Insights from an Intern[ship]
04.28.09

For the past semester, biplane productions has hosted a Liberty University internship for Garret Giesler, a talented college senior about to head into the job market. Every weekday, from two to five, I've had a paid accomplice in my random acts of auction marketing.

While internships by nature provide practical education for aspiring undergrads, the process was not without lessons for me. In addition to the adjustments of having a second work station in my office, a second paycheck to write, and an embargo on afternoon naps, I managed to grab some self-awareness and with that more than a cost/benefit analysis. Here are the main insights I gained from the experience.

Teaching what you do codifies your motives and methods.
I love teaching, enjoy giving seminars. If it weren't for the bureaucracy of the education system, I wouldn't mind making professorship my career parachute (especially in a great town with at least 7 college campuses). Even more, I love taking people on my adventures and seeing their sense of accomplishment grow. Garret's internship proved both a senior-level class and a bit of an adventure (read his take on the experience here).

For Garret to be useful to biplane, I needed to explain:
the design principles that guide my art,
the strategies I employ with my working relationships and business planning,
the methods I use to organize the 300 projects annually on my plate,
the reasons that specific tasks are (or are not) important,
and the brand heritage my clients and/or I've built.

Find an overflow valve.
In 2008, about 89% of biplane's revenue originated from auction campaigns (up from 85% in 2007 and 79% in 2006). I like it that way. For auction projects, I charge flat fees. So, the faster I work, the more I make an hour. Auction projects are easier to estimate time and costs, and they get off my desk and into invoices faster. But to be a fuller-service vendor for my clients, I need to be able to create proposals, promotional media, and non-auction collateral.

Normally, during my spring and autumn busy seasons, these ancillary projects get pushed beyond the back burner, almost as far as biplane's in-house projects. Garret's talent and availability allowed me to delegate, focusing my time on my core efficiencies. I was better able to serve my clients by bringing an extra servant to the table. I don't have (or want) enough of this work to hire an employee or subcontractor, but Garret's work shortened my overall task list and lessened the "regret stress" I carry when I can't get to a project that's important but less urgent than my auction deadlines.

Reflect on your journey.
One of Garret's tasks was organizing my archives of print pieces. I have to admit, I was embarrassed by some of the pieces he found—even more so when I opened the portfolio binders of my pre-biplane work. I remember when I thought that stuff was top notch, when I worked for those now-gone clients, when I learned the lessons that shaped my career. Humbling, it gave perspective on the journey to April, 2009. I came into the auction industry having never sent a single project to press or an ad to a publication. I do one of those tasks almost every day—and over 1,200 times a year. I've learned a lot at the expense of others, as well as my wallet. This process required me to take myself less seriously.

Give back.
I can never take more than partial credit for biplane's altitude. The list of meaningful, irrefutable contributors to my success and accomplished dreams grows proportional to my gratitude. I think about the risk people like Gene Klingman have taken on me, the patience entrepreneurs like Rex Schrader have extended to me, the advice my elders have passed to me, the referrals and forgiveness my clients have doled to me, the God who dreams bigger than I do, and the parents who invested the intangible in me.

I found a sense of contribution to the circle of life in helping Garret obtain his needful academic credits and desired real-world experience. (Surprisingly, biplane was the only ad agency in Lynchburg to even return Garret's internship inquiry.) I was also able to use Garret's much lower hourly costs to save my clients' money on their projects. biplane also was able to donate some of his inexpensive time for free projects—illustrating my gratitude to clients and adding value to their relationship with biplane.

Results may vary with your internship (or similar) experiment. But you'd be hard pressed to get more from a $1,500 professional consultation than I got from 180 hours with a college student.

Taking It Personally

You've probably heard it, too: "If you want to learn something, teach it." As the oldest sibling in a home school family, I learned that lesson early but never as much as in the last two years. My church—sans any "revival" services or contest-like attendance drives—has recently seen about 300 people begin personal relationships with Jesus. That's about 15-20% of the adult population in our assembly who are new believers from the ranks of atheists, addicts, and religious refugees.

The challenge for our leadership has been, "How do we disciple—nurture, guide, and grow—this influx?" The adopted solution for this "good problem to have" has been to match them with Christians who've been on the journey longer, even if only by a few months. We "big brothers" are to walk along side them, text/call/facebook them, meet over meals, introduce them to new church environments—to invite them into our lives and just share our journey. I've got several big brothers reaching hands down on one side and several little brothers reaching up on the other.

This conduit style of ministry has drastically redirected my personal walk with Christ, as I've had to codify my operating principles and disclose my own spiritual junk. I've felt encouragement at the highest levels from newbies and accountability from both ends of the deal. My prayer life has changed, as I have to ask God to give me a plan to bless rather than to bless my plans. It's been a sacrifice of time, money, and energy; but the intangible reward has proven priceless.

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