to keep an open mind and realize even internships that may seem less glamorous can still be very beneficial.\n"I was extremely fortunate to work for a team in such a high league as the NFL, but I definitely would be satisfied working with any team at any level," he said. "When I first heard that my job would entail driving a truck around the state all summer, I was only half excited. But if I had to do it over again, that would be the one internship I'd pick out of all the (internships) the Colts had to offer."\n-- Contact staff writer Carrie Ritchie at ccritchi@indiana.edu.